Please let your legislator know we need Affordable Lifesaving Biogenerics

bleicher -- (0.00 / 0)

can you please email me offline? david at bluemassgroup dot com.

---

by: David @ Thu Nov 19, 2009 at 14:22:08 PM CST

Sure, just did (0.00 / 0)

---

by: bleicher @ Thu Nov 19, 2009 at 16:14:56 PM CST

[ Parent ]

You should report that to the CDC (0.00 / 0)

---

by: dcsurfer @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 02:26:55 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I need the Cliffs Notes version (0.00 / 0)

What are Biogenerics?

"Perseverance is a great element of success. If you knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody." -Longfellow

---

by: Bean in the 'Burbs @ Thu Nov 19, 2009 at 22:53:04 PM CST

Lemme try: (5.00 / 1)

So there's your basic pharmaceutical medications, which usually show up on the scene as brand-name products (e.g. Prozac) and sometimes later have a far cheaper generic form released (e.g. fluoxetine).  

Then there's a class of treatments called biologics, which are made from - wait for it - biological material.  I'm not sure if this includes things like insulin - maybe someone else knows? - but it does include things like the injectable treatment Enbrel that's used for arthritis (and incidentally comes from Chinese hamster ovaries.  Totally not making that up).  It also includes many if not all of the disease-modifying treatments for MS, which are CRAZY expensive (I mean like $10k per infusion expensive).  

Biogenerics are the generic forms of those biologically-based medical treatments.  Patient advocates want them released (what with not everyone having $10k to drop every month and all); biotech firms say you can't make generics of biological products the same way you can with "regular" drugs.  

Does that help?

---

by: melora @ Thu Nov 19, 2009 at 23:28:44 PM CST

[ Parent ]

they are a special class of drugs (0.00 / 0)

some used in cancer treatment.  

Rep Eschoo has been instrumental in getting this class of drugs extended patent rights that are anti-competitive and drive up costs for patients... to the best of my knowledge

www.bit.ly/7Wousr - "Must include a public option"
www.bit.ly/7yaoMv - Coakley shifts, backs abortion curb
www.bit.ly/5f8CVb - John Kerry reporting for duty!
www.bit.ly/6rJnZU - Questions for Martha Coakley on Civil Rights  

---

by: NeilSagan @ Thu Nov 19, 2009 at 23:30:38 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Screw these jobs. (0.00 / 0)

They're not jobs that benefit us, they're the jobs that result in extra traffic down Mass Ave that makes it take an hour to get through Porter Square.  I bet ninety percent of them go to foreigners.  I think living in Massachusetts will be much more pleasurable if we drive the biotech companies out, they are leeching off of us.  They're the main reason health insurance premiums have doubled.  Have they improved life expectancy, or made life better for everyone?  No, everyone still dies around the same time, but now we are all anxious and fret about this or that drug that we should be taking.  It's a racket!

Our future will arrive whether we fund biogenerics or not, time doesn't require funding to transpire.  I say let the private sector invest in drugs, and then if they come up with something good, take it my eminent domain, as a matter of social justice.

---

by: dcsurfer @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 02:39:17 AM CST

This is a joke post, right? (0.00 / 0)

---

by: David @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 07:46:28 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Me? Joke post? (0.00 / 0)

I never write joke posts, David.  My Plan for the Beatles is serious too.

Seriously, I say screw those jobs.

---

by: dcsurfer @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 14:22:11 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Read my hands (0.00 / 0)

---

by: stomv @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 09:02:42 AM CST

[ Parent ]

The middle hand appears to be giving the "fig" which is common in (0.00 / 0)

Eastern Europe. Please explain the other two.

---

by: Edgarthearmenian @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 09:25:27 AM CST

[ Parent ]

you seriously don't recognize it? (6.00 / 1)

It's American Sign Language for W.T.F.

---

by: huh @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 09:37:13 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Nope. I don't know any sign language to speak of. (0.00 / 0)

Are the signs given in sequence, left to right?  Some people equate giving the fig to giving the finger, but it is not as strong, shown by the fact that giving the finger has become very popular in Russia and Eastern Europe to express total disdain.  Huh, I am guessing, does WTF mean "What the f..."?

---

by: Edgarthearmenian @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 10:10:07 AM CST

[ Parent ]

handspeak (6.00 / 1)

http://www.handspeak.com/spell...

www.bit.ly/7Wousr - "Must include a public option"
www.bit.ly/7yaoMv - Coakley shifts, backs abortion curb
www.bit.ly/5f8CVb - John Kerry reporting for duty!
www.bit.ly/6rJnZU - Questions for Martha Coakley on Civil Rights  

---

by: NeilSagan @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 10:17:28 AM CST

[ Parent ]

that is correct. (0.00 / 0)

What you call "the fig" is an ASL letter "T", BTW.

---

by: huh @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 10:33:59 AM CST

[ Parent ]

World Time Format? (0.00 / 0)

:WTF also refers to World Time Format, a new internet standard for referring to the same point in time all over the world, or on the internet.  It is Alphabetic, 26 "hours" in a day, 26 "minutes" in an "hour", and so on.  ":A" is Noon in Greenwich England, but ":A" occurs at 7:00 AM here (it doesn't change with Daylight Savings, so it is sometimes 8:00 AM here).  

A and N are the only hours that line up with a 24 hour clock, because Alphabetic Hours are only about 55 minutes long.  For example, 9:00 AM is not :C (that's 08:50:46), but :B

A guy developed it at the Diesel Cafe and posted a link to his AlphabetClock.com site on the Diesel's wifi bulletin board.  I got really into the idea and re-wrote the code to be more efficient and added microseconds, and then I converted it to use the Julian Day which is a standard time format used in SQLite and other databases, which results in my version being 12 hours off from his original version, but I think that's better (especially for us, since A is at 8AM at the start of the day here, instead of at 8PM).  Then I recognized the guy from his picture on the Diesel board and showed him my code, which he was impressed by, but I may have offended him a little bit, or discouraged him.  He has said he agrees to incorporate my code and that we should  should flip it 12 hours to use the Julian Day, but he hasn't had time to do it yet.  I hope we get them in sync so we can move on to pushing the standard.  It's also a very compact way to transmit the date and time in JSON or XML data.

I put my version up here, to show you guys, but his version is still the official version, since he invented it.  Oh yeah, my version has the full Julian Day, not just the time.  So you can refer to any event in history or in the future with :WTF

For example, John Lennon was pronounced dead at 10:45pm on December 8, 1980 in New York City.  That was FJCGK:RBQ in :WTF

If you want to meet on the internet for a game of live chess tomorrow at 9:00 PM, that's FJRXD:QGN  (The FJ can be left off, it won't roll over to FK til 2024)

Cool huh?

It's a really good standard, and there'd be two extra hours in a day to get more done.  I think the Federal Goverment should start scheduling meetings and speeches in WTF, adapting to its 55 minute hours, to have space for two more hour long meetings in a day.  We'd have a staff meeting as :D, lunch at :E (or at :EAT), etc.

---

by: dcsurfer @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 14:11:18 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Oops, 9:00 AM is :CEI in wtf? (0.00 / 0)

---

by: dcsurfer @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 14:13:47 PM CST

[ Parent ]

sorry, I'll make this its own diary (0.00 / 0)

here

---

by: dcsurfer @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 14:40:41 PM CST

[ Parent ]

So, you recommend putting up "No Irish" signs? (0.00 / 0)

Or is it only the nasty brown foreigners you object to?  I'd take that bet of yours, btw, since my experience is your 90% estimate is as divorced from reality as the rest of your post.

---

by: Shane @ Sun Nov 22, 2009 at 12:06:31 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Non-Massachusetts residents (0.00 / 0)

Whether they're to Americans from other states, or to Chinese or Indian researchers or other foreigners, including people from England, Ireland, etc, it doesn't really matter.  I'd be surprised if more than 10% of biotech jobs (not including the security desk and janitor) went to people actually from Massachusetts.

---

by: dcsurfer @ Mon Nov 23, 2009 at 20:29:34 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Are we considering adding Biotechs to the "evil" pharma list? (0.00 / 0)

Biologics are great treatments for people with a variety of diseases. The development of these "drugs" take as long if not longer than small molecule drugs and even more innovations required. We need to entice large pharma to get more into biologics so please don't start to reduce he business case for them to put money into it.

Our economy has been sucking wind and MA has been avoiding the worst of it thanks to these biotechs. Genzyme's a great local company employing 11,000 worldwide with many of them here in MA. The company's products and services are focused on rare inherited disorders, kidney disease, orthopaedics, cancer, transplant and immune disease... (from their website). They are deeply into biologics hurting them will hurt not only the MA employment scene but the R&D for the next biologic to cure something else.

Bad idea!

Baker/Tisei in 2010... Charlie Baker on why people "have been" leaving MA, "It's not the weather here, it's the climate"

---

by: JohnD @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 09:12:52 AM CST

Obtuse, as always (0.00 / 0)

Bleicher is advocating recognizing reality and taking action, not declaring anyone evil.

Why do yo have to reduce everything to the dumbest, nastiest argument possible?

---

by: huh @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 09:40:17 AM CST

[ Parent ]

because that's how JohnD see the world (6.00 / 1)

nuance is not an option

www.bit.ly/7Wousr - "Must include a public option"
www.bit.ly/7yaoMv - Coakley shifts, backs abortion curb
www.bit.ly/5f8CVb - John Kerry reporting for duty!
www.bit.ly/6rJnZU - Questions for Martha Coakley on Civil Rights  

---

by: NeilSagan @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 10:18:39 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Absolutely not. (0.00 / 0)

I am advocating for a future for the biotechnology industry.  The reason we have succeeded so far is our focus on science and scientific innovation.  If we pass the law as currently crafted, we will increase profits for a few of the companies in the short term, but we will change the competitive nature of the industry. Rather than asking investors to risk investment on products that advance science and cure unmet medical needs, we will now be asking investors and biotech companies to focus on what gets a product approved faster so they can get 12 years exclusivity.  Because the exclusivity would be independent of any innovation or new cure, it could simply be a 4th or 4th version of an existing therapy, it would stop innovation.

We have been successful competitors because we are great at science and innovation.  If we lose the funding for this activity, great companies like Genzyme might be forced to stop innovating to be profitable, and smaller companies would likely lose their sources of capital as venture capitalists place their bets on lower risk,higher reward options.

---

by: bleicher @ Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 12:13:35 PM CST

[ Parent ]