اخبار بیوتکنولوژی - Biotechnology News

BlueFire Ethanol sees cellulosic growth in five years
US-based BlueFire Ethanol plans to build capacity to make 500-550 million gallons a year of cellulosic ethanol fuel by 2013.
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Eni to invest in Republic of Congo biofuels
Italy-based energy company Eni has announced a $3 billion (€1.93 billion) investment in biodiesel, oil and food production in the Republic of Congo.
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Work starts on Malaysia's largest biodiesel plant
Agro Biotechnology Technovation (M) (ABT) is building Malaysia's largest biodiesel plant in Kuala Lukut for RM900 million (€179 million).
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Biopetrol's green growth continues
Switzerland-headquartered biodiesel producer Biopetrol has issued its annual report.
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Algae-based renewable petrol hits the market
US-based Sapphire Energy has produced renewable 91 octane petrol that conforms to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) certification, and is made from a breakthrough process that produces crude oil directly from sunlight, carbon dioxide and photosynthetic microorganisms, beginning with algae.
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WWF welcomes Brazil biofuel projects
The production of ethanol from sugarcane for biofuel production should have a positive impact on the environment, Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF Brazil) says in a new report.
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Explosion kills worker
An explosion on 18 May at Virginia-headquartered Greenlight Biofuels' facility located in an industrial park in Princess Anne, Maryland, has killed a worker.
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BP to invest in green projects
UK oil group BP is investing around $8 billion (€5.15 billion) over 10 years in developing alternative and energy technologies.
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Largest US biodiesel refinery to open
Texas-based GreenHunter Energy is set to open the largest biodiesel refinery in the US in June at the Houston Ship Channel.
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Given Imaging

Given Imaging to Present at the Needham & Company, LLC Biotechnology and Medical Technology Conference

Given Imaging (NASDAQ: GIVN) today announced that Homi Shamir, President and CEO, will present at the Seventh Annual Needham & Company, LLC Biotechnology and Medical Technology Conference taking place June 11-12, 2008 in New York, NY. Mr. Shamir's presentation is scheduled for Thursday, June 12 at 1:00 pm ET.

To access a live webcast of this presentation, visit www.givenimaging.com and click 'About Given Imaging.' The webcast will be available in the Investor Relations section. A replay will be available for two weeks at the above-referenced website.

About Given Imaging Ltd.

Given Imaging is redefining gastrointestinal diagnosis by developing, producing and marketing innovative, patient-friendly products for detecting gastrointestinal disorders. The company's technology platform is the PillCam® Platform, featuring the PillCam video capsule, a disposable, miniature video camera contained in a capsule, which is ingested by the patient, a sensor array, data recorder and RAPID® software. Given Imaging has a number of available capsules: the PillCam SB video capsule to visualize the entire small intestine which is currently marketed in the United States and in more than 60 other countries; the PillCam ESO video capsule to visualize the esophagus; the Agile(TM) patency capsule to determine the free passage of the PillCam capsule in the GI tract and the PillCam COLON video capsule to visualize the colon that has been cleared for marketing in the European Union. PillCam COLON has received a CE Mark, but is not cleared for marketing or available for commercial distribution in the USA. More than 700,000 patients worldwide have benefited from the PillCam capsule endoscopy procedure. Given Imaging's headquarters, manufacturing and R&D facilities are located in Yoqneam, Israel. It has operating subsidiary companies in the United States, Germany, France, Japan, Australia and Singapore. Given Imaging's largest shareholders include Elron Electronic Industries (NASDAQ & TASE: ELRN). For more information, visit http://www.givenimaging.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, projections about our business and our future revenues, expenses and profitability. Forward-looking statements may be, but are not necessarily, identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "anticipates," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," and words and terms of similar substance. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual events, results, performance, circumstances or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future events, results, performance, circumstances or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, circumstances or achievements to differ from such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) satisfactory results of clinical trials with PillCam COLON (2) our ability to receive regulatory clearance or approval to market our products or changes in regulatory environment, (3) our success in implementing our sales, marketing and manufacturing plans, (4) protection and validity of patents and other intellectual property rights, (5) the impact of currency exchange rates, (6) the effect of competition by other companies, (7) the outcome of future litigation, including patent litigation with Olympus Corporation, (8) our ability to obtain reimbursement for our product from government and commercial payors, (9) quarterly variations in operating results, (10) the possibility of armed conflict or civil or military unrest in Israel, and (11) other risks and factors disclosed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, risks and factors identified under such headings as "Risk Factors," "Cautionary Language Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Operating Results and Financial Review and Prospects" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2007. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except for the Company's ongoing obligations to disclose material information under the applicable securities laws, it undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements, to report events or to report the occurrence of unanticipated events.

For further information contact:
Fern Lazar
Email Contact
David Carey
Email Contact
Lazar Partners Ltd.
1-866-GIVEN-IR

Academic errors on biofuel, ag policy

Which direction the sun comes up in the morning is an academic issue, not a matter of opinion. If on the nightly news it was reported that the sun comes up in the West as fact, you’d lose faith in the validity of the broadcast pretty fast, to the point of questioning the creditability of the broadcaster.

Major media sources and even a presidential candidate, John McCain, have been making academic errors telling everyone that the sun comes up in the West regarding biofuel and ag policy. From someone who knows which direction the sun actually rises, it’s been rather frustrating and incredible to see this misinformation be distributed to the public as fact.

When you hear a major network report as fact that global wheat and rice shortages were created because of biofuels, they just told an academic lie. Biofuel development had no impact on wheat and rice acres or the recent higher prices evidenced in those markets. Biofuel happened to be in the neighborhood when global/consumer demand surged and poor yields were produced and were blamed for the result as a convenient suspect. Biofuel was made guilty without evidence to convict by an incompetent media who has not done its job relative to agriculture.

Ag Committee Chairman, Collin Peterson, expressed great frustration with the media in a news conference, “The problem is we’ve got editorial writers still, to this day, writing that the whole $300 billion (in the Farm Bill) goes to farmers.

The truth is, out of the $300 billion, something like $36 or $40 billion goes to farmers. The rest, the majority, goes to nutrition and conservation. I implore my friends in the press to help us get people to understand just how this is structured.”

Instead, virtually every news story on the Farm Bill says $300 billion is going to rich farmers when only 16.1% of that total goes to commodity programs, crop insurance and disaster income. That total is down from 28.5% in the previous bill, the one that George W. signed, written by Republicans, in 2002.

They saved $20 billion in the commodity title of the current bill. That’s not the spin opponents want. 73.5% of Farm Bill spending goes to food programs. These are academic facts being distorted by everyone from the Wall Street Journal on down who are slanting their reporting, focused entirely on subsidy means testing which has been substantially tightened too.

It’s the same story with food versus fuel. John McCain tells everyone the reason food prices have gone up is ethanol, so the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) needs rolled back. He’d get rid of the Blenders Credit and tariff too. Finally, USDA Ag Sec Ed Schafer stepped up and commented recently in an attempt to straighten out what has been the press reporting verbatim inaccuracies as fact in the fuel versus food debate. “We think the time has come for USDA to join in the conversation of food and biofuels. There is not a one-on-one relationship between commodity prices and food prices.”

First of all, the Ag Sec was late to the debate. The Bush Administration let inaccuracies go unanswered so the press ran with them. They even supported inaccuracies portrayed by the press in their political opposition to the Farm Bill.

Scott McClellen’s successor is now sponsoring the Farm Bill. The administration is more friendly to biofuels. The USDA belatedly but correctly told the public what we have been saying - that food is only 20% of the retail food dollar.

The Council of Economic Advisors say that yes, corn prices have gone up sharply but only contributes about 3% to the commodity portion, the 20% of the food dollar. There is not the direct one-on-one link between corn prices and ethanol and food prices that John McCain has claimed in his letter asking for an EPA waiver from the RFS.

Here are academic facts that have not been reported correctly by the mainstream media. A family of four in 2007 spent $9,828 on food (USDA) and $4,549 on gasoline (EIA). In 2008, if there were no biofuel, food expenditure for the family would have been $24 lower. Yes, biofuels cost a family of four $24 in higher food costs, according to the Council of Economic Advisors Ed Lazear. Biofuel, however, lowers what that family of four pays for gasoline.

If you heard a media report that all oil from Nigeria, the U.S. 6th largest oil exporter, was being embargoed by John McCain, what do you suppose it would do to the U.S. oil market? U.S. biofuel production equals oil imports from Nigeria.

The price of gasoline would soar, wouldn’t it? In both aggregate supply and refinery capacity, ethanol lowers the price of gasoline. If biofuel was eliminated, that family of four would pay more for gasoline, $560 a year more according to LECG economist John Urbarchuk, $784 a year according to Merrill Lynch research and possibly even $1616 more per year in a worst case scenario calculated by ISU’s Center for Ag and Rural Development.

The family of four would save $24 on food and spend from $536-1592 more on gasoline without ethanol and biofuel. Without ethanol to lower fuel costs, higher fuel costs would raise food prices more than biofuels have.

John McCain and his 23 GOP Senator partners asking for an EPA RFS waiver are telling you the sun comes up in the West as their contribution to the food versus fuel debate. Ethanol has lowered fuel prices, saving consumers far, far more than the increase in the price of corn has raised food prices. The sun comes up in the East.

High school gets an edge on biotech

Students at Dover-Sherborn High School won't have to read about today's medical breakthroughs in a textbook years from now. This fall, they'll be conducting the experiments used in cloning and in-vitro inside their own biology lab.

more stories like this

"They've heard about stem cell research in the news; they've seen the DNA used on the crime shows," said Charlie Chicklis, head of the school's science department. "Now students can actually get involved in these labs,"

Dover-Sherborn is just one of 50 public schools across Massachusetts to receive a BioTeach grant of up to $24,000 from the Massachusetts Biotechnology Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization established in 2001 to work with the state's leading biotechnology, life sciences, and pharmaceutical companies.

The annual $1.2 million BioTeach program, supported by the state Legislature, the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, and donations from the state's leading life science companies, aims to establish biotechnology as an integral component of the state's public high school curriculum.

This year, the recipients include Waltham and Medway high schools. Since the BioTeach program's introduction four years ago, 163 high schools across the state have received a grant.

"This is an in-depth opportunity for teachers to learn how to teach biotech," said Lance Hartford, executive director of the grant-awarding foundation. "These are things most of them didn't have the opportunity to learn when they were in school. Now their students will be able to work with things like cell transformation, and with gels that identify certain traits within cells."

The grant provides professional training this summer for teachers to learn lab curricula surrounding DNA fingerprinting, potential of bacteria, and the mystery surrounding sickle cell anemia. In addition to training, teachers will have access to professional development tools, and a comprehensive catalogue of online research. Then they will bring their new skills to the high school laboratories.

Biology teacher Greg Tucker is one of three from Dover-Sherborn High School planning to attend BioTeach summer training sessions, which are held at locations throughout the state, including Boston University and Framingham State College.

"It's exciting for the school. If it weren't for this grant, the equipment costs would certainly be an issue as we try to get into a budget," said Tucker.

The idea is that the money that goes into the high schools through BioTeach will make its way back into the state's economy.

"Biotechnology and life sciences is the largest growing sector of the economy," said Hartford.

State figures back up the claim, showing more than 43,000 residents employed in biotechnology fields. According to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development, employment in life-science sectors grew by 15 percent between 2001 and 2006, while the overall state employment growth declined by 2.4 percent.

"The industry is concerned that there will not be enough people to keep that going," said Hartford. "We're trying to get more students involved and interested in biotech, and to understand how many careers there are out there."

A high school graduate could become an animal technician, for example. Someone with an associate's degree might turn out to be a biological technician. And one with a biotechnology-related bachelor's degree could end up a health specialist - someone who monitors and evaluates the workplace to identify and control safety and health risks.

"Biotech is so big right now, whether it's a job involving food, energy, or medicine," said Tucker.

© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.

 

Biotechnology Pioneer

Biotechnology Pioneer Jean-Paul Clozel Named Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008

MONTE CARLO, Monaco--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dr. Jean-Paul Clozel, founder of Switzerland’s Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a pioneering biotechnology company, was last night named the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008 at an awards ceremony held in Monte Carlo’s Salle des Etoiles. Clozel was picked from among entrepreneurs representing more than 40 countries who were vying for the title.

Founded in 1997, Actelion is a leader in the development of small-molecule drugs for the treatment of pulmonary disease, and its products have improved the lives of patients worldwide.

Joe Schoendorf, Partner of venture capital firm Accel Partners and Chairman of the judging panel said, “Jean-Paul took huge risks leaving a big, successful company to found a new one in an incredibly difficult sector – biotechnology. And those risks have paid off, for Jean-Paul and his team, for his investors, and, most importantly, for the tens of thousands of patients Actelion’s drugs help.”

“Being named Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008 is a great honor for me and my team,” said Clozel. “To be singled out from such a strong field of entrepreneurs makes us very proud.”

“It’s amazing how quickly Jean-Paul has built Actelion from nothing to a market capitalization of nearly €4 billion in a highly competitive and complex sector,” said Greg Ericksen, Ernst & Young’s Global Vice Chair for Strategic Growth Markets. “His vision and passion have enabled him to become one of the biotechnology industry’s most recognized global success stories.”

“Entrepreneurs achieve great things and make a real difference to their customers, their employees, their communities and the global economy,” said Jim Turley, Global Chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young. “Their vision, leadership, determination and sheer hard work inspire all of my colleagues and me, and that is why we are so proud of the 22-year history of Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year. Through his leadership of Actelion, Jean-Paul has epitomized the entrepreneurial spirit, improved the lives of thousands, and is very worthy of the title Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008.”

About Jean-Paul Clozel and Actelion

Jean-Paul Clozel is a cardiologist educated in France, with further training in pharmacology and physiology at the University of Montreal, Canada, and the University of California, San Francisco. After eleven years as a clinician, he decided to move to applied research. During his 12 years at F. Hoffmann-La Roche, he was responsible for the selection of the first T-channel blocker. He also participated in the characterization of renin inhibitors as well as several endothelin receptor antagonists such as bosentan and clazosentan. Overall, the group he was heading discovered seven compounds that entered clinical trials. He has developed various, novel experimental models allowing the differentiation of these drugs, work honored with the 1997 Hoffmann-La Roche Research Prize. At the end of 1997, he founded biotechnology company Actelion, together with his wife, Martine, and work colleagues and friends Walter Fischli and Thomas Widmann. First mainly focusing on Research and Development, he became CEO of the company to bring Actelion to the public in April 2000. During his 25-year career in cardiology, he has published widely in peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals. At the same time, his passion has remained unchanged: being as closely as possible involved in bringing innovative medicine to “his” patients.

Actelion is a leader in the development of synthetic small-molecule drugs and produces the products Tracleer (bosentan), an oral treatment for WHO Class III or IV pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a chronic, life-threatening disorder which severely compromises the function of the lungs and heart, Zavesca (miglustat), a small-molecule oral therapy for the treatment of type 1 Gaucher disease, a genetic lipid storage disorder. Ventavis (iloprost) is an inhaled formulation of iloprost, approved for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The unique award makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential, and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement.

As the first and only truly global award of its kind Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 135 cities in 50 countries.

About Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 130,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve potential.

For more information, please visit www.ey.com.

Ernst & Young refers to the global organization of member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients.

Contacts

Ernst & Young Global PR
Kevin Russell
[phone] / [phone]
[e-mail]

Some news - اخبار جدید سوخت زیستی

Over 500 registered for Biofuels International expo & conference
The inaugural Biofuels International expo and conference is now only days away, and places are going fast.
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Brazil and Germany co-operate on biofuels
Brazil president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and German chancellor Angela Merkel signed cooperation agreements on 14 May for environment and renewable energy, including biofuels.
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Denmark commits to biodiesel research
The Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation has granted DKK 15 million (€2 million) towards research in biodiesel until 2012.
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Petrotec keeps sales steady despite severe market conditions
Germany-based Petrotec, a manufacturer of biodiesel from used cooking oil, has reported its sales figures for Q1 2008.
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Greenfield Project Management and PvT Capital connect for Chernobyl biofuels
German bioenergy expert PvT Capital and Ireland-based bioethanol developer Greenfield Project Management have agreed to jointly develop Greenfield's proposed ethanol refineries in Belarus.
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Basic Energy plans Philippines ethanol plant
The Philippines-based Basic Energy Corp (BEC) will construct a multi-feedstock ethanol plant in partnership with a Taiwanese group.
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Xethanol announces financial results
US-based renewable energy company Xethanol Corporation has reported financial results for Q1, ending 31 March 2008, reporting a net loss of $2.0 million (€1.26 million), or ($0.07) per share, as compared to a $5.5 million net loss, or ($0.19) per share, for the same period of the previous year.
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US DoE grants funds for SunEthanol cellulosic ethanol
The US Department of Energy (DoE) has awarded Massachusetts-headquartered SunEthanol a $100,000 (€634,000) research grant to help the US develop clean transportation fuels from a variety of non-food feedstocks, including corn stover, bagasse, switchgrass, sorghum, softwood (pine), and high lignin poplar.
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Blackhawk Biofuels completes acquisition
Illinois-based Blackhawk Biofuels has completed the acquisition of assets of a 45 million gallon a year biodiesel production facility under construction in Danville, Illinois, from Biofuels Company of America.
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Cascade Grain to reach full ethanol capacity
Vancouver-based Cascade Grain's newly built ethanol plant in Oregon, the largest producer of corn ethanol on the West Coast, is expected to reach full production in June.
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More Than 700 Biotechnology Industry Leaders Attend CED’s Biotec

More Than 700 Biotechnology Industry Leaders Attend CED’s Biotech 2008
05-27-2008

Research Triangle Park, N.C. – More than 700 business people from across the Southeast gravitated to Winston-Salem last week for Biotech 2008, the largest industry conference in the region. The 17th annual event, hosted by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), included presentations by thought-leaders, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, investors and researchers from the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and life sciences.

There was standing room only for the opening session, a presentation by former North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt Jr. While in office, Governor Hunt led efforts to transform the state’s economy by launching the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina, and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. These centers helped establish the state’s reputation for innovation.

Other featured speakers were Frederick Frank, vice chairman and a director of Lehman Brothers Inc., in New York; John Maraganore, president and CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in Cambridge, Mass.; and Edward Saltzman, founder and president of Defined Health in Florham Park, N.J.

Among the companies represented at the conference were: AAI Pharma, AlphaVax, Bayer Cropscience, BD Technologies, Biogen Idec, Duke Energy, Genentech, GSK, Inc., Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Lehman Brothers, Merck, NovaQuest, Novozyme, POZEN Inc., PPD, Progress Energy, Quintiles, Serenex, Merz Pharmaceuticals, Targacept, Tranzyme Pharma and Wyeth Biotech.

The wide range of attendees underscores the conference’s relevance, and North Carolina’s prominence, in the biotechnology industry.

“A thriving biotech community needs three ingredients,” said conference co-chair Vipin Garg, President and CEO of Tranzyme Pharma in Durham. “North Carolina has all three: good research from universities and medical schools; government and private industry partnerships, like the Biotech Center and CED; and funding from local and international investors. We have matured to the point where key ingredients can grow and sustain the local industry.”

The result, he continued, is an outstanding environment for biotechnology. “We’re not only focused on healthcare, but also on biofuels, marine biotechnology and agriculture, nanotech and a very large and contract research,” he said. “North Carolina’s biotech industry is the most diverse of any of the other biotech hubs.”

At a gala dinner on May 19, CED’s outgoing president Monica Doss received the Charles Hamner Leadership Award for her more than 20-year stewardship of the organization and support of the state’s new-economy entrepreneurs. Doss will retire from CED at the end of May. Under her leadership, CED became the largest entrepreneurial support organization in the United States, with more than 5,000 members representing 1,100 member companies.

The award was presented by its namesake, Charles Hamner, former director of the N.C. Biotechnology Center. During his tenure, the Center invested more than $50 million in the state's universities, seed-funded 62 startup companies, created a $26-million venture capital fund and helped recruit more than a dozen biotechnology companies to North Carolina. Hamner is now the chairman of the Research Triangle Park-based Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, an independent, nonprofit coalition of universities, foundations, government agencies, and private sector businesses engaged in environmental risk assessment and biomedical sciences research and development.

For more information, contact Cassandra Cranston at [e-mail] or 919.226.0460.