Good Day BIO: New Mexico LCFS advances

Ending the week with the latest news on New Mexico’s proposed clean fuel standard and how biotech is delivering tools to prevent HPV and cervical cancer. (693 words, 3 minutes, 27 seconds)

New Mexico clean fuel standard advances

A low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) has moved one step closer to passage in New Mexico’s state legislature—here’s the latest.

ICYMI: The proposed New Mexico Clean Fuel Standard Act, which would require a 20% reduction of the carbon intensity of transit fuels by 2030 and a 30% reduction by 2040 through blending renewable fuels, carbon credits, and emissions reductions along the transportation fuel supply chain. 

The latest news: The New Mexico Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee approved the proposal yesterday by a 6-4 party-line vote, with Democrats in favor. The bill now advances to the NM Senate Finance Committee. 

It would eliminate an estimated 18.5 million metric tons of emissions—“the equivalent of the tailpipe emissions from driving 570,000 gas-powered vehicles for a year,” write three New Mexico Cabinet secretaries in the Santa Fe New Mexican.

And it would have benefits beyond climate: “The bill provides opportunities for existing industries to grow and add jobs while incentivizing new low-carbon fuel companies to invest here,” they continue. “In addition, this bill creates opportunities for the state’s farming communities to capitalize on converting biomass—plant and animal waste—to renewable natural gas and additional opportunities for other biomass, including the production waste from some of our proudest crops, chiles and pecans.” 

In context: The National Governors Association (NGA) is meeting in D.C. this week; New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is pushing for the bill's passage, serves on the NGA executive committee and says she will participate in meetings focused on issues including “environmental protection, climate resiliency, clean energy development, and economic growth.”

More Agriculture and Environment News:

Biofuels International: Drive towards ‘greenhouse gas efficiency having an impact’
“Sustainable biofuels led to record greenhouse gas savings of over 13.2 million tons in 2020, new data revealed.” 

SAB Biotherapeutics: SAB-185 met criteria for advancement to phase 3 in NIH ACTIV-2 trial for treatment of COVID-19
“SAB-185’s targeted, highly potent and fully-human polyclonal antibodies have demonstrated neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 viral variants, including Delta and Omicron.”

HPV Prevention Week is reminder that vaccines save lives

As we come to the end of Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and HPV Prevention Week (January 23-29), we recognize how biotech has advanced treatment and prevention of HPV and the cancers it can cause. 

What is HPV? The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common STI in the U.S. with about 43 million infections documented in 2018, many among people in their late teens and early 20s, according to the CDC. 

While HPV often goes away on its own within two years without problems, it’s the leading cause of cervical cancer,says Cancer Support Community. 

And it’s not just cervical cancer.HPV can cause several cancers in both women and men, and cancer diagnoses associated with HPV cost the U.S. medical industry about $8 billion per year, according to a study published in NCBI.  

One biotech innovation can prevent it entirely: Gardasil, the vaccine developed by Merck targeting nine strains of HPV. Thanks to the vaccine, in the U.K., cervical cancer has been “almost eliminated” in women born after September 1, 1995. 

We’re also seeing innovations in cervical cancer treatment—like Tivdak, the first and only FDA-approved antibody-drug conjugate used to treat recurrent cervical cancer, developed by BIO members Genmab and Seagen. 

While cervical cancer is almost “completely preventable…more than 10 women die from the disease each day in the U.S., half of whom are in their 50’s or younger,” says the American Cancer Society. Globally, it’s the fourth most common cancer for women.  

The bottom line: When it comes to cervical cancer, prevention is key—and thanks to biotech, we have tools to prevent and someday eliminate this disease. But there’s more work to do—read more.

More Health Care News:

Endpoints News: Scott Gottlieb criticizes CMS in feud over Aduhelm coverage
“Former FDA commissioner and current Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb went on the offensive against CMS this morning—citing the agency’s ‘flawed decision making’ and how the agency’s decision on Aduhelm is putting not just Alzheimer’s drug research in limbo but potentially setting a negative precedent for accelerated approvals.”

President Biden’s Friday:Visiting Pittsburgh to discuss supply chains, manufacturing, jobs, and infrastructure. 

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: Enjoy the weekend.