San Diego has lured another biotech.
DelMar Pharmaceuticals recently joined a short list of biotechs that moved to the region this year.
The company — hailing from British Columbia — said its new home marks “an important step” in the company’s evolution. Founded in 2008, DelMar Pharmaceuticals has a cancer drug, VAL-083, in clinical trials.
“It moves our headquarters to the United States, while also providing us with the ability to tap the local biotechnology talent in San Diego as we continue to progress through the clinical trial process of VAL-083,” the drug developer said in a statement.
Also calling attention to San Diego’s talent pool was Lineage Cell Therapeutics, which last month ditched Alameda in the Bay Area for Carlsbad. In doing so the company left its old company name behind: BioTime.
“The move to San Diego County will provide the company with proximity to world-leading academic centers, public and private cell therapy researchers, and is expected to offer more centralized decision-making, cost-savings, and access to an extensive network of experienced staff,” said Lineage in a statement.
Lineage has three cell products undergoing clinical trials, including for non-small cell lung cancer. They work, according to the company, by replacing or supporting cells that are either missing or dysfunctional.
Like others, Nascent Biotech brought up the talent picture in leaving Florida for San Diego. The company is developing a brain cancer drug.
“The move will also place our headquarters in a major biotech center in the United States, placing the company in a more beneficial position to capitalize on expertise and resources of the location in the further development and clinical trials of our antibody,” Nascent said in a statement.
San Diego usually ranks as the county’s third largest biotech hub, with San Francisco and Boston duking it out for No. 1. While many industries flock to cities where it’s inexpensive to do business, biotechs are more interested in regions with a critical mass of drugmakers and research institutions.
Hard to call three biotech relocations a trend — and that’s not to say San Diego is only gaining companies.
Mirum Pharmaceuticals earlier this year relocated its headquarters from San Diego to Foster City. San Diego missed out on a company that recently raised $75 million in a public offering to fund late-stage clinical trials.
