Heading into the summer months, deals in the Northwest show no signs of slowing down. Neither does Xconomy, which debuted the reporting of our Seattle intern, Eric Hal Schwartz, last Tuesday. In the past week, Eric, Luke, and I have had our hands full with deals in biotech, materials, software, and energy.
—Microsoft (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) is acquiring the Seattle-based assets of Rosetta Biosoftware from Merck, the drug giant based in Whitehouse Station, NJ, as Luke reported. Financial terms were not given, but Merck has agreed to become a customer of Microsoft’s new Amalga Life Sciences platform, which is designed to help researchers analyze vast pools of genomic data. Merck will also help the Redmond, WA-based software powerhouse better understand the life sciences market. The deal is expected to close by the end of June, and Rosetta is supposed to be integrated into Amalga Life Sciences by early next year.
—Luke reported that Bothell, WA-based Seattle Genetics, a maker of targeted antibody drugs, raised $11.5 million in a stock sale. The company received approval from existing shareholders to sell more shares to Baker Brothers Life Sciences, an investment firm led by Felix Baker. The sale comes on the heels of a $55 million offering the company pulled together in January.
—Seattle-based Modumetal, a nanotech and advanced materials startup, is closing a new round of equity funding worth between $1.5 million and $2 million. The round’s investors include Seattle-based Alliance of Angels and Second Avenue Partners, who co-led a previous seed round, as well as new investor WRF Capital. The money will be used to help the company’s anti-corrosion and heat-resistant material products reach the market. Modumetal is led by co-founder and CEO Christina Lomasney, a former Boeing employee.
—Eric reported that Mediquest Therapeutics, a Bothell, WA-based developer of topical treatments for inflammatory diseases, sold $2.3 million out of a $15 million equity offering. Mediquest was founded in 1994 and is working on a treatment for Raynaud’s disease, a condition that causes numbness in the fingers and toes when they are exposed to the cold.
—Response Biomedical, a Vancouver, BC-based maker of fast diagnostic tools
