| San Diego Business Journal

Cancer Drug Developer Synthorx Acquired for $2.5 Billion

French pharmaceutical Sanofi will pay $2.5 billion to buy Synthorx, a San Diego biotech that expanded the genetic alphabet in a quest to treat cancer.

Evofem’s Gel Shows Promise Preventing Some STDs

Evofem Biosciences’ gel in midstage clinical trials reduced the risk of chlamydia and gonorrhea infections compared to a placebo.

Presidium Health's Concierge Care Takes On Tough Cases

MEDICINE: Focus Put on Population of Frequent ER Users

Just 5% of patients account for roughly half of the nation’s health care spending. These “super users” cycle through emergency rooms.

Neurocrine Pays $50 Million for Epilepsy Drug Candidate

PHARMA: Xenon Could Receive up to $1.7 Billion In Milestone Payments

Neurocrine Biosciences has plunked down $50 million upfront for a potential epilepsy treatment, the San Diego company’s second major licensing deal this year.

Potential $31 Million Deal Shows Canale’s Work Paid Off

UGD Aims to Expand Footprint, Especially in West Coast

Carin Canale-Theakston founded Canale Communications. Her twin goals: build the largest life sciences communications firm on the West Coast.

Evofem’s Gel Lessens Risk of Chlamydia, Gonorrhea in Clinical Trial

Evofem Biosciences’ gel in mid-stage clinical trials reduced the risk of chlamydia and gonorrhea infections compared to a placebo, the San Diego company reported Dec. 2.

Phoenix Molecular’s Seed Funding Reaches $12 Million

Co. Targets RSK2 Enzyme Often Found in Breast Cancers

Phoenix Molecular Designs is attacking advanced breast cancer in a new way — and with added funding.

Avidity Gets $100M For Research Into Muscle Disorders

More Than a Dozen Entities Invest in Preclinical Programs

Avidity Biosciences recently was awarded a $100 million series C round.

Truvian Seeks to Decentralize Blood Testing

BIOTECH: Co. Aims for Transparency in Each Step

Truvian Sciences wants to run a battery of tests on only drops of blood. Its mobile lab is designed to return answers in 20 minutes.

Radys Pledge $200M to Children’s Hospital

PHILANTHROPY: Gift For Expansion and Integrating Care and Tech

Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego recently announced the single largest donation in its history.

Canale Communications Acquired in Deal Worth up to $31M

UGD Healthcare bought Canale Communications, a San Diego firm that specializes in strategy consulting for life sciences companies, it was announced Nov. 26.

Presidium Health Raises $3.5 Million To Reduce ER Visits

Co. Has Launched A Mobile Health Team In San Diego

Seniors and patients with chronic conditions are more likely to cycle through emergency rooms.

It’s Mirati Vs. Amgen As Drugmakers Target Mutated Gene

Bigger Sample Size, More Time Needed To Evaluate Drugs

An experimental drug from Mirati Therapeutics shrunk the tumors of some cancer patients with a common mutation, in an early-stage clinical trial.

Rady Children’s to Receive $200M Donation

Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego recently announced the single largest donation in its history.

Funding Goes to Cancer Drug Developers, Company Billed as the Anti-Theranos

Seeking and destroying lung cancer. Succeeding where Theranos failed. Treating resistant breast cancers.

Toft Group Acquired By New Jersey Co.

BIOTECH: Founder to Remain as Chair

Thirteen years ago, Robin Toft landed in the emergency room with a colon cancer diagnosis.

Illumina Could Sweeten Pot With Free Licenses

GENOMICS: Company Maneuvering to Get UK Approval of Acquisition

Illumina has proposed offering competitors free licenses to certain patents in hopes of getting U.K. regulatory approval to buy Pacific Biosciences.

New Vision at NuVasive

MEDICINE: Surgery Co. Appears To Be Making Right Moves

A year ago, Chris Barry became the CEO of NuVasive, one of San Diego’s largest medical device companies. It wasn’t a caretaker role.

Illumina Hopes IP Plan Wins Over U.K. Antitrust Regulator

Illumina has proposed offering competitors free licenses to certain patents in hopes of getting U.K. regulatory approval to buy Pacific Biosciences for $1.2 billion.

Presidium Health Raises $3.5 Million to Cut Down on ER Visits

Seniors and patients with chronic conditions are more likely to cycle through emergency rooms. So why not bring regular care to them?

Daré to Acquire Biotech for Up to $101.5M

ACQUISITION: Tech Well-Suited for Women’s Health Applications

San Diego’s Daré Bioscience reached an agreement to acquire Microchips Biotech.

Biosero’s Software Is an Automating Force

BIOTECH: It Orchestrates Hardware, Informs Users

Shuffling test tubes. Jotting down temperatures. Labeling samples. It’s Biosero’s job to get them all to work together.

Perlman Clinic Expands to Del Mar

Perlman Clinic has opened its ninth location – this one in the Del Mar Highlands Shopping Center.

Merck Agrees to Buy Calporta in Deal That Could Be Worth $576M

Calporta Had Been Seeking a Buyer or Financial Backing

In 2017, Merck & Co. cut short a late-stage clinical trial of an Alzheimer’s drug because it wasn’t helping patients.

HLI Raises $30 Million After a Valuation Plummet

Company Planned to Open Up Its Services to Middle-Class Market

Human Longevity Inc. has raised $30 million, a year after a letter from the company’s board signaled a cash crunch at the genomics outfit.

Ionis Bests Expectations With $168M in Revenue

PHARMA: Drug Brings In $82M in Q3 Sales; Net Income Is $18M

In first quarter earnings ResMed posted $681.1 million in revenue, a 16% year-over-year increase.

Toft Group Acquired by ZRG

ZRG bought Toft Group, an executive search firm based in San Diego, it was announced Nov. 14.

Avidity Biosciences Raises $100M Round

Avidity Biosciences bagged a $100 million series C round to work on a pipeline of preclinical programs for muscle disorders and other diseases.

Grants Give Researchers Tools To Tackle Problems

Oceanographers Team Up to Examine Toxic Algae Blooms

Toxic algae blooms. Injuries from nerve damage. Brain disorders- these are problems San Diego researchers hope to better understand.

Merck Buys Calporta, Deal Worth up to $576M

In 2017, Merck & Co. cut short a late-stage clinical trial of an Alzheimer’s drug because it wasn’t helping patients, one of many failures that led big pharma to scale back efforts to try and treat brain disease.

Dexcom Delivers With Impressive Q3 Results

Company Looking At Various Avenues to Expand Its Market

In what an analyst called another blowout quarter, Dexcom on Nov. 6 posted $396.3 million in third quarter revenue, a 49% year-over-year increase.

After Valuation Plummet, Human Longevity Raises $30M

Human Longevity Inc. has raised $30 million, a year after a letter from the company’s board signaled a cash crunch at the genomics outfit.

LifeNet Health Acquires Organovo Subsidiary

LifeNet Health has acquired Samsara Sciences, a subsidiary of Organovo that provides human liver cells for drug research.

Currax Buys Nalpropion, Gains Weight-Loss Drug

New Jersey’s Currax Pharmaceuticals now holds the rights to contrave, a weight-loss drug with San Diego roots.

The Ups and Downs Of Third Quarter Life Sciences Leasing

PROPERTY: Mirati Leads the 20 Deals Made With 64,108 Square Feet

More life sciences companies took space in the third quarter, but industry leasing activity still fell compared with the same period a year ago.

Neurocrine Reports 46% Spike in Revenue for Q3

PHARMA: Company Positioning Itself to Be a Leading Global Biopharma Organization

Neurocrine Biosciences reported revenue of $222.09 million in third quarter results.

After Missing Mark in Clinical Trials, Halozyme Focuses on Delivery Platform

BIOTECH: Cancer Drug Failed to Extend Patient Lives

For many biotechs, the news would be a death knell.

Tandem Diabetes Care Reports Jump in Q3 Sales

Tandem Diabetes Care logged a jump in third quarter revenue as the company moved toward profitability.

Gut Health Is Goal Of Sun Genomics’ Custom Probiotics

Targeted Solutions Said To Take Complexity of Microbiome Into Account

A crop of companies take a person’s fecal sample and profile the microbiome, living microorganisms in the digestive system that are getting increased attention.

Heron Candidate Could Be Pain Med Alternative to Opioids

Analyst Sees Potential As Blockbuster Treating Postoperative Pain

In April, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration kicked back an application from Heron Therapeutics asking for approval of its experimental pain medicine.

Intrepida Bio Launches with $9.5M

Intrepida Bio seeks to modulate the immune system to fight cancer and other diseases.

ResMed Reports 16% Increase In Q1 Revenue

BIOTECH: CEO Reports Balanced Growth Across Co.’s Businesses

In first quarter earnings ResMed posted $681.1 million in revenue, a 16% year-over-year increase.

Neurocrine Reports 46% Spike in Revenue

Neurocrine reported revenue of $222.09 million in third quarter results, a 46.3% year-over-year jump.

Freeze in Joining Association Health Plans Hits Small Companies

INSURANCE: State Action Aims to Support ACA Pool

California companies with fewer than 100 employees were recently barred from joining associations related to their industry to get better insurance rates.

Qpex Biopharma and Brii Biosciences Partner to Take on Superbugs

San Diego’s Qpex Biopharma has licensed three of its programs for drug-resistant bacterial infections to a firm with a mission of bringing breakthrough treatments to China.

Illumina Reports 6% Increase In Q3 Revenue

GENOMICS: Next Big Growth Driver May Be Initiatives By Governments

Illumina Inc. reported $907 million in third quarter revenue, a 6% year-over-year increase that beat Wall Street expectations.

Prometheus Brings Diagnostics, Discovery and Data to the Table

Prometheus Biosciences could net up to $420 million in a recently announced pact with major pharmaceutical Takeda.

Jared Whitlock

Reporter

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