Hitting the Road with AlcheraBio Archives

Biotechnology Industry Organization June 2005 Annual Meeting
On 2 August 2004, The Minor Use and Minor Species Animal Health Act of 2004 was signed into law in the US. Subsequently, the US Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine (FDA CVM) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Research Support Project #7 (NRSP-7) cosponsored an international workshop on minor use and minor species in Rockville, MD, US on October 7 and 8.

More than eighteen thousand people convened at BIO 2005 in Philadelphia in June. Our impression is that while more representatives of the animal health industry attended the meeting, there was less for them to do at BIO than in recent years.
In previous years, BIO has been very light on programming related to the animal health industry. In fact, for many years AlcheraBio has been suggesting a panel highlighting the deal activity between the biotech industry and animal health. This year a panel presentation on animal health, entitled “Investing in Healthy Animals,” was presented.

The panel presentation was introduced by Leslie Hickle, PhD, of Diversa Corporation. Dr Hickle pointed out that biotechnology can be applied to animal health, and animal health represents an excellent commercial opportunity for companies looking to expand the applications of their technologies. (We couldn’t agree more!) She listed some good reasons why investing in or exploring animal applications for technologies makes business sense.
Presentations were made by panelists Thomas Overbay, DVM, director of business development at Ft. Dodge Animal Health; Matthew Roberts, PhD, MBA, director, technology transfer and new ventures, Nestle Purina Pet Care; and Butch Mercer, global business leader, animal health and food safety, Dow AgroSciences, LLC.

Their comments had a similar theme – these companies are eager to review technology from biotechnology companies that might have animal health applications.
Regulators from CVM were at BIO to discuss the latest news on the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) guidance related to animal products from cloned animals. Scott Davis, president, Exeter Life Sciences, chaired the panel discussion in which John Matheson, senior regulatory scientist, and Larisa Rudenko, senior advisor for biotechnology, explained the risk assessment of cloned animals, the extensive process involved, and the fact that there was, in fact, no news. The cloning companies were represented by Irina Polejaeva, CSO, ViaGen, and Alejandro Cantarelli, president and CEO, CyAgra, Inc. Dr Polejaeva outlined the progress in swine cloning efficiency that her company has achieved, and Dr Cantarelli described the extensive data set his company generated and provided to the CVM to demonstrate the equivalence of cloned animals and animals produced reproductively. He reported that his company had provided the CVM with data from 140 cloned beef cattle, and the information supplied included data on blood and urine parameters, and meat composition.

Whereas a few years ago, one could walk the exhibit floor and see a number of references to companies using involved in various aspects of animal biotechnology, this year they had virtually vanished from BIO. We found few companies that were openly discussing new technologies and drugs for veterinary medicine. One exception to this was Novoplant, from Germany, which had a new brochure on the potential for its plant based proteins and antibodies for the treatment of animals. Tufts Veterinary College had a booth to highlight its services as a contract research lab, but they indicated that most of their business is developing animal models for human disease.

So what has changed? Do biotech companies now see a mention of animal applications as something to avoid? Are the companies working in animal health not interested in having a presence at BIO? It is interesting how the interest in veterinary applications waxes and wanes at this important meeting. We hope that the industry representatives that did have the time and interest to attend come back next year, as 2006 in Chicago may be a better year for animal health.

Note: This is a condensed version of AlcheraBio’s article Biotechnology Industry Organization 2005 Annual Meeting: Where was Animal Health?, which appeared in the 22 July 2005 issue of AnimalPharm (no. 569 22).

American Academy of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics (AAVPT)
11th Biennial Symposium: May 16-18, Rockville, MD
The 11th AAVPT Symposium brought together representatives from the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), academia, and industry under the umbrella theme “Challenges and Insights.” Plenary, regulatory, scientific and academic sessions covered a broad range of topics relevant to pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD). Though it is not possible to summarize all of these valuable and intriguing sessions here, some of the presentations of particular interest to representatives of the animal health industry included:

* Veterinary Medicine: Future Challenges and Directions, presented by Dr. Steven Vaughn of the CVM Office of New Animal Drug Evaluation. Dr. Vaughn acknowledged that today’s environment presents challenges for the industry. He shared his beliefs that “the days of having a flagship molecule that, once fully developed, met the financial needs of the industry has gone into history” and that “with . . . less money available for R&D, funds must be used more judiciously.” Dr. Vaughn encouraged the industry to “look to biotechnology for new products to tackle some of the more difficult therapeutic and production challenges such as gene therapy for cancer, gene insertion to produce animals resistant to specific diseases, increased production efficiency and the production of healthier foods.” However, how regulators will handle such products remains to be seen. Interestingly, the issue of animal health products and programs to maintain the health of valuable transgenic animals was not raised, but this may be because the CVM has not yet released its position on the regulatory aspects or regulatory path of transgenics.

* Dr. M. Gatz Riddell, Jr., assistant professor, associate professor and professor in the Department of Large Animal Surgery and Medicine, Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine and an official of the AABP, spoke about Unmet Needs in Veterinary Medicine. In his opinion, human food safety concerns and the economic realities of the production-animal environment may limit the opportunity to develop new products to meet the needs of food producing animals. However, bovine respiratory disease (BRD) and parasites are conditions that “will drive themselves,” and product improvements and/or new products can be expected. Dr. Riddell noted that cancer, seizure disorders, and behavioral disorders represent unmet needs in companion animals. Challenges in dealing with unmet needs include: lack of prevalence data, lack of disease modeling, human drugs that are effective in animals but have been removed from the market (e.g., DES), and the fact that “powerful drugs have powerful effects.”

* Dr. Stefan Soback of Kimron Veterinary Institute in Israel addressed Antimicrobial Resistance Transfer – Science or Emotions. He began by pointing out the potential power of a single study by explaining that one paper in Nature (Mann et al, 1998) was the catalyst for concern about global warming. According to Dr. Soback there are parallels between this example and the way in which speculation has evolved about the involvement of animal health drugs in the development of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in humans. Dr. Soback noted that “antimicrobial resistance transfer has become one of the biggest issues in veterinary therapy,” and reminded the audience that resistance can evolve in ways unrelated to the use of drugs. He reviewed several studies and highlighted DANMAP, the ongoing monitoring of the use of antimicrobials and humans in Denmark. Denmark banned antimicrobial growth promoters (AGPs) in 1998. DANMAP reveals “a constant increase in therapeutic antibiotic use” ever since AGPs were banned – in fact, “the use of therapeutic antibiotics in 2003 is 212% of the 1996 level, while human use of antibiotics increased by 10%.” According to Dr. Sobeck, DANMAP data suggest “no indication of resistance transfer from animals to humans.” The intricacies of DANMAP cannot be covered in detail here, but you can access DANMAP’s 2003 report at: http://www.dfvf.dk/Files/Filer/Zoonosecentret/Publikationer/Danmap/Danmap_2003.pdf.
Dr. Soback concluded that “There are very few data available to analyze the situation with any degree of certainty . . . At present no solid scientific evidence exists to support the thesis of resistance transfer in any significant amount from animals to humans. Therefore, this issue still remains as much emotional as it is scientific.”
Kudos to the cross-disciplinary AAVPT Program Committee, co-chaired by Dr. Marilyn Martinez of FDA CVM and Dr. Jane Owens Clark of Elanco Animal Health, that put the Symposium together.(Back to Top)

CBI Animal Health Marketing Conference: March 31-April 1, Washington DC
The Center for Business Intelligence, a provider of conferences in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, risk, insurance and managed care markets, recently held its inaugural animal health marketing workshop and conference.

CBI cast a wide net, offering preconference workshops on modeling methodologies for return-on-investment and integrating online and offline activities, and covering many aspects of animal health during the main conference. For example:

* Dr. Martine Hartogensis of the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) provided an overview of how the FDA reviews promotional activities and gave some examples of recent enforcement activities.
* A panel addressing veterinary compounding provided perspectives from key stakeholders, including Julie Spagnoli of Bayer Healthcare LLC Animal Health Division, representing industry; practitioner Dr. Dennis Feinberg, president of the American Animal Hospital Association; and L.D. King, executive director of the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists.
* A presentation by Dr. Carol Haley of Pfizer Animal Health raised thought-provoking questions regarding the issue of what is and is not off-label promotion and whether FDA CVM’s recommendation that animal health companies follow FDA/CDER’s Division of Drug Marketing and Communication (DDMAC’s) policies is appropriate for animal health.

Peer to peer exchanges, one of which focused on the marketing ramifications of the gender shift in the veterinary profession and was led by AlcheraBio Senior Partner Dr. Linda Rhodes. The exchange followed a presentation by John Mannhaupt of Brakke Consulting, in which he outlined a number of factors that influence veterinarians. His presentation cited a significant disparity in earnings of female versus male veterinarians working in comparable situations (you guess who made less money!)– a perfect lead-in to the gender shift session.
* A presentation by Don Carr, president of Pegasus Training, highlighted ways to drive growth by developing good relationships and communication between sales and marketing teams. Such relationships can improve effectiveness, avoid wasting resources, and enhance the impact of the sales force on the marketing function.
* A panel moderated by AlcheraBio Partner Katherine Moldave presented two first-in-class case studies, one by Dr. Bill Ryan of Ryan-Mitchell Associates and another by Guido Tassitano, a former executive director at Merck AgVet and Merial. Dr. Ryan focused on launching an animal health version of a drug already in use in human health and Mr. Tassitano described a strategy by which a novel molecule was developed into a variety of products.
* Gilles Guillemette, executive vice president of sales and marketing for VetCentric, discussed how the internet can be used to combine the expertise of a client’s own veterinarian with the convenience of home delivery of animal health drugs.

An interesting aspect of the conference was the presence of several types of human-health support service providers who have recognized that animal health may represent an opportunity to expand.

According to CBI, CDs of the proceedings of the conference are still available. Call
1-800-817-8601 for information.(Back to Top)

Minor Use and Minor Species Workshop: 7-8 October 2004
On 2 August 2004, The Minor Use and Minor Species Animal Health Act of 2004 was signed into law in the US. Subsequently, the US Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine (FDA CVM) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Research Support Project #7 (NRSP-7) cosponsored an international workshop on minor use and minor species in Rockville, MD, US on October 7 and 8.

Although the workshop did not focus solely on this particular legislation, its provisions were reviewed. The new law modifies existing regulations in three key ways:

  • Conditional approval, which enables a sponsor to make a drug available for an extendable five-year period “before collecting all necessary effectiveness data, but after proving the drug is safe.”
  • Indexing, which can be applied in cases in which “the potential market for a minor species drug is just too small to ever support the costs of the drug approval process, even under a conditional approval.” In these cases, FDA is empowered to add the drug to an index of legally marketed unapproved new animal drugs.
  • Designation, which provides “incentives” such as grants to support safety and effectiveness testing.

Speakers from the European Union, Africa, Japan, Latin America, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, and the US and EU animal health industries presented their perspectives on the complexities involved in developing and implementing processes for seeking approval for minor use and minor species products in their respective regions. There is considerable variability in how drugs for minor uses and minor species are handled in different markets. In many instances there are few if any set procedures for obtaining approvals and frequently veterinary drugs are used off-label for minor uses and minor species.
For a summary of the US MUMS legislation, click here: http://www.fda.gov/cvm/index/updates/mums804.htm. (Back to Top)

BioContact 2004 Quebec City, Quebec, Canada: 6-8 October 2004
We were happy to return to BioContact, an excellent Canadian biotechnology meeting that is big enough to have great content and variety, and small enough that it is easy to meet old and new friends. A few companies highlighted the work they are doing in the animal health field:

  • SemBioSys, the transgenic plant company with the unique oil body technology, was reported on a deal with DowAgro Sciences to investigate the production of veterinary vaccine antigens in plants, and also highlighted the work they are doing in collaboration with Aqua Bounty Technologies on production of carp growth hormone in plants, for use in aquaculture.
  • Biophage, a Montreal company, is developing phage treatments for Salmonella and E. coli in animals. They have recently received Canadian government permission to field test their phage therapies.
  • Active Pass Pharmaceuticals has identified animal health as an area with promise for their technology. They focus on developing a treatment for secretory diarrhea.
    A few others interested in animal health were in attendance, including the venture capital group, Foragen, and various people from Bioniche, who were presenting their human cancer work. We continue to observe that animal health is not on the radar screen of most companies, but there is a variety of technologies that might be applicable to unmet needs in animal health. This would be an excellent meeting for business development people from the large animal health companies to find some first rate science, with promising business potential.(Back to Top)

Second International Symposium on Nonsurgical Contraceptive Methods for Pet Population Control, Breckenridge CO, US: 24-27 June 2004
The symposium, held under the auspices of the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs, reviewed the research related to nonsurgical contraception in companion animals, it began addressing the issues related to moving from research to product development and commercialization. Attendees included company representatives, academicians, and representatives from a number of organizations. Sessions included: Contraceptives for Cats and Dogs: From the Laboratory to the Market, Pet Contraception and Animal Population Control: Different Needs and Different Markets, Pricing, Can Non-Profits Directly Sponsor Contraceptive Development?, Can We Learn from How the Population Council Succeeded?, Overview of Regulatory Requirements and Updates on Ongoing Scientific Research, and Research Updates, and Implementing Contraceptive Strategies for Cats and Dogs.

Throughout the symposium, a common theme emerged – one approach does not “fit all.”

Translating basic research from the academic lab to the marketplace requires a development plan, which in turn involves cooperation among scientists, animal health companies, funding sources, regulators, and organizations. ACC&D has shown that it can bring the key players together to listen to and talk with one another. The organization’s second symposium challenged these groups to move beyond technologies and to formulate and implement a product-development strategy that reflects the diversity of the market, the need for several types of products, and the fact that traditional development models will not solve overpopulation problems.

AlcheraBio was instrumental in organizing this symposium and AlcheraBio founders, Dr. L. Rhodes and K. Moldave were among the speakers. See Alchera News for more information on our participation.(Back to Top)

BIOTECH 2003, Jersey City, NJ 29 – 30 September 2003
BIOTECH 2003, a joint symposium of the Biotechnology Council of New Jersey
(www.newjerseybiotech.org) and the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Association (www.pabiotech.org), was a gathering of the region’s biotechnology community. We decided to find out more about the biotech industry in our neighborhood, and were impressed with the scope of the meeting.

General sessions included an overview of the biotechnology industry and keynote addresses by Irwin Lerner, chairman and director of Medarex, Inc., and Michel deRosen, president and CEO of ViroPharma, Inc. (former CEO of Rhone-Poulenc Pharma/Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, now part of Aventis). Panel presentation topics ranged from regulatory affairs, university research, and recent trends to partnering strategies, finance, and emerging areas such as biodefense.

Presenters representing the investment community felt that the biotechnology sector is recovering and noted that 29% of first-round investments by venture capitalists in 2002 were in biotech. Speakers noted the following trends in human health:

  • An increase in biotech/biotech and small pharma deals
  • Big pharma looking at earlier stage technologies
  • More FDA approvals in 2002 of products licensed or acquired from biotech companies than from internal R&D at big pharma
  • 55% of the top 20 big pharma human health drugs were in-licensed in 2002


Will these trends find their way to the animal health industry? All could represent opportunities to companies looking to leverage their human health technologies in the area of veterinary medicine. We plan to add more local companies to our client mix, and this meeting was a great place to begin to network. (Back to Top)

 

BIO 2003, Washington, DC 22 – 25 June 2003
 The 2003 Bio Industry Organization (www.bio.org) convention was held in the new, cavernous convention center in downtown Washington, DC, US. More than 15,000 people took part, including attendees from North America, Europe, and Asia. We always enjoy this big meeting for the breadth of information we gain, and of course, for the great parties – BIO knows how to organize big events.

This was our 3rd BIO meeting and everywhere we turned, it seemed, we ran into friends and clients. This year, when we mentioned animal health, we seemed to get more of a receptive response – more interest in the veterinary opportunities for new technologies. The word seems to be starting to spread – there is value in these opportunities, and companies are looking for deals.

This year’s program included a Food and Agriculture track, sponsored by Bayer Crop Science, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont Agriculture and Nutrition, Monsanto Company, and Syngenta Corporation – clearly a food-related emphasis. Nonetheless, several sessions covered topics that either touched on animal health or could be expanded in the future to embrace animal health issues. “The Future of Animal Biotechnology in Livestock Production. A Science and Regulatory Policy Roundtable on Agricultural Biotechnology” focused on the US and featured representatives of USDA-APHIS, EPA, and FDA. The reviewed the history of regulations covering transgenic and cloned animals. The emphasis, however, was on cloned animals and the panel’s comments indicated that these agencies are not yet ready to discuss the issue of transgenic animals in such a forum.

There were a number of companies at BIO 2003 involved in programs using transgenic animals or genetically based technology. Some of the companies “talking transgenics” or animal genetics at the convention included:

  • Aqua Bounty Farms (St.John’s, Newfoundland, Canada)
  • Bioagri (Los Angeles, CA, US)
  • BioProtein Technologies (Paris, France)
  • Biopsytec (Berlin, Germany)
  • Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Montreal, QC, Canada)
  • Genetic Solutions (Albion, QLD, Australia)
  • GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Framingham, MA, US)
  • Infigen (DeForest, WI, US)
  • LG Life Sciences Animal Health (Seoul, S. Korea)
  • Nexia Biotechnologies (Vaudreuil-Dorion, QC, Canada)
  • Novoplant GmBH (Gatersleben, Germany)
  • Prolinea (Athens, GA)/Viagen, Inc. (Austin, TX, US)
  • Pyxis Genomics (Chicago, IL, US)
  • TransOva (Sioux City, IA, US)
  • TranXenogen Inc. (Shrewsbury, MA, US)

BIO 2003 demonstrated that animal health and biotechnology companies are forming alliances. We still get the impression that animal health as an opportunity has not yet found its way into the biotechnology mainstream – there were a lot of companies with technology that could work for veterinary medicine, who are not thinking of this market. For information about the upcoming BIO 2004 in San Francisco next June, visit www.bio.org.
(Back to Top)

13th Biennial Symposium of the American Academy of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 3-5 June 2003, Charlotte, NC
Innovation was the focus of the AAVPT symposium in North Carolina, sponsored by a variety of animal health pharmaceutical companies, including Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., Novartis Animal Health US, Inc., Eli Lilly, Bayer Healthcare, Animal Health division, Merial, Vetoquinol, and Jurox Pty. Ltd. Proceedings are available at
http://www.aavpt.org/.

This was a great meeting for seeing colleagues and hearing the latest in veterinary research. The title of the AAVPT Symposium was “The Cutting Edge” and the focus was on new approaches to therapeutics. Talks ranged from alternatives to antibiotics, such as antimicrobial peptides, to gene therapy using gene constructs delivering feline erythropoieten as a long-term therapy. Several talks focused on pharmacogenomics – defining the genetics of drug response in sub-populations of animals. Finally there were a couple of presentations on unique delivery systems for peptides. It was good to see a presence by the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, with a talk by Dr. Bernadette Dunham on the proposed new minor use, minor species act.

As always, the best talks were in the hallways, where people from academia, industry and the CVM get to interact in less formal ways. Seeing old friends from industry, and even a few professors from my veterinary school days was a real treat. It looks like this is a meeting that will be added to our schedule as a regular feature. (Back to Top)

Biofutures 2002, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 21-22 November 2002
AlcheraBio was represented at Biofutures 2002 by Dr. Linda Rhodes, who not only attended this small but productive conference, but was a speaker as well. Advancing Our Double Helix World: Biofutures 2002 primarily highlighted Canadian human-health biotech companies and offered a rare session on agricultural biotechnology. Called AgBiotech: Beyond the Farm, the symposium was chaired by Dr. Maurice Maloney, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary and Chief Scientific Officer of SemBioSys, who discussed the use of plants as manufacturing systems for pharmaceuticals. Dr. Rhodes spoke on The Impact of Biotechnology on Animal Health and Productivity. Her talk covered the genome sequencing of farm animals, cloning, new diagnostic testing for genomic traits, and the leading companies in these areas. Dr. Bob Hancock, professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of British Columbia also spoke on new technology to study the immune response in animals. Biofuture 2002 was a small but high quality meeting in a spectacular setting of mountains and ocean. It was a pleasure to see AgBiotech incorporated into the program, and we hope more biotechnology meetings will follow suit. (Back to Top)

BIO 2002
BIO 2002, Toronto
BIO 2002 Biotechnology Industry Organization International Biotechnology Convention and Exhibition, June 9-12, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Once again, the annual BIO convention and exhibition was an extravaganza of science, business, learning, meetings with clients and potential clients, and making new contacts. BIO 2002 drew 15,600 registrants (about 3,500 more than BIO 2001), and 1,055 exhibitors (about 250 more than last year) to Toronto in early June. More than 50 countries were represented – several for the first time.

While BIO 2002 was bigger than last year’s event in San Diego, the number of companies presenting at the Investor Forum decreased from 350 to 234. We speculate that the reasons for this run the gamut – some companies have the funding they need, some companies chose not to travel to Toronto, and some companies haven’t been able to ride out the tough economic times. Nonetheless, BIO continues to highlight the exciting advances that characterize biotechnology and emerging life sciences.

We’re happy to report that this year, animal health took center stage at least twice.

  • MetaMorphix, Inc. chose the BIO 2002 venue to announce an exclusive agreement with Caprock Cattle Feeders and Excel Corporation, both part of Cargill, Incorporated, to develop and implement genomic selection tools that allow cattle breeders and feedlot operators to meet consumer demands for consistency and tenderness. According to a joint MetaMorphix/Cargill press release, MetaMorphix anticipates spending more than $100 million over the next few years to develop a major genomic franchise in the livestock industry. Initially, Caprock and Excel will provide $10 million to MetaMorphix to support the development of innovative selection products for cattle. The tools are possible only through the use of the newly sequenced cattle genome and its SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) maps announced by MetaMorphix and Celera Genomics. MetaMorphix applies genomics and proteomics to livestock production and animal health.

  • Paul A. Stewart, who manages Global Business Development for Elanco Animal Health, was one of the presenters and panelists in a symposium session focusing on Partnership Opportunities for food and agriculture biotechnology companies. He emphasized efficacy, quality and usability of intellectual property, sales potential, and willingness to share risk as some of the most important aspects of successful partnerships between biotechnology and established animal health companies.

    Other speakers included Dr. Linda Yaswin-Corkery, VP of Business Development at MetaMorphix, Inc., who noted that the global livestock market is worth $1 trillion and shared her company’s business model for adding value in that market; Andrew Baum, President and CEO of SemBioSys Genetics, Inc., who shared many lessons learned and reminded the audience that “any deal you [biotech companies] do is strategic; for the big pharma company the deal is tactical;” and Roger E. Wyse, Managing Director of Burill & Company, who reviewed the 2001 deal scene and pointed out that few ag and animal health deals are managed optimally after they’re signed. MetaMorphix Chair/CEO/President Dr. Ed Quattlebaum, a member of the BIO board of directors, chaired the symposium.

We also found a greater acknowledgement of animal health as a market among exhibitors than at BIO 2001. In fact, representatives of a number of companies were eager to discuss the potential for animal health and there were fewer raised eyebrows when we spoke with our fellow attendees about what we do at AlcheraBio.

And, the collectors among you will want to know that this year’s most popular giveaways on the exhibition floor included stuffed polar bears and goats, stingray squeezies, and a gooey model of the human heart. Once again we succumbed to the temptation of Belgian chocolates, wine and cheese, ice cream bars, and a variety of cleverly packaged mints. Unfortunately though, we didn’t win the PDA, the mountain bike, the robot dog, the Harley-Davidson jacket, or the trip to see polar bears migrate – maybe next year, when BIO 2003 will be held in Washington, D.C. (Back to Top)

International Symposium on Nonsurgical Methods for Pet Population Control
sponsored by ACCD (The Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs)
April 19-21, 2002
Pine Mountain, GA
Spring comes early to the southeastern US, and it’s particularly welcome after a gray winter. So the prospect of combining a short trip to Georgia with taking part in an international forum devoted to one of the most compelling issues in animal health led us to head south for the first International Symposium of Nonsurgical Methods for Pet Population Control.

ACCD (http://www.vetmed.vt.edu/ACCD/) was formed to address the issue of controlling fertility and contraception in companion and feral animals. For its inaugural symposium, ACCD gathered an impressive international array of researchers, shelter organizations, animal health and biotech companies. The symposium was coordinated by The Scott-Ritchey Research Center of the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine and sponsored by PETsMart Charities, The Kenneth A. Scott Charitable Trust, Scott-Ritchey Research Center, and Virginia Tech.

Two dozen speakers, including AlcheraBio’s own Dr. Linda Rhodes, addressed four crucial areas: Pet Overpopulation and Strategies for Control; Contraceptive Vaccines; Contraceptive Drugs; and Regulation, Funding and Marketing of Contraceptive Products.

It is clear that the issue of nonsurgical contraception/fertility control is in fact several issues and that more than one product is needed to satisfy the needs of a marketplace that is more diverse than it might initially appear. New data were presented on contraceptive vaccines (antigens include GnRH and porcine zona pellucida) and on GnRH agonist implants.

The symposium went beyond presentations of the research, addressing population data, strategies for controlling overpopulation, methodology for assessing the success of trap, neuter, and release (TNR) programs, general requirements for FDA submissions and approvals, foundation-sourced funding, and Dr. Rhodes’ talk on the role of the pharmaceutical industry in bringing a product to market.

In her remarks, Linda noted that although research in nonsurgical methods of companion-animal contraception/fertility control has been ongoing for more than 30 years, no product is on the market as yet. This is due to a number of factors, including the complexity, duration, and expense of the technology transfer, drug development, approval, manufacturing, and commercialization process. Yet the need is real and the markets significant, and, fortunately, some companies, both large and small, have become interested enough in developing nonsurgically based contraception and/or fertility control products to make the investment necessary to create pet contraceptives.(Back to Top)

Biocontact 2001, Quebec City, Canada
Biocontact 2001, October 10-12, 2001, Quebec, Canada
Early October – warm weather and beautiful fall leaves – a wonderful time for a road trip from New Jersey to Quebec for Biocontact 2001. It was a journey that allowed us to touch base in person with AlcheraBio clients in Canada and to make promising new contacts as well. (It was also a trip during which we discovered we can change a tire on a Volvo in 5 minutes – twice).

Biocontact is an annual meeting at the legendary Château Frontenac in the fabulous city of Quebec, where a provincial government initiative to support biotechnology is producing exciting results. Though the focus at Biocontact is on presentations by Canadian companies and universities, firms from other provinces, Europe, Asia, and the US were represented too.

Though Biocontact is not nearly as big as the yearly BIO meeting and doesn’t include exhibits, it’s easier to meet with key people in depth and the schedule is less hectic. This year about 2000 people and 190 companies took part in sessions on cancer, vaccines, inflammation, genomics/proteomics, drug delivery, immunology, infection, neurology, cardiology, and endocrinology.

While there’s some wonderful science emerging from the biotech industry in Canada, awareness of the potential for animal health applications of biotechnology was about the same as it was at BIO 2001 – with a few notable exceptions, company representatives either had not considered animal health applications or were unclear about what they might be worth and how to pursue them. We found that one-on-one conversations with company leaders opened minds and generated a great deal of interest, and we hope that we will be able to work with several of these companies – we’ve already scheduled our first Canadian meeting of 2002! (Back to Top)

BIO 2001, San Diego
BIO 2001 Biotechnology Industry Organization International Biotechnology Convention and Exhibition, June 24-27, 2001, San Diego, California

It was the BIG annual meeting of the biotech world – three days of business and science sessions and seminars, with more than 350 technology, investor and corporate partnering presentations and 750+ exhibitors. Twelve thousand attendees packed the San Diego convention center, and we heard more than a dozen languages – truly the premier international biotech event.

The core of the meeting was the Investor and Partnering Forum, which consisted of 15-minute company presentations. The ideas, platforms, systems, and products biotechnology is producing are fascinating and varied, and the entrepreneurial spirit behind them is energizing. (Of course, we also had lots of fun meeting companies on the exhibition floor, where we filled our bags with squeeze toys, pens, post-it notes, and other giveaways, not to mention feasting on Belgian chocolates, pina coladas, fruit, ice cream and coffee).

But we didn’t travel across the country just to enjoy the freebies or the great San Diego sunshine. We wanted to find out firsthand how the animal health business is fitting into the world of biotechnology. We weren’t terribly surprised to see that veterinary medicine was not on the minds of most attendees. Though the number is growing, few biotech companies have had the opportunity to recognize the value of animal health as a market – but we did identify plenty of companies that have promising technologies applicable to animal health.

When approached, a few company representatives seemed truly receptive to this idea; others told us they’d considered animal health but didn’t know how to pursue the opportunity; and still others just thought we were crazy! One representative from a cancer therapy company (which shall remain nameless) said, "Don’t they just shoot dogs that get cancer?" He was a bit abashed when informed that our Senior Partner is a veterinarian (and a dog owner) and yes, people did do chemotherapy for dogs with tumors.

A symposium on agriculture and biotechnology was standing room only, but the emphasis was on edible vaccines for humans, genetically based improvements in crops, and therapeutic protein and antibody production in plants. As interesting as the session was, it confirmed our feeling that there is a need in the industry for information biotechnology companies can use to ascertain whether the animal health market offers them financial or strategic value – meeting that need is part of what we do. (Back to Top)