Daily Business Report: Tuesday, June 29, 2021
California’s medium price for single-family home
climbs to a jaw-dropping $818,260 in May
By Emily Hoeven | CalMatters
Just when you thought California’s home prices couldn’t get any higher, they did. The median price of a single-family home skyrocketed to a jaw-dropping $818,260 in May — up from the previous record of $813,980 set in April, according to figures released Friday by the state Department of Finance. It’s at least the eighth time California’s housing market has shattered its own record amid the pandemic, underscoring the state’s desperate need for more housing. However, California only issued permits for 128,000 housing units in April, down from 136,000 in March, according to the Department of Finance. Both figures are a far cry from Newsom’s campaign goal of building 500,000 units annually.
Meanwhile, the state is cracking down on at least two cities — San Diego and Anaheim — for potentially violating a recently strengthened law that requires local governments to offer excess land they own to affordable housing developers before making it available to others. The state alleges both cities made deals to redevelop sports stadiums and surrounding land without allowing affordable housing developers to bid first; San Diego is starting the process over, while Anaheim is still negotiating with the state to address possible solutions.
(Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash)
Mining Solutions: New study using genome
mining reinforces potential of biochemistry
New research from scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography points to the promising potential of genome mining – the identification of genes in an organism’s DNA that code for the construction of natural products. These molecules could have sweeping implications for society, from manufacturing to medicine.
Scripps postdoctoral researcher Tristan de Rond uncovered a new enzyme process in a marine bacterium that could hold potential for future laboratory experiments. This enzyme is responsible for creating what’s known as an oxazolone, a type of chemical compound that is important for the synthesis of other biological compounds and is widely used in manufacturing. And it all started with his gut feeling.
De Rond says he used to let his intuition take over which particular bacteria genes he should study. This time around, however, he wrote an algorithm to help decide which of the 5,000 genes to select.
“Interesting combinations of things always catch my attention: dishes with ingredients you don’t usually see in a recipe together, musical ensembles with instruments that don’t traditionally play together,” said de Rond. “In the same vein, I decided to program an algorithm that searches for genes that are made up of parts that nobody had studied together before.”
Enoch Kariuki named chief executive
officer of Lengo Therapeutics
Lengo Therapeutics, a San Diego biopharmaceutical company developing precision medicines targeting driver mutations in oncology, announced the appointment of Enoch K. Kariuki as chief executive officer.
Kariuki is an accomplished industry leader with broad experience in health care strategy, life sciences finance, operations and business development. Prior to joining Lengo, Kariuki was chief financial officer at VelosBio, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing cancer therapies, which was acquired by Merck in 2020 for $2.75 billion.
Prior to VelosBio, Kariuki served as senior vice president, corporate development at Synthorx Inc., where he led the company’s initial public offering, managed relationships with bankers, sell-side equity analysts and investors, and led the business development process that concluded with the successful sale of Synthorx to Sanofi for $2.5 billion.
He holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a PharmD from Texas Southern University. He serves on the boards of Zentalis Pharmaceuticals and Imago Biosciences.
Hard-working enzymes keep immune cells in line
Researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology have shed light on a process in immune cells that may explain why some people develop cardiovascular diseases.
Their research, published recently in Genome Biology, shows the key role that TET enzymes play in keeping immune cells on a healthy track as they mature. The scientists found that other enzymes do play a role in this process—but TET enzymes do the heavy lifting.
“If we can figure out what’s going on with these enzymes, that could be important for controlling cardiovascular disease,” says Atsushi Onodera, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher at LJI and first author of the new Genome Biology study.
LJI Professor Anjana Rao, Ph.D., co-discovered TET enzymes while working at Harvard University alongside Mamta Tahiliani, Ph.D., and L. Aravind, Ph.D. Their work showed that this family of three enzymes alters how our genes are expressed.
Jay Pandit appointed director of digital medicine
at Scripps Research Translational Institute
Jay Pandit, M.D., a leading digital health and clinical innovation expert, has been appointed director of digital medicine at the Scripps Research Translational Institute (SRTI) and an assistant professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research. The appointment comes at a time of continued growth for the digital medicine group, which specializes in validating digital health technologies and applying artificial intelligence to medicine and life science.
SRTI is one of the world’s leading academic institutes in the burgeoning field of digital medicine. Pioneers of the “site-less” digital clinical trial, its scientists are re-engineering the clinical trial experience and leveraging digital technologies such as wearable sensor devices, smartwatches and mobile apps to gather multi-dimensional, real-time data.
Pandit will provide medical oversight for research programs under the recently launched Scripps Research Digital Trials Center, as well as providing input for the All of Us Research Program, a nationwide effort led by the National Institute of Health (NIH) to engage one million people from the United States in building one of the most diverse health databases in history.
Welk Resorts CEO Jon Fredricks honored with
Circle of Excellence Lifetime Achievement Award
Jon Fredricks, CEO of Welk Resorts, was honored with the 2021 American Resort Development Association’s Circle of Excellence Lifetime Achievement Award during an awards ceremony this month that also recognized Welk Resorts’ customer service and activities programs for excellence.
ARDA bestows its ACE Lifetime Achievement Award each year on an individual whose leadership, professionalism, creativity, reliability, quality standards and ethics are demonstrated in an outstanding body of work.
With his roughly 30 years of leadership and service to Welk Resorts and the vacation ownership industry, Fredricks has led Welk Resorts as its CEO since 2014 and president since 1999. He has also served as chair and a member of the ARDA board of directors, a director of the ARDA International Foundation (AIF) board and a member of various industry committees or task forces over his career.
As the grandson of Welk Resorts’ famous founder and namesake, television bandleader Lawrence Welk, Fredricks leads with the same humility and humanity as both his grandfather and his uncle, Larry Welk, who preceded Fredricks as CEO.
Qualcomm upgrades its premium tier with
Snapdragon 888 Plus 5G mobile platform
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announced the new Snapdragon 888 Plus 5G Mobile Platform, a follow-on to the flagship Snapdragon 888. These two platforms power more than 130 designs announced or in development.
According to Qualcomm, Snapdragon 888 Plus fuels flagship experiences with intelligent entertainment, including AI-enhanced gameplay, streaming, photography, and more – backed by boosted performance, unrivaled speed, and premium connectivity. The platform is armed with the full arsenal of Snapdragon Elite Gaming features to harness the power of ultra-smooth responsiveness, color-rich HDR graphics, and mobile-first desktop-level.
“Snapdragon is synonymous with premium Android experiences. Our latest flagship Snapdragon 888 Plus 5G Mobile Platform will help deliver the premium entertainment, connectivity, and gaming experiences users deserve,” said Christopher Patrick, senior vice president and general manager, mobile handset business. “We’re excited to see OEMs launch with products based on our highest performing platform.”
Viasat’s two facilities receive top industrial
security awards from federal agency
Viasat’s Germantown, Md. and Marlborough, Mass. facilities each received a 2021 James S. Cogswell Outstanding Industrial Security Achievement Award from the U.S. Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), the company announced. Viasat’s Carlsbad headquarters received a Cogswell Award in 2020.
The Cogswell Award recognizes industrial security excellence and is the highest honor the DCSA grants to cleared industry partners. Out of the approximately 13,000 cleared contractors in the National Industrial Security Program (NISP), less than 1 percent are annually selected to receive an award.
Cogswell Award nominees undergo a competitive, eight-month evaluation by a national review team, with DCSA selecting the final winners. Winning programs must establish and maintain a security program that goes well beyond the minimum NISP requirements, while also providing leadership and best practice guidance on instituting high security standards.
The Cogswell Award was established in 1966 in honor of the late Air Force Col. James S. Cogswell, who was the first chief of the Unified Office of Industrial Security.
Amydis receives $3 million grant
from the National Institute of Aging
San Diego-based Amydis Inc., a l pharmaceutical company, has received a $3 million grant from the National Institute of Aging at National Institutes of Health. The two-year Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP) Program award will provide additional funding toward the preparation and filing of an Investigational New Drug Application and completion of a human clinical trial to test Amydis’s small-molecule retinal tracer targeting the biomarker amyloid beta for the diagnosis of amyloid angiopathy.
Over the last five years, Amydis has received continuous grant support from the NIH to accelerate the development of an amyloid beta retinal tracer designed to be used with conventional retinal cameras already in clinical practice.
Bio-inspired hydrogel protects heart
from post-op adhesions
A hydrogel that forms a barrier to keep heart tissue from adhering to surrounding tissue after surgery was developed and successfully tested in rodents by a team of University of California San Diego researchers. The team of engineers, scientists and physicians also conducted a pilot study on porcine hearts, with promising results.
They describe their work in the June 18, 2021 issue of Nature Communications.
In rats, the hydrogel prevented the formation of adhesions altogether. In a small pilot study, porcine hearts treated with the hydrogel experienced less severe adhesions that were easier to remove. In addition, the hydrogel did not appear to cause chronic inflammation.
