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BIO CEO Rachel King discussed price controls, investment opportunities, and much more on two new podcasts—here are a few takeaways. Plus, a long-term opportunity with short corn and news about COVID. (807 words, 4 minutes, 2 seconds) |
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BIO’s Rachel King on IRA, industry priorities |
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BIO CEO Rachel King shares insights about the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and other challenges to biotech in a pair of podcasts released this week—here are a few takeaways. The situation: Drug price controls in the IRA weaken the ecosystem of innovation that makes America the world leader in biotech, King tells Duane Schulthess, CEO of Vital Transformation, in a brand new podcast. (Vital Transformation has conducted research for BIO into the real cost of price controls.)
Appetite for change: There’s already interest “on both sides of the aisle” in altering innovation-killing aspects of the IRA. “We have also started to hear that some members of Congress are open to considering some changes,” says King.
What about orphan drugs? King wants to see a change to the IRA’s provision discouraging researchers from testing whether an orphan drug for a rare disease might be helpful against other diseases. She says lawmakers understand how research into second indications benefits patients.
Back to Maryland: In another podcast released Tuesday, King talks to Rich Bendis, CEO of Maryland-based BioHealth Innovation, about her career in Maryland’s biotech industry and the challenges facing the industry and BIO.
Importance of investment: Biotech investment helped Maryland’s economy—and patients everywhere, she tells Bendis. On the Vital Transformation show King says, “I think it’s critically important for us as a society to be thinking about where we want to incentivize investment and to also be cautious about where we might be disincentivizing investment.”
Listen: Read more on Bio.News.
More Health News: Moderna: 3 things to know about the 2023-2024 COVID-19 season
“According to the CDC, COVID-19 is on the rise again as of late August – Wastewater monitoring suggests a recent rise in infections in parts of the U.S., and hospitalizations have increased 24% in a two-week period. The urge to put COVID-19 behind us is something we can all relate to. But, in the face of rapidly circulating new variants, we know better than to ignore what’s around the corner as we head into the fall and winter seasons.”
The Washington Post: Rising cases in Southeast could be start of U.S. RSV season, CDC warns
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned doctors on Tuesday that a recent increase in cases of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, in the Southeastern United States could mean additional cases throughout the country in the next two to three months. The CDC also urged medical professionals to prepare to use the new prevention options approved this year for RSV, which is the leading cause of hospitalization among U.S. infants.” |
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| BIO One-on-One Partnering™ is now open for the BIO Investor Forum!
| Maximize your time at the BIO Investor Forum with the renowned BIO One-on-One Partnering™ system. Our system makes it easy to search for and identify potential partners and request meetings with prospective biotech investors and senior business development executives.
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CRISPR leads to short corn, long-term cooperation |
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A project to grow short corn has led to long-term collaboration around an improved means for gene editing in agriculture.
The corn: Bayer’s Preceon™ Smart Corn System produces short-stature corn, averaging 5-7 feet in height and outperforming typical 9-12-foot corn, Bio.News reports.
The benefits: Short-stature corn captures sunlight and optimizes nutrients better, is more resistant to harsh weather conditions and strong winds, and is easier to access with farm equipment. The result is higher crop yields with fewer inputs.
The innovation: Short-stature corn is produced using CRISPR gene editing technology, which achieves the same results in weeks that traditional cross-breeding achieves in generations. Bayer’s partner Pairwise uses CRISPR to edit throughout a plant’s genome.
The partnership: A fruitful five-year collaboration between Bayer and Pairwise has produced “corn phenotypes with a 20 percent increase in kernel row numbers, which could lead to significantly more yield,” according to Bayer.
The next five years: Bayer and Pairwise last week announced a new five-year agreement, focusing on using Pairwise’s gene editing innovations to improve short corn.
What they’re saying: Pairwise’s technology “has the potential to make targeted and much-needed improvements in agriculture,” says Bob Reiter of Bayer’s Crop Science Division. “These kinds of new genomic techniques are extraordinarily focused and produce results much more quickly and precisely than the conventional breeding process.” |
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| Manage All Your Expenses in One Place
| Brex is a no-brainer for life science companies looking for one easy expense management system and rewards on industry perks. Plus, under the BIO-Brex program, members earn extra points on lab supply purchases and conference tickets as well as zero annual fees and automated bill pay functionality.
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President Biden’s Thursday: Flying to Germany on the way to the G20 summit in India. Biden is disappointed Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend, Reuters says.
What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: The Senate Appropriations Committee announced it will take up three spending bills next week, including legislation on the budget for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration to kickstart spending discussions as a Sept. 30 budget deadline looms. POLITICO reports the House Republicans’ planned health care package focuses on bringing transparency to hospitals, insurers, and pharmacy benefit managers. |
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