About a year and a half ago Ed Holmes along with his wife Judy Swain, both distinguished researchers in the United States, found themselves lured to Singapore where the government was backing its great ambitions to become a leading biotech center with billions in investment. Holmes, the executive deputy chairman of A*STAR's Biomedical Research Council, is helping lead the second phase of Singapore's biomedical sciences initiative with a focus on translational efforts. He is working to build capabilities and attract the talent needed to translate basic research into potential new drugs, devices and diagnostic tools. We spoke to Holmes, a member of the TJOLS advisory board, about both the successes Singapore has enjoyed and the challenges it continues to face.

As Senior Vice President, Research and Development at Amgen, Joe Miletich leads the translational science efforts for the biotechnology giant. As such, Miletich serves as both a gateway and guardian over the company’s future. This critical part of Amgen’s R&D effort unlocks the promise of early discoveries by demonstrating their potential to alter disease in a beneficial way. We caught up to Miletich at the BIO 2008 Confernece and talked to him about the changing process of translational research and the sometime challenge of following where science leads.

“Given the volatility and the pace of scientific discovery in recent years, there is a need for a fact-based analysis to better understand which innovations are emerging as the most promising and, conversely, which technologies are losing ground,” said Matthew Hudes, U.S. managing principal, Biotechnology, for Deloitte Consulting's Life Sciences & Health Care practice. Using data collected over the past six years, Deloitte researchers created a three-stage measurement model covering discovery, development and realization to measure the inputs and outputs of innovation during the process of bringing new products to market. We caught up with Hudes, a member of the TJOLS business advisory board, at the BIO 2008 Conference and talked about the emerging technologies reshaping the biotech sector and how exactly you go about measuring innovation.