Quanticate

Posted on July 24, 2012June 10, 2013 by Valentina Rosa

Imagine being the world leader in your field with a 93% return rate of customers—amazing right? Well, you don’t have to imagine this if you’re Quanticate since it’s their reality.

Quanticate is the world’s largest Global Clinical Research Organization (CRO). They focus on data services for their customers. According to their website the company provides “clinical data management, biostatistics, clinical programming, medical writing, pharmacovigilance services and remote monitoring approaches.” Their service saves their customers over 30% of the cost to perform the services themselves. They serve every stage of clinical trials from Phase I to Late Phase, as well as PK PD Modeling. Across the board, Quanticate provides the greatest expertise in all of their fields of service, and are compliant with all standards.

How could you go wrong with a company that is a world leader and will save you money? You can’t, and their customers have discovered this too. If you’re running a clinical trial or need to use the services of a CRO, Quanticate is worth serious consideration. Go on, become part of the 93% of customers that come back for more! Be sure to let us know what you think.

BIO 2012: A New Map to the World

Posted on June 29, 2012June 10, 2013 by Valentina Rosa

What is the most direct route from Pennsylvania to South Dakota? I found it’s easiest to cross through Italy and Germany until you reach New Jersey, then go through Minnesota until you arrive in South Dakota. You may think I have a bit of a messed up GPS, however my map is right—Welcome to BIO.

This year the annual BIO International Conference was held in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The floor held over 65 countries and more than 30 country pavilions. Forty-eight states sent representatives to be on the show room floor– as someone on the floor described it, the showroom was “The UN of Biotech.”

Growing up, my parents attended big conferences like this every year, but this year was my first time to experience it for myself. As a Summer Intern sponsored by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, I was able to receive an exhibition pass. My first view of the conference came from above—it was like looking out the plane window at a foreign country before you land for the first time. A little overwhelmed, but still excited, I entered the show floor for the first time. While walking around talking to people, I learned so much about the field of Biotech and the Pharmaceutical industry. The Massachusetts pavilion hosted many different talks over the few days we attended the conference. Governor Patrick addressed the new collaboration between Massachusetts and Israel, and Dr. Geraldine Hamilton of the Wyss Institute at Harvard University talked about her research on an organ on a chip. I learned a substantial amount about everything that’s up and coming in the sciences.

While I was at BIO I experienced a lot of brand new technology, including seeing bioreactors that create proteins that can make vaccines. The first day I thought I was in over my head, but by my third visit I had a grasp on how things at the conference flowed. Over the course of the week I learned a lot, and I hope to attend more conferences in the future.

Did you attend BIO too? How did you feel about the talks and the exhibits? Let us know by commenting on the blog or tweeting at us @TRA360.

Organs on Chips – New Ways to Clinically Test

Posted on June 28, 2012June 10, 2013 by Valentina Rosa

Dr. Geraldine Hamilton, WYSS Institute, Harvard University

Organ on a chip—sounds like an appetizer you would see on a menu at an upscale restaurant in the city. However, it is actually some of the most fascinating technology coming out of the Wyss Institute at Harvard. At this year’s BIO International Convention in Boston, Dr. Geraldine Hamilton spoke about her research into this field. She spoke for about forty minutes, but I managed to take three full pages of notes about her work, which I almost felt bad for taking since they took some of my focus away from her presentation. I have honestly never seen a more remarkable presenter. Her presentation topic included technology that could and should have been cluttered with scientific jargon, but not for Dr. Hamilton. She took concepts, like having an organ on a chip smaller than a fingernail for clinical testing purposes, and reduced it to something everyone in the audience, regardless of background, could understand.

Her presentation format was incredible as well. She started off with some background about the Wyss Institute, and then launched right into the problem she sought to solve. In this presentation specifically, she addressed how using animals as test subjects was not only ethically wrong, but basically ineffective as a model for clinical testing. The slides behind her had very few words beyond the titles, which I found to be great and easy to follow. She kept everyone in the audience engaged which given how specific her topic was, I consider to be a feat.

For me, the most interesting part of her presentation was the actual technology her group is producing. These organs on chips enable clinical testing to be done in a more efficient and more effective way. This could revolutionize the pharmaceutical world and provide hope for millions of patients with diseases that today are considered to be terminal. Call me a geek, but watching a cluster of cells on a chip perform like they are actually within an organ because we now have a technology that can replicate the internal conditions of a body absolutely blows my mind. I know I’ll be following the research on this project going forward, and I recommend you all to do the same.

If you saw this talk and have any comments, or even if you didn’t and just have comments, tweet at us @TRA360, or comment here!

How Smaller Businesses Are Taking Over Boston’s Biotech Scene

Posted on June 26, 2012June 10, 2013 by Valentina Rosa

Small Business Saturday was created to recognize the impact that local small businesses have on the economy. With the overwhelming number of franchises, major corporations and conglomerates that inhibit the world today, small businesses can sometimes be overlooked. However, when these small (and mighty) companies are beginning to change and shape our attitudes on the way we think, buy and invest, we begin to take notice. Especially when 15,000 professionals and businesses from across the world come together to showcase what their field means to them. Welcome to the biotech industry, where small businesses have started to boom and show no signs of slowing down.

The Bio International Convention in Boston, MA was held last week from June 18-21 and attracted companies from countries around the world including Germany, Russia, Italy, France, representatives from most US states, and so many more. Boston’s local newspaper reports that in the past two quarters, Boston’s life sciences industry attracted approximately $300 million in venture capital. Of these life science and biotech companies, it’s the smaller businesses that are making this impact. Yes, major game players like Genzyme and Pfizer were present at the conference, and are crucial corporations to the industry, but working together with small businesses has helped to revolutionize the industry.

Biotech is just one example of a booming field driven by small businesses. Small businesses should be recognized every day, not just on Saturday’s! TRA360 was fortunate enough to have representatives attend BIO 2012 (stay tuned for an “impressions” blog post to come later!) Are you in the biotech field and were able to attend BIO 2012, too? Let us know and comment below!