Daily Business Report: Friday, Dec. 3, 2021
State slashes water supply for cities and farms
CalMatters
Californians could soon see mandatory statewide water restrictions if there isn’t significant rainfall this winter, said Karla Nemeth, director of the state Department of Water Resources.
As if that outlook weren’t dire enough, Nemeth also announced that contractors who rely on the State Water Project — which supplies drinking water to 27 million Californians and irrigates 750,000 acres of farmland — should expect 0 percent of their typical allocation next year.
It’s the latest indication that California’s devastating drought is reaching unprecedented levels: The state hasn’t unveiled a 0 percent allocation since 2014, and has never done so before the month of January.
Meanwhile, Lake Oroville, the largest reservoir in the State Water Project, is at its lowest point in history at 30 percent capacity — about half of its typical level for this time of year.
Some regions hoping for a reprieve in the form of rainfall may be out of luck. San Diego, for example, just experienced its driest November in 41 year.
NASSCO begins construction on fifth ship
in the ESB program for the U.S. Navy
General Dynamics NASSCO has started construction on the future USS Robert E. Simanek, the fifth ship of the Navy’s reclassified Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) program.
Dennis DuBard, a long-time NASSCO employee and the start of construction honoree, initiated the first cut of steel that will be used to construct the vessel.
“Today, we start construction of the ship that honors the life and service of the ship’s namesake, Marine Corps Private First Class Robert E. Simanek,” said Dave Carver, president of General Dynamics NASSCO.
“This ship represents the thousands of men and women who will spend roughly 2 million hours building this ship.”
The 784-foot ship will be configured with a 52,000-square-foot flight deck to support MH-53, MH-60, MV-22 tilt-rotor, and H1 aircraft operations.
The future USS John L. Canley (ESB 6), the fourth ship in the ESB program, is scheduled to be launched in the summer of 2022.
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust acquires
Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust has acquired the AAA Four Diamond 210-room Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa in La Jolla for $108 million. The company retained Noble House Hotels & Resorts to manage the hacienda-style resort.
The resort contains 210 guestrooms and suites and over 50,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space (originally built as a conference center) surrounded by courtyards and gardens.
The resort also features numerous indoor and outdoor dining venues, including Mustangs & Burros, Greenfinch Restaurant & Bar, Haven Bar & Grill, Blend Café and Secret Garden, which serve an array of authentic West Coast cuisine.
For full-year 2021, following a slow start to the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Estancia is forecasted to produce between $308 and $313 of total revenue per available room, according to Pebblebrook. The resort is expected to generate hotel earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $4.6 to $4.7 million and hotel net operating income, after a 4 percent capital reserve, of $3.7 to $3.8 million.
Curebound nonprofit launched to invest
$100 million into cancer research
Curebound, a new nonprofit organization, has been launched in San Diego with the intent to invest $100 million into cancer research.
The new organization funds collaborative research among San Diego’s top research institutions includes UCSD Moores Cancer Center, Rady Children’s Hospital, Salk Institute, Sanford Burnham Prebys, La Jolla Institute for Immunology and Scripps Research.
“We recognize that San Diego is uniquely positioned to be a global center for cancer research innovation, said Anne Marbarger, CEO of Curebound. “Nowhere else in the world can you find this mix of research power, clinical care capability and biotech industry aligned in such close proximity.”
With over $20 million raised and invested into collaborative cancer research, the organization has funded 73 innovative research projects with six clinical trials currently underway.
Conrad Prebys Foundation names Grant Oliphant
as chief executive officer, beginning March 2022
Grant Oliphant, president of The Heinz Endowments, has been selected to become the new chief executive officer of the Conrad Prebys Foundation, effective in March 2022.
Oliphant will bring more than 25 years of foundation leadership and expertise in effective regional philanthropy to San Diego.
Oliphant will leave his current post at the end of February 2022 after three decades of philanthropic and public service stewardship in Pittsburgh, most recently through his leadership at The Heinz Endowments, a family foundation with assets of more than $2 billion and grantmaking that exceeds $90 million annually.
Previously, Oliphant served as president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation from 2008 to 2014, where he recast the community foundation’s mission around a commitment to community leadership and impact and doubled its assets to over $1 billion.
Ingenium acquires WSR Environmental
and Safety Management
Ingenium, an Escondido-based waste management company, has acquired WSR Environmental and Safety Management.
By acquiring WSR, Ingenium adds environmental health and safety consulting services including safety planning, program management, training, environmental permits, and interfacing with regulatory agencies. These additional services will enable Ingenium to provide comprehensive waste management and environmental, health and safety compliance to its clients, the company said.
Ingenium provides a broad range of waste management services specializing in packaging, transportation, recycling, and disposal of hazardous, non-hazardous, biological, universal, and radioactive waste.
Resilience acquire SwiftScale Biologics,
leader in cell-free protein synthesis technology
National Resilience Inc. (Resilience), a San Diego technology-focused manufacturing company, announced the acquisition of SwiftScale Biologics, a San Leandro, Calif.-based company developing cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) technology.
CFPS eliminates the constraints of using living cells in the drug manufacturing process, resulting in faster production times, less variability across batches and greater scalability with hard-to-produce proteins. With strong demand in the biopharma industry for multispecific drugs and other complex biologics, CFPS is a promising avenue to produce these next-generation therapies. Upon further development, Resilience intends to integrate this technology into its future manufacturing platforms.
ViaCyte’s treatment for Type1 diabetes
shows promising results in two studies
San Diego-based ViaCyte Inc. announced publication of promising preliminary results of an ongoing, first-in-human Phase 1/2 study demonstrating that its stem cell-derived therapy can produce insulin in people with severe type 1 diabetes. The findings were published Thursday in Cell Stem Cell and Cell Reports Medicine.
“The data from these papers represent a significant scientific advance,” said Cell Reports Medicine study lead author James Shapiro, M.D., Canada Research chair and director of the Islet Transplant Program at the University of Alberta, Canada. “It is the first reported evidence that differentiated stem cells implanted in patients can generate meal-regulated insulin secretion, offering real hope for the incredible potential of this treatment.”
Tryp Therapeutics gets FDA okay
to proceed with phase 2 study in fibromyalgia
Tryp Therapeutics, a San Diego pharmaceutical company, announced that it has received confirmation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that its review of Tryp’s Investigational New Drug application is complete and that the company may proceed with its clinical study in fibromyalgia.
The trial is being conducted with Kevin Boehnke from the University of Michigan and will evaluate the company’s oral formulation of synthetic psilocybin, TRP-8802, in combination with psychotherapy. Tryp expects to initiate the Phase 2a study in 2022.
“The upcoming Phase 2a study with the University of Michigan for fibromyalgia represents a significant milestone for Tryp’s clinical programs,” commented Greg McKee, chairman and CEO of Tryp Therapeutics. “We are eager to begin enrolling patients in the study next year considering the significant, unmet needs of fibromyalgia patients.”
RMM Construction Management Services
named project manager for tribal building
San Diego-based RMM Construction Management Services LLC has been named project manager for construction of the new Buena Vista Rancheria Government Building in Ione, Calif., southeast of Sacramento. The new Tribal Administration building includes consolidation of many of the current government functions now located in Sacramento.
The Buena Vista Rancheria is owned by the Buena Vista Band of Miwok Indians. The 10,000-square-foot Tribal Administration building is being built adjacent to the Miwok Buena Vista Rancheria. It will include office space for the Gaming Commission, Gaming Authority, Tribal Council and Tribal Leadership offices, and Harrah’s Casino Management.
