Exact Staff, Inc. (Woodland Hills)

Exact Staff is a healthcare and medical device staffing service provider. The company will be represented in SoCalBio by its CEO Ms. Karen Goodwin kgoodwin@exactstaff.com  ... Learn more

Is China Poised for a Medical Device Industry Boom?

China's medical equipment industry appears to be developing in a way that is similar to what information technology went through 20 years ago, said a managing director of a leading Chinese equity investment firm. Certain large operations will benefit from technological innovations and will stand out in the near future ... Read more

Medical Devices: 5 Tips for Commercialization in China

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics Nets $19 Million from its Recent Public Offering

The Woodland Hills-based ImmunoCellular Therapeutics intends to use the net proceeds of this offering for its ongoing clinical development of ICT-107 brain cancer vaccine and for general corporate purposes, including research and development activities for our other product candidates and any future product candidates that it may develop or acquire, as well as for general corporate purposes ... Read more

The West Los Angeles-based Puma Biotechnology, Inc., a development stage biopharmaceutical company, announced that the underwriters for its public offering of 7,500,000 shares of its common stock at $16.00 per share have elected to exercise in full their option to purchase up to an additional 1,125,000 shares of common stock at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount. The closing for the additional purchase of 1,125,000 shares is expected to take place concurrently with the closing for the initial purchase of 7,500,000 shares on October 24, 2012, subject to customary closing conditions ... Read more

Reshape Medical Raises $16 Million

The San Clemente, Calif.-based and SoCalBio member medical device company is developing a non-surgical weight loss device, the ReShape Duo, to treat obese patients. The device is a dual balloon designed to take up space in the stomach to reduce its capacity for food ... Read more

Claremont BioSolutions Announces Strategic Investment and Technology Development Agreement with IQT

The Upland-based Claremont BioSolutions, LLC, a pioneer of micromotor-based rapid sample preparation devices, announced a strategic partnership and technology development agreement with In-Q-Tel (IQT) to accelerate commercialization of its Prep-on-a-Chip sample preparation platform. IQT, based in Arlington, VA, is the independent strategic investment firm that identifies, adapts, and delivers, technologies that support the missions of the US intelligence community ... Read more  

ECA Medical Instruments Launches New Single-Procedure Torque Limiting Instruments and Kits for Orthopaedic Surgeons

The Newbury Park-based ECA Medical Instruments, the leading designer and manufacturer of single-procedure torque-limiting surgical instruments and kits to the medical industry and surgeons worldwide, announced the introduction of new instruments and kits for securing orthopaedic implants. ECA's Model 900 series of surgical kits are designed for use by orthopaedic surgeons and promise to provide consistently accurate torque needed to secure implant screws, fasteners and connectors and to reduce per procedure costs with the elimination of recurring operational overhead to support reusable instruments ... Read more 

Edwards Lifesciences Gets FDA OK to Expand Use of Sapien Valve 

The Food and Drug Administration cleared the product for patients considered high risk but capable of handling surgery, the agency said Friday. Sapien, a so-called transcatheter heart valve that can be implanted with minimal incisions, was approved in November for patients considered too sick for open-heart surgery ... Read more

Endologix Pays $5 Million to Settle a Patent Infringement Lawsuit Filed by Cook Medical 

Cook filed the original lawsuit in October 2009, accusing the Irvine-based Endologix of violating a pair of its stent graft patents. The case was slated to go to trial this month. Endologix admitted no liability in the settlement ... Read more

LAVC Receives U.S. Department of Labor Grant

"Los Angeles Valley College is proud to be part of a nationwide consortium to play a role in creating career pathways for displaced workers to gain sustainable employment in the growing biosciences industry," said LAVC President Susan Carleo (photo right). "Working with the Southern California Biomedical Council (SoCalBio) , leading industry employers, the local workforce investment board and State Employment Development Department, our goal is to continue our activities through LAVC Job Training to prepare workers for in-demand bioscience jobs such as biological technicians, chemical technicians, environmental science and protection technicians, and medical and clinical laboratory technicians"  ... Read press release