San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Zogenix, Arena, Sorrento, and More

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selectively activate receptors in the brain that may play a role in addiction to nicotine, but the exact mechanism of action is not known. The efficacy and safety of lorcaserin for smoking cessation have not been established.

—The San Diego-based Gary and Mary West Health Investment Fund invested $7.5 million in Reflexion Health, a San Diego startup developing technology that uses Microsoft’s Kinect motion-sensing system to help physical therapy patients with their rehab. Including the latest funding, the West Health Investment Fund has put $11.75 million into Reflexion Health.

—San Diego-based Halozyme Therapeutics, (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HALO]]) said the European Commission (EC) has approved a new subcutaneous formulation of rituximab (MabThera), submitted by its strategic partner Roche, for patients with certain lymphomas. It is the second European approval for one of Roche’s cancer drugs using Halozyme’s patented recombinant human hyaluronidase technology. The technology enables patients to get a subcutaneous injection that takes minutes instead of an intravenous administration that takes hours.

—San Diego’s aTyr Pharma named David Weiner as its chief medical officer. Weiner, who held key leadership positions at Proteostasis, Merck Serono, and Acadia Pharmaceuticals, will spearhead aTyr’s efforts to develop physiocrine-based therapeutics to treat rare, grave immune disorders.

—San Antonio, TX-based AirStrip acquired technology developed by San Diego’s Sense4Baby that enables doctors and other healthcare providers to monitor high-risk pregnancies on a smartphone or tablet. The Sense4Baby technology “mobilizes” maternal-fetal waveform data. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

—San Diego’s Sorrento Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SRNE]]), a late-stage clinical oncology company developing new treatments for cancer and associated pain, said it formed a new subsidiary, Ark Animal Therapeutics. Ark plans to initially develop resiniferatoxin (RTX) for treatment of pain associated with osteosarcoma in companion dogs. Ark also seeks to develop multiple veterinary health applications and vaccines against recurrent staphylococcal infections.

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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.