San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Trius, CoDa, Zacharon, & More

Image licensed by Depositphotos.com/Christian Delbert.

its new drug application later this year. Trius said the antibiotic, tedizolid phosphate, has been undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials to treat skin infections caused by MRSA, the multi-drug resistant strain Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. The special designation means the FDA review will take about eight months, instead of the standard 10 months or longer. If approved, tedizolid also would get an additional five years exclusivity against generic competitors.

San Diego’s Tandem Diabetes Care said it plans to develop a new dual-chamber infusion pump for patients with type 1 diabetes under a new partnership with JDRF, under the New York non-profit group’s multi-year artificial pancreas project. In a statement, Tandem Diabetes said the agreement is intended to accelerate the development of a next-generation, fully automated artificial pancreas system using therapies in conjunction with insulin. The JDRF was previously known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

—San Diego-based Independa said its Web-based services designed to help seniors live independently is now available on Samsung’s Galaxy tablet. The startup’s online eldercare services also became available recently on LG Pro:Centric Healthcare TVs under the partnership that Independa established with LG Electronics USA just over a year ago.

—San Diego’s GreatCall, the mobile virtual network operator that provides wireless services, apps, and Jitterbug and 5Star handsets, said it introduced “Urgent Care,” a medical app for iOS and Android devices. The 24/7 service enables users to discuss a medical ailment or injury with a registered nurse and other medical specialists, including doctors.

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Author: Bruce V. Bigelow

In Memoriam: Our dear friend Bruce V. Bigelow passed away on June 29, 2018. He was the editor of Xconomy San Diego from 2008 to 2018. Read more about his life and work here. Bruce Bigelow joined Xconomy from the business desk of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was a member of the team of reporters who were awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for uncovering bribes paid to San Diego Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham in exchange for special legislation earmarks. He also shared a 2006 award for enterprise reporting from the Society of Business Editors and Writers for “In Harm’s Way,” an article about the extraordinary casualty rate among employees working in Iraq for San Diego’s Titan Corp. He has written extensively about the 2002 corporate accounting scandal at software goliath Peregrine Systems. He also was a Gerald Loeb Award finalist and National Headline Award winner for “The Toymaker,” a 14-part chronicle of a San Diego start-up company. He takes special satisfaction, though, that the series was included in the library for nonfiction narrative journalism at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Bigelow graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1977 with a degree in English Literature and from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1979. Before joining the Union-Tribune in 1990, he worked for the Associated Press in Los Angeles and The Kansas City Times.