ANTELOPE VALLEY
MOJAVE
Stratolaunch, the aerospace company that built the world’s largest airplane, has added a former Pentagon official to its technical advisory group. Mark Lewis joins the advisory group of the Mojave aerospace firm just weeks after it completed the critical design review for its Talon-A hypersonic test vehicles. The Talon-A is a vehicle that is a rocket-propelled, autonomous, reusable testbed carrying customizable payloads at speeds above Mach 5. It is launched from the Roc carrier aircraft, the largest airplane in the world with a wingspan of 385 feet. Lewis recently served as acting deputy undersecretary of defense for research and engineering at the Pentagon, a role that had him responsible for research, development and prototyping activities, Stratolaunch said in its release, adding that Lewis was the senior-most scientific professional in the Defense Department. “The Talon craft will be the reusable hypersonic ‘wind tunnel in the sky’ that many of us in the field have been talking about for years,” Lewis said in a statement.
CONEJO VALLEY
THOUSAND OAKS
The Food and Drug Administration has approved Amgen Inc.’s drug Repatha for patients as young as 10 years old who suffer from a genetic disorder that causes them to have very high cholesterol levels at a young age, the company announced. Repatha reduces so-called bad cholesterol in a way that’s different from statins, the common drug used to fight the condition. Repatha earlier was approved for patients as young as 13. The genetic condition affects 1 in every 250 people worldwide, the company said.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE
Arcutis Biotherapeutics has submitted a new drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its roflumilast cream, a treatment for mild to severe plaque psoriasis. If approved by the FDA, the cream would be the company’s first commercial product. Plaque psoriasis is a disease characterized by itchy, thick, red and scaly skin patches that, according to Arcutis, affects about 8.6 million people in the United States. Frank Watanabe, chief executive of Arcutis, said in a statement that this represents “a critical milestone for Arcutis in our efforts to bring innovative treatments to dermatologists and their patients, and is a reflection of our deep dermatology expertise.”
SAN FERNANDO VALLEY
BURBANK
Walt Disney Co. and actress Scarlett Johansson have agreed to settle her lawsuit filed against the company over claims of breach of contract connected with her performance in the film “Black Widow,” according to media reports. Terms of the settlement between Johansson and the entertainment and media giant were not disclosed. The actress sued the company in Los Angeles Superior Court in July over allegations that her contract was breached when Disney released “Black Widow” to theaters at the same time as it was made available through its Disney+ streaming service and she lost out on tens of millions of dollars in box office bonuses. “Black Widow” has grossed $379 million worldwide since its July 9 release and generated another $60 million from at-home purchases on the streaming service Disney+ the first weekend. “I’m very pleased that we have been able to come to a mutual agreement with Scarlett Johansson regarding ‘Black Widow,’” Alan Bergman, content chairman for Disney Studios, said in a statement. He added that the company looked forward to working with Johansson on a “number of upcoming projects,” including plans for her to produce and star in a film based on Disney’s “Tower of Terror” theme park rides.
A 50,986-square-foot on-campus medical office building has sold for $23.9 million, or $468 per square foot. Commercial real estate firm GPI Cos. purchased the property at 2701 W. Alameda Ave. from a private real estate investor in a CBRE Group-transacted deal. The property came onto the market for the first time since it was built more than 50 years ago. The building was 90 percent leased to a diverse mix of 22 medical tenants, most of them medical practitioners staffed at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank — one of the largest employers in the San Fernando Valley.
Medolife Rx’s marketing campaign featuring legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk has paid off. The subsidiary of Quanta Inc. said its website has experienced a traffic spike following Hawk’s entrance into his role as a product spokesperson, garnering more than 260,000 impressions and increasing awareness of Medolife’s brand. Medolife has seen an 800 percent increase in unique sessions directly from Instagram since the ad campaign launched. “These numbers are astounding and provide proof of a tangible ROI in our relationship with Tony Hawk,” Medolife Chief Executive Dr. Arthur Mikaelian said in a statement.
CALABASAS
Marcus & Millichap was the target of a cyberattack, according to a recent filing the commercial real estate services firm made to the Securities and Exchange Commission. “(Marcus & Millichap) immediately engaged cybersecurity experts to secure and restore all systems and was able to do so with no material disruption to its business,” the filing said. Marcus & Millichap said that there is no evidence to suggest that there was any material disruption or compromised data. “The company continues to work with its external cybersecurity experts to assess and enhance the security of company systems and personal information,” Marcus & Millichap said in the filing, adding that the company carries cyber insurance which it expects “will cover the majority of costs related to this incident.”
GLENDALE
Netflix Inc. has acquired Night School Studio, an independent video game developer. Financial terms of the deal between Night School and the Los Gatos streaming giant were not disclosed. It is the streaming company’s first acquisition in the gaming sector. Founded in 2014, Night School has established itself as an up-and-coming gaming studio with the hit game “Oxenfree” and is currently working on a sequel.
The retail property that hosts Home Depot in Glendale has sold for $61.8 million in a Newmark-transacted deal. Located on 5040 W. San Fernando Road, the property features a 94,500-square-foot Home Depot store and an 18,000-square-foot outdoor Home Depot garden center. The buyer, Charing Cross Partners, is a private Los Angeles-based real estate partnership. The Home Depot property was the most expensive component in a trio of retail transactions totalling 0ver $100 million.
NORTH HOLLYWOOD
Lankershim Plaza, a nine-story, 179,741-
square-foot building at 5250 Lankershim Blvd., has sold for $92 million to Bay Area investment firm DivcoWest. Situated in North Hollywood’s Arts District, Lankershim Plaza counts among its tenants British-owned reality show production company ITV America, Kaiser Permanente and flexible office specialist Regus.
SYLMAR
Rudolph and Sletten, a subsidiary of Tutor Perini Corp. in Sylmar, has been awarded a contract to construct a replacement hospital building for Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital. The new facility’s location on Lincoln Boulevard will allow the existing hospital to remain open during the construction and is expected to begin next month and be completed in 2026. The new nine-story, 230,000-square-foot hospital will include an emergency department with expanded diagnostic and treatment facilities, additional private rooms and operating rooms, cardiac catheterization and gastroenterology labs, the company said.
SANTA CLARITA VALLEY
SANTA CLARITA
Tire’s Warehouse has signed a lease for 170,000 square feet of industrial space at the under-construction first building that will launch Phase II of the Center at Needham Ranch in Santa Clarita. A division of U.S. Venture Inc., Tire’s Warehouse — a family owned and operated tire wholesaler in California, Nevada and Arizona — is relocating from Sylmar. Tire’s Warehouse will occupy Building 10 in the industrial park. The balance of the buildings at Needham Ranch’s Phase II, to begin construction later this year, will range from 85,000 to 320,000 square feet.
VALENCIA
Lief Raws, a division of dietary supplement manufacturer Lief Labs, has entered a licensing partnership that will enable it to be the distribution and sales arm for CellFlo6, a green tea extract. The development of Lief Raws came as a result of customer and vendor feedback about how the division could help fill voids in the market of the nutraceuticals industry, according to Lief Raws Senior Sales Executive Tito Sanchez.