This Week’s Biotech Highlights

Here’s a biotech countdown from the past week:

Six blog reactions were collected to In re Kubin, a U.S. patent case that invalidated one of Amgen’s DNA patent.

Five firsts appeared in this week’s science review collecting Canadian science developments, including stem cell news in cancer and blood.

Four billion dollars of economic activity was attributed to the Life Sciences sector in Delaware, and Arizona published some new data as well.

Three kinds of tech – biotech, cleantech and high-tech – got together in Illinois to strengthen support for a $25 million grant and tax break initiative.

Two new stories on genetically-modified crops came out this week. In one, the Union of Concerned Scientists claim that GM crops don’t increase productivity, a claim that even they admit is only marginally relevant; and in the other, Germany moved ahead to ban Monsanto’s GM corn (which it had previously licensed).

One group was left out of this week’s Federal Trade Commission hearings: biotech. Still, the FTC’s ongoing effort to think about the intersection of IP and Antitrust is encouraging.

Phase zero – the first example of a new pre-phase-I clinical trial came from the National Cancer Institute for a drug in Abbott’s pipelinine.

That’s all for now, but keep an eye out for more at the Cross-Border Biotech Blog.