Nerdy Science Blog

Asian Food Information Centre (AFIC) has released a consumer survery showing that consumers from Asia are ready to accept the benefits of biotechnology derived foods.

That notwithstanding, the AFIC survey “Consumer Perception on Acceptance of biotech Food in Asia”, conducted by Nielsen across five Asian countries inlcuding Idnia, Japan, China, Philippines and S Korea, has found that in India, a significant 95% of consumers support plant biotechnology related to  sustainable food production; 84% of Indians are ready to purchase biotech food such as tastier tomato, cheaper food staples adn foods/cooking oil with a healthier fat profile: more confident with food safety levels in the country, vis a vis other Asian countries surveyed.

There are a lot of typos in this news report.  The editor should do proofreading.

The Inoculated Mind just shared a new Malaysia Biotechnology Blog, namely Malaysia4Biotech.

I’m glad to see that there are more science related blogs in Malaysia blogosphere.  The blog is consisted of three authors, who are Mahaletchumy Arujanan, Joel William and KC Liew from Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre (MABIC).

Why Blog On Biotechnology?

However, we are lagging behind many nations which seriously points out that the current efforts put into this area are insufficient or ineffective. Many constraints and hurdles are faced by those involved in the biotechnology sector. Lack of funding, grants, expertise, pool of skilled workers, experience in commercialization, collaboration between scientists and the industry, and commitments from venture capital and bankers are some of the glaring constraints and hurdles faced. This is coupled with the anti-technology movement spearheaded by activists, environmentalists and consumer groups. Sentiments such as anti-technology, globalization, and monopolization by certain multinational companies have been planted into the minds of the general public.

Although there are not much posts have been published at that blog, I read all of the posts and I found it easy to read.  No jargons are used and the articles are good.

Business Facilities Magazine released a ‘2008 Business Facilities Rankings Report’.  The biotechnology strength rankings in U.S. are as below:

1. Pennsylvania
2. California
3. Massachusetts
4. Ohio
5. Texas
6. Illinois
7. New Jersey
8. New York
9. Florida
10. Kansas
11. Minnesota

For more rankings please visit their website.

CNNMoney

NEW YORK (Associated Press) – Biotech companies will likely be one of the few bright spots for investors this earnings season, as demand for essential medical treatments continues unabated despite the economic slowdown.

Large-cap biotechnology companies, whose shares have outperformed an overall weak market during the second quarter, are poised to meet or beat Wall Street profit forecasts, according to most analysts. Industry drug sales data has foreshadowed strong results for several key players.

Ranjit Barshikar wrote an article regarding to the future of pharmaceutical industry in Asia.

20th Anniversary Special Feature: the rise of Asia

India, China and Singapore are expected to become leaders in the pharmaceutical sector. India and China have become major suppliers of APIs, with India also exporting high volumes of pharmaceutical dosage products. South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong are also creating strong pharmaceutical bases, although these markets are mainly dominated by MNCs. More clinical trials are also being conducted in Asia and India has taken the lead in clinical trial outsourcing. Asia is now returning to GDP levels of the 19th century when it was at its highest (12%). According to Goldman Sachs, India is expected to become the world’s third largest economy by 2050. Many MNCs are investing and building their businesses in China and India, and it is expected that total pharmaceutical sales in China (at current levels of approximately $14 billion [€9 billion]) will double to $28 billion (€18 billion) by 2010.(1)

Ranjit pointed out the factors that cause the growth of Asian market are:

• population factors
• clinical trials
• R&D innovation
• generics companies
• cost advantages
• regulatory support

HeraldSun (27/5/2008):

DEALS involving patents between research groups and biotechnology companies are a poison pill obstructing investment in the sector, analysts said yesterday.

Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Minister Kim Carr said yesterday intellectual property (IP) ownership would be one of the factors examined in a new review into the pharmaceuticals sector.

I was playing with Google Trends to see the trend for different keywords. The search volume for “microbiology” decreases over time, but the news volume increases.

I also search for other terms like “pharmacology”, “biotechnology”, “nanotechnology” and “immunology”. “Biotechnology” has the highest search and news volume, followed by “microbiology”. However “nanotechnology” related news increases over time and higher than other keywords except “biotechnology”. India is the country where most searches are generated.

You can also try to search for other keywords to know their trends, such as “evolution”, “biology”, “chemistry”, “physics” and “anatomy” (they have higher search volume than the keywords above).

BERNAMA:

Malaysia Sees Potential In Tissue Banking

KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 (Bernama) — The development of the science of tissue banking in Malaysia will contribute substantially to the biotechnology sector as it could lower the cost for Malaysian patients in need of such care.

Datuk Iskandar Mizal Mahmood, chief executive officer of Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation (BiotechCorp), said today that for the development of tissue banking, Malaysia needs to industriously complement the efforts of the National Tissue Bank and Nuclear Malaysia in stepping up commercialisation of tissue banking.

The Tissue Engineering and Stem Cell Technology Report 2007 published by Visiongain estimates the market for future tissue engineered products, including regeneration of bone, cartilage and other connective structural treatments, at US$5 billion globally, he said.

“The market value of tissue banking could contribute to the Malaysian economy even though there are no definitive numbers as yet for Asia or the Asia Pacific, but the growth of the business in key markets in India and China is more than positive,” he said.

According to NovaSterilis, a US company which provides sterilisation technology for medical devices and human tissue, indicated that the US tissue bank market was worth US$400 million last year, he said.

“Tissue banking offers exciting possibilities in managing complex bone and cartilage diseases, spinal cord injuries and other serious injuries. It also prolongs life and adds meaningful years of freedom and mobility not only for the elderly but also for our children and youth by crippling diseases,” he told a press conference here on the forthcoming 5th World Congress on Tissue Banking.

Malaysia’s National Tissue Bank is recognised for producing safe, high quality tissue grafts in a wide field of application for burns, orthopaedic, microsurgery, facial, dental and paediatric surgery, according to Iskandar.

The National Tissue Bank’s research & development activities had achieved outstanding international work, with more than 40 research findings in amniotic membranes, bone grafts, trauma and reconstruction.

“Integrated research is also conducted in bio-materials, tissue engineering and stem cells,” he said.

Meanwhile Iskandar said that with the contribution of Nuclear Malaysia and other Malaysian participants, the 5th World Congress on Tissue Banking here on June 3-5 will feature speakers from 20 countries including the US, Cuba, UK, Germany, Belgium, Poland, Russia, India, Korea and Hong Kong.

– BERNAMA

Knowledge-based economy; the use of knowledge to produce economic benefits has been long implemented in developed countries. It’s good to know that Malaysia, a developing country is heading towards that direction, especially in the field of scientific research. INBIOSIS is one of the research organizations leading the nation towards the development of scientific research. A brainchild of UKM academics & researchers, INBIOSIS functions as a multidisciplinary research and its current focus is on discovering the network of processes by which secondary metabolites are produced by tropical plants. INBIOSIS is looking forward to forging smart partnerships with the biotechnology industries.

For more details, visit:

INBIOSIS in Utusan malaysia (article in Malay)

INBIOSIS Website

The Age:

The Intersuisse Biotechnology Index has posted its worst yet quarterly drop since its inception 12 years ago, falling by 23.9 per cent because of the continued decline of the stock market.

The result, for the three months to March 31, was the worst quarterly drop since the index’s inception in 1996.

By comparison the NASDAQ Biotechnology index fell 2.7 per cent and the All Ordinaries index fell by 14.3 per cent over the same period.

I don’t think it’s the end of biotechnology in Australia, as there are still some companies having increased index price.  However the majority of the biotech companies had their index dropped.