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What’s Inside: Member Companies Advancing Infectious Disease Testing and Treatments; A Huge Win Against Alzheimer’s; Hundreds of Bills Pending Governor’s Signature; and more.
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We’re championing the progress made by California’s life science community and want to hear about your company’s latest scientific breakthrough, investment milestone, or commitment to creating positive change for our industry. We welcome all members to submit your story here for possible inclusion in an upcoming issue. |
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What’s Happening at Biocom California
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Life Science HR Professionals Gather in the Bay Area
Last week, we brought 120 life science HR professionals together during our Sixth Annual Life Science HR Conference for Northern California. With the conference in person again this year, attendees were excited to be back at a live event and to hear from speakers who covered a range of topics including building company culture from the ground up, HR legal updates and how HR leaders can build successful partnerships with their CEOs. Results from the 2022 Life Sciences Total Rewards Survey Report produced by Mercer, Marsh McLennan Agency (MMA), and Biocom California were also presented. Thank you to our co-host, MMA, and all of our Bay Area conference sponsors. We look forward to convening our conference for Southern California on October 12 in San Diego.
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Industry Symposium to Support Life Science Career Development
Biocom California Institute is thrilled to announce the return of its Life Science Industry Symposium on October 27. This event is specifically for Veterans, first-generation college graduates, and graduates from historically underrepresented groups to learn about the life science industry. We’d like to thank these Biocom California member companies for their generous support: Fisher Scientific, Illumina, Quidel, Hologic, Mirati, Travere, SDG&E, Trefoil, Bristol Myers Squibb, Vertex, Poseida, Lineage Cell, Longfellow Real Estate, Bayer and BioMed Realty.
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The Latest in Infectious Disease Testing & Treatments
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While COVID-19 treatments and testing have been a top priority for government agencies and biotech companies the past few years, the recent spread of monkeypox and news of polio being detected in wastewater in New York has brought preventing the spread of infectious diseases to the forefront of public health concerns again. In addition to the ongoing
search for new drug therapies and potential vaccines, the need for testing for a variety of infectious diseases is growing and projected to rise: a recent report shows global demand for point of care (POC) testing kits are on the uptick, and that the market for infectious disease testing is expected to increase in value to $4.22 billion by 2028.
Here is a roundup of our members who are actively working to make tests for infectious diseases more accessible and available, and are also innovating current treatment methods–even with swimming “microrobots.” Featured members include: Karius; Vir Biotechnology; Quidel Bio; UC San Diego; and PathoGene. |
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Member Moments & Industry Insight
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- Biogen shared the results from a clinical trial for its experimental Alzheimer’s drug made in collaboration with Eisai Co Ltd, showing that the drug slowed cognitive and functional decline in the early stages of the disease.
- Cultura acquired Systems Source San Diego, a leading full-service commercial furniture dealership located in Southern California.
- Evofem Biosciences announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No. 11,439,610, which covers the composition of matter for Phexxi, the first and only FDA-approved hormone-free, woman-controlled contraceptive gel.
- HATCHspaces, a Los Angeles-based life science real estate developer, opened a new facility in Irvine with eight turn-key lab suites for early-stage bioscience and biotech startups.
- ImmunoScape raised $14 million to further its work toward the discovery of novel, cancer-specific T-cell receptors that better enable targeted oncology treatments.
- Invitae received a three-year appointment to a National Quality Forum committee that provides input on recommendations for quality standards that impact how healthcare is delivered.
- Johnson & Johnson’s Technology, Innovation, and Janssen units opened a new R&D facility in San Francisco which will support the company’s discovery, development, and delivery of innovative medicines.
- Nucleus Biologics unveiled new state-of-the-art cleanrooms on the company’s San Diego campus which will support its cell and gene therapy clients.
- Salk Institute was awarded a $126 million grant by the NIH to launch the Center for Multiomic Human Brain Cell Atlas and an effort to better understand the cells that make up the human brain and how it ages over time.
- Scribe Therapeutics received $25 million from Sanofi and will enter a research collaboration to accelerate breakthrough CRISPR-based cell therapies for cancer.
- UC San Diego was given a five-year, $16 million award from the NIH, the largest grant ever received by the university, to recruit 12 diverse, early-career research faculty in the biomedical sciences.
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Hundreds of State Bills Await Final Decision
Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Friday at midnight to determine the fate of hundreds of bills. As of Thursday, there are still over a hundred bills remaining covering a wide range of policy issues from healthcare coverage to public safety and environmental policy. Biocom California State Affairs is tracking about a dozen pending bills that would expand access to innovative technology and therapies. For more information, contact Fielding Greaves.
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Meeting with South San Francisco Mayor Nagales
South San Francisco Mayor Mark Nagales will join Biocom California members on October 12 from 11:00 a.m. to noon to discuss the city’s child care ballot measure that proposes a new $2.50 per square foot parcel tax on commercial buildings larger than 25,000 square feet. For more information or to RSVP, contact Melanie Cohn.
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San Diego Water Rates Increase
San Diego City Council passed a water rate increase of three percent, coming after the San Diego County Water Authority recently increased its rates by five percent for treated water and nearly four percent for untreated water. Part of the rate increase is due to inflation and the rising cost of energy.
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LA Board of Supervisors Resumes In-Person Meetings
Following the county’s move from the “medium” to “low” COVID-19 community activity level, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors reopened their meetings for in-person attendance on September 27. The board will continue with a hybrid meeting option; attendees can still view the meetings and participate online.
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Biocom California
For over 27 years, Biocom California has helped move the life science industry forward with transformative resources that enable companies to make meaningful connections. With a membership base of over 1,600 companies, we connect our members to each other so they can collaborate and work stronger and smarter together. We connect organizations to capital investment and purchasing solutions so they can grow faster and work more efficiently. We’re their link to advocacy that fights for innovation and we provide an environment where their business and talent can thrive. Biocom California is how the life science industry gets connected.
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