A Netflix for Doctors: Myca Health’s CEO Findlay Offers Health IT in the Cloud

Nat Findlay is a former Cardinal Health executive and serial entrepreneur who tells me he founded Myca Health in 2002 around technology that enabled people to use their cell phone to take a photo of their meals. The company’s MyFoodPhone application enabled customers to send the picture to an online platform that provided a nutrition … Continue reading “A Netflix for Doctors: Myca Health’s CEO Findlay Offers Health IT in the Cloud”

Health IT in San Diego: The Xconomy List

It might not be completely definitive, but it’s pretty close. Let’s just say we’ve got the most-definitive list of health IT companies based in the San Diego area, compiled form a variety of trade groups and other sources. Not all of the businesses on this list are well known, which is one reason why I … Continue reading “Health IT in San Diego: The Xconomy List”

Quest Buys San Diego’s BakBone, Novatel Acquires Enfora, West Wireless Health Institute Develops its First Prototype, & More San Diego BizTech News

It was a week of deals for San Diego’s technology companies, with some tales of new product developments thrown in for extra measure. Our briefing begins here. —Novatel Wireless (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NVTL]]), the San Diego provider of wireless mobile devices, said it is buying machine-to-machine specialist Enfora of suburban Dallas. Avondale Partners analyst John F. Bright … Continue reading “Quest Buys San Diego’s BakBone, Novatel Acquires Enfora, West Wireless Health Institute Develops its First Prototype, & More San Diego BizTech News”

Overland’s Ordeal: Turnaround Continues as New Management Team Sets New Course, Readies New Products

Not too long ago, I got a chance to talk with Jillian Mansolf, who joined San Diego’s Overland Storage (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OVRL]]) as vice president of global sales and marketing about 18 months ago. A few days earlier, Overland had disclosed its acquisition of Sunnyvale, CA-based MaxiScale, a three-year-old data storage startup, a deal that prompted … Continue reading “Overland’s Ordeal: Turnaround Continues as New Management Team Sets New Course, Readies New Products”

Ambit Files for IPO, Arena Pharmaceuticals Says Weight-Loss Drug on Track, ESRI Launches Medical Place History Map App, & More San Diego Life Sciences News

New money and new product innovations seemed to be the intertwining themes of San Diego’s life sciences news over the past week. See if you agree. —San Diego’s Ambit Biosciences intends to raise as much as $86.3 million in an IPO, according to a regulatory filing last week. Ambit, which has been developing a drug … Continue reading “Ambit Files for IPO, Arena Pharmaceuticals Says Weight-Loss Drug on Track, ESRI Launches Medical Place History Map App, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”

SG Biofuels Adds Bunge Alliance

Encinitas, CA-based SG Biofuels says it has established a strategic partnership with Bunge North America to research and develop a method for processing the oil-laden seeds of the Jatropha shrub into biofuels. Bunge North America is the operating arm of Bunge Ltd, a Bermuda agribusiness with headquarters in White Plains, NY. Bunge (NYSE: [[ticker:BG]]) is … Continue reading “SG Biofuels Adds Bunge Alliance”

West Wireless Health Institute Joins Xconomy Forum on Health IT

The non-profit West Wireless Health Institute says it has developed its first engineering prototype—a wireless fetal and maternal monitoring device called “Sense4Baby.” The device, which is intended for use by expectant mothers wherever cellular or Internet service exist, also has become part of a collaboration with Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]), the San Diego wireless giant, and … Continue reading “West Wireless Health Institute Joins Xconomy Forum on Health IT”

Nirvanix Raises $10M, Names New CEO

San Diego-based Nirvanix today named former QLogic executive Scott Genereux as CEO, and said it has raised an additional $10 million in venture capital from Intel Capital, Mission Ventures, Valhalla Partners, and Windward Ventures. As we reported last year, Nirvanix provides a fully-managed, secure cloud-based data storage network. With the additional capital, Nirvanix has raised … Continue reading “Nirvanix Raises $10M, Names New CEO”

Q&A with Bill Davenhall on Medical Place History, TEDMED, and the Importance of a Story Well Told

A little more than a year ago, ESRI’s Bill Davenhall delivered a thought-provoking talk at TEDMED about the importance of including a “place history”—a record of the places where a person has lived (and the nearby environmental risks)—as part of that person’s medical history. (Watch a video of Davenhall’s talk here.) ESRI, based in Redlands, … Continue reading “Q&A with Bill Davenhall on Medical Place History, TEDMED, and the Importance of a Story Well Told”

Quest Acquires BakBone

Quest Software (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QSFT]]), the Aliso Viejo, CA-based developer of application management software, is acquiring San Diego’s BakBone Software, the struggling data protection technology specialist. The companies say their deal is valued at $55 million, including the payment of BakBone’s debt obligations. BakBone, which was built around data storage management technology it had acquired from … Continue reading “Quest Acquires BakBone”

Novatel Acquires M2M Technology Specialist

San Diego’s Novatel Wireless (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NVTL]]), which provides high-speed wireless mobile hotspot devices, USB modems, and other wireless Internet access products, says today it is buying Enfora, a suburban Dallas provider of asset management technology. Enfora says its intelligent asset-management systems use wireless technology and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications to analyze information from distributed assets. Novatel, … Continue reading “Novatel Acquires M2M Technology Specialist”

Angel Investing Loses Altitude, Avalon’s Levandov Talks About His Digital Investments, TechAmerica AeA Investor Conference Opens Today, & More San Diego BizTech News

It was a relatively quiet week for BizTech news in San Diego. Get caught up on all you need to know here. —Executives from several San Diego semiconductor companies are scheduled to make investor presentations today at the TechAmerica AeA Financial Classic, which continues through tomorrow at the downtown Manchester Grand Hyatt. Local presenting companies … Continue reading “Angel Investing Loses Altitude, Avalon’s Levandov Talks About His Digital Investments, TechAmerica AeA Investor Conference Opens Today, & More San Diego BizTech News”

Xconomy Forum on Health IT: Searching for the Consumer Payoff—or an App as Compelling as Facebook

With less than two weeks before we convene the Xconomy Forum on Health IT, I’m happy to report that our final arrangements have fallen into place. Lisa Suennen, a co-founder and managing member of the Psilos Group, is now officially in our lineup—which ensures that our consumer-centric discourse will be an insightful and entertaining evening. … Continue reading “Xconomy Forum on Health IT: Searching for the Consumer Payoff—or an App as Compelling as Facebook”

Nexus Dx Rolls Up ITC

San Diego-based Nexus Dx, a startup founded in 2009 to consolidate technologies focused on point of care blood diagnostic testing, said yesterday it has merged with New Jersey-based International Technidyne Corp. (ITC). The New Jersey company specializes in hemostasis management (the process in which bleeding stops). The private equity firm Warburg Pincus acquired ITC for … Continue reading “Nexus Dx Rolls Up ITC”

Biogen Idec Closing San Diego Center, Cadence Wins FDA Approval, Adventrx Files New Drug Application, & More San Diego Life Sciences News

The question with the life sciences roundup this week is not so much, “Where to begin?” as it is “Where can we resume?” With the closure of Biogen Idec’s San Diego operation, local business leaders say it’s now a matter of picking up the pieces and starting over. — Weston, MA-based Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Closing San Diego Center, Cadence Wins FDA Approval, Adventrx Files New Drug Application, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”

AeroScout Gets $16M Round

AeroScout in Redwood City, CA, raised $16 million in a round led by Evergreen Venture Partners, with previous investors Cisco, Greylock Partners, Intel Capital, Menlo Ventures, Pitango Venture Capital and Star Ventures participating, according to PE Hub. AeroScout makes a Real Time Location System that works with its Wi-Fi RFID system, primarily for healthcare companies. … Continue reading “AeroScout Gets $16M Round”

‘It’s Happened Before:’ Biz Leaders React to Biogen Idec’s San Diego Shutdown

[Corrected 11/04/10, 9:25 am to reflect merger] When Cambridge, MA-based Biogen consummated its merger with San Diego’s Idec Pharmaceuticals in November 2003, Executive Chairman William H. Rastetter said, “Based on our existing collaboration in oncology, we knew that this combination would be an excellent fit, both operationally and culturally,” according to a statement issued at … Continue reading “‘It’s Happened Before:’ Biz Leaders React to Biogen Idec’s San Diego Shutdown”

Get Them to the Geek Fest: Incorporating Analytics Into Everyday Software

Tom Clancy, the founder of San Diego-based Tao Venture Capital Partners (and not the author of “The Hunt for Red October”), recently gave me a glimpse of advances in analytics software that will be on stage next week at the San Diego “Supermath” conference on analytics. As the conference chairman, Clancy has a job that … Continue reading “Get Them to the Geek Fest: Incorporating Analytics Into Everyday Software”

Adventrx Submits NDA

San Diego’s Adventrx Pharmaceuticals (NYSE Amex: [[ticker:ANX]]) says it has submitted a new drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its reformulated anti-cancer drug vinorelbine injectable emulsion, (Exelbine). The FDA refused to accept the biotech’s first application after Adventrx sprang back to life in January. In a statement this morning, Adventrx CEO … Continue reading “Adventrx Submits NDA”

Japan Approves Ligand Drug

San Diego’s Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LGND]]) says Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare gave its approval to Ligand partner GlaxoSmithKline’s (NYSE: [[ticker:GSK]]) application for eltrombopag (Revolade), a drug developed to treat a blood disorder called chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Ligand says eltrombopag is the first oral treatment that stimulates the production of blood … Continue reading “Japan Approves Ligand Drug”

CareFusion’s Schlotterbeck Retiring as Chairman & CEO

San Diego-based CareFusion (NYSE: [[ticker:CFN]]) says today that David Schlotterbeck, the chairman and CEO who led the company’s spinoff last year from Ohio-based Cardinal Health, plans to retire on Feb. 28, 2011. Schlotterbeck previously worked at Cardinal, and had led San Diego’s Alaris Medical Systems, a leading maker of intravenous drug pumps, when Cardinal acquired … Continue reading “CareFusion’s Schlotterbeck Retiring as Chairman & CEO”

Pfenex Launches Reagent Proteins Business

San Diego’s Pfenex said today it has launched a new business division called Reagent Proteins, which is targeting research biomedical laboratories that need complex reagent grade proteins. The new business will initially offer a product list with more than 2,300 proteins, including stem cell growth factors, cytokines, chemokines, and enzymes. Pfenex, which was spun out … Continue reading “Pfenex Launches Reagent Proteins Business”

Some Assembly Required? San Diego’s ShowUhow Uses Web-Based Video to Displace Printed Instruction Guide

Kim Folsom tells me that she tried using video for education in the late 1990s at Seminar Source, a venture-backed, Web-based software company in San Diego that tried to take advantage of the fact that it’s easier for many people to learn visually. “You could do video over the Web, but it wasn’t the best,” … Continue reading “Some Assembly Required? San Diego’s ShowUhow Uses Web-Based Video to Displace Printed Instruction Guide”

Memjet Launches at Chicago Expo, Teradata Encourages Use of Unstructured Data, Cleantech Initiative Issues Second Round of Grants, & More San Diego BizTech News

Here we are, trapped between Halloween and Election Day. Good thing we have some interesting biztech news, or there would be nothing fun to do. —Memjet, the San Diego-based startup developing super-fast color inkjet printing technologies, says it is launching its on-demand printing technology for the label and packaging markets at the Pack Expo International … Continue reading “Memjet Launches at Chicago Expo, Teradata Encourages Use of Unstructured Data, Cleantech Initiative Issues Second Round of Grants, & More San Diego BizTech News”

A Thousand Microbes in Your Mouth and Other Scenes From the 2010 TEDMED Conference

The TEDMED conference, with its two-hour sessions of engrossing 15-minute presentations on medical technology, education, and design, returned this week to the San Diego area’s famed Hotel del Coronado. Like its progenitor, the annual TED conference in Long Beach, the four-day TEDMED event cultivates an aura of exclusivity by mixing talks from celebrities, prominent CEOs, … Continue reading “A Thousand Microbes in Your Mouth and Other Scenes From the 2010 TEDMED Conference”

Life Technologies’ CEO Talks Strategy, Phenomix Falls, Arena Pharmaceuticals Grapples With FDA Setback, & More San Diego Life Sciences News

From the shutdown at Phenomix to the strategy insights shared by Life Technologies’ Greg Lucier, it was a big week for life sciences news. Get your update here and now. —The shot was fired back in April, but the wound proved fatal to Phenomix by the end of September. San Diego-Phenomix laid off its workforce … Continue reading “Life Technologies’ CEO Talks Strategy, Phenomix Falls, Arena Pharmaceuticals Grapples With FDA Setback, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”

Agricultural Biotech Cibus Expanding as Launch of First Enhanced Crop Nears

[Corrected 10/28/10, 9:45 am. See below.] San Diego-based Cibus Global held an open house last night at the company’s new headquarters, which gave me an opportunity to get an update from CEO Keith Walker on the agricultural biotech’s growth spurt since last year. The startup, which officially spun out of Pennsylvania-based ValiGen in late 2001, … Continue reading “Agricultural Biotech Cibus Expanding as Launch of First Enhanced Crop Nears”

In Talk on Personalized Medicine, Life Technologies’ CEO Explains Shift in Corporate Strategy

On the day that Carlsbad, CA-based Life Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LIFE]]) is scheduled to issue its third-quarter financial results, Life chairman and CEO Greg Lucier provided a hugely insightful overview of the company’s changing corporate strategy. “We’ll do about $3.6 billion in revenue this year,” Lucier said at a breakfast meeting in San Diego earlier today. … Continue reading “In Talk on Personalized Medicine, Life Technologies’ CEO Explains Shift in Corporate Strategy”

Trend in Q3 Venture Data From Dow Jones Falls in Line

The quarterly venture capital survey by Dow Jones VentureSource was released earlier today, showing a trend that’s generally in line with data previously reported by CB Insights and The MoneyTree Report. Dow Jones says venture-backed companies in the U.S. raised $5.5 billion in the third quarter—a 5 percent drop in funding from the $5.8 billion … Continue reading “Trend in Q3 Venture Data From Dow Jones Falls in Line”

TechAmerica SD Honors 11

Kevin Carroll, executive director of TechAmerica San Diego, sent over the list of winners from the 17th Annual High Tech Awards, which were announced Friday. The industry group (previously known as the AEA) bases its awards on such criteria as technological or business innovation, exceptional products or services, marketplace validation, perseverance, and community involvement. Winners … Continue reading “TechAmerica SD Honors 11”

Tech CEO Pay Rises From 10-Year Low, Q3’s Biggest VC Deal Goes to SkinIt, Avalon Ventures Gets a New Headquarters in La Jolla & More San Diego BizTech News

Most of last week’s technology news was about deals—funding deals and partnership deals. Get your latest update here. —San Diego’s Avalon Ventures, which has been raising its ninth venture fund, has a new headquarters in the upscale community of La Jolla. Avalon founder Kevin Kinsella bought the ivy-covered Copley Library for a reported $3.75 million … Continue reading “Tech CEO Pay Rises From 10-Year Low, Q3’s Biggest VC Deal Goes to SkinIt, Avalon Ventures Gets a New Headquarters in La Jolla & More San Diego BizTech News”

Roambi and Endeca Form Partnership

Cambridge, MA-based Endeca Technologies and Del Mar, CA-based Mellmo said today they have formed a strategic partnership to share their respective technologies, which are focused on mobile business intelligence applications. The companies plan to integrate their flagship products, Endeca Latitutde and Roambi ES3, which will give authorized users the ability to query a corporate database … Continue reading “Roambi and Endeca Form Partnership”

Amylin Regroups From FDA Smackdown, CalciMedica Plans Trial of New Anti-Immune Drug, FDA Gives CareFusion Recall Highest Priority, & More San Diego Life Science News

FDA regulatory moves turned out to be the biggest news items over the past week, prompting San Diego’s Amylin Pharmaceuticals and CareFusion to respond separately to the agency’s actions. Get our latest assessment here, along with updates on venture funding, CEO pay, and the new museum-quality home for San Diego’s Avalon Ventures. —Investors hammered San … Continue reading “Amylin Regroups From FDA Smackdown, CalciMedica Plans Trial of New Anti-Immune Drug, FDA Gives CareFusion Recall Highest Priority, & More San Diego Life Science News”

Extrabux and Inuvo Form Partnership

Exrabux, the San Diego online retailing startup, Inuvo (NYSE Amex: [[ticker:INUV]]), the online technology services company based in Clearwater, FL, said today they have been working together to create BargainMatch, a comparison shopping application program interface (API). Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed. In a statement, the companies said they are working as … Continue reading “Extrabux and Inuvo Form Partnership”

Avalon Ventures’ Kevin Kinsella Remakes Private Copley Library in La Jolla

Kevin Kinsella moved to San Diego with his Ford Pinto in 1978. He still remembers driving shakily past the private library of newspaper publisher James S. Copley in the tony enclave of La Jolla, and thinking, “Wow.” To Kinsella, who graduated from MIT in 1967 with an undergraduate degree in management, “It looked like one … Continue reading “Avalon Ventures’ Kevin Kinsella Remakes Private Copley Library in La Jolla”

Zementis, Predixion Form Alliance

Predixion, the Aliso Viejo, CA-based startup that recently closed on a $5 million A round led by DFJ Frontier, said it has formed a strategic partnership with Zementis, a San Diego startup that specializes in predictive model markup language. Predixion specializes in low-cost, self-service in the cloud predictive analytics software and Zementis is a leader … Continue reading “Zementis, Predixion Form Alliance”

Genomatica Gets Patents for “Sustainable” Methods to Make Nylon Precursor

San Diego-based Genomatica, which has been developing “green” ways of using microbes to produce an industrial chemical called 1, 4 butanediol (BDO), said Tuesday the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted it two foundational patents for another key industrial chemical— adipic acid. Adipic acid is used to make nylon, and it has existing market … Continue reading “Genomatica Gets Patents for “Sustainable” Methods to Make Nylon Precursor”

Ambit Bio Raises $15M

San Diego’s Ambit Biosciences, which is developing anti-cancer therapies by developing a wide array of small molecule drug compounds to block certain kinase-based reactions, has raised $15 million of a planned $15.9 million round of debt, rights and securities, according to a recent regulatory filing. The company, previously known as Aventa Biosciences, raised $49.3 million … Continue reading “Ambit Bio Raises $15M”

San Diego’s Top 10 Deals: Q3 VC Funding Still Strongly Favors Life Sciences

Venture funding for high tech companies made a stronger showing during the third quarter, but life science deals still accounted for more than half the capital invested in the San Diego area, according to the latest MoneyTree Report. Venture investments in local biotech, medical diagnostics, and device companies also made up the most of the … Continue reading “San Diego’s Top 10 Deals: Q3 VC Funding Still Strongly Favors Life Sciences”

FDA Gives Highest Priority to CareFusion Recall

San Diego-based CareFusion (NYSE: [[ticker:CFN]]) says the FDA has assigned its most serious classification to a recall the company issued in August for an electronic intravenous infusion pump. The company says a glitch that causes the unit to freeze could cause “serious adverse health consequences or death.” The medical device maker, which was spun out … Continue reading “FDA Gives Highest Priority to CareFusion Recall”

ReVision Planning Late-Stage Trial Next Year for Macular Degeneration Drug

San Diego’s ReVision Therapeutics got an encouraging reception over the weekend at a joint meeting in Chicago of the American Academy of Opthalmology and the Middle East-Africa Council of Opthalmology. Researchers led by Dr. Jason Slakter of the New York University School of Medicine presented results from a mid-stage clinical trial of an experimental drug … Continue reading “ReVision Planning Late-Stage Trial Next Year for Macular Degeneration Drug”

Qualcomm Looks for Synergies With Tech Coast Angels’ Annual Quick Pitch Event to Spur Employee Entrepreneurship

Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) has begun to work more closely with Southern California’s Tech Coast Angels as part of an internal effort to promote an entrepreneurial culture at the San Diego wireless giant and to encourage employees to bring their ideas for innovations forward. The company’s new focus on entrepreneurship and closer ties with Tech Coast … Continue reading “Qualcomm Looks for Synergies With Tech Coast Angels’ Annual Quick Pitch Event to Spur Employee Entrepreneurship”

VCs Making Smaller Investments, V-Vehicle Restarting Under New CEO, Qualcomm Buys iSkoot, & More San Diego BizTech News

A common theme in last week’s technology news is how companies and entire industries continually remake their businesses, whether it’s the venture capital community, startup carmakers, or a San Diego company that specializes in data storage technology. Read on to see what I mean. —As the venture capital survey data comes in from the three … Continue reading “VCs Making Smaller Investments, V-Vehicle Restarting Under New CEO, Qualcomm Buys iSkoot, & More San Diego BizTech News”

New CEO Hired at V-Vehicle, Now Called Next Autoworks

V-Vehicle, the San Diego-based automotive startup whose investors include Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, and T. Boone Pickens, has a new name and a new CEO. The company, which has been rechristened Next Autoworks, named former Tower Automotive CEO Kathleen Ligocki as chief executive earlier this week. Next Autoworks also has operations in Detroit and northeastern … Continue reading “New CEO Hired at V-Vehicle, Now Called Next Autoworks”

New Reality for U.S. Venture Capital: Data Shows Startup Deals Are Smaller, More Numerous and More Capital-Efficient

The MoneyTree Report on third-quarter venture funding echoes results that we reported earlier this week, showing $4.8 billion was invested in 780 venture deals nationwide. That was a 7 percent decline in venture capital invested—but a nearly 9 percent increase in the number of deals—compared with the same quarter in 2009, when almost $5.2 billion … Continue reading “New Reality for U.S. Venture Capital: Data Shows Startup Deals Are Smaller, More Numerous and More Capital-Efficient”

Healthcare Venture Investment Deals Climbing Back, Halozyme Sells Its Diagnostics Business, Dry Lab Biotechs Cluster in Carmel Valley, & More San Diego Life Sciences News

We took a long Columbus Day weekend here at Xconomy, but it didn’t shorten our roundup of life sciences news much. Here’s your latest update. —Healthcare venture capital deals continue to climb back from their first-quarter plunge during the three months that ended September 30, according to the latest report from CB Insights, a New … Continue reading “Healthcare Venture Investment Deals Climbing Back, Halozyme Sells Its Diagnostics Business, Dry Lab Biotechs Cluster in Carmel Valley, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”