By MELODY M. AGUIBA

December 5, 2011, 2:55am

MANILA, Philippines — The government has poured in funds for the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) which will enable the country to come up over a shorter period with superior plant varieties and animal breeds that will put the Philippines at the forefront of the development of its niche, indigenous crops.

Using advanced molecular marker-assisted breeding techniques, the facility will have vast applications in many industries and put the Philippines at the forefront of the development of its niche, indigenous crops including coconut, abaca, banana, and pili nuts. It will eventually aid in generating livelihood in the countryside.

“We support the development of staple crops, bioproducts, fisheries, and livestock in order to enhance agricultural production. We’ll work for the effective integration of genomics into concrete steps that will improve the quality of life and advance socio economic conditions in the country,” said Department of Science and Technology (DoST) Secretary Mario J. Montejo at a PGC launching early this week.

PGC has already an initial list of projects for agriculture including programs for improved varieties of abaca with high fiber quality and with resistance to highly-infesting bunchy top virus (BTV), Saba banana with BTV-resistance and delayed ripening quality, and the development of diagnostic kits with high precision to detect disease and genetic diversity of livestock, forest trees, and fishery.

As Philippines imports most of its enzyme requirements needed in manufacturing applications, the PGC has a program to help discover enzymes for agro-industrial uses, vaccine development, and improvement of animal feeds.

With its universal use, the PGC has six other programs aside from agriculture—Biodiversity for Drug Diversity and Bioenergy, DNA Sequencing and Genotyping Facility, Bioinformatics Core Facility, Health, and Forensics and Ethnicity.

“This is an ambitious but much-needed research venture designed to create an environment and culture to encourage new discoveries and innovations in a variety of fields,” said Dr. Carmen David-Padilla, PGC executive director.

Projects under drug discovery includes production of drug for pain, epilepsy and neurological disorders from venomous marine snails; development of neuroactive, antimicrobial, and anticancer drugs from microorganisms found in marine snails and sponges; and development of medicinal plants and nutraceuticals containing antioxidants, anticancer, antinfective, antidiabetic, and antihypertensive agents.

“The best natural varieties of these plants, producing the highest level of compounds, are selected for propagation using gene markers. Plant, animal and microbial genomes and transcriptomes provide a wealth of information about potentially useful molecules and their biotechnological production,” said PGC in a primer.

In health, projects include those for identifying biomarkers helpful in diagnosis and potential vaccines for dengue, Tuberculosis bacteria, H1N1, malaria, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes.

The DNA Sequencing Core Facility situated at the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology in Diliman has high throughput sequencing capability while the Bioinformatics facility has high performance computing systems needed in processing genomic data.

“We recognize the immense the transformational power of genomics in addressing national issues of health, nutrition, food security, environmental preservation, and industrial sustainability,” Montejo said.

By MELODY M. AGUIBA

April 23, 2011, 8:03pm

MANILA, Philippines – The government may open up commercial release of its dengue-preventive mosquito trap to nearby South East Asian neighbors, as this has regional market potential owing to its “organic” nature.

Programmed to already mass produce the ovicidal and larvicidal (OL) mosquito trap locally, a multi-governmental group expressed possibility of exploiting the intellectual property (IP) asset for the Filipino-developed device.

“We have an organic substance that can be used (for dengue control). So it has the greatest potential for global consumption. We’re proud to say that because other countries have attempted using synthetic products. But the Philippines embarked on something friendly and non-toxic,” said Dr. Lilian A. De Las Llagas, board of regents member of technology-developer University of the Philippines System, in a press briefing.

The OL trap has tremendous potential for commercialization not only among private companies domestically, but within South East Asia where countries have been plagued by dengue. This is a disease tagged by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the fastest-emerging infections and one for which no drug or vaccine has yet been developed.

The Philippines can then come in through this technology to explore its IP assets and somehow also establish commercial opportunities in the health sector.

Business entities are already interested in commercializing the technology.

“We will earn from royalties here because it’s a result of our R&D (research and development) budget,” said Industrial Technology and Development Institute (ITDI) Director Nuna Almanzor. “There are already people that inquired from us on how they can become adopters. They need to invest on the equipment to produce the OL traps since we’re just producing it from our laboratory now.”

The OL trap is highly marketable for its low cost of less than P10 per piece. The entire package consists of a strip of “lawanit” board that has the wet organic black paint that attracts the female, dengue-carrying female mosquito. The solution on the board has the pellets made from organic compounds derived from plants that are toxic to the mosquitoes, but not to human.

An advantage of the OL trap is its ability to prevent the disease, a move recognized by many countries to be a primary solution to this global disease.

By MELODY M. AGUIBA

August 21, 2011, 8:00am

MANILA, Philippines — A P30-million government research eyes the sale of an “immunoliposome” cancer drug delivery license to multinational Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. (JPI) which may open up a big and entirely new drug innovation industry for Philippines.

Funded by the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD), the cancer research program by state-funded National Institute of Molecular Biology (NIMB) and two other institutes have started talks with Janssen.

“I cannot preempt Janssen, (but) we have communicated with them our intention. I expect to have more definite words from them,” said Dr. Jay Enrico Lazaro, in an interview, during a presentation of “AMOR 2: Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of hCC49 Immunoliposomes in Nude Mice.”

This project is part of a Department of Science and Technology-led interagency High Impact Technology Solutions (HITS) for which PCHRD also seeks financing for sustained implementation.

“We don’t keep our limited investments for health research secret because we’re aware that that’s how we can raise funding,” said Dr. Jaime C. Montoya, PCHRD executive director. He explains that a single drug really takes $1 billion to produce from basic research to clinical trial, and technology packaging and marketing.

Filipino drug researchers are optimistic of the country’s potential licensing of this cancer drug delivery system as it aligns with the global trend on “biologics” which is overtaking research on new drug substances. Biologics are medicinal products created through biological processes and can consist of sugars, proteins, or nucleic acids or their combination or of cells and tissues and other living organisms.

Lazaro said NIMB’s work together with the institutes of Chemistry and Biology – University of the Philippines – is very similar to what Japan is working on. Being still a pioneering work, this offers Philippines huge economic potential.

Being a state-of-the-art drug system where the drug destroys cancer cells exclusively, it offers a high price of P50,000 per 20 milligram (mg) once marketed. And yet it pays for cancer patients to take such drugs since it avoids omits a breast cancer treatment situation that normally involves one-third chemotherapy and two-thirds treating its side effects.

“We don’t have a pharmaceutical industry to speak of. Nobody works on biologics for commercial use. We’re at a terrible disadvantage when it comes to our risk. But what I’m counting on is the novelty of our product. It’s difficult to copy this antibody,” said Lazaro.

NIMB’s intention is to sell the license or partner with Janssen or other firms at the drug research’s initial stage. Here, it can flow back its initial capital for further research investments.

The first product is a license on the linker which “links” the antibody and the liposome which contains the cancer drug that should be delivered to the cancer cell. Immunoliposomes combine antibody-mediated tumor recognition with liposomal delivery, according to “Seminars in Oncology.”

“This linker, the phospholipid, has IP (intellectual property) issues (which we cannot disclose because we’re patenting it),” Lazaro said.

The second product for patenting and sale is the antibody.

“The antibody that we’re using, we engineered it. It’s not yet patented. We just have to do a few experiments on the material, and then we can proceed to patenting it,” he said.

Janssen is the target market for these products since it owns a drug-carrying liposome branded Caelyx priced P44,000 per 20 mg in the market. Caelyx is administered intravenously to breast cancer patients. NIMB plans later to go into drug research for other cancer types such as liver.

 Manila Bulletin unpublished part:

   Lazaro said the Philippines actually stands to gain immensely more if it advances this drug research program up to at least the clinical early phase stage, unlike the pre-clinical stage at present.

“If I sell it at the preclinical stage, they will buy license at a cheap price, but if I sell it at clinical Phase 1 stage, the license will be much much more expensive,” he said.

The P30 million may already be enough to sell the license at pre clinical stage, but it may cost P300 to P700 million to bring it to clinical Phase 1.

Biologics. has been the ‘way to go’ in cancer drug as it has been known that “one effective means of targeting tumors would be via conjugation (or linking) of antitumor antibodies or portions of antibodies to liposomes.”

This drug system is also known as “monoclonal antibody” therapy which uses monoclonal antibodies to stick to target cancer cells.  This way, the patient’s immune system is stirred to attack cancer cells.  This treatment is very specific to the cancer cell since researchers are able to identify cell surface receptors of tumors such as ib breast cancer cell.

MAB, as of 2006, generated sales of $20.6 billion, and research on it attracted 200 companies and billions of dollars in research.

In the mAB process, “you have here a cancer drug , and you enclose the drug inside a nano capsule called a liposome.  On the surface of the liposome you attach antibody that are very specific to certain antigens located on cancer cells.  I’m talking about breast cancer, said Lazaro.

“The cancer cell contains Tag 72, and we are fortunate enough to know the gene for this Tag 72 and genetically engineered it.  When you produce that antibody, you will attach it to the surface of my liposome, and this antibody will make this liposome stick to the cancer cells.

“Why?  Because the cancers are contained in Tag 72, and my liposome contains the antibody.  So it’s going to stick to the cancer cell, it will be internalized, inside the cancer cell this is where the liposome is going to break open, release the content in the cell.”

 

August 8, 2011, 1:59am

MANILA, Philippines — The government has pursued an aggressive food processing equipment fabrication program with seven prototypes launched in two years to enable Philippines to venture into value-added food and to catch up with its neighbors.

 

The “Development of Process Equipment for Food Processing Firms” is now developing seven food processing equipment initially.

 

A prototype of perhaps two of the seven machines may be produced by the end of the year while mass production should be ready in two years, according to Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) Senior Science Research Specialist Norberto G. Ambagan.

 

The seven machines are vacuum packers (sealing machine); spray dryer for drying of food and herb extract, fruit juice, milk and coffee into powder form; water retort for packing products in pouches for meat, marine and dried fruits; vacuum dryer for manufacturing herbs and species, fruits and vegetables; vacuum fryer for producing crunchy food as fruits, vegetables, root crops, shellfish like crunchy tahong; immersion freezer for pre-cooling of vacuum-sealed marine product prior to freezing; and freeze dryer essential in immediately freezing fishery products in coastal areas to avoid spoilage.

 

“We’re lagging behind our Asian neighbors. We have to start small and build our capability. The department (of Science and Technology) has strong support now for our local fabricators while assisting food processors, said Ambagan in a forum.

 

“The food processor will assure that the equipment complies with quality of the food product. The fabricator needs to comply again, back to the prototype, adjusting, and modifying. Our small food processors will grow with our small equipment fabricators.”

 

The local fabrication of food processing equipment will boost global competitiveness particularly of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME), giving them access to equipment cheaper than imported ones.

 

It will enable production of “tropicalized” machines where food processors no longer have to import expensive raw material parts and wait for perfect timing for these to be shipped in. It will make parts and services available “after-sales” locally.

 

The government, Department of Agriculture and DoST, is in full support of producing local food processing equipment since it will prolong shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables, generate export revenue, and raise farmers and small entrepreneus’ income.

 

“It will lead to production of safe food products, prevent contamination and product recall, prevent microbiological or pathogenic contaminants and chemical and physical contaminants like glass and metals,” said Ambagan.

 

Other benefits of mechanization for food processing are compliance with global food safety standards, increasing productivity and efficiency, reducing processing and cleaning time in factories, and definitely, increasing profit.

 

“Hopefully these machines will increase efficiency in the plant and lower production cost. Most of the time, people cause delays in production, but the use of machine can increase a businessman’s profit,” he said.

 

In its program to produce food processing machines, ITDI is also upgrading capability of its personnel and facilities.

 

They are focused on determining what the exact needs of MSME food processors are, the specification of operation and functions of the machines; operating conditions such as utilities and power supply; fabrication assembly and techniques; materials to be used for these machines whether metal or non-metal like the “virgin plastic”; and control and operation whether manual or automatic; and maintenance, delivery, and installation.

 

ITDI has long designed and produced some food processing equipment, but it is only now that government has the full support to make the machine fabrication industry fully viable.

 

ITDI previously produced, based on imported equipment, a spray dryer which enables milk to dissolve in cold water, not only hot and a wine kit with an ebulliometer that tests alcohol in wine.

 MB unpublished part:

  “We had the enterprise module around five, seven years ago for a small unit, a complete working line consisting of two three pieces of equipment that go together.  This is a TBI (technology business incubator) concept before.  We did enterprise modules based on our own experience in research and development and on food processors’ needs,” he said.

The modules include a canning line for fish products; muscovado processing facility that can raise production to nine to 12 metric tons (MT) per day compared to three to four per month in traditional systems; coconut sap and nipa sap sugar processing facility; virgin coconut oil extractor that can produce 60 percent of the milk from copra compared to just 30 to 35 percent from traditional processes; and citrus processing facility for calamansi, dalanghita, and other citrus and other fresh products.

“It could take 10 to 12 persons to juice maybe 100 to 150 kilos of calamansi.  That’s less than one hour in this machine,” he said.

Ambagan stressed freezing equipment  and a small fish processing facility will be important for Filipino fishermen.

“Our fishermen are geographically disadvantaged because we’re made up of islands, so we can’t have big processing facilities like in the US which is concentrated in one island,” he said.

ITDI is partnering with the Philippine Food Processors and Exporters Assn. for this program. IT will secure intellectual property protection and prepare technology packages for the equipment.

By MELODY M. AGUIBA

August 1, 2011, 2:52am

MANILA, Phillippines — The government is undertaking 12 High Impact Technology Solutions (HITS), an industrialization path, aimed at helping reduce the 36 percent poverty level in the metropolis and 16 percent in rural areas.

HITS, an initial 12-point flagship inter-government program initiated by the Department of Science and Technology (DoST), has received its needed boost with a policy support of President Benigno S. Aquino III who led early this week the National and Technology Week (NSTW).

“Through the use of technology, we will have a direction by which we can give hope of livelihood to the countryside,” said Aquino at the NSTW-HITS opening.

The idea of HITS is to introduce Filipino-made products that will be at par or even better in quality than those in the market and at a globally competitive cost.

“The only way to confront poverty is through countryside development. We’re thinking of how we can make our industries more competitive through technology. We’re developing corporate technologies that will create value in inputs in the countryside,” said DoST Secretary Mario G. Montejo, who admitted to being surprised by the high poverty incidence level in urban areas much more than in rural areas.

A plain agricultural processing technology could produce high value-added product, such as “kalamansi concentrate”, which has longer shelf life of at least six months compared to just a week for the unprocessed form. The country imports kalamansi concentrates.

“If we localize this kalamansi concentrate, it will be just one-fourth of the cost,” he said.

HITS will also support a need of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries of the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) for the supply of electronic parts and peripherals that have a huge $30 billion value.

“SEIPI is opening up their requirements to local suppliers. We’re looking at a huge number. It’s a win-win program. Even just the plating requirements of SEIPI are being sent to Singapore and shipped back here. But that’s relatively simple. We can do this even at a lower cost,” Montejo said.

Montejo himself, a University of the Philippines-educated licensed mechanical engineer, is a technology entrepreneur who practiced his craft in the United States and holds many patents for his inventions.

Among the top products to be produced soon in the country are nanoclay-made cutleries.

“We have nanoclays in Bicol which if you mix with 93 percent cornstarch can produce spoons, and it’s 100 percent biodegradable. If you mix nanoclay with rubber, you can enhance its mechanical property to produce many products such as bumper, interior, and exterior panes,” he said.

An immediate educational product now being piloted in 100 public elementary schools is an electronic learning module developed by an inter-agency group participated by the Department of Education and led by Ateneo’s Dr. Queena Lee Chua, an Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service awardee.

“Information Communication Technology was just assigned to us, and we’re very excited of a transformational group working on this,” Montejo said.

The following are other HITS program: Local windmills for power generation, ship-to-shore and rubber tier gantry cranes, microorganisms for treatment of wastewater, development of a treatment for Filipinos through diagnostic tests, low-cost PC tablets, expansion of the national telehealth program, a monorail system, nanotechnology, low-cost infant feed, massive distribution of brown rice and, low-cost mosquito trap.