Daily Business Report-March 2, 2020
County Microbiologist Jovan Shepherd prepares a specimen for testing for new coronavirus. (Photo courtesy of San Diego County)
County Public Health Lab now
able to test for new coronavirus
The County Public Health Laboratory is now able to test for the novel coronavirus, the cause of the respiratory disease COVID-19, the Health and Human Services Agency announced.
Having that capability means that HHSA will no longer have to send all specimens to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, substantially reducing the time it takes for results.
“This is great news for San Diego County and will help with our ongoing efforts to contain COVID-19,” said Wilma Wooten, M.D., county public health officer. “Being able to test locally means that when we have patients under investigation, we can more rapidly remove unneeded restrictions from those without infection. Should someone test positive, we will continue to keep them isolated.”
The County Public Health Lab now has the capability to do up to 40 tests in one run. The lab is one of dozens across the nation certified by the CDC to test for the new coronavirus.
“The number of specimens we’ve been getting for testing is currently low, but we expect the need to increase,” said Brett Austin, director of HHSA’s Public Health Lab. “We are ready to increase capacity as required.”
Prior to getting the testing kit, the County Public Health Lab had to send specimens to CDC and results took several days to return. Now, those tested for potential cases of COVID-19 will know their results in 24 to 48 hours. Positive tests will still need to be confirmed by the CDC.
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Biological Dynamics nets $1 million from
Gates Foundation to fight tuberculosis
San Diego-based Biological Dynamics has received a $1 million follow-on grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to continue work on a novel tuberculosis diagnostics system targeting countries with limited access to sophisticated medical testing labs. The company makes a proprietary lab-on-a-chip platform using technology first developed at UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering.
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Water Authority board votes to dismiss
certain legal claims against MWD
After securing more than $350 million in “Water Stewardship Rate” benefits for the San Diego region, the San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors voted to dismiss certain related claims against the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
The board’s decision represents a major step toward resolving the litigation, which has been pending for more than 10 years. The suits challenged water rates and charges imposed by MWD on San Diego County agencies and their ratepayers from 2010-2018. The action will allow the parties to avoid a trial scheduled for June 2020 and clear the way for judgment to be entered in the older cases.
“Late last year, the MWD Board of Directors approved more than $350 million for water supply projects in San Diego County,” said Jim Madaffer, chair of the Water Authority’s board. “That was a major development, and today’s action by our board recognizes that fact, along with other actions the MWD board has taken recently in response to the Water Authority’s claims and prior court rulings.”
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Illumina sues BGI again, alleging
patent infringement
Illumina has filed an additional lawsuit in the US, alleging patent infringement by BGI and its affiliates.
In a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Illumina said BGI’s entire DNBSeq instrument line as well as its StandardMPS and CoolMPS reagents infringe three US patents covering Illumina’s sequencing-by-synthesis chemistry.
“BGI has brazenly copied Illumina’s proprietary sequencing chemistry,” Charles Dadswell, Illumina senior VP and general counsel, said in a statement. “We will continue to monitor and defend our intellectual property by appropriate enforcement when our patents are infringed.”
MGI Tech said last week that it is launching several of its sequencing platforms in the US, but only with the CoolMPS chemistry.
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Erica Alfaro to Speak at Women’s Week 2020
Erica Alfaro was born in Fresno, but moved and grew up in Tijuana. Her parents never had the opportunity to go to school, didn’t know how to read or write but knew the importance of a good education. At 13 years, Erica’s family moved to Oceanside and lived in a small two-bedroom apartment with another family in a community with gang activity and poverty.
Teenage pregnancy was common, and at 15 Erica found herself pregnant. She dropped out of high school, moved to Fresno with her son’s father and lived with domestic abuse for many years including having to sleep outside with her 9-month-old child. In the midst of despair, she remembered when she was 13, her mother took her to work with her in the tomato fields during summer vacations.
In 2019, Erica received a M.A degree in Education from San Diego State University. To honor her parent’s sacrifices of coming to this country to give her a better life, she had her graduation pictures in the field where they worked long hours. Those pictures went viral and her story was shared around the world. A movie is currently being made about her story.
San Diego Women’s Week events are March 16 -20. Everyone is invited, and tickets can be purchased at www.sdwomensweek.com.
