Biologics
Optogenetics: A cool tool may have found medical use
Optogenetics is a biological technique that uses light to control neurons that have been genetically modified to express light-sensitive ion channels. As such, it is a neuromodulation method that controls the activities of individual neurons in living tissue — even...
A New Type of Antibody –
For a long time 5 antibody types have been known in mammals, IgG, IgM, IgA, IgE, and IgD, with IgG being the work horse in biotechnology. So it drew our attention that a group at Duke University has described a new type of anti-glycan antibody that binds to a patch of...
Monoclonal for Alzheimer’s
On Monday FDA approved Biogen’s aducanumab, brand name Aduhelm, through a program called accelerated approval. Aduhelm is the first new medication for Alzheimer’s disease in nearly two decades. FDA’s decision was welcomed by patients and their families as a...
RNA therapeutics
To those developing treatments for oncology, in the gene therapy space and many other fields it seemed for a long time that RNA-based therapies have many attractive properties but somehow just too many obstacles to overcome. Enter recent break-throughs in vaccine...
Blood Clot Risk from COVID-19 Higher than After Vaccines?
It has been well covered in the news media that some COVID-19 vaccines have recently faced headwinds as severe thrombotic complications have been observed in some people that received the vaccine. However, one fact that is not discussed much is that thrombotic...
Status of COVID vaccine approvals and trials
Wanted to share this interesting compilation of the updated status of COVID vaccines world-wide. Published and updated February 5 by Jef Akst in The Scientist.
Somatek looks back at 2020
It goes without saying, 2020 was a year with major challenges and disruptions. However, it was also a year of growth and new opportunities for the biotechnology industry and for Somatek. In the summer of 2020, Somatek moved into newly renovated laboratory facilities...
HAPPY 2021
Somatek wishes all its clients, colleagues, associates and friends a very happy and healthy New Year!!
Cold chain is a hot topic among investors
The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 received an emergency use authorization from the FDA last Friday, and thousands of doses are being rolled out across the country this week. But the vaccine, which must be stored at between -80 and -60 degrees Celsius, necessitates the utilization of a “cold chain” to keep it within this temperature range from the moment it leaves the manufacturing site to just before it is administered to a patient.
Positive but perplexing results from Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID vaccine trial
The University of Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, developed in partnership with the biotech AstraZeneca, is the third vaccine this week to publicize promising data from its clinical trials. And, in a surprising twist, it appears that a lower dose of the vaccine does a better job at protecting participants from COVID than a higher dose.