Bloomberg Editor: Republican discord a boost for Obama
President Barack Obama should be the underdog in his campaign for re-election, but disunity among Republicans could hand him a victory in November — and a stronger hand in dealing with Congress. That was the analysis handed down by Bloomberg News Editor Clark Hoyt at the fourth annual Central Coast Economic Symposium on April 4. Read More →
Teledyne increases stake in Optech
Military-industrial conglomerate Teledyne Technologies said April 3 that its Dalsa subsidiary has increased its ownership stake in the parent company of Optech from 19 percent to 51 percent. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Optech is a Canadian maker of laser-based survey and digital imaging equipment. Thousand Oaks-based Teledyne has been moving away from Read More →
Amgen, AstraZeneca strike drug development deal
Amgen has entered a development deal with London-based AstraZeneca to jointly commercialize five anti-inflammation drugs. Under the terms of the agreement announced April 2, AstraZeneca will pay a one-time $50 million payment to Amgen and will be responsible for helping the Thousand Oaks-based biotech giant commercialize its inflammation drug pipeline. The firms said in a Read More →
Watkins warns of shrinking Ventura County work force
Bill Watkins’ usually dour outlook for California and the local economy is only getting gloomier. The chief economist at California Lutheran University’s Center for Economic Research and Forecasting said March 29 that his outlook a year ago — already pessimistic compared to that of his fellow forecasters — was “wrong, way wrong.” Ventura County lost Read More →
Sientra funding rises to $151M
Sientra, the Santa Barbara breast implant company that recently received the first FDA approval in several decades for new implants for the U.S. market, has closed a $65 million funding round, bringing its total capital raised to $151 million. The lead investor on the private equity deal was London-based life sciences fund Abingworth. Sientra’s existing Read More →
Ojai Community Bank out from regulatory order
Ojai Community Bank is out from under a regulatory consent order imposed on it last year and reported a profitable 2011, swinging back from a loss the year earlier. The small Ojai-based bank said March 27 that regulators had lifted a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. order placed on it on March 31, 2011. The announcement Read More →
