Daily Business Report: Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021
BD selects Torrey View by Breakthrough as
San Diego campus for biosciences business
Breakthrough Properties, a global developer of life sciences real estate, formed through a joint venture of Tishman Speyer and Bellco Capital, announced that global medical technology company BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) has selected Torrey View by Breakthrough as home for an expanded San Diego Reagent Innovation Center for its growing BD Biosciences business.
Torrey View is a 10-acre, world-class life sciences research and development campus that Breakthrough is creating alongside its co-equity partner Mitsui Fudosan America. Located within San Diego’s Del Mar Heights life sciences cluster and adjacent to biopharma workforce housing, Torrey View will feature three research and development buildings and a tenant clubhouse. BD will lease the campus’ largest planned building. At 220,000 square feet, BD Biosciences will occupy more than 40 percent of Torrey View’s total available space.
TOP PHOTO: Torrey View by Breakthrough (Image courtesy of Breakthrough Properties)
JLL’s San Diego Law Firm Survey
The Law Firm Practice Group at JLL San Diego asked 30 local law firms a series of questions to explore their motivations, policies, and strategies in a post-COVID world, and to clarify what the future of law firm office occupancy may look like. The data from these 30 firms represents approximately 1,200 attorneys and more than 800,000 square feet of office space in San Diego.
Highlights:
• 67 percent want to reduce under-utilized space.
• 67 percent of firms would like breakrooms to encourage social interaction and community.
• 33 percent of firms would like to improve their in[1]office amenities such as kitchen, coffee bar, and social areas, to provide a better experience for employees.
• 90 percent of firms surveyed plan to implement a flexible work-from-home policy.
• Firms are requiring staff to be in the office more frequently than their attorney counterparts.
• Only 7 percent of firms would consider relocating to a new submarket given the increase in remote work and change in commute patterns.
Click here for the full survey
City of San Diego moves forward on
vaccine mandate for all city employees
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said the city is now moving forward with its requirement for all city employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dec. 1, 2021 as a condition of continued employment.
Accordint to the mayor’s announcement, the city has completed its obligations under the state’s labor laws to implement the city’s Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policy with five of its six recognized employee organizations.
The city will provide medical and religious exemptions on a case-by-case basis, as required by law. Any city employee who refuses to get vaccinated and is not provided with an exemption will ultimately face termination of employment.
The COVID-19 vaccination mandate for all city employees was announced on Aug. 26, 2021. Since then, the city has been in ongoing negotiations with its six recognized employee organizations. The city is currently at impasse with the San Diego Police Officers Association (SDPOA) over implementing the vaccine mandate for SDPOA’s represented employees.
Climate Action Campaign leader Nicole Capretz
wins California Clean Energy Hall of Fame award
Climate Action Campaign Executive Director Nicole Capretz will receive a Clean Energy Champion award from the California Energy Commission, and be inducted into the Clean Energy Hall of Fame on Dec. 10 in a 2 p.m. virtual ceremony.
The award honors individuals and organizations making exceptional contributions to help California achieve a 100 percent clean energy future for all.
Capretz is an environmental attorney with 20 years of experience as an energy, equity, and climate policy adviser for local governments and community-based organizations. She was the primary author of the City of San Diego’s groundbreaking, legally binding 100 percent clean energy Climate Action Plan adopted in late 2015.
The awards program includes the Lifetime Achievement award, four Clean Energy Champion awards and the Youth Game-Changer award.
San Diego region celebrates grand opening
of Mid-Coast Extension of Blue Line Trolley
On Sunday, SANDAG and MTS joined federal, state, and local leaders, and more than 8,500 community members to celebrate the start of service on the Mid-Coast Extension of the UC San Diego Blue Line Trolley. The Mid-Coast Trolley Extension, built by SANDAG, remained on budget and on schedule throughout construction. The extension provides a direct connection from the U.S./Mexico Border to the University Community.
During the event, community members enjoyed free Trolley rides and family-friendly festivities, including live music, food, giveaways, carnival rides, and remarks from local, state, and national leaders who were instrumental in the construction of the Trolley Extension.
“This is a historic day for the San Diego region as we commemorate one of the largest infrastructure projects in our history,” said SANDAG Chair and Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear. “The Mid-Coast Trolley Extension is an example of how we can transform our transportation system through the 2021 Regional Plan by providing convenient, safe, and competitive transit access to job centers, education, and healthcare for everyone.”
Laura Chamberlain joins Bumble Bee Seafood
Corp. as senior vice president of sales
The Bumble Bee Seafood Company announces the addition of Laura Chamberlain, an accomplished sales executive, to the senior leadership team at the 120-year-old seafood company.
As the senior vice president of sales, Chamberlain will be responsible for positioning Bumble Bee as a best-in-class partner for retailers across all channels while continuing to grow the shelf-stable seafood category.
Chamberlain joins Bumble Bee with more than 25 years of experience working across premier CPG sales organizations, including Danone North America,
The Hershey Company and Clorox.
With a passion for identifying mutually beneficial and sustainable results through retailer collaboration and partnership, Chamberlain has been acknowledged by Target for “Best in Class Partnership” for her work on behalf of Danone.
Chamberlain joins the Bumble Bee leadership team this month and will report to Cooper Shepherd, who joined the company earlier this year.
Mayor Gloria announces appointments
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria announced the following appointments to city boards and commissions:
Jaymie Bradford, 49, of Bay Park is being reappointed to the San Diego Convention Center Board of Directors.
Elaine Cooluris, 74, of Ocean Beach is being appointed to the Accessibility Advisory Board.
Sunday Gover, 49, of Scripps Ranch is being appointed to the Civil Service Commission.
Dr. Mary McKenzie, 59, of Hillcrest is being appointed to the Accessibility Advisory Board.
Nicolaz Portillo, 48, of Southcrest is being appointed to the Civil Service Commission.
Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, 34, of Downtown is being appointed to the San Diego Convention Center Board of Directors.
Melinda Vasquez, 46, of Rancho Peñasquitos is being appointed to the San Diego Housing Commission.
Mary Wolford, 65, of Bay Park is being appointed to the Accessibility Advisory Board.
In addition, the following appointments were confirmed by the City Council:
Paul Cooper, 63, of Carmel Valley has been appointed to the Ethics Commission.
Colin Duong, 17, of Mira Mesa has been appointed to the Youth Commission as a District 6 representative.
Thomas Hebrank, 61, has been reappointed to the Ethics Commission.
Imani Robinson, 48, of Mountain View, has been appointed to the Commission for Arts and Culture.
Jimmie Slack, 70, of Scripps Ranch has been appointed to the Ethics Commission.
For bios on each of these appointments, click here
‘San Diego Flyer’ begins electric bus service
between Old Town Transit Center and airport
The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority is celebrating the launch of the “San Diego Flyer,” a free to customers electric shuttle bus service between San Diego International Airport and Old Town Transit Center. The electric shuttle buses operate seven days a week, with an average arrival every 20 to 30 minutes. Pick up and drop-offs are timed to meet the first and last Trolley, Coasters, Amtrack trains, and MTS busses with the first pick up at 4:45 a.m. and the last pick up/drop off at 12:30 a.m.
The San Diego Flyer shuttle buses are recognizable through a branded light orange wrap adorned with plane icons, the word “Flyer” across the side of the buses, and the airport logo.
Currently, the buses stop at Old Town Transit Center, Terminal 1, and Terminal 2. Passengers at SAN will be picked up and dropped off at transportation islands at each terminal. The stops and intervals of service will be assessed and shuttle service will be adjusted to meet increased demand if needed.
LifeVoxel.AI raises $5 million seed round
for its AI diagnostic visualization platform
LifeVoxel.AI, a San Diego-based medical platform for AI and Visualization, announced it has raised a $5 million seed funding. LifeVoxel’s patented technologies empower instant and ubiquitous access to interactive imaging studies and data, with zero latency and zero client footprint, rendering them at 4K image quality, according to the company.
The platform enables unprecedented, real-time, immersive 3D telepresence interactivity for remote patient engagement and the direct integration of AI diagnostic support into daily physician workflows from any web enabled device. Additionally, the platform stores not just images, but diagnostic annotations and reports, data critical for the ongoing development of AI diagnostic applications.
Neurocrine Biosciences and Sosei Group collaborate
San Diego-based Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. and Sosei Group Corporation announce the signing of a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement to develop novel muscarinic receptor agonists, which Neurocrine Biosciences intends to study in the treatment for schizophrenia, dementia and other neuropsychiatric disorders.
Under the terms of the agreement, Neurocrine Biosciences gains development and commercialization rights to a broad portfolio of novel clinical and preclinical subtype-selective muscarinic M4, M1 and dual M1/M4 receptor agonists discovered by Sosei Heptares in development for the treatment of major neurological disorders.
Biocept launches combined COVID-19
and influenza test for peak flu season
Biocept Inc. a San Diego-based provider of molecular diagnostic assays, products, and services, now offers a single test that can detect and distinguish between SARS-CoV-2 and influenza, helping patients and caregivers determine appropriate treatment decisions. This new assay expands the company’s COVID-19 testing program, which began in June 2020 and has now received more than 670,000 samples for processing.
Biocept’s combined COVID-19 and influenza testing uses a sensitive and specific RT-PCR platform to detect and distinguish between SARS-CoV-2 and influenza. Samples are collected through nasal swab and processed through Biocept’s CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited laboratory with results typically within approximately 48 hours from receipt of sample, providing timely and accurate results.
