The Bio Report

A Rich Pipeline Expected to Drive Industry’s Growth

Evaluate Pharma, in its latest World Preview report, is projecting solid growth for prescription drug sales through 2022. Driving that growth is both the new products expected to come to market during that time and the industry’s embrace of orphan drugs, the source of half of that growth. We spoke to Antonio Iervolino, head of forecasting for Evaluate, about the new report, the growing number of drug approvals, and the challenges drugmakers face that could alter the outlook for the industry.

Harnessing Biology to Transform the Economy

The growing promise to harness biology to address environmental, agricultural, health, and energy needs is fueling a new bioeconomy. The state of engineering biology will be on display at the SynBioBeta SF 2016 conference in South San Francisco October 4 through October 6. We spoke to John Cumbers, founder of SynBioBeta, about the state of the industry, the challenges it faces, and the long-term potential it holds for transforming our manufacturing sector.

How a Predictive Diagnostic Can Reduce Preterm Births

About 380,000 infants in the United States—about one in 10— are born prematurely each year. Preterm births, defined as any birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy, is the leading cause of death for infants and puts these babies at greater risk for cerebral palsy, respiratory and cardiovascular complications, and delays in development. Sera Prognostics has developed a predictive diagnostic that can identify pregnant woman at risk of delivering prematurely, allowing for interventions. We spoke to Greg Critchfield, CEO of Sera Prognostics, about the test, how it works, and what it take to get doctors to adopt the test and payers to reimburse for it.

Building Better Drugs for Psychiatric Disorders by Targeting the Causes

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies are leading a $15.4 million effort to develop new systems for quickly screening libraries of drugs for potential effectiveness against schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The National Institute of Mental Health is funding the work. We spoke to Hongjun Song, professor of neurology and neurosciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, about the effort, the challenges of understanding the underlying biological mechanism of these disorders, and how the consortium expects to change the development of drugs to treat mental illnesses.

The Role of PBMs in the Controversy over Drug Pricing

The recent controversy over Mylan Pharmaceuticals sharp increase to the price of its EpiPen, an emergency injection of epinephrine to treat someone suffering a severe and potentially fatal allergic reaction, has once again ignited public debates over drug pricing. While drugmakers have been in the sights of the public, other players in the supply chain have escaped scrutiny. David Balto, a Washington, D.C.-based antitrust attorney, in a recent piece in The Hill, calls attention to the role pharmacy benefits managers play in the price equation. We spoke to Balto about PBMs, their growing power, and the perverse incentives they have to work against the best interest of consumers.

Why a Rare Genetic Disease May Shed Light on Normal Aging

Werner’s and Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndromes are rare, genetic diseases that causes children to appear to suffer from advanced aging at young ages. The syndromes are of particular interest to researchers because of the potential they may have to help understand the biology of normal again and lead to ways to counter aging-related diseases. We spoke to Brian Kennedy, president and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, about his progeria research, the potential to repurpose existing drugs to combat these syndromes, and what insights into normal aging are being gained from the study of progeria.

Battling Zika and Other Diseases Like It

Concern about the spread of the Zika virus has sparked efforts to develop therapies and vaccines to counter it. But the outbreak reflects a growing threat from zoonetic diseases, once thought of as being contained to tropical regions, that are making incursions into the developed world. We spoke to Jim Pannucci, director for infectious disease research at Southern Research, about Zika, the work his organization is doing around the virus, and whether we need to rethink investment in prevention and treatment of such diseases.

Chronicling a Trailblazer of the Genomics Age

Lee Hood was a visionary who helped enable the genomics age. Journalist Luke Timmerman, in his newly published biography of Hood, chronicles the scientist career and achievements, as well as the controversies that surrounded him. We spoke to Timmerman about Hood, the conflicts that shaped his career, and the significance of his contributions to the field of biology.