| Thanks
to SoCalBio Weekly Update Sponsor
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| Coming
in 2010
SoCalBio
Awards Ceremony
When: April
15, 2010
Time: 6
to 9 pm
Where: Biltmore
Hotel, Los Angeles, California
|
| Coming
in 2010
When: June
28, 2010
Time: 10:00am
- 8:30pm
Where: Old
Ranch Country Club, Seal Beach, California
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Take
Advantage of SoCalBio's Group
Purchasing Program to Cut the Cost of
Doing Business
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Join
SoCalBio
Join well-known entrepreneur Alfred
Mann and other SoCalBio leaders to promote
the biotech and device industries in the
Greater Los Angeles Metro Area for
job creation and overall economic growth.
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Now for Upcoming SoCalBio Events |
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Networking
Forum in Orange County
Featuring
presentation and panel discussion on the
state of the medical device industry
beyond the current economic downturn
DATE: January
21, 2010
TIME: 7:00 am - 9:30
am
******************************
*******
Workshop
on Accessing Government Funding for
Research
Experts
from the NIH, DoD and other governmental
agencies will share tips on accessing SBIR/STTR
grants and other types of government
funding to support bioscience R&D
activities
DATE: January
28, 2010
TIME: 8:00 am - 5:30
pm
|
| From
the Lab Bench |
|
City
of Hope Researchers Explore Stem Cell
Method to Treat Neuroblastoma
Dr. Karen Aboody (photo above) and
researchers at the City of Hope in Duarte,
Calif., said they were able to eliminate
neuroblastoma, a cancer of the central
nervous system, in 90% of laboratory mice
through a two-step method. The technique
entailed infusing the mice with neural
stem cells that can target and surround
the brain tumors and then giving them an
anti-cancer agent that the cells can turn
into a potent drug. Funded by grant
money from the California Institute for
Regenerative Medicine, Aboody and her team
are aiming for human clinical trials of
the technique in a few years ... Read
more
|
| New
Funding |
|
Laguna
Beach-Based Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics
Inc. Raises $5 Million
This $5 million in Series B funding round
was led by NBGI Ventures. The round is
expected to support commercialization in
Europe. ACT was founded in to develop a
novel irrigated radiofrequency cardiac
ablation catheter with a diagnostic
application of established microwave
radiometry technology in association with
the founder of the technology, Dr Kenneth
Carr, and an experienced catheter
development partner, Contract Medical
International, based in Dresden,
Germany.... Read
more
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| Facilities
Available |
Manufacturing Facility Available
for Lease or Sale
|
 |
|
| New
Drug Approvals |
FDA
Mistake to Blame for Mannkind Delay?
The
Valencia-based Mannkind said last Friday
that U.S. drug regulators are extending
the review of its inhaled insulin device
because an inspection of a third-party
manufacturing facility is not yet
complete. The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration was expected to issue an
approval decision on the Mannkind diabetes
device, now known by the brand name
Afrezza, on Jan. 16. But Friday, FDA
officials informed Mannkind that an
inspection of a manufacturing plant owned
by Organon that makes the insulin used in
the Afrezza device was not complete.
Organon is a subsidiary of Merck ... Read
more
MannKind
Defies Analysts Skeptical of
Inhaled Insulin Drug
Several analysts have made sport of
MannKind's quest to obtain FDA approval of
an inhaled insulin drug. If Pfizer
couldn't do it with Exubera, they reason,
how can MannKind find success? And that
has some predicting a significant delay
for the therapy past the scheduled January
16 action date at the FDA. MannKind,
though, isn't backing down. Its president
and COO, Hakan Edstrom, confidently
predicted to Bloomberg that he expects an
approval by January 16. .. Read
more
|
| Collaboration |
|
Los
Angeles-Based Response Genetics Announces
Marketing Collaboration with Genetic
Technologies Ltd. of Australia
"Cancer is a global problem and
requires a global solution," said
Kathleen Danenberg, CEO and president of
Response Genetics. "Based on
encouraging sales and rapid adoption here
in the Unites States, we have embarked on
a growth strategy focused on expanding the
availability of our tests in additional
markets. We are pleased to partner with
Genetic Technologies, the leader in
genetic testing in Australia, to make our
ResponseDX tests available there, as well
as in certain Asian countries. Together we
hope to reduce the significant social and
economic burdens of this devastating
disease as more people have an opportunity
to experience the benefits of our
personalized medicine approach" ... Read
more
|
| Litigation |
 Obagi
Medical Products Sued by Founder
Celebrity dermatologist Dr. Zein Obagi
(see web site at: http://www.obagiskin.com/)
has sued Obagi Medical products, a company he
founded and now based in Long Beach,
California. Dr. Obagi alleged that
the publicly traded Obagi Medical Products
Inc. engaged in anti-competitive practices
that hurt a private company he later
founded ... 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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