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January 5, 2002
UCSD Connect, the UCSD School of Medicine, UCSD Technology Transfer & Intellectual Property Services Office and local life science executives and capital providers, have collaborated to develop a program to provide early stage funding alternatives to UCSD medical faculty research teams.
Called TransMed for short, the UCSD Translational Medicine Program will assist in the moving medical research closer to commercial-ready medical technology. The program is designed to provide funding for laboratory-based research that shows promise of improving clinical care.
"Developed through a process involving representatives from both the academic and business community, the TransMed program provides a novel process to foster excellent research and develop ideas that will ultimately lead to improved human health," says Dr. Edward Holmes, vice chancellor for health sciences at UCSD and dean of the UCSD School of Medicine. "The program is structured to ensure that projects are faculty initiated and directed, and that academic prerogatives are preserved. By working closely with the private sector through TransMed, we hope not only to support and advance projects that are at the intersection of basic and clinical research, but also to accelerate the development of useful technologies and treatments based on research findings."
Details of the plan include:
• Summaries of faculty proposals that are accepted through an internal university review process will be posted on a soon-to-be-created Web site.
• Potential funding sponsors stating an interest will be invited to meet individually with the faculty researchers and university representatives to discuss their proposals further.
• Potential sponsors will identify which proposals, if any, they are interested in funding. If more than one sponsor states an interest in the same proposal, this will be made known for the purposes of syndication. If syndication does not result, UCSD and the faculty research team will select a single sponsor.
• By funding a TransMed project, the sponsor retains the exclusive right of first negotiation to license intellectual property rights that may arise from the sponsored project, the same process currently used within the UC system for sponsored research projects. The sponsor will be given a 60-day negotiation window.
If negotiations cannot be concluded during that time window, the rights to the technology will be opened up to other interested parties.
"Since the TransMed program was first introduced in October, we’ve received a tremendous response from the community," says Fred Cutler, executive director for UCSD Connect. "Our challenge has been to harness the substantial interest that surfaced from highly respected capital providers and create an open, inclusive process that ultimately provides a broad base of private funding sources for UCSD scientific teams. We hope to provide between $200,000 to $400,000 per year for each project selected."
Among the companies that have expressed initial interest are Forward Ventures and Alliance Pharmaceuticals.
Next steps for program implementation include setting up the university's TransMed proposal review committee and finalizing the specific format for submitted proposals. It is expected that initial request for proposals for potential funding will start this month.
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Having reached 1.119 million Cricket customers at the end of 2001, Leap Wireless International Inc. is now the 10th largest U.S. wireless carrier in terms of actual customers.
San Diego-based Leap remains the seventh largest wireless company in the United States based on potential customers covered by licenses the company owns. Leap pioneered unlimited local wireless service, which currently serves 39 markets in 20 states stretching from New York to California.
"In a single year, Leap has gone from 21st place to 10th among wireless carriers in the United States," says Harvey P. White, Leap's chairman and CEO. "This strong customer growth is a result of Leap's focus on growing segments of the wireless consumer marketplace. Our cost-focused business model and focus on the needs of people in their local calling area is expected to allow us to reach our 2 million customer guidance by the end of 2002. We have the right product, the right cost structure and the right marketing strategy to continue this growth beyond 2002 and to bring our business to profitability."
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Qualcomm Inc. has released its radioOne Zero Intermediate Frequency chipset, which consists of the RFT6100, RFR6000 and RFL6000 chips.
This chipset performs the receive and transmit functions for third-generation CDMA2000 1X wireless devices while eliminating all IF components.
"By eliminating IF components, the highly integrated radioOne chipset facilitates multimode, multiband designs, shortens development time, and reduces cost and board space requirements," says Don Schrock, president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. "The development of the world's first Zero IF chipset for 3G CDMA devices reiterates QCT's commitment to innovation and leadership in the wireless IC industry."
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In other Qualcomm news, the radioOne 6200 chipset, consisting of the RTR6200, RFL6200 and RFR6200 direct conversion multimode chips, and the radioOne 6300 chipset, consisting of the RTR6300, RFL6000 and RFR6000 direct conversion multimode chips, were released.
The radioOne 6200 chip offers a fully integrated transceiver/transmitter for Global System for Mobile Communications and Wideband CDMA — also known as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System — systems. The radioOne 6200 solution interfaces directly with the Qualcomm CDMA Technologies MSM6200 Mobile Station Modem baseband processor and supports tri-band UMTS devices, using GSM-900, GSM-1800 or International Mobile Telecommunications bands.
The radioOne 6300 solution offers a fully integrated radio transceiver/transmitter that bridges second-generation and third-generation technologies, operating on systems using Global System for Mobile Communications/General Packet Radio Service, CDMA2000 and gpsOne position location technologies. The MSM6300 chipset and system software enables handset manufacturers to integrate 3G CDMA2000 1X and 2G GSM/GPRS service into a single handset
"QCT's radioOne 6200 RF solution, designed specifically to address the needs of the European market, offers one of the highest levels of integration we have seen in the industry," says Schrock. "This level of integration will allow manufacturers to produce cost-effective multimode 3G handsets for the GSM and WCDMA/UMTS marketplace. The radioOne 6300 chipset is the world's first true global roaming chipset. It will allow manufacturers to make multimode, multiband devices more cost-effectively and support carriers with handsets designed for the growing number of subscribers who wish to roam across CDMA and GSM networks."
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The U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce’s Downtown breakfast program hosts Douglas Smurr, director —The Americas, California Office of Trade & Investment, Mexico City.
Smurr represents the interests of California businesses and solicits international investment in California throughout Latin America. He will explain how the California office in Mexico City can assist local companies in marketing their products and services in Mexico and Latin America.
The breakfast is from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Feb. 13 at Sempra Energy, 101 Ash Street. Cost is $15 for members and $20 for nonmembers.
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Maxwell Technologies Inc. has entered into a development and supply agreement with ISE Research-ThunderVolt Inc. to collaboratively develop ultracapacitor-based energy storage packs for hybrid electric drive systems for buses, trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles and stationary power systems such as fuel cells and uninterruptible power supplies.
Both companies are based in San Diego.
ISE-TVI's current ThunderPack energy storage packs integrate 149 large cell ultracapacitors with sophisticated energy management and control circuitry to store and release more than 150 kW of electrical power.
Individual packs can be combined in a dual configuration rated at more than 300 kW.
Dave Mazaika, ISE-TVI's president, says that ultracapacitors offer a number of significant advantages over batteries in energy storage and power delivery applications.
"Ultracapacitor-based packs are smaller and lighter, have superior power delivery features and can be more cost-effective than battery-based systems, and PowerCache cells' compact form factors allow us considerable flexibility in designing solutions for a wide range of applications," Mazaika says. "Maxwell's ultracapacitors offer a very compelling value proposition, and their ability to meet ISI-TVI's quality, volume and price requirements were critical factors in our selection of PowerCache products.
"PowerCache cells have much longer life — hundreds of thousands of discharge/recharge cycles compared to as few as 500 to 1,000 cycles for many chemical batteries," Mazaika continues. "They are also more efficient in absorbing electrical energy produced by regenerative braking systems, allowing the system to recapture up to 25 percent of the energy required to operate electric or hybrid vehicles, which translates into significantly improved fuel economy and reduced emissions."
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Castle Access, a privately held company, opened its doors for business as a new co-location facility, providing service to clients in San Diego County.
The company’s five founders have 30 years collective Internet experience. CEO Mike Vignato was the former business development director at Simplenet.com, a Web hosting and access company that was purchased by Broadcast.com and subsequently acquired by Yahoo. Chief Technology Officer Mark Hopperton co-founded Simplenet and has 20 years information technology experience, including the design and development of numerous original computer software programs.
Castle Access is a privately held and funded co-location business that houses Internet servers and critical data offsite for clients. The company provides network redundancy, which means it assures round-the-clock connection to the Internet utilizing multiple providers and network connections; and offers a range of high security measures, including biometric fingerprint scanners and multiple video cameras for remote viewing of the storage cabinets.
"We are excited about providing a premiere level of customer service to our San Diego customers," says Vignato. "We have built our co-location facility to provide a fully redundant system — from our multiple routers, to duplicate power supplies and even our air conditioning units. What this means is that our clients will never have to worry about interruptions in their Internet service. If one router or power supply goes down, we have another one to take its place."
Castle Access' 12,000 square foot business provides clients with varying levels of bandwidth in large computer cabinets, which are housed in an environmentally controlled area. The facility has an on-site generator to provide a continuous power supply and a range of "high-security" measures including biometric fingerprint scanners and multiple video cameras for remote viewing of storage cabinets.
The company has a built-in capacity to house up to 200 cabinets, depending on customer size and requirements.
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The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce board has announced candidate endorsements for the upcoming election for two seats on the San Diego City Schools board of trustees.
In a series of three linked actions, the board voted that there is material impact on the business community from the outcome of these races, and to endorse Clyde Fuller for the District C seat and to endorse Johnnie L. Perkins Jr. for the District B seat (being vacated by incumbent Sue Braun, who declined to run again).
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The city of San Diego Water Department has just completed an agreement with Richmond-based Western Water Co. to transfer more than 6,400 acre-feet of water (an acre-foot is nearly enough water to supply two families of four for one year).
The water being transferred consists of agricultural supplies that have been conserved north of the Bay-Delta system, and is currently stored in Lake Shasta. Western Water has obtained this conserved water from three Northern California agricultural water agencies.
This is a one-time water transfer. Additional supplies would require another agreement between the city and Western Water.
Public agency purchases of privately owned water have been attempted in recent years, but have not proven to be cost effective. The Water Department currently purchases all of its raw imported water from the San Diego County Water Authority, a local water wholesaler, at a cost of $444 per acre-foot. This agreement with Western Water will save the Water Department nearly $160,000 on raw water purchases.
"We are excited to break new ground with the Western Water transfer," says Larry Gardner, director of the city water department. "We have diversified our water supply portfolio and have been able to save money at the same time. This experience has also allowed us to learn how to coordinate a water transfer, and we look forward to completing more agreements like this one in the future."
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NovaRx Corp. of San Diego is collaborating with Hoag Cancer Center of Newport Beach to conduct a Phase II clinical trial using an experimental cancer vaccine in patients with lung cancer.
Dr. Robert Dillman, medical director of Hoag Cancer Center, is the principal investigator. Dr. Habib Fakhrai, president and CEO of NovaRx and developer of the award-winning technology being tested in the clinical trial, is the sponsor. Both the principal investigator and the sponsor are leaders in developing new therapies in the field of oncology.
The experimental lung cancer vaccine that will be evaluated in the trial consists of non-small cell lung cancer cell lines that have been genetically modified with technology called transforming growth factor-beta antisense. TGF-Beta is a potent agent commonly produced by cancer cells that helps the cells hide from the immune system. TGF-Beta antisense is a technology that blocks the production of TGF-Beta by the cancer cells. NovaRx Corporation holds the exclusive worldwide license for this technology in lung cancer.
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BRE Commercial/NAI has negotiated the sale of lots 10 and 11 at the San Diego Corporate Center, located north of the I-5/I-805 merge at the corner of High Bluff Drive and El Camino Real, in Del Mar.
Prentiss/Collins Del Mar Heights LLC purchased the 7.35 acres of land from Pardee for a total consideration of about $10.5 million. Prentiss is a joint venture between Prentiss Properties, a national REIT, and San Diego based Southwind Construction.
Rick Reeder and Dave Odmark of BRE Commercial / NAI represented both the buyer and the seller in the transaction.
Future plans for the property include the construction of two high-profile, Class A office buildings totaling 160,000 square feet to be called High Bluff Ridge at Del Mar. The buildings will be three and four-story structures with natural stone exteriors, dynamic glass atriums, break areas and a central courtyard with a water feature.
Brian Paul & Associates has been selected as the building architect. Construction is set for completion during the second quarter of 2003.
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San Diego’s warm and sunny weather is the backdrop for the AIMS Turbo Regatta, hosted by the American Institute of Marine Studies, Feb. 8-10, at the Mission Bay Yacht Club.
Sailors with disabilities from as far away as Japan will be competing in this mid-winter event.
“Our plan was to gradually expand the weekly races by the AIMS Racing Team by inviting others in Southern California to join us every couple of months,” says Josh Ross, AIMS program director. “But word got out and we’ve received registration for this regatta from sailors with disabilities from as far away as Canada and Japan.”
The regatta is an open invitation to members of the Martin 16, Sonar, N3, and Access Dinghy class associations. Sailors will be arriving at the yacht club on Thursday to launch their sailboats and perform tune-up. Friday will be devoted to registration, skippers’ meeting, educational program in the use of the new turbo spinnaker in the Martin 16 sailboat, and practice racing on Mission Bay. Racing begins 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
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Executive Chef Antonio Friscia of Alfiere Mediterranean Bistro opens his kitchen to local amateur chefs and judges on Saturday to determine the winner of the restaurant's Italian recipe contest.
Finalists Rita DePastina of Del Mar, Terry Amato of La Jolla, Marita Bolles of Mission Hills and Kae Schreiber of Point Loma, will personally prepare their recipes in a culinary showdown for a noon tasting and judging. The winner's entree will be featured on the Alfiere menu and wins its chef a trip for two to the Venetian in Las Vegas.
The panel of judges represents the Mediterranean flavor or the local community as well as San Diego. The judges include Phil Blair, president of Manpower, San Diego; Sal Giametta, v.p. of community relations for the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau and Mary Giglitto, president of the Portuguese Society of San Diego.
"We received 30 entries and narrowed the finalists down to four," says Friscia. "Alfiere is a neighborhood restaurant and what better way to be a part of the neighborhood, than to feature local recipes. The four finalists' presented creative and distinctive recipes that included the history behind the recipe too."
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