Life Science Leaders Meet Sacramento Legislators
On Tuesday, March 24, more than 120 life science professionals from throughout California gathered in Sacramento for the annual California Life Science Day at the Capitol.Their efforts were enhanced by the presence of patient advocates whojoined meetings with legislators and staff to give a human face to whywe do what we do.
Participants were broken up into teamsand sent to pre-scheduled meetings throughout the Capitol. Reports from both participants and legislators late in the day indicate these meetings were an over whelming success in exposing legislators to the industry using those people who know it best, those who work on the line every day. Topics of discussion included general business climate,incentives, education and workforce development, environmental regulation, and much more.
BIOCOM member companies Amgen, Amylin, Biotech Vendor Services, Celgene, Gen-Probe, Johnson and Johnson, Knobbe Martens, NuVasive, Pfizer, Takeda and Vertex San Diego who all sent personnel to participate in this important education day.
Local chapters of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Parkinson’s Disease Association, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Lupus Foundation, and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation provided advocates who were willing to share their very compelling and personal stories with legislators. The human impact of our industry cannot be expressed better than by those whose lives are directly touched by it.
Please contact Jimmy Jackson at BIOCOM to learn how you can get involved in BIOCOM's local, statewide and national public policy efforts.
Spotlight on Multiple Sclerosis
BIOCOM is launching a new feature to take a monthly look at drugs and devices in development to treat that disease from member companies. Following our 2009 "Art of Research" Calendar, each month, we'll look at a new disease and our companies’ efforts in it, with the information eventually posted to the "About Southern California" section of our Web site.
Forour April disease spotlight, we'll take a look at companies with products and devices in development to treat multiple sclerosis (MS). Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease, where the body's immune system attacks its own tissues. Though the exact cause of the disease is unknown, MS currently affects 400,000 people in the United States with approximately 200 new cases diagnosed each week. World wide, MS affects about 2.5 million people.
The following companies responded to our request for summaries of their MS efforts. Is your company not on the list? Please email Michelle Wright and we'll update you on our site.
Next month's spotlight will be on companies working in the field of neurology. Is your company on the list? Please contact Michelle Wright with any questions or to make sure your company is on the list.
Special thanks to Mentus Life Science for helping to generate this report.
Southern California life science companies working in MS include:
Aegis Therapeutics, Ambrex, Asphelia Pharmaceuticals, Biogen Idec, MedicNova, Isis Pharmaceuticals,
Aegis Therapeutics is a specialty pharmaceutical company commercializing advanced patented drug delivery and protein stabilization technologies that enable the non-invasive delivery of a broad range of protein, peptide, and non-peptide macromolecular therapeutics. Aegis Therapeutics has three technologies:
Intravail Transmucosal Absorption Enhancers
ProTek Protein and Peptide Stabilization Excipients
Aegis Hydrogels Absorption-enhancing self-assembling non-polymeric hydrogels
Asphelia Pharmaceuticals is a immuno therapeutic company focused onthe development of therapies for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn'sDisease and Ulcerative Colitis) and other immunological and inflammatory disorders, including multiple sclerosis and asthma.
Biogen Idec creates new standards of care in therapeutic areas with high unmet medical needs. Founded in 1978, Biogen Idec is a global leader in the discovery, development, manufacturing and commercialization of innovative therapies. Our major products include TYSABRI (natalizumab), the most recently approved treatment for relapsing forms of MS and AVONEX (Interferon beta-1a), the No. 1 prescribed therapy for relapsing forms of MS worldwide.
MediciNova,Inc. is a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company focused on acquiring and developing novel, small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of diseases with unmet need with a specific focus on the U.S. market. MN-166 is a novel, orally administered compound being evaluated for thetreatment of MS. MN-166 increases the release of neuronal growth factors and inhibits leukotriene activity, phosphodiesterases andnitric oxide synthase.
Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is aleading drug discovery and development company, focused exclusively on the therapeutic target, RNA. Founded in 1989, Isis' mission is to develop products from its RNA-based technologies, such as antisense.