bioscience 09 - · PDF fileFisher BioServices, a division of Thermo Fisher Scientific, is the...

1684564

1684569

Special Advertising Supplement5

Welcome to this year's edition of Bioscience Champions 2009, a salute tosome of the best and brightest leaders in Maryland's unparalleledbioscience industry.

Supporting Maryland's bioscience community is one of the O'Malley/BrownAdministration's top economic priorities. With more than 370 bio companiesdoing business in Maryland, the world-class research being conducted at ourinstitutions of higher learning and discovery and the strength of our workforce,I think you would agree that Maryland is positioned not only to improve ourranking as a national leader, but to expand opportunities in Maryland bybecoming a better-recognized global leader in bioscience.

With your help, we will continue to build on these enviable assets and ournational reputation as a great place to do business while looking ahead to prepareMaryland's workforce for the jobs of tomorrow. We look forward to the soon tobe released Strategic Plan for Bioscience, a more than year-long effort of theMaryland Life Sciences Advisory Board in conjunction with input from Maryland'sindustry, academic and federal sectors. We will also continue to make significantprogress on our BIO 2020 Initiative, a preview of the Strategic Plan, representing$1.3 billion in state and partnered investments in the life sciences.

These initiatives are key to Maryland's economic stability and will set us apartfrom other states in this global, knowledge-based economy. Together, we willcontinue to explore ways to develop the programs and infrastructure necessary togrow and strengthen our valuable bioscience industry, life sciences academiccenters, and other research organizations. Our goal is your success and to ensureMaryland's global leadership in what many have termed the 21st BioCentury.

I encourage you to continue your outstanding work; we are all thebeneficiaries of your fortitude and entrepreneurial spirit. I look forward to workingclosely with Maryland's bioscience community as we continue to raise the prestigeand awareness of Maryland's bioscience assets nationally and globally.

Sincerely,

Governor

A MESSAGE FROMGovernor Martin O'Malley

Special Advertising Supplement 6

n Publisher: Cliff Chiet

n Advertising Director: Stephanie Kempter

n Production Coordinator: Maria Lampos

n Design: Son Young Lee

n Layout: John Schmitz

n Cover Photo: Naomi Brookner, Staff Photographer

9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877240-864-1558 n www.gazette.net/business

Published by:

This supplement was produced by The Gazette of Politics & Business Advertising SalesDepartment. Unless otherwise noted, this report was gathered by Jim Mahaffie,[email protected]. None of the copy was written by The Gazette of Politics &

Business editorial staff. All Photos supplied by the specific corporate entity.

A Message fromGovernor Martin O'Malley

M. James Barrett, Ph.D.General Partner New Enterprise Associates Inc. (NEA)

Mark ReisenauerSenior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Micromet Inc.

Curtis P. Van TassellBovine Functional Genomics Research Geneticist, Agricultural Research

Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland

Susan Mackem, M.D., Ph.D.The Cancer and Developmental Biology Laboratory and The Laboratory of

Pathology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute (NCI)

James H. Godsey, Ph.D.Chair, Women's Health Portfolio Team, Senior Vice President, North America

R&D QIAGEN (formerly Digene Corporation), Gaithersburg, Maryland

Neal Durant, Ph.D.Principal, Geosyntec Consultants, Columbia, Maryland

The Maryland BIO 2020 InitiativeThe Maryland Biotechnology Center and Attracting and Developing

Biotechnology Companies in Maryland

Table of Contents

581012

14161820

Fisher BioServices, a division of Thermo Fisher Scientific, is the worldleader in biological specimen management. We provide fully integrated,innovative solutions and services for collection, storage, distribution andregulatory compliance to the clinical research and life science industriesincluding Pharmaceutical, Biotech, Government and Academic. Globally, weprovide complete, customized solutions for specimen kit assembly andcollection, lab processing, biorepository services, frozen specimen and APItransport, cold chain management, direct-to-patient pharmacy services anddata management to help ensure our customers’ success.

1-888-462-7246www.FisherBioservices.com

14665 Rothgeb DriveRockville, MD 20850

1684570

Biorepository Services

Kit Assembly

Biological and MolecularLab Testing and SampleProcessing

Frozen SpecimenTransport

Cold Chain Management

Inventory Management

Pharmacy Services – PAP,EAP, Clinical Trial Support

Disaster/EmergencyPlanning

Biorepository Services

Kit Assembly

Biological and MolecularLab Testing and SampleProcessing

Frozen SpecimenTransport

Cold Chain Management

Inventory Management

Pharmacy Services – PAP,EAP, Clinical Trial Support

Disaster/EmergencyPlanning


On venture investment andinnovation:

At its heart, venture capital investsin innovation, but innovation is risky.There's a lot that can happen betweenputting money into a venture and futuremilestones and accomplishments.

The battle is won and lost in theclinic. Positive results are everything. Inearly stage investments, the process ofdeveloping drugs is very important. Thissets the stage for the initial FDA filingand other key milestones involved inbringing new drugs to market.

On biopharmaceutical value:In our business, just having great

clinical data is not enough to get a com-pany to the 10-yard line. In the old days,it could result in funding or even aninitial public offering (IPO). But today, acompany has to be prepared with strongclinical proof of value. Efficacy of a drugis key. If it works, it will be extremely wellrewarded. Identifying that potential isone of NEA's key strengths.

If we were to believe at some pointthat society will devalue drugs, thenwe'd have a problem. But my view isthat, no matter what the economicclimate, successes in biopharmaceuticaldevelopment will always be rewarded,whether through sales or companyacquisition.

On NEA's positioning:Bioscience companies need funding

all along the way. We do what I call purescience projects, and we also invest inlate-stage projects that are already in orjust about to begin clinical trials. Wealways have what we call an investmentthesis, or what we expect from anyventure. It depends on the project as towhat our end game will be, such asnurturing growth or acquisition.

NEA has the capital base to supportcompanies through all stages of develop-ment and the experience to help guidecompanies through critical challenges inthe process--fighting battles in clinics,designing the right trials, and selectingthe right diseases with the right accrualrules. It's an extraordinarily complexprocess, and you have to be able to staythe course.

On the business climatetoday:

Some aspects are unchanged, inthat every day continues to bring goodnews and bad news. Thousands ofcompanies are working so hard, trialssucceed and fail, and there are alwaysreports of all kinds of researchbreakthroughs.

I'd say the texture of our businesshas changed since mid-September. It'snot so much a retrenchment in terms offunding companies, but people are tak-

M. James Barrett, Ph.D.General PartnerNew Enterprise Associates Inc. (NEA)


ing a timeout to see what's going tounfold. Private companies aren'ttraded, of course, but so many publiccompanies are down, many as much as50 percent. Why should investorsexpect to get solid value out of aninvestment? This is making it moredifficult to fund projects that mighteasily have been funded last summer.

But deals are still getting done. Infact, we're drinking from a fire hose interms of deal flow. I think there's beena migration to higher quality venturesand a lot more due diligence before-hand.

On NEA's philosophy:We work to assess risks in compa-

nies and then mitigate them as muchas possible. We can't be perfect. Butwe have an extraordinary track recordover the past 30 years. Every deal wedo is exciting for me, whether it'sgroundbreaking science that could

fundamentally change the standard ofcare for a particular disease, or assimple as new uses for an old drug.

Two of the three founders of ourcompany are still actively involved inthe firm. Their philosophy has been toalign the interests of the entrepreneurs,our firm and our investors. That way, ifone wins, we all win. I think the horrorstories you hear in the business occurwhen all the stakeholders are notaligned.

On the importance ofleadership:

About a third of our CEOs couldbe described as "serial entrepreneurs,"many of whom NEA has worked withon multiple projects. I think that showsa lot. You can do your diligence of thescience and the market. But the CEO isthe single largest risk that you can'tmitigate.

NEA (www.nea.com) is a leading venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurscreate and build major new enterprises that use technology to improve the way we live,work and play. Since its founding in 1978, the firm has followed the same core principles:supporting its entrepreneurs, providing an excellent return to its limited partners, andpracticing its profession with the highest standards and respect. Through its affiliatedfunds, NEA focuses on investments at all stages of a company's development, from seedstage through IPO. With approximately $8.5 billion in committed capital, NEA'sexperienced management team has invested in over 650 companies, of which more than160 have gone public and more than 240 have been acquired. NEA has U.S.offices in Chevy Chase, Maryland; Menlo Park, California; and Baltimore,Maryland. In addition, New Enterprise Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd. has anoffice in Bangalore, India, and New Enterprise Associates (Beijing) Ltd. hasoffices in Beijing and Shanghai, China.

ABOUT NEWENTERPRISE

ASSOCIATES,INC. (NEA)


On joining Micromet:I joined the company more than a

year and a half ago, after a long historyof working in oncology within largerpharmaceutical companies. Prior toMicromet, I held positions at Abbott asthe General Manager of the OncologyFranchise and as the Divisional VicePresident and General Manager of theNeuroscience Franchise. Previously, I havealso worked at Pharmacia, Bristol-MyersSquibb and Astra Zeneca.

I liked the idea of a smallercompany with interesting technologythat needed help getting to the nextlevel. Having had success launchingcancer drugs, I knew I could apply all mylearning here. I confess I hadn't heard ofthe company before, probably becausemost of the R&D is out of Munich,Germany. But through my due diligence,I found the technology and the productswere incredible, and the opportunityseemed very promising.

It was an easy decision for me tomove. I like Bethesda, and my kids areclose by in Delaware. The team is greatand there's a wonderful collegialatmosphere here.

Getting into oncology:For many of us in the industry, it's

hard to talk to anyone who hasn't beentouched by cancer in some way. Itcertainly has affected my family. Butgenerally I've found that there are acouple of things that usually attract youto the business and then keep you in it.

First, there's a drive to make thingsbetter. It's very rewarding. Once you're init, in the commercial end or otherwise,you get caught up in the science andadvancements. With cancer research andpharmaceuticals, the landscape changesmonth by month. From a commercialstandpoint, it's the most challengingpharmaceutical area to work in, becauseyou're constantly having to repositionyour drugs and strategies. It's a constanteffort to be successful.

A different kind of competition:I had a former mentor in this

industry who often told me,"There areno competitors in oncology, onlycombinations." What he meant by this isthat our industry is all about finding theright combination of therapies for thedisease and patients. That's theenjoyable part, because we really can dobetter for people.

Mark ReisenauerSenior Vice President andChief Commercial Officer, Micromet Inc.


ing novel, proprietary antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflam-mation and autoimmune diseases. Micromet's novel antibody tech-nology is based on its proprietary BiTE(R) antibody platform, repre-

senting a new class of antibodies that specifically activate T cellsfrom the patient's own immune system to eliminate cancer cells orother disease-related cells. Four of the company's antibodies are cur-

rently in clinical trials, with the remainder of its product pipeline inpreclinical development.

ABOUTMICROMET INC.

We're not competing with othercompanies and drugs. We're coming upwith new and different ways to helppatients.

On Micromet's recentagreement with BayerSchering Pharma AG:

In January, Micromet announcedthe signing of an option, collaborationand license agreement with BayerSchering Pharma AG of Germany, underwhich Bayer Schering Pharma has theexclusive option to obtain a license toone of Micromet's preclinical BiTEantibodies against an undisclosed oncol-ogy target.

BiTE(R) antibodies are designed todirect the body's cytotoxic, or cell-destroying, T cells against tumor cells.The use of BiTE antibodies that arespecifically designed to engage T cells forattacking cancer cells may provide amore effective anti-tumor approach thanconventional monoclonal antibodies.Christian Itin, Micromet's Chief ExecutiveOfficer, said that this deal representsfurther validation of Micromet's BiTEantibody technology by a majoroncology company.

Micromet Inc. (www.micromet-inc.com) is a biopharmaceutical

company with offices in Bethesda,Maryland, and Munich, Germany.

The company is focused on develop-

"Governor O'Malley's announcement is an expression of the boldvision he has for the future development of life sciences in Maryland.Our members look forward to the completion of a comprehensivestrategic plan on schedule later this year, and to continuing to workwith Governor O'Malley and the General Assembly to makeMaryland an even stronger and more competitive leader in biotech-nology and the life sciences than it already is."

H. Thomas WatkinsPresident and CEO of Human Genome Sciences

Chair of the Life Sciences Advisory Board

Comment regarding The Maryland BIO 2020 Initiative

The name “Otsuka” translates to

“major milestone”. And indeed, for

over 85 years, Otsuka’s people have

achieved major milestones in their

quest to create new products for

better health. Otsuka is hard at

work investigating potential new

treatments, with numerous

compounds in various stages of

development to treat disorders of

the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal,

respiratory, renal, and central

nervous systems, and to treat

cancer and ophthalmic disorders.

We’ve funded new research,

supported new clinical trials, and

pursued the development of new

medications – an unfaltering

commitment of energy and

resources with one goal in mind –

to create new products for better

health worldwide.


On their breakthrough indairy cattle breeding:

Through genome selection, DNAinformation is used to determine thegenetic worth of an animal. The USDA'sAgricultural Research Service (ARS) hasled development of this technology inthe U.S. It was recently deployed as partof the national dairy cattle geneticevaluation, which characterizes thegenetic worth of dairy cattle available forbreeding.

With it, farmers can now determinethe value of a bull at birth. This is a bitshocking, since traditional evaluationsystems require waiting five to sevenyears for daughters of these bulls togenerate milk records. Now, geneticimprovement is expected to increase byapproximately 50 percent across thepopulation because of this technology.

A true team effort:The project was very collaborative! I

represent a large number of people whohave worked very hard to bring thistechnology to the application level.

A fiber optic beadchip was devel-oped that specifically assays singlenucleotide polymorphism (SNP) DNAmarkers from more than 58,000 loca-tions distributed relatively evenly acrossthe bovine genome. The consortiuminvolved in the chip developmentinvolved a broad array of scientists,including other government organiza-tions, land grant universities, and private

industry. Funding was equally diverse.Most closely tied to and supportive ofthe research were the companies thatown artificial insemination bulls.

Development of the statistical appli-cation of data generated from the DNAchip was a big undertaking, too.Although I am trained in qualitativegenetics and statistics, I played a verysmall role in this component of the proj-ect. We depended on several scientists inour sister lab, the Animal ImprovementPrograms Laboratory, to do the heavylifting on this stage of development.

The future of animalbreeding:

In January, the USDA began aservice that allows cattle breeders togreatly improve their milk-producingcows. Breeders used to locate the bestbull by DNA testing of semen andmarking traits for milk quality andproduction. Now the process can bedone at birth, with very highpredictability and success.

We led the research project, work-ing with Illumina Inc. of California andothers. Now we can compare DNA froma young dairy bull with the beadchipSNPs and tell breeders which bulls arelikely to sire calves that are good milkproducers.

Before the development of thisDNA-based test, it would take tens ofthousands of dollars and at least five

Curtis P. Van TassellBovine Functional Genomics ResearchGeneticist, Agricultural Research Service, UnitedStates Department of AgricultureBeltsville, Maryland

Photo by Peggy Greb.


years to see if a bull would sire goodmilk-producing offspring. Now testscan be done when a bull is born forabout $250. Currently, every organiza-tion that markets bulls on large scale isrequiring all incoming young bulls to begenotyped using the DNA chip.

The best bulls become elitebreeders. The others remain on thefarm.

A very big deal:The expected impact on the dairy

industry is quite profound. In onemodel, the rate of genetic improve-ment in dairy cattle will increase byabout 50 percent. With full adoption ofthis technology, you can increase 25gallons of milk per cow over a nationalpopulation of 9 million cows, or in

excess of 200 million gallons of milkper year. The economics of such achange are quite substantial.

Along the way, we developed anew strategy for identification ofgenetic markers. That result alone willimpact many fields of study, particularlyin plant and animal research whereresearch funding is much more limited.

According to the journal Nature,the program is going international.Companies in New Zealand and theNetherlands have set up private servicesfor cattle breeders. Following theUSDA's lead, similar systems are beingbuilt by researchers at Aarhus Universityin Denmark, and in France andAustralia.

ARS (www.ars.usda.gov) is the U.S. Department ofAgriculture's chief in-house scientific research agency.ARS conducts research on agriculture, human nutritionand the environment to find solutions to problems thataffect Americans every day, from field to table. ARS isthe world's largest agricultural research organization,with approximately 9,000 employees, including 2,200scientists conducting approximately 1,200 researchprojects in 22 national research programs. ARS has morethan 100 research locations, primarily in the UnitedStates but also in other countries.

ABOUT THEAGRICULTURAL

RESEARCH SERVICE(ARS)

Geneticist Curt Van Tassell and biological technician Alicia Beavers select bull semensamples for DNA extraction and testing using the BovineSNP50 BeadChip technology.Photo by Stephen Ausmus.


On her work in morphogen-esis: Morphogenesis is the process bywhich different body organs and limbsacquire their distinctive structures andthree-dimensional shape during embryon-ic development. My lab is pursuing howgroups of cells are instructed during mor-phogenesis to form a complex structure,such as a limb that has a hand with a

specific number and order of fingers thatalways form in the same way.

On researching limb develop-ment: We're trying to determine howinformation is transmitted and coordinat-ed between different cells so that theyknow where they are in the 'blueprint'and what they're supposed to become.

Susan Mackem, M.D., Ph.D.

The Cancer and Developmental BiologyLaboratory and The Laboratory of Pathology,Center for Cancer Research, National CancerInstitute (NCI)

We're studying some of the signals thatcells send to communicate to each other,and the proteins that read and translateDNA code in response to those signals.

Two approaches to analyz-ing limb development:

First, we're analyzing mice that havemutations in specific signaling andresponse components and asking howthis changes the program. Some of thesemutations also occur in humans and leadto birth defects and genetic diseases.

A second approach we're using is tocompare how normal limb developmentis regulated in several different speciesthat have evolutionary adaptations, suchas legs for walking on ground, wings forflight in birds, and flippers in marinemammals.

On choosing the limb as adevelopmental model: It turnsout to be a great model for learning howcells signal and respond. It's very easy todiscern whether the structures have beenmade correctly or not, which makes agreat readout for normal 3D structure for-mation. There are many powerful geneticand embryologic tools available to studylimb development in animals becausedefects in limb development (such asextra toes) often don't interfere with via-bility and make analysis of mutationsmuch easier.

Perhaps because the limb is a majorsite for evolutionary adaptations, there's alot of 'fine tuning' regulation that occursduring limb development. Virtually all ofthe major signaling pathways importantfor normal development and normal adultprocesses (such as skin renewal, hairgrowth, wound healing), and thatbecome disrupted in various diseases, alsoplay some role in limb morphogenesis.

On the value of her researchtoday: The same pathways that controlnormal development and physiology can

also lead to cancer. Understanding howthese pathways are turned on and off willprovide new insights on ways to bringthem back under control in cancers.Understanding their normal roles is alsoimportant in designing cancer interven-tions that won't cause unwanted sideeffects. Plus, it will have important insightsfor how evolutionary diversity is generat-ed.

Two avenues of promise incancer research: One promisingapproach, studying and learning howstem cells are regulated and programmedto differentiate, has great therapeuticpotential for replacing diseased or losttissues/cells both in cancer and otherdiseases.

Another is quantitative systems biol-ogy approaches to understand howgenetic instructions are carried out andregulated to have 'robust' outcomes.Robustness means that even when someof the instructions are garbled, by muta-tions or environmental insults, the pro-gram often can still be carried out fairlynormally. These approaches will be veryimportant in predicting which ways ofintercepting cancer cell behavior will bethe most effective.

Why the study of embryoge-nesis? The best way to learn abouthow to solve problems in any system is tounderstand how it functions normally andhow it was put together. This is what thestudy of embryogenesis is all about.Learning how normal tissues and organsare made and maintained will providenew insights on ways to correct problemsarising much later in adults.

We're also learning that many, if notall, cancers arise when normal develop-mental signals become disrupted or re-activated abnormally. Early embryos havemany of the properties of cancer thatmake it so deadly. Cells in early embryosdivide and grow at a very fast pace. They


ABOUT THENATIONAL

CANCER INSTITUTE

also migrate and can sometimes travel todistant tissues. What we learn fromembryos will help us understand whatdrives cancer cell behavior and how tomodify it.

On the National CancerInstitute: NCI supports research thatmay require extended time to lead to"pay-offs," unlike the private sector,which can't afford to take a long-termview and commitment. For example, mylab has recently re-evaluated the func-tion of a signal important for the blue-print to form finger types. We've foundthat this factor actually plays two differentroles, challenging an accepted model forhow the signal acts. The work would

have been hard to fund because the pre-sumption would be that we already knowhow this factor works and won't find outanything new.

The NCI also has a broad and diversecommunity of scientists with differentinterests and areas of expertise. This leadsto rich and synergistic scientific interac-tions in developing new ideas and novelapproaches and is a big plus in workinghere. I'm very pleased to be involved intraining the next generation of scientistsand hopefully inspiring them to continueto question what we think we know andto push to learn more about how we'reput together and what makes us tick.

Located in Frederick, Maryland, NCI (www.cancer.gov, CancerInformation Service: 1-800-422-6237) leads the NationalCancer Program and the NIH effort to dramatically reduce theburden of cancer and improve the lives of cancer patients andtheir families, through research into prevention and cancerbiology, the development of new interventions, and thetraining and mentoring of new researchers.

Susan Mackem (seated, right) with current members of her lab team, Dr. AkiYoshimoto (seated left), and Drs. Alex Bao, Jianjian Zhu and Hai Huang (standing, leftto right). Photo courtesy of NCI.

1684

582


Leading the way in cervicalcancer screening:

Cervical cancer kills 288,000women every year, with over 85 percentof cases occurring in the developingworld. Yet it's the only cancer with asingle known cause - the humanpapillomavirus (HPV). A comprehensiveapproach that combines HPV and Paptesting with a new vaccine that preventscertain types of HPV infection couldmake cervical cancer the first malignancythat is actually eliminated.

Among many technologies andproduct offerings, QIAGEN markets theonly FDA-approved test for HPV, and itplays an important role in eradicating thedisease. Our R&D team is heading twoinnovative projects. First is developmentof an intentionally "low tech" HPV test,with funding from the GatesFoundation, which will bring the benefitsof HPV testing to the developing world.The second is a high-tech "next gen"HPV testing platform that will be quickerand easier for testing labs to use andprovide more detailed information(genotyping) about individual HPVviruses detected.

On the challenges ofintroducing disease testingin the developing world:

QIAGEN has formed a committee tooversee the introduction of HPV teststhroughout low resource regions, withrepresentatives from PATH, a non-profit

global health organization, plus theNational Cancer Institute and leadingwomen's rights advocates from aroundthe world.

Prioritizing opportunities and needsof countries is an enormous challenge.Today, we're performing clinical trials inChina and gaining State Food and DrugAdministration (SFDA) approval for ourproduct, careHPV. This enables us toapply for a commercialization license inIndia. QIAGEN and PATH are alsocurrently performing a trial in Rwandawith several other countries waiting inthe queue. We're discussing utilizing thecareHPV platform to develop otherinfectious tests such as TB for thesesame regions. We're working to gainWorld Health Organization (WHO)prequalification for careHPV, to pave theway for their support of it in all lowresource regions around the world.

On partnering with theGates Foundation:

PATH receives much of its fundingfrom the Bill & Melinda GatesFoundation. Several years ago, AttilaLorincz, the vice president of R&D atDigene at that time, and Mark Schiffmanof the National Cancer Institute dis-cussed the idea of a low-cost HPV testfor low resource regions of the world.Later, Attila Lorincz collaborated withJohn Sellors, the medical advisor at PATHfor Women's Health programs. In 2002and 2003, Digene and PATH put togeth-er a proposal and applied to the Gates

James H. Godsey, Ph.DChair, Women's Health Portfolio Team,Senior Vice President, North America R&DQIAGEN (formerly Digene Corporation),Gaithersburg, Maryland


QIAGEN N.V.(www.qiagen.com), a Netherlands holding company, is the leading global provider of sampleand assay technologies. Sample technologies are used to isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins frombiological samples such as blood or tissue. Assay technologies are used to make such isolatedbiomolecules visible. QIAGEN has developed and markets more than 500 sample and assay products aswell as automated solutions for such consumables. The company provides its products to moleculardiagnostics laboratories, academic researchers, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and appliedtesting customers for purposes such as forensics, animal or food testing and pharmaceutical processcontrol. QIAGEN's assay technologies include one of the broadest panels of molecular diagnostictests available worldwide. This panel includes the only FDA-approved test for human papillo-mavirus (HPV), the primary cause of cervical cancer. QIAGEN employs more than 3,000 peoplein over 30 locations worldwide.

ABOUTQIAGEN

Foundation for funding the careHPVproject. Digene, and subsequentlyQIAGEN, performed all of the R&D,under the leadership of Dr. Paul Eder,Director, Assay Development, R&D.

On the future at QIAGEN:The future looks great. We're

preparing to enter clinical trials within

the year with our NextGen HR HPV testsystem, to be trademarked asQIAensemble. This will be a family offully automated instruments for bothextracting HPV DNA from clinical speci-mens and processing screening andgenotyping assays on the analyticalinstrument.

The NextGen HR screening andgenotyping assays are based upon ourhybrid capture technology, the basis forthe only FDA-approved HPV DNA test.Phase 2 will focus on the developmentof a menu of new women's healthassays based upon QIAGEN's newisothermal Helicase DependentAmplification (tHDA) technology

(licensed May 2008), the first of which isChlamydia and N. gonorrhoeae. This willinvolve modifying the QIAensembleinstruments to not only run hybridcapture technology, but to run tHDA-based assays as well. It will enable us tobuild a broad menu of assays for thewomen's health market. The sky's thelimit.

1684567


On Geosyntec's currentprojects in our area:

My group is working on a widerange of environmental restorationprojects, for domestic and foreigngovernment agencies as well asmultinational corporations, involvingmanagement and remediation ofpollution liabilities associated withindustrial contaminants in soil andgroundwater.

Projects involve a variety ofpollutants, including former manufac-tured gas plant contaminants (i.e., coaltar), explosives, pharmaceuticalcompounds, pesticides, and dissolvedmetals. But the vast majority of casesinvolve chlorinated solvents in ground-water. These represent the mostubiquitous class of groundwatercontaminants throughout theindustrialized world today. They firstgained public notoriety in the late 1970sduring the Love Canal days, and again inthe 1990s with the movie A Civil Action.Used in chemical manufacturing, indus-trial degreasing operations, and drycleaning, they have impacted groundwa-ter supplies beneath many industrializedareas.

On the particular problemsof soil and watercontamination:

Once leaked into the subsurface,chlorinated solvents often dissolve intogroundwater at concentrations thatexceed drinking water standards, whichare typically quite low for these chemi-

cals. It can take years to decades toextract them or remediate them afterthey have been released.

There are thousands of legacy siteswhere contamination has existed fordecades. Government agencies typicallymandate cleanup measures whenknown drinking water supplies areimpacted. Recognition is growing thatvapor from chlorinated solvents maycause a risk to indoor air quality, andregulators across the country are nowprompting investigation and remediationon the basis of indoor air health risks.

On promising biologicalprocesses to remediatechlorinated solvents:

There are a variety of technologies;however, biological enhanced reductivedechlorination via biostimulation andbioaugmentation is widely perceived asthe most cost-effective.

Biostimulation involves injection oforganic nutrients into the subsurface tostimulate dechlorination of chlorinatedsolvents to innocuous end products suchas ethene. In many cases, biologicaltreatment is accelerated via bioaugmen-tation, a process that often involves theinjection of natural bacterial cultures thatactually "breathe" and grow onchlorinated solvents in the same waythat you and I breathe oxygen.

About Geosyntec's particularexpertise in bioremediation:

Geosyntec operates a microbiology

Neal Durant, Ph.D.Principal, Geosyntec Consultants,Columbia, Maryland

s

s

Geosyntec (www.geosyntec.com) is a specialized consulting andengineering firm that has been working since 1983 to help clientsaddress their new ventures and complex problems involving theenvironment, our natural resources, and our civil infrastructure.

Geosyntec has a staff of 700 engineers, scientists and related stafflocated in more than 30 offices throughout the United States

and in Canada, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom.Geosyntec's office locations in the mid-Atlantic region

include Columbia, Maryland; Princeton, New Jersey;Richmond, Virginia; and Raleigh, North Carolina.

ABOUTGEOSYNTEC

CONSULTANTS


laboratory (www.siremlab.com) andmaintains a specialty practice in chlori-nated solvent remediation. We havedozens of engineers across the U.S. thatare actively using technology to reduceclients' pollution liabilities.

Our expertise has grown from yearsof research collaboration and technologydevelopment with partners including theUniversity of Toronto, Stanford University,and the Georgia Institute of Technology.My Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Ed Bouwer of theJohns Hopkins University, helped lead thediscovery of this technology when hewas at Stanford. It has been gratifyingfor me to have collaborated with Dr.Bouwer on my doctorate, and now toapply my Hopkins schooling in my day-to-day work in consulting.

Every indication is that, despite cur-rent economic downturn, application ofbiological methods for in situ groundwa-ter treatment will continue to be agrowth area over the longer-term, notonly for chlorinated solvents but formany other industrial pollutants as well.

Treating contamination sus-tainably and cost-effectively:

As corporate America and govern-ment agencies have begun to emphasizesustainability in all of their operations,Geosyntec has responded by puttinggreater emphasis on sustainability in ourengineering designs.

Enhanced bioremediation is aninherently sustainable approach. It usesnaturally occurring and sustainable

processes to treat chemicals in place andavoids much of the energy consumptionand waste generation common toapproaches such as pump and treat. Wehave increased sustainability further byintegrating innovative solar-poweredimplementation approaches.

Geosyntec is also engineering bio-logical processes for low-impact landfilldesigns (treating leachate using engi-neered wetlands and designing gas-to-energy projects), storm water manage-ment (employing vegetated buffers andbioretention cells in place of drainagestructures), and the cleanup of surfacewater (using "biomats" or activated sed-iment caps). These can help our clientsmeet their sustainability goals, as well assave them money.

Looking to the future:Many environmental liabilities

remain unaddressed and new ones arediscovered almost daily. The complexityof soil and groundwater remediation,combined with the growing recognitionof contaminants (e.g., pharmaceuticals,propellants, and munitions) is providing asubstantial workload for our industry.

Geosyntec just finished one of itsbest years ever in 2008. For groundwa-ter remediation, we see a growing globalmarket for development and use of newbioaugmentation cultures, as well asgene-based biomarkers for assessing anddiagnosing contaminated site conditions.

"The Governor's continued support of stem cell research through theMaryland Stem Cell Research Fund has already had a substantialimpact here at Johns Hopkins, leading to such breakthroughs as thegeneration of pluripotent stem cells from patients with sickle celldisease and from patients with brain disorders. We applaud theGovernor's commitment to transformative investment in Maryland'slife sciences."

Stephen Desiderio, M.D., Ph.D.Professor of molecular biology and genetics,

Director of the Institute of Basic Biomedical Sciences,Member of the Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins

Cultures of natural bacte-ria (Dehalococcoides spp.)that degrade and respirechlorinated solvents areenriched and grown in100L stainless steel vesselsin Geosyntec’s SiREM lab-oratory in Guelph Ontario.

Cultures that are ready fordeployment to the fieldfor cleanup of contami-nated sites are transferredto 20L stainless steel ves-sels, and express-mailedfrom Ontario to projectlocations throughout theworld.

Comment regarding The Maryland BIO 2020 Initiative


In June of 2008, Governor MartinO'Malley and scientists and researchersat the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell

Engineering unveiled the BIO 2020Initiative, a new vision for the bioscienceindustry in Maryland.

The plan calls for the State ofMaryland to invest $1.3 billion inMaryland's bioscience industry over thenext 10 years to attract and growbiotechnology companies. It's the largestper capita investment in the biosciencesmade by any state in the country.

The Initiative includes:1. Creation of the Maryland

Biotechnology Center - a one-stopshop to showcase and support

biotechnology innovation and entre-preneurship in Maryland, and consoli-date various state, academic and pri-vate sector ventures.

2. Doubling of the state's BiotechInvestment Tax Credit in FY 2010 andagain by 2013, a move that wouldleverage almost $50 million in privateinvestment for Maryland biotech com-panies each year. Maryland's current$6 million Biotech Investment TaxCredit is an effective and highly suc-cessful equity-building program that isusually exhausted within months offund availability each year.

3. Investment of $60 million over thenext 10 years to leverage $120 millionin private and federal investment

The Maryland BIO 2020 InitiativeThe Maryland Biotechnology Center and Attracting andDeveloping Biotechnology Companies in Maryland

funds and grow Maryland's incubatornetwork by 50 percent. Maryland'sincubators comprise more than453,061 square feet, create morethan 14,000 jobs, and provide $104million in state and local taxes.Additional funds would help expandexisting incubators, build new incuba-tor sites, and provide related programsto help Maryland's small technologycompanies take their ideas to market.

4. Growth of Maryland's nation-leadingStem Cell Research Fund, which wascreated in 2006 to promote state-funded stem cell research and curesthrough grants and loans to publicand private entities in the state.During the first two years of theO'Malley-Brown administration,Maryland has invested $42 million instem cell research. To date, over $36million and 86 research applicationshave been funded. The Fund is thethird largest state-funded program inthe nation. Many key elements of theBIO 2020 Initiative are based on earlyrecommendations from Maryland'sLife Sciences Advisory Board. TheInitiative also includes:

- Increasing development funds for lifescience facilities: the Department ofBusiness and Economic Development(DBED) has entered into a public-pri-vate partnership, which will combine$1 million in state funds with $2 mil-lion in local investment. Together thisinvestment via Maryland DBED to theGreater Washington Life SciencesFund (GWLSF), will leverage the $100million private equity fund developedby Scheer Partners and The JBGCompanies to build and improve lifesciences facilities in Maryland and theregion. It is the mission of GWLSF toensure that the life sciences communi-ty continues to have viable options foraffordable quality lab space thatmeets its needs. The fund’s firstacquisition is a 53,000 square foot

R&D building located at 21 FirstfieldRoad in Gaithersburg, which will offernew generic turn-key lab space forunder $30 per square foot.

- Making new investments in science,research and technology initiatives atthe University of Maryland, JohnsHopkins Science and Technology Park,Montgomery College BioscienceCenter, and the TechnologyDevelopment Corporation(TEDCO)/Maryland Stem Cell ResearchFund.

- Increasing Maryland's technologytransfer programs for small and start-up companies, leveraging $3.75 billionin private and federal investment.

- Expanding nanotechnology invest-ments. Maryland is one of the leadingresearch centers in the U.S. for nan-otechnology. Now in its third year, theMaryland Nano/BiotechnologyInitiative has provided research grantsand faculty attraction resources to theUniversity System of Maryland.

- Increasing intellectual property valua-tion and protection services. ManyMaryland start-ups cannot afford pro-fessional legal services, so the Statewill expand a University ofMaryland/School of Law program towork with Maryland entrepreneursand start-ups to validate and protecttheir intellectual property.

- Maryland's Venture Fund currentlyprovides challenge grants to start-upcompanies and makes equity invest-ments in more established companies.By increasing public investment by$152 million by 2019, Maryland canleverage nearly $2 billion in privateequity to help these companies suc-ceed.

To see the full plan, go to www.emar-ketingmd.org/Edge/images/BioVisionFinal.pdf

1684566

1684568

1684560

F R E D E R I C K , M A R Y L A N D

bioscience 09 - · PDF fileFisher BioServices, a division of Thermo Fisher Scientific, is the...

Documents

Transcript of bioscience 09 - · PDF fileFisher BioServices, a division of Thermo Fisher Scientific, is the...