Salk Signs Alliance with sanofi-aventis
The Salk Institute has signed a strategic alliance agreement with sanofi-aventis, establishing a joint program that supports cutting-edge research and promotes an exchange of discoveries focused on scientific advances and therapeutic applications.
For a period of up to five years, the sanofi-aventis Regenerative Medicine Program (SARP) will sponsor institute-wide discovery grants in promising research areas that address the organizations' mutual interests. SARP providesfor long-term, multiple-participant collaborations between Salk and sanofi-aventis scientists - allowing both groups to benefit from each other's specific areas of expertise and potentially develop further partnerships. SARP will also provide unrestricted support for the Institute's stem cell core facility.
Further collaboration and scientific exchange will be reinforced through annual Salk/sanofi-aventis research retreats and extended working lab visits between scientists from both organizations. Please click here to read a story in Xconomy.com about the partnership.
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is one of the world's preeminent basic research institutions where internationally renowned faculty probe fundamental life science questions in a unique, collaborative and creative environment. Focused on both discovery and mentoring future generations of researchers, Salk scientists make groundbreakingcontributions to our understanding of cancer, aging, Alzheimer's,diabetes and cardiovascular disorders by studying neuroscience, genetics, cell and plant biology and related disciplines.
Faculty achievements have been recognized with numerous honors, including Nobel Prizes and memberships in the National Academy of Sciences. Founded in 1960 by polio vaccine pioneer Jonas Salk, M.D., the Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark.
Scripps Health and Qualcomm Launch $45 Million Wireless Health Institute
The Gary and Mary West Foundation committed $45 million to create the West Wireless Health Institute, one of world’s first medical research organizations dedicated to advancing health and well-being through the use of wireless technologies. Scripps Health has signed on as the founding health care affiliate, with Qualcomm as a founding sponsor.
Gary West is founder and chair of the Institute’s board of directors. He will be joined on the board by Dr.Eric J. Topol, chief academic officer at Scripps Health and holder of the Gary and Mary West, chair of innovative medicine and Donald Jones, vice president of Health and Life Sciences at Qualcomm. The Institute is headquartered in San Diego, California, the global hub for wireless life science research and development.
Under the leadership of Dr. Topol, the Institute and its research team will conduct clinical research on solutions to better prevent, diagnose, manage and treat major health conditions, ranging from Alzheimer’s to heart disease to obesity. The Institute will build a base of biomedicaland bioengineering expertise to ensure that devices in development improve the existing level of care, and are safe, reliable, and cost effective.
Jones and the Institute’s engineering team will lead the integration of wireless technology with the clinical research activity.
“The Institute will enable inventors, medical device makers and others to hatch, nurture and refine their ideas for wireless health solutions,” said Jones. “We believe the launch of the West Wireless Health Institute will lead to levels of care never before seen in the delivery of healthcare.”
The Board of Directors has launched a global search for a chief executive officer to lead the Institute. For more information on the West Wireless Health Institute, please visit www.westwirelesshealth.com.
The West Wireless Health Institute is one of the first medical research organizations in the world supporting the exploration and application of wireless technologies to advance human health and well-being. Along with Scripps Health and Qualcomm, the Institute is fostering an unprecedented convergence of science, medicine, engineering and technology to change the way health care is delivered. The West Wireless Health Institute is based in San Diego, California.
Del Mar Students Attend Science Day at Human BioMolecular Research Institute
On Tuesday, March 10th, the Human BioMolecular Research Institute (www.HBRI.org) hosted 20 students from Del Mar Pines School for their annual Science Day.
Students were given a tour of the laboratories and HBRI provided science experiments that paralleled the curriculum taught in the students’classroom.
These presentations included studies of DNA(the building block of life), cell biology studies using advanced microscopes, biochemical studies and morphological studies.
Students became cell biologists for the day; they viewed videos of white blood cells absorbing bacteria, saw brain cells under a microscope, and learned about macrophage cells and microglial cells that are being usedin HBRI research. Through hands-on experiments, students learned about muscle tissue and the circulatory system. In the chemistry lab, they worked with thin layer chromatography and were able to take home samples of their work.
Part of HBRI’s mission is to“promote scientific learning through community service and publica ccess”. To accomplish this mission, HBRI has been involved with the advancement of science education in the San Diego community for over adecade.
In the last ten years HBRI has focused on the development of fundamental information useful to understand and ameliorate human diseases of the central nervous system. Included inthe areas of study are: Alzheimer’s Disease and related neurodegenerative disorders, Parkinson’s Disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, depression, attention deficit disorder, drug abuse, chronic pain and smoking cessation.
The Institute will be celebrating a decade of brain research and science education programs at their 10th anniversary fundraiser gala on May 30th at the Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club.
CIRM Hosts Stem Cell Science: The Pace to Cures in San Diego
You voted YES! Come here about our progress. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state stem cell agency, is holding a Town Forum to provide an opportunity for individuals to learn how CIRM is investing Proposition 71 funds to improve human health and about advances in stem cell science from some of the most distinguished researchers in the field.
The Forum features three CIRM-funded speakers who will speak briefly on aparticular topic, followed by a question and answer period. FREE and open to the public. RSVP: pace2curesSD@cirm.ca.gov.
Speakers:
Jeanne Loring, PhD, The Scripps Research Institute; Founding Director, Center for Regenerative Medicine
Stuart Lipton, MD, PhD, Burnham Institute; Director, Del E. Webb Neuroscience, Aging and Stem Cell Research Center
Mahendra Rao, MD, PhD, Invitrogen; Vice President, Research, Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
The event is free and open to the public; please reserve a seat by registering at pace2curesSD@cirm.ca.gov.
San Diego Natural History Museum,
1788 El Prado, San Diego
Tuesday, March 31st,
6:15 – 7:45 PM
Links: www.cirm.ca.gov <http://www.cirm.ca.gov/>
Join Althea for Its Second Annual Charity Connection
Join Althea Technologies for an opportunity for the biotech community to learn about various volunteering opportunities in the San Diego area. Participating charitable organizations will have booths at the event to field questions and recruit volunteers.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Althea Technologies
11040 Roselle Street, San Diego, 92121
Contact: Tracy Defernez @ tdefernez@altheatech.com
American Red Cross 211 San Diego Ronald McDonald House
Best Buddies Father Joe’s Village Salvation Army
Big Brothers/Big Sisters Girls on the Run San Diego Hospice
Boys and Girls Club Get on the Bus San Diego Rescue Mission
Discover a Dancer Mama’s Kitchen Special Olympics
Dorcas House Passion for Paws Rescue, Inc.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure Elite Racing
Voices for Children Positive Action Community Theatre
Holding Hands Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
fqubed's Experimentation Platform Selected as 2009 Edison Award Finalist
The INSIGHT platform developed by fqubed, the research and development subsidiary of Nuvo Research Inc., has been selected as one of four finalists in the Science and Medical category for the 2009 Edison Best New Product Awards. The awards are among the most elite accolades honoring excellence in new product development, marketing, and innovation. Finalists in other categories include the Apple iPhone, Obama’s 2008 Presidential Campaign, and Procter & Gamble’s Olay Regenerist.
Skin-based delivery or transdermal delivery is a highly sought-after mode of administering molecules into the body. However, skin is a challenging barrier and the effectiveness of skin formulations at permeabilizing the skin had been assessed by adecades-old technique which is laborious. INSIGHT is a high through put experimentation (“HTE”) skin permeability screening platform that is 100-times faster than the traditional methodology. INSIGHT’s key technological innovation is in measuring skin permeabilizationin directly, via changes in the skin electrical impedance caused by application of a formulation; this dramatically speeds the screening process. Originally invented by Professor Samir Mitragotri at theUniversity of California at Santa Barbara and collaborator Pankaj Karande, INSIGHT has been developed and industrialized by scientists and engineers at fqubed. INSIGHT has allowed fqubed to discover several molecular penetration enhancer (“MPE™”) systems that are effective at selectively permeabilizing the skin.
The Edison Best New Product Awards, sponsored this year by Google, The Nielsen Company and Steelcase, focus on new products and services that excel inmarketplace innovation, marketplace success, technological innovation, market structure innovation, and societal impact. These criteria align with Edison’s own innovation best practices, called the Five Competencies of Innovation Ô. MENG members nationwide cast their ballots for entries they deemed worthy of being linked to the Edison name.
Gold, Silver and Bronze winners will be announced at an Awards Gala on April 1, 2009 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. For more information about The Edison Awards, visit www.edisonawards.com.
NuvoResearch Inc. is a publicly traded, Canadian pharmaceutical company headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, with manufacturing facilities in Varennes, Québec and Wanzleben, Germany and a research and development Center in San Diego California. For more information, please visit www.nuvoresearch.com.
BioSurplus Hosts Grand Opening of New Facility
BioSurplus, Inc., a leading provider of pre-owned laboratoryequipment and asset management services for the life science industry,will have a Grand Opening of its new facility in Fremont, CA.
Headquarteredin San Diego, CA, BioSurplus expanded to Fremont mid-year 2008 with theaddition of a 10,000 square foot warehouse. The facility has anextensive showroom of scientific equipment for customer viewing.“Customers, who typically are scientists and researchers, can walk theaisles of equipment and literally pick the items they need off theshelf,” says CEO Preston “Cinco” Plumb.
The Open Housewill be held from 11 am to 6 pm on Wednesday, March 25. There will behosted food and soft drinks throughout the day. Attendees are invitedto take a tour through the facility and participate in a raffle. Forevent information, please call (510) 270-2661.
Cooley Releases Annual Report
From Cooley Godward:
"Over the past year, we worked side by side with our clients on critical transactions including major mergers and acquisitions, significant financings and licensing and collaboration programs for technologies that are transforming the world in which we live. We successfully litigated major business disputes, including bet-the-company intellectual property cases, precedent-setting antitrust matters and the defense of high-profile securities cases."
Please click here to download Cooley's annual report: complete annual review in PDF.
Asterand Wins ‘Best Performing Share 2008’ from Financial Times
Asterand plc (LSE: ATD), a leading provider of human tissue and services to pharmaceutical companies engaged in drug discovery research, has won the Financial Times Best Performing Share 2008 PLC award. The award was announced on 12 March 2009 at the PLC Awards ceremony in London.
Since 1987, the PLC awards have been presented annually to small companies listed on the London Stock Exchange who exhibit excellence. The Best Performing Share award is presented to the company who has shown the greatest increase in its share price for the year. This increase is calculated using publicly available data. Asterand received this award in a year when fewer than70 of the more than 2000 shares listed on the LSE experienced gains. During 2008, Asterand’s share price climbed nearly 160%.
Martyn Coombs, CEO of Asterand plc commented:
Asterandis a leading supplier of high quality human tissue and tissue-based services. Our comprehensive approach to human tissue and research services offers pharmaceutical, biotech and diagnostic companies the unique opportunity to have one company meet all of their human biomaterial needs along the continuum of drug discovery and development. Our mission is to accelerate target discovery and compound validation and enable pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to take safer and more effective drugs into the clinic.