The Bio Report

Searching for Solutions to Rising Specialty Drug Prices

Retail prices for more than 100 widely used specialty drugs rose nearly 11 percent in 2013, according to a new report from AARP Public Policy Institute. The report found that the average annual cost of a specialty drugs used to treat chronic diseases rose to more than $53,000 — greater than the U.S. median income and more than twice the $23,500 median income of people on Medicare. We spoke to Leigh Purvis, director of health services research in AARP’s Public Policy Institute about the report, trends that are fueling demand for these drugs, and whether there are public policy solutions to rein in rising drug prices that can be implemented without harm to innovation.

Biohackers Seek a Faster, Cheaper Path to Insulin

A team of biohackers is developing the first open source protocol to produce insulin simply and economically. The hope is that their work will serve as the basis for generic production of insulin and provide a foundation for continued research into improved versions of the life saving biologic. We spoke to Anthony Di Franco, co-founder of the Open Insulin project and a board member of Counter Culture Labs, about the work, the challenges they are encountering, and whether the DIY movement can teach the corporate world anything about cost-effective innovation.

A Scorecard to Improve Drugmakers’ Transparency

A large number of clinical trials underlying the approval of drugs never come into public view. This not only has legal and ethical ramifications, but implications for the healthcare system as a whole. We spoke to Jennifer Miller, founding president of Bioethics International and assistant professor at the NYU School of Medicine about her recent study in BMJ Open, part of an effort to improve transparency through the creation of a Good Pharma Scorecard. Miller discussed the study, the scorecard, and the state of transparency in the pharmaceutical industry.

Forget the Chemistry Set, Mom, I Want a Bioreactor

The power of genetic engineering will soon be available for the home thanks to the Amino One, a piece of hardware about the size of a laptop computer that would allow users to manipulate the DNA of microorganisms for productive purposes or just plain fun. We spoke to Julie Legault, founder and CEO of Amino One’s creator Amino Labs, about the device, its target market, and the implications of putting the tools of synthetic biology into the hands of kids.

Ensuring Biological Tools Benefit the Environment

New gene editing technologies are expanding the ease and power with which scientists can manipulate biological systems with the promising of addressing not only human health issues, but problems the plant faces with regards to food, fuel, and the environment. But while much of the concerns raised about the potential consequences of this technology have focused on its use in humans, Elizabeth Alter, assistant professor of biology at City University of New York’s York College, argues its potential environmental implications will likely be far more significant. We spoke to Alter about her recent op-ed in The New York Times, the need for public discussion about the technology, what should be done today as we work through broader questions of policy.

New SEC Rules Open Crowdfunding to the Masses

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week finalized rules on crowdfunding that opens the door for the participation of non-accredited investors. The rules complete a long process for the commission set into motion by the passage of the JOBS Act. We spoke to Richard Swart, director of research for the Program for Innovation in Entrepreneurial and Social Finance at the University of California at Berkeley and chief strategy officer for the crowdfunding investment site NextGen Crowdfunding, about the new rules, how this will change the investment landscape, and what it all means for the biotech industry.

Harnessing Biology to Address Global Challenges

Growing challenges in the areas of health, food, energy, and the environment have increased efforts to harness biology to create sustainable solutions to global problems. With advances in the ability to engineer microbes to perform desired tasks, the rapidly evolving area of synthetic biology is expected to fundamentally reshape industrial processes and give rise to a new bioeconomy. Leading scientists, entrepreneurs, and investors will gather in San Francisco November 4 through 6 for SynBioBeta SF 2015 to explore the state of synthetic biology. We spoke to Richard Kitney, professor of biomedical systems engineering at Imperial College London and one of the leading scientists behind the United Kingdom’s efforts in synthetic biology, about the upcoming conference, where the state of the science is today, and why scaling up to industrial sized processes remains a big challenge.

Immunotherapies ETF Lets Biotech Investors Bet on Emerging Sector

A new class of immunotherapies is promising to radically alter the treatment of cancers and has generated excitement among investors for their groundbreaking potential. Now the Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy ETF provides a way for investors to bet on the sector through an exchange traded fund that consists of both Big Pharma and emerging growth biotechs leading the sector. We spoke to Brad Loncar, CEO of Loncar Investments and creator of the ETF, about the fund, why the focus on this narrow slice of the biotech world, and why he thinks immunotherapies will dramatically reshape cancer care in the years ahead.