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April 30, 2012
|  Editor: Ahmed Enany
President & CEO
Southern California
Biomedical Council
enany@socalbio.org
www.socalbio.org
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| Breaking News |
MannKind Signs a $130 Million Collaboration and License Agreement with Tolero
 Under the terms of the agreement, The Salt Lake City, Utah-based Tolero will pay the Valencia-based MannKind upfront and milestone payments linked to the development, approval and commercialization of products, for total potential upfront and milestone payments of approximately $130 million. Founded by biomedical pioneer Alfred Mann (photo right), MannKind will also receive tiered royalties on sales of products and a percentage of sublicensing revenue. In addition, MannKind has an option to re-acquire the rights to the program at pre-specified terms until 60 days after the conclusion of the first Phase 1 study .... Read more
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| Coming Today |
SoCalBio Networking Forum in the Inland Empire
Spotlight on Personalized Medicine
in Southern California
4/30/2012, 4PM - 7PM
Keck Graduate Institute (Claremont, CA)
Presentations
- "Delivering the Promise of Personalized Diagnostics" by Thomas Bologna, President & CEO, Response Genetics (Los Angeles)
- "New Targeted Therapy for Triple Negative Breast Cancer," by Gary Lazar, MD, President & CEO, Paganini Biopharma, Inc. (Los Angeles)
- "Derisked and Accelerated Drug Development Approach by Predicting Clinical Outcomes" by Shireen Vali, PhD, Co-Founder & CSO, Cellworks Group Inc. (Irvine)
RSVP Now
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| Honors | |
Congratulations to Winners of the 2012 SoCalBio Scholar Awards from the Riverside, San Bernardino,
Mono and Inyo Counties
SoCalBio participated in the science fair of California's High Desert communities in Riverside, San Bernardino, Inyo and Mono counties held recently to select winners of its 2012 Scholar Awards. We are pleased to announce the following winners:
- Michael Janner (East Valley High School in Redlands): Fabrication and Manipulation of One-dimensional Photonic Crystals
- Kishan Patel, Ryan Chow, and Peter Liu (Ruben Ayala High School in Chino Hills): A Symphony of Lasers
- Samantha Logan and Taylor Cram (Centennial High School in Corona): Daphnia versus Drugs
- Caitlin Redak (North High School in the City of Riverside): A Comparative Analysis of Silk Strength
These students -- along with winners of the 2012 SoCalBio Scholar Awards from Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange counties -- will compete for the opportunity to represent Southern California during the BioGENEius Challenge organized by the Biotechnology Institute in conjunction with the BIO International Convention in Boston (MA) from June 18 to June 21.
The International BioGENEius Challenge is the premier competition for high school students that recognizes outstanding research in biotechnology. This competition is an intensive and valuable research experience for high school students.
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| Coming in September | |
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| Public Policy |
White House Promotes a Bioeconomy
The National Bioeconomy Blueprint, as the plan is called, discusses a variety of measures and strategies to spur research and development of medical treatments, crops, biofuels and biological manufacturing processes that would replace harsher industrial methods... Read more
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| Analysis |
What's Really Driving The Pharma M&A Frenzy
 What is it with pharma and M&A? It is hard to tell whether the deals announced (or attempted) by pharma companies in recent weeks are a sign of the early stages of a pharma feeding frenzy or simply a blip in an otherwise consolidating sector... Read more
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| OTC Trading |
Puma Biotechnology to Begin Trading Shares
 Puma was founded by Cougar Biotechnology Chief Executive Alan Auerbach, (photo right) who sold Cougar to Johnson & Johnson for $894 million in July 2009 and launched his new company last year.The West Los Angeles based Puma said its stock has been approved for quotation on the OTC Bulletin Board and the OTC Market Group's OTC Link quotation system under the symbol "PBYI" ... Read more
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| Clinical Studies |
KYTHERA Biopharmaceuticals Announces Positive Results From Two Pivotal European Phase III Trials of ATX-101 for Reduction of Submental Fat
 "We are very encouraged by the continued positive data, which demonstrated that ATX-101 benefited patients and was also well-tolerated," said Keith Leonard (photo right), KYTHERA's President and CEO. "These Phase III trial findings exemplify our commitment to the discovery and development of novel science-based prescription products for the aesthetic medicine market" .. Read press release
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Click on image for more info
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| Drug Approval |
FDA Blocks Amgen's Bid to Broaden
Use of its Bone Drug
The FDA rejected Amgen Inc.'s request to expand the use of its bone drung to prevent the spread of prostate cancer to bones. The decision doesn't change the drug's approved use in preventing bone weakening in prostate cancer patients and, under the name Prolia, to strengthen the bones of osteoporosis patients and some patients being treated for breast cancer ... Read more
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| Device Approval |
FFDA Advisory Panel Recommends Approval of Cameron Health's S-ICD System for Patients at Risk of Sudden Cardiac Arrest
"We are pleased with the panel's strong recommendation for approval of the S-ICD System, the world's first-and-only completely subcutaneous ICD for the treatment of sudden cardiac arrest," said Kevin Hykes, president and CEO of Cameron Health. "This represents another important step on the path toward FDA approval of the S-ICD System and, its availability to physicians and their patients at risk for sudden cardiac arrest" ... Read press release
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| M&As |
Amgen Snaps Up Turkish Generic Drug Group
for $700 Million
The deal with Mustafa Nevzat Pharmaceuticals, a Turkish generic drugs company, accelerates Amgen's shift into off-patent medicines and the emerging markets. The deal will give Amgen a platform for its own medicines in the fast-growing region, as well as providing scope to diversify and expand its product range as it loses exclusivity over its existing top-selling medicines ... Read more
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Insider Trading
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Insider Trading Inquiry Focuses on Abbott's Acquisition of the Santa Ana-Based Advanced Medical Optics, Now Abbott Medical Optics
The Los Angeles Times reports that the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles is specifically looking at the relationship between a Goldman Sachs banker and ex-Galleon Group hedge fund employee relating to the deal. According to the LA Times, prosecutors aren't just looking at Abbott's purchase of Advanced Medical Optics, they are eyeing M&A activity in the medical devices industry at large, according to the story ... Read more
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| Jobs Available |
Maven Biotechnologies (Monrovia)
Avita Medical (Northridge)
Inogen (Goleta)
Agensys (Santa Monica)
Amgen (Thousand Oaks)
- Amgen has 150 job openings in Thousand Oaks in research, marketing, information technology, quality, regulatory affairs and HR. Click here to access list
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (Irvine)
C3 Jian (Inglewood)
Second Sight Medical Products (Sylmar)
Alfred Mann Foundation for
Scientific Research (Santa Clarita)
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| 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 |
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