things of interest

These relate to a couple of subjects discussed recently on our thread. Thought they might be of interest...courtesy of FierceVaccines and FiercePharma.

1. Researchers at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in Germany know that pollen can penetrate skin through hair follicles. Now they want to see if they can make nanoparticles that can do the same thing and deliver a payload of antigens and adjuvents in a novel vaccine delivery system that is activated by sweat. It's one of a long line of new vaccine research projects that earned a $100,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Don't think we have to worry about that one threatening the Unifill RTFS market any time soon...

2. Nasdag listed GenVec (GNVC) has been informed that its stock price no longer meets NASDAQ listing requirements, and could be delisted. GenVec stock, trading around 62 cents, has been below the minimum requirement of $1.00 per share for 30 consecutive days. A notification letter from NASDAQ says GenVec have until Nov 8 to regain compliance with the minimum closing bid requirement. To do so, the company's common stock must meet or exceed $1.00 for at least 10 consecutive business days over a 180 calendar day grace period.

Don't think we have to worry about that one effecting our fortunes either!

However, this one might....

3. Marks & Clerk recently polled a broad segment of executives in the global pharma industry, and tapped into a strong belief that the pharma industry's looming patenet cliff will drive a big round of biotech acquisitions over the next two years.

A whopping 8 out of 10 executives among the group of 381 polled believed that Big Pharma does not have the internal R&D resources to overcome the approaching loss of revenue as blockbuster drugs lose patent protection. This closely mirrors the 7 out of 10 who see a wave of new acquisitions ahead. That's a particularly significant sentiment for innovative biotech companies, which often groom themselves for an M&A deal with a deep-pocket pharma outfit.

Says Gareth Williams, partner at Marks and Clerk, "This may explain the 84% who believe the market is now confident to plough forward with strategic collaborations - they are determined to cherry-pick the best targets, while increasing reliance on patent term extensions buys them some vital time ahead of making a move. What is being predicted is being driven not so much by desire, as urgency."

Hmm. Now wasn't Alan talking about the opportunity for Big Pharma to put a picket fence around their drugs that were coming off patent protection by gaining the benefits that an exclusive license of the Unifill RTFS would provide?