BayBio

Zelboraf™ and cobas® BRAFV600E Test by Plexxikon Inc. Genentech/Roche Roche Molecular Diagnostics

keith — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:13:25 +0000

With limited treatments available to patients with the deadliest form of skin cancer, the FDA approved ZELBORAF™ and the cobas® BRAF Test which could increase survival for 50 percent of patients with melanoma. A breakthrough accomplishment in personalized medicine, this approach made the drug available to patients in less than six years from the discovery of the molecule in 2005. ZELBORAF™ is approved for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with the BRAFV600E mutation as detected by a FDA-approved test. Plexxikon discovered the drug which is an oral, small molecule inhibitor that targets the BRAF mutation, occurring in about half of all cases of melanoma. ZELBORAF™ is being co-developed by Plexxikon, Roche and Genentech under a 2006 agreement. Roche Molecular Diagnostics developed the cobas® BRAF Test. Genentech and Daiichi Sankyo are co-promoting ZELBORAF™ in the US. Roche will commercialize the drug outside the US. Since April 2011, Plexxikon is a member of the Daiichi Sankyo Group.

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Alejandro Zaffaroni, Ph.D.

keith — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:11:15 +0000

A native of Montevideo, Uruguay, Dr. Zaffaroni received his B.Sc. from the University of Montevideo, and his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Rochester. In 1951 he joined Syntex Corporation in Mexico, where his pioneering work on the development of the birth control pill transformed Syntex into a major pharmaceutical company. Eventually Dr. Zaffaroni was named President of Syntex Laboratories and President of the Syntex Research Institute, which became headquartered in the United States. Dr. Alejandro Zaffaroni has established many biotechnology companies throughout his distinguished career: ALZA Corporation, DNAX Ltd., Affymax, Affymetrix, Symyx, Maxygen, SurroMed, and Alexza among many others. Dr. Zaffaroni is recognized as a leading contributor to Bay Area bioscience. He is credited with more than 70 patents and in 1995 received the National Medal of Technology from President Clinton, the highest award that the United States bestows in the field.

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Versant Ventures

keith — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:10:12 +0000

Versant Ventures is a leading healthcare-focused venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments in medical devices, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, healthcare services, and healthcare information technology. The firm, founded in 1999, consists of a seasoned team of twelve managing directors with more than 130 years of venture capital investing experience and more than 150 years of operating experience. Versant Ventures currently manages over $1.6 billion in committed capital having recently raised its fourth fund in July 2008, and is currently managing over 75 companies in its portfolio.

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Veracyte

keith — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:09:09 +0000

Veracyte, Inc., based in South San Francisco, Calif., is a pioneer in molecular cytology, focused on discovering, developing and commercializing pre-operative molecular diagnostic solutions in oncology and other major disease areas. The company aims to improve patient care by increasing the diagnostic accuracy of cytology samples. This will enable physicians to make more informed treatment decisions early, thus helping patients avoid unnecessary invasive procedures while reducing healthcare costs. Veracyte’s lead product, the Afirma® Thyroid FNA Analysis, helps resolve inconclusive thyroid nodule cytology results obtained via fine needle aspiration and can potentially help large numbers of patients avoid unnecessary surgery as part of thyroid cancer diagnosis.

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Marty Van Duyn

keith — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:08:17 +0000

Marty Van Duyn is the Assistant City Manager with the City of South San Francisco. He brings more than 40 years of experience as an urban planner and a leader in redevelopment, city management, and economic development for a variety of cities and states. Mr. Van Duyn joined the City of South San Francisco in 1995 as Economic and Community Development Director to guide the City’s aggressive redevelopment efforts and to implement the City’s job creation and business attraction programs. South San Francisco has been at the forefront of supporting entrepreneurship for local companies. The City Council believes that government is a partner, not an obstruction, in providing essential services for the industry. In 1995, Mr. Van Duyn went to work to create a partnership with the life sciences companies. He assembled a team of experienced professionals to work directly with representatives from the growing industry. His team reduced the time it took to process permits and provided resources to allow businesses to grow. Likewise, the City Council leveraged redevelopment monies to pay for nearly $200 million in infrastructure improvements that specifically help the life sciences industry. These improvements include expanding the Water Quality Control Plant, upgrading the sewer system and initiating the wet weather program, improving roadways and intersections, constructing the Oyster Point Overpass and Flyover, creating the One-Stop Shop Permit Center, and building the Gateway childcare center. In the future, the City will welcome a new ferry terminal at the Oyster Point Marina and a new Caltrain Station. The result of this effort has been to stimulate the development of nearly eight million square feet of life science space within the City. With continued leadership by the City Council, Mr. Van Duyn and his staff continue to work with companies to assist their growth by providing vital services to ensure that the industry can focus on product development.

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Pablo D.T. Valenzuela, Ph.D.

keith — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:07:13 +0000

Pablo D.T. Valenzuela is a Chilean biochemist dedicated to biotechnology development. He is one of the cofounders of Chiron Corporation (1981). Together with Ed Penhoet and Bill Rutter he built Chiron into one of the three emblematic biotechnology companies in the US and San Francisco Bay Area. Under the scientific direction of Dr. Valenzuela, Chiron scientists cloned and sequenced the AIDS virus genome, invented the first recombinant vaccine against Hepatitis B virus, discovered the hepatitis C virus, and developed a yeast production system for several key proteins including recombinant human insulin. The invention of the recombinant vaccine against Hepatitis B virus was chosen by Business Week as one of the three most innovative technological products of the year 1986. As a scientist and entrepreneur in the US, he is responsible for ten products in the area of international diagnostics and blood banking (screening tests for Hepatitis C, AIDS, Hepatitis B); four products in the pharmaceutical area (Hepatitis B vaccine, human insulin, beta-interferon and a wound-healing gel based on platelet derived growth factor); and one product for the food industry (bovine rennin). All these products were made using a revolutionary yeast expression technology.

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Tethys Bioscience, Inc.

keith — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:06:15 +0000

Tethys Bioscience is a predictive personalized medicine company developing novel tests which address the growing global healthcare challenge of chronic diseases such as diabetes. Founded in 2005, the company integrates an experienced management team, innovative research based on sound science, a CLIA-licensed clinical laboratory, and a commercialization team with extensive experience in diagnostic innovation. Tethys lead product is the PreDx™ Diabetes Risk Score, a first-of-its-kind predictive tool that delivers an accurate assessment of an individual’s risk of developing Type 2 diabetes within the next five years. The blood test and resulting PreDx Score is designed to help physicians identify patients at highest risk of developing Type 2 diabetes so that they can promote lifestyle changes or initiate treatment plans to prevent or slow progression to Type 2 diabetes. Numerous studies have demonstrated that such interventions can reduce the incidence of new onset diabetes by up to 60%.

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Chris Somerville, PhD

keith — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:05:18 +0000

Chris Somerville is the Director of the Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Plant Biology, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University and a visiting scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Somerville is an acting director of the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), a new research and development organization that will bring advanced knowledge in biology, physical sciences, engineering, and environmental and social sciences to bear on problems related to global energy production, particularly the development of next-generation, carbon-neutral transportation fuels. EBI represents a collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and BP, which will support the Institute with a 10-year $500 million grant.

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Robert Swanson

keith — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:02:15 +0000

Robert Swanson co-founded the Genentech in 1976 with Dr. Herbert Boyer, a biochemist at the University of California at San Francisco. Swanson, then a 29-year-old venture capitalist, approached Boyer about the possibility of developing biotechnology and marketing useful products using recombinant DNA technology. Swanson served as a director and as chief executive officer of Genentech until February 1990 when he was named chairman of the board, a position he held until his retirement in December 1996. Swanson passed away in December 1999. Prior to forming Genentech, Swanson was a partner with Kleiner & Perkins venture capital partnership in San Francisco, and from 1970 to 1974, he was an investment officer with Citicorp Venture Capital Ltd. Swanson earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Master of Science in Management from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

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David and Alice Schwartz

keith — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:01:15 +0000

Husband and wife team David and Alice Schwartz co-founded Hercules-based Bio-Rad Laboratories in 1952. Under their guidance, the company has maintained a spirit of entrepreneurial adventure and evolved into a global enterprise, manufacturing and distributing a broad range of products for the life science research and clinical diagnostics markets. Today, Bio-Rad has offices and manufacturing sites located around the globe. Bio-Rad is renowned worldwide among hospitals, universities, major research institutions, as well as biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. It serves more than 85,000 research and industry customers worldwide through its global network of operations. The company employs over 5,000 people globally and has grown to over $1 billion in revenues. Together, Dave and Alice have devoted their lives to Bio-Rad. Through the years, the company has earned a reputation for providing innovative and useful products that serve the needs of its customers.

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