• UCLA Study Highlights Long-Term Risks of Angeogenesis Inhibitors
  This study -- Published in the Aug. 24 journal -- Cell -- examined the effect of blocking VEGF signaling from within endothelial cells, a mechanism used by some small-molecule drugs currently being tested in late-phase clinical trials. The result was unexpected and sobering. More than half of the mice in the study suffered heart attacks and fatal strokes, while those that remained alive developed serious systemic vascular illness, said Luisa Iruela-Arispe (photo right), a professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology and director of the Cancer Cell Biology program at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center.
• UCI Researchers Contend Brain Cells Work Differently Than Previously Thought
  Raju Metherate's (photo right) study published in Nature Neuroscience shows for the first time that axons -- hairlike extensions linking neurons -- do not just transmit information, they can turn the signal up or down with the right stimulation. This finding may open the door to developing treatments for psychiatric disorders such as depression and schizophrenia in which it is thought that different parts of the brain do not communicate correctly with each other.
• USC Study Links Genes to Increased Asthma Risk
  The study will appear in the journal Thorax, which is now available online, found that children who carried variations in two genes and lived within 75 meters of a major road were up to nine times more likely to develop asthma than children who lived further away.

• Advanced Medical Optics (Santa Ana):
  • Advanced Medical Optics Hires Richard J. DeRisio as Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs
• Allergan (Irvine):
  • Allergan and ExonHit's First Collaboration Compound to Begin Human Clinical Trials
  • Allergan Hires Lobbying Firm
• Amgen (Thousand Oaks):
  • Health Sector Ponies Up for Presidential Candidates
• Cobalis (Irvine):
  • Allergy Patients Treated with PreHistin Had Rise in Ragweed IgE Antibodies Blunted During Pollen Season
• Cortex Pharmaceuticals (Irvine):
  • Cortex to Raise $14.2 Million in Registered Direct Offering
• IDM Pharma (Irvine):
  • IDM Receives Not Approvable Letter for Mifamurtide (L-MTP-PE) for the Treatment of Osteosarcoma
• Innovamed (Irvine)
  • Innovamed Announces Laprostop Device for Laparoscopic Procedures
• Kythera Biopharmaceuticals (Agoura Hills):
  • Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Initiates Phase II Study of Its Adipolytic Agent for Reduction of Submental Fat
• Masimo (Irvine)
  • Apria Healthcare Chooses Masimo SET Pulse Oximetry for Use in the Company's Home Health Care Business
• Molecular Express (Rancho Dominguez): 
  • Molecular Express receives funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop a fungal vaccine
• Obagi Medical Products (Long Beach):
  • Obagi Medical Products Launches Two New Systems to Optimize Results of Non-Surgical and Surgical Facial Aesthetic Procedures
• St Jude Cardiac Management Division (Sylmar):
  • The Fast Track to Being No. 2 

Osmetech Molecular Diagnostics
 (Pasadena, CA)

Sr Production Planner

See list of open positions at:
http://www.socalbio.org/career_center/jobs.htm

• Master of Bioscience Degree @ Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences
  • Contact: Diana Bartlett
    Director of Corporate Partnerships
    Diana_Bartlett@kgi.edu
• USC Master's in Regulatory Science 
  • Contact: Frances Richmond
    Director, Regulatory and Clinical Science
    fjr@usc.edu
• UCI Medical Product Development Certificate Program
  • Contact:Rogelio Rodriguez
    Director, Engineering and Science Programs
    Rogelio.Rodriguez@unx.uci.edu
• UCI Clinical Trials Certificate Program
  • Contact: Rogelio Rodriguez
    Director, Engineering and Science Programs
    Rogelio.Rodriguez@unx.uci.edu

Join the Southern California Biomedical
Council and Enjoy the Benefits of our
Group Purchasing Program

The SoCalBio Group Purchasing Program includes the following providers:

• Lab supplies by VWR
• Office and technology solutions by Office Depot
• D&O insurance by Monitor Liability Insurance
• Liability insurance by Chubb and Bolton
• Employee benefits and health insurance by ABD Insurance
• PR and news distribution by Business Wire
• Industrial gases by Air Gas
• Pre-owned lab equipment by BioSurplus
• Employee screening by Choice Point 
• Moving & storage by Humbold

Program discounts and other benefits are offered exclusively to SoCalBio device, biotech, and R&D member companies and service providers in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

See SoCalBio membership information and benefits at: http://www.socalbio.org/membership/membership_form.htm

Are We Closer to Developing 
a True Cancer Vaccine?

Cancer vaccines hold great promise for providing therapies that are non-toxic, less-invasive, and longer-lasting than current treatments. But delivering on this promise has posed one of the greatest challenges facing the life sciences. This challenge has been embraced by the biotechnology industry including local companies such as ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, a company seeking to develop vaccines against malignancies including brain tumors. Company founder and chairman Dr. John Yu, co-director of the Comprehensive Brain Tumor Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, will provide an overview of the commercial state of cancer vaccine development and his company's approach in tackling the challenges of such vaccine design. A panel discussion will follow to address whether we are closer to developing a cancer vaccine. 

Presentation by

John Yu, M.D., Chairman
ImmunoCellular Therapeutics
(Los Angeles)

Panel Discussion Participants:

Adrian Bot, M.D., Ph.D., Sr. Director, Translational Medicine, MannKind Corp. (Valencia)
Aya Jakobovits, Ph.D., CSO, Agensys (Santa Monica) 
Jay Sharma, Pres. & CEO, Celprogen (San Pedro)

Coming Soon

SoCalBio Breakfast in OC 
Register Now
October 10, 2007
7:00 - 9:30 am
UCI University Club in Irvine

Going Public Via Reverse Mergers
Where Is the Value Proposition

• ABD Insurance
• Berliner & Associates
• Bolton & Company
• Hathaway Dinwiddie
• LST
• Perkins Coie 
• Perkins & Will

Sponsorship and Display Opportunities Available
Contact SoCalBio at scbc@socalbio.org

• Allergan
• American Medical Optics (AMO)
• Beckman Coulter
• CB Richard Ellis
• Ernst & Young
• I-Flow Corporation
• MPI Research
• Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth