Biotech synergy in OC: A promising cancer treatment developed over 20 years at Hoag Hospital is now the purview of superstar scientist and UCI prof Hans Keirstead. His company, California Stem Cell, will expand the research and seek to commercialize the results. “I am particularly happy about maturing this program, taking it to industry, where it belongs,” Keirstead said. Hoag will continue to participate in trials, but Keirstead said the patents, equipment and half-dozen personnel have been acquired by CSC, terms undisclosed. Operations have moved from Hoag to CSC, which recently left UCI’s University Research Park for bigger digs in the Golden State Foods building at Michelson and Von Karman in Irvine. Keirstead said CSC’s staff has grown to 25 and the company has launched a new funding round: “We’ve gone from startup to small business.” Keirstead said the Hoag program, in Phase 2 of an FDA trial for treatment of metastatic melanoma, involves a procedure “that teaches the immune system to recognize and attack” cancer cells. He said half the patients live five years longer than predicted, “as close as you can get thus far” to a cure for cancer. He said CSC also is nearing trials to treat spinal atrophy in infants and is working on a series of drug-screening products. Separately, Menlo Park-based Geron Corp. is testing on humans a spinal-cord therapy, developed by Keirstead at UCI, that made paralyzed rats walk again …
The Insider is told that Newport Center’s iconic Ritz Restaurant, scene of many deals, fundraisers, VIP sightings and other action, has been notified by landlord the Irvine Company that it must vacate by January 2013. The restaurant is said to be looking for a new location; the company’s plans for the site are unknown …
Greg Lindstrom, the high-powered Latham & Watkins lawyer who joined the Irvine Company four years ago to be EVP, general counsel and secretary, is leaving. Lindstrom will serve as “senior advisor” during a transition and has described the parting as “amicable” …
Meanwhile, Irvine Company chief Donald Bren hosted a party at one of his favorite nature spots, Bommer Canyon, and passed out signed copies of a new coffee-table book highlighting the wildlife and vistas of his domain, “Southern California Coastal Mountains to the Sea.” “My long-time dream has been for the Irvine Ranch to be known for what has been preserved and protected here, as compared to what has been carefully built,” Bren said. Fifty thousand of 93,000 acres are preserved as open space. Bren said about 25% of the rest remains to be developed—”mostly residential, apartments, some commercial and commercial redevelopment.” His forecast for the real estate market? “Don’t pin me down on that one” …
Korean-Americans Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang and wife Joanne were among 200 guests at a White House dinner hosted by the Obamas for South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
