Big name biotechs in New England made news this week with revenue reports, clinical results, and news on licensing agreements.
—Cambridge, MA-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAD: [[ticker:ARIA]]) said it extended licenses to its cell-signaling regulation technology to three groups, each of which will use it for different purposes: Houston, TX Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (experimental cancer vaccine and cell therapies), Washington, DC-based ReGenX Biosciences (gene therapies), and Mountain View, CA-based Clontech Laboratories (the research market).
—Boston-based clinical informatics firm Humedica raised $20 million in equity-based finding, an SEC filing revealed. The startup came out of stealth mode in September 2009, after raising $30 million the year before from investors such as Bain Capital Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners, and the investment bank Leerink Swann.
—Pieter Muntendam, CEO of Waltham, MA-based BG Medicine (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BGMD]]), talked to my colleague Ryan about the company’s long road to going public and its diagnostic product for assessing the prognosis of heart failure patients.
—Amgen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMGN]]), a Thousand Oaks, CA-based biotech with research operations in Cambridge, said its experimental osteoporosis drug met its goal of improving bone mineral density in a study of 400 postmenopausal women. The company said the treatment, AMG785, beat a placebo and two comparison drugs after 12 months of follow-up, and that side effects were “generally balanced” between patients on the new drug and in the control groups.
—Weston, MA-based Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) reported increased first quarter revenues and new information on its oral treatment for multiple sclerosis on Thursday, sending its shares up more than 22 percent to $105.83 as of 10:23 am Eastern time on Thursday. First quarter revenues were up 9 percent to $1.2 billion, thanks in part to sales of its existing MS treatments. Biogen also gave investors more information on a call about the experimental oral MS drug, dimethyl fumarate (BG-12), than it did when it first announced clinical results.
—Corindus of Natick, MA, and Royal Philips Electronics said they agreed to work together to get Corindus’ minimally invasive, robotics-based treatment for blocked arteries in Philips’ cardiology products. Philips will take a minority stake in Corindus as a result.
