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Illinois Counties Facing Increases In STDs Among Teenagers; Bill Aims To Reduce Rates
Illinois health officials contend that images seen in the media, social influences, and a lack of "frank" discussion on STDs in schools, among other issues, might be contributing to increases in STD rates across the state, the State Journal-Register reports. "According to recently released data, new cases of chlamydia in Illinois reached an all-time high statewide in 2008 - 59,169 - while the number of gonorrhea cases outside Chicago has been rising in recent years and totaled 10,165 in 2008," the Journal-Register reports. In addition, about 35,000 state residents have HIV/AIDS, the article states. Charlie Rabins, chief of the STD program at the Illinois Department of Public Health, said a bill (SB 212) currently awaiting Gov. Pat Quinn"s (D) approval might help reduce STD rates. The bill "would allow what is called "expedited partner therapy," in which medical professionals who treat patients for gonorrhea or chlamydia can give those patients single-dose antibiotics to pass on to sexual partners without first examining the partners," according to the Journal-Register (Olsen, 7/27).

Group Banned From Teaching Abstinence-Only Program In Sonoma County, Calif., Public Schools
Free to Be, a federally-funded organization in California that teaches abstinence-only sex education to students, is at the center of a debate with education officials and others in Sonoma County over whether their curriculum is in compliance with state rules requiring that sexual health education programs in public schools be "balanced" and include information on sexually transmitted infections such as HIV and contraception, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports. Sonoma County Office of Education officials in May banned the group from giving any further presentations on public school campuses, citing state law. Free to Be, as well as several school superintendents from around the county, said they are currently reviewing their legal options (Benefield, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 6/7).
News of the day
Inovio Biomedical Universal Dengue DNA Vaccine Demonstrates Strong Immune Responses Against All Four Serotypes
Inovio Biomedical Corporation (NYSE Amex: INO), a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, announced that the company"s first SynCon™ dengue virus DNA vaccine induced neutralizing antibody responses against all four distinct serotypes of dengue viruses that are transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. Currently there is no commercially available vaccine or antiviral drug against dengue virus infections. The results were published in Vaccine, July 3, 2009, in a paper entitled, "Development of a novel DNA SynCon tetravalent dengue vaccine that elicits immune responses against four serotypes" (Ramanathan MP, Kuo YC, Selling BH, Li Q, Sardesai NY, Kim JJ, Weiner DB).
Sexual Health

Cambridge Consultants Advises Cambridge University's Tech Transfer Arm On IP Strategy

A multidisciplinary team of technology strategists and scientists from Cambridge Consultants has provided advice to Cambridge Enterprise Ltd., regarding potential applications for microdroplet technology in a high-growth sector of the drug discovery market, currently valued at US$140m. Cambridge Enterprise is the world leading technology transfer arm of the University of Cambridge, responsible for the commercial realisation of its inventions, innovations and discoveries. In the year 2007-08, Cambridge Enterprise"s income exceeded ÷£10m for the first time, comprising ÷£8.8m from licensing, consultancy and royalties, and a further ÷£1.7m from the equity realisation in five companies. Cambridge Consultants" assignment involved undertaking a review of the Intellectual Property (IP) landscape in the field of microdroplets which, together with a programme of qualitative and quantitative market research, has informed the commercialisation plans of the Microdroplets Group at the University"s Department of Chemistry. Based on the findings of the studies, the Cambridge Consultants team was able to provide an expert opinion on the validity of key IP, together with an assessment of the commercial opportunities and potential for the technology in three specific market areas. Commenting on the project, Dr. Richard Day, a Senior Consultant at Cambridge Consultants with 15 years of experience in the science of microfluidics, said: "We unearthed a densely populated minefield of IP in the microdroplet area, but were able to identify a subset of representative patents for further analysis. A screened list of the ten leading, and potentially blocking, patents of greatest interest were reviewed in detail to establish the validity of their claims. This enabled us to provide specific advice, allowing the University to identify regions in the IP landscape open for further investigation." Having identified areas for the technology to be further exploited, a project team of healthcare market specialists analysed the market and competitor activity. They took a systematic approach to assessing the market and commercial opportunities, interviewing a panel of industry experts from world-leading commercial organisations in the field to identify the most promising and beneficial applications for microdroplets. The result was an industry-validated overview of the potential benefits of the technology, which could be used to inform strategic decision making, and to highlight what further laboratory development is required. The result was a validation of the University"s belief in its own technology, and evidence to support a successful market adoption. Commenting on the engagement, Dr Maher Khaled, Technology Manager, Cambridge Enterprise said, "University researchers will be exploring applications for the microdroplets platform over the next few years. Cambridge Consultants has obtained invaluable insight from industry leaders on where this technology could be applied for the greatest value. With a number of potential paths to commercialisation, Cambridge Consultants has also assisted the microdroplets team by evaluating established patent positions. This has prompted the researchers to develop alternative approaches that will preserve their freedom to commercialise any promising results with assistance from Cambridge Enterprise." Cambridge Consultants" consulting teams advise a wide range of client organisations on market strategy, technology feasibility and innovation management, supporting transactions, acquisitions and investment. The multidisciplinary skills and industry knowledge of the company"s scientists and engineers - from its medical technology, products and systems, and wireless divisions - enable them to identify technology risks and assess their implications for a client"s business, making the difference between a successful or poor investment. Cambridge Consultants


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