Dendreon and Cell Therapeutics Sell Stock, Microsoft Buys BigPark, Calistoga Raises $30M, & More Seattle-Area Deals News

The days have gotten longer, and deals are really flowing in the Northwest. In the past week, there has been quite a bit of activity across different sectors of biotech, energy, and software.

—Luke reported that Seattle-based Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]) sold $20 million worth of common stock, and warrants to buy stock, to a single unnamed institutional investor. The biotech firm hopes to swap some of that money, along with the $17.8 million in cash it currently has and some more common stock, to get rid of some $89.2 million in debt that will come due as early as 2010.

—Vancouver, BC-based Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, a maker of RNA interference drug delivery technology, formed a partnership with Swiss healthcare company Roche worth $18.4 million in upfront cash, Luke reported. Tekmira’s lipid-nanoparticle technique will be used in two of Roche’s products, and Tekmira will also receive $32 million in milestone payments if the products reach certain development goals.

—Seattle-based DocuSign, a digital-signature technology company, raised $5 million in Series D funding, led by previous investors Frazier Technology Ventures, Ignition Partners, Sigma Partners, and West River Capital. The software startup, founded in 2003, has raised some $30 million in venture capital.

—Luke reported that Seattle-based Dendreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) raised $197.4 million in a stock offering that is expected to close on May 13. The underwriter of the offering, Deutsche Bank Securities, has an option to buy another 1.27 million shares at the same terms within 30 days, which would amount to an additional $23 million. Dendreon will use the money to expand manufacturing and marketing of its experimental drug for prostate cancer, Provenge.

—Microsoft (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) is acquiring BigPark, an online gaming company based in Vancouver, BC. Financial terms of the deal were not announced. BigPark, which was co-founded by Hanno Lemke and Microsoft senior vice president Don Mattrick, will become part of Microsoft Game Studios.

—Amazon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]) has invested in Seattle-based Foodista, an online cooking encyclopedia site. The amount of funding of the Series A round, which included other angel investors, was

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Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.