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NEW ScIENTIfIc RESEARcH INcubATOR IN AGuADIllA
New scientific research and development incubator in Aguadilla
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Juan A. Hernández, The Weekly Journal
OcyonBio, a pharmaceutical research and development (r&d) facility in Aguadilla slated for inauguration by the end of the year, expects to become the sixth gene and cell therapy hub in the U.S., researching and producing therapy medication for several cancers and other pernicious diseases.
“When we are done [building], our clients and we are going to be developing oncology products and CNS (products to diagnose, assess stage and treatment of the disease) for several types of cancer. A considerable number of products that we’ll be producing here will attack some form of cancer,” said Robert Salcedo, CEO and co-founder of OcyonBio.
Salcedo explained the company will cater to the needs of its prospective clients via a dual model of business. OcyonBio will provide all the necessary facilities for any pharmaceutical company to research and develop possible gene and cell therapy products, from laboratory space, equipment, testing facilities and science personnel to production of the finished product. On the other hand, these companies could opt to bring its own scientists and researchers to use the facilities.
“OcyonBio will bring in clients with an initial idea and clients ready for the commercial stage. Of course, most of our clients fall somewhere in the middle of that, so we are providing them with what I call a ‘compliance envelop,’ through which they can take their products to the clinic, through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or into the commercial avenue, as a standard commercial product,” Salcedo explained.
According to the pharmaceutical executive, there are only four gene and cell therapy hubs in the U.S. — Boston,
San Diego, San Francisco and Austin— and a fifth currently under construction in Philadelphia. “We want to be the sixth,” he said.
“Once the design and construction phases are completed, we could host up to 25 different companies operating within our campus. From r&d, to production, emphasizing on gene and cell therapies and the manufacturing of biosimilar products,” Salcedo said.
Biosimilar Solutions, a bioequivalent manufacturer, is already a signed client of OcyonBio and is expected to be among the first companies, if not the first, to start operations before the end of the year in the Aguadilla facility.
The Wave Of The Future
For Salcedo, the future of the pharmaceutical industry in Puerto Rico is not in the manufacturing of medicines anymore. “If you look at the tablets, capsules and ointments [that are still being manufactured in Puerto Rico], they are dying because they can’t make it… they can’t compete. They [other pharmaceutical plants] can make those in China for half a penny,” Salcedo argued. “I think the future of Puerto Rico lays in its increasing capabilities for biotech and the increasing
In fact, possibilities of the new cell biology, which is gene-cell therapy.” Salcedo further argued There are four that r&d in the gene and cell gene and cell therapy therapy field now offers a hubs in the U.S. strong incentive for Puerto —Boston, San Diego, Rican scientists wanting to do San Francisco and “real hardcore science” in the Austin. fields of biology, chemistry, pharmaceutical and engineering to stay on the island. “Up until now, there was no place in Puerto Rico where these professionals were able to do real, hardcore science. They were destined to make widgets [a manufactured product]. Don’t get me wrong, Amgen, AbbVie and BMS [Bristol-Myers Squibb] are fantastic companies to work for, but if you really want to do science, you want to be in the early stages of the r&d process,” said the former Amgen executive. Salcedo admitted that one of the reasons for establishing the company in Aguadilla is because of its closeness to the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, which produces many of the
Department of Economic Development and Commerce Secretary Manuel Cidre (right) and OcyonBio CEO and cofounder Robert Salcedo.
I think the future of Puerto Rico lays in its increasing capabilities for biotech and the increasing possibilities of the new cell biology.
Robert Salcedo CEO and cofounder, OcyonBio
island’s top scientists and engineers.
“I’m committed to hiring all the scientists graduating from Mayagüez [Campus] for the next three to five years. If they want to stay, they’ll have a job here,” he said.
The OcyonBio exec met with Mayagüez class of 2022 about three weeks ago and presented all the grads with a job offer. “It will be up to them to accept the offer or not.”
Salcedo estimates there will be about 150 employees working at OcyonBio by the end of the year, among them several expats that have been looking to come back to Puerto Rico.
Investment
OcyonBio has already invested $50 million in its Aguadilla facility and plans to invest $128 million before the year’s end to start operations. An additional $40 million would be invested in 2023.
Salcedo admitted Biosimilar Solutions did receive a $22 million tax incentive from the Puerto Rico’s government. A similar incentive for OcyonBio is still being negotiated with the government.
“We are going to invest $165 million upfront. After that investment, we estimate some $200 million in revenues for the first year. But those revenues will be a mix of the construction of the facilities, and the services provided,” Salcedo said.
Musk threatens to walk away from Twitter deal
Tesla’s CEO has repeatedly asked for information he is not getting
Tom Krisher and Matt O’Brien, The Associated Press
DETROIT — Elon Musk is threatening to walk away from his $44 billion bid to buy Twitter, accusing the company of refusing to give him information about its spambot and fake accounts.
Lawyers for the Tesla and SpaceX CEO made the threat in a letter to Twitter dated Monday that the company disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The lawyers wrote that Musk has repeatedly asked for the information since May 9, about a month after his offer to buy the company, so he could evaluate how many of the company’s 229 million accounts are fake.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has said that Twitter has consistently estimated that fewer than 5% of its accounts are spam. But Musk has disputed that, contending in a May tweet, without providing evidence, that 20% or more are bogus.
Shares of Twitter Inc. slid 1.5% Monday, likely incensing Twitter shareholders who filed a suit against Musk late last month for deflating the price of the stock. Shares of Twitter are down more than 20% in the last month.
Twitter said in a statement Monday that it has been cooperatively sharing information with Musk “in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement” and noted that the deal is in “the best interest of all shareholders.”
“We intend to close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement at the agreed price and terms,” it added.
Musk agreed to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share back in April. A number of Musk’s actions since, including a public spat with Twitter’s CEO about the fake accounts — on Twitter — has led some experts to question whether the billionaire wants to use his loud complaints to negotiate a lower deal price or even walk away entirely.
Musk’s lawyers wrote in the letter that Twitter has offered only to provide details about the company’s testing methods. But they contend that’s “tantamount to refusing Mr. Musk’s data requests,” and constitutes a “material breach” of the merger agreement that gives Musk the right to scrap the deal if he chooses.
“This is a clear material breach of Twitter’s obligations under the merger agreement and Mr. Musk reserves all rights resulting therefrom, including his right not to consummate the transaction and his right to terminate the merger agreement,” the letter says. Musk wants underlying data to do his own verification of what he says are Twitter’s lax methodologies. The Twitter sale agreement allows Musk to get out of the deal if there is a “material adverse effect” caused by the company. It defines that as a change that negatively affects Twitter’s business or financial conditions. Twitter has said all along that it’s proceeding with the deal, although it hasn’t scheduled a shareholder vote on it.
No Way Out?
Last month, Musk said that he unilaterally placed the deal on hold, which experts said he can’t do. If he walks away, he could be on the hook for a $1 billion breakup fee.
Musk’s latest maneuver shows how he is “looking
for a way out of the deal or something that will get leverage for a renegotiation of the price,” said Brian Quinn, a law professor at Boston College. But Quinn Elon Musk is accusing Twitter of refusing to give him information about its spambot accounts. >AP Photo/ Susan Walsh, File said it’s unlikely to hold up in court since he already waived his ability to ask for more due diligence. “I doubt he would be allowed to walk away,” Quinn said. “At some point, the board of Twitter will tire of this and file a suit” asking a judge to force Musk to stick to the deal. Twitter has disclosed its bot estimates to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for years, while also cautioning that its estimate might be too low. “If Twitter is confident in its publicized spam estimates, Mr. Musk does not understand the company’s reluctance to allow Mr. Musk to
In fact, independently evaluate those estimates,” the Musk letter says, adding that he agrees not to disclose or keep the data. The bot problem is a longtime fixation for Musk, Twitter shareholders filed a suit against Musk late last month for deflating the price of the company’s stock. who has more than 96 million Twitter followers and whose name and likeness are often mimicked by fake accounts promoting cryptocurrency scams. Musk appears to think such bots are also a problem for most other Twitter users, as well as advertisers who take out ads on the platform based on how many real people they expect to reach. Musk’s lawyers are arguing that he is entitled to data about the core of Twitter’s business model, so he can prepare the transition to his ownership. Citing a June 1 letter from Twitter in which the company said it only has to give information related to closing the sale, Musk’s team says the company is obligated to provide data for any reasonable business purpose needed to complete the deal. Musk’s bot count skepticism was also taken up Monday by the chief legal officer of Texas, where Tesla is headquartered. Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said he’s launching an investigation because he has a “duty to protect Texans if Twitter is misrepresenting how many accounts are fake to drive up their revenue.”
Brian Quinn Law professor, Boston College.
