BUSINESS
December 26, 2009 | By Yuriko Nagano
At a time when major biotech companies in California are eager for investors, Japanese pharmaceutical companies are increasingly becoming a go-to place for money to develop and sell new drugs. Japan's largest drug maker teamed up with Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. in San Diego last month to develop and sell an obesity drug that the companies think could eventually be worth $1 billion. In October, Japan's second-largest drug firm announced a $110-million payment to Medivation Inc. of San Francisco to develop and market a potential prostate cancer drug together in a deal that they hope could reach $655 million.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
December 25, 2009 | By Phil Willon
Whether talking about electric cars or his much-promised "Subway to the Sea," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has reworked his message during his second term to focus on a single overriding goal: jobs. With more than a quarter-million residents of his city out of work, the mayor has put a new emphasis on job creation after spending much of his first four-year term focused on a spectrum of policy issues such as the environment, education and crime. "I think this is a new appreciation at City Hall for the importance of jobs, since we have lost 340,000 in Los Angeles County since January 2008," said Gary L. Toebben, president of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.
BUSINESS
October 4, 2009 | Tiffany Hsu
The gig : Chief executive of Sapphire Energy Inc., a San Diego biofuels company that develops algae-based fuel that has been used experimentally to power airplanes and, recently, a car that was driven across the country. The serial entrepreneur has had a hand in starting several companies in industries including medical engineering and biotechnology. Sapphire hopes to produce 1 million gallons of algae diesel and jet fuel each year in the next two years, and up to a massive 1 billion gallons of fuel a year by 2025.
BUSINESS
August 26, 2009 | Times Wire Reports
Biotech giant Amgen Inc.'s widely used anemia drug Aranesp didn't benefit patients with chronic kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes and anemia in a large, late-stage study, the company said. Patients in the study who got Aranesp as part of their treatment fared no better on the study's two main measures than those who got a placebo. One measure was heart complications or death from any cause; the other was the length of time until the patient died or needed chronic kidney dialysis. Patients in the Aranesp group also had more strokes, a known risk of the drug.
BUSINESS
June 10, 2009 | Times Wire Reports
Biogen Idec Inc. shareholders elected two of billionaire investor Carl Icahn's nominees and two company-backed directors to its board after a proxy contest. Preliminary results show shareholders elected Robert W. Pangia, William D. Young, Alex Denner and Richard Mulligan to the board, Biogen reported. Two other Icahn proposals, to incorporate the company in North Dakota and to fix the size of the board at 13 seats, were rejected by shareholders, Biogen said.