Company & Industry Headlines

General

• Good Medicine For Investors?
  According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, there are about 35 million Americans over the age of 65, or 12% of total population. That will grow to 21%, or 86 million people, by 2050. These trends have influenced the direction and opportunity for medical systems and equipment companies...read more

•  Big Pharma's Patent Headache
  In 2008 more than 10 top-selling drugs will lose patent protection. The industry hopes to recoup the losses with branded generics... read more
• Bush Staff, Tech Titans Split Over Patent Bill
  The Bush administration said Monday that it opposes a key provision of a patent reform bill that has passed the House of Representatives and is awaiting a floor vote in the Senate, taking sides in an intellectual war over how best to promote innovation. The position puts the administration at odds with big technology firms like Intel, IBM, Apple, Google, Cisco and Hewlett-Packard that have banded together to push the bill, and squarely on the side of the biotech and venture capital industries, which say the proposed change would significantly weaken patents ... read more
• Drugmakers and the Election
  The Motley Fool takes a look at the leading presidential candidates and their positions on health-care issues that could affect those industries if they were enacted ... read more
• Budget Has Mandate for Biogeneric Approvals
  Buried in the modest 5.7 percent budget hike for the FDA is a provision that the government will seek authority to begin approving generic versions of biologics. Despite heavy support for the measure, lawmakers failed to get a bill in 2007 that would mandate a regulatory pathway for follow-on biologics, or biogenerics. The 1984 generic drug law excludes most biotech products, a feature that has enhanced the sector for investors and aroused the fiercely protective nature of a host of industry lobbyists. This time around, though, biogeneric legislation could get the boost it needs if the White House actively pursues it ... read more

SoCal Company News

• Advanced Medical Optics (Santa Ana):
  • Advanced Medical Optics Enters into Phacoemulsification Patent Agreement with Bausch & Lomb
• Allergan (Irvine):
  • Allergan's Net Grows 17% On Eye-Care and Botox Sales
• Amgen (Thousand Oaks):
  • Amgen Lobbied on Patent Legislation
  • Takeda buys Amgen's Japan arm
• BioLargo:
  • BioLargo, Inc. Names New CFO
• BioLase
  • BIOLASE Names Frederick M. Capallo Interim Chief Financial Officer
• Endologix (Irvine):
  • Endologix Comments on NEJM Study Highlighting Advantages of Minimally Invasive Endovascular Repair
• IDM Pharma (Irvine):
  • IDM Pharma Receives Notification from NASDAQ Relating to Minimum Bid Price
  • IDM Pharma Announces Phase 3 Mifamurtide (L-MTP-PE) Study Demonstrating Improved Survival Published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology
• John Wayne Cancer Institute (Santa Monica):
  • John Wayne Cancer Institute Researchers Show that a Key Protein Appears to Enable Spread of Melanoma to the Small Intestine
• LA BioMed (Torrance):
  • LA BioMed investigators have discovered a new way to study the dynamics of cellular protein in the human body
• Mentor (Santa Barbara):
  • Economic, Competitive Concerns Over Breast Implants Drive Mentor Shares to an All-Time Low
• North American Scientific (Chatsworth):
  •  North American Scientific back in Nasdaq compliance
• Valeant Pharmaceuticals (Aliso Viejo):
  • Valeant Pharma says CEO resigns, names replacement
• Viral Genetics (Azusa):
  • Viral Genetics Updates Progress on Technology Acquired From University of Colorado
• Watson Pharmaceuticals (Corona):
  • Watson to Launch Generic Fosamax

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Canada-California Infectious Diseases Collaboration Workshop

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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.

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