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SoCalBio Weekly Update
December 6, 2013

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Honors
SynTouch's NumaTac Pad Named One of the Top Ten Inventions in 2013 by The Scientist Magazine
 
SynTouch Presented its Robotic Arm Technology at the November 6 SoCalBio Investor Conference
 

NumaTac pads, developed by the Los Angeles-based USC spinoff SynTouch LLC, are made of open-cell polyurethane foam-the same material used to construct injection-molded seat cushions-and contain sensors that allow robots to detect and respond to collisions. The NumaTac pads "are there when needed, like air bags. They hang out, they're flexible, and they can be made in arbitrary shapes for whatever protection you need," says Gerald Loeb (photo rightr), SynTouch CEO and professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California. The price of a NumaTac pad is specific to the application and to the design of the communication network between robot and sensors ...Read more

Interview
The Irvine-Based MRI Interventions Develops Devices to Make Neurosurgery Easier for Doctors and More Comfortable for Patients

Read Interview with MRI's CEO Kin Jenkins

 

MRI Interventions, an Irvine, CA company, is developing a novel technology called Clearpoint that uses real time, intra-procedural magnetic resonance imaging to guide neurological  procedures. The Clearpoint system is intended to be used for treatment of Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and pediatric dystonia, and is currently in clinical trials to deliver drugs for brain cancer ...
Events
SoCalBio New Member Meeting
 Thursday, December 19, 2013 from 10:30 AM to 2:00 PM (PST)
SoCalBio Office in Downtown Los Angeles
This is a complimentary event but registration is a MUST
Join us for networking and learning more about SoCalBio and the bioscience industry in Southern California
 
Eventbrite - New SoCalBio Member Meeting

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Mark Your Calendar

UCLA's 2nd Annual Medical Device Partnering Conference on March 11, 2014
New SoCalBio Members
Clear Catheters Systems, Inc. (Anaheim) 
 
Led by CEO Paul Molly (photo right), Clear Catheter Systems, a spinout from a collaboration between MDI Partners (a medical device incubator) and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, is a Bend, Oregon based privately held medical device company pioneering new technologies to solve the clinical problems associated with obstructed catheters... Learn more 
 
API Vanguard (Irvine)
 
A supplier of pharmaceutical ingredients ...Learn more

  

Dr. Marion Digital (Torrance)  
Dr. Marion Digital is a telehealth company that provides tools and other online applications to empower elderly care ... Learn more

  

BAM Architcture Studios (Los Angeles)

  

BAM Architecture Studio is a full service architecture practice providing design, consulting and master planning services to commercial and institutional clients ... Learn more

Other Recent Members 

Join SoCalBio Now 


Device IPO
The Goleta-Based Inogen Files to Go Public
 

According to Pacific Coast Business Times, Inogen has filed for an $86.25 million IPO. The publication reported that the company will trade the stock on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "INGN." J.P. Morgan will serve as lead underwriter for the offering. Based in Goleta, Calif., Inogen is UC Santa Barbara spinoff that makes of oxygen therapy equipment and services. It is led by Raymond Huggenberger (photo right) and backed by Novo AS, Versant Ventures, Arborteum Ventures, Avalon Ventures and Accuitive Medical Ventures ... Learn more

Funding
The Irvine-Based TherOx Seeks $25 Million to Bring its Heart Attack Device Treatment to Market
 

According to MedCity News, the company's optimized "super-saturated oxygen" (SSO2) offers a solution to reduce infarct size by increasing oxygen to heart tissue damaged during percutaneous coronary intervention and stenting. Following an FDA advisory panel's advice to gather more data, TherOx announced very promising results from a pilot study, AMIHOT II, at TCT 2013. They showed a 9.6 percent infarct size at 30 days in high-risk patients treated with its next-generation system for Supersaturated Oxygen (SSO2) Therapy, which surpassed the company's goal of 15 percent. The goal is to save heart muscle tissue in heart attack patients, thus improving quality of life after a heart attack .... Read more  

Breast Cancer
The West Los Angeles-Based Puma Biotechnology Soars on Good News Regarding its Neratinib Phase II Clinical Trials
 

In a press release issued on Dec 4, the West Los Angeles-based biotech announced top line results from the Phase II clinical trial of Puma's investigational drug PB272 (neratinib) for the neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer (I-SPY 2 TRIAL). The announcement caused Pama's stock price to surge by 68 percent on the New York Stock Exchange. Puma is led by Alan Auerbach who previously co-founded Cougar Biotechnology and sod it to J&J for close to $1 billion in 2009....   Read Company Press Release Regarding the Neratinib Study Results

Melanoma Trials
The Irvine-Based California Stem Cell Inc. Gets FDA Nod to Start Phase 3 Stem Cell Trial for Metastatic Melanoma
 

The study, to be led by Robert Dillman, M.D. (photo right), F.A.C.P., medical oncologist at the Hoag Family Cancer Institute of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, calls for enrolling 250 patients with recurrent Stage III or Stage IV metastatic melanoma in a multi-centered, randomized, double-blind study that compares overall survival of patients who receive CSC's patient-specific cancer immunotherapy, known as "DC-TC," against patients receiving a control treatment ... Read Press Release

Public Policy
Patent Law Changes on the Horizon 
 

On December 5, 2013, the House of Representatives passed the Innovation Act (H.R. 3309) by a vote of 325-91. This Act proposes several changes to the patent litigation system including (1) enhanced pleading requirements, (2) fee shifting, (3) discovery limits, (4) patent ownership disclosures, and (5) stays of customer suits. This Act targets so-called "patent trolls." These are entities that make no products but seek to hijack ideas and collect royalties or license fees through litigation.The Senate's version of this legislation is still pending ... Read more

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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