Daily Business Report — April 15, 2013

Thermo Fisher Scientific to Acquire Carlsbad’s

Life Technologies Corp. in a $13.6 Billion Deal

Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has agreed to acquire diagnostics equipment maker Life Technologies Corp. of Carlsbad in a $13.6 billion deal. It is reportedly one of the biggest U.S. buyouts so far this year and the largest for Thermo Fisher, which is based in Waltham, Mass. According to the terms of the deal, Thermo Fisher would pay $76 a share for Life Technologies and assume its debt, which stood at $2.2 billion at the end of last year. In a press release, the companies said the deal, which requires regulatory approval from U.S. and foreign governments, is expected to close early next year. Life Technologies has been a major player in DNA sequencing tests, a key technology in the emerging field of genetic-based medicine.

The parties said that Gregory T. Lucier, chief executive of Life Technologies, is expected to leave the company when the purchase takes effect. Mark Stevenson, the company’s president and chief operating officer, will take “a significant leadership role” in the combinbed companies, they said.

 

J. Craig Venter Institute Schedules November

Opening for its $39 Million Genome Laboratory

The J. Craig Venter Institute has scheduled a November opening for its $39 million laboratory on leased land on the campus of UC San Diego. The building will support 125 scientists and staff to conduct genomic research. The 45,000-square-foot facility will contain laboratory, meeting and office-administrative space and a below-grade parking structure. The building is proposed to be “net-zero” for electrical energy, meaning that it will produce as much electricity on site as it consumes annually. The institute said this is possible by integrating numerous energy efficiency measures throughout the building systems, incorporating operable windows, efficient lighting and by reducing internal plug loads wherever possible. On-site electricity is generated through a sizeable photovoltaic roof.

Design architect for the laboratory is ZGF Architects. McCarthy Building Companies is the general contractor. Sustainable SoCal Ic. is construction manager.

 

UCSD and Scripps Sign Pact With China’s

Ningbo University to Fund Marine Research Center

Scripps Institution of Oceanography/UC San Diego has signed an agreement with Ningbo University in China that includes $50 million to $100 million of Chinese funding for a Scripps/UCSD research center for development of renewable marine resources and technologies at Ningbo University. The agreement also includes the formation of a $25 million marine innovation and technology fund for commercialization in China of discoveries made by Scripps/UCSD and a program to send top Ningbo students for advanced academic work at Scripps/UCSD.

The agreement was announced by the California-China Office of Trade and Investment, which was opened last week during Gov. Jerry Brown’s trade mission to China. The privately funded office in Shanghai will be staffed and operated by the Bay Area Council.

 

LEAD San Diego to Present

2013 Visionary Awards May 23

LEAD San Diego will present its 11th annual Visionary Awards for outstanding contributions by San Diegans on May 23 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in Downtown. The program is scheduled from 5 to 8:30 p.m. General seating cost: $150.

Honorees:

The Neil Morgan Award for Lifetime Achievement: Irwin and Joan Jacobs.

LEAD Graduate of the Year: Dr. Elizabeth “Betty” Jones, founder, Foundation for the Children of the Californias.

The Ronald Kendrick Memorial Award for Regional Collaboration: Malin Burnham, Bill Geppert, Bob Kelly and Peter MacCracken, Our Greater San Diego Vision.

Economic Opportunity Award: Bruce Boland, Thella Bowens and Robert Gleason, San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.

The Charles Nathanson Memorial Award for Cross-Border Region Building: Carlos Bustamante, Tijuana mayor, and Jerry Sanders, former mayor of San Diego.

The 2013 Community Spotlight Award: to be announced at the event.

 

State Legal Council Opinion Nullifies

Mayoral Vetoes of Port Commissioners

City News Service — Mayor Bob Filner had no authority to veto City Council appointments of two prospective port commissioners, according to an opinion announced by City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. The city attorney and City Council President Todd Gloria each said that City Clerk Elizabeth Maland should certify January’s appointments of lawyer Rafael Castellanos and businessman Marshall Merrifield. Filner issued the vetoes because he objected to the procedures used by the council for the appointments. The vetoes were subsequently upheld by the City Council — but the new opinion renders both the vetoes and failed override moot. It had been believed that the mayor had the power to veto port appointments. However, Assemblyman Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, asked for legal advice from the state legislative counsel, since the port district was created under state auspices. The state opinion was that the mayor could not veto council appointments, which led to Goldsmith’s latest opinion. Gloria said Castellanos and Merrifield would be sworn in within the next couple of weeks.

 

San Diego Physicians Tackling

Prescription Drug Abuse

More than 100 San Diego physicians registered on Friday to the state’s prescription drug-monitoring database to help prevent pills from falling into the hands of addicts and dealers, KPBS reports. OxyContin is one of the most common prescription drugs abused by teens. More people in San Diego die of prescription drug overdoses than from car crashes, homicides and suicides, according to a 2012 report card on prescription drug abuse by the Drug Abuse Task Force. Prescription drug-related fatalities increased 27 percent over the last five years. But not all overdoses stem from abuse. Many are accidental. Some people take so many different medications that they eventually succumb, said Roneet Lev, chairman of the Prescription Drug Abuse Medical Task Force and emergency physician at Scripps Mercy Hospital. Lev said an average of one San Diegan per day dies from a drug overdose. That’s why San Diego physicians are being encouraged to registered to the state’s drug monitoring database, the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES).

 

Nutrition Science Initiative Receives $40 Million

Commitment from Laura and John Arnold Foundation

Nutrition Science Initiative, a nonprofit organization seeking to reduce the economic and social burden of obesity, said it has received a $40 million commitment from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation to fund three experiments investigating the link between diet, obesity, and obesity-related diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. The foundation provided a seed funding grant of $5 million to the organization a year ago. The $40 million commitment will support three experimental collaborations at six leading academic research institutions over the next three years, according to Nutrition Science Initiative.

*****

 SD METRO Daily Business Report. Contact: manny@sandiegometro.com