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August 3, 2000 It’s hot and going to stay that way, especially in inland California.
With the possibility of power blackouts, computer experts are advising companies to make sure data is being backed up regularly.
In addition, companies that provide online data backup services — like San Diego-based SkyDesk — say they have plenty of reserve power options, and can help restore systems, or provide data to a computer elsewhere, in the event of a catastrophe.
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SeminarSource.com, a provider of online meeting content and e-commerce solutions for the meetings industry, has closed its second round of funding in the amount of $10 million.
The company’s Series B round was started in April and was led by Syncom Capital Corp. and Fleet Development Ventures, with participation from Akamai Technologies Inc., the company’s audio and video streaming partner.
SeminarSource.com will use the funds to expand its product and service offerings, open sales offices in new geographic markets, and enhance its strategic marketing and promotional efforts as it expands its customer base in the meetings industry, says Kim Folsom, CEO and founder of SeminarSource.com.
SeminarSource.com offers meeting planners a suite of web-based services, including webcasting, online registration, membership application and renewal, online merchandising and online promotion.
"We are very impressed with SeminarSource.com’s ability to deliver value-added online services to the meetings industry and Fortune 1000 corporations,” says Jennifer Schmelter, v.p. of private equity for Fleet Development.
Duane McKnight of Syncom Capital will also take a seat on the company’s board.
“This successful round of funding validates our business model and allows us to continue to develop our platform and service offerings as the leading ASP to the attendee management and distance learning segment of the meetings industry,” says Folsom. “We have made great strides over the past year in providing web-based solutions to event planners to maximize return on their meeting investment, and this financing will help to leverage our ability to stay on the same growth path.”
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Steven Engle, the chairman and CEO of La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co., has been elected to the board of the Lupus Foundation of America, the world's largest organization dedicated exclusively to finding a cause and cure for lupus.
La Jolla Pharmaceutical's lead product, LJP 394, is designed to treat lupus kidney disease, the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in lupus patients.
Last year, 200,000 people received service from the Lupus Foundation of America, or from one of its nearly 100 local chapters throughout the United States. The LFA has about 45,000 members. The LFA and its chapters provided nearly $2 million for lupus research during the past two years.
"I am honored to be elected to such a distinguished group of individuals dedicated to serving lupus patients," says Engle. "At La Jolla Pharmaceutical, we are developing what we hope will be a safer and more effective treatment for this devastating disease. We are planning to initiate a Phase III clinical trial for our lupus compound within the next few months. Based on previous studies, it’s our belief that LJP 394 will provide benefit to many of the more than one million people in the world suffering from lupus."
Lupus is a devastating disease with poor treatment options and little to no innovation in treatment for decades. It is a chronic, life-threatening autoimmune disease, most commonly affecting women during their child bearing years. Current therapy for severe lupus requires the use of high dose corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide that have toxic side effects and suppress the entire immune system resulting in potentially deadly opportunistic infections.
In autoimmune diseases like lupus, the immune system reacts to the body's own tissues, cells or proteins as if they were foreign invaders and mounts an attack upon them by producing antibodies. The consequences of this autoantibody production can be devastating. In lupus, antibodies to double-stranded DNA are believed to be responsible for a severe, progressive and potentially life-threatening kidney disease that can lead to kidney failure and the need for dialysis or kidney transplantation.
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