Monrovia, California-based Xencor , which is developing antibodies to treat such things as Hodgkin lymphoma and inflammatory disease, said this morning that it has inked a technology license and evaluation agreement with Pfizer. Xencor said it will receive an upfront payment for Pfizer to access its technology, and that it is elegible for additional consideration as Pfizer commercializes products incorporating Xencor's technology. ...Tags: According to the firm, the deal calls for it to "optimize the performance" of therapeutic monoclocal antibodies at Pfizer. Financial terms

Monrovia-based Soliant Energy , a developer of solar concentrators, is opening up its new pilot production plant in Monrovia today, saying that the plant will produce up to 1 megawatt of solar panels annually. The firm is having a ribbon cutting on the plant this morning with Congressman David Dreier. Soliant said the new pilot line will result in up to 40 new staff members at the company.

Monrovia-based Tanner EDA said late last week that it has signed on a new distributor of its products in Korea. According to Tanner EDA, it added DauouXilicon Inc. in the market, to distribute the firm's analog, mixed-signal (A/MS) and MEMS electronic design automation (EDA) tools. READ MORE>> ...Tags: Tags: semiconductor silicon korea tanne

Monrovia, California-based Xencor , a company developing antibodies, said today that it has named Jeffrey Ravetch, M.D., The firm said that Ravetch will provide the firm with guidance on its products; Ravetch is an expert on antibody mechanisms, and specifically FC receptors, which are the area which Xencor is focused on. Ph.D., to its Scientific Advisory Board.

Monrovia-based Xencor , a developer of biotherapeutics technology to improve antibodies, said this morning that it has licensed its Fc engineering technology to Centocor Research & Development, Inc. Xencor said that the deal will give Centocor research access to the technology platforms, and the right to develop and commercialize products from the technology, in exchange for license fees, milestone payments, and royalties on products commercialized from the collaboration. Financial details of the license were not announced. The firm said that it has licensed its XmAb

Monrovia-based AeroVironment , a developer of unamnned aerial vehicles and energy products, said late Friday that it has named Tom Herring as its Senior Vice President and General Manager of its Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) businesss, and also named John Grabowsky as its Chief Technology Officer. Grabowsky was previously GM of the UAS segment. Herring was most recently at BAE Systems, where he was VP and GM of BAE Systems Integrated Solutions unit; Herring had been at BAE Systems for 27 years.

Monrovia-based Tanner Research is the recipient of a $1M, contract award from the Defense Logistics Agency, the firm said Tuesday afternoon. According to Tanner, the funding will go to accelerate production of a micro-initiator board, used for military applications. The firm's components are used in micro-thrusters for the Missile Defense Agency and the Navy. Tanner Research is a provider of electronic design automation (EDA) software, manufacturing services for integrated circuits, as well as consulting and engineering services for integrated circuit design. ...Tags:

Monrovia-based AeroVironment disclosed today that the firm has been granted a patent by the U.S. AeroVironment's products include fast charge systems for electric vehicles. Patent and Trademark Office. AeroVironment said the patent covers charging technology for battery packs and electric vehicles. According to the USPTO, the patent was actually granted back in October

Monrovia, California-based AeroVironment, which develops unmanned aircraft and other electronics systems, said Monday that the firm's Raven unmanned aircraft has scored a win with the Italian Ministry of Defense. According to AeroVironment, its product has scored a certification in Italy that allows Italian military personnel to fly the Raven in Italian airspace. AeroVironment's Raven is a hand-held, 4.2-pound unmanned aircraft system which is being used by various militaries around the world for battlefield surveillance, border patrol, and other types of missions. The device is

Monrovia-based Aerovironment , which develops unmanned aircraft systems for the defense industry, said this morning that the firm has recently conducted a 30-hour demonstration of the firm's Raven aircraft for the Pentagon. Aerovironment said the demonstration cames following an inquiry from the Pentagon on the potential of using its products for low-cost, tactically relevant persistent surveillance. The company said the demonstration was conducted with the U.S. Army Product Manager for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS), using three aircraft and two ground control stations.