Two University of California, Irvine, professors are working with Bay Area-based StemCells Inc. on what could lead to the development of an investigational new drug for treating Alzheimer’s disease.
Frank LaFerla, director of UC Irvine’s Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, and Matthew Blurton-Jones, an assistant professor of neurobiology and behavior, will evaluate StemCells’ proprietary purified human neural stem cells for treating Alzheimer’s.
The project is expected to run for four years.
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine is providing $19.3 million aimed at helping StemCells file an investigational new drug application with the Food and Drug Administration within four years.
Money is being provided for the project through a forgivable loan and will be disbursed periodically through the project period, StemCells said in a news release.
The release noted that the loan’s term is actually 10 years but might be extended under certain circumstances.
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine was created after voters approved Proposition 71 in 2004. It issues money raised by the state through bonds to support various forms of stem-cell research.
Alzheimer’s affects some 5 million Americans, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Its prevalence is expected to increase rapidly as a result of the country’s aging population.
Blurton-Jones presented data last year at the Alzheimer’s Association annual meeting demonstrating that StemCells’ neural stem cells restored memory and significantly enhanced synaptic function in animal testing models relevant to the disease, a news release said.
“Our collaborators at UC Irvine have provided a compelling preclinical rationale to test the utility of our cells to restore memory in patients afflicted with this deadly condition,” said Martin McGlynn, StemCells’ chief executive.
StemCells is publicly traded and had a recent market value of $66.5 million.
Nichols Institute Test Site
Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute, a San Juan Capistrano-based unit of medical laboratory services provider Quest Diagnostics Inc. in New Jersey, will be the development site of a new test to aid in the detection of breast cancer recurrence.
Quest said that it will “independently develop and validate” the test from Nichols Institute.
The test is coming about through a global licensing and marketing deal with Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Matrix-Bio Inc.
The two companies will co-fund clinical studies to demonstrate the test’s clinical value using biomarkers. Quest said that validation would spur plans to offer its own version of the test through the Nichols Institute and also market the service here and internationally.
Other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Auxilio Results
Mission Viejo-based Auxilio Inc. said its revenue grew 64% in 2012 while its net loss narrowed from a year earlier.
Auxilio offers print management services to help hospitals and other healthcare providers cut their dependence on paper records.
The company reported revenue of $35.7 million in 2012, compared to $21.8 million in 2011.
Its full-year loss totaled $2.4 million, compared to a loss of $2.6 million a year earlier.
Auxilio attributed its growth in revenue to eight new or expanded contracts that it signed in 2011 and early 2012. Those included a five-year, $35 million contract with the Bon Secours Health System in Hyattsville, Md., and one signed with MemorialCare Health System, which is moving its corporate office from Fountain Valley to Costa Mesa.
Auxilio did not give a forecast for the first quarter or 2013 in its earnings release.
No investment bank-based analysts follow the company, which has a market value of about $18.1 million.
