News

We all know that February is Black History Month, but did we all take a moment to reflect and celebrate Well we did just that, Broadway-style, at Sessions on February 23rd. Not only did we invite a starry roster of Broadway's best and brightest to share music representing the influence, importance and impact of African American legacy on Broadway, but we also paid homage to some Broadway trailblazers like Diahann Carroll, Ben Vereen, Stokes and more. We even challenged our audience to name that African American Tony winner,which of course gave us the opportunity to bask in the glorious voices of Melba Moore, Hinton Battle, Heather Headley, Ted Ross, Jennifer Holiday and many more. Check out these amazing performances by Aisha de Haas, Kenita Miller, Daisy Hobbs, Imari Hardon, Zurin Villanueva, Ta'Rea Campbell, Marcus Paul James, Nora Schell, T. Oliver Reid, Charity Angel Dawson and more...

During last week’s blisteringly funny Valentine’s Day-themed episode of Happy Endings it was determined that, in their own bizarro Friends world, Dave is Ross, Alex is Rachel, Penny is Phoebe, Jane is Monica, and Max is (Fat) Joey. (Which, by default, makes Brad Chandler. Makes sense, though Chandler was never this cool.)

But in last night’s episode, the almost aptly-titled “Everybody Loves Grant,” the gang had a whole new set of identities to live by: Dave is The Dave, Alex is The One with the Store, Penny is The Single One, Jane is The Type A One,...

Update: A Fda advisory panel has ruled that Protein Sciences' insect cell-based flu vaccine requires more safety tests before being made commercially available in the U.S. The panel said the vaccine appeared to be as safe and effective as more traditional egg-based flu vaccines, but there were concerns over a few patients who had adverse responses, according to Bloomberg. The Fda isn't required to take the panel's advice, but, considering how concerned the public is over vaccine safety already, it seems unlikely that the agency would go against the ruling. As detailed in the earlier post below, Protein Sciences received $35 million from the U.S. to develop a H1N1 vaccine last June, but the company spent the better part of last summer fighting involuntary bankruptcy.

As the start of a new school year begins, concerns over H1N1--aka swine flu--are growing. Everyone's waiting to hear when a vaccine will be available,...

As the start of a new school year begins, concerns over H1N1--aka swine flu--are growing. Everyone's waiting to hear when a vaccine will be available, and earlier this summer, the Cdc predicted that 120 million doses of a H1N1 vaccine would be ready by mid-October. But that estimate was revised down to 45 million doses last week. One reason for the delay, according to an article in U.S. News & World Report, is that most manufacturers have been producing H1N1 vaccines using the traditional method, in chicken eggs, which is time consuming and can produce inconsistent yields.

One company that may have a faster solution is Protein Sciences, a small Connecticut-based vaccine manufacturer that has made a name for itself by specializing in an alternative approach using insect cells. Protein Science's process involves growing a fragment of the virus in insect cells, which is faster and produces a...