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The Orange County-based Allvivo Vascular, Inc. (AVI) develops biomimetic surface coatings for vascular devices. AVI's first biomimetic stent coating targets the coronary stent market. Providing a promising alternative to the use of immuno-suppressive and cytotoxic drugs on stents, it is being prepared for human clinical trials to prevent thrombosis, inflammation, and restenosis. Learn More
 

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Access Past Weekly Updates
July 14, 2008
From the Lab Bench 
  • UCLA Scientists Use a Common Cold Virus to Image Prostate Cancer as it Spreads to Lymph Nodes

The method of imaging prostate cancer as it metastasizes is described in a study published in the July 11 online edition of the peer-reviewed journal Nature Medicine. The study suggests that oncologists would be able to locate tiny cancer metastases in the pelvic lymph nodes, which are very difficult to find using conventional imaging tools such as CT scanning. This discovery may help in arresting cancer metastasis early, said Lily Wu (photo right), a researcher at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center and the senior author of the study ... Read Article

  • UCLA-VA Researchers Design Model for Automated, Wearable Artificial Kidney
UCLA-VA has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with the Singapore-based company AWAK Technologies Pte. Ltd. to develop a commercial wearable kidney based on the design by Martin Roberts, an assistant professor of clinical medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a dialysis consultant with the VA Healthcare System, and David B.N. Lee, a professor of medicine at the Geffen School and a consultant nephrologist at the VA. The device was first presented in the June 2004 SoCalBio Networking Forum at UCLA. It is described in a paper published in the June 2008 issue of Clinical and Experimental Nephrology journal
Industry Headlines
  • L.A. Philanthropy Gets Shot in Arm
After striking an eye-popping deal last week, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong (photo right) stands to become the fourth wealthiest Angeleno with an estimated net worth that exceeds $5 billion - a position not lost on the surgeon turned entrepreneur who is poised to turn into one of the city's biggest philanthropists... Read Article
  • Is Edwards Lifesciences Ripe for Acquisition?
Some analysts think that the Irvine-based maker of heart valves may be a ripe acquisition target for the world's two biggest device makers, J&J or Medtronic ... Read Article
  • Is Biolase On the Mend?
Biolase Technology has launched a new hard and soft tissue laser for restorative general dentists, the Waterlase C100. The device is priced to appeal to a broader section of the dental market. Jake St. Philip, Biolase CEO, believes a broader product offering to complements the company's flagship Waterlase MD will increase adoption rates across segments of the dental market - specifically dentists who are just beginning to build their practices ... Read Article
  • New Pharma Ethics Rules Eliminate Gifts and Meals

Drug company sales representatives will have to stop doling out coffee mugs and pens that push their products when they visit doctor's offices. But they can still sneak in the occasional free lunch ... Read Article

  • Are Blockbuster Drugs Bound for Extinction?
Last week, the FDA convened a meeting that likely will raise the regulatory hurdles that new potential therapies must overcome to get approved, while making even approved drug candidates less profitable ... Read Article
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About SoCalBio
SoCalBio membership links you to partners, contract manufacturers, regulatory and legal experts, and policy makers. The organization's programs help emerging biotech and medical device companies grow. Membership is affordable -- as low as $500 -- and offers access to networking opportunities, advocacy, discounts through our group purchasing program group purchasing program and other benefits you simply can't find elsewhere ... Join SoCalBio
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 For more information, call SoCalBio at 213-236-4890 or send e-mail to scbc@socalbio.org
 
Editor: Ahmed A. Enany
Southern California Biomedical Council (SoCalBio)