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MUTATION TARGETS IN TUMORS ARE IMPORTANT. View in LinkedIn

SMART INSULIN NANOPARTICLES RELEASE DRUG IN RESPONSE TO GLUCOSE AND LASTS FOR TEN DAYS. Now we are trucking! View in LinkedIn

MONOCLONAL THERAPIES FOR CANCER CONTINUE TO DOMINATE THE LANDSCAPE. The wave of approvals of MAb treatments for cancer continues unabated. However, does adding a few months to those ghastly survival graphs constitute forward motion in the majority of cases? The personalized medicine approach offers a rational solution by matching the treatment to the tumor's biology. These individual mutations confer drug resistance or susceptibility, and are becoming the focus of new drug therapies. http://m.seekingalpha.com/article/1403251-bristol-myers-has-the-future-of-oncology-therapies?source=yahoo View in LinkedIn

JAPAN AND CATALUNYA SHARE IMPORTANT SIMILARITIES. Both have invested in the Knowledge Revolution. Both have created decent Bioclusters. Both need a real success to be a Tipping Point for capital access in Biopharma. Both have the Nail That Sticks Up issue (ambition is too individualistic). Both need access to experienced international entrepreneurs. Both are very honest cultures which place a high value on friends and family. There are lessons to be learned from each for the other. View in LinkedIn

THE LIFE SCIENCE IPO WINDOW IS FINALLY OPENING after five years of closure. Liquidity is a key driver of VC investments which also dried up in this period. This is a very hopeful sign. http://lnkd.in/Dund3M View in LinkedIn

TOKYO IS A BUSY, VIBRANT CITY, honest, polite, clean and friendly. I accidentally left my wallet on a coffee table and a client ran down the street to return it to me. The memorable intense rail commute where people are crushed together relies on the absence of pick-pockets. A society that has 1,500 seismic trembles a year naturally seeks safety and predictability in rigid complex social rules. During the day modest, quiet and orderly, they let their hair down in bars at night in large boozy male groups, bonding and rebonding the important societal glue, month after month, year after year. View in LinkedIn

CUTS IN SCIENCE SPENDING ARE CUTS IN THE FUTURE ECONOMIC ENGINE. After 15 years of Catalan investment in the Knowledge Revolution, Catalunya had achieved excellence in science and spinoffs. This needs to continue to preserve the past investment in the future. http://lnkd.in/yRqPRJ View in LinkedIn

ON THE BULLET TRAIN BETWEEN TOKYO AND KYOTO, it seemed that a squirrel could travel rooftop to rooftop between the two great cities without touching the ground. This immense population density was also concentrated in land that was a flat coastal plain barely above sea level. No housing was in the hills, unlike California. This seemed precarious. for obvious reasons. The reason? Most people rely on the excellent public transportation system. California, is a ruggedly individualistic car culture. Japan is exactly the opposite: a group-centric public transportation society. View in LinkedIn

JAPAN IS PRIORITIZING PLURIPOTENT STEM CELL TECHNOLOGIES AS A BET ON THE FUTURE. This choice by leading groups in Japan's financing world is a significant step for stem cells. The California stem cell initiative was a good start, but this initiative has more financial muscle. It takes big bets to move a field like this forward. Now at least one nation has an eye on the prize. View in LinkedIn

PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT IN STARTUPS IS VITAL. The one thing that can blow up a startup quicker than anything else is character, either of the key founders, or of the investors or board. Why this is overlooked by so many people dazzles me, and I see examples of this blind spot every week. Remember that about 1%, or more of us are psychopaths, borderlines, severe narcissists, and the less severe forms are way more common. These personalities are often charismatic and brilliant. You need to take this really seriously in your due diligence. http://commercialbiotechnology.com/article/view/305 View in LinkedIn