Category Archives: Life Sciences Industry News

July 15, 2019– SALT LAKE CITY –Recursion, a next-gen biopharma company combining automated, experimental biology with artificial intelligence to discover and develop drugs at scale, today announced the closing of a $121 million Series C financing. The round was led by Baillie Gifford’s flagship investment trust, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC, with participation by new […]

Rebate Rule Withdrawn Yesterday, the Trump Administration withdrew a controversial proposed rule aimed at ending many of the rebates that drug companies pay to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and insurers under Medicare. BioUtah, along with its national partners, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), had supported the […]

On June 19, the House passed a package of health-related FY 2020 Appropriations bills. The legislation, H.R. 2740, contained the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill which includes $41.1 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a $2 billion increase from this year’s funding level. The NIH funding includes $500 million […]

On May 27, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved four bills with bipartisan support, all aimed at lowering prescription drug costs. Taken together, the bills are intended to curb certain abusive practices by drug patent owners, such as “patent hopping,” and “patent thickets,” which some policymakers believe are being used to extend market exclusivity and block […]

On June 26, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP), approved by a bipartisan vote of 20-3, the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 (see Roll Call article), which addresses a wide array of issues from prescription drugs to surprise medical bills. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) serves on the HELP Committee and` […]

Study Represents Largest DNA Mapping Effort Undertaken in U.S. From a Single Population Media Contacts:  Intermountain Healthcare:   deCODE genetics: Brad Gillman: brad.gillman@imail.org/385-315-8949         Jon Gustafsson: jon@decode.is/+354 664 1905 REYKJAVIK, ICELAND, and SALT LAKE CITY – Intermountain Healthcare and deCODE Genetics have announced a major global collaboration and study focused on discovering […]

The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held hearings on June 4 and 5, on a bipartisan draft bill released May 22 by subcommittee chair, Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and ranking member, Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) (see the press release here), that would amend current patent law to expand eligible subject matter. A third hearing […]

Salt Lake City – BioUtah and Utah’s life sciences industry is proud to congratulate one of its own—Fred Lampropoulos, founder and CEO of Merit Medical—who will receive the Salt Lake Chamber’s 40th Giant in our City award today, during an evening ceremony at the Grand America Hotel. The award honors those with exceptional and distinguished […]

SALT LAKE CITY—Kelvyn Cullimore, President and CEO of BioUtah, issued the following statement on introduction in the House of Representatives of the “Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2019,” H.R. 2207, introduced by Reps. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), to permanently repeal the medical device tax. “BioUtah applauds the bipartisan introduction in the House […]

BioUtah’s President and CEO, Kelvyn Cullimore and Navigen, Inc. CEO and BioUtah board vice chair, Brandi Simpson, were in Washington, D.C. this week to help advocate for Utah’s growing biotechnology and pharma sectors. On April 3, BioUtah cohosted a congressional briefing titled From Labs to Patients: The Discovery of New Treatments and Cures. The briefing […]

On November 1, 2018, at the BioUtah Utah Life Sciences Summit (ULSS). the Regulatory Affairs Professionals (RAPS) Utah Chapter was officially announced by chapter chair Robert Wolfarth, senior manager of regulatory affairs for Merit Medical. Last week, members of the growing Chapter gathered to celebrate their launch and kick-off the year ahead. “This new RAPS […]

Newswise— The Coalition for the Life Sciences, on behalf of the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus, is pleased to announce Congressman John Curtis (R-UT) as the newest co-chair of the Caucus. He joins Reps. Jackie Speier (D-CA), Steve Stivers (R-OH), and Steve Cohen (D-TN) as leaders of the 78-member bipartisan Caucus. “It is an honor to […]