Equipment for Auction at Favrille
Favrille will be auctioning off over $13 million of equipment from its 128,000 square feet of facilities. This auction will take place daily Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, August 12, 13 and 14 at 10 a.m. in the Favrille facility located at 10445 Pacific Center Court, San Diego, Calif. Auction items will be available for preview and inspection at the same location beginning Monday, August 11 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and mornings of the sale from 9 a.m. to Noon.
The auction will also be globally broadcast and participants can bid via the Internet or live onsite. A comprehensive auction catalog with photos will be posted 24 to 48 hours before the sale online at www.cowanalexander.com.
Grubb&Ellis/BRE Commercial Releases Real Estate Reports
Grubb&Ellis/BRE Commercial has release new reports looking at second quarter real estate trends in the industrial, retail and office markets. Please use the following links to download the full PDFs.
Industrial Market Trends San Diego
Click Here to Download Report
Retail Market Trends San Diego
Click Here to Download Report
Office Market Trends San Diego
Click Here to Download Report
HellerEhrman IP Litigation Watch
EISAI Co. Ltd. v. Dr. Reddy's Labs., Ltd., 2007-1397, -1398 (Fed. Cir. July 21, 2008): Obviousness - "[P]ost-KSR, a prima facie case of obviousness for a chemical compound still, in general, begins with the reasoned identification of a lead compound."
The Federal Circuit (Rader, Linn and Prost) affirmed the Southern District of New York's (Lynch) finding of no obviousness of a chemical compound on summary judgment when the accused infringer had failed to allege an obvious lead compound.
Read the entire summary >>
Serdarevic v. Advanced Medical Optics, Inc., No. 2008-1075, 2008 WL ___ (Fed. Cir. July 16, 2008): (Unclean Hands) - "[I]n the context of an inventorship action, a plaintiff relying on the unclean hands doctrine to defeat a defense of laches must show not only that the defendant engaged in misconduct, but moreover that the defendant's misconduct was responsible for the plaintiff's delay in bringing suit."
The Federal Circuit (Michel, Linn and Zagel (N.D. Ill., sitting by designation)) affirmed the district court's (Cote) ruling that plaintiff's inventorship claim was barred by laches and that plaintiff's state-law claims were barred by the applicable statutes of limitations.
Read the entire summary >>
View the IP Litigation Federal Circuit Watch Archive >>
Barney and Barney Launches Art Insurance Program
B&B Programs, a division of Barney & Barney LLC that is responsible for national program and wholesale insurance distribution, has launched the Art Elite Insurance Program to underwrite and insure fine art collections for museums, galleries and dealers. Coverage is available nationwide.
Joining other specialty programs, and founded on Barney & Barney's 99-year history of providing community service, this program will support the importance of cultural preservation and the security of fine art in communities across the United States.
Brokers who work with fine arts collectors, businesses and institutions can contact B&B Programs at (858) 587-7477 or jimo@barneyandbarney.com.
For appointed brokers, applications can be submitted at www.asaib.com/ArtElite.htm.
Richard Hallett joins Barney & Barney
Paul Hering, managing principal and CEO of Barney & Barney LLC, has hired Richard Hallett as the newest employee to join Barney & Barney. Formerly executive underwriter with Arch Insurance Group, Hallett specializes in the placement of surety bonds for the construction industry as well as commercial clientele.
A graduate of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, Mr. Hallett has a bachelor's degree in finance and marketing, and holds the professional designation of Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC). He is President of the Surety Association of San Diego and a member of the Association of General Contractors and Construction Financial Management Association.
Aspire Launches Web Portal for Trial Data
Aspire Independent Review Board, LLC has launched an automated Web-based system for multi-center trials. A.S.A.P., Aspire's Simple Automated Portal, allows clients to securely log onto a website 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to view up-to-date information regarding their study. The system also allows clients to access approval documents that can be downloaded at their convenience.
Aspire IRB protects the rights of human research participants and reviews the research to make sure that it is well-designed and the risks are as minimal as possible. The FDA and HHS regulations have empowered IRBs to approve, require modifications, or disapprove research. Aspire IRB's reputation and dedication to building relationships in the research industry has been instrumental to its success.
To submit a study and gain secure access to the Web based system, please contact Michele Baptista, CIP, V.P. of Central IRB Operations at 619-469-0108.
Aspire IRB is a privately owned and certified women's business headquartered in San Diego, CA responsible for overseeing clinical research studies. Aspire reviews, approves and monitors any research involving human participants with the aim to protect their rights and welfare.
Asterand Named Leading Place to Work by The Scientist
Asterand plc, a provider of human tissue and services to pharmaceutical companies, has been voted one of the top ten best places to work in the 6th Global annual Best Places to Work in Industry survey carried out by life sciences magazine 'The Scientist'.
The survey asked respondents to assess their working environment according to 44 criteria in 11 different categories, including the efficacy of internal communications, quality of research environment, and opportunities for training and development.
In 2008, Asterand ranked number 3 among top ten small companies and top thirty companies, a significant improvement over 2007. Over 200 Pharmaceutical and Bio-technology Companies from the US and Europe participated in the survey. This is the fifth year in succession that Asterand has been voted as a best place to work. Asterand currently employs over 90 employees between its locations in Detroit, Michigan and Royston, England.
Non-Profit: UC San Diego Launches Institute of Engineering in Medicine
Engineers, physicians and scientists are joining forces at UCSD conceptualize, develop and bring to reality the future tools and treatments of 21st century health care through the school's new Institute of Engineering in Medicine. Nanoparticle bombs to kill cancer, molecular-sized bridges to repair damaged hearts, and scarless surgery techniques are now on the frontier of medical innovations in California with the new Institute leading the way.
The Institute of Engineering in Medicine will intersect broad areas of research and focus on new approaches to disease identification, genomic medicine, clinical testing and monitoring, and the discovery of new drugs and therapies. The Institute aligns programs that are rated among the nation's best in U.S. News and World Report's annual "Top Graduate Schools" ranking, with the Jacobs School of Engineering ranked 11th, its bioengineering program ranked 2nd, and the School of Medicine ranked 14th among comparable graduate programs throughout the nation. UC San Diego is one of four universities in the nation with a medical school and engineering school both ranked in the top 15.
The von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology Advancement and the Office of Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Services at UC San Diego, which have helped to spin off dozens of local biotech companies, will facilitate the process of commercializing the Institute's innovations.
Among the examples of projects underway at UC San Diego:
- Engineers, physicians, and scientists have identified cells that may be capable of regenerating damaged or lost heart muscle in patients with cardiovascular disease.
- The Nanotechnology Center of Excellence has developed nanoparticle drug delivery systems to fight cancer. These tiny 'smart bombs' specifically target spreading cancer, delivering cancer-killing drugs, while sparing healthy tissue.
- The Center for the Future of Surgery is developing visualization technologies and other minimally invasive devices to make scarless surgery a reality.
- State-of-the-art stroke care is being delivered to remote sites, proving that patients can receive potentially life-saving interventions any where in the world, thanks to wireless telemedicine applications developed in collaboration with the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2)
UC San Diego is already attracting some of the best students in the country to obtain joint M.D.-Ph.D. degrees in medicine and engineering. To train future healthcare technologists, the Institute will integrate engineering and medical concepts in classes and labs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Workshops and a Distinguished Lecture Series" will also explore topics related to regenerative medicine, nanomedicine, stem cells, medical devices and instrumentation, inflammation, and a wide range of other areas.
Non-Profit: Exercise in a Pill Brings Global Attention to Salk
Trying to reap the health benefits of exercise? Forget treadmills and spin classes, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies may have found a way around the sweat and pain. They identified two signaling pathways that are activated in response to exercise and converge to dramatically increase endurance.
The team of scientists, led by Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Ronald M. Evans, Ph.D., a professor in the Salk Institute's Gene Expression Laboratory report in the July 31 advance online edition of the journal Cell that simultaneously triggering both pathways with oral drugs turned laboratory mice into long-distance runners and conferred many of exercise's other benefits.
In addition to their allure for endurance athletes, drugs that mimic the effects of exercise have therapeutic potential in treating certain muscle diseases, such as wasting and frailty, as well as obesity and a slew of associated metabolic disorders where exercise is known to be beneficial.
An investigational drug, identified only as GW1516 (and not commercially available), fit the bill. When postdoctoral researcher and lead author Vihang A. Narkar, Ph.D., fed the substance to laboratory mice over a period of four weeks, the researchers were in for a surprise.
Now the exact same drug that had shown no effect in sedentary animals improved endurance by 77 percent over exercise alone and increased the portion of "non-fatiguing" or "slow twitch" muscle fibers by 38 percent. The result, while very dramatic, gave rise to a vexing question: Why is exercise so important? Please click here for more information and for the list of participating scientists.
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to fundamental discoveries in the life sciences, the improvement of human health and the training of future generations of researchers. Jonas Salk, M.D., whose polio vaccine all but eradicated the crippling disease poliomyelitis in 1955, opened the Institute in 1965 with a gift of land from the City of San Diego and the financial support of the March of Dimes.
Non-Profit: Immunology Journal Names La Jolla Institute President Editor
Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D., president and scientific director of the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI), has been named as a deputy editor of The Journal of Immunology (The JI), one of the premier scientific journals for immunologists around the globe.
Kronenberg has led LIAI, a nonprofit medical research institute, since 2003. He is an internationally recognized scientist and one of the most highly cited immunologists in the world. This distinction is held by less than one half of one percent of all publishing scientific authors. In addition to his LIAI executive duties and new responsibilities with The JI, Kronenberg conducts an active research program at LIAI, which is recognized as a leading immunology research institution.
In addition to Kronenberg, a member of LIAI's Board of Directors, Susan Swain, Ph.D., has also been named as a deputy editor at The JI. She and Kronenberg will be part of a team of 10 deputy editors, who review more than 4,000 manuscripts on scientific findings submitted annually for publication by researchers worldwide.
Swain is president emeritus and former president and director of the Trudeau Institute, an independent immunology research center in Saranac Lake, New York. She was recently appointed to the National Advisory Council on Aging (NACA), a prestigious group which provides input to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other federal health leaders regarding scientific efforts to understand the nature of aging and to extend the healthy, active years of life. A prominent immunologist, she is also a former professor of biology at UC San Diego and a past president of the American Association of Immunologists.
Founded in 1916, The JI is published by the American Association of Immunologists, the largest immunology society in the world. It is the 15th most cited of all biomedical research journals and is the number 1 among all immunology journals for total citations.
Founded in 1988, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology is a nonprofit medical research center dedicated to increasing knowledge and improving human health through studies of the immune system. Scientists at the institute carry out research searching for cures for cancer, allergy and asthma, infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis. LIAI's research staff includes more than 100 Ph.Ds.