San Diego biotech Singlera Genomics said the FDA has granted Breakthrough Device Designation for its new assay, which detects pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in high-risk patients.
PDAC is a particularly deadly cancer with a five-year survival rate of less than 10%.
According to a release, the assay uses a proprietary platform to detect methylation patterns in circulating tumor DNA in blood that originate from early-stage PDACs and precancerous pancreatic lesions, potentially allowing for earlier detection and intervention.
Singlera will launch a clinical trial to further evaluate and seek final approval for the assay.
The company offers a wide range of products for early cancer screening, diagnostics, and prognosis checking for multiple types of cancers including lung, colorectal, liver, gastric, esophageal, pancreatic, thyroid, and more.
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The tourism bureaucrats in Sacramento have released their 2022 Economic Impact Report, which supplies a raft of data on tourism’s economic impact across the state and county level, and the results were eye-popping. The state’s tourism economy grew 32% in 2022 and is expected to break new records in 2023 in terms of visitor spending, employment, and taxes generated.
Tourists spent $134.4 billion in 2022, a 32% increase from 2021 and 93% rise from pre-pandemic levels.
According to the report, the state’s travel sector added 157,000 jobs, bringing the total to 1.1 million — 94% of the 2019 levels after the pandemic’s devastating losses when everything was shut down.
The report predicts that the Golden State will surpass the record $144.9 billion in visitor spending achieved in 2019, a year earlier than projected in 2021. In San Diego County alone, tourism generated $13.3 billion in visitor spending and 96,000 jobs.
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A new survey conducted by self-storage website StorageCafe finds that 21% of U.S. residents said they were self-storage users in 2022, with another 15% planning to use the service in the future. The survey also found that Gen-Xers constitute the biggest share of storage users in the United States at 23%, followed closely by millennials at 21%.
The primary reason for renting self-storage was the lack of space in the house, reported by 40% of users. The need to move came in at 34%. The most commonly stored items were furniture and clothing, followed by home appliances, sporting items, hobby gear, and business items.
San Diego ranked 11th in average monthly searches for storage, with an average cost of a 10’x10′ storage unit at $182 a month, down 2.2% from last year.
Despite lacking glamour, the report says self-storage industry is poised for more growth due to various trends, among other things including the adoption of hybrid work, migration patterns, downsizing baby boomers and the thriving RV market,
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News about the ever-changing real estate market keeps on coming. According to a new report from online residential real estate brokerage Redfin, increasing mortgage rates are leading to bidding wars as buyers compete for small pool of homes, prompting many homeowners to stay put in San Diego. However, buyers and sellers can at least take a little comfort in knowing the Fed probably won’t raise interest rates again anytime soon, the report opined.
Redfin says reasonably priced homes in desirable areas are selling especially quickly as buyers compete for a limited number of homes for sale. Homes are getting snatched up quickly as a shortage of listings sparks bidding wars between the buyers who stay in the market despite elevated mortgage rates.
The total number of homes for sale has steadily declined over the last month, going against the typical spring inventory bump. Sale prices declined in 32 metros, including Oakland, Sacramento, Anaheim, and San Francisco, while they increased most in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Newark, New Jersey.
New listings declined in all metros Redfin analyzed, especially in California. dropping most in San Diego (-42%), Seattle (-42%), Oakland (-39%), Sacramento (-39%) and Riverside, CA (-39%).
City Tacos, San Diego’s fast-growing Mexican eatery chain, is expanding its reach with the upcoming opening of its seventh location in San Diego County. Scheduled to open this summer, the 10,000-square-foot OB Playground will be found in Ocean Beach, serving as an all-ages community hub with a dog park, various games, and outdoor seating.
Owner Gerry Torres said the facility will host a coffee and flower shop, as well as craft beer bar with 10 local taps. In addition, Torres said the site will feature rotating food trucks, craft fairs, and small festivals later in the year. The facility will also have giant-sized games like checkers, chess, Connect 4, and Jenga, as well as acoustic guitar players and other musicians performing regularly.
Torres said the menu features traditional and homestyle tacos, as well as meat, seafood, and vegetarian options. With 13 of its 15 tacos priced for less than $5, the eatery has surpassed 3 million tacos sold in the county. The chain has locations in East Village, Encinitas, La Mesa, Pacific Beach, Sorrento Valley and central Los Angeles.
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San Diego distiller Cask & Coast Spirits Co. said has won its second consecutive Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition for its four-grain bourbon. The spirit is matured for five years in American oak barrels in the Midwest, before being blended and aged for a year in California wine casks, then bottled at 102 proof.
According to a news release, the bourbon was the only bourbon from Southern California to get a gold medal. The distiller was founded by entrepreneur and former San Diego City Councilman Mark Kersey and Richard Montaño, an entrepreneur and real estate investor.
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Finally…Texas-based facilities maintenance company Flagship Facility Services has bought San Diego-based Managed Lab Service, according to a news release. With the acquisition, Flagship says it can now offer a comprehensive portfolio of lab services to meet the specific requirements of biotech start-ups on a national scale. According to Managed Lab’s website, the company is a Certified Women-Owned Small Business, as recognized by the federal government.
Tom York is a Carlsbad-based independent journalist who specializes in writing about business and the economy. If you have news tips you’d like to share, send them to tom.york@gmail.com.
