Biotech

The Chinese government announced on Sunday that 29 children in the northern city of Shijazhuang were given incorrect vaccines by a nurse who was working for “personal gain.” According to China’s state-run Global Times, police have detained the nurse and suspended the business license of the community health center where she administered the vaccines. Authorities also removed two local health officials from their posts.The vaccine incorrectly administered to the children reportedly costed 100 yuan per dose, while the correct vaccine costs 600 yuan per dose. The Global Times report implied the nurse was pocketing the difference. Local authorities promised the children will be given the correct vaccine and reassured parents the injection they were given was not harmful. The Global Times nevertheless anticipated an angry response from parents fed up with endless medical scandals by reminding its readers that a large number of people have been sacked, arrested, or both … [Read more...] about China Blames Greedy Nurse for Dozens of Fraudulent Child Vaccinations

caption We didn’t get much time to stop and admire the views last week. source Shutterstock Thousands of investors, Wall Street analysts, execs, and of course, journalists, converged on San Francisco last week for the biggest healthcare investor event of the year – the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. It can be overwhelming, not to mention overcrowded. This year, more than 9,000 people signed up, and 485-plus companies were on the schedule to present. If you had a hard time keeping up, we’ve got you covered. Here’s all of the most important news you might have missed while you were conferencing last week. Read more: Everyone at JPMorgan’s big healthcare investor conference is buzzing about BMS-Celgene, Amazon, and new hires Pairing off The biggest news of the week was Eli Lilly’s $8 billion bid for cancer-drug maker Loxo Oncology, announced on Monday morning. That deal followed the massive $74 billion Bristol-Myers … [Read more...] about We’ll get you caught up on all the news you missed at the year’s biggest healthcare investor conference

source Getty/Fairfax Media San Francisco’s Parc 55 hotel is charging every company holding an event on its property during the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference $170 for a gallon of coffee, according to a menu obtained by STAT. That’s about $21.25 for a 16-ounce cup of coffee. As if San Francisco wasn’t already ridiculously expensive, some attendees of the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference will be paying upwards of $21 for a single cup of coffee at one participating hotel in the city. The Parc 55 hotel, based in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, charges $170 for a gallon of coffee (that breaks down to about $21.25 for a 16-ounce cup) to any company holding a JPM Week event on its property, according to a menu obtained by STAT. Can you imagine trying to expense a $170 gallon of coffee? The conference, which in the past has featured keynote speeches by Joe Biden and Bill Gates, runs from January 7 to 11. Some … [Read more...] about San Francisco prices are so out of control that one hotel is charging the equivalent of $21.25 for a cup of coffee during a JPMorgan conference

The word meat has new meaning. Where it once referred exclusively to animal flesh harvested from a carcass, today a lab-grown variety is calling that definition into question. A handful of enterprising startups have raised and invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the concept of lab-grown meats, banking on breakthroughs in biotech to revolutionize the food industry. As a result, the fledgling ‘clean meat” industry has progressed in leaps and bounds over the past few years. Since 2013, lab-grown meat went from a fringe idea to something far more mainstream. In the next few decades (some think perhaps even within the next few years) lab-grown meat may find its way onto the menu of a progressive restaurants or into your refrigerator at home. However, these companies have plenty or obstacles to overcome before a commercial product makes it to the market. So, in the meantime, here’s our brief explainer on lab-grown meats. What is lab-grown meat? Lab-grown meat is … [Read more...] about Time for test-tube turkey? Everything you need to know about lab-grown meat

caption The science team behind Mammoth Biosciences source Mammoth Biosciences Mammoth Biosciences co-founders Trevor Martin, Janice Chen, and Lucas Harrington are spotlighted in the healthcare category of Forbes’ 30 under 30 list of 2019. Mammoth Biosciences announced a $23 million funding round in July, setting the company up to try and make a dent in the $45 billion global disease detection market. The startup uses CRISPR-based technology to detect the presence of diseases like HPV and malaria in DNA from blood or urine samples. The technology is easily transportable and doesn’t require expensive machines to run tests. Mammoth Biosciences‘ motto is simple: to make up-to-date diagnostics simple, accessible and affordable. “If you think about what we’re offering it’s kind of like a pregnancy test,” said Trevor Martin, co-founder and CEO of Mammoth Biosciences. But instead of tracking … [Read more...] about A medical diagnostics startup that wants to use CRISPR technology to detect diseases raised $23 million in venture funding