Tag Archives: QIAGEN

AMDeC Launches Upgrades, Expands the F.I.R.S.T. Registry

As part of AMDeC’s ongoing efforts to offer programs and services that will increase efficiencies and promote collaboration between biomedical researchers and the academic community, last week the consortium announced that it has implemented upgrades to AMDeC F.I.R.S.T. (Facilities Instrumentation Resources Services Technologies) as well as added information about several new vendor partners. These upgrades will allow searches to be conducted more easily and quickly, streamlining the process of finding resources such as core facilities and other research services. The addition of new vendor partners brings AMDeC’s members more opportunities to minimize research expenses.

Maria Mitchell, president of AMDeC

AMDeC is a consortium of New York-based academic medical research institutions, including Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, with the goal of expediting discovery through collaborations between these institutions and the life science industry. Through resource-sharing and vendor partnership programs, which secure preferred pricing on products and services essential to the life science industry, AMDeC works to facilitate collaboration and the efficient use of resources needed for biomedical research. In addition to existing vendor partners, like Sigma-Aldrich and NuGEN Technologies, recently added vendor partners include QIAGEN and Xiacon.

Russo Partners continues to bring awareness of AMDeC’s services to the members of the consortium through educational events involving vendor partners at member institutions. These events are a key forum to inform members of the services they receive through their AMDeC membership, encouraging them to take advantage of the benefits they receive to support their research. Additionally, these events provide an opportunity for vendors to educate members about their services as well as answer questions about their products.

As AMDeC continues to expand its programs to support biomedical research, Russo Partners looks forward to bringing awareness to new services and products available to AMDeC’s members. You can learn more about AMDeC, its vendor partnership program and the F.I.R.S.T. registry in this interview with AMDeC’s president, Maria Mitchell, published recently in Xconomy: NYC Consortium Promotes Collaboration Among Scientific Researchers.

February in Review: Data, Deals and Many Developments

The Burnham Institute for Medical Research was in the national media spotlight with Nature Structural & Molecular Biology’s publication of a paper written by Robert Liddington, Ph.D.  The paper summarized the work of researchers with Burnham, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control in identifying human monoclonal antibodies that neutralize a wide range of influenza viruses, including avian influenza A (H5N1). Russo Partners coordinated embargoed media outreach for Dr. Liddington that resulted in extensive print and broadcast coverage.

Cougar Biotechnology reported positive data from two Phase II trials of lead compound CB7630, abiraterone acetate, in patients with prostate cancer. Under the leadership of a former top biotech analyst, Alan Auerbach,this Los Angeles-based biopharmaceutical company is turning heads with its impressive data reports for a drug that has potential in multiple treatment settings. Russo Partners’ PR team has secured a radio interview for Alan Auerbach with Bruce Japsen, a Chicago Tribune healthcare business reporter who produces segments for satellite radio news program ReachMD.

Ambrx, a San Diego life sciences company, expanded its relationship with Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, through a collaboration for the development of ARX424, a preclinical product candidate for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. This is the second collaboration between the two companies.  The first involves the development of a long-acting growth hormone that is in Phase II studies. Russo Partners’ PR program for Ambrx has helped to raise the profile of the company’s protein-optimization technology, ReCODE, among the pharma community.

Paris-based Fovea and Cambridge, Mass.-based Dyax entered into a development and commercialization agreement for the ocular formulation of DX-88 for the treatment of retinal diseases.  Fovea is one of the many European companies for which Russo Partners provides U.S. communications support.

Other February highlights included:

-Our coordination of media and investor meetings for multiple clients at the BIO CEO & Investor Conference in New York City

-The taping of an interview segment with Geron’s Tom Okarma and Nightly Business Report’s Susie Gharib for a special 30 Top Innovations episode    

-The handling of media relations for the third consecutive year at the Stem Cell Summit in New York City, where we set up CNBC for live broadcasts that featured interviews of CEOs with presenting companies

-Our coordination of a lengthy science/medicine story planning meeting with one of 60 Minutes’ senior producers

-Our participation in annual investor day events for two market-leading companies: St. Jude Medical and QIAGEN

-The welcoming of several new clients — Amira Pharmaceuticals, Calixa Therapeutics and Savara Pharmaceuticals – to our family of healthcare companies