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Thanks to SoCalBio Media Partners
February 13, 2012




Editor: Ahmed Enany 
President & CEO
Southern California
Biomedical Council

[email protected]

www.socalbio.org

SoCalBio Relocates
SoCalBio Moves to New Offices at the Gas Company Tower in Downtown Los Angeles

Notice Our New Contact Information 
 
Address: 555 West 5th Street, 31st Floor, LA, CA 90013
 
Phone: (800) 418-7070
Fax: (213) 403-7688
RSVP Now
  • February 14, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm at RKS Designs in Thousand Oaks:
    SoCalBio Executive Luncheon and Roundtable Discussion in Ventura County (By Invitation Only)... Click here for more info and to RSVP
  • February 16, 4:00 to 7:00 pm at the Alfred Mann Foundation in Santa Clarita:
    SoCalBio Women, Work & Wisdom (W3) Mixer in Los Angeles. Elena Medo of Neolac (Murrrieta) and Shenda Baker of Synedgen (Claremont) will speak about "Overcoming Startup Company Challenges(By Invitation Only).. Click here for more info and to RSVP
  • February 23, 7:00 to 9:30 am at UCI University Club in Irvine:
    SoCalBio Networking Forum in Orange County Focusing on"Emerging Trends in Medical Device Design" ... Click here for more info and to RSVP
Coming on April 19
2012 SoCalBio Workforce Summit
Aligning Training & Workforce Development
with Company Performance Metrics 
Click on banner to see agenda
Drug Cost
The Truly Staggering Cost Of Inventing New Drugs

It really does cost billions of dollars to invent new medicines for heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. The reality is that the pharmaceutical business is in the grip of rising failure rates and rising costs. We can all only hope that new technologies and a better understanding of biology will turn things around ... Read more at Forbes
Biosimilars
FDA Sets Path for Biotech Drug Copies

The FDA's release of guidelines for the cheaper drugs sets out a series of steps that companies must comply with. It will be "an abbreviated pathway that will depend on existing data" on the already-existing, more-expensive drug, said Rachel Sherman, FDA associate director for medical policy ... Read more at the Wall Street Journal
Drug Approval
Amgen Fails to Win Advisory Panel Backing for Expanded Use Xgeva

Amgen Inc. failed to win the backing of a U.S. advisory panel for its drug to delay tumors spreading to bones in patients with advanced prostate cancer. The panel voted 12-1 that the risks outweighed the benefits of the drug, Xgeva. Food and Drug Administration staff questioned in a Feb. 6 report whether the ability to delay tumor growth in bones is enough to justify approval. The drug, known chemically as denosumab, didn't extend lives in a study ... Read more at Bloomberg
Click on image for more info
Grants
NCI Awards Two Lung Cancer Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) Development SBIRs To Cynvenio Biosystems

Cynvenio Biosystems (Westlake Village) a developer of rare cell isolation systems for biomedical research, personalized medicine and the molecular diagnostics of cancer announced that the NCI awarded the company two SBIRs to develop novel lung cancer tests based on the isolation of mutation-bearing Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) from whole blood ... The company also announced that it has received an additional $1.2 million from existing shareholders as part of a fully committed $2.0 million financing authorized by its board of directors ... Read press release
Expansion
Cynvenio's Division -- BioMolded Products -- Opens Manufacturing Facility

BioMolded Products LLC opened a manufacturing facility in Westlake Village to make plastic parts for the biopharmaceutical and life sciences industries ... Read more at SFVBJ
SoCalBio Sponsored
 Entrepreneurship Course for Scientists and Engineers

The Henry Samueli School of Engineering, UC Irvine
January 17 to March 8

Free and open to the public.

For more information please contact the instructor, Goran Matijasevic, Ph.D., M.B.A., at (949) 824-9830 or [email protected] 

EMBC2012

Clinical Studies
Avanir Pharmaceuticals Announces Publication of Phase III Study Results Showing Efficacy and Safety of AVP-923 in the Treatment of Diabetic Neuropathic Pain

AVP-923 is a combination of dextromethorphan (DM) and quinidine (Q). AVP-923 is currently being studied in a Phase II clinical trial in central neuropathic pain in patients with multiple sclerosis ... Read Company Press Release
IPO
Ceres Delays IPO

The Thousand Oaks company had been expected to sell shares and start trading on the Nasdaq last Thursday. Biofuels Digest reports that Ceres now will delay pricing the IPO for at least a week, but did not cite sources. The company itself did not provide an explanation, and has not made a regulatory filing since Wednesday ..Read more at LABJ
SoCalBio Helps You Save Money

 

Companies utilizing the SoCalBio Group Purchasing Program enjoy significant savings on products and services procured through this program. Here are the actual savings generated from the SoCalBio-VWR program for lab equipment and supplies:

 

Lab Supplies Spend Range Under SoCalBio-VWR Program
Average Savings Off List Price Under SoCalBio-VWR Program
> $2M$2,682,800
$1M - $2M$931,959
$500k - $1M$472,161
$250k - $500k$252,683
$100k - $250k$108,145
$50k - $100k$53,582
$25k - $50k$23,812
$10k - $25k$12,304
< $10k$2,696
The savings represent average annual savings of the actual program participants in the BIO-VWR program. Results will vary based on individual company's Product Mix and Purchase Volume ... Learn more
Jobs Available
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles  Alliance Medical Products (Irvine)
Click here to apply 
  • Aseptic Fill Technicians (3-5 years aseptic experience minimum)
  • Production Operators (Aseptic filling of drug products, 3 years experience)
  • Sr. Process Engineers (Must come from aseptic filling facility,prefer automated filling/packaging/setup and validation experience, BSME (or equiv) 5-10 years experience)
  • Maintenance Mechanics (hands on ability to conduct routine preventive maintenance on production and laboratory equipment)

Physician Therapeutics (Los Angeles)

Gilead (San Dimas)
About SoCalBio 
 
SoCalBio membership links you to partners, contract manufacturers, regulatory and legal experts, and policy makers. The organization's programs help emerging biotech and medical device companies grow. Membership is affordable -- as low as $500 -- and offers access to networking opportunities, advocacy, discounts through our group purchasing program group purchasing program and other benefits you simply can't find elsewhere ... Join SoCalBio