Daily Business Report-Oct. 28, 2020
Image courtesy of San Diego North Economic Development Council.
FDA approves first COVID-19 Drug: antiviral Remdesivir
The FDA has officially approved the first drug to treat COVID-19, an antiviral medication called Remdesivir. This treatment is designed to administer through an IV to hospitalized patients. Oceanside-based Gilead Sciences has successfully minimized recovery time through the use of their newly approved drug from 15 days to 10 days. “We now have enough knowledge and a growing set of tools to help fight COVID-19,” Gilead’s chief medical officer, Dr. Merdad Parsey, said in a statement.
Gilead charges $2,340 for a typical treatment course for people covered by government health programs, and $3,120 for patients with private insurance. The amount that patients pay out of pocket depends on insurance, income, and other factors.
State officials are asking the federal government to make the coronavirus drug cheaper.
A bipartisan group of state attorneys general is urging the federal government to sidestep the patents held by Gilead Sciences for remdesivir, the only authorized treatment for COVID-19, over frustration with pricing and supplies set by the manufacturer.
Click here for more information…
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UC San Diego didn’t disclose ‘egregious breach
of confidentiality’ to state prisoners
By Brad Racino | inewsource
inewsource has uncovered another example of UC San Diegonot telling vulnerable research subjects that their private information was exposed and that the university’s mistake may have put them at risk.
The privacy breach involves California prison inmates who were part of a UCSD behavioral study. Their taped conversations, including comments criticizing prison guards, were wrongly shared with the officers.
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OvareVentures acquires San Diego’s BE Outfitter
OvareVentures has acquired BE Outfitter, an innovative outdoor gear company based in San Diego. The brand develops and sells outdoor gear tailored to the modern explorer with a focus on outdoor packs and equipment.
BE Outfitter launched in 2017 and made waves by sending $10 for every backpack purchased to the African Education Program to support youth education in Zambia. As the bags sold out and the vision evolved, co-founders and brothers Rory and Jeff Rogan saw an opportunity to expand the brand and offer more solutions to the adventurer who isn’t necessarily a professional rock climber or surfer, but who likes to get out, explore, and try new things.
OvareGroup President and CRO John Paulson says, “Rory and Jeff bring an exciting energy to the OvareVentures portfolio with their entrepreneurial spirit and passion for developing unique products that fit the needs of consumers. Their combined experience in growing their community and brand was a natural fit for us, and will dovetail with our proprietary outdoor brand, Bucker Trading Co.”
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General Atomics wins Aviation Week
Program Excellence Award
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. won Aviaton Week’s 2020 Program Excellence Award in the category of Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Sustainment for its Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Performance Based Logistics. This was at Aviation Week’s DefenseChain Conference Oct. 19-21.
The annual awards honor global aerospace and defense programs and projects, their leaders and their teams for excellence in executing their work to create value, adapt to complexity, and organizational excellence validated by quality processes, people development, tools and leadership.
The Gray Eagle Extended Range UAS is a 40-hour endurance variant of the U.S. Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle.
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Meridian Communities starts construction
on Poway Commons in Poway Town Center
Meridian Communities has started construction on Poway Commons in the Poway Town Center. The mixed-use project features 97 for-sale townhomes and flats, 44 affordable apartments for seniors and space for future retailers.
Poway Commons will span both the north and south sides of Poway Road, west of Tarascan Drive/Civic Center Drive.
Chelsea Investment Corporation’s affordable apartments for seniors will be named Apollo, in honor of the Greek sun god who is aligned with healing, medicine, light, and truth.
These names, and the meaning behind them, reminds us of all the reasons that the Poway Commons is going to make a significant impact on our city,” said Steve Vaus, mayor of Poway. “This is more than a new development. It’s a call to action to welcome a new diversity of residents who have been waiting to call Poway home.”
All of the Meridian homes will feature attached two-car garages with ample storage space. Model homes will open in the late first quarter of 2021 with prices anticipated to start in the low $500,000s. For information or to be added to the interest list, visit PowayCommons.com.
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Stos Partners sells cold storage facility
after increasing value by 35 percent
Stos Partners, a commercial real estate investment and management firm, has sold a 56,300-square-foot cold storage facility in Otay Mesa that it acquired in June 2019 for $6.15 million, to a private investor for $8.34 million.
During its ownership, Stos implemented a series of upgrades at the property including a new roof, new paint, mechanical enhancements, fresh landscaping, and other general building improvements.
The property is located at 9925 Airway Road in Otay Mesa. CBRE’s Louay Alsadek, Hunter Rowe, Erik Parker and Matthew Pourcho represented Stos Partners as the seller in the transaction.
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Procopio Scholarship and Internship Award presented
to Cal Western School of Law student Erica Spence
Procopio, a full-service law firm headquartered in San Diego, has presented its inaugural Procopio Scholarship and Internship Award to incoming California Western School of Law student Erica Spence.
The Procopio Scholarship is awarded to incoming California Western students and is available for people of color with an initial emphasis on Black candidates and/or candidates who have made significant contributions to the Black community. $15,000 is awarded for the student’s first year of law school.
The Procopio Scholar will also be offered an internship at Procopio after their first and second years in law school, where the student will be mentored and trained to become a highly skilled attorney by Procopio’s partners, attorneys, and staff.
Upon successful completion of the internships, Procopio will provide an additional $15,000 for each of the Procopio Scholar’s second and third years at California Western, with the goal of hiring the student following the successful completion of the California State Bar exam. Procopio anticipates selecting a new Procopio Scholar annually.
Incoming student Erica Spence spent her undergraduate years at California State University, Fullerton. She went on to attend pharmacy school at Western University of Health Sciences and was awarded her Doctor of Pharmacy degree in May 2020. She comes to California Western to pursue her legal education in hopes of combining both her professional educations to serve health care professionals in the field of pharmacy.
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San Diego Oasis receives $300,000 grant
to create a tech education hub for older adults
Cox Communications awarded a $300,000 grant to San Diego Oasis, a nonprofit organization on a mission to change the way people experience aging and pursue vibrant, healthy, productive, and meaningful lives through education and community service.
The gift will create the Oasis Innovation Center, a collaboration hub that will focus on innovative technology for older adults, relevant to older adult wellness, health care, and lifelong learning needs, as well as provide a virtual technology series in the interim. This is one of the largest grant awards from Cox Communications in California to a single nonprofit.
The Oasis Innovation Center will be among the first of its kind in the United States and the only one in the state of California. It will be located in Grossmont Center in La Mesa and will also provide distance learning and technical support virtually.
The Oasis Innovation Center will offer technology classes and workshops, technology demonstrations, a “Tech Help Bar” for in-person and online tech support, a telehealthcare center, and research studies relevant to supporting the needs of the community of older adults. The Innovation Center will also include a Cox Smart Home education hub, which will highlight how older adults can use smart technologies in their home.
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Keep it up San Diego — vote safer, vote early
The Registrar of Voters office reports more than 725,000 San Diego County voters have already cast their ballots in the Nov. 3 Presidential General Election. That’s 435,000 more than those returned as of this date for the November 2016 presidential election. And it’s more than a third of all 1.95 million mail ballots sent to voters this year.
As part of its COVID-19 Vote Safer San Diego campaign, the Registrar urges you to vote safer and vote early. Make voting decisions and complete your ballot from the safety of your home. Sign and date your return envelope, seal your completed ballot inside and return it to a trusted source.
Ballots received by the Registrar’s office throughout this week should be processed in time for the first release of Election Night results that are posted shortly after 8 p.m. The sooner you return your mail ballot, the sooner Registrar’s staff can process it into the count.
If you want to vote in-person that option is available, too. The Registrar urges you to avoid crowds and take advantage of early voting. You can do so:
- Now at the Registrar’s office, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
- At your assigned polling place, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., starting Saturday, Oct. 31 through Monday, Nov. 2.
All will again be open on Election Day, Nov. 3, when the voting hours change to 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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San Diego Press Club to present
Excellence in Journalism awards
The San Diego Press Club will celebrate its 47th annual Excellence in Journalism awards program on Tuesday evening, Oct. 27. About 500 awards in more than 180 categories and 10 divisions will be announced during an online awards program streamed live over Facebook and Twitter starting at 6 p.m. and originating from the San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park.
Three special career recognition awards also will be presented as part of the event. Recipients include: Linda Rosas Townson, San Diego Neighborhood Newspapers, Jim Reiman Award for excellence in media management; Alison St. John, retired reporter for KPBS, Harold Keen Award for outstanding contributions in journalism; Maria Velasquez, former spokesperson for San Diego City Attorney’s Office and San Diego Housing Commission, Andy Mace Award for career achievements in public relations.
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What to know before you vote
Come rain or shine, pandemic or crippling recession, California voters can always count on one thing: a very long, very complicated ballot.
Though the presidential race will gobble up most of the attention, the choice between GOP President Donald Trump and former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden will be an easy one for most California voters. The outcome statewide isn’t in doubt — nor was it before Biden picked California’s U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate. Trump won less than a third of the vote here in 2016, polls continue to show Biden leading with more than two-thirds of state voters, and a Republican presidential nominee hasn’t carried the state in more than three decades.
But Californians will make other vital decisions. Click here to get CalMatters’ 2020 Election Guide
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SYSTRAN partners with TAUs to
offer corona crisis translations
SYSTRAN, a leader in AI-based translation technology, announces its partnership with TAUS, a pioneer in the language data space, to provide global access to secure and accurate translations specific to the coronavirus pandemic through the new Corona Crisis Translation Models.
“There are substantial volumes of information being produced and circulated about the virus, symptoms, new treatments, vaccines and data from all parts of the globe,” said CIO of SYSTRAN, John Paul Barraza. “Now more than ever, it is vital that information such as medical data, expert findings and guidelines are both readily available and accurate. However, translating this content accurately requires specific knowledge of medical and scientific terminology. By partnering with TAUS and building state-of-the-art models with SYSTRAN’s NMT technology we make translating this critical information as easy and accurate as possible.”
SYSTRAN created these models in 12 language combinations, across six languages, based on quality parallel data provided by TAUS.