All was far from quiet on the Boston-area life sciences front this past week. Behold…
—Luke did a massive analysis of the finances of public Boston-area life sciences firms, looking at how much money each one has in the bank—and how fast that cash is going up the chimney. Bottom line: Boston companies are overall better positioned than their San Diego and Seattle counterparts to weather the current economic storm, but many of them are hurting nonetheless.
—Sylvie Gregoire, the president of Shire Human Genetic Therapies (HGT), filled Ryan in on the rapid expansion of the Lexington, MA-based division of Irish specialty drug company Shire. Formed through Shire’s $1.6 billion acquisition of Cambridge, MA-based biotech firm Transkaryotic Therapies in 2005, the division is in the midst of adding 680 workers and has become one of Shire’s fastest-growing businesses.
—Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals unveiled plans for the first human clinical tests of its “resolvins.” The Bedford, MA-based startup will test one of the compounds, which are designed to mimic fish oil’s anti-inflammatory effects, as a treatment for dry eye.
—Cambridge, MA-based Idera Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:IDRA]]) extended its research collaboration with pharmaceutical behemoth Merck for another year. The collaboration is aimed at developing Idera’s drugs as treatments for cancer, infectious diseases, and Alzheimer’s.
—Radius Health, also of Cambridge, tacked another $15 million onto its Series C round of venture capital, bringing the total for the round—in which MPM Capital, the Wellcome Trust, HealthCare Ventures, Oxford Bioscience Partners, BB Biotech Ventures, and Scottish Widows Investment Partnership participated—to $82.5 million.
—Lebanon, NH-based antibody-based-drug developer Adimab completed a Series C round of financing from OrbiMed Advisors, Borealis Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners, and SV Live Sciences. No dollar figure for the deal was revealed.
—CombinatoRx (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CRXX]]) of Cambridge, MA, and the Andover, MA-based healthcare unit of Royal Philips NV both
