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SoCalBio members receive $200 discount per person on admission to the BioPharm America 2012. Click here to RSVP
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May 7, 2012




Editor: Ahmed Enany 
President & CEO
Southern California
Biomedical Council

[email protected]

www.socalbio.org

RSVP for These Events

Thursday, May 10 -- 4PM - 7PM @ UCI in Irvine:

SoCalBio Women, Work & Wisdom (W3) Group Meeting in Orange County Focusing on "Building & Nurturing Successful Bioscience Companies in Southern California" ........ Click here for more info and to Attend

 

Thursday, May 17 -- 11:30AM - 1:30PM @ WilmerHale in Downtown Los Angeles:

SoCalBio Executive Luncheon Focusing on "Advances in Pharmacogenomics"  ........ Click here for more info and to Attend

 

Thursday, May 31 --  4PM - 7PM @ Alfred Mann Foundation for Scientific Research in Santa Clarita:

SoCalBio Networking Forum Focusing on "Mastering the Nuances of Design to Win in an Increasing Competitive MedTech Scape" ........ Click here for more info and to Attend

 

Friday, June 8 -- 8AM - 5PM @ Saban Research Center in Los Angeles:  

2012 SoCalBio Workshop on "Accessing Government Grant Funding"  ........ Click here for more info and to Attend

See Full SoCalBio Calendar of Events Open to the Public at: http://socalbio.org/calendar/calendar.htm
New SoCalBio Members
PureLyseClaremont BioSolutions (Upland)
 
BioSolutions (ClaremontBio) is dedicated to next-generation devices for lysis and nucleic acid extraction from microbial cells for PCR ready sample. Key focuses on ClaremontBio's novel technology are ease of use, disposibility, cost effectiveness, versatility, elimination of extensive protocols, as well as elimination of the need for additional lab equipment such as centrifuges and wash baths.This novel technology can be applied to point-of-care systems, mini flow through platforms and various other integrations ... Learn more
Coming in September

golf

Innovation

Creating Innovators: Why America's Education 

System Is Obsolete 

 

Tony WagnerAmerica's last competitive advantage - its ability to innovate - is at risk as a result of the country's lackluster education system, according to research by Harvard Innovation Education Fellow Tony Wagner (photo right). In a new book: "Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change The World,", Wagner points out the skills it takes to become an innovator, the downfalls of America's current education system, and how parents, teachers, mentors, and employers can band together to create innovators ... Read more at Forbes
Virtual Biotechs

Virtual Biotech Companies: Built on Solid Bedrock or Unstable Landfill?

 

pillsStewart Lyman, Owner and Manager of Lyman BioPharma Consulting LLC in Seattle, opines that virtual biotechs are not designed to reach adulthood.They are raised for the sole purpose of being gobbled up while still young fry by the larger, wealthier fish in the pond. While some of these companies have been acquired for attractive valuations, He remains concerned about their potential to create useful medicines. In addition, they don't play a role in fueling regional biotech ecosystems .... Read more

Financing Drug Development

MIT Finance Professor Suggests Funding Drug Research Using Collateralized Drug Obligations  

 
loStarting from the premise that venture capital groups, the NIH and Big Pharma are are incapable of successfully funding new drugs, MIT finance engineering professor Andrew Lo (photo right) spoke at the Milken Institute Global Conference about utilizing collateralized drug obligations (CDOs), the same financial tools that caused a housing bubble and triggered a global financial crisis. In this case he would look for debt investors willing to put up $50 billion to $100 billion to fund 150 experimental drugs over 10 years ... Read more 
Clinical Studies

KYTHERA Biopharmaceuticals Announces Positive Results From Two Pivotal European Phase III Trials of ATX-101 for Reduction of Submental Fat  


Walker"These positive Phase III data are consistent with the encouraging results from previous trials, all of which have demonstrated that ATX-101 is well tolerated and provides meaningful aesthetic improvements according to multiple clinician, patient and objective measures," said Patricia S. Walker, M.D., Ph.D. (photo right), KYTHERA's Chief Medical Officer. "We have taken a rigorous scientific approach in developing and evaluating ATX-101 for the aesthetic reduction of submental fat which includes a second European Phase III trial, Study 17, and our two ongoing multi-center pivotal U.S. and Canadian Phase III trials, REFINE-1 and REFINE-2."
  .
 .. Read press release
  

Heart Valves

Edwards's Sapien Gains Medicare Coverage

for Heart Valve 

 

sapien valveThe Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said today it would pay for the surgery to insert the Edwards valve that uses a catheter to allow doctors to avoid cracking open the chest, provided at least two cardiac surgeons evaluate the patient and determine the procedure is appropriate ... Read more

Click on image for more info
Biodefense and Medicine

The Pasadena-Based Neumedicines Is Among a New Crop of Biotech Firms Focused On Radiation Threat Could Help Cancer Patients Too

 

radiation mitigationLast year's nuclear crisis in Japan and the 9/11 attacks have drawn attention to the threat that radiation could pose after a disaster or terrorist assault. Neumedicines is one of several small biotechnology companies are readying what could be the first counter-measures, and the drugs they're discovering may also find broader use as treatments for people with cancer ... Read article in the Wall Street Journal 

Cytometer

UCLA Researchers Invent a High Speed Deformability Cytometer to Detect Circulating Cancer Cells


deformability CytometerScanning through thousands of cells to spot a cancerous one requires a fast device, and researchers at UCLA have developed one called deformability cytometer. It is a microfluidics chip that can effectively "feel" around the entire perimeter of individual cells, using a liquid flow trap, at 2,000 cells per second ... Read more  

Games for Health

Crowdsourced Pathology Through Online Video Games

 

crowdsourcing pathologyWorking on the assumption that large groups of public non-experts can be trained to recognize infectious diseases with the accuracy of trained pathologists, researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have created a crowd-sourced online gaming system in which players distinguish malaria-infected red blood cells from healthy ones by viewing digital images obtained from microscopes. ... 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) 

Bioness (Santa Clarita)

Alfred Mann Foundation for
Scientific Research (Santa Clarita)
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