Drama on the I-270 Tech Corridor

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Kinch
Keyword(s):  
Drug Development ◽  
Influenza Vaccine ◽  
Human Genome ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Craig Venter ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Biotechnology Companies ◽  
Dramatic Growth

This chapter focuses upon one particular geographic region in suburban Washington, DC, which serves as a microcosm for the challenges and opportunities of the larger drug development enterprise. Our story begins with the efforts to sequence the human genome, an ambitious project that led to an increasingly bitter and highly publicized rivalry between the personalities of Craig Venter and Francis Collins from the private and public sectors, respectively. This same initiative gave rise to the dramatic growth in a cadre of biotechnology companies in suburban Maryland dedicated to exploiting the commercial opportunities associated with the human genome. The bubble would ultimately be burst as a result of various legal and executive decisions and in doing so, obliterated billions of dollars in wealth and effectively shudder an entire sector. All the while, another upstart biotechnology company, MedImmune, continued on a lower profile but ultimately more successful path to introduce innovative new medicines. However, this company would itself suffer a series of setbacks of its own making that resulted from the failed commercial launch of an improved influenza vaccine.

scholarly journals The State of Cancer Care in America: Impact of State Policy on Access to High-Quality Cancer Care

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 400-404
Author(s):  
Terrell Johnson ◽  
Lindsey A.M. Bandini ◽  
Kara Martin ◽  
Lee Jones ◽  
Jennifer Carlson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Cancer Care ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
The State ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Patients With Cancer ◽  
Quality Cancer Care ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Health Policy Decision ◽  
Policy Decision Making

Health policy in America has shifted rapidly over the last decade, and states are increasingly exercising greater authority over health policy decision-making. This localization and regionalization of healthcare policy poses significant challenges for patients with cancer, providers, advocates, and policymakers. To identify the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead of stakeholders, NCCN hosted the 2019 Policy Summit: The State of Cancer Care in America on June 27, 2019, in Washington, DC. The summit featured multidisciplinary panel discussions to explore the implications for access to quality cancer care within a shifting health policy landscape from a patient, provider, and lawmaker perspective. This article encapsulates the discussion from this NCCN Policy Summit.

The frontier of digital opportunity: Smart city implementation in small, rural and remote communities in Canada

Urban Studies ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 004209801986366
Author(s):  
Zachary Spicer ◽  
Nicole Goodman ◽  
Nathan Olmstead
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
City Development ◽  
Rural And Remote ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Digital Divides ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Private And Public

Studies of ‘smart cities’ in Canada primarily focus on large cities but not small, rural and remote communities. As a result, we have a limited understanding of the incentive structures for smaller, remote and rural communities to pursue smart city development. This knowledge deficit is concerning, since the introduction of technology can hold a number of unique benefits for these communities, including easier connections to the rest of Canada and large urban centres, reputation building, improved service delivery and enhanced opportunities for residents. Drawing upon localised forms of knowledge creation, policy development theories, adoption and local competition literature and primary interviews with private and public officials, we examine the challenges and opportunities of ‘smart city’ implementation through case studies of small and rural municipalities in Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia and a remote community, Iqaluit, Nunavut. We find that collaboration is essential for rural and remote pursuit of smart city development and is necessary to counteract the limitations of capacity, scale and digital divides. Challenges aside, however, the primary rationale for adoption of smart city technology remains the same regardless of size: enhanced quality of life for residents and sustained community health.

scholarly journals Relative Effectiveness of the Cell-Cultured Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine Compared to Standard, Egg-derived Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccines in Preventing Influenza-like Illness in 2017–2018

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (10) ◽  
pp. e665-e671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantina Boikos ◽  
Gregg C Sylvester ◽  
John S Sampalis ◽  
James A Mansi
Keyword(s):  
Cell Culture ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Influenza Vaccine ◽  
Influenza Season ◽  
Relative Effectiveness ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Influenza Vaccines ◽  
Study Cohort ◽  
Influenza Like Illness ◽  
Adaptive Mutations

Abstract Background Influenza antigens may undergo adaptive mutations during egg-based vaccine production. In the 2017–2018 influenza season, quadrivalent, inactivated cell-derived influenza vaccine (ccIIV4) vaccine was produced using A(H3N2) seed virus propagated exclusively in cell culture, thus lacking egg adaptive changes. This United States study estimated relative vaccine effectiveness (rVE) of ccIIV4 vs egg-derived quadrivalent vaccines (egg-derived IIV4) for that season. Methods Vaccination, outcome, and covariate data were ascertained retrospectively from a electronic medical record (EMR) dataset and analyzed. The study cohort included patients ≥ 4 years of age. rVE was estimated against influenza-like illness (ILI) using diagnostic International Classification of Diseases, Ninth or Tenth Revision codes. The adjusted odds ratios used to derive rVE estimates were estimated from multivariable logistic regression models adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, geographic region, and health status. Results Overall, 92 187 individuals had a primary care EMR record of ccIIV4 and 1 261 675 had a record of egg-derived IIV4. In the ccIIV4 group, 1705 narrowly defined ILI events occurred, and 25 645 occurred in the standard egg-derived IIV4 group. Crude rVE was 9.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.6%–13.6%). When adjusted for age, sex, health status, comorbidities, and geographic region, the estimated rVE changed to 36.2% (95% CI, 26.1%–44.9%). Conclusions ccIIV4, derived from A(H3N2) seed virus propagated exclusively in cell culture, was more effective than egg-derived IIV4 in preventing ILI during the 2017–2018 influenza season. This result suggests that cell-derived influenza vaccines may have greater effectiveness than standard egg-derived vaccines.

Co-opetition for corporate social responsibility and sustainability: drivers and success factors

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amit Kumar ◽  
Julia Connell ◽  
Asit Bhattacharyya
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Critical Success ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Sustainability Challenges ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose Over the past few decades, many initiatives have been proposed in response to critical environmental challenges. However, in most cases, progress has been inadequate, raising questions as to why so few organisations have been successful in adopting effective sustainability measures. To address this dilemma, this paper aims to propose a range of sustainability-related co-opetitive strategies that are likely to be beneficial for organisations and society. The research findings provide support for co-opetitive approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability by providing evidence within an Australian context. Design/methodology/approach Research methods comprised 14 interviews with senior executives/managers from private and public sector organisations in Australia. Thematic content analysis indicates the presence of three types of drivers (commonality-driven, competition-driven and collaboration-driven) and three critical success factors (governance, public policy and relationship principles) related to co-opetition, CSR and sustainability. Findings Findings indicate that inter-firm co-opetition could be considered a viable strategy to improve performance across the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. Limitations concern the number of interviews conducted. Originality/value Based on the research findings, a typology was created that depicts different forms of co-opetition in CSR/sustainability and their relationships with firm performance. Moreover, the typology illustrates the importance of co‐opetitive partnerships in supporting effective responses to sustainability challenges and opportunities.

Administrative Developments: Celera Genomics to Complete DNA Map

2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-189
Author(s):  
Jennifer Doran
Keyword(s):  
Human Genome ◽  
Fruit Fly ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Craig Venter ◽  
Congressional Committee ◽  
Its Analysis ◽  
Human Dna ◽  
The Creation

On April 6, 2000, Dr. J. Craig Venter of Celera Genomics told a Congressional committee that his company finished its analysis of the human DNA and would have a completed map of the human genome by early summer, 2000. Scientists expect the completed human genome to revolutionize drug therapies through the creation of treatments tailored to specific genetic makeups. In order to create a map of the human genome, three billion letters of DNA that encode eighty thousand genes must be identified and ordered. In March, 2000, Celera released a successful sequence of the fruit fly genome, and it employed the same methods in creating the human genome.

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