Author: Arlene Weintraub

Arlene is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences and technology. She was previously a senior health writer based out of the New York City headquarters of BusinessWeek, where she wrote hundreds of articles that explored both the science and business of health. Her freelance pieces have been published in USA Today, US News & World Report, Technology Review, and other media outlets. Arlene has won awards from the New York Press Club, the Association of Health Care Journalists, the Foundation for Biomedical Research, and the American Society of Business Publication Editors. Her book about the anti-aging industry, Selling the Fountain of Youth, was published by Basic Books in September 2010.

Miller Tabak Fund Manager Says Investors Are Ignoring the Upsides in Healthcare

In October, New York-based investment firm Miller Tabak launched the Health Care Transformation Fund (MTHFX), which invests in managed care, biotech, pharmaceuticals, and medtech companies. Its top holdings include New York area pharma giants Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: [[ticker:BMY]]) and Merck (NYSE: [[ticker:MRK]]), as well as Boston-based biotech Momenta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MNTA]]). The fund’s manager, Les Funtleyder, … Continue reading “Miller Tabak Fund Manager Says Investors Are Ignoring the Upsides in Healthcare”

Peer39 Raises $5.2 Million

New York-based Peer39 has raised $5.2 million of a possible $7.2 million round, according to an SEC filing. Investors included Evergreen Venture Partners and Canaan Partners. Peer39 uses semantic technology to help ad buyers find and target their audiences. The company has raised more than $27 million, according to Venture Wire.

Pacira Raises Wall Street Expectations of a New Blockbuster Painkiller

The last time Xconomy checked in with Pacira Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PCRX]]), in early 2009, the company was laying off a third of its workforce in the wake of a disappointing clinical trial of Exparel, a treatment for post-surgical pain. Pacira was capital-constrained because the market for life-sciences IPOs was all but dead. And the future … Continue reading “Pacira Raises Wall Street Expectations of a New Blockbuster Painkiller”

MarketSharing Bets Small Businesses in New York and Beyond Will Clamor for Daily Deals

John Amato was working as president at New York ad agency Show Media when Groupon and other daily-deals sites started to take off a couple of years ago. Amato’s small agency rang up about $1 million a month in expenses, he says, which included buying iPods and other incentives for top-performing employees, and placing frequent … Continue reading “MarketSharing Bets Small Businesses in New York and Beyond Will Clamor for Daily Deals”

Shire Buys Advanced BioHealing for $750 Million

Irish drug giant Shire (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SHPGY]]) is making a big push into regenerative medicine by shelling out $750 million in cash for Advanced BioHealing, according to a press release. Advanced BioHealing–which is based in Westport, CT, and has manufacturing and lab space in La Jolla, CA—makes Duragraft, a bio-engineered skin substitute used to treat diabetic foot … Continue reading “Shire Buys Advanced BioHealing for $750 Million”

NYC Rolls Out New Digital Media Plan

New York City will soon roll out partnerships with Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and Tumblr, according to the city’s chief digital officer, Rachel Sterne. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office unveiled a report called “Road Map for the Digital City,” which outlines a number of initiatives designed to make NYC a more technologically savvy place. Among the plans: … Continue reading “NYC Rolls Out New Digital Media Plan”

Pfizer Lung Cancer Drug to Get Priority Review

New York-based Pfizer (NYSE: [[ticker:PFE]]) announced that it has simultaneously applied for approval of its lung cancer drug, crizotinib, in the U.S. and Japan, and that the FDA granted it priority review. Crizotinib is the first in a new class of drugs called anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitors, and it is being developed for a subset … Continue reading “Pfizer Lung Cancer Drug to Get Priority Review”

Foundation Medicine Teams With Celgene in Quest to Develop Targeted Cancer Treatments

Boston-based Foundation Medicine has only been around for about two years, but it’s already making friends in big places. Today the company—which is developing advanced cancer diagnostics—announced a collaboration with Celgene (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CELG]]), based in Summit, NJ. Celgene plans to use Foundation Medicine’s genomics testing technology in trials of cancer drugs, in the hopes of … Continue reading “Foundation Medicine Teams With Celgene in Quest to Develop Targeted Cancer Treatments”

Merck Wins Approval for HCV Drug

The FDA approved Merck’s (NYSE: [[ticker:MRK]]) treatment for chronic Hepatitis C virus (HCV), boceprevir (Victrelis), according to a press release. Boceprevir is the first of a new class of therapies known as HCV protease inhibitors, and it was approved to be used in combination with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin—two drugs that are considered the standard of care. … Continue reading “Merck Wins Approval for HCV Drug”

Oral Insulin Is Still Very Much Alive at Some New York and Boston Area Biotechs

Earlier this week, I wrote about MonoSolRx, a New Jersey company that hopes to start human trials later this year of an insulin product that’s packaged in an edible film. The film can be stuck to the side of the cheek, where it dissolves and distributes a dosage of insulin—the drug that most patients with … Continue reading “Oral Insulin Is Still Very Much Alive at Some New York and Boston Area Biotechs”

Group Commerce Raises $10 Million for Daily-Deals Platform

New York-based Group Commerce, which was founded by veterans of Google and DoubleClick, has raised a second round of funding only two months after emerging from stealth mode, according to All Things Digital. The company developed a technology that allows merchants and publishers to offer limited-time deals on the Internet. The funding round of $10 … Continue reading “Group Commerce Raises $10 Million for Daily-Deals Platform”

Shire Finds Big Value in Rare Diseases, and a Strong Growth Path for its Boston Unit

On May 11, Shire (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SHPGY]]) CEO Angus Russell told a panel of journalists at the Reuters Health Summit in New York that the British drug giant is interested in pursuing gene therapy and stem cells. Those are two areas of science that have yet to prove they can produce effective, innovative new therapies. Still, over … Continue reading “Shire Finds Big Value in Rare Diseases, and a Strong Growth Path for its Boston Unit”

Drugs that Melt in Your Mouth: MonoSolRx Has Its Sights Set on Oral Insulin

[Corrected 5/12/11, 9:00 am. See below.] The sample packets of the anti-nausea drug that are strewn across the desk of Mark Schobel, CEO of MonoSol Rx, don’t look anything like your standard pharmaceutical product. Each dose of the drug, called ondansetron (Zuplenz)—which is prescribed to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and other harsh treatments—is a small, … Continue reading “Drugs that Melt in Your Mouth: MonoSolRx Has Its Sights Set on Oral Insulin”

LocalResponse Turns Check-Ins Into Instant Marketing Opportunities

If you managed a major brand-name product, how much would you pay to be able to advertise directly to consumers right as they were arriving at a place where your brand is sold? Nihal Mehta, CEO and co-founder of New York-based LocalResponse, is betting that most consumer-products makers would say “a lot” when asked that … Continue reading “LocalResponse Turns Check-Ins Into Instant Marketing Opportunities”

New York City Investment Fund Supports Biotech, Cleantech, and Now “Fintech” Startups

On May 2, six startups that are developing new technology tools for the financial services industry started a 12-week program of mentorship, networking, and seed funding from New York City Investment Fund, a 15-year-old fund founded by Henry Kravis, founding partner of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. The companies and their products will be in … Continue reading “New York City Investment Fund Supports Biotech, Cleantech, and Now “Fintech” Startups”

Lifebooker Grabs $4 Million in Funding

Lifebooker, an online marketplace for discounted health and beauty services, has raised $4 million from Edison Ventures, according to a press release. The Brooklyn-based Lifebooker provides businesses in New York and Los Angeles with the ability to advertise open appointment times or limited-time discounts on the Internet, which consumers can then book through the site. … Continue reading “Lifebooker Grabs $4 Million in Funding”

Hotel Review Site Oyster.com Gets a Boost from Travel Channel Deal

When New York startup Oyster.com sealed a $7.5 million deal with the Travel Channel on April 25, the New York press focused almost exclusively on what the deal would mean for the TV channel, which is owned by media giant Scripps. No doubt Oyster—which posts in-depth reviews of boutique hotels and offers online booking services—will … Continue reading “Hotel Review Site Oyster.com Gets a Boost from Travel Channel Deal”

Gilt Groupe Seeks $138 Million Series E

Following months of rumors, New York-based fashion site Gilt Groupe has filed to raise $138 million in a Series E offering, according to Private Equity Hub. The filing authorizes the sale of about 5 million shares at $27.68 a piece. Gilt holds online limited-time “flash sales” of deeply discounted clothing, home decor, travel, and more. … Continue reading “Gilt Groupe Seeks $138 Million Series E”

Travel Ad Network Raises $15 Million

New York-based Travel Ad Network, which offers digital advertising services to travel-related publishers, has raised $15 million, according to an SEC filing. The company says it has the largest travel information audience online, with almost 20 million monthly unique users in the US and more than 30 million worldwide, according to comScore. The company previously … Continue reading “Travel Ad Network Raises $15 Million”

OnSwipe’s Platform for Beautifying iPad Web Pages Attracts Investors

On April 14, OnSwipe co-founder Jason Baptiste marched onto the stage at TechStars’ first New York Demo Day and told the audience of venture capitalists, “We’re not raising a Series A, we’re raising a Series Awesome.” In fact, his company was on the verge of locking up a funding round—one he felt so secure about … Continue reading “OnSwipe’s Platform for Beautifying iPad Web Pages Attracts Investors”

New York and San Francisco Firms Top List of Webby Winners

The winners of the Webby awards were announced in New York today, and included a fair amount of famous names (Justin Bieber, Jim Carrey) and usual suspects (Angry Birds, Foursquare, Dropbox). New York and San Francisco companies made a good showing, especially on the list of winners in multiple categories. Here are the most winning … Continue reading “New York and San Francisco Firms Top List of Webby Winners”

BMW’s Bernhard Blattel on New York City as a Hub of Mobility Services

In February, Munich-based car giant BMW set up a corporate fund, BMW i Ventures, in New York City, with the goal of fostering startups that are developing location-based technologies. The fund’s first investment was MyCityWay, a company founded by three former Wall Street execs who created a series of apps designed to help people find … Continue reading “BMW’s Bernhard Blattel on New York City as a Hub of Mobility Services”

With Help from BMW, MyCityWay Rolls Out Popular City-Guide App Around the World

You often hear about inspiration prompting a great business idea, but for the three founders of New York-based MyCityWay, the impetus came from quite a different sensation—frustration. Archana Patchirajan, Sonpreet Bhatia, and Puneet Mehta were all working on Wall Street and struggling to find an app for their smartphones that would provide day-to-day information to … Continue reading “With Help from BMW, MyCityWay Rolls Out Popular City-Guide App Around the World”

Five Questions on Innovation, Health IT, and Biotech for Lux Capital’s New Venture Partner Richard Foster

On April 26, New York-based venture capital firm Lux Capital added two new partners: former CIA director James Woolsey, who will focus on energy investments; and Richard Foster, a former McKinsey & Co. partner who will help Lux identify new business opportunities in life sciences and healthcare IT. Throughout his career, Foster has been on … Continue reading “Five Questions on Innovation, Health IT, and Biotech for Lux Capital’s New Venture Partner Richard Foster”

Lot18 Raises $10 Million for Online Wine Sales

New York startup Lot18—which sells wine in limited-time “flash sales”— is only six months old, but it has already raised a Series B round of funding, according to Business Insider. The company raised $10 million from investors including NEA Ventures and FirstMark Capital. Lot18 is attracting 50,000 users a month and brought in sales of … Continue reading “Lot18 Raises $10 Million for Online Wine Sales”

J&J Wins Early Approval of Potential Prostate Cancer Blockbuster

J&J’s $21 billion acquisition of medical device maker Synthes—its biggest acquisition ever—overshadowed a second big piece of news for the New Brunswick, NJ-based company. The FDA approved abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) for the treatment of men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have received prior chemotherapy, according to a press release. The drug inhibits an enzyme … Continue reading “J&J Wins Early Approval of Potential Prostate Cancer Blockbuster”

NYC’s Vivaldi, Allied With Harvard and San Francisco VC Firm, Forge a New Way to Fight the Flu

Vivaldi Biosciences is a rare and highly sought after property in New York City: a promising biotech startup. Why rare? Because office space is so expensive, and wet-lab space so hard to find, that most biotech companies that originate in NYC end up fleeing for some other city that has more to offer them. But … Continue reading “NYC’s Vivaldi, Allied With Harvard and San Francisco VC Firm, Forge a New Way to Fight the Flu”

Gilt Rival Ideeli Raises $41 Million

The proliferation of New York-based fashion websites continues: ideeli announced that it has raised a Series C funding round of $41 million. The company offers members-only, limited-time “flash” sales of clothing and other goods, making it a direct competitor of the better-known Gilt Groupe. The funding round was led by Next World Capital, with participation … Continue reading “Gilt Rival Ideeli Raises $41 Million”

Pfizer Adds to Data on Novel RA Drug

Pfizer (NYSE: [[ticker:PFE]]) announced in a press release that tofacitinib, its experimental JAK inhibitor for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), performed well in the final two pivotal phase 3 trials. Patients taking both the 5 and 10 milligram doses showed statistically significant changes versus placebo in reducing the symptoms of RA. The announcement comes two weeks after … Continue reading “Pfizer Adds to Data on Novel RA Drug”

Merck Gets Thumbs-Up on HCV Drug From FDA Panel

An FDA advisory panel unanimously recommended the agency approve Merck’s (NYSE: [[ticker:MRK]]) boceprevir (Victrelis) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection in combination with standard therapy, according to a press release. Although the FDA is not required to follow the advice of its advisory panels, it usually does. And if the drug … Continue reading “Merck Gets Thumbs-Up on HCV Drug From FDA Panel”

J&J Makes $21 billion bid for Synthes

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: [[ticker:JNJ]]) is making its biggest acquisition ever, picking up Swiss medical device maker Synthes for $21.3 billion, according to a press release. New Brunswick, NJ-based J&J will pay 159 Swiss francs in stock and cash—a more than 20% premium over Synthes’ share price on April 14, when rumors about the deal first … Continue reading “J&J Makes $21 billion bid for Synthes”

Regeneron Reports Positive Results in Colon Cancer Trial

Tarrytown, NY-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:REGN]]) and Sanofi-aventis (NYSE: [[ticker:SNY]]) of France announced in a press release that their investigational drug aflibercept (Zaltrap) met its primary survival endpoint in a Phase III trial. The drug was tested as a second-line treatment in patients with colorectal cancer that had spread. “These findings are exciting given the limited second-line treatment … Continue reading “Regeneron Reports Positive Results in Colon Cancer Trial”

OrganizedWisdom Recruits Experts to Filter Health Information on the Web

When I met OrganizedWisdom co-founder Unity Stoakes for lunch on April 22, he had been awake for 40 hours, embroiled in a manic effort to recover from a massive Amazon cloud breakdown the day before, which nearly brought his site to a standstill. OrganizedWisdom is a health-information aggregator in New York that relies on cloud-computing … Continue reading “OrganizedWisdom Recruits Experts to Filter Health Information on the Web”

Lux Capital Adds James Woolsey and Richard Foster

Former CIA director James Woolsey and McKinsey & Company vet Richard Foster have joined New York-based Lux Capital as partners, the company said in a press release. Woolsey will be looking for investing opportunities in the energy sector, while Foster will focus on life sciences and healthcare IT. “Innovation in energy will be the primary … Continue reading “Lux Capital Adds James Woolsey and Richard Foster”

Oyster.com Scores $7.5 Million from The Travel Channel

New York-based hotel-information site Oyster.com confirmed in a blog posting that The Travel Channel has invested $7.5 million in the company. Under the terms of the partnership, Oyster’s content will be featured on The Travel Channel’s TV network and website. Oyster.com, founded in 2008, sends under-cover reviewers to hotels. The site features those reviews, plus … Continue reading “Oyster.com Scores $7.5 Million from The Travel Channel”

Kadmon Pharmaceuticals and Nano Terra Form Joint Venture

New York-based Kadmon Pharmaceuticals has been granted an exclusive license to three clinical-stage product candidates owned by Brighton, MA-based Nano Terra, according to a press release. Kadmon will also have rights to Nano Terra’s drug-discovery platform, and the two companies will form a joint venture called NT Life Sciences. The three drug candidates target specific … Continue reading “Kadmon Pharmaceuticals and Nano Terra Form Joint Venture”

Fashion Site Gilt Looks Beyond Discounted “Flash Sales” and Embraces the Upscale Men’s Market

The founders of fashion e-tailer Gilt Groupe, Alexandra Wilkis Wilson and Alexis Maybank, are quite aware that they have competitors popping up on the Web all the time. (Last week, Xconomy New York identified seven other fashion-related Web startups in New York City alone.) But the inventors of the fast-growing Gilt believe they can stay … Continue reading “Fashion Site Gilt Looks Beyond Discounted “Flash Sales” and Embraces the Upscale Men’s Market”

Social Shopping Sites Storm NYC, Offering Everything From Indian Goods to Makeup

On Monday, I wrote about three new websites that are part of a plethora of online fashion-based startups in New York City. A Forrester analyst described the phenomenon using the dreaded “B” word: “bubble.” Here’s a list of all the companies I’ve found in NYC. Let me know if I missed any, and if you … Continue reading “Social Shopping Sites Storm NYC, Offering Everything From Indian Goods to Makeup”

Five Questions for IBM on Watson, Jeopardy, and Real-World Applications for Sophisticated Analytics

In mid-February, IBM’s Watson computer was the biggest star on television. In a three-day tournament against former Jeopardy champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, Watson was the hands-down champion, winning more than $77,000. To create Watson, IBM had to engineer analytics technology that could sift through the equivalent of one million books and find a … Continue reading “Five Questions for IBM on Watson, Jeopardy, and Real-World Applications for Sophisticated Analytics”

Scanbuy Completes Oversubscribed $12.5 Million Funding

New York-based Scanbuy, which makes mobile barcode technology, said in a statement that it had completed a $12.5 million funding round. Investors included Motorola Solutions Venture Capital and Hudson Ventures. Scanbuy markets ScanLife, a barcode-reading application for mobile devices. Scanbuy said the funding round was oversubscribed, a phenomenon the company attributes to a 1,600 percent … Continue reading “Scanbuy Completes Oversubscribed $12.5 Million Funding”

KellBenx Locks Up $2.5 Million Seed Round

KellBenx, a New York-based company developing prenatal diagnostic tests, raised $2.5 million from four investors, according to a press release. The announcement came just days after KellBenx secured an agreement with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to develop a new blood test designed to predict the risk of premature births early in pregnancy. The test may even … Continue reading “KellBenx Locks Up $2.5 Million Seed Round”

New York’s ACRE Incubator is Churning Out Cleantech Startups, and Helping Build a New Engine for the City’s Economy

Micah Kotch, operations director of New York City’s only cleantech incubator, has developed a bit of a complex. The incubator, called NYC ACRE (Accelerator for a Clean & Renewable Economy), is housed within New York University’s better-known technology incubator on Varick Street. Since ACRE started up in July 2009, Kotch has watched a procession of … Continue reading “New York’s ACRE Incubator is Churning Out Cleantech Startups, and Helping Build a New Engine for the City’s Economy”

Extension Entertainment Raises Funding for MP3 Browser Tech

New York-based Extension Entertainment raised $750,000 in an equity-based funding round, according to an SEC filing. The company developed an extension for the Chrome browser that allows music lovers to organize, stream, and share MP3 files from any website as they’re browsing the Internet. Extension Entertainment previously raised a $500,000 seed round in 2010 from … Continue reading “Extension Entertainment Raises Funding for MP3 Browser Tech”