Discovery Holdings, which owns South Africa’s largest medical insurance administrator, is seeking to duplicate its successful Discovery Health/ Discovery Life model in the UK. The company on Tuesday announced the acquisition of the UK’s fourth-largest private medical insurer Standard Life Healthcare for R1.56 billion (about £138 million). Discovery chief executive officer Adrian Gore said during [...]
Discovery Holdings, which owns South Africa’s largest medical insurance administrator, is seeking to duplicate its successful Discovery Health/ Discovery Life model in the UK. The company on Tuesday announced the acquisition of the UK’s fourth-largest private medical insurer Standard Life Healthcare for R1.56 billion (about £138 million). Discovery chief executive officer Adrian Gore said during a conference call that he planned to integrate the Standard Life Healthcare business into Prudential Health (PruHealth), its joint venture with Prudential Assurance Company in the UK, on to what he referred to as the Discovery chassis.
Source: Business Report
The World Health Organisation on Wednesday advised travellers to South Africa to take precautions against insect bites and contact with raw meat, after an outbreak of Rift Valley fever killed 18 people. “WHO advises no international travel restriction to or from South Africa.” the agency said in a statement posted on its website. “However, WHO [...]
The World Health Organisation on Wednesday advised travellers to South Africa to take precautions against insect bites and contact with raw meat, after an outbreak of Rift Valley fever killed 18 people. “WHO advises no international travel restriction to or from South Africa.” the agency said in a statement posted on its website. “However, WHO recommends that visitors to South Africa, especially those intending to visit farms and/or game reserves, avoid coming into contact with animal tissues or blood, avoid drinking unpasteurized or uncooked meat or eating raw meat,” it added. “All travellers should take appropriate precautions against bites from mosquitoes and other blood sucking insects.”
Source: AFP
India and Brazil launched a trade dispute against the European Union and the Netherlands in the World Trade Organisation on Wednesday over the seizure of generic medicines in transit.
The request for consultations, the first step in a formal World Trade Organization dispute, ratchets up the pressure in a row pitting the intellectual property rights [...]
India and Brazil launched a trade dispute against the European Union and the Netherlands in the World Trade Organisation on Wednesday over the seizure of generic medicines in transit.
The request for consultations, the first step in a formal World Trade Organization dispute, ratchets up the pressure in a row pitting the intellectual property rights of pharmaceutical corporations against access to affordable medicine for people in poor countries.
Source: Domain-B
A new report from the Science and Technology Innovation Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars defines the criteria for a new technology assessment function in the United States. The report, Reinventing Technology Assessment: A 21st Century Model, emphasizes the need to incorporate citizen-participation methods to complement expert analysis. Government policymakers, businesses, non-governmental [...]
A new report from the Science and Technology Innovation Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars defines the criteria for a new technology assessment function in the United States. The report, Reinventing Technology Assessment: A 21st Century Model, emphasizes the need to incorporate citizen-participation methods to complement expert analysis. Government policymakers, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and citizens need such analysis to capably navigate the technology-intensive world in which we now live.
Previous posts addressed both nanovaccines and DNA robots and they hinted at public opinion concerning nanotechnology and synthetic biology. What is the public’s opinion of these emerging technologies? A research report by the “Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies”, Nanotechnology, Synthetic Biology, & Public Opinion answers this question from the perspective [...]
Previous posts addressed both nanovaccines and DNA robots and they hinted at public opinion concerning nanotechnology and synthetic biology. What is the public’s opinion of these emerging technologies? A research report by the “Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies”, Nanotechnology, Synthetic Biology, & Public Opinion answers this question from the perspective of the United States. The key findings are extracted below.
Best regards, Joao
************
1) While public awareness of synthetic biology remains lower than that of nanotechnology, the proportion of adults who say they have heard at least something about synthetic biology has more than doubled in the past year.
2) Among Americans who make an initial assessment of synthetic biology, the plurality think the risks and benefits will be about equal, and the remainder are divided evenly between benefits and risks. When potential risks and benefits of synthetic biology are outlined, however, the greatest shift in public opinion is toward risk.
3) Despite concern about the risks of synthetic biology, by 52% to 38% Americans think we should encourage the development of synthetic biofuels rather than discourage it.
4) The public has a strong appetite for more information about synthetic biology⎯an area of science that generates both excitement and concern.
5) The public desires more than just information, however. While federal government agencies that might oversee synthetic biology receive approval ratings lower than they were at the beginning of the decade, two-thirds of Americans agree that the federal government should regulate this research.
DNA robots are promising products of innovation mostly due to significant research and development investment. They move in response to chemical reactions and operate as nano-factories that may help deliver medicine to difficult-to-reach sites in the body, e.g.: tumours, etc. DNA robots are at the forefront of interdisciplinary research combining synthetic chemistry, enzymology, structural nanotechnology [...]
DNA robots are promising products of innovation mostly due to significant research and development investment. They move in response to chemical reactions and operate as nano-factories that may help deliver medicine to difficult-to-reach sites in the body, e.g.: tumours, etc. DNA robots are at the forefront of interdisciplinary research combining synthetic chemistry, enzymology, structural nanotechnology and computer science. Moreover, they illustrate what science can produce when funds are available. But do we need DNA robots? Are DNA robots the future of pharmaceutical innovation? How many more lives will we save with DNA robots? They may be the exact solution we need for many illnesses but they will not be available for many years to come. Given the slow assimilation rate of new technologies in emerging markets (mostly for practical reasons), it’s unlikely DNA robots will ever feature on a formulary in the next 50 years and it may take 200 years for it be considered an “essential medicine”.
Best regards, Joao
**************
For the first time, microscopic robots made from DNA molecules can walk, follow instructions and work together to assemble simple products on an atomic-scale assembly line, mimicking the machinery of living cells, two independent research teams announced Wednesday.
These experimental devices, described in the journal Nature, are advances in DNA nanotechnology, in which bioengineers are using the molecules of the genetic code as nuts, bolts, girders and other building materials, on a scale measured in billionths of a meter. The effort, which combines synthetic chemistry, enzymology, structural nanotechnology and computer science, takes advantage of the unique physical properties of DNA molecules to assemble shapes according to predictable chemical rules.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Sign up for our mailing list:
Thanks for visiting!
- Access Asia Pacific Biotech Brazil China Counterfeit developing countries Drug Prices Emerging Markets Ethics Generics Health Insurance HIV/AIDS India Industrial Policy Innovation Intellectual Property Managed health care medicines Nanotechnology News pharmaceutical pharmaceutical policy Pharmacists Pharmacoeconomics Philippines Poverty public policy Quality R&D Regulatory Affairs Reimbursement Risk sharing Russia Singapore South Africa Supply Chain Taiwan Trade Vaccines
Archives
- October 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- November 2011
- September 2011
- April 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- September 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- October 2008
- July 2008
- October 2007
- November 2006
- October 2006
- November 2005
