Biotech

Stock in Illumina, San Diego’s largest life science company, dropped sharply Friday after the San Diego sequencing giant reported lower than expected preliminary revenue for the second quarter.Shares fell 16 percent, causing Illumina to close at $305.05, down $58.61 for the day.Illumina’s market cap or value dropped by more than $8 billion, a loss greater than the entire market value of most local life science companies. That still leaves Illumina with a market cap of $43.8 billion.Illumina said it now expects revenue of about $835 million, which is $50 million lower than what analysts expected. “We are obviously disappointed with our second quarter financial results, " Francis deSouza, Illumina’s president and CEO, said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “Our preliminary analysis suggests that these challenges are transitory and do not reflect a macro change to the fundamentals of our business.”Canaccord Genuity backed deSouza’s take on the … [Read more...] about Illumina falls on disappointing revenue forecast

Salk Institute researchers say they’ve discovered a gene in plants that controls how deep their roots grow.The discovery advances Salk’s new Harnessing Plants Initiative to soak up carbon from the atmosphere, said Wolfgang Busch, who led the study. By storing carbon in roots, the initiative seeks to mitigate global warming.The finding also opens a new area of research in the complicated web of interactions that plants use to grow, Busch said. This could have practical agricultural implications, such as making crops more resistant to drought.The study was published Thursday in the journal Cell. It can be found online at http://j.mp/rootgene. Funded with more than $35 million from The Audacious Project, the Harnessing Plants Initiative aims to store carbon in the form of suberin, the main ingredient in cork.Roots naturally make suberin, which can last for decades under ground. Increasing suberin production would enable more carbon to be stored. The initiative’s goal is … [Read more...] about Salk Institute scientists get to the root of plant growth

An international association of stem cell researchers has honored UC San Diego’s Larry Goldstein for his longtime advocacy in the field.Goldstein, who heads UCSD’s regenerative medicine program, received the award June 26 at the International Society for Stem Cell Research meeting in Los Angeles.The International Society for Stem Cell Research, or ISSCR, established the Lawrence Goldstein Science Policy Fellowship program to train more stem cell scientists to be active in public policy discussions.Goldstein has been frequently quoted in news stories about issues surrounding the use of stem cells, including human embryonic stem cells, “adult” stem cells, and fetal tissue. In particular, Goldstein cautions the public about the risks of using unauthorized stem cell therapies. These are provided by a proliferation of stem cell clinics, which may make scientifically unverified or exaggerated claims.“As stem cell scientists, we are uniquely placed to explain … [Read more...] about Biotech notebook: Public service on stem cell science

Teamwork helped Laura Shawver, the Synthorx CEO, through the long, exhausting days on the road show. Sometimes she couldn’t sleep and sent emails to her IPO team. “You know you have the right team when you send an mail at two or three in the morning, and they email you back,” Shawver said. That team enables Shawver, a beach fan and surfer, to carve out some personal time outside of normal work hours, especially on weekends. “Sometimes I just don’t have my phone with me,” Shawver said. “That can be for a Saturday, it could be for an evening. Of course it can’t be for much longer than that. But to not have your phone with you all the time is important.” “I still go to the beach most mornings when I’m in town,” she said. “It doesn’t mean that I surf every morning, but I’m lucky enough to live close to the beach.” Synthorx completed its IPO in early December, selling 13.7 million shares at … [Read more...] about 3 paths to becoming a successful female biotech CEO

In what a federal judge called “a complex and troubling case,” a lawsuit against San Diego stem cell clinic StemGenex has been granted class action status.StemGenex wrongfully exaggerated patient satisfaction in marketing its treatments to ill or disabled people, according to the lawsuit. It was filed in 2016 by Selena Moorer in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.The class certification order, dated June 24 by Judge Anthony J. Battaglia, could expand the plaintiff group by hundreds of customers, “all of whom had the same type of treatment … and all of whom paid Defendants the same amount – $14,900 per treatment,” according to a statement by the plaintiffs’ attorneys at the San Diego firm Mulligan, Banham and Findley.Malte Farnaes, an attorney for StemGenex, told the Los Angeles Times the firm was “disappointed” in Battaglia’s order but was encouraged that the judge acknowledged the case is narrowly … [Read more...] about San Diego stem cell clinic StemGenex faces class action lawsuit