Taking the Pulse, A Health Care and Life Sciences Video Podcast | Episode 164: Emily Chee, US General Manager of Novartis Gene Therapies
Yours, Mine and Ours (not yet!): An Update on the Patentability of Human Genes -
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) March 21, 2024, warning letter to Agena Bioscience Inc. (Agena), a genetic diagnostic test developer, generated a lot of immediate commentary among regulatory lawyers and...more
We previously alerted readers to the fact that the most recent data compromise of 23andMe exposed data related to Ashkenazi Jews and individuals of Chinese descent. It is reported by Ars Technica, citing TechCrunch, that...more
This past Friday, a federal district court held that the mere fact of combining certain natural products – such as isolated, naturally occurring AAV sequences and a heterologous non-AAV sequence – and putting them into a...more
On December 8, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved two new gene therapies for the treatment of sickle cell disease. The first, Casgevy™ (exagamglogene autotemcel (exa-cel)), is the first-ever approved...more
Summary - Last year the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), under a threat of a vote, accelerated negotiations on an international legal instrument related to intellectual property (IP) and genetic resources...more
Editor’s Note: In a new white paper, summarized below, Manatt Health discusses emerging reimbursement models for cell and gene therapies. The paper provides an overview of current Medicaid, Medicare and commercial coverage,...more
On June 22, Senator Thom Tillis (R – NC) and Senator Chris Coons (D – DE) introduced the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2023, which seeks to eliminate all judicial exceptions to patent eligibility. The bill proposes...more
China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) officially announced on June 1, 2023 the release of the “Detailed Implementation Rules for the Management Regulations of Human Genetic Resources” (the Detailed HGR Rules)....more
Gene therapy aims to treat the underlying genetic cause of a disease rather than only the symptoms. It involves the delivery of properly functioning DNA into a patient’s genetic material to correct an underlying genetic...more
What if I told you that there was a plant that could be used to treat diabetes, liver problems, ulcers, leukemia, and malaria? Understandably, you would want that plant to be studied and turned into medicine if possible....more
Complex, Customized CRISPR Combo Could Help Patients Cure Their Own Cancer - “In a small phase 1 clinical trial run by PACT Pharma, researchers edited the genes of 16 patients’ immune cells to work against their cancer,...more
The investments in Advanced Medicinal Products (ATMPs) that use gene therapy, somatic cell therapy, and engineered tissues for preventing, treating, or curing human diseases probably represent the biggest innovation in the...more
The Ministry of Science and Technology of China has finally issued the draft of Implementation Rules for the Regulations of Human Genetic Resources Administration for public comments on March 21, 2022, which gives more...more
I have written about genetic testing kits before, but this subject matter is worth repeating. I find that people don’t always understand the consequences when sending a swab to a genetic testing company. Consumer Reports...more
2021 was a fascinating year in biotech, especially for legal issues. Of course, 2021, as the second year of a global pandemic, must be viewed in context with 2020....more
Editor’s Note: In a recent webinar, Manatt Health’s Anthony Fiori, Senior Managing Director, and Alex Dworkowitz, Partner, hosted a panel of innovative thought leaders—including Dr. Sanjiv Shah, Chief Medical Officer of...more
On September 30, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced final guidance titled “Interpreting Sameness of Gene Therapy Products under the Orphan Drug Regulations.” The guidance finalizes the January 2020...more
Two articles (Newsweek and Fierce Biotech) describe the new lawsuit by the Henrietta Lacks Estate surrounding the HeLa cell line. The claim is "unjust enrichment," a difficult claim to win, but one that seems to fit this...more
While it may feel like FDA’s attention has been focused on COVID-19 for nearly two years, as we have written about in a previous blog post, FDA is looking to the future, and particularly, one that signals exciting prospects...more
In a time of a global pandemic, with antivaxxer and anti-science sentiments running rife, and when combinations of fear, distrust, and paranoia are rampant, it is easy for important results from basic science to become fodder...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has spread throughout the globe, infecting more than 90 million people and causing almost two million deaths (see "Tracking coronavirus' global spread"). SARS-CoV-2 infection is the cause of the...more
This article provides a basic overview of the immune system and how its successful engagement is necessary to produce a commercial vaccine, with a specific focus on the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the COVID-19 disease and...more
Svante Pääbo created the science of detecting Neanderthal DNA in archeological samples (and living humans) almost single-handedly (see Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes). So it will come as little surprise to many...more
California’s “Genetic Information Privacy Act” (SB 980), vetoed on September 25, 2020 by Governor Gavin Newsom, would have established obligations for direct-to-consumer (“DTC”) genetic testing companies and others that...more
The prospect of genetic engineering using CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) and CRISPR-associated nucleases (Cas) has long been hailed as a “revolutionary” development in medicine....more