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State Treasurer Bill Lockyer said individuals purchased $102.8 million of $250 million in bonds during the first sale conducted under Proposition 71, the $3-billion stem cell research measure approved by voters in 2004. The investment by individuals far exceeded the state’s expectations and was seen as a reflection of how strongly Californians believe in the promise of stem cell research to cure diseases and relieve suffering, Lockyer said. A total of 18 institutional investors bought the balance of the $250 million. The sale ended October 4.

 

PDL BioPharma said its board of directors has decided to actively seek offers for the sale of the company as a whole or of its key assets. The decision is the result of the Redwood City, California-based company’s ongoing evaluation of strategic alternatives. The company will continue the previously announced process for the potential sale of its commercial products as part of the overall process. A final decision regarding the specific deal structures or transactions the company may enter into will be driven by the goal of maximizing stockholder value. The company also announced that Mark McDade has stepped down from his position as CEO and director effective immediately. The board has elected L. Patrick Gage as interim CEO.

 

Researchers in California are reporting development of a fast, inexpensive test suitable for home use that could help millions of people avoid those “out of the blue” headaches that may follow consumption of certain red wines, cheese, chocolate, and other aged or fermented foods. The test, according to researchers at the University of California at Berkeley, is designed to detect the presence of so-called biogenic amines, naturally occurring toxins that can trigger a wide range of symptoms in sensitive individuals—from nasty headaches to life-threatening episodes of high-blood pressure. Existing tests for biogenic amines can take several hours, are cumbersome, and require large, expensive instruments found only in laboratories, the researchers said. In a study published in the journal Analytical Chemistry, the scientist report the new test, based on lab-on-a-chip technology, can produce results within five minutes.

 

Researchers at La Jolla, California-based Scripps Research Institute have identified the mechanism behind nicotine dependency, a finding that can point to potential new medications for smokers trying to quit. The research, published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found in rats that chronic nicotine use recruits a major brain stress system, the extrahypothalamic corticotropin releasing factor system, which contributes to continued tobacco use by exacerbating anxiety and craving upon withdrawal. The researchers found that administering a compound that blocked the receptors involved in this stress system alleviated withdrawal symptoms. The researchers were surprised by the compound’s dramatic effectiveness, but still don’t know yet if the same mechanism is involved in humans with tobacco dependence.

 

South San Francisco, California-based Anesiva said it entered into an agreement with Particle Therapeutics that grants the Oxford, England-based company a license to use Anesiva’s drug delivery technology to delivery glucagon, a hormone commonly used for the treatment of hypoglycemia associated with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Under the terms of the license agreement, Anesiva will receive an undisclosed up-front payment, along with milestone payments for certain key clinical and regulatory achievements, royalties on future sales, as well as royalties on revenues from any future sub-licensing of the technology by Particle Therapeutics. Anesiva owns intellectual property covering the delivery of solid particles of proteins, peptides, and small molecules (other than vaccines) into the skin at high velocity by pressurized gases. The technology aims to provide subcutaneous and systemic delivery of drugs without the pain and inconvenience associated with injections and needles.

 

Mountain View, California-based Perlegen Sciences and 454 Life Sciences, part of Roche Diagnostics, said they will collaborate to conduct large scale genetic re-sequencing in hundreds of human DNA samples collected by Perlegen from individuals with specific responses to a widely prescribed class of drug. The goal of the collaboration will be to determine whether sufficient genetic variation can be identified and validated to create a clinical test that will predict how individuals might respond to this class of medicines. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, Perlegen and 454 will each re-sequence select portions of the genome within each sample, using 454’s sequencing technology and DNA amplified with Perlegen’s proprietary sample preparation and amplification technologies.

 

In people with chronic myeloid leukemia, the drug Imatinib has been shown to drive cancer into remission, but the disease often returns when treatment is stopped. New research by scientists at Univeristy of California at Irvine indicates that Imatinib could cure CML under certain circumstances if it is taken over a long enough period of time. CML is a quick-progressing cancer that starts in the bone marrow and moves into the blood. In their study, the UCI scientists focused on Imatinib and the behavior of cancerous stem cells. Just as normal stem cells maintain organs and a functioning body, cancer stem cells are thought to maintain cancer growth and are tough to kill with treatment. Many scientists believe that Imatinib can kill regular cancer cells but not stem cells. When treatment ends, the remaining stem cells can produce more cancer cells, thus exacerbating the disease. According to this view, there is no hope to cure CML. The UCI scientists, however, believe Imatinib can kill cancerous stem cells but not when the stem cells temporarily stop dividing, a state known as quiescence. In their paper, the scientists present a mathematical formula that can calculate how long it would take to kill all of the stem cells and cure the cancer.

 

In a paper published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers from the University of California at San Francisco, examined the relationship between young adults (age 18-25) observing smoking in movies and the likelihood of starting to smoke. They found that more exposure to smoking in movies was significantly associated with young adults beginning to smoke or becoming established smokers. After falling for several decades, the incidence of smoking in movies started increasing around 1990 and, by 2000, was comparable to 1950 levels. Young adulthood is the time when most adolescent experimenters either transition to regular use or stop smoking. This study is the first to demonstrate that smoking in movies is associated with smoking in young adults in a dose-dependent manner; the more a young adult is exposed to smoking in the movies, the more likely he or she will have smoked in the past 30 days or have become an established smoker.

 

BIODEFENSE: SRI INTERNATIONAL TO FIND DRUGS TO COMBAT BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS
SRI International, the Menlo Park, California-based independent nonprofit research and development organization, said the Defense Threat Reduction Agency awarded it a $9.5-million contract. The agency, part of the Department of Defense, will have SRI lead a drug discovery and development program to identify approved drugs that could also be effective against biological threats. The goal of the program is to repurpose drugs that are currently approved and marketed but have not been previously evaluated against diseases caused by biological weapons. SRI will collaborate with other leading research institutes to develop a library of compounds, discover unknown activities against biothreat agents, and confirm the effectiveness of the best candidates. The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and BioRosettex are each contributing research and technology expertise.

 

Scripps Research Institute scientists said they have developed an innovative dual action anthrax vaccine-antitoxin combination that could provide rapid treatment in case of an anthrax attack. The immune response generated in rats by the new agent protects against lethal toxin exposure after only one injection, and is faster and stronger than any currently available vaccine. In a study published in the journal PLoS Pathogens, the researchers said the new anti-anthrax agent is an important and potentially critical development for anyone who works with the bacterium or those who might be exposed to it in a bioterrorism attack. While other strategies are being pursued to develop improved anthrax vaccines, the researchers said none of these offer the distinct advantage of combining the function of a vaccine with a potent antitoxin.

 

One in four people who are chronically infected with hepatitis B will die from its impact if untreated, but a team of researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine has identified the most cost-effective way of fighting this treacherous infection. Those infected with hepatitis B often don't know they have it, because they can go without symptoms for years. Looking at adults in the U.S. group most likely to be infected with hepatitis B—Asians and Pacific Islanders—the Stanford researchers created a mathematical model that found the most effective strategy is to screen this group to identify those who are chronically infected. Those who are infected require lifelong management, including screening for liver cancer and possible treatment with antiviral medication. Their findings will be published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

IVF: TECHNIQUE ENABLES PREGNANCY WITHOUT MULTIPLE BIRTHS
An in vitro fertilization technique that can avoid multiple births appears to be effective for women older than 35, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. More than half the women in a retrospective study became pregnant after undergoing the procedure, called a single blastocyst transfer, which transferred just one embryo into the womb. Nearly 60 percent of IVF procedures in the United States are performed on women older than 35. The study, published online in the journal Fertility and Sterility, said the technique offers reassurance that a woman can still expect a good pregnancy rate without gambling with twins.