Daily Business Report: Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022
Oxford Properties expands San Diego life
sciences presence with purchase of Ionis campus
Oxford Properties Group, a global real estate investor, asset manager and business builder, announced the purchase and long-term lease back of Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ 18.4-acre life science campus and corporate headquarters in Carlsbad. The campus features 250,000 square feet of existing life science and office space. As part of the transaction, Ionis will lease the properties for a minimum of 15 years.
The transaction follows Oxford’s entrance into the San Diego life science market in February this year via a $464 million acquisition of a 13-building portfolio. It builds on Oxford’s global life sciences portfolio and growing West Coast presence with high quality assets in the Bay Area and Seattle.
The acquisition grows Oxford’s existing San Diego life science portfolio to 900,000 square feet of income-producing properties, which will increase to over 1.2 million square feet upon completion of its development pipeline in the local market.
The Ionis campus features three buildings of one and two stories and comprises approximately 250,000 square feet across 18.4 acres. The buildings are all modern vintage, with the oldest completed in 2011 and the most recent in 2021.
Top Photo: Ionis Pharmaceuticals campus. (Credit: Oxford Properties)
An ominous warning for California economy
By Emily Hoeven | CalMatters
Economic warning signs are mounting in California — foreshadowing potentially tough budget decisions for the state officials and policymakers who emerge victorious from the Nov. 8 election.
One particularly eye-popping statistic: Just nine companies headquartered in the Golden State went public in the first three quarters of 2022, compared to 81 during the same period last year, according to a Bloomberg News analysis.
Bloomberg also foud that:
• As of Sept. 30, initial public offerings in California had raised just $177 million, compared to an average of $16 billion during the same period over the past five years.
• The $177 million figure represents just 2 percent of funds generated by U.S. companies that went public through the end of September. Last year at this time, California accounted for 39 percent of funds nationally.
• If this trend continues, it could spell an end to the streak California has maintained since 2003 of generating more IPOs than any other state.
Scripps Hospital first in county to offer latest
minimally invasive weight loss procecure
Memorial Hospital La Jolla has become the first medical center in San Diego County to offer the newest available bariatric surgical procedure, giving another option to morbidly obese patients who need to lose a much larger amount of weight and to others who have regained weight following previous weight-loss surgery. While the procedure, known as single anastomosis duodenal-ileal surgery or SADI, was endorsed by the American Society for Metabolic Bariatric Surgery in March 2019, it still is not widely available.
Kathie Lorkovic, 58, of Oceanside recently became one of the first Scripps patients to benefit from SADI. Since undergoing the surgery on Aug. 22, she has lost more than 45 pounds, down from her pre-surgery peak of nearly 300 pounds.
“The SADI procedure is an important advance in bariatric surgery,” said Sunil Bhoyrul, M.D., the Scripps La Jolla bariatric surgeon who performed the procedure on Lorkovic. “We are seeing weight-loss results that are far better than with any other previous surgery.”
Scripps doctors hope SADI will help Lorkovic eventually lose as much as 150 pounds.
Charles Calderaro III named chief
technical officer at Shoreline Biosciences
Shoreline Biosciences Inc., a San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation cellular immunotherapies announced the appointment of Charles Calderaro III as chief technical officer.
Calderaro brings three decades of manufacturing and engineering experience to Shoreline, with industry-leading expertise in building and optimizing technical and manufacturing infrastructures for cell therapy products.
Prior to joining Shoreline, Calderaro served as global head of technical operations for Kite, a pioneer in cell therapy development, where he was responsible for leading all aspects of Kite’s technical operations, including process development, CMC regulatory, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, engineering, and end-to-end optimization of commercial and pipeline products.
While at Kite, Calderaro oversaw the manufacturing of CAR-T cell therapy products at commercial scale.
Drinking gin at North Park’s Botanica
with one of your hands behind your back
Cocktail bar Botanica, the newest concept from San Diego’s Be Saha Hospitality Group, will open at 3139 University Ave. in North Park beginning Oct. 27. Following nine months of construction and a redesign to the prime corner location within North Park’s Art Produce building, Botanica will bring an immersive drinking and social experience to San Diego through its focus on genever and gin, creative bites and modern art including an NFT digital art gallery. At the forefront of Botanica’s bar program is lesser-known genever, one of Europe’s oldest distilled spirits and the precursor to gin, which Botanica will serve in elegant flutes — which are to be sipped with one of your hands behind your back, a tradition carried over from the Netherlands. Botanica will offer one of San Diego’s most diverse and thorough selections of genever, gin and other botanical spirits sourced from around the world, and educational genever and gin tastings and other events themed around both spirits.
The cocktails come from beverage director Marina Ferreira, co-founder of RoseWater Cocktail Co. Recently appointed Executive Chef Tiffany Tran joins Be Saha Hospitality’s culinary director Janina Garay in creating the food menu – and not for the first time, as the duo previously worked together at Michelin starred Addison.
Kroner Center for Financial Research
to strengthen, protect retiree investments
University of California San Diego alumnus Kenneth Kroner and his wife Jennifer have pledged $5 million to establish the Kroner Center for Financial Research at the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego. The newly named center will build and expand upon the work of the Pacific Center for Asset Management (PCAM), which the Kroners established in 2019 with a $1 million gift.
The most recent donation provides unrestricted funding to support research taking place in the Kroner Center for Financial Research, formerly PCAM, with the goal of bringing together academic researchers with asset owners and managers representing organizations that hold individuals’ long-term retirement savings, insurance and other assets. The center focuses on the social good by generating high-quality research to address relevant investing questions that ultimately affect the living standards for retirees around the globe.
Student math test scores fell across the
board nationwide after COVID-19
Public school students’ math performance in San Diego Unified, California and across the country suffered their steepest declines in more than two decades after two turbulent years of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022 national standardized test scores released Sunday night show. But despite the hardships of the pandemic, students’ reading scores in San Diego Unified and statewide managed to hold steady with 2019 levels.
ederal education officials released long-awaited results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often referred to as the Nation’s Report Card, that show for the first time how fourth- and eighth-graders’ reading and math performance has changed since 2019.
Point Productive launches ConsumerCheck
Point Predictive Inc., the San Diego-based company that provides artificial intelligence solutions to lenders, has launched ConsumerCheck. This solution offers personal loan lenders, credit card issuers, buy-now-pay-later providers, and other financial institutions access to Point Predictive’s 19 billion consumer risk insights to reduce or eliminate onerous consumer information requests and make better-informed risk management decisions for current and prospective customers. ConsumerCheck enables lenders and financial institutions to streamline the customer origination process and more deeply evaluate the risk associated with both new and existing customers
Star of India’s 159th birthday celebration is Nov. 13
Maritime Museum of San Diego, with an international reputation for excellence in restoring, maintaining, and operating historic vessels, including the world’s oldest active sailing ship, Star of India, invites museum members, volunteers and public to celebrate the legendary vessel’s 159th birthday Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. The museum plans to return the restored Euterpe figurehead to Star of India’s bow in the coming months as preparation for Star of India’s next sail, Nov. 11 and 12, 2023. Star of India, built in 1863, is the world’s oldest active sailing ship and has circumnavigated the globe 21 times.
Amplifica completes $11.8 million Series A financing
Amplifica Holdings Group Inc., a privately-held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced it successfully closed an $11.8 million Series A Preferred Stock financing. The company intends to use the funds to advance the development of its proprietary compounds for the treatment of androgenic alopecia (hair loss) in both male and female patients. “The investor participation in this financing round exceeded our Series A target, highlighting the unmet need in the marketplace for a solution to the challenge of hair loss, as well as the excitement for Amplifica’s novel approach and first-in-class therapies to address this problem,” said Frank Fazio, president and CEO.
DexCom, Adam Schefter announced Dexcom U
DexCom Inc., a leader in real-time continuous glucose monitoring for people with diabetes, announced today the launch of Dexcom U, the first-ever NIL (name, image, likeness) program designed to celebrate college athletes with diabetes and inspire people with diabetes who have athletic dreams of their own. The program, led by Dexcom in partnership with ESPN Senior NFL Insider and diabetes advocate Adam Schefter, whose wife Sharri lives with Type 1 diabetes, will offer 14 competitors a platform to share their story, act as role models to other aspiring athletes and receive mentorship and support from their Dexcom U teammates, professional athletes and figures who understand the challenges facing athletes with diabetes.
Gutter Plus expands service to all of San Diego County
Gutter Plus Inc., a local gutter installation and repair service contractor, has expanded its range of service to the entire San Diego County. Previously, Gutter Plus had serviced the greater San Diego area. The announcement comes right in the fall season, when leaves and other debris can sometimes collect in gutters and stop them from working. This is why autumn is a common time to have rain gutters inspected.
Gutter Plus Inc. is a fully licensed, bonded and insured company located in San Diego. It provides quality installation and repair of rain gutters for the entire San Diego county. It offers rain gutters in a variety of materials and styles, including seamless gutters.
To learn more about Gutter Plus, visit https://gutterplusinc.com/
Liberty National Corporation and founder
donate $10,000 to Cal Coast Cares Foundation
Residential developer Liberty National Corporation and its founder, Mark Schmidt, have donated $10,000 to Cal Coast Cares Foundation. Established by California Coast Credit Union as a separate nonprofit, the foundation supports educational initiatives across San Diego and Riverside Counties. Founded in 2015, Cal Coast Cares Foundation provides grants for teachers and scholarships for college-bound high school seniors in San Diego and Riverside Counties. The organization also offers a special program for current or former foster applicants, including fast-tracking first-year recipients to allow them to easily qualify for a second-year scholarship. The foundation’s grants to teachers are provided for project in the STREAM (Science, Technology, Reading, Arts, and Math) topics.
MiraCosta College earns highest
bond ratings from Moody’s and S&P
The MiraCosta Community College District maintains the highest credit ratings from both Moody’s Investors Services (Moody’s) and Standard & Poor’s Global (S&P), receiving a AAA from Standard and Poor’s Global and a AAA from Moody’s. This is the third time MiraCosta has received each agency’s top rating, having also earned the same ratings in 2017 and 2020. Both agencies recognized the district’s healthy financial position, the sustainable tax base of North County San Diego, leadership, and solid student enrollment.
