On April 20th, 2018, Tanya Verstak interviewed Guy Iannuzzi regarding his company Mentus and the development of biotechnology in San Diego as well as Biocom. About the interviee: Guy and Mentus market entrepreneurial and technology based companies and products. Their success is enabled by creative solutions driven by customer-centric strategic Read more
Pharma companies are recruiting top talent from tech giants like Google and LinkedIn
GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, and other pharma companies are actively recruiting technologists from companies like Google and Microsoft’s LinkedIn, to help modernize the processes that big pharma uses to discover and develop new drugs. According to a GSK spokesperson, there are plenty of opportunities for tech workers to build machine learning tools that analyze health information. An ongoing project may use previously-collected clinical trial data as an alternative to a control arm in a study, which could potentially reduce the cost of clinical trials and provide a better patient experience. (CNBC)
“Unlocking the remote clinical trial”- R. Veeza reports from SDCRN May 3 program on implementing virtual clinical trials
UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF REMOTE (“VIRTUAL”) CLINICAL TRIALS By Dr. Roberta Vezza Alexander San Diego, May 4, 2017 On May 3, the San Diego Clinical Research Network (SDCRN) organized a very interesting event focused on how mobile technologies could be used in clinical research. The event was at the beautiful Read more
PAREXEL launches a patient sensor solution that captures data remotely from wearables and sensors
PAREXEL announced the launch of its patient sensor solution, a new offering that captures and transmits study subject data in clinical trials. PAREXEL’s offering facilitates the remote collection of clinical data via medical devices. Collection of clinical data via wearables and sensors could replace or reduce the number of clinical assessments and/or on-site visits during clinical trials. (Business Wire)
UCSD researchers 3D bioprint functioning blood vessels
Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, led by Professor Shaochen Chen, successfully 3D printed a framework of functional blood vessels, using a 3D bioprinting process. Almost all tissues and organs need blood vessels to survive. This is a big bottleneck in making organ transplants, which are in high demand but in short supply, and 3D bioprinting blood vessels can help bridge this gap. (3D Printing Industry)
Fast Company ranks Apple #2 as Most Innovative Company in the Health sector
Apple Computers came in at #2 in Fast Company’s list of The Most Innovative Companies of 2017 in the Health Sector, “for mining data to build health apps.” In March 2016, Apple announced CareKit, an open-source platform that makes it easier to developers to aggregate and share patients’ medical information with their caregivers. Since its launch less than one year ago, CareKit has been used to make apps to help patients manage diabetes, monitor depression, track reproductive health, and record asthma symptoms. (Fast Company)
The clinical trial of the future – cloud, analytics, and mobile
The industry is approaching a new age of trials that are streamlined, connected and more engaged with the patient – but only if pharma can embrace the changes. There are three main technology categories that could change clinical trials: cloud, analytics and mobile. “Mobile” includes wearables, and smart devices and social media for patient enrollment and investigator interactions. Of all these technologies, wearables elicit the most excitement from the industry at the moment. (PharmaTimes online)
SD startup with bipolar app selected for tech incubator
Arctica Health, Inc., was selected for the latest group of technology startups to participate in the EvoNexus Southern California tech incubator. Arctica is developing a mobile app that uses machine learning to analyze a diagnosed individual’s chance of experiencing a bipolar episode with a high degree of precision. Mykolas Marcinkevicius and Layne Haber co-founded Arctica in 2016 while undergraduates at U.C.L.A., where they were NSF I-Corps Site awardees. (Arctica Health, Inc.)
MedCity ENGAGE patient engagement conference makes successful 1st time splash in San Diego
by Marie Jung Lucky for us, MedCity moved their annual patient engagement conference, ENGAGE, to San Diego from Washington, D.C., adding to our fall bumper crop of health related conferences. ENGAGE took place at the La Jolla Mariott Hotel on October 18th and 19th. It was a small, but very Read more
Survey: 97% plan to use digital health tech in trials over next five years
Digital health devices are increasingly being used by the industry to collect patient-generated data in clinical trials and improve medication adherence – and adoption is expected to increase. (outsourcing-dharma.com)