Daily Business Report-March 26, 2021
Robot Heal Thyself
Nanoengineers develop self-repairing microbots
Living tissue can heal itself from many injuries, but giving similar abilities to artificial systems, such as robots, has been extremely challenging. Now, researchers at the University of California San Diego reporting in Nano Letters have developed small, swimming robots that can magnetically heal themselves on-the-fly after breaking into two or three pieces.
The strategy could someday be used to make hardier devices for environmental or industrial clean up, the researchers say.
Scientists have developed small robots that can swim through fluids and carry out useful functions, such as cleaning up the environment, delivering drugs and performing surgery. Although most experiments have been done in the lab, eventually these tiny machines would be released into harsh environments, where they could become damaged.
Swimming robots are often made of brittle polymers or soft hydrogels, which can easily crack or tear. Senior author and UC San Diego nanoengineering professor Joseph Wang and colleagues wanted to design swimmers that could heal themselves while in motion, without help from humans or other external triggers.
The researchers made swimmers that were 2 cm long (a little less than an inch) in the shape of a fish that contained a conductive bottom layer; a rigid, hydrophobic middle layer; and an upper strip of aligned, strongly magnetic microparticles. The team added platinum to the tail, which reacted with hydrogen peroxide fuel to form oxygen bubbles that propelled the robot.
Viasat and Navy renew contract for managed Internet, Wi-Fi and voice services worldwide
Global communications company Viasat Inc. and the Navy Exchange Service Command‘s NEXCOM Telecommunications Program Office, announced a five-year contract extension, whereby Viasat will continue to deliver managed internet, Wi-Fi, voice and other services for personal use networks across Navy facilities worldwide. The contract also adds the roll-out of interactive satellite-based high-definition TV service at 32 Navy Lodge sites, to enrich the lives of sailors, their families and guests during their stay.
Under this extended contract, Viasat will provide personal-use telecommunications services, in support of multiple programs at Navy and joint base installations, for sailors who live in Unaccompanied Housing (UH) or Family Housing (FH); who visit Navy Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) facilities—including fleet and family service centers, gymnasiums, bowling alleys, liberty centers, libraries and child development centers; and to those who are either staying in or visiting lodging or other temporary living facilities, such as Navy Lodge, Navy Gateway Inns & Suites, Navy Get-A-Ways, Wounded Warrior Program and Fisher House facilities.
Viasat is also announced it is now accepting the MILITARY STAR card as a form of payment for its services. Sailors can take advantage of the card’s terms, as well as a rewards program that includes incentives on purchases and discounts throughout the year, along with participation in plans that support wellness within the military community.
City of San Diego proposes water and sewer rate increases
The City of San Diego says it will have to increase water and sewer rates to pay for the rising cost of services. Wastewater rates would rise by 5 percent starting in January 2022. The City’s Public Utilities Department (PUD), which provides water and sewer services to customers, is proposing to pass through regional water cost increases to its custometrs.
The rate increases would be the firs in 10 years.
The rate increases for sewer services will help the city continue to upgrade core infrastructure by replacing aging pipes and sewer mains; and fund future investments like Pure Water, a landmark water recycling project that will avoid wastewater treatment cost increases and reduce discharges to the ocean.
“The proposed rate increases come at a critical time for the City of San Diego with Pure Water’s promise on the horizon and the need to fix our aging pipes and mains so we can continue to provide reliable wastewater collection and treatment,” said Shauna Lorance, Director of PUD. “We know many San Diegans are struggling financially due to the pandemic, so we tried to minimize the impact as much as possible with this plan, knowing that our rising costs are forcing us to propose increases in order to deliver the high-quality services San Diegans expect.”
Azzur Group to celebrate grand opening of new Cleanrooms on Demand
Azzur Cleanrooms on Demand, a provider for early-phase life sciences GxP manufacturing, has completed the design and construction of it second facility located in Vista. The Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting ceremony will take place on Thursday, April 29t. Event begins at 11 a.m. with introductory remarks, immediately followed by the formal ribbon cutting.
Built on best practices gleaned from the original location in Waltham, Mass., the new Azzur Cleanrooms on Demand in Vista features a 30,000 square-foot facility consisting of 11 cleanrooms, on-site storage, and laboratory space. The facility is designed to increase best-in-class services to the area’s life sciences and pharmaceutical innovators and start-ups, with room to expand as demand grows.
Azzur chose San Diego because of the growth in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors in the area. Azzur Cleanrooms on Demand is strategically placed adjacent to Azzur Labs, allowing clients to have access to comprehensive services for their pharmaceutical and therapeutic manufacturing needs.
Friends of Balboa Park and Balboa Park Conservancy to merge
Friends of Balboa Park and the Balboa Park Conservancy have voted in favor of merging the two nonprofits into one entity to serve the best interests of the park, effective July 1. The merger will leverage each organization’s strengths, combine resources and expertise, as well as enhance support for Balboa Park through fundraising, advocacy, projects and programs, the organizations said.
The two organizations entered a Memorandum of Understanding in August 2020 that included a four-phase merger process: Exploration, Analysis, Design and Integration.
The two boards of directors voted this week to officially sign the merger agreement and begin integrating the two nonprofits into one.
The merger into a single nonprofit will benefit Balboa Park and the community by consolidating and continuing existing projects and programs, raising funds for the enhancement and preservation of the park, and streamlining the partnerships with the City of San Diego and other park institutions.
“We realized we could be more effective and efficient in serving Balboa Park as one entity,” said Friends of Balboa Park Board Chair Sarah Evans.
“We are confident Balboa Park will be better served by one merged entity rather than two separate organizations.”
SBA to increase lending limit for COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans
The U.S. Small Business Administration is increasing the maximum amount small businesses and non-profit organizations can borrow through its COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Starting the week of April 6, 2021, the SBA is raising the loan limit for the COVID-19 EIDL program from 6-months of economic injury with a maximum loan amount of $150,000 to up to 24-months of economic injury with a maximum loan amount of $500,000.
Businesses that receive a loan subject to the current limits do not need to submit a request for an increase at this time. SBA will reach out directly via email and provide more details about how businesses can request an increase closer to the April 6 implementation date. Any new loan applications and any loans in process when the new loan limits are implemented will automatically be considered for loans covering 24 months of economic injury up to a maximum of $500,000.
Evofem Biosciences announces pricing of $30 million public offering of common stock
Evofem Biosciences, Inc. announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 17,142,857 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $1.75 per share. The gross proceeds from the offering to Evofem, before deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses, are expected to be approximately $30 million.
The offering is expected to close on or about March 29, 2021. In addition, Evofem has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,571,428 shares of its common stock at the public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. All of the shares of common stock in the offering are to be sold by Evofem.
Evofem intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for the continuation of full commercialization activities related to Phexxi (lactic acid, citric acid and potassium bitartrate) contraceptive vaginal gel in the United States.
Scientists identify drug candidate that slows growth of melanoma
Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have identified a drug candidate that blocks the uptake of glutamine, a key food source for many tumors, and slows the growth of melanoma.
The drug is a small molecule that targets a glutamine transporter, SLC1A5, which pumps the nutrient into cancer cells—offering a promising new approach for treating melanoma and other cancers. The study was published in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.
“While great strides have been made recently in the treatment of melanoma, many patients’ tumors become resistant to therapy, and this has become a major obstacle in the successful treatment of the disease,” says Ze’ev Ronai, Ph.D., director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Center at Sanford Burnham Prebys and senior author of the study. “This study describes a promising compound that selectively targets the uptake of glutamine, an amino acid nutrient that tumors rely on for survival. We are hopeful this drug will fill an unmet medical need for people living with this deadly cancer.”
Scripps Research receives inaugural grant from Conrad Prebys Foundation
As part of its inaugural competitive grant cycle, The Conrad Prebys Foundation will support Scripps Research’s efforts in biomedical research and higher education, providing over $3 million in grant funding across three transformational, multiyear projects.
Part of the grant will advance the novel cancer immunotherapy technology being developed at Calibr, the drug discovery division of Scripps Research. The “switchable” CAR-T cell cancer therapy program, headed by Travis Young, Ph.D., and currently being tested in a phase 1 clinical trial, leverages patients’ own immune cells to treat cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. The therapy puts the therapeutic cells under control of a molecular “switch” that seeks to mitigate potentially life-threatening side effects that have hampered the use of cell therapies to date.
The grant will directly support the team’s goal of creating an “off-the-shelf” cell therapy that can be derived from healthy donors and used to benefit patients whose immune system has been weakened by years of chemotherapies, a significant unmet medical need.
Cubic Nuvotronics awarded contract to support DoD 5G to Next G program
Cubic Corporation’s Nuvotronics, which operates within its Cubic Mission and Performance Solutions (CMPS) business division, was awarded a contract worth more than $10 million from the Department of Defense through the National Spectrum Consortium to develop a dual-band, ultra-high performance and low size, weight and power fifth generation Wireless Network Communications Transceiver for military applications. Cubic Nuvotronics will support the DoD’s “5G to Next G” Program which was established to accelerate the implementation of wireless communications for the military. WNCT’s simultaneous dual-band operation provides greater operational resiliency and ensures high-speed data with low latency, with no interference on current DoD operational frequencies.
