SoCalBio Weekly Update -- February 1st, 2008
Editor: Ahmed A. Enany

New SoCalBio Members
  • Bingham McCutchen (Costa Mesa):
    A national law firm with nearly 1,000 attorneys in 13 offices. The firm represents clients in cross-border restructurings and insolvencies, high-stakes litigation, complex financing and regulatory matters, government affairs, and a wide variety of corporate and technology transactions. Bingham will be represented in SoCalBio by Mr. Rob Funston (Photo right), who leads the firm’s life-science team on the West Coast ... go to web site
  • Bioplate (Los Angeles):
    A medical device developer and manufacturer offering over 150 different titanium plates, a large variety of mesh sizes, and various sizes of self-tapping and self-drilling screws for various Cranio-Maxillo-Facial fixation markets. Bioplate will be represented in SoCalBio by its President Mr. Bill Lamm ... go to web site

Company & Industry Headlines

General

  • New Lease on Life? The Ethics of Offshoring Clinical Trials
    The changing pattern of clinical trials is helping drug companies that are under pressure to deliver innovative medicines more quickly and sell them into new markets. But it also raises concerns over quality, research ethics and the very lives of the patients participating, and is coming under increased political and regulatory scrutiny ... read more

  • FDA, Foreign Regulators to Target Fraudulent Medical Devices
    The FDA will collaborate with foreign regulators to target manufacturers that ship fraudulent medical devices into the country, the agency's commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach said before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. The commissioner's statements were in response to questions about Seattle Times reports on the use of unproven devices in the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases ... read more

Recent Financing

  • Arbor Surgical Technologies Inc.
    This Irvine, Calif.-based medical device maker, has raised $20 million in Series C funding. Medtronic led the round, as part of a licensing agreement that provides Medtronic with rights to Arbor's trilobal pericardial valve technologies. Return backers included Delphi Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., Three Arch Partners, Affinity Capital Management, Baird Capital Partners, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Alloy Ventures, Sapient Capital, Sage Venture Management and Fisk Ventures. The company has now raised around $54 million. read more

SoCal Company News

Jobs Available

Access Past Weekly Updates

Thanks to Attendees of the SoCalBio Workshop on Accessing Government Funding for Research

Upcoming Events

February 21, 2008
 7:00 – 9:30 am
UCI University Club (Irvine, CA)
 RSVP Now

SoCalBio Networking Forum

Can Less be More? 
The Advantages and Challenges of Operating Virtually

These days, an increasing number of biotech and device companies -- often with prodding from the venture capitalists who back them -- are operating virtually on the premise that less can be more. 

Join us for a discussion by local device and biotech firms -- such as Symphony Medical and Cougar Biotechnology -- of the advantages and challenges of the virtual mode of doing business.

February 15, 2008
 11 am – 2 pm
Bolton & Company (Pasadena, CA)
245 S. Los Robles Avenue, Suite 105, Pasadena, CA 91102-6030

SoCalBio New Member Open House & Group Purchasing Orientation Meeting 

For more information and to RSVP, Contact SoCalBio Director of Membership, Ms. Sushetra Balachandran, at sushetra@socalbio.org

February 29, 2008
8:00 am - 6:00 pm
Wilshire Grand Hotel, Los Angeles

2nd SoCalBio Human Resources  Conference

Click Here to RSVP

This conference provides a forum for addressing the growing human capital and employment needs of the life-science industry in Southern California. Learn about:

  • Changes in technology and market dynamics affecting the supply and demand for skills 
  • Best practices in talent recruitment and retention by biotech and device companies located in Southern California
  • New educational and training initiatives in addressing skill shortages 
  • Changes in public policies and workplace law, including immigration reform ..More information
 		Sponsors 

 

Recommended Events

March 2, 2008
Hotel Crowne Plaza, Los Angeles International Airport

Canada-California Infectious Diseases Collaboration Workshop

Click here for more information and to register

The Canada-California Infectious Diseases Collaboration Workshop is an initiative of the Canada-California Strategic Innovation Partnership (CCSIP) which aims to assemble the best of Research, Development and Delivery (transfer and commercialization) in selected technology areas that are strategic to Canada and California, and where there is world-level strength of research in both jurisdictions. Project partners come from Academia, Industry and Government.

Space Available

LIFE SCIENCE START-UP INCUBATOR SPACE AVAILABLE


Click here for more information


Click here for more information

The Southern California Biomedical Council (SCBC or SoCalBio) is a nonprofit, member-supported trade association that promotes biomedical and life science research, development, manufacturing and overall economic development in Los Angeles, Orange County and adjacent communities. The organization’s programs assist local firms in accessing capital, potential partners and business support services. They also promote technology transfer and workforce training and educate the public and policy makers about the economic and social benefits of the life-science industry . More information about SoCalBio is available at www.socalbio.org.