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HOT COMPANIES / Decision Makers 2006 San Diego Convention & Visitor Bureau says that San Diego’s tourism economy will remain strong next year, even as the area grapples with a big increase in the number of hotel rooms. The forecast said an additional 2300 hotel rooms will incrase the market as high-profile projects such as the Grand Del Mar Resort & Spa, the Hard Rock Hotel, and the Diegan open. Overall the number of hotel rooms will grow by 2%, while ConVis projects that the number of visitors will increase by 1.8%. Occupancy rates will stay at around 73%. Shidler Group - San Diego, is a real estate company buying 15 office buildings for $187 million. The Shidler Group purchased the structures in San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles counties from Arden Realty, a firm that was acquired this year by General Electric. Biocom - San Diego, is a local biotechnology industry trade group, that is currently making efforts to bring more venture capital firms to San Diego. Ian Wisenberg is Senior Vice President of Business Development for Biocom. Websense - San Diego, is a maker of Web-filtering and security technology, has announced that it is acquiring Palo Alto-based PortAuthority Technologies for about $90 million in cash. The move is another step by Websense to increase its profile in the computer security field. Websense has hired McAffee President Gene Hodges as its chief executive and introduced its proprietary Threat-Seeker technology that determines what Web sites are security threats. Privately held PortAuthority Technologies makes “leak-prevention” software that monitors confidential computer data and prevents employees from copying, e-mailing or distributing it without authorization. The PortAuthority deal is Websense’s first acquisition. Diversa Corporation - San Diego, announced that the FDA has approved its Purifine enzyme for edible oil applications. The biotech company said the enzyme is designed to increase the oil yield and reduce by-products during the oil-refining process for food or biofuel applications. MidiciNova - San Diego, said that it has launched a mid-stage Phase 2 study of its drug to treat asthma. The drug, MN-221, will be tested as an intravenous infusion. An infusion may bypass constricted airways and deliver more effective concentrations of the drub to the lungs. The drug is also being developed as a treatment for pre-term labor. Illumina - San Diego, announced that GlaxSmithKline will buy 1,o000 of its gene-variation tests in what the company termed a multimillion-dollar deal. The San Diego biotech company’s BeadChips products are used for determining the genetic makeup of disease samples. Pharmaceutical company Glaxo-SmithKline recently expanded the scope of a multi-year genotyping agreement with Illumina. Quidel - San Diego, announced that it has gained an exclusive worldwide lease to influenza detection technology developed at the Univ. of Colorado, in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Mchip technology has been validated by the CDC for the testing of avian flu. The technology correctly identified 24 strains without false positives. SYS Technologies - San Diego, said it is part of a team lead by SAIC to support SPAWAR, the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego. SYS said it got a subcontract with a potential value of ViaSat - Carlsbad, a maker of satellite communications products, announced that it received a $6,000,000 contract to install its satellite networking system from Bolivian-Based Unete Telecommunications SA. It will be installed in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and surrounding areas. Maxwell Technologies - San Diego, announced that a European wind-energy company has placed a record order for 3 million of its “D cell ultra-capacitors to provide backup power for wind turbine blade pitch systems. The value of the contract, over a 2 year period, should be in the $10 to $15 million range. Gen-Probe - San Diego, announced that it has formed an exclusive worldwide collaboration with 3M to develop, manufacture and market nucleic acid tests to improve food safety and testing. SAIC - San Diego, said that the US Army Research Lab has ordered 23 ruggedized mobile vehicle and cargo inspection systems. Proprietary SAIC technology will enable military units to inspect cargo containers, trucks and other vehicles by creating computer-generating images much like an X-ray. The contract was valued at $38 million,. Aethlon Medical - San Diego, said it will collaborate with the National Institute of Virology Northrup Grummon - San Diego, has been awarded a $6.6 million contract by the Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. The contract provides for engineering changes to prepare a Global Haw high-altitude robotic surveillance aircraft for multi-platform radar technology, as well as preliminary modifications for a second Global Hawk aircraft. The work is scheduled to be completed in 2009. The Active Network - San Diego, a company that provides Web-based services to coordinate sporting events and community services, has acquired two (2) small online service firms. Acquired were PreEnroll, a firm with seven (7) employees that provides online registration services, and SPORG, a firm with 25 employees that develops online data collection and transaction processing systems. The Active Network said it plans to incorporate both firms’ technologies in the online services that it provides. The company now has 535 employees, including about 185 in San Diego. Websense - San Diego, Its ThreatSeeker technology is aimed at sniffing out malicious sites as well as blocking pornography. As part of the company routing of viewing and categorizing 85 million Web sites a day, the Websense Security Labs also determine which sites are computer security threats. The idea is to use Websense’s patent-pending technology ThreatSeeker to find security risks before the company’s customers, or even anti-virus runs or firewall software makers, run across them. Signal Engineering - San Diego, has received a contract from the US Air Force to develop a personal locator beacon to replace the unit that is included with survival equipment issued to aircrews. Under the $594,000 contract, the beacon will provide search and rescue and satellite-aided tracking capabilities, along with multiple homing signals to help locate and rescue downed aircrews. SAIC - San Diego, has signed a contract to support the integration of the Active Layered Theater Ballistic Missile Defense capability for NATO. The contract calls for a 6-year period with an estimated value of $95 million. Under the contract, SAIC will support NATO plans to connect national weapons systems, sensors, battle management, command control and communications into an integrated defense of military forces and critical assets. Wireless Facilities - San Diego, is a designer, builder and operator of wireless networks for business and government. Wireless has been awarded a $35.8 million contract with the Army Aviation and Missile command. Under the 3-year contract, a Wireless Facilities division will develop processes and procedures for the overhaul and repair of short-range air defense missiles. In addition, the company will design, manufacture, and install test equipment required for the overhaul and repair activities. CryoCor - San Diego, said that it has filed an amendment to its application for approval of its device to treat atrial flutter. The medical device company said that it expects the Food and Drug Administration to take 6 months to review the application. Orexigen Therapeutics - San Diego, raised $30-million in a private placement of stock. The company is developing drugs to treat obesity, and the money will be used to advance its two leading drug candidates, Contrave and Excalia. DivX - San Diego - makes a software package, called codec, for compressing and decompressing high-quality digital video. Using DivX, digital video files are shrunk by cutting out redundant material. DivX claims its technology can squeeze a full-length DVD down to about one-tenth of its original size while maintaining high quality. Over the past couple of years, DivX has pursued a strategy of getting its technology licensed by makers of DVD players. DivX’s compression technology is on 50 million devices, with DVD makers such as Philips, Samsung, JVC, Toshiba and LG Electronics leading the way. In Europe, about 80% of the DVD players contain DivX software. In the USA, it is about 20%. D’Volada - Tijuana, is a franchise operation that is spreading across the border into San Diego and California. About 12 people so far are planning to operate franchises on the US side of the border. The company offers coffee drinks at prices less than $4 (designed to undercut Starbucks). Charlotte Russe - San Diego, announced that sales of “wear now” clothing to young women during the critical back-to-school season helped the company quadruple profits in its 4th quarters. The apparel company said it earned $24.3 million, or 97 cents a share, for the period ending September 30th. Charlotte Russe, which targets older teens and young women with value-priced trendy items, said same-store sales climbed 7.4%. Qualcomm - San Diego, won a key account recently when Motorola agreed to use the company’s chips in cell phones for networks that use a fast-growing cellular technology. The company also announced its latest all-in-one cell-phone chip and its plans to make chips that would allow handheld video-game systems, PDAs and other mobile devices to access the Internet over cellular networks. SAIC - San Diego, announced that it plans to acquire Applied Marine Technology, Inc., of Virginia Beach, VA. With more than 500 employees, AMTi provides a broad range of special warfare products and services to customers in military, law enforcement and intelligence. The firm ofers special warfare training and exercises, systems engineering and integration, information systems and communications and other services and products. Isis Pharmaceuticals - Carlsbad, announced promising test results for an experimental, cholesterol-lowering drug, which sent the price of shares soaring by 20%. Illumina - San Diego, announced it would acquire Solexa of Hayward, in order to broaden its genetic research tool line. The merged company is to be based in San Diego and will have all three pillars of moden genetic research: namely, tools used by academic and commercial researchers for gene SAIC - San Diego, announced that it has acquired AETC, Inc., a San Diego firm that provides remote sensing systems and related services for the Department of Defense. All 46 employees of AETC will form a division led by former AETC president Joseph Sabatini that will be absorbed by SAIC’s Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Group. SAIC said the acquisition strengthens its expertise in antisubmarine warfare systems, and offers opportunities for detecting buried objects. Anadys Pharmaceuticals - San Diego, and partner Novartis AG said that they have started animal tests of a hepatitis C treatment; a 13 week toxicology test in animals with a new form of the drug. Inovio Biomedical Corp. - San Diego, announced that it has granted Wyeth Pharmaceuticals a nonexclusive license to use its DNA delivery technology to develop DNA vaccines. Wyeth will pay Inovio a $4.5 million upfront license fee, annual license maintenance fees, research support and up to $60 million in payments based on successful completion of clinical and regulatory milestones. SAIC - San Diego, was awarded a $25 million contract by the Air Force Research Laboratory and Space Vehicle Directorate. SAIC will design, build and test an infrared sensor assembly for use in space. SAIC - San Diego, was awarded a $19.8 million contract by NASA for aircraft operations systems support. BAE Systems - San Diego, said its San Diego business has been selected to produce equipment to protect US Air Force F-15, F-16, and A-10 aircraft. The pods provide self-protection for combat aircraft and air crews against radio frequency threats such as radar-guided missiles. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command - San Diego, has awarded a $12.5 million contract to IE Pacific for construction of a special operations force urban terrain training complex at San Clemente Island. The work is expected to be completed by November 2008. Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals - San Diego, announced that the US government indicated that it will award tentative contracts for potential drugs to treat radiation sickness by the end of January 2007. Ambit Biosciences - San Diego, announced that it has signed a drug discovery and development deal worth up to $250 million with Cephalon, a Pennsylvania-based biotech company. Airsis Technology - San Diego, is a start-up company with 20 employees, and provides real-time information about crude oil tankers and other ships operating in the Sabine-Neches Waterway near Beaumont, Texas. About 85% of the 2000 ships that ply the narrow Sabine-Neches Waterway every year are crude-oil tankers with tight shipping schedules. After reviewing an online mapping system Airsis had developed, called “Port Vision,” which is a system that combines real-time satellite mapping system with an online searchable database. Neurocrine Biosciences, San Diego, is a biotechnology company that is betting on a fast-acting version of its drug, Indiplon, a sleeping pill which is aimed to induce but not necessarily maintain, sleep. Qualcomm - San Diego, announced that its 4th quarter profits rose 14%. Venture Capitalist - funding rebounded sharply in San Diego during the three months that ended September, with investments in several local startup companies ranking among the biggest deals nationwide. The San Diego bounce came amid the strongest performance the venture capital industry has seen since 2001. A $55 million investment in The Active Network, a San Diego Web business that provides services for recreational sporting events, ranked as the country’s 9th biggest deal in a third-quarter survey released. In San Diego County, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers found venture firms had invested $292.5 million in 27 startup companies during the quarters. That compares with $215 million in venture funding for 38 startsups in the 3rd quarter of 2005. Of the top deals in Southern California, San Diego accounted for four (4) of the seven. Prominent San Diego deals included: SYS Technologies - a San Diego government contractor specializing in information technology, won a $21.6 million software development services contract with the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego. Over the 5 year contract, SYS Technologies said it will provide engineering support for command, control, communications, computer and intelligence software applications and database systems. K2 Inc., Carlsbad – a sports equipment maker, announced that third quarter earnings rose 29% as its winter sports business surged. Richard Heckmann, CEO, said the company’s many products range from skis to skateboard shoes to paintball equipment. Marine and outdoor products, which include such brands as Shakespeare fishing tackle, had sales of $80.8 million for the 3rd quarter a 2.1% increase from 2005. Team Sports, which includes such brands as baseball glove maker Rawlings, recorded a 2.4% increase to $64.5 million as the souvenir and paintball businesses offset declines in softball and baseball products. Apparel and footwear had net sales of $62.1 million, a 18.8% junp. The increase was the result of Marmot winter outwear sales. Artes Medical - San Diego, received federal approval to market a cosmetic filler to ease so-called “laugh lines,” clearing the way for the company to compete with popular anti-wrinkle treatments such as Botox. The product “ArteFill, is a mixture of tiny plastic beads suspended in bovine collagen that, when injected into the skin, is designed to plump up wrinkles. Leap Wireless International - San Diego, announced that it has received about $249.9 million in proceeds from the issuance of 6.19 million shares to Goldman Sachs Financial Markets and Citibank. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the issuance was related to settlements of a portion of the company’s forward sale agreements entered in August. The wireless communications service provider said it intended to use the proceeds to pay a portion of the final balance that one of its unit owes for auction licenses and for general corporate purposes. General Atomics - San Diego, was awarded a $33.9 million contract by the Department of Homeland Security to provide two Predator B robotic aircraft for use by Customs and Border Protection. The unmanned surveillance aircraft, along with ground control station, support equipment and other technology, will be delivered in the fall of 2007. Illumina - San Diego, announced that Duke University’s Center for Human Genetics, has selected it for an autism study of more than 1800 individuals and their families. Identification of genes contributing to a complex disease like autism could lead to development of better diagnostic tools. Viking systems - San Diego , is developing 3-D and 2D vision systems for use in minimally invasive surgery. General Atomics - San Diego, a privately-held company, has announced that it has consolidated its electromagnetic systems division into a 150,000-square-foot leased building in Rancho Bernardo. The newly constructed building will serve as a division headquarters, with about 250 of the company’s 3,325 employees. The division develops advanced electromagnetic systems for military and commercial customers. St. Bernard Software - San Diego, is a company that specializes in security technology for small and medium-sized enterprises, said it has agreed to acquire Singlefin, a La Jolla provider of security and business services. St. Bernard, which has more than 160 employees, plans to move Singlefin’s seven full-time employees into its San Diego headquarters. St. Bernard said the acquisition improves its position in providing hardware, software and on-demand delivered security services. Starsys, - Poway, is a division of SpaceDev, and has been awarded a contract worth $6.3 million by NASA’s Gooddard Space Flight Center and Swales Aerospace. Under the contract, Starsys will provide the solar array drive, antenna pointing actuators and gimbal control electronic assemblies for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbitor. General Atomic’s Aeronautical System - San Diego, has been awarded three (3) contracts worth nearly $82million. The contracts were awarded by The Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center at Ohio’s Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Under one contract valued at $38.4 million, the Air Force made a commitment to acquire 15 unmanned Predator aircraft and spares, with the work to be completed by 2010. Under another contract, the Air Force for $27.6 million, for four (4) aircraft maintenance test stations, two mobile ground-control stations, two fixed ground-control stations and five dualcontract stations for operating Predator aircraft. Under the third contract, the company was awarded almost $15.8 million to procure 18 ground data terminals and related ground support equipment. Cytori Therapeutics - San Diego, is developing treatments for cardiovascular and other disease using stem cells derived from fat, announced that it has entered into an amended exclusive license agreement with the University of California Board of Regents. The amended agreement covers the same patent rights as the original, and Cytori remains the exclusive worldwide licensee. Under the new agreement, the company will issue 100,000 shares of newly issued stock to UC. ChemDiv - San Diego, is a Biotechnology company that announced that it has entered into a collaboration with Switzerland’s Oncalis to discover potential drug candidates to treat cancer. R. A. Burch Construction of Ramona - has been awarded a $9.5 million contract by The Naval Facilities Engineering Command. The company will build an aero-space ground-equipment facility at Travis Air force Base in Fairfield. Directed Electronics - Vista, is a maker of auto security systems, and has announced that it has completed the purchase of Polk Audio, Baltimore, MD. Polk Audio makes home and mobile audio speakers. The deal totaled $136 million. Polk will remain at its Baltimore headquarters. The move gives Directed electronics a stronger foothold in the home audio market. Websense - San Diego, a maker of Web filtering and security software, has entered into an agreement with Port Authority Technologies of Palo Alto, for technology that will be used in a product to prevent employees from electronically distributing sensitive company information. IDC market research in Farmingham, Mass., forecasts that the market for products that can control information leaks will grow from $194 million in 2007 to $435 million by 2009. NovaCardia - San Diego, has announced that it raised $48 million from private investors. The San Diego company has an experimental medicine to treat congestive heart failure in late-state clinical trials, said the money will be used to support development of the drug, KW-3902. Amylin Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, and Eli Lilly & co., announced a European advisory panel recommended approval for the companies’ co-developed Type 2 diabetes drug, Byetta. The drug, which is already approved in the USA, was given the positive recommendation by the Committee for Medical Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency. SAIC - San Diego, has been awarded a $2;6million contract by the Air Force to develop an alternate sensor for a troubled $10million missile-warning satellite system. SAIC’s project follows a similar contract of $54million award to Raytheon this month. The two companies will develop independent alternative technology for the space-based infrared system by 2008. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor. Hewlett Packard - San Diego, was among several vendors awarded a multi-year contract by the Army to provide desktop and notebook personal computers, printers, scanners and displays. The overall deal is valued at $5billion over 10 years. Other vendors in the contract are Dell, CDW Corp., and six small businesses The contract allows the army, the Defense Dept’s Foreign Military Sales program and all federal agencies and authorized government contractors supporting the agencies to order directly from HP. San Diego companies, Leap Wireless and NextWave Wireless, were among the winners in the Federal Communications Commission’s first auction of spectrum for advanced wireless services, such as high-speed data and video services. Leap Wireless International’s bids by its subsidiary Cricket and by Denali Spectrum License, in which Cricket owns an 85% interest total $985 million for 100 licenses in areas across the country, including San Diego, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and also Washington DC. NextWave whose subsidiary AWS Wireless did the bidding, won 154 licenses for a total of $116 million. The licenses are in areas that include Albany, NY, Salisbury, MD, and Fort Myers, Fla. Quidel Corporation - announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its test to detect an infant respiratory virus. The San Diego diagnostic test maker said the test, QuickVue RSV, is used to find respiratory syncytial virus, a leading cause of hospitalization in children during their first year. GKN Aerospace Chem-Tronics - El Cajon, has been awarded a $24-million contract for more than 300 fan ducts for Pratt & Whitney engines. The contract was awarded by the Air Logistics Center at Oklahoma’s Tinker Air For Base. SAIC - San Diego: The Department of Homeland Security announced that it will provide as much as $1.35-Billion to three companies, including SAIC, to develop a new type of technology for detecting radioactive bombs. The contract is intended to allow each company to use its own approach in developing an automated X-ray system to scan cargo containers and identify certain radioactive materials that are used in nuclear bombs. The contract requires each company to deliver a prototype system within 2 years. Strategene - San Diego, shares rose 30% after the company issued a news release about its role in a FDA study on quality control of genetic-testing microarrays. Strategene announced that its Universal Reference RNA product was selected as a reference standard for the FDA project. The reference RNA allows laboratories with different microarray technologies to compare and share data. Directed Electronics, Inc. - San Diego, is expanding its product from car alarms into a lucrative new area. Over the past five years the company has diversified into in-car video, car audio, satellite radios and home audio. Last month, Directed announced that it was buying Polk Audio for $136 million. In the speaker business since 1972, Baltimore-based Polk Audio is one of the better known name brands in home audio. The sale is expected to be completed later this year. PostalAnnex+ - San Diego, has acquired the franchise system of a Florida company that specializes in shipping large or valuable items. The system previously belonged to Sunshine Pack & Ship USA, a Sarasota company. The deal adds 22 Sunshine Pack & Ship stores, located primarily in the Southeast and Midwest, to PostalAllex+’s 325 independently owned and operated franchises. Both systems will continue to operate as separate brands. Realty Income - Escondido, is buying a yet-to-be determined number of Buffets and Ryan’s Restaurant Group properties for $350 million. The real estate investment trust is purchasing the buildings under a 20-year, triple-net lease agreements. The restaurants are located in 20 states throughout the Midwest and South. Realty Income said 8t plans to keep 80% of the properties as long-term investments and will place the remainder in its Crest Net Lease Inc., division for future sale. Tracer Environmental Sciences & Technologies - San Marcos, has been awarded a contract worth $5.8 million by the 45th Space Wing at Florida’s Patrick Air Force Base. Under the contract, the company will provide technical support for calibration, maintenance and preparation and other services related to tracer analyzers. SAIC - San Diego, reports that revenue rose $2-BILLION in the second quarter, a 5% increase compared with the same period last year. BAE Systems - San Diego, has been selected by The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to develop a Web-based surveillance and targeting system. The system is expected to rapidly identify battlefield targets and other possible threats and speed decision-making by intelligence analysts and military personnel. The agency awarded BAE Systems the $47-million contract, including options, to deliver the system dubbed Global Net-Centric Surveillance and Targeting. Cubic Defense - San Diego, has been awarded a $32.8 million contract by the Naval Air Systems Command. The purpose of the contract is to provide instruction, simulator operation and curriculum support to the Naval Air Forces US Atlantic Fleet. Cubic said the five-year contract renews its longtime presence at Naval Air Stations Oceana and Norfolk in Virginia, and Naval Air Stations Jacksonville and Mayport in Florida. The company provides flight and tactical instruction in the classroom and on simulators. 4 Local Companies get Navy pacts: San Diego’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center has awarded contracts to four (4) San Diego companies for work related to software development for Command Control, Communications, Computer and Intelligence, also known as C4L. The Navy command said the companies will compete for task orders under the one year contract, which includes four one-year options. The work will be done in San Diego. Under the program, SAIC could get work totaling almost $6.1 million; Forward Slope could get more than $5.6 million; Maxim Systems could get more than $5.5 million and FGM could get $5.5 million. Northrup Grummon - was awarded a contract valued at as much as $33.7 million by the US Customs and Border Protection to provide border surveillance security at more than 40 border crossings between San Diego and Brownsville, Texas. The system will include surveillance, communications and video analytics. The US is tightening border security to keep out illegal immigrants, drug smugglers, and terrorists. SAIC - San Diego, has been awarded a $728259 contract by the US Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, NY for airborne networking technologies. Bank of Internet USA - San Diego, has launched a new Web site targeting the recreational vehicle market called MyRVBank.com. The site offers interest-paying checking, savings, certificates of deposit, money markets and loans. Nanogan - San Diego, a medical diagnostic test maker, announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office issued the company six patents for technology to detect diabetics and Alzheimer’s disease. The patents all deal with processes used to find biomarkers, which are molecules or substances that indicate the presence of a certain disease. Sangart, San Diego - is a company that is developing an artificial blood substitute, announced that it has raised $16 million from a private investor. The company is testing a hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier called Hemospan. The money will be used to move the product into final stage testing. Hemospan is in Phase 2 testing at John Hopkins University. Zogenix - San Diego, a newly formed specialty pharmaceutical firm, announced that it has raised $60 million in a private placement. The San Diego company said a portion of the money was used to acquire the Intraject drug delivery technology from Hayward-based Aradigm Corporation. Zogenix plans complete development and commercialization of an Intraject product for migraines, and may commercialize other products based on the needle-free, disposable drug delivery technology. Rhino Linings - was founded by Russell Lewis in San Diego 18 years ago, and has announced that it has found an enormous neew market for its products: the US military, by using its tough polymer materials to help protect US troops in Iraq and elsewhere. For example, spraying Rhino Linings coating on Humvees and other military vehicles to help protect them against small-arms fire and roadside bombings. By applying the coating to ceramic plates used in bulletproof vests helps the body armor withstand direct hits from small-arms fire, and by spraying the polyurethane on masonry walls of buildings to help prevent debris or concrete blocks from disintegrating into deadly flying fragments in a bomb blast. Kemia - San Diego, is a biotech firm that is developing treatments for inflammatory diseases, said that it raised $31 million from new and existing investors to advance its lead experimental drug, KC706. Illumina - San Diego, announced that scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School will use data from the San Diego company’s Sentrix HumanHap300 BeadChips and Infinium assay reagents to perform a 2,200-sample case genetic study of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurodegenerative disease commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Biosite - San Diego, announced that Hopitax Universitaries de Geneve, a clinical research hospital in Europe, will collaborate on the identification and validation of novel, protein-bsed markers that indicate kidney injury. SAIC - San Diego, announced that it has been awarded an order worth as much as $120million by the General Services Administration to assist the Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency. SAIC will operate and maintain the agency’s hardware and software infrastructure. The work includes re-engineering the agency’s existing information technology systems. Solpac, Inc., San Diego, has been awarded an $18.6 million contract by the Navy Facilities Engineering Command in San Diego. The work is to design and build an urban terrain facility at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms. The company does business as Soltek Pacific. The buildings will be designed for military combat training. The construction will be completed by December 2007. SAIC - San Diego, announced it has been awarded a contract to provide management and professional services for the North American Defense Command that could be worth as much as $800 million. CUBIC - San Diego, announced its defense segment has received several orders totaling $15.5 million for military simulation systems developed for training infantry units. Cubic plans to deliver the virtual training systems and services to the Army, Air Force, and the Department of Energy. Stratagene, San Diego, a biotechnology tool company, announced it entered into a development and licensing contract with a Merck & Co subsidiary. The agreement between Stratagene and Rosetta Inpharmatics calls for the joint development of an automated instrument for the isolation of nucleic acids from clinical samples. The goal of the product is to allow researchers to separate RNA from samples and use the purified RNA for gene analysis. Immune Response Corp - Carlsbad, has raised $9.9 million in gross proceeds from investors who exercised warrants issued in a March private placement. The money will be used to initiate a midstage, Phase 2 clinical trial to test its experimental multiple sclerosis treatment. Vical, San Diego, raised $9.8 million from a direct offering of stock to a single institutional investor. The money will be used in ongoing drug programs. Sanyo Electric of Japan will move its TV business headquarters to San Diego as part of a restructuring plan. Sanyo announced it was creating a new TV unit and felt it could make faster decisions to the ultra-competitive TV market. Sanyo is also entering into an alliance with Quanta of Taiwan, a large contract manufacturer of laptop computers and displays. The alliance will take over in development and purchasing operations for TVs. In addition to the Sanyo move, Sony Electronics North American headquarters is based in Rancho Bernardo. The Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego has selected General Dynamics Information Technology to provide development services for its command, control, communications, computers and intelligence engineering support division. The total potential value of its contract if all options are exercised is $21.4 million over a 5-year period. General Dynamics also won a $19.2 million contract to provide information technology support services for the Navy Warfare Systems Center. The Navy is joining the Air Force and the CIA in buying the San Diego-made Predator unmanned aircraft. The Naval Air Systems Command has awarded an $8.29 million contract to General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for one of its Predator B unmanned aerial vehicles, plus a larger, turboprop-powered version of the original Predators, which the Army and CIA have used in Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas for years. The Navy had previously purchased two Global Hawks from San Diego-based UAV builder, Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems, primarily as test vehicles for its proposed Broad Area Maritime Surveillance program. The two UAV makers, both based in Rancho Bernardo, are considered prime contenders for the $1 billion-plus BAMS contract, which is expected to be awarded in September 2007. KFx Mecical Corp., Carlsbad, developer of a minimally invasive systems for rotator-cuss repair, announced that he has received clearance from the FDA to market its Suture-Cross Knotless Anatomic Fixation System. Rox Medical, Carlsbad, is a developer of minimally invasive devices for treating chronic obstructive respiratory disease, has announced that it has raised $10-million in B financing. L3 Communications, announced that its San Diego-based Titan Group has been awarded an additional $26-million to an existing contract to provide fighter jets with battlefield information through a program called Integrated Broadcast Service program. The system serves all military branches and the intelligence community. BrainCells, San Diego, announced that it has licensed an experimental drug from Japan’s Mitsubishi Pharma Corp. The company said it will develop the drug to treat central-nervous-system diseases, including mood disorders. La Jolla Pharmaceuticals announced that it has restarted a final Phase 3 trial of its experimental drug to treat lupus. JMAR Technologies, San Diego, announced that it has received a $3.1 million award from the Naval Air Systems Command. The award is part of JMAR’s current contract, valued at $17.5 million, to continue development of X-ray masks and next generation nanolithography. NASSCO Shipyard, San Diego, (owned by General Dynamics) has landed a $1-Billion contract to build nine (9) tankers over the next few years, with options to build five (5) additional ships. Construction of the first tanker at NASSCO is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2007, with deliver to occur by the second quarter in 2009. Construction of the remaining tankers will go well into the next decade, according to NASSCO spokesman Karl Johnson. Although NASSCO has been in a hiring mode, Johnson was reluctant to indicate if additional workers would be added to its 4500 workforce. Torrey Pines Therapeutics said it has started Phase I clinical trial for an oral therapy for migraine and chronic pain conditions. NGX526 is an oral form of the company’s product candidate in development for migraine. SYS Technologies, San Diego, is a firm that creates computer-driven systems to facilitate complex decision-making, has received $25 million in orders for engineering and technical service from the Navy’s SPAWAR Systems Center Charleston. Streamload, San Diego, is a pioneer in the online storage business. Ceyx Technologies, San Diego, makes software embedded on chips that control light-emitting data communications devices and display panels. Nanogen, San Diego, has expanded its collaborative deal with Fisher Scientific International to include work in molecular diagnostics. Under the agreement, Fisher Scientific may provide up to $10 million during 2007 and 2008 for research and development of infectious-disease and molecular diagnostic tests that will be mutually agreed upon. Santarus, San Diego, is a specialty-drug company which markets treatments for heartburn. It has obtained a $20 million revolving line of credit from Commerica Bank. Epsilon Systems Solutions, San Diego, announced that the Navy has awarded the privately held company with a $2 million contract to provide a hyperbaric support system for the new submarine escape training facility at the Naval Submarine Base near Groton, Conn. The project includes manufacturing and installing three training escape trunks and a treatment chamber. Cubic Corporation, San Diego, announced its defense unit has delivered its deployable advanced military training systen to the Army at Camp Casey, Korea. The system provides high-fidelity training capabilities, including battle tracking and data collection. Cubic said it is working under a contract that could be worth as much as $71.7 million if all options are exercised. ViaSat, Carlsbad, has been awarded a $100,000 contract by the US Air Force for the repair of cryptographic communications security equipment. Viking Systems, San Diego, makes laparoscopic vision systems for minimally invasive surgery. Ambrx, San Diego, is a privately held company with 55 employees who has developed a technology that aims to make drugs, such as insulin, more effective and longer lasting and with fewer side effects. SAIC “Science Applications International Corporation, has been awarded a five-year contract by the Department of Homeland Security to provide information technology services. The program, Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions, was intended to qualify 25 companies to provide various IT products and services for the agency. SAIC said it was one of four contractors qualified to provide infrastructure engineering, operations and maintenance, software development and management support services. Cymer Laser, has posted record sales and profits for the three months ended June 30th. Cymer has long been viewed as a bellwether in the semiconductor industry because it makes the specialized lasers used to etch the microcircuit patterns used in computer chips. Cymer says that its lasers account for roughly 83% of the global market for lasers used to make semiconductors. Northrop Grumman Corp. has been awarded a contract by the Air Force for $90,000,000 (90million) to integrate a new airborne surveillance radar on the Global Hawk robotic spy plane. Northrop announced its San Diego business is developing the radar with Massachusetts-based Raytheon, and the work is set for completion in September 2009. The radar will provide long-range, high resolution images, ground moving-target indicator capabilities and air target-tracking capabilities. Illumina, San Diego, found its shares soaring after the biotech company reported earnings far exceeded Wall Street expectations. The company, which makes research tools for analyzing gene variation and function reported that revenues grew 163%. Cubic Corporation, San Diego, announced the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command has accepted the first production unit of the company’s communications data link system. With its final acceptance, the Navy has cleared the way for broader delivery of the system, which provides faster broadband data transmission between surface ships, reconnaissance and tactical aircraft. Cubic said its system is expected to significantly increase the speed and volume of reconnaissance imagery and intelligence data in the fleet. Cubic announced it has received about $67.5 million so far under a 203 development contract that has a potential value of $94 million. San Diego Trust Bank, announced that it has posted increased net income for the second quarter, ended June 30. Total deposits and loans also showed increases. 1st Pacific Bank of California, San Diego, announced second quarter net income increased 65.1% over the same period a year ago. Westfield America, owner of Plaza Bonita, National City, announced that the 25-year-old South County shopping center is getting a $100,000,000 make-over that its owner hopes will create a more family-friendly mall by adding a Target anchor store, a 14-movieplex, 40 specialty stores, and a number of restaurants. Veoh Networks, San Diego, a start-up company, is seeking to stand out through a deal with TNT promoting the cable network’s upcoming “Nightmares & Dreamscapes” series. SpaceDev, Poway, has announced that Lockheed Martin has ordered equipment for a narrowband tactical satellite communications system operated by the US Navy. Lockheed awarded the contract for antenna pointing. With options exercised the total contract value would exceed $6million. Alphatec Holdings, Carlsbad, makes customized spinal products, and has announced that it has signed a private label distribution agreement with IsoTis OrthoBiologics for the distribution of IsoTis’s demineralized bone matrix products under Alphatec’s brand name. The products have osteo-inductive properties which stimulate new bone formation and can be used in combination with traditional spinal implants to stabilize the spine following spine fusion procedures. Under the agreement, which has certain minimum order quantity requirements, Alphatec has placed an initial order that should allow for commercial sale through Alphatec’s distribution base by late 2006. Ocera Therapeutics, San Diego, a drug company developing treatments for gastrointestinal and liver diseases, announced that it has raised $12,000,000 from private investors. L3 Communications San Diego, has been received word that it’s business with the US Army has been awarded an extra $17.3 million to its contract. The modification to the contract provides additional support to work on the company’s Prophet electronic eavesdropping vehicles. The work, to be completed in San Diego, is expected to be completed by late 2007. ViaSat, Carlsbad: The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in San Diego, has awarded a $39.5 million contract for its multifunctional tactical data terminals. The contract combines purchases of the computer terminals for the US military with orders from several European nations. ViaSat said the equipment is one of the fastest growing segments of its governmental business. WD-40, San Diego, announced a sales jump for the 3rd quarter of 12.1% to $73.1 million. The increase is buoyed by new products such as No-Mess Pen and Big Blast can. The company’s new pen is “doing well at office supply companies like Office Depot and Office Max.” Technology Integration Group, San Diego, acquired Networks Plus Technology Group, a privately-held technology consulting company. The acquisition of the 12-year old firm expands TIG’s offering to include a remanufacturing and refurbishing operation, as well as an increased expertise network security, network storage, network management, customer relationship management and technical staffing. TIG has 19 offices across the USA offering computing and technical services to businesses, government and education clients. The company’s overall revenue for 2005 was $284.5 million, up 28% from the prior year. Information Systems Engineering, San Diego, has been awarded a $2-million contract by the German Navy for development related to anti-submarine warfare. Work on this program will be performed by ISL’s signal processing engineering division in San Diego. Avanir Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, received a $2-million grant from the National Institute of Health under a joint research program to come up with a treatment to the deadly anthrax infection. NuVasive - San Diego, is a medical device company developing products for minimally disruptive surgical treatments for the spine, announced that it has received conditional approval of an Investigational Device Exemption from the FDA to begin clinical trial enrollment of its NeoDisc cervical disc replacement device. Invitrogen, Carlsbad, said that it will collaborate with Cellartis AB, a Swedish company, to develop novel embryonic stem cell lines engineered so that scientists can track them an determine if they differentiate. Cyntellect, San Diego, a privately held biotechnology company will receive about $500,000 under a Phase 2B Small Business Innovative Research Grant for continued development of its laser-based system for RNA interference applications. Halozyme Therapeutics, San Diego, said that its product Hylenex, a liquid injectable formulation of recombinant human hyaluronidase is on the market in the USA. It is used as a spreading agent in the delivery of medications and fluids. Ligand Pharmaceuticals said that it has earned a milestone payment from Wyeth as a result of submitting a New Drug Application to the FDA for bazedoxifene, a postmenopausal osteoporosis therapy. Adventrx Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, announced the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board has recommended the company to continue with its Phase 2B clinical trial of CoFactor, its treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer. San Diego County Tech Firms employ 95 out of every 1000 workers according to a new study just released by the AeA, formerly known as the American Electronics Association. This ranks San Diego as 4th in the top 5 “Cybercities” behind San Jose / Silicon Valley which ranks #1, Los Angeles which ranks #2, and San Francisco / Oakland, which ranks 3rd. Orange County ranks 5th. Income “average wage” statistics are particularly startling, showing the following: San Jose/Silicon $126,700 Amylin Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, is collaborating with Nastech Pharmaceuticals to develop a nasal spray formulation to exenatide for treating diabetics. Maxwell Technologies Inc., is a leading developer and manufacturer of innovative, cost-effective energy storage and power delivery solutions. Hardy Instruments, has provided customers with process control solutions for 85 years and is best known for its innovative technology. Acucorp, Inc., is a leading provider of software solutions that modernize COBOL business systems. Founded in 1988, the company is headquartered in San Diego. Streamload, San Diego, is a leading provider of online digital media services. The company has launched Streamload MediaMax, the world’s largest online media center, and Streamload Web Services, its web services development platform in 2006. Kalon Semiconductor, a San Diego maker of communications chips, has received $10.9million in venture capital funding. Kalon makes high-data-rate connectivity products for wireless and wired applications. Cardiff, an Autonomy company and the market leader in intelligent document processing solutions, has launched TeleForm Version 10, which expands on 15 years as a standard in the information capture industry, and now automatically classifies, extracts and validates the data from any paper document or form type, in order to improve data accuracy, reduce operating costa and accelerate business processes. Technology Integration Group (TIG), a dba of PC Specialists, Inc., has once again been recognized by CMP Media’s VARBusiness and GovernmentVAR as one of the top technology innovators in North America. The Company ranked 121 among VARBusiness 500, up 22 spaces from 2005, and number 48 among the GovernmentVAR 100. TIG is a nationally recognized diversity supplier specializing in providing clients with value-added computing solutions. Founded and headquartered in San Diego for 24 years, TIG has earned a reputation as a financially stable, well-established computer systems integrator and reliable IT solutions consultant that services customers nationwide. Breach Security, Inc., provides next-generation web application security to protect privileged information. Breach, a leader in the emerging market for Intelligent Web Application Security, addresses today’s security needs by delivering solutions for enterprises and government agencies alike to comprehensively protect web applications against attack and resolve security challenges such as Identity Theft, Information Leakage, regulatory compliance, and insecurity coded applications. Breach was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Carlsbad. ImageWare®) Systems, Inc., is a leading developer and provider of identity management solutions, providing biometric, secure credential, law enforcement and digital imaging technologies. Headquartered in San Diego. Invitrogen, Carlsbad, has obtained a worldwide license to a number of patents held by Affymetrix in Santa Clara. The patents will allow Invitrogen to make and sell spotted nucleic-acid microarrays for research. ViaSat, Carlsbad, has acquired the small El Cajon defense technology firm Enerdyne for an initial investment of $17million. Enerdyne provides video compression systems to the military and defense contractors. Its technology is used in unmanned drone aircraft, among other applications. The deal adds video to ViaSat’s expertise in delivering high-speed voice and data to customers via satellite. ViaSat has also been expanding its commercial business, including onboard modems and ground equipment for Connexion by Boeing, an internet service for airline passengers. Amylin Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, new Byetta, the cartridge containing the company’s diabetic drug, is in such demand that the company is fearing that it cannot keep up with the demand. NTN Buzztime, Carlsbad, develops and distributes interactive trivia games to restaurants and cable companies. PacketVideo, San Diego, is the leading innovator of multimedia software for the mobile industry, providing embedded multimedia entertainment and communications software for mobile phones with more than 120 design wins for PV-powered handsets. The company’s software enables mobile phone users to watch TV, play digital music and videos, take digital pictures, record home movies, and make two-way videophone calls. Peregrine Semiconductor, designs, manufacturers and markets high-performance communications Ics for the wire infrastructure and mobile wireless; broadband communications; space, defense and avionics markets. SKY MobileMedia, San Diego, is a leading provider of applications software platforms and complete turnkey solutions for wireless handsets and connected media players. ProfitLine is the premier provider of telecom expense management services for Fortune 1000 companies and federal agencies. The company’s outsourced solution streamlines and manages the entire telecom lifecycle process for both wireline and wireless. TargeGen, Inc., San Diego, is a privately held vascular biology focused biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego. TargeGen is developing novel small molecule therapeutics to treat diseases that involve edema, angiogenesis and inflammation as key elements of disease pathology by selectively targeting certain kinases associated with the formation and repair of blood, vascular permeability (edema) and inflammation. ARMA Design, San Diego, an electronic design, development & manufacturing firm is growing locally – by opening an office out-of-state in Little Rock, for the purpose of funneling work to San Diego. Websense, Inc., is a global leader in web security and web filtering software. Websense proactively discovers and immediately protects customers against web-based threats such as spyware, phishing attacks, viruses and crimeware with a maximum protection and minimal effort. RF Magic, Inc., San Diego, is a fabless semiconductor at the forefront of highly integrated broadband radio frequency (RF) integrated circuits (IC) for the consumer broadband and digital entertainment markets. St. Bernard Software, San Diego, is a global provider of security solutions, including internet and email filtering appliances, patch management and data backup solutions. DR Systems Inc., is a leading independent provider of film-free medical systems and paperless information systems for diagnostic imaging centers and hospitals. Digirad Corporation develops, manufacturers and markets solid-state, digital gamma cameras to hospitals, imaging centers and physician offices. Digirad offers a comprehensive line of solid-state nuclear gamma cameras that produce a high quality images for use in the detection of many medical conditions, including cardiovascular disease. Aperio Technologies is a worldwide leader in virtual microscopy and digital pathology. Aperio’s ScanScope scanners and software systems deliver integrated digital slide creation, viewing, management, and analysis capabilities to pathologists, and set the standard in digital pathology. BakBone Software, is a global provider of heterogeneous integrated data protection solutions, and has announced the Universal version of NetVault: Backup 7.4.2 for Intel-based Macs. Continuing its tradition of delivering industry-leading heterogenous products. BakBone offers the broadest choices for protecting enterprise Mac environments, with Universal Application version now available through Apple’s direct sales. Alignent Software, the leading provider of collaborative roadmapping solutions, announced BAE Systems has selected Alignent Vision Strategists to develop a database of capability and technology roadmaps to enhance the company’s R&D capabilities and technology developments. Through the process of roadmapping, BAE Systems Platform Solutions unit will map future program needs to current and planned capabilities and technology requirements. BAE Systems is the premier trans-Atlantic defense and aerospace company, delivering a full range of products and services for air, land, and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions, and customer support services. ALIGNENT is the first and only software company to support the powerful process of roadmapping. Patriot Scientific has confirmed that Nikon has become the latest manufacturer to purchase a license to the Moore Microprocessor Patent ™ (MMP) Portfolio, a group of patents that enable higher performance and lower cost designs in today’s digital systems. Nikon joins a remarkable and diverse group of the world’s well-respected designers of digital systems including HP, Casio, Fujitsu, and Sony. WebSideStory, Inc., a leading provider of on-demand digital marketing solutions and real-time enterprise analytics solutions, today announced that it has been recognized by ASPNews.com as one of the top 50 global ASP’s for the fifth year in a row. San Diego CIO’s (Chief Information Officers) expect to hire more information technology (IT) professionals by the end of 2006. General Atomics, San Diego, has been awarded a sold-source $140-million contract over the next five years by the US Dept of Energy to perform nuclear fusion experiments and high energy density physics research at national laboratories and other facilities. RF Industries, a San Diego maker of radio frequency equipment has reported sales increased 5% for the quarter, revenues up 11%, and net income up 78%. Wow. SKY MobileMedia, Inc., a leading provider of software solutions for the wireless industry, announced the extension of the SKY-MAP ™ mobile applications software platform to provide complete turnkey software solutions for a wide range of next-generation convergence handsets, connected media players, and mobile chipsets. Headquartered in San Diego, SKY has development centers in Europe, South Korea and India, as well as customer support centers in Europe and China. For more information visit www.skymobilemedia.com Qualcomm, San Diego, a leading developer and innovator of Code Division Multiple Access (CSMA) and other advanced wireless technologies, announced that it has successfully demonstrated the full mobility of high-quality, high-capacity voice over Internet protocol (VolP) calls across multiple test environments, incluing mobile, pedestrian and fixed, enabeling operators to migrate voice services to Internet protocol (IP)-based platforms for a common service platform. The final tests, involved 62 simultaneous calls. Pulse, San Diego, is one of the largest magnetic component manufacturers in the world. Pulse primarily serves OEMs in the data networking, telecommunications, high-speed Internet access, power conversion, and military/aerospace and consumer electronics industries. Pulse’s expertise in interference (noise) reduction, miniaturization, power management, and signal conversion is well recognized. Webmetrics, San Diego, is a leading provider of website testing, monitoring and analytics services for companies that want to ensure online performance, competitive advantage and a positive end-user experience. WebSideStory, Inc., San Diego, was founded in 1996, and is a leading provider of on-demand digital marketing and real-time enterprise analytics solutions that improve online marketing, sales and business operations. Its Active Marketing Suite™ consists of web analytics, site search, web content management, and keyword bid management. WebSideStory also provides enterprise analytics solutions through its wholly owned subsidiary, Visual Sciences, LLC, ™ a leading of streaming data analysis and visualization software. WebSideStory is headquartered in San Diego, and has European headquarters in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Pharmatek Laboratories, Inc., San Diego, has announced that it plans to relocate its San Diego-based operations to a larger facility at year end, or in early 2007. Pharmatek Laboratories, Inc., is a premier pharmaceutical chemistry development company providing full-service pharmaceutical chemistry product development for the pharmaceutical industry. The company focuses on bring compound selection, analytical development, preformulation testing, formulation development, GMP manufacturing, and stability storage and testing. Metabasis Therapeutics, Inc., (NASDAQ:MBRX), announced that an article describing the glucose lowering activity of CS-917 in animal models of type 2 diabetes was published in the June 2006 issue of Diametics magazine. Metabasis Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs to address some of the world’s most widespread and costly chronic diseases involving pathways in the liver. The Company has established a pipeline that includes clinical stage and pre-clinical product candidates targeting major diseases with significant unmet medical needs. www.mbasis.com says that targeted diseases include metabolic diseases such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia and obesity as well as liver diseases such as hepatitis and primary liver cancer. SKY MobileMedia, Inc., San Diego, is a leading provider of software solutions for the wireless industry, and has announced the extension of the SKY-MAP ™ mobile applications software platform to provide complete turnkey software solutions Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, says that federal regulators cleared human clinical trials for its experimental treatment for hospital acquired infections. The drug, Neumune, will be tested in a Phase 1 safety study in patients at high risk of developing infections. Phase 2 studies are to test for efficacy. BioMed Realty, San Diego, has agreed to buy software and server maker Sun Microsystems Inc.’s campus in Newark, California, for $215 million. The campus includes 10 buildings, and 1.4 million square feet, primarily of office space. Sun would lease the campus from BioMed, which said it will re-market and redevelop the space for use by life-sciences companies. Cabrellis Pharmaceuticals Corp., San Diego, said it has launched a Phase 2 study of its experimental small cell lung cancer drug, Calsed. The privately-held specialty pharmaceutical company said the drug, which is already approved for use in Japan, will be tested in lung cancer patients who previously responded to platinum-based chemotherapy. Ashworth, Inc., Carlsbad, a maker of high-end golf apparel, said that revenues increased for the quarter. Senomyx, La Jolla, shares rose 23% after a Wall Street analyst gave a favorable report on the company, rating it “outperform.” The analyst cites the company’s research agreements with food and beverage companies such as Coca Cola, and Kraft. SmartDraw.com, San Diego, said the US Department of Justice has signed a licensing agreement that allows Justice to use 25,000 sets of the company’s specialized graphic design software. The company’s software enables legal and law enforcement professionals to create charts, crime scene diagrams and other graphics for courtroom exhibits. Titan, San Diego, received a contract valued at up to $11million from the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. Gen-Probe, San Diego, which makes genetic testing equipment, said it has expanded the terms of its license and collaboration agreement with DiagnoCure concerning the development of programs around the PCA3 prostrate cancer maker. Summer 2006: New Graduates are experiencing the best job market in years. A very Strong Economy, and the eagerness of employers to expand, are providing golden job opportunities. Top ten jobs are: (1) Private Accounting, (2) Management Trainee, (3) Financial Analysis, (4) Sales, (5) Project Engineering, (6) Consulting, (7) Design / Construction Engineering, (8) Public Accounting, (9) Teaching, and (10) Field Engineering. Qualcomm, San Diego, reports that it has developed a chip that would support all three broadcast standards for mobile devices. Qualcomm has developed FLO, one of three standards. The newly developed Qualcomm chjp would allow handsets to have real-time broadcasts with any standard used by the wireless provider. Gray Systems, San Diego, has been awarded a Contract from the US Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command for research and development work. GKN Aerospace Chemtronics, El Cajon, has been awarded a $3.21million contract by the Air Force Material Command’s Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center for engine fan ducts. Taylor Guitars, El Cajon, CA reports sales of $62 million and 67,000 guitars compared with sales of $45 million and 46,000 guitars produced just 5 years ago. “Quality-wise, Taylor Guitars are universally accepted as top-notch,” according to Teja Gerken, gear editor at Acoustic Guitar magazine. BIOCOM, the association for the life science industry, announced that CALBIO 2006, its 13th Annual Conference, will be held at the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina. Topics covered include regenerative medicine to biodefense, regulatory reform to patent reform. BIOCOM is the premier life science industry association, representing nearly 500 member companies. The BIOCOM Association focuses on initiatives that positively influence the growth of the life science industry, including capital formation, public policy, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, and scientific discovery and development. For more information on BIOCOM or the San Diego regional life sciences community, visit the organization’s Web site at www.biocom.org, or call (858) 455-0300. Cymer, Inc., (Nasdaq: CYMI), is considered to be the world’s leading supplier of excimer light sources used in semiconductor manufacturing. LumenVox, an innovator of speech recognition technology, has received more than 20 awards for innovation and technical excellence. Cubic Corporation, San Diego, has two major segments. (1) is the Cubic Defense Applications group, and is a world leader in realistic combat training systems, mission support services and defense electronics. (2) is Cubic Transportation Systems, which designs and manufacturers automatic fare collection systems for public mass transit authorities. For more information about Cubic, see the company’s website at www.cubic.com. M Ship, San Diego, is a maritime design firm, and it has received a $750,000 contract from the Navy to validate the potential of its innovative M-hull technology. The contract calls for tank testing and sea trials. In May 2006, M Ship Co delivered the M 80 Stiletto to the Navy for evaluation in association with the Pentagons special operations command. The 88-foot vessel is based on the firm’s M-hull design. Nanogen, San Diego, is a company that is developing diagnostic products, has received a commitment for up to $25-million in common stock equity financing. RQ Construction Inc., Bonsall, has received a $7.19million contract to repair and renovate bachelor enlisted quarters at Camp Pendleton. SAIC was awarded a $51.8million pact by the Naval Surface Warfare Center for the development of a wideband communications system. The new communications system is intended to operate at data rates up to 70 megabits per second at a range as far as 70 miles. Northrop Grumman’s San Diego based air combat systems business, won an order valued at $60.6 million from the Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center. The contract calls for the company to provide Northrop’s second-generation version of its Global Hawk high-altitude surveillance aircraft. SYS Technologies, San Diego, has been awarded a contract worth up to $1.6million by the Navy’s Center for Information Dominance to develop interactive e-learningcourseware; the work represents the first-phase in development of information technology training for sailors. Hamilton Sunstrand Corporation, San Diego, has been awarded a $8.5 million contract by The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division for 36 power units for the Navy, and governments in Taiwan, and Italy. Integrits Corp., San Diego, was a $4.18 million contract for professional, administrative, and management support services, by the Navy. Other Navy contracts were awarded to: Qualcomm, San Diego, has upped its third quarter estimates, crediting better-than-expected orders for its wireless chips. Revenues are expected to be in the $1.87Billion range. Vical, a San Diego-based biotechnology company has developed a vaccine for bird flu that is showing promise. Vical stock soared 31% as a result. Hotel builder Doug Manchester has grabbed another marquee bayfront development site, joining Viejas Enterprises in a bid to build hotels, shops and a new cruise-ship terminal at Lane Field. The San Diego Port Commission has voted unanimously to proceed with talks with the Viejas/Manchester team at the roughly 6-acre site, which is currently a parking lot at Broadway and Harbor Drive. A month ago, Manchester was chosen by the Navy to develop hotels, offices and retail shops next door at the 14.7-acre Navy Broadway Complex site. Manchester is in the driver’s seat to develop more than 20 acres of waterfront land in downtown San Diego. Nanogen, San Diego, and Jurilab, a privately-held Finnish biotech company, have received European regulatory approval for their DrugMEt pharmacogenetic test, which can indicate a person’s response to drugs. Nanogen has an equity stake in Jurilab and exclusive distribution rights for the diagnostic test in every country but Japan. Gen-Probe, a San Diego-based maker of diagnostic tests, has licensed rights from the University of Michigan to develop diagnostic tests for recently discovered genetic translocations that, in preliminary studies, have been shown to be highly specific for prostate cancer tissue. Bridgetech Holdings International, San Diego, reports that it has acquired Asian rights to two reformulated cancer therapies. The chemotherapy agents uses a new formulation that makes them less toxic. Bridgetech will have the right to manufacture and distribute the drugs in China, HongKong, and Taiwan. Honeywell’s Aerospace division has broken ground in Mexicali on a $40-million systems integration lab where Mexican engineers will develop technologies for future commercial aircraft. The lab represents a significant jump up the technological ladder for foreign investment in Baja California. Instead of manufacturing, Honeywell lab will develop and test a wide range of airplane flight systems. Pure Bioscience, El Cajon, CA., is a developer of anti-bacterial cleaning products, which reports that its products kill germs faster and are less toxic to the user and environment. Users include nursing homes, schools, government sites and prisons. The company has goals of forming partnerships to place its products under sinks and medicine cabinets across the country. It also hopes to break into the industrial food-processing market, where its products could be sprayed on machinery and cutting surfaces for food and meat preparation. Isis Pharmaceuticals reports that its cholesterol-lowering drug benefited patients in a small, mid-state study. PRD/DJI Construction, a San Diego-based joint venture, has been awarded a contract for $100-million from the Department of Homeland Security. The contract is related to maintenance and deactivation of manufactured homes and trailers the government installed in the New Orleans area following Hurricane Katrina. ViaSat, a Carlsbad satellite equipment maker, won a contract valued at $57million with options for an additional $15million, award by Boeing. The deal calls for ViaSat to development a system for a new mobile communication network covering North America. The network is designed to deliver voice and data services to devides similar to today’s cell phones. Veoh Networks, Inc., San Diego, is a start-up company that plans to deliver broadcast quality programming, including both short films and more traditional, longer shows, using peer-to-peer technology. The idea is to allow established TV networks as well as individual users to program “channels” on the service. Former Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner, as made his first venture capital investment in Veoh. Cymer, San Diego, is a maker of lasers used to produce computer chips, has announced that its first quarter net income rose 283%. NASSCO San Diego, has reached a formal agreement with South Korea’s Daewoo Ship Engineering Company to build ships eligible under the Jones Act for the U.S. market. The Act requires that ships that carry cargo between U.S. ports to be built in the U.S. Under the agreement, Daewoo will provide detail ship designs, support services and provide some material necessary for ship construction. NASSCO also will procure material and will provide the labor and facilities to build ships in San Diego. Tetra Tech EC, San Diego, was awarded a $17.5 million contract by the Navy for environmental remediation services. Cubic, San Diego, was awarded a three-year $24-million contract by the Navy for the development of software to help the U.S. military prepare for enemy attacks involving chemical, biological, and radiological weapons. Cubic specializes in military training and simulation systems. ImageWare Systems, San Diego, received a $900,000 contract from Raytheon for its biometric system identification and screening technology. The system uses facial, fingerprint and iris scanning technologies for identification purposes. R. A. Burch Construction Co, Ramona, CA, was awarded a $17.1 million contract from The Naval Facilities Engineering Command in San Diego for the design and construction of an advanced sensor integration facility at the Naval Air Weapons Station in China Lake. T. B. Penick & Sons, San Diego, was awarded a $8.8 million contract to design and build a 10-story air traffic control tower at the Naval Air Station at Lemoore. JMAR Technologies, San Diego, said it received a $4.2 million contract from General Dynamics to upgrade semiconductor fabrication processes at a Defense Department facility. General Atomics, San Diego, was awarded a $27.1 million contract from the Air Force Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center for the program management, equipment and services for Predator MQ-1 and MQ-9 robotic aircraft. Cox Construction, Vista, was awarded a $21.5 million contract by the Army to construct a Border Patrol sector headquarters building. Petco Animal Supplies, San Diego, reports a 10% sales jump. Leap Wireless International, San Diego, reports a net income compared with a loss for last year. SAIC, San Diego, was awarded a $148.58 million contract from NASA for safety mission assurance support services. NTN Communications, Carlsbad, reports a net income compared with a net loss from last year. RF Industries, San Diego, said its sales for the first quarter increased 18%. The company makes radio frequency coaxial and other products. The Navy extended its three multi-billion-dollar contract under which Electronic Data Systems Corp is building a communications network for the Navy and Marine Corps. About 750 people work in San Diego for EDS on the program, known as the Navy Marine Corps Intranet, or NMCI. The company operates a so-called computer server farm at a leased downtown facility on Sherman Street and a network operations center at the North Island Naval Air Station. The Irvine Co. Has hired a leading executive to operate its San Diego operation. Charles Black, a former Padres president who oversaw the building of Petco Park, will join the Newport Beach-based real estate giant at the end of this week as a senior vice president. This may signal an expanded strategy for The Irvine Co., particular for downtown San Diego. While the company has developed offices and apartment complexes in suburban San Diego, it has been content to purchase existing high-rises in the city’s core; now the firm may be shifting its focus from buying to building. DexCom, San Diego, makes diabetes monitors, has said that the FDA approved its STS Continuous Glucose Monitoring System. The STS device monitors blood sugar of people with diabetes using a tiny sensor that is inserted underneath the skin and connected to a receiver the size of a cell phone. SGX Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, will receive $25-million up front from Novartis for collaborating on the development of a new drug for leukemia patients. SpaceDev, Poway, a company that develops small satellites and hybrid-rocket technologies, reported an increase in profits. Peregrine, San Diego, chipmaker, said it has opened an engineering design center in N.H. It is the company’s third engineering design center, and is expected to lead to enhanced company revenues and profits. California Employers added a phenomenal growth of 31,100 jobs in February 2006. Economists say that the current job market appears to be pretty healthy. University of San Diego economist Alan Gin was encouraged by the growth of higher paying jobs, particularly among professional and scientific services. “. . . recently there has been a lot of growth in professional services.” he said. Invitrogen, Carlsbad, technology from Invitrogen is an element of a new kit to detect male DNA in crime scene evidence. ReliaGene Technologies, a New Orleans based human identification and testing research laboratory, sells a forensic product that uses the technology. It picks up DNA specifically linked to the Y chromosome, found only in males. The companies said the kit gives forensics investigators the ability to identify and differentiate male DNA from female DNA in biologic evidence. SYS Technologies, San Diego, said it received a one-year contract valued at $1.78 million to develop a command and control network for the Undersea Warfare Decision Support System. The work, to be done in San Diego requires SYS to support battlefields visualization of anti-submarine warfare search capabilities. Ligand Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, said it earned a $2 million milestone payment related to development of its experimental blood platelet-stimulating drug. The company licensed the drug, eltrombopag, to British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. The milestone payment was triggered when GlaxoSmithKline launched a Phase 3 study of the drug to treat idipathic thrombocytopenic purpura, or ITP. ITP is a disorder that causes low platelet counts, leaving patients at risk of episodes of bleeding. Ligand could receive double-digit royalties on the drug if it is ultimately approved. Anadys Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, reported that its experimental drug to treat hepatitis B significantly reduced the virus in patients enrolled in a small Phase 2 study. The company said patients resistant to a current hepatitis B treatment had greater than 99.9 percent clearance of the virus in their bloodstream after 12 weeks treatment with Anadys’ drug, ANA380. Anadys has granted pharmaceutical company Novartis an exclusive option to evaluate and potentially license Anadys’ rights to the drug. Scripps Research Institute, San Diego, has announced a collaborative initiative with IBM Corp. to meld science with computer technology in an effort to fight pandemic flu viruses. “Project Check-mate” will attempt to create models of potential flu pandemics, chart their courses and develop strategies to outsmart mutations. The company will lead the research into virus pattern development while IBM will use its Blue Gene computer, the world’s fastest supercomputer, to interpret and compute models and disseminate the data. Tarari, San Diego, a maker of content processing chips and software that speed up computer networks, has raised $14 million in a third round of venture capital funding. San Diego’s Enterprise Partners led the round. Other investors include Crosspoint Venture Partners, Morgan Stanley Venture Partners, Miramar Venter Partners and XMLFund. Bob Conn, managing director at Enterprise Partners, also joined Tarari’s board. The startup company has raised $42 million since it was founded bout three years ago. Jack In The Box Inc, San Diego, shares jumped after Bear Stearns, optimistic about the fast-food chain’s franchise-based model and the potential if its Qdoba Mexican Grill, upgraded the stock to “peer perform” from “underperform”. Shares of the San diego-based hamburger chain rose $4.57, or 12 percent, to close at $41.55 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was heavy. The session’s strongest level of $42.73 was a 52-week high. In September, the company abandoned its more upscale Jack In The Box Grill concept, which was going to replace about 15 percent of the company’s standard stores with features such as armchairs and modern art. The analysts were optimistic about Jack’s Qdoba Mexican Grill, which was acquired in January 2003. General Atomics-Aernautical Systems, San Diego, has been awarded by the Air Force a $41.4 million contract to deliver five of the company’s latest-generation unmanned Predator aircraft and related equipment. The Predator B MQ-9 “Hunter Killer” is a robotic reconnaissance plane equipped with anti-tank missiles. The systems are scheduled for completion in March 2008. Cymer, San Diego, maker of complex, expensive lasers used in semiconductor production, jumped $1.77 to $44.90 in after-hours trading following the company’s announcement that has received a significant order from a leading memory-device manufacturer to replace 27 of a competitor’s lasers. Cymer currently has more than 80 percent market share in lasers used to make memory chips. It released the news after markets closed. Cymer did not place a dollar value on the order, although its light sources usually carries a sales price of roughly $800,000 to $1 million. Deliveries of the lasers is expected to occur throughout 2006. Ace Parking, San Diego, the nation’s largest privately owned parking contractor, said it will take over parking concession at Palm Springs International Airport on Feb. 1. Ace Parking already runs parking operations at airports in Phoenix, Portland, Tucson and Fresno. The Palm Springs airport flew a record 1.4 million passengers last year and is served by 15 different airlines. Cytori Therapeutics, San Diego, said that European regulators approved its stem cell processing device for sale, triggering an $11 million payment to Cytori from the joint venture it operates with Tokyo’s Olympus Corp. The companies joined in November to collaborate on regenerative medicine products. The recently approved celution system processes adult stem cells from fat tissue in about an hour, making these cells available for re-implantation into a patient during a surgical procedure. Cytori shares rose 36 cents to $7.40. 1st Pacific Bank of California, San Diego, posted net income of $725,125 for the quarter ended Dec. 31, or 17 cents a share. That compares with earnings of $401,994, or 10 cents a share, for the same period in 2004. The San Diego based bank reported full year income of $2.3 million, or 56 cents a share, up 92 percent from 2004. The bank, with branches in University City, Oceanside, Mission Valley and Rancho Bernardo, ended the year with assets of $266 million. Qualcomm, San Diego, said it will pay a quarterly cash dividend of 9 cents a share. The dividend is payable on March 24 to stockholders on record at the close of business on February 24. Qualcomm’s last quarterly dividend, also 9 cents, was paid January 4. Invitrogen, Carlsbad, said that its subsidiary, Invitrogen Federal Systems, received a $970,000 grant from the Defense Department to produce and validate protein microarrays that will help detect biothreat agents. Dr. James Meegan, Invitrogen’s senior director of research and development, will supervise the work. Invitrogen developed its protein microarray in 2001 as a means to significantly enhance the detection and analysis of biomolecular interactions. Syntricity, San Diego, has received $5.8 million in a second round of venture capital funding. Windward Ventures led the funding, along with other current investors. New investors included GKM Ventures of Los Angeles and its affiliate fund Osprey Ventures of Menlo Park. The funds will be used to boost sales. Tioga Pharmaecuticals, San Diego, a private company developing therapies for gastrointestinal disease, announced a $24 million Series A financing. Tioga is developing asimadoline, a proprietary small molecule, for treating irritable bowel syndrome and postoperative ileus. Forward Ventures founded Tioga and led the financing. Amylin Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, shares rose on news that the company will join the Nasdaq 1009 index on Monday, replacing MCI, which has been acquired by Verizon Communications. Amylin, which last year had two diabetes drugs approved for market, has a market capitalization of about $4.4 billion. Its shares rose $1.64 to $41.97 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. During the session, the stock hit $43.39, jumping past its 52-week high of $42.36. BioMed Realty Trust, San Diego, an owner of life sciences buildings, has purchased two fully leased properties – one in South San Francisco and the other in the University of Utah Research Park. BioMed, a real estate investment trust, paid $25.9 million for the San Francisco building and $19 million for the Utah building. First Community Bancorp, Rancho Santa Fe, has completed its acquisition of Cedars Bank. First Community paid about $250.7 million in cash for the stock and options of Los Angeles-based Cedars. Cedars has $438 million in assets and seven branches. NovaCardia, San Diego, said its experimental drug to treat congestive heart failure met its goals in a series of mid-stage Phase 2 human studies. The San Diego biotechnology company’s drug, dubbed KW-3902, improved fluid elimination and renal function in heart failure patients, according to NovaCardia. Based on the results, NovaCardia plans to launch final, Phase 3 studies of the drug this year, the company said.
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