medical products are Hypnoz Therapeutic Devices, IOS Technologies, and Optimer Pharmaceuticals.
—San Diego-based Targeson, which makes ultrasound-imaging agents for use in biomedical research, introduced an innovative substance that consists of microspheres covered with a small molecule that binds only to VCAM-1, a key molecule in the lining of blood vessels in mice. The company said its contrast agent can be used for molecular imaging of inflammation as scientists use mice to model atherosclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, and diabetes.
—San Diego’s Oranovo, which is developing bio printing technology, is raising $1.5 million through a combination of debt, rights, and securities, according to a recent regulatory filing. Organovo CEO Keith Murphy told me in July that revenue generated by partnerships with Big Pharmas had enabled the startup to push back last year’s plans to raise additional capital.
—San Diego-based Afraxis, which has been funded entirely so far by Avalon Ventures, said it would partner with the National Institutes of Health under its Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Disease program to advance work on its preclinical drug candidates. Afraxis has been developing drugs to treat rare genetic diseases through the modulation of p21-activated kinase (PAK), based on research from the MIT laboratory of Afraxis’ scientific co-founder and Nobel Laureate, Dr. Susumu Tonegawa.
—The House Committee on Health and Commerce held a field hearing in San Diego to collect comments about the FDA and regulations governing the development of new drugs, diagnostics, and medical devices. Inconsistent policies and time-consuming reviews by the FDA have been hampering the development of innovative therapies and chasing away investors, according to Keith Darce’s coverage in The San Diego Union-Tribune.
