Earlier this week, San Diego-based RQx Pharmaceuticals Inc

Adventrx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, began dosing patients in a QT/QTc study of ANX-188, an aqueous solution of purified poloxamer 188, to evaluate the effect of therapeutic and supra-therapeutic doses of the compound on cardiac ventricular repolarization in healthy volunteers

and its partners gave $703,000 in convertible loans to two of Hadasit's portfolio companies 1/23/13 ScarX Therapeutics Toronto $0.25 ScarX received a $250,000 investment from the Ontario Centres of Excellence 1/25/13 Solstice Biologics LLC San Diego $18 Solstice raised $18M in a Series A led by venBio, with participation from Aeris Capital 1/7/13 TVAX Biomedical Inc

San Diego) Retrophin Inc. (New York) ND As part of a license agreement to develop and commercialize Retrophin's lead candidate, RE-021, and following the completion of Retrophin's merger with Desert Gateway Inc

was involved in two billion dollar deals: acquiring San Diego-based Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc...AstraZeneca plc acquired Ardea Biosciences Inc., of San Diego, for $1.26 billion with the $32 share price representing a 54 percent premium. (See BioWorld Today, April 24, 2012

Canaccord Genuity Leerink Swann $118.825 $1.28B Theravance Inc. (South San Francisco; THRX)15 1/18/13 1/18/13 Notes N/A N/A BofA Merrill Lynch Leerink Swann Piper Jaffray $287.5 N/A Trius Therapeutics Inc. (San Diego; TSRX)16 9/11/12 1/18/13 7.2S $4.75 45.1 Citigroup Leerink Swann (co-lead) Baird (co-lead) $34.2 $214.2 Total: $2,196.8M Number of follow-on offerings in January: 15 Average value of January follow-ons: $146.45M Number of follow-on offerings in 2013: 15 Total raised in follow

Celladon Corp., of San Diego, was issued a notice of allowance for U.S. Patent application No

Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said it entered a settlement agreement with Actavis Elizabeth LLC and parent firm Actavis Inc., of Parsippany, N.J., to resolve pending patent litigation involving Silenor 3-mg and 6-mg tablets

Genelux Corp., of San Diego, said researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York treated the first patient in a Phase I trial of GL-ONC1 in malignant pleural effusion, a complication that occurs in about 30 percent of lung cancers

The findings were presented at the 15th International Symposium on Anti-Angiogenic Therapy in San Diego

Janssen Research & Development LLC, of Titusville, N.J., a unit of Johnson & Johnson, said its San Diego-based Janssen Labs added a Concept Lab, a shared laboratory to offer entrepreneurs access to bench spaces for early stage research, and an Open Collaboration Space, an open-plan office setting designed to provide companies and individuals with desk space

Vical Inc., of San Diego, said an article in the journal Vaccine detailed results from the company's completed guinea pig studies with Vaxfectin-formulated plasmid DNA vaccines against herpes simplex virus type 2

The findings were presented at the 15th International Symposium on Anti-Angiogenic Therapy in San Diego

2012 U.S. Biotech Cluster Ranking 1 Greater Boston (no change) 2 San Diego (+5) 3 San Francisco Bay Area (no change) 4 Raleigh-Durham (+5) 5 Philadelphia (+1) 6 Washington D.C. Metro Area (-1) 7 New Jersey / New York City (-5) 8 Los Angeles / Orange County (-4) 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul (-1) 10 Seattle (no change) Source: Jones Lang LaSalle

In California, San Diego has risen from being the seventh to the second most-active U.S...San Diego recorded $13.8 billion in M&A activity in the last 12 months

Findings were presented at the GTCBIO Immune Responses in the Tumor Microenvironment Workshop in San Diego

Adventrx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said it started patient recruitment in its pivotal Phase III study of ANX-188 (purified poloxamer 188) in sickle cell disease

Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Malvern, Pa., and Xstelos Holdings Inc., of New York, filed a lawsuit against Upsher-Smith Laboratories Inc., of San Diego, alleging infringement of 10 patents related to Testim 1 percent testosterone gel

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co., of San Diego, said it administered the first dose for its Phase I/II trial of GCS-100 in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD