“Farm Bill energy programs are working and BIO member companies are beginning to put steel in the ground,” Greenwood said. He highlighted several companies that have biorefineries today as a result of these programs, including INEOS Bio New Planet Energy in Florida, Myriant in Louisiana, and ZeaChem in Oregon.
Greenwood urged the committee to reauthorize the Farm Bill energy programs, such as the Biorefinery Assistance Program, BCAP, and the Biobased Markets Program, with meaningful mandatory funding to allow them to continue to spur America’s energy and agricultural future.
Farm Bill energy programs have had a tremendous positive impact in revitalizing rural America, helping new agricultural markets emerge, and reducing the need for direct payments to farmers. These programs have unlocked private capital for construction of the nation’s first cellulosic and advanced biofuel biorefineries; put more than 150,000 acres of underutilized farmland in more than 150 counties into production raising next generation energy crops; and led to an explosion of renewable chemicals innovation, demonstration and early commercialization here in the United States. For a modest federal investment a high rate of return has been achieved in terms of viable projects funded and operating.
Renewable energy is cleaner, safer and healthier. We cannot afford to wait to fund renewable energy projects that can create permanent jobs in rural America. Now is not the time to abandon these forward-looking, high return programs.
Other panelists echoed Greenwood’s sentiments in their testimony that energy program funding is necessary to continue bringing these innovative technologies to market and are a vital component to the bipartisan all of the above energy strategy of the United States. Stroschein of the Agriculture Energy Coalition warned that not funding these programs leaves other countries poised to leap ahead in clean energy technologies undermining our national and economic security.
Greenwood added that these energy programs allow American farmers and foresters to play the role they can – and must – play in producing domestic energy and therefore improving national security and rural economic prosperity.
Celiac disease is one of the most common autoimmune conditions in the U.S. but frequently goes undiagnosed. The cause is currently unknown and it can develop at any point in life. People who have a relative with the disease are more likely to develop it, and women are more likely than men to have it.
When people with celiac disease eat food with gluten, their immune system reacts by damaging areas of the lining of their intestines. Symptoms can vary from patient to patient but can include abdominal pain, bloating, gas, indigestion, nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite and unexplained weight loss. This variance in symptoms is one reason celiac disease can be difficult to diagnose.
There is currently no cure for celiac disease but it can be managed with a gluten-free diet. Wheat, barley, and rye contain gluten but other grains (including quinoa, buckwheat, millet and amaranth) do not.
Dr. Peter H.R. Green, Director of The Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University and Professor of Clinical Medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York City, spoke with BIOtechNow to raise awareness of what celiac disease is, how it is diagnosed and the treatment options.
Cancer Genetics has nixed plans to launch an initial public offering this week, having planned to raise $48 million to advance a pipeline of molecular diagnostics for cancer, Renaissance Capital reported Thursday. Last week Rib-X Pharmaceuticals delayed its own IPO, following a history of biotechs struggling to trade their shares on the public market. Seeking Alpha reasoned this week that Cancer Genetics' IPO might be small enough to slip through even though Wall Street has been bracing for the blockbuster maiden offering of Facebook. Guess not. Item
Over the last few years, the whole drug R&D ecosystem has been undergoing a sea change. Productivity in R&D on the Big Pharma side of the equation has been abysmal. And on the biotech side the emphasis has been on capital efficiency and cutting-edge innovation--which don't necessarily go hand in hand.
As a result of these forces, we're seeing pharma breaking down many of the old barriers that had been established to guard the research castle. Pharma scientists are being reorganized into smaller groups and redeployed to get closer to the top development hubs, while companies restructure internal research divisions from soup to nuts. And biotechs have been springing up in the richest fields aiming to advance disruptive ideas, increasingly looking to partner up with pharma at a very early stage of development.
Getting to mid-stage proof of concept data on a careful budget is now one of the most demanding mandates in the industry. And I'll be moderating a breakfast panel on June 19 with a group of experts who will explore just how this trend is reshaping the way drugs are discovered and developed.
Joining us at the Westin Waterfront in Boston will be Jason Gardner, head of the Center of Excellence in External Drug Discovery for GlaxoSmithKline; "Mene" Pangalos, executive vice president, innovative medicine, at AstraZeneca; Jim Burns, head of the Sanofi Boston R&D hub; biotech veteran Jill Milne, who helped found the virtual biotech company Catabasis Pharmaceuticals; and Bernard Munos, the founder of the InnoThink Center for Research in Biomedical Innovation, one of the most influential industry voices calling for change in R&D.
We're hosting this discussion as an affiliated event to the big BIO annual confab. So if you're already in Boston, or planning to attend BIO, I hope to see you there. It's one of the most important discussions now under way in biopharma. You won't want to miss it. And if there's something you'd like to tell me about, be sure to come by after the breakfast. I'm staying until the last guest leaves. Register for the breakfast here. -- John Carroll, Editor-in-Chief. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Over the last few years, the whole drug R&D ecosystem has been undergoing a sea change. Productivity in R&D on the Big Pharma side of the equation has been abysmal. And on the biotech side the emphasis has been on capital efficiency and cutting-edge innovation--which don't necessarily go hand in hand.