Daily Business Report: Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023
In 2022, the California Legislature passed nearly 1,200 bills — and nearly 1,000 became law with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.
Many of the new laws are minor fixes to laws that legislators and the governor previously enacted. Others are rather narrow or specific to a certain industry. Still others will be phased in over time.
Newsom has highlighted several, including a law limiting prosecutors from using rap lyrics and music videos in court and another requiring oil companies to publicly post their profits (the governor has also called a special session on his plan to impose a penalty on oil refiners for excess profits.)
And then there’s a select group of new laws that took effect on Jan. 1, 2023 — and that could have a noticeable impact on the daily lives of Californians, or on the policy direction of the state.
Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters; iStock
Illumina and Nashville Biosciences
announce sequencing agreement with Amgen
Illumina Inc., a global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, and Nashville Biosciences LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, announced an agreement with Amgen, a global biopharmaceutical company, to whole-genome sequence approximately 35,000 DNA samples.
The sample cohort is primarily made up of DNA from African Americans, who are currently underrepresented in research for the clinical applications of genomics, including drug target discovery. This cohort will be the largest data set of genomes of its kind to date.
It’s widely recognized that most genomic data sets are drawn from people of European ancestry. This lack of diversity in genomic data has created a gap in the scientific understanding of the underlying genetic causes of disease and inhibits equitable access to precision health therapies.
“The whole-genome sequencing of these 35,000 samples will work toward greater diversity of genomic data to ultimately enable improved access to precision therapies for all people,” said Joydeep Goswami, chief strategy and corporate development officer and interim chief financial officer of Illumina.
Homeless safe campground
project on hold — for now
By Lisa Halverstadt | Voice of San Diego
The Housing Commission is back to the drawing board on its hopes for a safe campground for unsheltered seniors. Officials wanted to move forward this month with a pilot to allow about 40 unhoused San Diegans to camp in a downtown parking lot with access to service and amenities.
Those plans are now off. Nonprofit Alpha Project last week walked away from negotiations with the city, sending the Housing Commission back to its search for a service provider and locations beyond a small Cortez Hill parking lot it had been most focused on.
Housing Commission Chairman Mitch Mitchell said the city agency remains committed to the model – and now expects to also eye larger sites.
“We are not giving up in our efforts to find a site and provider, but for now we are back in research mode and hope to present something for the full commission to approve in the near future,” Mitchell said.
City to begin phased rollout
of organic waste recycling program
City of San Diego residents will soon be able to make a significant impact on climate change by diverting their organic waste from the landfill. As part of the city’s new Organic Waste Recycling program, and in compliance with state requirements, new green bins and kitchen pails will be delivered to city-serviced residents, with households in the 92102 and 92113 ZIP codes receiving their bins first, on Wednesday, Jan. 11. The phased rollout will continue with about 15,000 bins delivered each week over the course of the next several months.
The Organic Waste Recycling program – which represents the biggest change to trash and recycling in San Diego’s history – will comply with Senate Bill 1383, which requires residents and businesses to reduce the disposal of organic waste (food scraps, food-soiled paper and yard trimmings) by 75 percent by 2025.
The city will collect organic waste from green bins at the customer’s normal trash collection location weekly and take it to the Miramar Greenery, where it will be broken down into compost, which is available free to residents. While the rollout begins this month, it will take until mid-2023 to complete, and the city asks that residents wait until they have received their kitchen pail before they begin collecting food scraps.
Site previously occupied by Sid’s Carpet Barn
in San Marcos sold for $5.8 million to rental agency
A 1.25-acre parcel of land in San Marcos that was previously occupied by Sid’s Carpet Barn has been sold for $5.8 million to Saianvi Investments LLC, an executive suite rental agency headquartered in Mission Viejo. The sellers were Carmel Z LLC and Curlan Ltd. The property is at 263-285 East Carmel St.
Sid’s Carpet Barn operates three other locations and will find a new location in North San Diego County, according to Marc Frederick and Reg Kobzi of CBRE’s San Diego office, who represented the sellers in the transaction.
Jessica Hurtado named the new dean of learning
and technology at Cuyamaca College
Cuyamaca College has named Jessica Hurtado as the new dean of learning and technology resources. Hurtado comes to the Rancho San Diego campus after helping lead online student support for the California Virtual Campus (CVC), a $20 million initiative to meet the online distance education and online support services needs of the 116-college system.
In her new post at Cuyamaca, Hurtado will oversee instructional computer facilities, instructional media services, the campus library, instructional technology support and training, tutoring, and web development.
At the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, Hurtado served as a CVC program manager for online student experience. There, she led operations in distance education for the CVC Student Experience division, oversaw and maintained professional partnerships, and collaborated with the Foundation for California Community Colleges.
Hurtado holds a certification in E-Learning Instructional Design and Development from Oregon State University, a master’s degree in Public Administration from National University, a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences from San Diego State University, and an associate degree in social and behavioral sciences from San Diego City College.
San Diego Foundation and Dr. Seuss
Foundation offering $1 million in grants
San Diego Foundation and the Dr. Seuss Foundation announced the availability of $1 million in grant funding for local nonprofits to increase access to quality, affordable early childhood education and developmental care. The foundations are committing $1 million in total funding for the 2023 Early Childhood Initiative Equitable Opportunities Grant, including $500,000 in funding from the SDF Early Childhood Initiative and $500,000 of funding from the Dr. Seuss Foundation. Deadline to apply is 2 p.m. on Feb. 10. SDF will host an optional virtual Q&A webinar for prospective nonprofit applicants at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 25.
ClearNote Health to present
at health care conference
ClearNote Health (formerly known as Bluestar Genomics), a cancer detection company, announced that Chief Executive Officer Dave Mullarkey will present a company update at the 41st annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 2 p.m. Mullarkey will discuss the company’s ongoing clinical validation and commercialization efforts across a multi-test portfolio. The conference will be held in the Mission Bay Room of the JW Marriott.
Quiagen completes acquisition of Verogen
Quiagen announced the acquisition of Verogen, a privately held company based in San Diego and a leader in the use of next-generation sequencing technologies to drive the future of human gentification (HID) and forensic investigation. Verogen supports the global human identification community with NGS tools and professional services to help resolve criminal and missing-persons cases. QIAGEN and Verogen have been commercialization partners since announcing a distribution agreement in June 2021.
Apply for the California Competes tax credit
If your business is looking to grow over the next five years or is at risk of leaving California, you may be eligible for up to $85 million in tax credits from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). Join the hundreds of San Diego companies that have benefitted from the program. Awards are based on factors including:
• Number of jobs created or retained
• Anticipated amount of new capital investments
• Overall economic benefit to the state
• Opportunities for future growth and expansion
The Ken Blanchard Companies
releases Essential Motivators
The Ken Blanchard Companies, announced the release of Essential Motivators, a program that provides a framework for identifying a person’s pattern of core psychological needs, values, and behaviors. It helps people better understand themselves and others, which allows them to appreciate different perspectives and drives all performance to a higher level. Get started today at www.kenblanchard.com/Solutions/Essential-Motivators
Juno Diagnostics expands portfolio with
launch of Juno Hazel plus screening solution
Juno Diagnostics, a company focused on bringing vital health information to patients by improving access, affordability, and transparency, announced the expansion of its product portfolio with the launch of Juno Hazel Plus, a non-invasive prenatal screening solution enabled through finger-prick amounts of blood, and the creation of an Early Access Program. Similar to the Juno Hazel screening test, Juno Hazel Plus leverages JunoDx’s proprietary Sample Collection Kit to improve early access to high-quality genetic testing without the high costs, long lead times, and phlebotomy requirements of venous-based NIPS.
9amHealth launches initiative to encourage
more Americans to take ADA’s risk test
9amHealth has committed to a new initiative that provides clear steps and solutions for improving the long-term health of people living with diabetes. As part of the initiative, 9amHealth will offer discounted A1c tests to people who take the 60-Second Type 2 Diabetes Risk Test from the American Diabetes Association (ADA), helping to form an actionable path towards diagnosis for the 81 percent of Americans with prediabetes who are unaware of their condition. Those interested in taking the ADA test can visit www.diabetes.org/diabetes/risk-test.
Multiple new insurance wins expands improved
access to Phexxi for millions of women
Evofem Biosciences Inc. announced multiple new insurance wins that give millions of additional women access to Phexxi (lactic acid, citric acid, potassium bitartrate) for the hormone-free prevention of pregnancy. “Evofem’s unrelenting focus and engagement with payers continues to deliver results, expanding and improving access to Phexxi for millions of women across the country,” said Saundra Pelletier, chief executive officer of Evofem.
Three recent Medicaid wins move Phexxi to a Preferred formulary position with no restrictions, improving Phexxi coverage for more than 3.7 million lives in 11 states.
