This Week’s Biotech Highlights

Victory is in the air this week in biotech. Not all news was good — early stage venture capital and U.S. biotech company Tengion have had better weeks — but mostly… victory.

The Gairdner Awards announced its 51st set of winners, highlighting the usual range of amazing advances in molecular biology and honouring local biotech maven Dr. Cal Stiller for “outstanding leadership in medicine and medical science.”

BIOTECanada also announced awards. for companies went to OncoGenex , iCo Therapeutics and CO2 Solution. The presentation will be at the BIO conference in May.

Many companies were victorious in the marketplace too. Regulatory milestones brought significant share price jumps as Allon and Æterna Zentaris had products receive “fast track” status from the FDA. 

Even the Cross-Border Biotech Blog scored a victory this week. A trend we have championed since the inception of the blog was validated virtually verbatim by none other than NIH chief Francis Collins. Stay tuned for more prescient prognostication.