The annual meetings of the Israel Analytical Chemical Society have become one of the largest annual conferences in the world of analytical chemistry. Recent ISRANALYTICA meetings have seen about 3000 participants from the academia, industry, government organizations and private contractors.

Leading companies of analytical equipment have also successfully participated in the conference and exhibition, bridging between technology developments and end users. In fact, ISRANALYTICA combines the largest chemistry convention in Israel with the largest analytical chemistry exhibition in one location.

The scientific program will cover a large variety of current topics in analytical chemistry. Leading academic researchers and industrial practitioners will present their recent achievements providing a forum for exchange of exciting developments as well as sharing problems with leading scientists and expert representatives of major instrumentation companies. The program will consist of plenary and keynote lectures at specific sessions, delivered by international top scientists, oral presentations (in parallel sessions) featuring speakers from Israel and abroad, and a large poster session. The exhibition will take place in the central location adjacent to the seminar rooms. Three prestigious poster awards will be granted by a committee to outstanding posters in the general assembly of the Israel Analytical Chemistry Society.

The remarkable success of ISRANALYTICA is primarily due to the participants. Therefore, you are encouraged to participate in ISRANALYTICA 2011 by submitting an abstract, presenting your analytical equipment though one of the conference booths or simply and most importantly by attending the conference. More information can be found here.

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Stem cells are often viewed as the ultimate solution for regenerative medicine, and for a good cause. Given the correct cues, they can regenerate whole parts of the body, and even re-create an entire embryo (although that would require QUITE some understanding of the cues involved in the process). It seems, however, that now a new use has been found for them, as seek-and-destroy missiles against cancer.

The reason this just might work is that stem cells are attracted towards cancer cells. Why? We don’t know. Some say that they respond to the same factors that cause a tumor to invade a healthy tissue. Be it as it may, a team of researchers from the Beckman Research Institute in California used genetically engineered stem cells to combat a form of cancer in the brain. The cells produced an enzyme called cytosine deaminase, which converted a drug called 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC) into its active, chemotherapeutic form.

The engineered stem cells were injected into the brains of mice with glioma – a deadly brain cancer. The mice also received 5-FC, which turned into the chemotherapeutic form mainly at the sites the stem cells were at. The tumors’ mass was reduced by a whopping 70% compared with the untreated animals.

As reported in New Scientist, the US FDA granted the researchers “approval to carry out a safety trial of the therapy in up to 20 patients with recurrent glioma, for whom life expectancy is just three to six months. The stem cells will be injected into the tumour cavity following surgery to reduce its mass, and then given four days to home in on any remaining cancer cells. Patients will then be treated with daily 5-FC for one week.”

The stem cells used in the research do not seem to differentiate, and stop proliferating after 48 hours, which should ensure they won’t create yet another cancer in the body. Hopefully, the clinical trials will end well and the researchers will head to phase II soon after. In the meantime, we’ll have to settle for hearing more about cancer and stem cells at the ILSI-BioMed week 2010, where a Technology Transfer Session will be held on the subject of Pharmaceuticals and Stem cells, moderated by Dr. Sylvie Lauria, the Technology Transfer Office of Sheba Medical Center.

Source: New Scientist

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It’s not WHAT you know, it’s WHO you know!

Relationships are the catalyst for success!

Do the above two statements look familiar? They should. They are the axioms of the Networking Theory (name not trademarked, invented on the spot). While networking seems to be the new religion of the business folks, I daresay that it’s been around for quite a bit. Even apes have it in them to do some network, hence the existence of the beta, gamma and delta males in the pack.

Quite a bit of water has flown under the bridge since our ascent from monkeydom, but the principle of networking remains. If you know the right people who can take your ideas and make something of them, or vice versa, then you have a valuable commodity on your hands. Everybody collaborates, and usually both sides of the equation come out with a profit. It is for that reason that we in the Israeli ILSI-BioMed Blog have decided to publish the profiles of some Italian companies working in the biomedical field and are coming to Israel. They are interested in meeting suitable Israeli business partners, and it is our fervent hope that profitable collaborations will come out of this post.

 The companies:

Eufoton Medical Lasers

Sprin Technologies, for sustainable chemistry

Zeta Research, business for research

Zcube, drug delivery technology concepts

Biostrands, diagnostics for drug and therapy monitoring

Source: Ms. Sonia Guetta, Israel-Italy Chamber of Commerce & Industry

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When people look back on the beginning of the 21^st century, they might think this was the time of the antioxidants. Antioxidants supplements are being sold everywhere, usually without a doctor prescription, as a way to halt aging, heart diseases and whatever else is promised on the label. But current research, published online in the medical journal Stem Cells, reveals antioxidants also have their downside, possibly causing genetic abnormalities in cells.

The researchers attempted to counter the oxidation problem of cells growing in a Petri dish culture, by adding high doses of antioxidants directly to the cells. “That’s when we made the serendipitous discovery that there is a ‘danger zone’ for the cells exposed to antioxidants to develop genetic abnormalities that predispose to cancer.” Says Eduardo Marban, M.D., Ph.D., one of the authors of the study.

What does this actually mean for the healthcare industry (or perhaps the nutritional supplements one)? Not much… yet. The study was performed invitro, so the translation into clinical conclusions is by no means automatic. However, this study joins previous ones which showed evidence of harmful effect of antioxidants when taken in large doses. Most sane persons do not swallow more than one multivitamin pill a day, but this information might have benefit for the ‘supplemental junkies’ or even athletes. Should antioxidants be monitored more carefully by the government? I’m not quite sure that’s necessary. After all, Acamol isn’t monitored in any way, and people are not prone to poisoning themselves with overdoses. All the same, if you want to learn more about the legislation of drugs (at least in Europe), there’s a seminar about the “Europe Legislation for Oncology Drugs: From Research to Market” given by Beatrice Janin Jacquat, Medican Director, Includeconsulting, Switzerland, in the ILSI-BioMed Week next month.

 Source: Eurekalert

The paper online

The program of ILSI-BioMed Week 2010

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One year ago, a group of researchers at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem reported a sharp rise in the diagnoses of a certain metabolic disorder. To those of us who live in Jerusalem, fear not. Other than the Holyland story, nothing really happened in the Israeli capital in the last year. The only change is that the lab at Hadassah changed the supplier of its pipette tips. No more, no less.

You might find it hard to believe that the mere changing of a plastic supplier can affect the diagnosis of a medical disorder. It turns out more and more, though, that plastics can seriously influence the outcome of biomedical experiments and tests.  The most recent example was published just two days ago in BioTechniques by Lewis et al, and caught attention from Nature’s news crew who began circulating the announcement to the scientific community around the globe. It’s might important, too, as the discovery relates to protein and DNA extraction and PCR reactions, which most of the biologists do at one point or another in the research.

To sum up the results briefly, Lewis et al bring evidence that chemicals can leach out of polypropylene tubes and into the solution inside. Those chemicals absorb at wavelengths between 220 and 260 nanometers, which means they’re highly likely to distort a spectrometer reading of the amount of DNA in the solution, perhaps by as much as 300%, according to the researchers.

How to get over the problem? Lewis et al report they are using only tubes which are low in additives. This is another potential problem, obviously, since some of the additives are there for a reason: to harden the plastic, make it more heat resistant or preserving it over time. But if your research is truly important to you, I’d say it’s the right choice.

In the BioMed-ILSI week (two months from now), Prof. Daniel Cohn from the Casali Institute of Applied Chemistry in the Hebrew University will give a lecture on June 15th about Novel Biomedical Polymers and Medical Devices. It might be interesting to learn his views about this problem, and what’s more, perhaps he has an insight on the additives in question – and whether they can be found in implantable polymers as well.

The Incident in Hadassah

BioTechniques Journal

A News Article in Nature on the Matter

The Program of ILSI-BioMed week

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Yissum has announced that, together with the Technion Research and Development Foundation (TRDF), the technology transfer arm of the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, it will exclusively license to Avraham the commercial rights of Ladostigil, a novel cholinesterase, brain-selective monoamine oxidase inhibitor and neuroprotective agent for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

The drug has proven to be safe and well tolerated in Phase I/IIa clinical trials. As part of an advanced product development program, Avraham will use the newly invested capital to complete an additional 52-week Phase II proof-of-concept efficacy trial in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Ladostigil is a novel compound that was designed to provide a comprehensive medical treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Like other cholinesterase inhibitors currently on the market, Ladostigil targets symptomatic relief in Alzheimer’s patients. But unlike these drugs, Ladostigil is the first multi-functional drug to reach clinical trials, acting via additional novel mechanisms of action, providing potential to improve the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia such as depression and anxiety. Ladostigil also has the potential to slow progression of clinical symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease for sustained periods of time and to modify the pathology associated with the disease – and other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease.

The novel drug was envisaged by Prof. Marta Weinstock-Rosin of the Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Prof. Moussa B.H. Youdim of the Eve Top and National Parkinson Foundation Centers of Excellence Rappaport School of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel.

Prof. Weinstock-Rosin’s research at the Hebrew University also led to the discovery and development of Exelon^®, a blockbuster drug for treatment of dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease as well as dementia in Parkinson’s disease, which was licensed to and is marketed by Novartis Pharma AG. Prof. Youdim’s research at the Technion led to the discovery and development of Azilect^®, a successful new drug for treatment of Parkinson’s disease, which was licensed to and is marketed by Teva Pharmaceuticals.

 Dr. David Warshawsky is the CEO of Avraham Pharmaceuticals.

Taken from ILSI website

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Contact lenses containing vitamin E. Credit: Anuj Chauhan, Ph.D.

A new invention in the form of contact lenses against glaucoma, shows how biomedical devices should be designed

I like to think about biomedical instruments as bits of magic. Not because they cause wonders and provide instant-cures (though some do), but because the more ordinary and mundane in appearance they are, the better they become – much as in magic tricks. It’s the Law of the Ordinary ™. If you market a device for overcoming seizures, and it looks like a robotic arm-sleeve, then nobody is going to go out on the street looking like Robocop. In the same vein, the best applications and utilities are those that don’t force people to acquire new habits, like taking three pills before going to bed or (god forbid) working out. Human beings find it hard to rewire new modes of behavior into their brain, and us engineers simply have to deal with it as fact. That’s why the best inventions are also the ones you can use without even taking notice of them.

A great example of this sort of invention comes from the 239^th meeting of the American Chemical Society, in the form of contact lenses that may treat glaucoma. Glaucoma is second only to cataracts as the leading cause of vision loss and blindness in the world, and affects almost 67 million people. The mainstay treatment is eye drops that relieve the abnormal build-up of pressure inside the eye. The drug contained in the drops, however, is swept away within a few minutes by the tears, and hence doesn’t reach the targeted tissue.

The solution offered is a new extended-release delivery approach, which incorporates the drug into contact lenses. The lenses also contain vitamin E molecules that form ‘transport barriers’ and slow down the elusion of the medication from the lens into the eye. In research with laboratory animals, the novel lenses administered drugs up to 100 times longer than most commercial lenses. According to one of the developers, they could be designed for continuous wear for up to a month.

Obviously, this hasn’t gotten out to the market yet, and probably has a pending patent anyway. All the same, I like the elegant way in which the invention combines the ordinary (contact lenses) with a much needed medication. You won’t forget to put on your contact lenses, and you don’t even have to cut work short each day and ask one of your friends to hold your eyelashes while you apply eye drops. Simple, clean and ordinary. Magic and biomedicine at their best.

Source: American Chemical Society

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עמיתים יקרים

בשם הוועדה המארגנת אני שמח להזמינכם להשתתף בכינוס ה-13 של החברה הישראלית לכימיה אנליטית – ישראנליטיקה 2010. המפגשים השנתיים של החברה הישראלית לכימיה אנליטית הפכו למפגשים הגדולים והחשובים ביותר בתחום הכימיה בישראל בכינוסי ישראנליטיקה שנערכו בשנים האחרונות השתתפו כ-2,500 משתתפים מתחומי הכימיה אנליטית, כימיה,  ביוכימיה וביולוגיה, מהנדסי מכשור, מחשוב ובקרה, חוקרי מים וסביבה, אנשי בקרת איכות, הבטחת איכות ומטרולוגיה בכל ענפי התעשייה ובפרט התעשייה הפרמצבטית. ממפגשים אלה לא נפקד מקומם של אנשי שיווק ציוד אנליטי שמגשרים בין מפתחי הטכנולוגיות האנליטיות ואלה המיישמים אותן.  הכינוס יארך יומיים ויכלול ארבע הרצאות מליאה של מומחים בינלאומיים בתחומי ספקטרומטרית מסות,  חומרי ייחוס, הכנת דוגמאות לאנליזה והפרדות. התוכנית כוללת מעל שבעים הרצאות בארבעה-שלושה מושבים מקבילים וכן תצוגת פוסטרים נושאת פרסים.

גם השנה ייחדנו מושבים לקהלי יעד שונים בתחומי תעשיית התרופות, המים והסביבה, הביוכימיה והפרוטאומיקה והכימיה האנליטית של מזון. מספר מושבים יועדו לדיסציפלינות האנליטיות השונות ובעיקר כימיה פורנזית, ספקטרומטרית מסות, ספקטרוסקופיה, הפרדות גזיות ונוזליות, כימיה אנליטית וננו-טכנולוגיה, תורת המדידה ואיכות וניהול מתקדם של מעבדה אנליטית. ביום השני של הכינוס יתקיים מושב מיוחד שנושאו “פגוש את הרגולאטור” שבו יתארח ד”ר William Koch המיצג את USP . ד”ר Koch יספר על האסטרטגיה של FDA בתחום חמרי ייחוס ויענה על שאלות מוזמנות ויידון בנושאים שיועלו על ידי הקהל. ניתן להקדים ולשלוח שאלות למושב זה דרך הנהלת הכינוס.

האספקט הבינלאומי של כנסי החברה הישראלית לכימיה אנליטית מחוזק בשנה זו באמצעות שיתוף פעולה רשמי עם האגוד לכימיה אנליטית של האגודה האירופית למדעים הכימיים והמולקולאריים, האיגוד הבינלאומי לאלקטרוכימיה ו האיגוד הבינלאומי לעקיבות בכימיה אנליטית ( (CITAC . זו השנה הראשונה שמתקיימת בארץ הסדנה של CITAC בשילוב עם הכינוס בתחום תורת המדידה ואיכות בכימיה.

בשילוב עם הכינוס תתקיים התערוכה האנליטית הגדולה והחשובה ביותר בישראל לשנת 2010, שתכלול כ-50 מציגים שונים בשטח כולל  של מעל 3,000 מ”ר. יצרנים וספקי שירותים יציגו מכשור אנליטי מתקדם, ריאגנטים וציוד מעבדה מתכלה, תוכנות מעבדה שונות ושירותים ייעודיים. חלקם גם ישיקו ציוד חדיש.

שילוב זה של תערוכה אנליטית והרצאות אקדמיות ברמה גבוהה הוא ייחודי לכנס זה והוא מאפשר למבקרים ליהנות הן ממגוון חדיש של ציוד אנליטי המשווק כיום בישראל ובעולם והן להיחשף לנושאים מגוונים הנמצאים בחזית המחקר האנליטי.

אני מתכבד להזמינכם לקחת חלק ולתרום עמנו להצלחתו של אירוע זה.

בברכה
ד”ר איליה קוסלמן,
יו”ר הכינוס

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