What’s Inside: Investing in the Growth of LA’s Life Sciences; Expanding Our Knowledge of the Microbiome; Compete for Eisai and MBC Labs’ Golden Ticket; and more. 

We’re championing the progress made by California’s life science community and want to hear about your company’s latest scientific breakthrough, investment milestone, or commitment to creating positive change for our industry. Submit your story here for possible inclusion in an upcoming issue.

What’s Happening at Biocom California

Comprehensive Plan to Support Life Science Growth in Los Angeles

Last week, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion by Supervisor and Chair of the Board Holly Mitchell, which will direct County resources toward growing the region’s life science industry. Biocom California will work in partnership with the County to support the startup ecosystem, build out talent pipelines, and leverage County land-use authority to site and expand life science employers that generate high-quality, well-paying jobs for workers of all educational attainment levels. "LA County is leading the way and setting an example for other counties and municipalities across California, and we are proud to partner in this effort," said Stephanie Hsieh, our LA Executive Director. 

Bringing in the Experts of Office Design

In need of an office revamp? We’re pleased to announce that Biocom California members in the Bay Area can now access design, project management and furniture procurement services through our new partnership with MG West. This best-in-class Haworth dealer expertly transforms workspaces into places that reflect the unique culture of each company, teaming up with over 300 manufacturers and service providers to deliver the best and most competitive solutions the industry can offer. Schedule a meeting to explore how MG West can tackle your toughest design challenges today.

The Latest News on the Microbiome 

The term “microbiome” has entered the parlance of everyday consumers who are looking for more ways to improve their health. While nutrition companies and fermented food purveyors promote the need for a healthy gut flora, scientists and researchers have been studying the human microbiome for years. With each person carrying microbial cells numbering in the trillions, the potential of the microbiome and what it means for human health, new therapeutics and drug discovery is still not fully known.

The White House generated buzz for the community of organisms that live within all of us when it launched the National Microbiome Initiative back in 2016, and the momentum continues with the NIH’s announcement earlier this year that it is awarding $170M over the next five years to researchers for the Nutrition for Precision Health Study powered by the All of Us Research Program, which will incorporate the latest advances in microbiome research and aims to gather health data from 1 million people. Researchers are examining the gut and respiratory tract microbiota of COVID-19 patients to better understand how the disease affects the body, and a current study is looking at the relationship between gut bacteria and boosting cancer treatments, especially for melanoma.

Here is a roundup of some of our member companies who are furthering our understanding of the microbiome.

Food for Thought

UC San Diego launched one of the largest citizen scientists projects nearly a decade ago with the American Gut Project/The Microsetta Initiative—the latter name is amusingly abbreviated to “TMI”—but the research from the project is still ongoing. The university has a Center for Microbiome Innovation, and it recently used a new method, called untargeted metabolomics, in a study that revealed how our body chemistry can be traced to the foods we consume. Rob Knight, Ph.D., director of the center, said this is an important step in understanding how our microbes and molecules work together to either improve or degrade our health based on our diet.

Gut Feeling

Los Angeles-based Armata is also investigating how bacteria can be harnessed for therapeutic properties. It’s using its proprietary bacteriophage-based technology to find treatments for drug-resistant strains of bacteria—which has increased due to the overuse of antibiotics—that won’t disrupt our microbiomes.

Skin Deep

Our skin is an organ that also has its own microbiome, and Parallel Health, a skincare startup in Los Angeles, plans to develop personalized serums that will be formulated based off of a sample from a customer’s skin microbiome using machine learning and genome sequencing. The company was featured this summer in Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards, and has a waitlist for its products.

Cat’s Meow

Microbiome testing isn’t just for humans. Animal Biome, a Bay Area-based company, developed preventative microbiome testing kits for both cats and dogs. The company says that half of veterinarian visits are due to our pets experiencing skin or digestive issues, and that its kits, which use DNA sequencing, can assess your pet’s health before any issues flare up.

Policy Perspective

User Fee Legislation Negotiations Ongoing

The House and Senate are negotiating the differences between each chamber’s respective user fee legislation. Reauthorization is still expected before the user fee program expires on September 30 and the FDA is forced to reduce staff capacity. Biocom California has submitted input to the Committees on key points and will remain engaged as negotiations continue.

Senate Unveils Resurrected Drug Pricing Legislation

In early July, the Senate unveiled a drug pricing proposal akin to the proposal from last fall. Senate Democrats are attempting to resuscitate a highly similar version of the reconciliation package from last year to address President Biden’s domestic policy agenda. Biocom California is engaged in once again ensuring these harmful policies do not get passed into law.

Biocom California Authors Letter to Hill on US/China Competitiveness Legislation

Today, Biocom California sent a letter to members of the California delegation who have been named to the group of members working on conferencing the House-passed America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology, and Economic Strength Act and the Senate-passed US Innovation and Competition Act. The bills would support American innovation, strengthen supply chains, and protect American leadership and competitiveness, but their differences must be resolved before they are sent to the President’s desk. In our letter, we urged the members to ensure that SBIR/STTR reauthorization, semiconductor chip investment, a repeal of the R&D tax amortization, and supply chain resilience provisions are included in the final legislation.

South San Francisco Parcel Tax Measure Could Have Large Impact on the City’s Biotech Industry

A tax measure to fund childcare in South San Francisco is headed to the November ballot after qualifying via signature gathering. If passed, the initiative will impose a $2.50 per square foot parcel tax on commercial buildings larger than 25,000 square feet—almost all of these buildings are part of the city’s thriving biotech cluster. On July 20, Biocom California policy staff attended a meeting with South San Francisco Mayor Mark Nagales, who has publicly expressed concerns about the measure. The mayor wants to form a coalition of biotech companies, council members, and childcare providers to formulate a plan to address childcare collectively in the city, rather than imposing a tax that could hurt the industry and lead its companies to look to other cities without such a tax to locate facilities. The city has an existing Childcare Master Plan, including plans to build its own childcare facilities, that could be hindered by the measure. Biocom California plans to convene our members in South San Francisco to consider an official position opposing the measure and participating in an opposition coalition.

LA Reintroduces Mask Mandate

Los Angeles County is on track to reinstate its indoor mask mandate starting July 29. LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer announced on July 14 that the county had officially entered the CDC’s High Community Level and that the mandate would be imposed barring a rapid decrease of COVID cases. The universal indoor mask mandate will cover almost all indoor settings. Los Angeles is the first county in the state to reintroduce a mandate, and Ferrer cited the county’s high mortality rate from COVID, its disproportionate impact on underserved communities, and recent highly contagious variants as the reasons for its reinstatement. The order would be rescinded once cases begin to drop.

Pasadena City Council Committee Considers Hazardous Materials Regulatory Changes Supported by Biocom California

On July 20, Pasadena City Council’s Public Safety Committee heard testimony on the Fire Chief’s recommendation to bring hazardous materials reporting requirements in line with state rules. Pasadena currently triggers a hazardous materials permit requirement for any amount of reportable material used in a facility; the proposal would increase that threshold to state minimums. Changing the reporting threshold for hazardous materials will assist the Fire Department with focusing on larger issues of compliance rather than regulating negligible amounts of materials. These changes were brought to the Fire Department by Biocom California and our members in Pasadena. The Public Safety Committee will consider moving this forward to city council at their meeting on August 17.

Featured Premium Members