BioPharm International-11-01-2004

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Idon't know about you, but I found Senator John Kerry's assertion that President Bush was to blame for the US flu vaccine shortage quite laughable, but only until it became clear Kerry intended to continue railing about it throughout his final campaign thrust. As political tactics would have it, of course there was no mention of the Comprehensive Child Immunization Act of 1993, back-door price controls, and the resultant US dependence on external vaccine suppliers.

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Cancer treatment has grown into a multibillion-dollar business responsible for saving and improving the lives of countless patients each year. One of the approaches generating a flurry of interest is monoclonal antibodies.

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Biotechnology in Germany

A German biotechnology company based in Martinsried, GPC Biotech, raised €78.6 million in June through public and private placements in Germany, the US, and other countries. "Our recent financing was one of the most successful biotech offerings in terms of proceeds for the year to date, on either side of the Atlantic," said Dr. Bernd Seizinger, CEO of GPC. It is now one of the few German biotechnology companies listed on NASDAQ.

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Human plasma provides a rich source of therapeutic medicines, including gamma globulins, coagulation factors, albumin, alpha anti-trypsin, and others. In 2001, sales of immuno gamma-globulin (IgG) were estimated at $2 billion with a production rate of 50 metric tons for the year.1 A number of new therapeutic products have recently been introduced including Gammimune from Bayer, RhoPhylac from ZLB Behring, and Octagam from Octapharma.