My Grandmother Out-Tweets Your Biotech
By David Washburn
Voice of San Diego
Very few industries are as willing to take risks on new technologies as the biotech industry. Companies will spend millions, and even billions, developing a drug that has a chance to cure a cancer or a device that could change the face of heart surgery.
Yet when it comes to social media, the industry has proven to be risk adverse. In fact, your grandmother is probably more likely to be active on Twitter or Facebook these days than a pharmaceutical, medical device or contract research company.
Among the thousands of life science companies worldwide, only about 30 have active blogs, according to research by Mary Canady, a local industry consultant. And maybe 50 companies have Twitter accounts, she said.
It's not hard to understand why, several biotechnology industry insiders said during BIOCOM’s September breakfast meeting, which featured a panel on social media. On many fronts, federal regulators keep life science companies on a very short leash. And getting tangled up in U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules can be deadly to a start-up that already has to endure a painfully slow, and often elusive, path to profitability.
Hence, many companies don't want to entertain the risks that come with promoting products through tweets or interacting with the public via a Facebook wall. Most of all, the companies worry about accusations that their social media efforts would be construed as coercing people to use their products, and that they would be opening themselves up to more reports of unintended side effects from their drugs.
But there is a growing sense in the industry that companies are acting against their own self interest by shying away from social media, and also against the interest of public health.
"What we've got is the social media Maginot Line," said Peter Pitts, director of global health care for the public relations firm Porter Novelli, referring to the French army's strategy of fortifying its borders during World War II.
Spotlight on Lung Diseases
Following our 2009 "Art of Research" Calendar, each month, we'll look at a new disease and our companies’ efforts in it, with the information eventually posted to the "About Southern California" section of our Web site.
For our October disease spotlight, we'll take a look at companies with products and devices in development to treat lung diseases. The basic function of lungs is to transport oxygen from the atmosphere into the bloodstream, and to release carbon dioxide from the bloodstream into the atmosphere. There are many conditions that can impact the health of lungs including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, tuberculosis, bronchitis, lung cancer, and pneumonia. Asthma is a chronic inflammation of the bronchial tubes that causes constriction of the airways. Currently, asthma is the most common chronic illness in children, affecting one in every 15.
The following companies responded to our request for summaries of their lung disease efforts. Is your company not on the list? Please email Kira Jenkins and we'll update you on our site.
Next month's spotlight will be on companies working to combat Diabetes. Please contact Kira Jenkins with any questions or to make sure your company is on the list.
Southern California life science companies working in lung diseases include:
Aires Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, Amira Pharmaceuticals, Biotechplex, Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Gen-Probe, Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals, IDM Pharma, Isis Pharmaceuticals, MediciNova, Mpex Pharmaceuticals, Phillips/Respironics, Quidel, ResMed, Targegen, VentiRx Pharmaceuticals, Verus Pharmaceuticals, Vical
Aires Pharmaceuticals: is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing therapies to treat pulmonary disorders. Aires is developing AironiteÔ, a novel inhaled drug that demonstrates an ability to treat both adult and pediatric pulmonary hypertension. Aironite may have potential applications in a number of other clinical indications, including Cystic Fibrosis, Pneumonia and other respiratory infections.
Amgen: is a leading human therapeutics company in the biotechnology industry. Amgen pioneered the development of novel products based on advances in recombinant DNA and molecular biology and launched the biotechnology industry’s first blockbuster medicines. Motesanib is an orally administered small molecule antagonist being investigated as a first-line non-small lung cancer treatment.
Amira Pharmaceuticals: is a small molecule pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and early development of compounds to treat inflammatory disease. This research and development focus offers tremendous potential to identify novel, high-value therapies addressing a wide range of diseases and disorders triggered by inflammation, including asthma and cardiovascular disease.
Biotechplex: provides enabling products for the discovery and development of respiratory and cardiac drugs as well as the evaluation of respiratory, cardiac and autonomic function. BioTechPlex's technologies address unmet needs for cell-based and small animal-based assays for target screening, validation and safety pharmacology and patient monitoring and respiratory aerosol drug delivery.
Cortex Pharmaceuticals: focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel small molecule drugs called AMPAKINE molecules targeted towards human central nervous system diseases. AMPAKINE molecules represent a new approach to treating psychiatric disorders, neurological diseases and brain mediated breathing disorders.
Gen-Probe: Headquartered in San Diego, Gen-Probe is a global leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of rapid, accurate and cost-effective nucleic acid tests (NATs) used primarily to diagnose human diseases and screen donated human blood. NATs harness the power of biotechnology to detect diseases more rapidly and/or accurately than older testing methods.
Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals: is a world leader in the development of a proprietary class of adrenal steroid hormones. Hollis-Eden is developing a new series of small molecule compounds that are metabolites or synthetic analogs of endogenous hormones that play a fundamental role in the chemistry of life, aging and disease. These steroid hormones regulate innate and adaptive immunity, reduce nonproductive inflammation and stimulate cell proliferation.
IDM Pharma: Focuses on the development of innovative products that activate the immune system to treat cancer. IDM Pharma is currently developing products designed to either destroy cancer cells by activating innate immunity or prevent tumor growth and recurrence by triggering a specific adaptive immune response. IDM-2101 is a mixture of synthetic peptides derived from well-characterized tumor agents for treatments of non-small cell lung cancer. IDM-2101 is formulated with an immune system stimulant and is directly injected into the patient to specifically activate the immune system to recognize and kill tumor cells that display these antigens on their surface.
Isis Pharmaceuticals: Antisense drug discovery and development is the cornerstone of Isis. Antisense drugs are the first class of drugs targeted to control expression of genes through interactions with RNA. The goal of Antisense drugs is to intervene at the RNA level to prevent the production of proteins involved in disease. AIR645 is an inhaled second-generation antisense inhibitor. The drug inhibits two important cytokins in asthma, which regulate inflammation, mucus overproduction, and airway hyper-responsiveness.
MediciNova: Through strategic alliances primarily with Japanese pharmaceutical companies, MediciNova holds rights to a diversified portfolio of clinical and preclinical product candidates. MN-221 is a novel, highly selective ß2-adrenergic receptor agonist being developed for the treatment of status asthmaticus. MediciNova believes that the improved receptor binding and functional selectivity of MN-221 may result in fewer cardiovascular side effects than are commonly observed with other ß2-adrenergic receptor agonists used to treat this condition.
Mpex Pharmaceuticals: is a biopharmaceutical company developing new therapies to combat the growing issue of antibiotic resistance, with a particular focus on gram-negative organisms. MP-376 is being developing for the treatment of chronic bacterial infections in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients. MP-376 is a novel formulation of levoflaxcin specifically designed for aerosol administration.
Phillips/Respironics: is the leading provider of innovative solutions for the global sleep and respiratory markets. The Company’s success spans more than three decades and can be traced to a history deeply rooted in ingenuity and a passion to deliver solutions to those in need. Their products fall into three primary groups: the Sleep and Home Respiratory Group, the Hospital Group, and the International Group.
Quidel: is a leader serving to enhance the health and well being of people around the globe through the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of rapid diagnostic solutions at the point of care (POC) in infectious diseases and reproductive health. Quidel currently produces tests that aid in the diagnosis of several disease or condition states, including influenza, RSV, fecal occult blood, Strep A, pregnancy, bacterial vaginosis, infectious mononucleosis, H. pylori, and Chlamydia.
ResMed: Formed in 1989 with the primary purpose of commercializing a device for treating obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the most common type of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). Approximately one in every five adults has SDB, but up to 80% are unaware of their condition. ResMed is a global leader in sleep medicine and non-invasive ventilation based on innovative technology advancing the diagnosis, treatment, and management of SDB.
Targegen: is a biopharmaceutical company that develops small molecule kinase inhibitors for the treatment of cancer, pulmonary, ocular and certain other diseases. The Company’s technology focuses on myeloproliferative diseases, characterized by the overproduction of certain blood components.
VentiRx Pharmaceuticals: is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company committed to the development and commercialization of novel medicines for the treatment of cancer, respiratory, and autoimmune diseases. Their focus is on the development of novel small molecule product candidates targeting Toll-like receptor 8 (TLR8) for applications in oncology, allergy, and autoimmune/inflammatory diseases.
Verus Pharmaceuticals: Founded in November of 2002, Verus is a pediatric—oriented specialty pharmaceutical company. The Company is building a portfolio of products for the unmet medical needs of children through acquisitions and alliances, with an initial focus on the treatment of asthma, allergies, and related diseases and conditions.
Vical: researches and develops biopharmaceutical products based on patented DNA delivery technologies for the prevention and treatment of serious or life-threatening diseases. Vical focuses their research in three areas: vaccines for use in high-risk population for infectious disease targets, vaccines for general pediatric, adolescent and adult populations, and cancer vaccines or immunotherapies.