[Corrected 5/24/10, 4:05 pm. See below.] Angel investing in Southern California remained sluggish during the first quarter of 2010, although individual investors’ overall mood seems to be improving, according to Tech Coast Angels chairman Richard Sudek. “Last year was the worst year since our inception,” says Sudek, a Laguna Niguel, CA, resident who oversees the … Continue reading “SoCal Angel Investing on Sluggish Pace as Investors Rethink Process”
Author: Bruce V. Bigelow
Biofuels Consortium Targets Technical Hurdles, Legend Films Morphs Into Legend 3D, Fallbrook Technologies Adds Details to IPO Filing, & More San Diego BizTech News
Cleantech was the watchword of the week, with much of the news concerning algae-based biofuels and energy efficiency. Read on to get that and the rest of last week’s biztech news. —The new executive director of the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB), José Olivares, outlined some of the technical challenges that must … Continue reading “Biofuels Consortium Targets Technical Hurdles, Legend Films Morphs Into Legend 3D, Fallbrook Technologies Adds Details to IPO Filing, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Biotech Entrepreneurs Offer Tips For Winning an SBIR—Including a Top 10 List of Dos and Don’ts
The latest organization to spring fully formed from the brow of San Diego’s Life Sciences community was not Athena, but the San Diego Entrepreneurs Exchange, which Denise profiled in March when the SDEE was preparing to hold its first meeting. I’d guess close to 140 people turned out earlier this week for the group’s second … Continue reading “Biotech Entrepreneurs Offer Tips For Winning an SBIR—Including a Top 10 List of Dos and Don’ts”
Sony and Google Plan ‘Internet TV’
Japan’s Sony Corp (NYSE: [[ticker:SNE]]), today unveiled plans to launch a Sony Internet TV this Fall that will rely on Google’s open-source Android OS platform. Sony, which announced the move with Intel and Logitech at Google I/O in San Francisco, says the new Internet TV embodies a new generation that not only offers new forms … Continue reading “Sony and Google Plan ‘Internet TV’”
VMIX Names Turnaround CEO
San Diego’s VMIX, a venture-backed startup that provides online video platform technology, today named a Bay Area turnaround management consultant, Patrick J. Burns, as its president and CEO. Burns replaces Mike Glickenhaus, who was named to the same position at VMIX two years ago, and whose departure was not mentioned in today’s statement or previously … Continue reading “VMIX Names Turnaround CEO”
Trius Gets $29.5M Defense Contract
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency has awarded a contract that could be worth as much as $29.5 million through 2015 to San Diego’s Trius Therapeutics to develop novel antibiotics for gram-negative bacterial pathogens. In a statement, Trius says it will use its proprietary Focused Antisense Screening Technology and expertise in structure-based drug design to optimize … Continue reading “Trius Gets $29.5M Defense Contract”
Halozyme Announces Recall, Pathway Genomics Halts Genetic Test Kit Rollout, Vertex Gets Ready for Hepatitis C Results, & More San Diego Life Sciences News
April was a dry month for life sciences news, but May has been roaring with Halozyme’s product recall, Pathway Genomics’ aborted sales plan, and funding news—lots of funding news. Your Xconomy life sciences briefing begins now. —San Diego’s Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HALO]]) and its manufacturing partner, Baxter Healthcare, announced that they are voluntarily recalling Hylenex, … Continue reading “Halozyme Announces Recall, Pathway Genomics Halts Genetic Test Kit Rollout, Vertex Gets Ready for Hepatitis C Results, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”
How to Make Money from Saving Energy: Tales of Innovation at the SDG&E Energy Showcase
Conservation is a big deal in California. While per capita energy usage has climbed approximately 50 percent from 1975 to 2005, according to presentations by former California Energy Commissioner Arthur Rosenfeld, California managed to keep the growth of energy consumption at about 2 percent per capita over the same period—largely by requiring aggressive energy conservation … Continue reading “How to Make Money from Saving Energy: Tales of Innovation at the SDG&E Energy Showcase”
Biogen Idec Grant Sends San Diego’s Aspiring Biotech Rock Stars Into Local Schools
In a move that borrows a page from Intel’s “Rock Stars of Engineering” advertising campaign, a San Diego non-profit group is organizing a program that will bring the aspiring rock stars of San Diego’s life sciences industry into local classrooms. The pilot program, funded by a $100,000 grant from the Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec Foundation, … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Grant Sends San Diego’s Aspiring Biotech Rock Stars Into Local Schools”
San Diego’s Celula Gets $15M for Molecular Diagnostics
[Clarification 5/19/10 11:00 am. See below.] Celula, a molecular diagnostic startup founded in San Diego five years ago, has raised $15 million in a secondary round of venture funding led by Palo Alto, CA-based Skyline Ventures, according to a VentureWire report today. Celula’s top executives did not return a call this afternoon seeking to confirm … Continue reading “San Diego’s Celula Gets $15M for Molecular Diagnostics”
Legend Has It—An Early Lead in the Post-Avatar Rush to Convert 2D Films to 3D
Barry Sandrew, who was once a staff neuroscientist at the Harvard Medical School, now presides over one of the fastest-growing companies in San Diego—with a business that has nothing to do with medical research. As a matter of fact, the company known today as Legend 3D no longer resembles the digital colorization studio that Sandrew … Continue reading “Legend Has It—An Early Lead in the Post-Avatar Rush to Convert 2D Films to 3D”
Fallbrook Details Risk Factors in Amended IPO Filing
San Diego’s Fallbrook Technologies amended its IPO filing with securities regulators Friday—providing additional details about the company’s risk factors, including its lack of profitability and need to raise more capital to stay afloat. As we reported, Fallbrook filed for its initial public offering in February. The cleantech company, which has 56 employees, has been developing … Continue reading “Fallbrook Details Risk Factors in Amended IPO Filing”
Glass Flakes in Vials Prompt Halozyme, Baxter to Recall Hylenex Pediatric Rehydration Product
First San Diego’s Cadence Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CADX]]), and now, Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HALO]]), have encountered troubles resulting from contaminated biomedical products coming from their manufacturing partner, Baxter Healthcare, a unit of Baxter International (NYSE: [[ticker:BAX]]) of Deerfield, IL. Today Halozyme and Baxter said they are voluntarily recalling affected lots of a product called Hylenex that … Continue reading “Glass Flakes in Vials Prompt Halozyme, Baxter to Recall Hylenex Pediatric Rehydration Product”
National Alliance Focuses on Turning Algal Biofuels Into Viable Industry
It was just over a year ago that some of San Diego’s biggest life sciences research institutions announced the formation of SD-CAB, the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology, amid some outsized calls to make San Diego the top of the mountain in biofuels development. Since then, we’ve continued to see occasional flurries of activity, … Continue reading “National Alliance Focuses on Turning Algal Biofuels Into Viable Industry”
Venture Financing Looking Up, Sorenson Media Launches Online Video Technology, Avalon Ventures Buys Copley Building, & More San Diego BizTech News
The emerging mobile health industry made a stronger showing last week than it has in past years at its annual Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance Convergence Summit. Get the latest uptick in wireless health and other news now. —San Diego’s Avalon Ventures founder Kevin Kinsella told me the firm’s investment in San Francisco-based Zynga, which develops multiplayer … Continue reading “Venture Financing Looking Up, Sorenson Media Launches Online Video Technology, Avalon Ventures Buys Copley Building, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Afraxis Raises $1.2M in Venture Funding
San Diego-based aFraxis, which has completed pre-clinical testing of a promising compound for treating fragile X syndrome, the most common cause of inherited mental impairment, has raised $1.2 million in a venture round targeting $6 million, according to a recent regulatory finding. San Diego’s Avalon Ventures already has invested about $6 million since the company … Continue reading “Afraxis Raises $1.2M in Venture Funding”
Flatt Jumps to Synthetic Genomics
San Diego’s Synthetic Genomics, which said last year it’s getting at least $300 million from ExxonMobil to develop algae-based biofuels, has named James Flatt as its new chief technology officer, effective May 19. Flatt previously served as the senior vice president of research at Mascoma Biosciences, a cellulosic ethanol developer that moved last fall from … Continue reading “Flatt Jumps to Synthetic Genomics”
Itherx Raises $2.8M in Debt
Itherx Pharmaceuticals, a San Diego biotech known until 2007 as Immusol, has raised almost $2.8 out of a planned debt offering of $3 million, according to a recent regulatory filing. The company, which became Itherx when Jeffrey McKelvy, was named president and CEO, says it is developing innovative treatments for Hepatitis C. The company’s chief … Continue reading “Itherx Raises $2.8M in Debt”
Avalon’s Kinsella Says San Diego, Like Any Robust Startup Ecosystem, Needs Local VCs
My favorite journalistic description of Avalon Ventures founder Kevin Kinsella came from former San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Penni Crabtree, who wrote in 2005: “He has an exacting intelligence, a steely competitiveness, and a passion for big ideas. On the flip side, those who know him say Kinsella tends to lose interest when the grunt work … Continue reading “Avalon’s Kinsella Says San Diego, Like Any Robust Startup Ecosystem, Needs Local VCs”
Cooley Q1 Report Shows Venture Investment Terms Continue to Improve
Venture financing is not out of the woods yet, but there are fewer trees, according to a report issued today that analyzes 83 VC transactions with a total value of $935 million. The Cooley law firm’s Venture Financing Report shows “continuing improvement” in VC deals nationwide during the first three months of 2010. Cooley, which … Continue reading “Cooley Q1 Report Shows Venture Investment Terms Continue to Improve”
Personal Genetic Kit Sales Delayed
Buying that personal genetic test kit from the drug store is going to take longer than expected. Walgreen says it has postponed its planned sale of kits from San Diego-based Pathway Genomics, after the FDA told company its test needed regulatory approval before it could be sold in stores. Amid a proliferation of companies planning … Continue reading “Personal Genetic Kit Sales Delayed”
Gary and Mary West Add $20M to Their $45M Donation For Wireless Health Institute
The namesake family foundation that launched San Diego’s West Wireless Health Institute last year with a $45 million donation has just announced another $20 million grant to support biomedical engineering research in mobile health. Word of the latest bequest from the Gary and Mary West Foundation came out of today’s closed session of the Wireless-Life … Continue reading “Gary and Mary West Add $20M to Their $45M Donation For Wireless Health Institute”
Wireless-Life Sciences Investor Meeting Puts Innovation on Stage—Boston Sleep Company Zeo Claims a Top Prize
As Qualcomm’s vice president of health and life sciences and as chairman of the San Diego-based Wireless Life Sciences Alliance (WLSA), Don Jones is attuned to subtle disturbances in the field of mobile health. He tells me that one of the auspicious signals for the still-emerging industry is that the 200 people who registered for … Continue reading “Wireless-Life Sciences Investor Meeting Puts Innovation on Stage—Boston Sleep Company Zeo Claims a Top Prize”
Astute Medical Raises $26.5M
San Diego’s Astute Medical, a medical diagnostics startup that specializes in identifying acute conditions that require rapid diagnosis, says it has completed a $26.5 million series B round of venture funding co-led by Domain Associates and Delphi Ventures. The three-year-old company, which has raised total funding of more than $32.7 million, says its focus includes … Continue reading “Astute Medical Raises $26.5M”
Pathway Genomics to Sell Over-the-Counter Genetic Test This Week
San Diego’s Pathway Genomics, which announced plans last July to offer consumers a personal genome test for $250, says it will begin selling its genetic test this week at about 80 percent of Walgreens stores nationwide, according to a front page story in today’s Washington Post. “We believe the market is ready for this,” Jim … Continue reading “Pathway Genomics to Sell Over-the-Counter Genetic Test This Week”
Sorenson Targets Brightcove in Updated Release of Online Video Platform Technology
Sorenson Media CEO Peter Csathy tells me it was always part of the company’s plan to introduce its digital media technology in the enterprise market, where big media and Internet companies enable Internet users to watch streaming video and TV broadcasts. Today the company with offices in Salt Lake City, UT, and Carlsbad, CA, is … Continue reading “Sorenson Targets Brightcove in Updated Release of Online Video Platform Technology”
Avalon Ventures Founder Says FarmVille Creator Zynga Could Be Best Bet in 27 Years
Last week, San Diego’s Avalon Ventures confirmed that it is setting out to raise its ninth venture fund, which is expected to close between $150 million and $200 million. That’s a modest fund by the billion-dollar standards of Sequoia Capital or New Enterprise Associates, but it’s a formula that has worked well in the 27 … Continue reading “Avalon Ventures Founder Says FarmVille Creator Zynga Could Be Best Bet in 27 Years”
Avalon Ventures Goes for Ninth Fund, Mobile Health Industry Seeks Tipping Point, Google Ventures Steps Into Spotlight, & More San Diego BizTech News
New industries like cleantech and mobile health are changing the face of San Diego’s innovation scene. Better catch up on all that’s happening before you don’t recognize it anymore. —The wind power industry is now in the doldrums, after soaring last year to a record number of wind turbine installations. The industry’s boom and bust … Continue reading “Avalon Ventures Goes for Ninth Fund, Mobile Health Industry Seeks Tipping Point, Google Ventures Steps Into Spotlight, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Sequenom Restarting Development of Diagnostic Test for Down Syndrome
San Diego’s Sequenom, which scrubbed the launch of its diagnostics test for Down syndrome back in April 2009 over “mishandled data,” says today it’s resuming development with a new testing schedule. Sequenom says it could launch a laboratory test “before the end of 2011” if everything goes as planned. In announcing its financial results for … Continue reading “Sequenom Restarting Development of Diagnostic Test for Down Syndrome”
Wind Energy, Battered by Boom and Bust Cycles, Back in Doldrums
[Corrected 5/6/10, 1:45 pm. See below.]When Jim McDermott, the managing partner at U.S. Renewables Group, came through San Diego a few months ago, he told a Cleantech San Diego audience the 2008 collapse in the capital markets had wiped out a third of the U.S. wind energy projects then under development. “For about six months, … Continue reading “Wind Energy, Battered by Boom and Bust Cycles, Back in Doldrums”
Novocell Renamed ViaCyte; Gets 3 Patents
San Diego-based Novocell, Inc., a preclinical stem cell engineering company focused on diabetes, has changed its name to ViaCyte, according to an announcement. In a separate statement, the company says it also recently obtained three additional U.S. patents. The new patents cover methods for increasing definitive endoderm production, methods of producing pancreatic hormones, and a … Continue reading “Novocell Renamed ViaCyte; Gets 3 Patents”
Sequenom Settlement Approved
Sequenom (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SQNM]]) says a federal judge in San Diego has approved its $14 million settlement with shareholders in an agreement that consolidated multiple securities class action lawsuits against the San Diego maker of diagnostics kits and products. The cases were filed after Sequenom withdrew plans last April to introduce a diagnostic test for Down … Continue reading “Sequenom Settlement Approved”
Mobile Health Edges Closer to Transformation as Industry Convenes Fifth Summit
As mobile healthcare entrepreneurs, technologists, and investors gather in San Diego next week for a three-day conference on wireless health, a report assessing the state of the industry concludes that “mHealth” is still emerging, and not yet ready for mainstream adoption. A survey of mobile health companies found that 94 percent of the wireless health … Continue reading “Mobile Health Edges Closer to Transformation as Industry Convenes Fifth Summit”
Venter Institute Raises $53M Through Sale-Leaseback Deal
The $53 million generated by the sale of the J. Craig Venter Institute’s five-building campus in Rockville, MD, could help finance construction of a multi-disciplinary research facility proposed for a scenic coastal bluff on the U.C. San Diego campus. The nonprofit genomic research institute announced the sale of its Maryland property yesterday to BioMed Realty … Continue reading “Venter Institute Raises $53M Through Sale-Leaseback Deal”
WiTricity and Qualcomm Add Their Perspectives to Smart Energy Forum, Coming June 8
As the editor of San Diego Xconomy, I’m as thrilled as the next journalist to say I have electrifying news—and this time it’s almost literally true. In planning the Xconomy forum on smart energy, now just five weeks away, we’ve asked some of San Diego’s leading luminaries in energy innovation to discuss what they’re doing … Continue reading “WiTricity and Qualcomm Add Their Perspectives to Smart Energy Forum, Coming June 8”
Envision Solar Begins OTC Trading
It took awhile, but the San Diego solar energy planning, architectural, and cleantech firm Envision Solar International officially began trading on the over-the-counter bulletin board market, according to a statement yesterday. The founding CEO, Robert Noble, talked about the move at a reception in February. The company’s shares trade under the symbol EVSI.
Althea Acquires Altus’ Technologies
San Diego CRO Althea Technologies says it is acquiring the assets and IP portfolio of Altus Pharmaceuticals, a Waltham, MA, biotech that filed for bankruptcy liquidation seven months ago. Financial terms were not disclosed. Altus had been developing an injectable human growth hormone to treat diseases. Althea said applications of Altus’ technology range from therapeutics … Continue reading “Althea Acquires Altus’ Technologies”
Avalon Ventures Begins Fund-Raising for Ninth Fund, Sets $150M Goal
San Diego’s Avalon Ventures has embarked on fund-raising for its ninth venture fund, and intends to raise $150 million from its investment partners, according to a report this morning on VentureWire. Kevin Kinsella, who founded Avalon in 1983, confirms the report, but otherwise declined to comment. In a profile of the firm just last month, … Continue reading “Avalon Ventures Begins Fund-Raising for Ninth Fund, Sets $150M Goal”
Cleantech Emerging as Third Big Sector for VC Investing, Ultraviolet Sciences Seeks a Foothold in the Water Biz, Four Startups Get ‘Under-the-Radar’ Funding, & More San Diego BizTech News
It was a week for news about high-tech job trends, venture deals, and a rising tide of cleantech venture funding. Get our summary here: —Cleantech startups are now getting close to capturing as much venture capital as the two biggest industry categories—life sciences and information technology. By one official estimate, VCs invested $1.9 billion in … Continue reading “Cleantech Emerging as Third Big Sector for VC Investing, Ultraviolet Sciences Seeks a Foothold in the Water Biz, Four Startups Get ‘Under-the-Radar’ Funding, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Cleantech Becoming ‘Third Leg’ of VC Investing Stool—But Just How Big is That Leg?
When Ira Ehrenpreis came through San Diego a couple of weeks ago, the cleantech investment partner at Palo Alto, CA-based Technology Partners said there was no such thing as a cleantech investment category when his firm began investing 25 years ago. At that time, Technology Partner’s investments in environmentally friendly technologies amounted to less than … Continue reading “Cleantech Becoming ‘Third Leg’ of VC Investing Stool—But Just How Big is That Leg?”
Celladon Enjoys Early Success With Gene Therapy Trial, FDA Gives Digirad Green Light for a Nuclear Camera, Aragon Pharmaceuticals Gets $22M & More San Diego Biotech News
We saw a healthy mix of life sciences news over the past week, with a generous serving of device news, some venture funding, a dash of clinical trial results, and voila! Enjoy! —San Diego’s Celladon said an experimental gene therapy treatment met its primary goal of showing the treatment was more effective than a placebo … Continue reading “Celladon Enjoys Early Success With Gene Therapy Trial, FDA Gives Digirad Green Light for a Nuclear Camera, Aragon Pharmaceuticals Gets $22M & More San Diego Biotech News”
UV Sciences Tries to Tap Into Water Purification Industry With Smaller and Less Costly Technology
After Ultraviolet Sciences was founded in 2002, it took the little San Diego cleantech startup seven years to launch its first product. It’s a water purification device that uses ultraviolet (UV) light to sterilize microbial contaminants in drinking water. Such UV technology has been gaining momentum in recent years as an alternative to chlorine disinfectant, … Continue reading “UV Sciences Tries to Tap Into Water Purification Industry With Smaller and Less Costly Technology”
High-Tech Jobs Stayed Resilient Amid Last Year’s National Job Losses, TechAmerica Says
The high-tech industry lost 245,600 jobs, or about 4 percent of the nationwide technology workforce, as the recession hit bottom last year, according a report being released today. But there are still jobs to be had in high-tech fields. Unemployment in several high-tech sectors remained below 5 percent at a time when overall unemployment soared … Continue reading “High-Tech Jobs Stayed Resilient Amid Last Year’s National Job Losses, TechAmerica Says”
The Company is Dead, But Its PayPal Billing Service Lives On
If a consumer-oriented Web-based services company goes out of business, shouldn’t its PayPal account expire too? I’m just wondering if other online consumers have had a similar experience to Encinitas, CA, resident Judd Handler. He says he recently discovered that he had been charged $17.95 on his PayPal account for a junk-mail screening service provided … Continue reading “The Company is Dead, But Its PayPal Billing Service Lives On”
FDA Gives Digirad OK to Market Ergo Device
Digirad (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DRAD]]), a medical imaging company based in Poway, CA, says it got regulatory approval to market Ergo, a new nuclear imaging camera system for hospitals. Digirad CEO Todd Clyde tells the San Diego Union-Tribune that what sets the solid-state camera apart is its field of view and its portability, which means patients won’t … Continue reading “FDA Gives Digirad OK to Market Ergo Device”
New Connect Lobbyist for Technology Innovation Discusses His Role and Priorities
Connect CEO Duane Roth made hiring a full-time lobbyist in Washington D.C. a key part of last summer’s initiative to boost San Diego’s innovation economy. Last week, the nonprofit group named Timothy Tardibono, a lawyer and policy analyst, as its government affairs director and chief counsel—and Tardibono says he’s already got some issues on his … Continue reading “New Connect Lobbyist for Technology Innovation Discusses His Role and Priorities”
SciVee Partners With Thomson Reuters
SciVee CEO Marc Friedmann tells me the San Diego startup I profiled previously as a YouTube for scientists, has struck a partnership with ScholarOne, the peer-review workflow management system operated by Thomson Reuters. The agreement will give users of ScholarOne Abstracts (previously known as Abstract Central) the ability to capture and share multimedia content from … Continue reading “SciVee Partners With Thomson Reuters”
Confident Technologies Makes San Diego Debut, Startups Get Fresh Venture Funding, Peter Preuss Gets Inducted to Connect Hall of Fame, & More San Diego BizTech News
—Xconomy’s list of San Diego’s top 10 VC deals during the first quarter of 2010 included funding for three high-tech startups, although investments in life sciences and medical devices accounted for most of the money and deals. EMN8, which is developing automated kiosks for fast-service restaurants, raised almost $14.5 million; Avaak, which developed a wireless … Continue reading “Confident Technologies Makes San Diego Debut, Startups Get Fresh Venture Funding, Peter Preuss Gets Inducted to Connect Hall of Fame, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Connect Inducts Software Pioneer Peter Preuss to Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame
Connect, San Diego’s non-profit group for technology innovation, officially inducted software industry pioneer Peter Preuss into its Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame during a luncheon yesterday that recounted his life story—from a nerd growing up in postwar Berlin to a successful technology entrepreneur and prominent patron of both education and cancer research. Preuss is the eighth … Continue reading “Connect Inducts Software Pioneer Peter Preuss to Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame”
San Diego’s Place in the Sun: Getting Smarter About Energy, Starting June 8
Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day in the United States, an occasion that is now observed by just about every country on the planet. Within the past four decades, we have witnessed the price of crude oil careen from about $3 a barrel in the early 1970s to almost $148 a barrel in … Continue reading “San Diego’s Place in the Sun: Getting Smarter About Energy, Starting June 8”