Bioscience Industry Helps State Growth, According to Study
States and regions across the country are working to develop and promote the growth of their bioscience bases, according to a new study, “Growing the Nation’s Bioscience Sector: State Bioscience Initiatives 2006,” released by Battelle and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). The biosciences are a growing sector of the US economy, with more than 40,000 businesses employing 1.2 million people in 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.
The study profiles state policies and programs that provide support to bioscience companies. The report also provides state-by-state employment data for all bioscience sectors, including drugs and pharmaceuticals, medical devices and equipment, research, testing and medical laboratories, and agricultural feedstocks and chemicals.
“This report shows that when states invest in building bioscience industries, they are at the same time making long-term investments in their citizenry with higher education—especially in science, math, and technology,” says Jim Greenwood, president and CEO of the BIO. “These investments pay off with high-wage, new-economy jobs in a growing industry. The industry’s growth and the benefits are not just in health care, but also in agricultural, industrial, and environmental biosciences.”
“State investments in research and development at universities and laboratories will become increasingly important in the future to continue the growth of the bioscience industries,” says Walter H. Plosila, vice president of the Battelle Technology Partnership Practice. “The payoff for states will come from investments in translating this research into commercial applications and products.”
Key findings include:
• Total employment in the biosciences in the United States reached 1.2 million in 2004, with bioscience workers found in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The highest rate of growth in jobs is in the research, testing, and medical laboratories sector.
• The nation’s 1.2 million bioscience jobs generated an additional 5.8 million jobs in the economy. Each bioscience job in the United States generates 5.7 additional jobs in affiliated industries.
• States are spending billions of dollars to support bioscience research and development, with research funds and construction of academic and medical facilities.
• Smaller states that have not traditionally invested in building bioscience industries are beginning to do so.
All 50 states and Puerto Rico are working to develop and promote the growth of their bioscience bases. Each of these states recognizes that by focusing on its own strengths, it will succeed in capturing the economic benefits of bioscience divisions.
The report is available on the BIO Web site at www.bio.org/local/battelle2006.
Contact: Battelle (614) 424-5544; www.battelle.org
BMA Changes Name to Diagnostic Marketing Association
The Biomedical Marketing Association (BMA) announced during its annual conference in Baltimore that it has changed its name to the Diagnostic Marketing Association. The organization’s abbreviated name will now be DxMA.
“The DxMA is the only professional organization in this country dedicated exclusively to serving the needs of marketing professionals in the diagnostics industry,” says Richard Eberly, president of the DxMA, executive vice president of Meridian Bioscience Inc, and president of Meridian Life Science. “From our industry membership feedback, it became apparent that many people who might join and benefit from membership in the BMA were not sure they qualified as biomedical. We wanted to be clearer and more inviting to all the diagnostic industry professionals who would find value in our offerings.”
The DxMA offers professional education, including an executive training program in collaboration with Babson College. The association also offers an annual seminar held in conjunction with the American Association for Clinical Chemistry Annual Meeting; an annual awards competition; online updates through its Web site; and an online newsletter, Diagnostic Insight.
Contact: DxMA (800) 278-7886; www.dxma.org
Seamless Interfacing Links LabDAQ’s LIS to NovoPath™ Anatomic Pathology Software
Antek HealthWare LLC, developers of LabDAQ—a widely used laboratory information system (LIS)—announced its agreement with Novovision Inc to interface to NovoPath™, the company’s anatomic pathology laboratory information-management software system. This seamless interface will allow users to request and access patient test results, as well as integrate critical patient information into their LIS.
“For a provider to be able to order pathology tests through the LabDAQ LIS and get instant access to a patient’s laboratory results is an essential component to high-quality physician care,” says Jim Kasoff, vice president of operations for Antek HealthWare. “The integration of the LabDAQ interface solution with Novovision’s NovoPath makes this a reality. This ensures that a patient’s pathology results are up to date, instantly deposited into their LIS, and accessible in real time.”
“The strategic interface between the LabDAQ LIS and NovoPath enables laboratories offering clinical and anatomic pathology services to seamlessly manage critical patient test results in both disciplines and ultimately deliver more efficient and effective patient treatment.” says Wally Soufi, Novovision’s CEO.
Contact: Antek HealthWare (800) 359-0911; www.antekhealthware.com
Aspyra Demonstrates CyberLAB LIS Tools at ThinkLab ‘06
Aspyra Inc demonstrated its CyberLAB® LIS, Version 7.1, at the CLMA ThinkLab ’06 Conference and Exhibition held at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, NC, in March.
CyberLAB Version 7.1 provides tools that may assist or supplement an organization’s LEAN or Six Sigma programs. Such tools include autoverification of results, decision support tools, and CyberMATE™, the wireless mobile collection module with patient ID bar coding.
“CyberLAB offers tools that extend the potential of LEAN- or Six Sigma-quality programs,” says Jay Abrajano, Aspyra’s information solutions product manager. “Both Six Sigma and LEAN are really encouraging facilities to take control of their quality-improvement and time-management systems. CyberLAB tools such as Auto-Verify allow the laboratory to quickly turn around results using decision rules and with less medical errors.”
Contact: Aspyra Inc (818) 880-6700; www.aspyra.com
Roche Announces New Test for Albumin Cobalt Binding
The Inverness Medical Innovations Inc Albumin Cobalt Binding (ACB®) test for detection of Ischemia Modified Albumin (IMA®) is now available on the Roche COBAS Integra® 700 and COBAS Integra 800 chemistry-analyzer system. The test was cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration in December 2005 and is the first fully automated diagnostic test for IMA.
In July 2005, Inverness announced that its subsidiary, Wampole Laboratories, had signed an agreement with Roche Diagnostics to comarket the IMA test on Roche’s Integra chemistry analyzers.
This test expands Roche Diagnostics’ portfolio of cardiac assays for its Integra systems, which also includes apolipoprotein A1, apolipoprotein B, cholesterol, CK, CK MB, D-Dimer, direct HDL, direct LDL, myoglobin, and triglycerides.
IMA is a key marker of cardiac ischemia intended for use in conjunction with echocardiogram (ECG) and cardiac troponin in the assessment of patients with chest pain suggestive of a heart attack. When used in conjunction with ECG and cardiac troponin tests, IMA assists in the early evaluation of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) in low-risk patients presenting to hospital emergency departments with chest pain.
Contact: Roche Diagnostics (317) 845-2000; www.roche-diagnostics.com
ExonHit and bioMérieux Reach Research Milestone
ExonHit Therapeutics and bioMérieux have announced they have reached an important research milestone in the diagnosis of breast cancer. Scientific data presented in April at the 97th Annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting in Washington, DC, is expected to lead to the development of novel diagnostic tests that will enable the early detection of breast cancer from blood. Such diagnostic tests could enable clinicians to make a better therapeutic decision more quickly, thus improving the chances of successfully treating patients.
The research efforts that would enable the development of these novel molecular diagnostics in cancer are based on ExonHit’s expertise in identifying specific genetic signatures from alternative RNA splicing associated with diseases and will capitalize on bioMérieux’s know-how in developing and commercializing diagnostic tests.
The scientific data shows that the panel of genetic signatures identified by ExonHit can clearly distinguish healthy women from those with early stage breast cancer. A total of 54 genes were able to correctly classify, with accuracy of 86.7%, a group of 92 women, 55 with stage I/II breast cancer and 37 with no cancer. A prospective multicenter clinical study in 1,000 women has been initiated to validate the specificity and selectivity of the markers identified.
“These results provide a clear proof of concept that by using a well-characterized set of molecular markers in blood, it can be possible to develop a valuable diagnostic test for breast cancer. This is an extremely positive development, which I view as a first success in our collaboration with bioMérieux. We are very pleased to work with bioMérieux in managing a multi-center clinical study, the next stage in the development of what we believe could be a major advance in the diagnosis of breast cancer,” says Bruno Tocqué, president of ExonHit Therapeutics’ management board.
“Early detection of breast cancer can improve the chances of successful treatment and recovery. Today’s results offer promising prospects to address as early as possible this disease and for cancer research in general. In conjunction with other diagnostic methods, these blood tests will enable a better therapeutic decision earlier,” says Christophe Mérieux, MD, director of research and development and medical affairs at bioMérieux.
Contact: bioMérieux (800) 682-2666; www.biomerieux-usa.com
QIAGEN Releases User Forum For High-Throughput RNAi Screening
QIAGEN has announced the formation of the High-Throughput RNAi User Forum, a program that is accessible to all scientists interested in learning more about the rapidly evolving technology. The user forum aims to facilitate advances in RNAi screening in drug target identification and systems biology. The group’s principal purpose is to promote the exchange of information and ideas about best practice in RNAi screening, especially as applied to target identification and validation in drug development.
The High-Throughput RNAi User Forum will meet at twice-yearly conferences—one held in the United States and one in Europe. A Web portal dedicated to the group will also be established to continuously provide updated news and information.
A steering committee consisting of scientists from QIAGEN and a select group of experts in the field will coordinate the group. For 2006, its members include: Spyro Mousses, PhD, Director Cancer Drug Development Research Unit, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Arizona; John B. Hogenesch, PhD, professor of neurobiology at the Scripps Research Institute, Florida; Natasha Caplen, PhD, Office of the Director, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Maryland; Carl Novina, PhD, assistant professor of cancer immunology and AIDS at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School, Boston; and Lucas Pelkmans, PhD, assistant professor at the Institute for Molecular Systems Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland.
RNAi is a powerful tool that combines specificity and efficiency to unravel the functioning of genes in biological systems and pathological conditions. Recent advances have greatly improved siRNA design and led to the synthesis of large sets of siRNAs that target complete gene families or even the whole human and mouse genomes. These developments have made high-throughput RNAi more accessible to both pharmaceutical companies and academic researchers. The High-Throughput RNAi User Forum aims to facilitate progress, stimulate discussion, and open channels of communication in this field.
Contact: QIAGEN (800) 426-8157; www.qiagen.com
Utah Governor Huntsman Recognizes Medical Laboratory Week
Gov Jon Huntsman (R-Utah) has signed a proclamation declaring April 23 to 29, 2006, as Medical Laboratory Professionals Week in Utah. For the 31st year in a row, this celebratory week, observed nationally by medical laboratory professionals, recognized the contributions of the scientific and technical personnel whose work in the clinical laboratory helps provide the best possible health care.
Attending the governor’s proclamation signing were representatives from: ARUP Laboratories, the University of Utah Department of Pathology, the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science-Utah (ASCLS-Utah), IHC, the Utah Chapter of the Clinical Laboratory Management Association (CLMA), the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), and the University of Utah medical technologist and Salt Lake Community College medical laboratory technician students of the year.
Most people are unaware that nearly 80% of physicians’ decisions regarding patient treatment are based upon information from laboratory test results. These results are provided by the more than 300,000 pathologists, laboratory technologists, and technicians across the United States who perform and interpret laboratory tests that save lives and keep people healthy. Since this career group was developed during the 1920s, the clinical laboratory science professional has played an increasingly vital role in the diagnosis and prevention of disease. Today, the clinical laboratorian is a key member of a health care team.
As team members of one of the largest industries in the United States, the dedicated efforts of laboratory professionals often go unnoticed by the general public as well as by the very institutions that employ their services. With the public now demanding the ensurance of quality health care and professional accountability, organizations representing practitioners of this critical science have a responsibility to ensure that the public is well informed about clinical laboratory competency.
National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week has grown increasingly important over the years as medical laboratory personnel celebrate their profession and are recognized for their efforts on behalf of patients. The week also provides laboratorians an opportunity to inform and educate colleagues and the public about the medical laboratory. Since medical laboratory professionals often work behind the scenes, few people realize how critically important the testing is that they perform every day.
Michele Stuart, MSPH/HSA, MT(ASCP), president of the ASCLS-Utah, and an assistant professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Utah, says that the intent of having the governor sign this proclamation was to bring together various laboratory health care professionals and organizations in Utah. This week gave the University of Utah Medical Laboratory Science Program, and others, the chance to educate the public as well as recruit new students into the program. The University of Utah Department of Pathology Medical Laboratory Science Program offers two baccalaureate degrees (medical technology and cytotechnology) and one master’s of science degree (laboratory medicine and biomedical science).
“Every individual in laboratory science makes a difference to the patients who we ultimately serve each and every day,” says Ronald Weiss, MD, MBA, president and COO of ARUP Laboratories and chairman of the board of directors of the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA). “Together, we commit to put others’ needs before our own. National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week is an opportunity to reaffirm and celebrate that fact.”
Contact: ARUP Labs (800) 522-2787; www.aruplab.com
CAP Approves API’s Proficiency Testing Programs
The College of American Pathologists has approved the clinical proficiency testing programs from the American Proficiency Institute for its laboratory accreditation program.
“I am pleased to advise you that the Commission on Laboratory Accreditation reviewed and approved the American Proficiency Institute program,” says Nikki M. Norris, CAP’s executive vice president.
“We are pleased to have the College join the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COLA, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and state health departments in approving the American Proficiency Institute for use with clinical laboratory accreditation programs,” says Daniel C. Edson, API president. “We welcome all CAP accredited laboratories to consider API for their proficiency testing needs.”
Contact: API (800) 333-0958; www.api-pt.com
UNLV and Franek Present Case Study at AAFS Meeting
Franek Technologies and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Biotechnology Center presented the results of an in-depth return on investment (ROI) analysis during the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS). Studying three critical forensic science and DNA-analysis instruments from Applied Biosystems Inc (ABI), the study showed that the instrumentation-grade power protection provided by Franek Technologies yielded a cost savings of more than $243,000 for a single significant outage (complete loss of power with transients) and an accelerated payback ROI of 8.4:1 (benefit: cost), paying for itself in just 45 days.
These results are relevant for all laboratories that run sensitive instrumentation, especially since power interruptions and disturbances cost US industry more than $119 billion per year. The case study measured electrical power as a critical performance element and analyzed the economic impact of unstable electrical power delivery to vital instrumentation within the UNLV Biotechnology Center Forensic DNA Profiling Training Service Laboratory and Service Business on the Shadow Lane Campus. The instrumentation studied included an ABI Prism 7000 sequence detection system used in DNA analysis; an ABI 3100 Avant genetic analyzer used in separation and analysis of short tandem repeat DNA fragments; and an ABI GeneAmp 9700 PCR. All instruments are used in UNLV’s comprehensive DNA fingerprinting and profiling program for future criminal scientists.
Considering costs associated with problem identification, troubleshooting, recalibration, lost time, damage to the instrumentation, and lost revenue as a result of downtime, the study found a cost savings of more than $243,000 for a single significant outage with the installation of Franek Technologies‚ certified power protection systems. UNLV has experienced power disruptions to its other laboratories, but the DNA program has been immune to spurious power interrupts since the program was first launched in 2003.
The results of this study provided further evidence and substantiation for the biotechnology center that installing the proper protection was required to ensure the quality of power for the laboratory and its highly sensitive instrumentation.
“Laboratories no longer have to rely on hypothetical scenarios or guesswork to justify the need for initial and additional laboratory power protection,” says Walter Goldstein, PhD, coordinator of the biotechnology center at UNLV’s Shadow Lane campus. “This case study puts real numbers to the economic impact of the inherent instability of laboratory power that is so prevalent today. The results show that laboratories operating sensitive instrumentation need to budget for certified laboratory power protection to protect their bottom line.”
Contact: Franek Technologies Inc (800) 326-6480; www.franek.com
Brockville General Implements Misys CPR Brockville General Hospital (BGH), a 103-bed acute care facility located in Brockville, Ontario, Canada, has deployed Misys CPR™, a computer-based patient-record system, only 4 months after signing the contract to purchase it. The implementation of Misys CPR will give BGH’s staff of 600 the ability to access patients’ comprehensive medical records across departments, which will enable them to make more informed clinical decisions.
“Bringing an enterprisewide system live is a monumental undertaking and one that seems a bit overwhelming as you begin it,” says Alasdair Smith, CIO/CFO, BGH. “The implementation of Misys CPR within Brockville General Hospital was successful because of the exemplary commitment from both Misys and the hospital’s dedicated and very motivated project team.”
The rapid, phased implementation to replace BGH’s 15-year-old legacy system began in December 2005. Today, Misys CPR functionality is being used live in the laboratory, radiology, and patient-registration departments, as well as in parts of the hospital’s pharmacy and across the medical-records system.
After the second phase is completed, which is expected by this fall, BGH’s administrators aim to have its physicians using the computerized physician order entry (CPOE) feature within Misys CPR to efficiently place orders, track medication administration, and improve clinical and business-reporting capabilities.
“Within the health care environment, it is a rare hospital that is able to complete the implementation of an enterprise system as quickly as Brockville General Hospital was able to manage,” says Richard Atkin, president of Misys Healthcare Systems’ Hospital Systems business unit. “However, Misys was able to partner with Brockville to meet their aggressive installation schedule by assigning both technical and project-management teams as dedicated resources to the project.”
Misys CPR is one of several products within the Misys Optimum™ family, a line of products designed to achieve interoperability through the sharing of patient information across organizations, health care settings, and technical solutions. Using Misys CPR or other Misys Optimum solutions, physicians and staff work in a connected health care environment, leading to improved efficiency and patient care.
Contact: Misys (800) 877-5678; www.misyshealthcare.com
