Bio Saga Blog - A Chronicle of Life Sciences & Informatics

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Avesthagen launches commercial Whole Genome Scanning Bringing Personalized Genomics to your doorstep. Avesthagen will use Affymetrix technology to decipher the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)/ mutation and predisposition to the disease. The DNA chip used by Avesthagen for whole genome scanning features more than 1.8 million markers of genetic variation that include SNPs as well as probes for copy number variation (CNV). A whole genome scan of an individual would provide information to understand his/her own genetic make-up that would lead to an increased awareness about the predisposition to a disease(s). The diseases, which are offered by Avesthagen, include major types of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, asthma, anemia, arthritis and others. The technology platform at Avesthagen is able to interrogate the genetic markers (SNPs and CNVs) across an individual’s genome...

Creating an alliance to deliver insulin treatments worldwide, Biocon and  Pfizer  have entered into a global commercialisation agreement. Pfizer will make an upfront payment of USD 200 million in a licensing deal for Biocon’s biosimilar insulin portfolio for diabetes treatment. As per the agreement,  Biocon  will also be eligible to get additional payments of up to USD 150 million. These payments will be linked to sales of Biocon’s insulin biosimilars. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Vikas Dandekar of pharmasianews.com gave his perspective on the deal. Excerpts from  Reporter's Diary on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show » Q: What do you make of this arrangement? First of all tell is what is the potential the market size as far as this insulin is concerned and what does this mean both for Biocon and Pfizer? A: A number of biosimilars are scheduled to be launched in the European market. A number of trials are going on, on insulin and this is a big potenti...

Workshop: Developing Bioinformatics applications with Bioperl   Duration: 5 days, Registration Fee:   Rs. 2000 /-   Starting date: November 05 - 09, 2010   Workshop: Biological sequence analysis Duration: 3 days, Registration Fee: Rs. 1000 /- Starting date: November 26 - 28, 2010  Venue:The Bioinformatica Solutions,lucknow Fee should be deposited through bank draft in  the name of "The Bioinformatica Solutions"  payable at Lucknow.  Follow this link to apply http://www.thebioinformatica.com/Registration.htm  

AstraZeneca is searching for 10 qualified statisticians with experience in delivering statistical impact - one or two of these positions will be located in Lund, SE. A strong technical capability combined with well-developed communication, consultancy and influencing skills are essential pre-requisites to successfully perform these roles. Application deadline: February 12, 2009. Be part of XTractor community. XTractor the first of its kind - Literature alert service , provides manually curated & annotated sentences for the Keywords of your choice XTractor maps, extracted entities (genes, processes, drugs, diseases etc) to multiple ontologies Enables customized report generation. With XTractor the sentences are categorized into biologically significant relationships The categorized sentences could then be tagged and shared across multiple users Provides users with the ability to create his own database for a set of Key terms Users could change the Keywords of preference fr...

Designation: Scientist (Bioinformatics) Qualifications: M.Sc/ PhD Experience: M.Sc 3+ years / PhD 1+ years The role offers an exciting opportunity to work alongside molecular biologists and experimental scientists on cutting edge platform technologies and customer projects. The primary role of the Scientist will be to assist in the analysis of gene expression data & genomics. Extensive knowledge of genomics and statistical analysis methods, as well as a solid foundation in biology, are therefore necessary. The role requires actively help, capture and refine requirements pertaining to specific customer's scientific use cases. Successful candidate will also be given freedom and encouragement to publish in peer-reviewed scientific journals, to further develop statistical techniques for data analysis, lead in-house product development programs and propose new initiatives. Requirements: Candidates will have strong knowledge using—and coding functionality that interacts with—publ...

The company provides database products to pharmaceutical companies for drug discovery and development. Betting big on the transition taking place in the global pharmaceutical industry, the company is now looking to grow through both inorganic and organic routes. Molecular Connections is a joint venture between Idea2solutions, a venture capital arm promoted by the founders of Dr Reddy's group and a bioinformatics research centre in Singapore. The mid-sized company has on its rolls about 200 employees with expertise in drug discovery, informatics and information technology. With a view to gain newer customers and market access in Europe and Japan, Molecular Connections , headquartered in Bangalore, is planning to acquire a firm in Europe. The European firm, employing around 200, is a provider of bioinformatics for customers mainly in Europe and Japan. The deal, involving 100 per cent buyout of the European firm, would cost about $10 million to Molecular Connections. Molecular Connec...

Thermo Fisher Scientific said after the close of the market on Monday that it has acquired Chemito Technologies, a Mumbai, India-based supplier of analytical instruments for life sciences and environmental monitoring applications. Thermo Fisher said that Chemito has annual revenues of roughly $10 million and manufactures its own instruments for gas chromatography, atomic absorption, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The Waltham, Mass.-based firm will integrate Chemito into its Analytical Technologies segment. “The strong reputation Chemito has developed through its extensive sales network, now complemented by Thermo Fisher’s breadth of scientific and environmental instrumentation, extends the services we can provide to our customers throughout India,” Thermo Fisher President and CEO Marijn Dekkers said in a statement. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories plans to acquire BASF’s pharmaceutical contract manufacturing business and related facility in Shreveport, LA. The transaction is expected to close by the first quarter of fiscal year 2009. This segment of BASF involves the manufacturing of generic prescription and over-the-counter products for branded and generic companies in the U.S. It reportedly recorded revenues of $43 million for 2007.

Ambitious plans to catalogue and characterize all proteins in the human body — a Human Proteome Project — are being drawn up by a small group of researchers. But with a price tag of around US$1 billion, some question whether the organizers can raise enough money or momentum for such an undertaking. Project aims to characterize all human proteins. Talking about characterizing human proteins; there are several organizations working around the globe towards this initiative, spanning across both the public and commercial domains. Having missed out on HGMP, this time the industry in India is all geared up towards the mapping of human proteome. Molecular Connections collaborates with Plasma Proteome Institute and with Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Proteomics & Biomarkers Research Group that would significantly aid them in the development of their new knowledgebase CliPro .

Indian company Dabur India has sold its pharmaceutical division to German healthcare firm Fresenius Kabi. The asset mainly sells generic anticancer agents, and the purchase price was INR872 crore (US$219mn). BMI believes Dabur's real motivation behind the transaction was to focus on its core competency of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs), rather than the official line. According to Dabur's founder and director, Anand Burman, Fresenius is much better equipped in terms of international marketing capabilities to realise the full potential of the division. By not selling, Dabur would have being doing a 'disservice to the shareholders', he added.