Daily Business Report: Friday, Sept. 30, 2022
UC San Diego and Sierra Space partner to develop
the first stem cell research institute in space
Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company at the forefront of building the future of space transportation and infrastructure for low-Earth orbit (LEO) commercialization, and UC San Diego, one of the world’s top 15 research universities and a leader in microgravity research, have formed a new agreement with the goal of defining the future of human health care research in space.
In a new Memorandum of Understanding between the two organizations, Sierra Space and UC San Diego agreed to collaborate on Orbital Reef, the first commercial space station in LEO, to expand the university’s Integrated Space Stem Cell Orbital Research program, which is currently operational on the International Space Station (ISS). Together they will help define and shape the future of biotech and biopharma research and development in microgravity.
“This agreement with UC San Diego is a major breakthrough in human health care research conducted in space and signals the beginning of a new era of discovery,” said Tom Vice, Sierra Space CEO. “Through our collaboration, the highly impactful work that researchers are already doing on the International Space Station today can expand and deliver even greater impact for humanity. As the ISS completes its time in service, UC San Diego will now have a place to grow and expand its vital research in biotech and biopharma with full, on-orbit biomanufacturing and biofabrication centers to foster breakthrough advancements and products in medical science that will benefit all life on Earth.”
UC San Diego will provide input to Sierra Space on the design and concept of operations for providing new, state-of-the-art biomanufacturing, biofabrication and related in-space laboratory capabilities and services to industry, academia and government researchers. The university will also participate in a Sierra Space-led in-space biomanufacturing research consortium of industry, academia, philanthropic and government researchers that will focus on R&D objectives, priorities and technical requirements.
Top photo: Brain organoids in a petri dish, representative of research from Sierra Space and UC San Diego partnership to develop the first stem cell research institute in space. (Photo credit: UC San Diego Health Sciences)
New arts-focused apartments unveiled in Vista
Paseo Artist Village to house 60 apartments and retail
Affordable housing developer Community HousingWorks is opening Paseo Artist Village, a 60-unit residential/retail development that will serve as a catalyst for a new arts and culture district in Vista. A grand opening ceremony was held Thursday. Paseo Artist Village was created to ensure that a variety of long-term families and individuals are able to afford to stay in Vista.
Paseo Artist Village is a pedestrian-friendly and transit-oriented mixed use affordable development with 60 apartments of 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms. The apartments are available to local Vista residents, artists, and veterans earning 30 percent-59 percent of the area median income.
As part of the Paseo Artist Village development, approximately 2,000 square feet of retail space is located on the corner of South Santa Fe Avenue and Guajome Street.
Reflecting the City of Vista’s vision for an Arts and Culture District and consistent with the city’s strong artist tradition, Paseo Artist Village is a gateway to this art neighborhood and a catalyst for vibrant new development along the South Santa Fe corridor.
The property includes approximately 2,100 square feet of on-site artist workspace and art gallery showcased via windows facing South Santa Fe Avenue. Two art pieces were commissioned for Paseo: a glass and neon piece by San Diego native Brooke Barttlebort and an aluminum sculpture by Matt Devine, who has multiple pieces on display in San Diego County.
The homes are designed to be energy and water efficient. Paseo Artist Village is GreenPoint Rated and Circulate San Diego MOVE Alliance certified.
Ware Malcomb designs interior
for Kinnate Biopharma office building
Ware Malcomb, an award-winning international design firm, announced that construction is complete on the Kinnate Biopharma Inc. office building located at 12830 El Camino Real, Suite 150, in San Diego. Ware Malcomb provided the interior architecture & design and branding for the creative office space.
The 7,000 square foot space reflects Kinnate’s brand through the careful choice of colors, the incorporation of geometric shapes and a focus on a healthy workplace. The space is designed with a focus on a variety of places for employees and clients to meet, as opposed to dedicated personal offices or workstations. Included in the space are open, collaborative areas, enclosed rooms, touch-down workspaces, meeting rooms and an open office design, ideal for all-hands meetings. Acoustic baffles are located above the workstations, and a white noise system runs throughout the building.
A hybrid workplace, Kinnate encourages its employees to use the office for collaboration and save “heads-down” work for home. When in the office, employees can sit anywhere to plug in for short periods of time between meetings, and options range from lounge seating configurations to bar height seating. A small number of hoteling workstations are provided for employees visiting from other locations or team members working in the office for longer periods of time.
Governor relents, signs farmworker union
bill after pressure from Biden and labor
By Jeanne Kuang | CalMatters
Gov. Gavin Newsom ended the suspense over a farmworker labor bill by agreeing to sign it two days before deadline and after much prodding by national and state union leaders and President Joe Biden.
Farmworkers in California will have an easier process for forming unions for the next five years under AB 2183, which Newsom signed on Wednesday. The bill lets farm workers vote by mail in union elections, shielding them from potential intimidation from their bosses, says the United Farm Workers, the bill sponsor.
Newsom struck a deal with the UFW and the California Labor Federation to support new legislation next year that would give farmworkers an even simpler option to unionize commonly called card check. It is a victory for labor groups after the governor vetoed similar legislation last year.
Business groups such as the California Chamber of Commerce and the Western Growers Association fiercely opposed this bill. Opponents decried the measure as a move to tilt farm worker union elections in the UFW’s favor.
Newsom earlier this year announced his opposition as well. In response, the UFW staged weeks of advocacy efforts that turned the bill into a rallying point for political progressives at the same time the governor was seeking to elevate his national political profile.
Newsom said Wednesday his concerns about the bill were addressed in the agreement about next year’s legislation.
GI Parners acquires life sciences property in San Diego
GI Partners, a private investment firm, continues its strategy of acquiring and managing technology and science real estate by announcing the acquisition of a core, 100 percent net leased life sciences portfolio in San Diego. The portfolio consists of the fee simple interest in a two-building, 84,000-square-foot property as well as the 70 percent joint venture interest in a four building, 316,000-square-foot campus, both located in Sorrento Mesa. All the properties are fully occupied by tenants with a weighted average lease term of approximately 10 years.
“We are proud to expand our life sciences platform in San Diego. Market fundamentals in the Sorrento Mesa submarket remain robust, with steady demand and tightening supply as tenants seek access to the highly skilled San Diego workforce and its concentration of intellectual capital,” said John Sheputis, managing director at GI Parners and head of acquisitions for GI Partners Real Estate.
Andrea Steinbrenner named CEO of Exit Consulting Group
Exit Consulting Group (ECG), a services firm that helps owners successfully exit their business while ensuring that the organization continues to thrive, announced that Andrea Steinbrenner will assume the role of CEO, effective Oct. 1. In doing so, she will spearhead several strategic initiatives that transition the company from an owner/operator system to a professional services company that will experience rapid, sustainable growth.
“Andrea is extremely well-suited to assume this role. Having served at all levels of high-growth businesses, she knows corporate operations and consulting from the ground up,” said John Ovrom, founder of ECG. “Andrea worked directly with mid-size companies for over a decade before joining ECG to build scalability and support exponential growth and success. I’m excited to move into a long-term, supporting executive role that empowers Andrea to take the company’s reins.”
Ovrom will continue to serve as the company’s President and head of the firm’s Brokerage Services Division.
Illumina unveils NovaSeq X Series to
accelerate genomic discoveries
Illumina Inc.,a global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, has launched the NovaSeq X Series (NovaSeq X and NovaSeq X Plus), new production-scale sequencers that will push the limits of what is possible with genomic medicine, enabling faster, more powerful, and more sustainable sequencing. Using revolutionary new technology, NovaSeq X Plus can generate more than 20,000 whole genomes per year – 2.5 times the throughput of prior sequencers – greatly accelerating genomic discovery and clinical insights, to understand disease and ultimately transform patient lives.
With its NovaSeq X Series, Illumina redesigned every dimension of its world-class sequencers to further increase speed, scale, accuracy, and sustainability.
Supervisors OK new climate-housing,
vehicle miles traveled rules
County supervisors approved new Vehicle-Miles-Traveled guidelines for new development in unincorporated communities Wednesday that will fight climate change and still allow approximately 7,700 homes to be built faster and without expensive traffic studies. The board’s action to adopt a new Transportation Study Guide brings county policies into synch with the state of California’s Vehicle Miles Traveled law.
That law aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and fight climate change by asking proposed developments how many miles the people living in them would have to drive on average ― to reach jobs, amenities or transit.
The Board’s vote means housing proposed in unincorporated areas where cars would travel at least 15 percent fewer miles than the average of all drivers in the entire county ― including city areas ― could be built without Vehicle-Miles-Traveled studies and mitigation. That would reduce the cost and streamline the review and consideration process for “infill and vehicle-mile-traveled-efficient” development in areas that have higher housing densities and are nearer to roads, jobs and transit.
General Atomics partners with Indian company
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) announced that Indian Artificial Intelligence Company 114ai has become one of its first partnerships as part of “Make in India” roadmap. In November 2021, 114ai made headlines as the only Indian company to win a U.S.-U.K. joint space contract.
AI is an important area of cooperation between the U.S. and India. General Atomics sees the capabilities demonstrated by the 114ai team as extremely valuable for military operators. 114ai is an Indian company that has been able to compete on the global stage, building state-of-the-art technology that is currently being integrated with U.S. Air Force Programs. Through this partnership, GA-ASI intends to marry their three decades of expertise, knowhow and understanding of complex military systems, with the best and brightest of the future.
General Atomics intends to continue cooperating with innovative Indian companies in the development of cutting-edge technology, building products for the global market.
Mama’s Pies Thanksgiving Bake Sale returns Oct. 10
Mama’s Kitchen’s 18th annual Mama’s Pies Thanksgiving Bake Sale, a fundraiser to help the nonprofit continue to provide nutritional support to San Diegans in need, returns on Oct. 10.
This year, Mama’s Kitchen will open online pie sales early for its Bread & Butter Club, a group of monthly donors that support the organization each month. Pie pre-sale for the Bread & Butter Club will begin Monday, Oct. 10. To join the Bread & Butter Club to be eligible for pie pre-sale, visit https://www.mamaskitchen.org/donate/bread-butter-club/ to sign up.
Online pie sales for the general public will begin Monday, Oct. 17 and end on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022 or until sold out, whichever comes first.
(W)right On Communications wins awards
for B2B Project of the Year and Video of the Year
As judged by fellow member agencies worldwide and from a total of four awards given, (W)right On Communications received two awards, B2B Project of the Year and Video of the Year, from the International Public Relations Network (IPRN) during the organization’s 2022 annual General Meeting & Conference just concluded in Cartagena, Colombia.
The B2B Project of the Year was an education and outreach program for the San Diego Tourism Marketing District to help explain its role guiding San Diego’s tourism recovery, getting San Diegans back to work and restoring city tax collections from transient occupancy tax (TOT) on hotel room night stays. The Video of the Year was a creative take that flipped the narrative about assisted living in the wake of the worst of the pandemic for Healthcare Trust Inc.
Adam Gislason joins Cymbiotika
as chief strategy officer
Cymbiotika, a leading nutritional supplement brand known for creating pure, clinically backed supplements, announced that Adam Gislason has joined the company as chief strategy officer and general counsel. Gislason will report to CEO, Shahab Elmi, and work closely with Durana Elmi (COO) and Sal Aziz (CMO).
Gislason brings over 20 years of legal and leadership experience to Cymbiotika. As a lawyer, Gislason has represented and advised established brands, emerging technologies, and award-winning content creators in all phases of business, including contracts, intellectual property, deal-making and commercial litigation. After leaving Big Law in 2019, Gislason was hired as the chief strategy officer and general counsel for a leading software development company and he co-founded several companies. In addition, Gislason has served as outside general counsel for several companies—Cymbiotika, Dash Radio, BPM Supreme, BOMANI Cold Buzz, EcoVerse, and Secure Circle.
Ingrid Delaet joins Neurocrine Biosciences
as chief regulatory officer
Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. announced that Dr. Ingrid Delaet will join the company’s executive management team as chief regulatory officer effective Oct. 1, leading the regulatory affairs, quality assurance, medical writing, and program management teams. Delaet has served as vice president of regulatory affairs at Neurocrine since January 2021.
Prior to joining Neurocrine Biosciences, Delaet served as senior vice president, regulatory affairs at Intercept Pharmaceuticals, which she joined in 2016. Between 1997 and 2016, she held various positions of increasing responsibility at Bristol-Myers Squibb in the United States, first in Clinical Research and Development and then in Global Regulatory Affairs, where she served as therapeutic area lead for immunology. Delaet started her career in the pharmaceutical industry in Belgium, where she held positions in clinical research at CellPro and Wyeth-Ayerst Research. She received her Ph.D. in immunology from The Free University of Brussels, Belgium.
Suzanne Zoumaras joins Plexium Inc.
as executive vice president
Plexium Inc., a leading next-generation targeted protein degradation company announced the appointment of Suzanne Zoumaras as executive vice president, head of human resources. Zoumaras is an experienced human capital leader who brings over two decades of experience in developing talent and growth strategies for a wide range of life sciences and technology companies, from private stage start-ups to large, publicly traded commercial organizations.Prior to joining Plexium, Zoumaras was a co-founder and managing partner of Human Capital Resource Partners, a human capital and advisory services consulting firm. Before that, she served as executive vice president and chief human capital officer at Arena Pharmaceuticals, executive vice president and chief human resource officer at Teradata, and as senior vice president of global human resources at Atmel Corporation (acquired by Microchip). She is also an adjunct professor in the Fowler School of Management at San Diego State University.
