Daily Business Report: Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023
Genentech begins $450 million expansion
in Oceanside to make new drugs for rare diseases
By Chris Jennewein | Times of San Diego
Genentech has begun a $450 million expansion of its biotech campus in Oceanside with a new facility that will produce complex drugs for rare diseases and personalized medicine.
The South San Francisco-based company plans “one of the most modern commercial-scale biotech manufacturing facilities in the world” able to simultaneously produce multiple medicines.
“As the founder of the biotechnology industry, Genentech pioneered the processes and technologies used to manufacture complex biologic medicines,” said CEO Alexander Hardy at the groundbreaking on Friday.
The new facility will be in addition to the seven existing buildings on a 60-acre site on Antibody Way. It will be operational in early 2025 and support 150 new positions.
Top Photo: Rendering of Genentech’s biotech campus in Oceanside.
San Diego County to fund millions toward affordable housing
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved recommendations that will allow the county’s Housing and Community Development Services (HCDS) to leverage millions of dollars in state funding for the development and preservation of affordable housing.
The action came after the board announced last October its goal to produce 10,000 units by 2030. The effort is part of the county’s framework for ending homelessness through permanent housing and support targeted at the root cause and prevention.
The board also provided $3.3 million to help build Kettner Crossings. The $45 million development at the corner of Cedar Street and Kettner Boulevard will include 65 units for low-income seniors. It is being built on surplus county property and expected to break ground later this year.
Cookies on Tap pairs craft beer with Girl Scout cookies
Stone Brewing and other local breweries are going to create the perfect pairings of Girl Scout cookies with flights of craft beer. It’s called Cookies on Taps where the breweries purchase cookies directly from local Girl Scout troops, who use the proceeds to fund their activities, camp sessions and community service projects.
Each partner brewery will also donate a portion of the Cookies on Tap flight proceeds to Girl Scouts San Diego for its programs in the areas of STEM, outdoors, life skills, and entrepreneurship.
The Cookies on Tap program lasts from Feb. 17-20. Four Stone Brewing locations in San Diego County—Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station and Escondido, Stone Brewing Tap Room – Oceanside and Kettner. For the full list of participating Cookies on Tap breweries, visit sdgirlscouts.org/cookiesontap.
Mortgage costs lock out California home buyers
By Alejandro Lazo | CalMatters
Back in 2021, when mortgage interest rates were plumbing all-time lows, Caitlyn O’Connell and her fiance nearly closed on a home in San Luis Obispo. They backed out of the deal after discovering major issues with mold, she said. Over the course of the next year, the cost of a typical mortgage payment in California increased by as much as 56 percent in some markets, according to housing data firm Zillow.
O’Connell feared she and her now-husband were locked out of homeownership forever. This year they abandoned their search. “If we stay in California, we will have to be renters,” said O’Connell, who lives in Los Angeles’ Venice Beach neighborhood. “I don’t know, it really just feels like we’re stuck.”
Tens of thousands ofCalifornia first-time home buyerssaw their homeownership ambitions fail last year as mortgage interest rates doubled after the Federal Reserve began its inflation-fighting campaign last summer.
While the frenzied bidding wars that have defined parts of the state’s housing markets for
more than a decade may have subsided, the monthly costs of a mortgage have left the state’s market more unaffordable than at any point in the last decade, particularly for lower- and middle-class families.
Illumina delivers first NovaSeq X Plus
sequencer to the Broad Institute
Illumina Inc., a global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, announced that its first NovaSeq X Plus system was recently delivered to the Broad Institute. Alex Aravanis, chief technology officer of Illumina, made the announcement in a presentation at the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) conference in Hollywood, Fla. Aravanis also announced much anticipated updates on Illumina’s innovation roadmap including Illumina Complete Long Reads, the company’s long-read sequencing technology, and its XLEAP SBS chemistry. Both the NovaSeq X Series and Illumina Complete Long Reads were announced in September 2022.
Tyson & Mendes promotes 4 to regional manager
Insurance and civil litigation defense firm Tyson & Mendes LLP announced four promotions to regional manager, a new role for the firm, for Partners Lynn Allen, Kristi Blackwell, Michael Drews and Jacob Felderman.
Lynn Allen has been named southwest regional manager, managing Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico from her base in the firm’s Scottsdale office. She represents insurance companies and their insureds in all aspects of insurance defense.
Kristi Blackwell has been promoted to California regional manager, overseeing San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County, Fresno and Northern California from the firm’s San Diego headquarters. Blackwell joined Tyson & Mendes in 2008.
Michael Drews, northwest and central regional manager, oversees Colorado, Illinois, Tennessee and Washington. Based in Tyson & Mendes Denver office, Drews handles cases that draw from diverse practice areas.
Jacob Felderman was named east regional manager, overseeing Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. Felderman is also head of legal operations for the firm, providing strategic guidance on substantive legal issues.
Sony Electronics launches limited aibo
Strawberry Milk Edition in the U.S.
SAN DIEGO — Sony Electronics Inc. announced that the limited-quantity aibo Strawberry Milk Edition (ERS-1000/P) is now available for purchase in the United States directly from Sony. Originally released in Japan in late January 2022, the aibo Strawberry Milk Edition is the third color variation of the acclaimed aibo (ERS-1000) robotic “puppy” companion in the United States.
The aibo Strawberry Milk Edition features a vibrant pink color body with white accents and performs an exclusive dance unique to Strawberry Milk Edition models. As with the current white aibo model, the aibo Strawberry Milk Edition comes with a three-year AI Cloud Plan, charging station including both charging stand and charging mat, AC adaptor, power cord and a special pink ball for playtime.
Escondido’s North County Mall acquired
by Bridge Group Investments, Steerpoint Capital
ESCONDIDO — Bridge Group Investments, founded by the Mersho Family in 2004, and Steerpoint Capital announced that they have closed on an acquisition of the North County Mall in Escondido. Situated on almost 83 acres in northern San Diego County, the North County Mall offers more than 1.25 million square feet of retail space, anchored by Target, Macy’s and JCPenney. It also includes a wide range of high-quality entertainment, fitness, and retail offerings, including 24 Hour Fitness, Forever 21, H&M, BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, Black Angus Steakhouse, On the Border and more.
Arista Therapeutics halts clinical
trial and moves to dissolve the company
SAN DIEGO — Aristea Therapeutics, a clinical-stage immunology focused drug development company advancing novel therapies to treat serious inflammatory diseases, announced that, due to safety findings in the ongoing Phase 2 clinical trials, it has discontinued the RIST4721 development program in order to protect patient safety. As a result of this decision, the board of directors has determined, after careful and extensive consideration of a range of strategic alternatives, that the appropriate business decision is to undertake an orderly conclusion of the Aristea Therapeutics business and operations and dissolve the company.
Learnsoft releases new mobile app
SAN DIEGO — Learnsoft announced its continuing commitment to solving learning and development issues for organizations in highly-regulated industries with the release of a new mobile app. With the support of investor funding in 2022, the launch of the mobile app deeply enhances Learnsoft’s ability to make learning as easy and accessible as possible to workers wherever they need to learn. Additionally, the company has offered new product features, enhanced platform usability, announced partnerships and closed an exciting new sector expansion all within the past few months.
TuSimple names Evan Dunn as
permanent general counsel
SAN DIEGO—TuSimple, a global autonomous driving technology company, announced that Evan Dunn has been promoted to serve as the company’s general counsel. The position oversees TuSimple’s legal department, including compliance, corporate governance, litigation and intellectual property. Dunn replaces Susan Marsch who held the position on an interim basis since September 2022. Prior to his promotion, Dunn was TuSimple’s deputy general counsel and corporate secretary. Prior to joining TuSimple, he held a similar role as deputy general counsel for a publicly-traded real estate investment trust company.
Frederic B. Luddy to receive
2023 Horatio Alger Award
SAN DIEGO — Frederick B. Luddy, founder of ServiceNow and owner of the San Diego Aviators professional tennis team, has been seleced for membership in the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans Inc., a nonprofit educational organization honoring the achievements of outstanding indivuduals and encourages youth to pursue their dreams through higher education. Luddy and the Member Class of 2023 will be formally inducted into the association during the Horatio Alger Award Induction Ceremonies in Washington, D.C. from March 30 through April 1, 2023.
MAPP joins MACH Alliance
SAN DIEGO — Mapp, the international provider of insight-led customer experiences, announced it has joined the MACH Alliance, a nonprofit organization advocating for open, best-of-breed technology ecosystems that are Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS and Headless. Launched in 2020, the MACH Alliance’s mission is to future-proof and drive current and future digital experiences with modern and connected enterprise technology. As a new member, Mapp is in good company alongside other MACH Alliance certified technology vendors supporting fast growing eCommerce brands.
SOCi releases revolutionary OpenAI
model into review response management tool
SOCi Inc., the marketing platform for multi-location brands, announces the release of its newest innovation — the integration of OpenAI’s ChatGPT natural language model into SOCi’s award winning review response management tool to enable instant intelligent responses to online reviews. The release is the first in a line of “Genius” products to be released by SOCi that enable highly intelligent and automated workflows across numerous major marketing channels like search, social, reviews, ads, and more.
Preferred Employers Insurance promotes
Eric Hansen to senior vice president of claims
SAN DIEGO — Preferred Employers Insurance, a specialty Berkley Company serving the workers’ compensation insurance needs of California businesses, has announced the promotion of Eric Hansen to senior vice president – claims. “Eric brings over 30 years of deep workers’ compensation insurance claims acumen to this role, including resolving complex, large exposure cases,” said, Dennis Levesque, president of the company. Preferred Employers Insurance was founded in San Diego in 1998. The company is known for serving its brokers and policyholders with the best combination of price and workers’ compensation insurance services available in the state of California.
