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Business briefs: Tolero opens new HQ, molecular pathologists to meet

(Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune) Randy Parker, CEO of the Utah Farm Bureau, talks about protecting livestock water rights during a Livestock Grazing Rights Conference to address growing uncertainty facing Utah ranchers and rural communities at the Sevier Valley Center at the Richfield campus of Snow College in Richfield, Utah Thursday, February 18, 2016. Utah Farm Bureau has become increasingly concerned with the growing level of uncertainty ranchers who utilize the federally managed public lands are facing. An analysis of grazing numbers indicate a systematic dismantling of livestock grazing since the 1950s.

This week in business news:

Tolero Pharmaceuticals opens new HQ

Tolero Pharmaceuticals opened its new headquarters in Lehi on Friday, a facility that includes a research laboratory where the company will expand its efforts to develop treatments for acute myeloid leukemia and other cancers.

Officials from Tolero’s parent company in Japan, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. were on hand to help dedicate the building at 3900 N. Traverse Boulevard. Also joining Tolero CEO and Founder David Bearss at the ribbon cutting were representatives of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

“Opening a new headquarters and cutting-edge research facility underscores Tolero’s commitment to science that may make a difference in the lives of cancer patients across the country, in Utah and here in our own backyard.”

Tolero’s products target biological drivers of blood disorders to treat leukemias, anemia, solid tumors and objects displaying drug resistance.

Scientists gather for annual meeting

More than 2,000 scientists will be at the Salt Palace Convention Center from Wednesday through Sunday for the Association for Molecular Pathology’s annual meeting.

The conference is expected to generate nearly $2 million in direct spending for Salt Lake County’s economy.

“Where Molecular Leads Medicine to Best patient Care” is the theme of this year’s convention, whose keynote address on Wednesday will be made by Andrew Feinberg, director of the Center for Epigenetics in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. Epigenetics is the study of biological mechanisms that switch genes on and off.

Six topics will be the focus of the conference — cancer, infectious diseases, informatics, inherited conditions, molecular technologies and laboratory management.

Trump appoints former Utah executive

The Trump Administration has appointed Randy Parker as its state director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Office.

Parker has been chief executive of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation and spent 14 years in the state agriculture and food office.

The Department of Agriculture also awarded Beehive Telephone Company, Inc. a $17 million loan to improve 11 of the 12 exchanges in its system. The upgrades will allow Beehive to provide much faster broadband speeds, which allow for video services and better voice services, in some of Utah’s most remote counties.

Utah was one of 10 states to get broadband expansion loans, which nationwide will serve about 71,000 rural residents.