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SoCalBio Vendor Spotlight
MEIRxRS family of companies
A SoCalBio Member Since 2000
Founded and led by Rosemarie Christopher (photo above), MEIRxRs family of companies offer customized employment service solutions (Retained Recruiting through Med Exec International, Full Service Staffing through Rx Research Staffing, and Functional CRO through Rx Research Services CRO) in the clinical research, regulatory affairs, quality assurance and medical affairs functions for the pharmaceutical, medical device, biologics, diagnostics and biotech industries .... Learn more
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Join SoCalBio leaders to promote the biotech and device industries in Los Angeles, Orange County and neighboring communities for job creation and overall economic growth.
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March 25, 2013
|  Editor: Ahmed Enany
President & CEO
Southern California
Biomedical Council
enany@socalbio.org
www.socalbio.org
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| RSVP Now | |
Seasoned Venture Capitalist Lisa Suennen Addresses the SoCalBio W3 Group about the Changing Landscape of Venture Investing in the US
When: Thursday, April 11, 2013 from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM (PDT)
Where: The Saban Research Institute
Address: 4661 Sunset Boulevard , Los Angeles, CA 90027
RSVP: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5425341342
 Lisa Suennen is a co-founder and Managing Member of Psilos Group, a healthcare-focused venture capital firm with over $577 million under management. Ms Suennen has headed Psilos' West Coast office since the firm's founding in 1998 and focuses on the medical device, healthcare information technology and healthcare services sectors. She serves as a Director on the Board of several Psilos portfolio companies, including AngioScore, PatientSafe Solutions, OmniGuide and VeraLight (chairman).Ms. Suennen also writes a widely read blog on healthcare and healthcare investing at www.venturevalkyrie.com ... Learn more |
| Public Policy |
SoCalBio Participated in BIO's Legislative Day in Washington DC
 On March 13, a SoCalBio team along with about 200 representatives of biotech companies and various regional industry associations participated in the Biotechnology Industry Organization's annual Legislative Day in Washington DC. This event involved meetings with legislators in the House and Senate about the importance of the biotechnology industry to our future and how to best protect and grow the life-science industry in the United States. The SoCalBio team included the following participants:
- Ahmed Enany, President & CEO, SoCalBio
- Charlie Fritts, BIO
- Sean Caffey, Md, President & CEO, Replenish Inc.
- Carla Mann-Woods, VP, Alfred Mann Foundation for Scientific Research
- Mitchell Goldstein, M.D., Associate Professor, Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Loma Linda University Children's Hospital
- Robert Cowan, MD, Founder, ProMyHealth
- Karen Josephson, MD, Sage Healthcare
- Karen Jaffe, MS, MBA, RAC, Consultant
In various meetings with congressional representatives from Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and the Inland Empire, the SoCalBio team (1) protested any proposed cuts to Medicare Parts B & D, (2) advocated for stronger financial support of NIH and other federal agencies offering extramural funding for life science research, (3) called for incentives to help emerging companies raise capital and cross the "valley of death" faster, and (4) strongly argued for fully funding the FDA to ensure faster approval of drugs and devices . ..Learn more
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| BioGENEius Winners | | SoCalBio Announces 13 Winners of its Annual Southern California BioGENEius Challenge
The regional Southern California BioGENEius Challenge is organized by the Southern California Biomedical Council, the trade organization which oversees the interests of the over 900 bioscience companies in the Greater Los Angeles Region (http://www.socalbio.org). This Challenge is held in collaboration with the Biotechnology Institute to acknowledge outstanding research in biotechnology by high school students and provide them with the opportunity to compete for the Internatrional BioGENEius Award.
A SoCalBio Committee of judges selected the winners from a pool of 1,788 high school students participating with bioscience related projects in the Los Angeles and Orange county science fairs held earlier this month. The SoCalBio judging committee was composed of Gerrit Brand, MD, BionCR Development Inc (Irvine); A. Stephen Dahms, PhD, VP, SoCalBio; Naresh Menon, PhD, President & CEO, ChromoLogic (Pasadena); and Dan Woods, PhD, President & CEO, Inscent (Irvine).
Winners From Los Angeles County:
- Braeden Benedict, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School: "Development of an Electroencephalography (EEG) Device for Evaluation of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury"
- Shreya Ramayya, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School: "Increasing the Bioefficiency of Artemsinin Through Trifluoromeythlation"
- Molly Srour, California Academy of Mathematics and Science: "Testing a Cure: Organ response to Enzyme Replacement Therapy in MPS Mice"
- Rachel Dokko, California Academy of Mathematics and Science: "Expression and Identification of N-Acetylglucosamine-6-sulfatase: A Potential ERT Drug for Sanfilippo Syndrome D"
- Sailee Yadav, Arcadia High School: "Structural Maintenance of Chromosome 1: A Novel Therapeutic target for Triple Negative Breast Cancer"
- David Zimmerman, Brentwood School: "Site-directed Mutagenesis of the Metal-reducing Bacterium S. oneidensis MR-1: A Novel Strategy for Genetic Engineering in Recalcitrant Microorganism"
Winners From Orange County:
- Masih Babagoli, Woodbridge High School: "Structure-activity Relationship by Exploitation of Fatty Acid Hydrolase Inhibition"
- Alexander Jow, University High School: "Effect of Ethanol on Synaptic GABE-mediated Paired Pulse Inhibition in Identifying a Novel Molecular Mechanism Behind Alcohol Intoxication"
- Kevin Lee, University High School: "Electromechanical Modelling of the Heart in Moving Domains Using the Phase Field Method"
- Adonis Lu, Woodbridge High School: "A Silico-based Structural Genomic Investigation on the Effect of BRG-1 Protein and Its Binding Capability to RNA on Cancer Cell Replication and Heart Failure"
- Jiho Park, University High School: "MD Simulations of Membrane-bound Aromatase with Titrated Asp-309 Residue and Implications for Catalysis and Novel Inhibitor Scaffolds"
- Jessica Wu-Woods, Woodbridge High School: "Bioinformatic Analysis of Odorant Binding Proteins from an Emerging Agricultural Pest"
- Haotian Xu, University High School: "EEG Cortical Signal Measurement and Processing System for Automatic Artifact Removal, Evaluation and Remote Monitoring of Cochlear Implants"
SoCalBio will soon formally announce the two Southern California nominees to the International BioGENEius Challenge selected from the above pool of winners of the regional BioGENEius competition. The International BioGENEius Challenge is organized by the Biotechnology Institute and held in tandem with the Annual Bio International Convention ... learn more
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| Join SoCalBio | |
Become a SoCalBio Member and Save Money by Utlizing the SoCalBio Group Purchasing Program
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| Device Tax | |
Symbolic Device Tax Repeal Vote Passes in U.S. Senate
 The Senate voted 79-20 on March 21 in a nonbinding resolution to call for the device tax's repeal. Senate Democrats drafted a nonbinding budget resolution to which the device tax resolution was attached. While that, too, has no real muscle behind it, the Senate passed the measure on March 22 ... Read more
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| Trends | |
Heart Repair Breakthroughs Replace Surgeon's Knife
 This is a nice fast review of minimal procedures used by cardiac disease patients who are now getting such repairs for valves, irregular heartbeats, holes in the heart and other defects - without major surgery. Doctors even are testing ways to treat high blood pressure with some of these new approaches ... Read more |
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From the Lab Bench
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News from Local Universities
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Recent Funding
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Recent Greater Los Angeles Venture Funding Deals
- The Goleta-based BaroNova raises $27 million led by Boston Scientific and Sante Ventutres ... Read more more
- The Valencia-Based Sanguine Biosciences raises an undisclosed amount of seed funding co-led by Invent Ventures and Heliant Ventures ... Learn more
- The Marina del Rey-based Tribogenics raises $6.2 million Series A round led by Founders Fund ...Read more
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The Laguna Hills-based Glaukos Corp., a developer of a glaucoma device, has raised $30 million in new VC funding ...
Read more - The Irvine-based Ivantis, a developer of glaucoma stent, has raised $27 million in a first closing of its Series B funding ...Read more
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| M&As | |
Valeant Acquires the Long Beach-Based Cosmeceutical Company Obagi Medical Products
Deal is valued at $344 Million
Obagi is a leader in topical aesthetic and therapeutic skin-health systems with a product portfolio that includes leading dermatology brands including Obagi Nu-Derm, Condition & Enhance, Obagi-C Rx, ELASTIDerm and CLENZIDerm. Obagi had total revenue of approximately $120 million in 2012. ... Learn more
San Clemente-Based VertiFlex Sells Some
Assets to Stryker
 Financial terms and the type of assets were not disclosed, but VertiFlex Chief Executive Earl Fender said in a statement that the company received up-front cash to go with future contingent payments and a long-term licensing agreement ... Read more |
| Melanoma Vaccine | |
Virus Shrinks Melanoma Cells in Amgen Trial
 The Thousand Oaks biotech company announced that a vaccine derived from the herpes simplex virus, which causes cold sores, has been shown to reduce the size of melanoma cells in a wide-scale human trial .. Learn more |
| Regulatory Filing | |
Stellar Biotechnologies Submits Biological Master File to U.S. FDA for Subunit KLH
 The Port Hueneme-based biotech announced that it has submitted a Type IV Biologics Master File (BB-MF) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) for its subunit KLH. A Biologics Master File is a confidential, detailed dossier submitted to the FDA which contains the proprietary information on the manufacture and safety of a drug component ... Read more |
| Litigation |
Amgen Loses U.S. Supreme Court Case
on Class Actions
Case could make it easier for shareholders to bring class-action lawsuits against companies in the future
The LABJ reported that the Court sided with Amgen's shareholders who accused the Thousand Oaks biotech of inflating the company's stock price by misleading the public about the safety of its anemia drug Aranesp between April 2004 and May 2007. The plaintiffs contend Amgen officials knew of safety concerns from clinical trials that the company had hoped to use to expand the drug's market. ... Read more
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| Movin in | |
Medical Aesthetics Veteran Frederick Beddingfield, III, MD, PhD Appointed New Chief Medical Officer of KYTHERA Biopharmaceuticals
 "Dr. Beddingfield (photo right) is recognized as one of the leaders in medical aesthetic innovation and will immediately become an integral member of KYTHERA's executive team," said Keith Leonard, KYTHERA's President and CEO. "His depth and breadth of experience will undoubtedly help further our mission to bring great science, clinical rigor and real innovation to the growing area of medical aesthetics" ... Read press release |
| Biotech Real Estate Opportunity | |
Rare Biotech Sublease Opportunity in Santa Monica
Approx 28,000 Total Contiguous Rentable Square Feet
- Asking rate: $2.50 NNN with 3% annual increases
- 1545 17th St. approximately 18,000 rsf. through September 30, 2016
- 1701 Colorado Ave. / 1553 17th St. approximately 10,000 rsf through October 31, 2016
- Longer terms may be available
- Available December 1, 2013
- Creative office potential
- Two buildings combined currently improved as a biotechnology manufacturing facility, including: generator, clean rooms, laboratory space, hoods, autoclaves, etc
- Approx. 62 car parking (including lot across the street at 1544 17th St.)
- Located in the heart of the Santa Monica Media District and across the street from a future Metro stop
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| New SoCalBio Members |
Globizz (Gardena)
Globizz is an international consulting company with extensive experience in cross-border business. The company provides strategic planning and risk management services to Japanese companies interested in expansion in the US and American companies interested in doing business in Japan... Learn more
Interlean LLC (Lawndale)
Interlean is created by Mr William Botha, formerly with Baxter Biosciences and Avrio Biopharmaceuticals, to offer Lean deployment services customized to fit the needs of the tightly regulated pharmaceutical and medical device companies ...learn more
Quantason (Los Angeles)
Quantason has developed a revolutionary, next-generation bi-modal (US/IDUS) platform technology which fundamentally changes the utilization of conventional ultrasound both as a modality for diagnostic imaging and as an active screening method ... Learn more
Amethyst Life Sciences
@ the New Ventura BioCenter (Thousand Oaks)
Amethyst Life Sciences, Inc., is a privately-funded company whose mission is to enable new start-up businesses in the areas of biotechnology, pharmaceutical science, nanotechnology, and materials science ... Learn more
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
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| Jobs Available | |
Absorption Systems (San Diego)
Replenish Inc. (Pasadena)
Click here for more info and to apply
- Electrical Engineer (REQ #:12-04)
- Facilities Maintenance Worker (REQ #:12-29)
- Process Engineer/MEMS Fabrication (REQ #:12-31)
- Process Development Engineer (REQ #:12-32)
- Process Development Engineer (REQ #:12-33)
Puma Biotechnology (Los Angeles)
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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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