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BIOSIMILARS ARE INEVITABLE but several big questions remain. Firstly, the post-translation modifications which may be functionally important are likely to influence the regulatory pathway, with the possible outcome that non-identical biosimilars (oxymoron) would be NCEs. Second, due to the costs involved, they are not likely to offer the kind of price reductions seen in the small molecule generics market, where post-exclusivity periods with multiple offerings, prices may be 80% lower than the original innovator price. Experts are predicting perhaps a 30% drop for genuine biosimilars. http://lnkd.in/y3jbpQ View in LinkedIn

PHARMA AND VENTURE CAPITAL ALLIANCES ARE ON THE INCREASE. GSK has partnered with Avalon Ventures in a 495 M USD deal, in a trend that J&J and Sanofi are also creating. The GSK deal is on top of having their own SR ONE VC fund who is collaborating with Sanderling Ventures (who partner also with J&J and Index Ventures). Sanofi has a collaboration with Third Rock Ventures. This is a welcome trend and shows that Big Pharma is reinventing its R&D model to be less NIH. http://lnkd.in/JR69EC View in LinkedIn

D-HEALTH BARCELONA;" "" "Twitter@moebiobarcelona. View in LinkedIn

MOEBIO AND D-HEALTH BARCELONA are modeled on the prestigious Stanford University Biodesign Fellowship and opens Sept 2013. Since 2001, the Stanford program created 26 companies, raised 200 M USD, created 500 jobs and treated 150,000 patients with technology developed in-house. D-HEALTH BARCELONA is a new talent incubator, to train health innovators, tackle real medical issues and create new companies. It will be disruptive, entrepreneurial, and link health innovators and investors, to build new businesses. It was created by BioCat, the Catalan biotech organization charged with innovation. View in LinkedIn

CHINA HAS BECOME THE GO-TO PLACE FOR INDIAN ENTREPRENEURS, with its high-octane economic growth, investment in infrastructure, and welcoming attitude. This vibrant and hard-working (and complicated) country is quietly turning the economic power axis of the world, with India in the wings. Giant populations, an emerging middle-class, creating "medical cities", securing worldwide mineral rights, and creating the New Harvards of The East, China is undeniably on a world leadership course. If it cleaned up its patent protection climate and certain business practices, it will be unstoppable. http://lnkd.in/4533r8 View in LinkedIn

INDIA PIONEERED THE 2,000 USD CAR, AND NOW THE 800 USD HEART SURGERY. A famous heart surgeon who founded a chain of low-cost clinics, believes that only 10% of those needing heart surgery can afford it, and that the current Western healthcare business model is simply wrong. This innovative surgeon is remaking the healthcare model in India, giving inexpensive access to the poor. He plans to expand into Africa. Currently, the new heart clinic performs the most heart surgeries per day worldwide, and the key to success will be a comparable success rate to the West. This is a bold experiment. http://lnkd.in/PNbghT View in LinkedIn

MOLECULAR ROBOTS FOR DRUG DELIVERY are really Smart Materials which respond to signals like pH, light, electric current, and other physiological signals including specific proteins, to cause a mechanical change in conformation that can release a drug payload. Future drugs will employ Molecular Robots or be Intelligent Drugs. There is enormous room for innovating on this blank sheet of paper and transforming the delivery of medicines. http://lnkd.in/NU79fJ View in LinkedIn

ALLIANCES AND MERGERS BETWEEN SMEs TODAY MAKES SENSE, especially in the Biopharma sector. VCs have withdrawn, and Big Pharma is bearing the weight of solicitations, but is overwhelmed and the response times have become ridiculous. Most companies looking for collaborations and capital have failed to explore the layers of smaller companies below the giants. Many have capital, many are active in BD, and are interested in product licenses and filling their pipelines. In this economic climate, it is inevitable that market efficiencies will lead to combined similar programs. View in LinkedIn

CATALUNYA IN SPAIN PUNCHES ABOVE ITS WEIGHT IN TOP SCIENCE PUBLICATIONS. This is because some visionary public figures took the initiative 20 years ago to place a bet on excellence in science translating to powerful new companies. The society has invested heavily in research, and the first fruit is a remarkable quality publication rate. From this hundreds of SMEs have been seeded. This flammable mix just needs one success to be like Boston in 1989, when the world took notice of biotech and IT. This patient bet is about to pay off. View in LinkedIn

STEPHEN HAWKIN IS A SYMBOL OF THE POSSIBLE. ALS has ravaged his body, but this brilliant person lives an active cerebral life by communicating by a computer through eye movements only. We all know who he is. He has quietly entered every household. But the remarkable brain-computer interface that makes all this possible is something we have appeared uncurious about. This is more than a prototype. But what is that like subjectively? What is it like to have an athlete's brain and no body? What are the possibilities of hooking up a brain to a machine? View in LinkedIn