Daily Business Report-June 7, 2017
Gov. Brown and China Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang. (Photo Credit: Aaron Berkovich)
Gov. Brown Commits California
to Work with China on Clean Technology
Taking California’s climate push to the global stage, Gov. Jerry Brown met with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China on Tuesday and signed an agreement with China’s Minister of Science and Technology to deepen cooperation on the development of green technology.
“California is the leading economic state in America and we are also the pioneering state on clean technology, cap and trade, electric vehicles and batteries, but we can’t do it alone,” said Brown during his meeting with President Xi. “I have proposed that California will cut its greenhouse gases 40 percent below 1990 levels and that we’ll have 50 percent of our electricity from renewables. To keep that goal, we need a very close partnership with China – with your businesses, with your provinces, with your universities.”
Earlier in the day, the governor met with China’s Minister of Science and Technology, Wan Gang, and signed an agreement on behalf of California that builds on the subnational pacts signed earlier this week with Sichuan and Jiangsu provinces.
____________________
Navy Tests Mine Warfare System Using
UAS to Detect Buried and Submerged Mines
AUVSI News
A recent technology demonstration at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton tested the new Mine Warfare Rapid Assessment Capability system, which is a portable, remote-controlled system that uses a UAS to detect buried and submerged mines.
The system, which is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research’s TechSolutions program, includes a tablet device, and a one-pound quadcopter UAS, which is equipped with “an ultra-sensitive magnetometer sensor system,” that allows the UAS to detect mines, and provide real-time search data to a handheld Android device.
It also includes its “proprietary magnetometer sensor suite,” which not only has an extensive detection range, but it can also differentiate between several types of objects thanks to using complex algorithms.
Read more…
____________________
Pathway Genomics in Partnership
to Bring Genetic Testing to Mexico
San Diego-based Pathway Genomics and Mexico’s Salud Interactiva announced a partnership that will make Pathway’s range of clinical genetic testing with advanced artificial intelligence analysis available to millions of Salud Interactiva’s users in Mexico. Salud Interactiva is a third party administrator offering health services in three countries, has a network of over 6 million users and associations comprised of insurance companies, private clinics and other corporate partners.
“Our research determined that the wide range of tests that Pathway offers are at the forefront of the genetic revolution we are seeing in healthcare today that is driving the trend towards predictive medicine,” said Eduardo Cárdenas, Salud Interactiva’s chief medical and operations officer. “Physicians and users within our network will now have affordable access to information about how their own genetic blueprint impacts their health.”
____________________
Anti-Heroin Vaccine Found
Effective in Non-Human Primates
A vaccine developed at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) to block the “high” of heroin has proven effective in non-human primates. This is the first vaccine against an opioid to pass this stage of preclinical testing.
“This validates our previous rodent data and positions our vaccine in a favorable light for anticipated clinical evaluation,” said study leader Kim Janda, the Ely R. Callaway Jr. Professor of Chemistry and member of the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at TSRI.
This research was published recently in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The primate experiments were led by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“We believe this vaccine candidate will prove safe for human trials,” Janda said. He pointed out that the components of the vaccine have either already been approved by the FDA or have passed safety tests in previous clinical trials.
____________________
Personnel Announcements
Bridgepoint Education Names VP of Marketing
Bridgepoint Education Inc. announced the appointment of Casey App to the position of vice president of product marketing. App will develop and execute marketing plans based on industry trends, customer insight and competitive analysis. Her responsibilities will also include selecting appropriate targeting, positioning, and messaging for enrollment and advising enablement. She will report to Tom McCarty, chief marketing officer.
Prior to joining Bridgepoint, App served as vice president of marketing at NuFACE, where she managed product development, marketing strategy, multi-channel trade marketing, and more. In this role, she led the most successful, highest revenue-generating product launch of 2015 with the NuFACE Mini. She also led the digital marketing team in achieving significant revenue growth in 2015 for NuFACE’s website.
____________________
CNECT Appoints Regional Directors
San Diego-based CNECT, a national group purchasing organization, announced the appointments of Gregory Rayfield as region director of Central Territory, and Brian Kenis as region director of Southern California.
As region directors Rayfield and Kenis are responsible for business development and driving sales growth, as well as ensuring member service levels are of the highest quality.
Brian Kenis comes to CNECT with a diverse background in health care consulting and sales, selling into emerging medical markets. Gregory Rayfield comes to CNECT with sales experience in the field of clinical instruments and diagnostic tests where he specialized in clinical diagnostic equipment and point of care medical devices sales.