MediciNova Completes Merger

San Diego-based MediciNova, (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MNOV]]) which is developing small-molecule therapeutics through partnerships with Japanese pharmaceuticals, says it has merged Avigen, (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVGN]]), a biotech based in Alameda, CA, that is focused on developing treatments for serious neurological disorders. Under the merger agreement, Avigen shareholders will receive either cash, secured convertible notes, or a combination of … Continue reading “MediciNova Completes Merger”

As Wireless Industry Moves From Voice to Data, Qualcomm’s Top Execs Discuss Their ‘Big Bets’ on Next-Generation Technologies

Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs seemed upbeat, at times even jocular, during a town hall forum at the wireless giant’s corporate headquarters Wednesday night. Perhaps his good humor stemmed from the kickoff question from moderator Brian Modoff, the Deutsche Bank Securities analyst, who asked Jacobs how he views Qualcomm now that the company has entered a … Continue reading “As Wireless Industry Moves From Voice to Data, Qualcomm’s Top Execs Discuss Their ‘Big Bets’ on Next-Generation Technologies”

Assay Depot Founders Morphed Their Biotech Startup Into e-Commerce Provider of Drug Discovery Services

The three co-founders of San Diego’s Assay Depot started the company in 2006 as a for-hire cancer research outfit, with the big idea of creating a Web-based system that would make it super easy for biomedical researchers to order assays, screening tests, and other lab services. “We were building the website and we really wanted … Continue reading “Assay Depot Founders Morphed Their Biotech Startup Into e-Commerce Provider of Drug Discovery Services”

Calixa Gets Acquired, Pfēnex signs Merck to Licensing Deal, Local Biotechs Report From Breast Cancer Symposium, & More San Diego Life Sciences News

San Diego’s Calixa Therapeutics will be celebrating the holidays in style, after getting acquired by a Massachusetts-based company in the biggest deal of the week. Start your countdown to Christmas here with a rundown of the latest biotech news. —Lexington, MA-based Cubist Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CBST]]) completed its $92.5-million buyout of San Diego antibiotic drug developer … Continue reading “Calixa Gets Acquired, Pfēnex signs Merck to Licensing Deal, Local Biotechs Report From Breast Cancer Symposium, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”

Xconomy Forum: The Biotech Odyssey and Xconomy’s Ode to Innovation and Clean Air

Leave it to the Greeks to provide an epic mythology for interpreting the essence of biotech innovation. As John Maraganore of Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals puts it, drug development is a voyage of Odysseus that requires wily and ingenious problem-solving and extraordinary seamanship. Put another way by Kleanthis Xanthopoulos of Carlsbad, CA-based Regulus Therapeutics, the … Continue reading “Xconomy Forum: The Biotech Odyssey and Xconomy’s Ode to Innovation and Clean Air”

Connect’s Innovation Report Highlights Higher Federal Spending

A comprehensive snapshot of San Diego’s innovation economy shows a slowdown in new company formation, with 78 technology startups created during the three months that ended in September. But federal grants for basic research jumped to new highs, with funding awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) up 44 percent and funding from the … Continue reading “Connect’s Innovation Report Highlights Higher Federal Spending”

San Diego’s Verari Systems Restructuring its Data Storage Business

PE Hub reports today that San Diego-based Verari Systems shut down on Friday, but a top executive at the company, which provides blade servers and data storage technology, says the doors are still open and that Verari is restructuring its business. Verari is backed by venture investors including Seattle-based Voyager Capital. “Verari has initiated a … Continue reading “San Diego’s Verari Systems Restructuring its Data Storage Business”

San Diego’s Pfenex, a Dow Spinout, Signs Merck to $52M Licensing Deal

Pfēnex, which just announced its presence in San Diego last week, today says it has granted Merck an exclusive worldwide license to use its technology to produce specific proteins for use in developing an undisclosed vaccine. A Pfēnex spokesman says the deal, which could be worth as much as $52 million in total payments, represents … Continue reading “San Diego’s Pfenex, a Dow Spinout, Signs Merck to $52M Licensing Deal”

Sequoia Gains Stake in Service-Now.com, Analytics Startup Moves HQ, Transaction Wireless Gets $2M, & More San Diego BizTech News

Software analytics continues to be one of San Diego’s busier high-tech sectors, with ParAccel leading a new generation of technologies that combine data warehousing and analytics. Get ready for the week ahead with this overview from Xconomy: —Sequoia Capital, the Menlo Park, CA, venture firm, is taking a big stake in Service-now.com, the Software-as-a-Service company … Continue reading “Sequoia Gains Stake in Service-Now.com, Analytics Startup Moves HQ, Transaction Wireless Gets $2M, & More San Diego BizTech News”

Cytori Says Early Results of its Breast Reconstruction Treatment Are Promising

[Corrected 12/13/09, 9:45 am. See below] San Diego’s Cytori Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CYTX]]) is reporting encouraging interim results today concerning its breast reconstruction technology at the 32nd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Cytori has been developing its treatment for women whose partial mastectomy or lumpectomy has left a soft-tissue crater or deformity, as well as … Continue reading “Cytori Says Early Results of its Breast Reconstruction Treatment Are Promising”

Cleantech Recylcer EcoATM Among Winners of San Diego’s “Most Innovative Products” Awards

EcoATM is on a tear. The San Diego startup founded last year has developed automated kiosks that enable consumers to recycle their used cell phones and other devices (and get a redemption) was today named the most innovative product in the cleantech category by Connect, the non-profit organization that supports technology and entrepreneurship. Just last … Continue reading “Cleantech Recylcer EcoATM Among Winners of San Diego’s “Most Innovative Products” Awards”

San Diego’s Analytics Cluster Adds Algebraix, a Texas Transplant

As I noted in a recent post about ParAccel, there seems to be a recent proliferation of startups that are combining database management systems with sophisticated analytical capabilities. Another one has just come to my attention: Algebraix Data Corp. is a business intelligence software company that moved its headquarters to San Diego from Austin, TX, … Continue reading “San Diego’s Analytics Cluster Adds Algebraix, a Texas Transplant”

Zogenix Raises Cash for Headaches, Sleepless in Somaxon, Dow Chemical Spins Out Pfēnex, & More San Diego Life Sciences News

From Adamis to Zogenix, we’ve got the A to Z in San Diego life sciences news. Here’s your chance to catch up now. —Zogenix said it has raised a total of $71 million for the anticipated launch in January of its needle-free, drug-and-device delivery system for migraine and cluster headaches. The San Diego life sciences … Continue reading “Zogenix Raises Cash for Headaches, Sleepless in Somaxon, Dow Chemical Spins Out Pfēnex, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”

Sequoia Investment in San Diego’s Service-Now.com Provides a Big Holiday Payout

It’s going to be a Merry Christmas this year for many employees at suburban San Diego-based Service-now.com, a privately held company that was founded in the aftermath of the corporate accounting scandal at San Diego’s Peregrine Systems. Perhaps merrier for some more than others. In a regulatory filing submitted yesterday, Service-now.com discloses that it has … Continue reading “Sequoia Investment in San Diego’s Service-Now.com Provides a Big Holiday Payout”

Transaction Wireless Raises $2M

Transaction Wireless, a San Diego startup founded in mid-2006 by Basil Abifaker, raised an additional $2 million in a Series B round of venture funding from San Diego-based Mission Ventures and Okapi Ventures of Laguna Beach, CA. Transaction Wireless, which has developed mobile payment processing technology, raised $2.25 million in September 2008, shortly before the … Continue reading “Transaction Wireless Raises $2M”

Pfēnex: A New Biotech in Town

Dow Chemical has officially spun out a new San Diego-based biotech, Pfēnex, which is using a bacteria that secretes a fluorescent pigment to develop a variety of protein-based drugs, vaccines, diagnostic reagents, and biosimilars. Signet Healthcare Partners is lead investor in the venture-backed company, which is headed by CEO Bertrand C. Liang and includes a … Continue reading “Pfēnex: A New Biotech in Town”

Crinetics Pharma Gets SBIR Grant

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, a San Diego startup focused on developing specialized biosensors for drug discovery applications, says it has been awarded a $237,895 Small Business Innovation Research Grant from the National Institutes of Health. A Crinetics spokesman says the company also has an application pending for $1 million in “fast-track” funding, but won’t learn the outcome … Continue reading “Crinetics Pharma Gets SBIR Grant”

Adamis to Merge with La Jolla Pharmaceutical

San Diego’s La Jolla Pharmaceutical, which was unable to muster a sufficient number of investors to approve its liquidation plan, has agreed to a merger with Adamis Pharmaceuticals, a Del Mar, CA, biotech with shares that trade over-the-counter. Under a reverse merger approved by both boards, La Jolla Pharmaceutical shareholders will get as much as … Continue reading “Adamis to Merge with La Jolla Pharmaceutical”

With Extra Dose of Cash, Zogenix Raises VC Round to $71M for Launch of Migraine Treatment

San Diego-based Zogenix got a $20 million vote of confidence for the anticipated launch next month of its needle-free, drug-and-device delivery system for migraine and cluster headaches. Zogenix, which announced in September that it had closed on a $51 million Series B round of venture funding, says it extended the round to accommodate an additional … Continue reading “With Extra Dose of Cash, Zogenix Raises VC Round to $71M for Launch of Migraine Treatment”

San Diego’s ParAccel, Which Sprang From Netezza, Prepares for Next Database War

I discerned a couple of recurring themes when I sat down with ParAccel CEO David Ehrlich to discuss the venture-backed startup that specializes in database management systems technology. One is that ParAccel’s industry seems prone to what Ehrlich calls “database wars,” which might be best exemplified by the intense competition that broke out in the … Continue reading “San Diego’s ParAccel, Which Sprang From Netezza, Prepares for Next Database War”

Mochila Raises Half of $2M Target

Mochila, an online startup that aggregates syndicated media content and provides Web-based services to media companies, has raised about $1 million of a targeted $2 million investment round, according to a recent filing with government regulators. The Carlsbad, CA-based Internet venture has raised about $30 million since it was founded in 2001. Mochila says its … Continue reading “Mochila Raises Half of $2M Target”

Fallbrook CEO Says Latest Funding Reflects Near-Term Cleantech Prospects

Fallbrook Technologies CEO Bill Klehm was in South Korea two weeks ago, when the San Diego cleantech startup disclosed in a regulatory filing that it had raised an additional $4 million from investors. I wanted to get more information about the deal, since it has only been a year since the developer of a new … Continue reading “Fallbrook CEO Says Latest Funding Reflects Near-Term Cleantech Prospects”

Sapphire Energy Gets $104.5M to Build Biofuels Refinery, Larry Smarr Says Sensors Vital to Energy Conservation, MP3.com’s Founder Says Online Strategy Has Changed, & More San Diego BizTech News

Cyber Monday’s online shopping trends provided much of the electronic grist for our Xconomy news mill last week. Get your news here while it’s hot. —The Department of Energy awarded San Diego’s Sapphire Energy a $50 million grant and the Department of Agriculture provided the company with $54.5 million in federal loan guarantees for construction … Continue reading “Sapphire Energy Gets $104.5M to Build Biofuels Refinery, Larry Smarr Says Sensors Vital to Energy Conservation, MP3.com’s Founder Says Online Strategy Has Changed, & More San Diego BizTech News”

Federal Biofuel Awards Made for Green Refinery Projects in 15 States, Including Pilot Plants for Sapphire Energy, BioEnergy Intl.

Sapphire Energy, the San Diego-based algae biofuels startup that got much of its venture funding out of Seattle, and BioEnergy International of Quincy, MA, are among 19 biofuel refinery projects that were designated today to get as much as $564 million in federal funding. Sapphire spokesman Tim Zenk says the company got a $50 million … Continue reading “Federal Biofuel Awards Made for Green Refinery Projects in 15 States, Including Pilot Plants for Sapphire Energy, BioEnergy Intl.”

Cleantech Sense and Sensibility: UCSD and Internet Guru Larry Smarr Push for Wide Adoption of Sensors to Save Energy, Cut Greenhouse Gases

If Jane Austen had been an avant-garde technology writer instead of a 19th Century English novelist, she might have imagined a character like Larry Smarr: a brainy and bespectacled man of 61 years who tends the roses and fuchias of his La Jolla garden on weekends while designing the infrastructure of the Internet the rest … Continue reading “Cleantech Sense and Sensibility: UCSD and Internet Guru Larry Smarr Push for Wide Adoption of Sensors to Save Energy, Cut Greenhouse Gases”

FDA Approves Over-the-Counter Version of Santarus Drug, Pioneer of Algal Biofuels Says Algae Will Make Drugs Too, Receptos Gets $25M, & More San Diego Life Sciences News

San Diego’s biotech news picked up in pace following the Thanksgiving holiday, with Phenomix announcing a major partnership, Santarus benefitting from FDA approval of its over-the-counter heartburn drug, and Receptos getting a VC infusion. Our Xconomy post-holiday news feast is ready, so come and get it: —After forming a partnership last year with New York-based … Continue reading “FDA Approves Over-the-Counter Version of Santarus Drug, Pioneer of Algal Biofuels Says Algae Will Make Drugs Too, Receptos Gets $25M, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”

San Diego’s Extrabux, With a Boost From Old-Fashioned TV, Sees Online Shopping Traffic Skyrocket

Noah Auerhahn and Jeff Nobbs knew they were onto a good business idea last year, when they won the fourth annual USC technology plan competition. They were undergraduates after all, competing in a contest that was open to all graduate students, faculty and researchers on campus. Nevertheless, Auerhahn tells me that what happened yesterday was … Continue reading “San Diego’s Extrabux, With a Boost From Old-Fashioned TV, Sees Online Shopping Traffic Skyrocket”

Michael Robertson on Gizmo5, and How the World Has Changed for Internet Startups

Just a few weeks ago, Michael Robertson sold his Web-based phone service venture, Gizmo5, to Google for a reported $30 million. So he was in a good mood when we sat down yesterday to talk about what might be next for San Diego’s patriarch of Internet startups. “One of my goals for the year was … Continue reading “Michael Robertson on Gizmo5, and How the World Has Changed for Internet Startups”

Founder Institute Ranks San Diego Lowest, Seattle Highest in Likelihood for Entrepreneurial Success

As if it wasn’t already hard enough to be an entrepreneur in San Diego. A recent survey suggests that San Diego entrepreneurs are the least likely to succeed in their startup ventures—while Seattle’s entrepreneurs are the most likely to break through to the other side. The survey, which was first reported by VentureBeat last week, … Continue reading “Founder Institute Ranks San Diego Lowest, Seattle Highest in Likelihood for Entrepreneurial Success”

Local Startup Culture Tied to Bay Area VCs, AirHop Looks to Next-Generation Wireless, SDG&E Strikes Out in Bid for Grant, & More San Diego BizTech News

For a week shortened by the Thanksgiving holiday, we still had lots of news about venture funding deals, views on startup failures and San Diego’s innovation culture, and Qualcomm getting a reprieve from European regulators. Get our rundown of the local tech news you need to know: —I conducted an informal poll on local attitudes … Continue reading “Local Startup Culture Tied to Bay Area VCs, AirHop Looks to Next-Generation Wireless, SDG&E Strikes Out in Bid for Grant, & More San Diego BizTech News”

Enigma Names Top U.S. Execs

Enigma Diagnostics, the UK genetic diagnosis instrument maker that is setting up its U.S. shop in San Diego, today named Jorge Garces as president and CEO of the U.S. team. Garces was previously a vice president at Hologic, and managed the R&D, clinical, and manufacturing business unit in Madison, WI. Enigma also named another Hologic … Continue reading “Enigma Names Top U.S. Execs”

Where Failure is an Option: San Diego’s Startup Culture as a Bay Area Annex

Not long ago, one of my Xconomy colleagues in Seattle posted a provocative piece about startup failures and suggested the startup culture in some cities—especially the San Francisco Bay Area—is far more tolerant of technology entrepreneurs who fail. Greg found that many Seattle entrepreneurs say they feel stigmatized by startup failures in the Pacific Northwest … Continue reading “Where Failure is an Option: San Diego’s Startup Culture as a Bay Area Annex”

European Union Drops Qualcomm Case

Word from Brussels today has removed a big unknown that was weighing on San Diego wireless giant Qualcomm and its global technology licensing strategy. European Union antitrust regulators say they are dropping their investigation into Qualcomm’s business practices. The six companies that instigated the probe also have withdrawn their complaints that Qualcomm royalty fees were … Continue reading “European Union Drops Qualcomm Case”

Under the Radar: Five San Diego Deals That Are Signs of Things to Come

With help from New York-based ChubbyBrain, we’re introducing a new feature for Xconomy San Diego today that we call our “under-the-radar” deals. Here at Xconomy, our news coverage about technology innovation and startups includes the big venture financing deals that are the lifeblood of the early stage companies working to commercialize advances in the life … Continue reading “Under the Radar: Five San Diego Deals That Are Signs of Things to Come”

AirHop, Adapting to “Dense” Wireless of the Future, Develops Self-Organizing Networking Software

One of the recurring themes during the international wireless industry’s conference in San Diego last month was the phenomenal surge in mobile data traffic, and how it is leading to constraints and bottlenecks in existing network infrastructure. As engineers approach the limit in terms of wringing any more efficiencies out of existing radio bands, Qualcomm … Continue reading “AirHop, Adapting to “Dense” Wireless of the Future, Develops Self-Organizing Networking Software”

Fallbrook Raises $4M

Fallbrook Technologies, the San Diego startup developing a transmission without gears, has raised $4 million from investors in a secondary round of funding, according to a regulatory filing the company made last week. Fallbrook raised $25.4 million in January from NGEN Partners, a Santa Barbara cleantech venture firm; Robeco, the investment arm of Rabobank of … Continue reading “Fallbrook Raises $4M”

Aptera Postpones Production, HR Biopetroleum and Shell in Biofuel Collaboration, Power Grid Needs Tech Innovation, & More San Diego BizTech News

It was a busy week for cleantech news. Local biofuels executives talked about their collaborative partnerships with big energy companies, and Vista, CA-based Aptera disclosed why it has pared back on some operations. Read all about it here. —Aptera, the Vista, CA-carmaker, said it has delayed production of its all-electric Aptera 2e that once was … Continue reading “Aptera Postpones Production, HR Biopetroleum and Shell in Biofuel Collaboration, Power Grid Needs Tech Innovation, & More San Diego BizTech News”

After Re-Engineering Itself, Verdezyne Sets Course to Develop Biofuels and “Green” Industrial Chemicals

After Carlsbad, CA-based Verdezyne disclosed last month that it plans to raise more than $15 million in venture funding, I arranged to sit down with Damien Perriman, the company’s vice president of business development. As it turns out, the startup that was founded in 2005 as CODA Genomics has essentially re-engineered itself over the past … Continue reading “After Re-Engineering Itself, Verdezyne Sets Course to Develop Biofuels and “Green” Industrial Chemicals”

Futuristic Carmaker Aptera Disputes Internal Rift, Acknowledges Cutbacks

Aptera, the sleek carmaker backed by Google and Idealabs, didn’t respond to my inquiry earlier this week about reports of an internal split in which founders Steve Fambro and Chris Anthony had left the company. But in an online report published today by The San Diego Union-Tribune, Aptera officials rejected accounts that Fambro and Anthony … Continue reading “Futuristic Carmaker Aptera Disputes Internal Rift, Acknowledges Cutbacks”

Big Energy Collaborations Seen to Jump-Start Emerging Biofuels Technologies

As startups developing next-generation biofuels emerge in San Diego, Boston, and elsewhere, a business model for rapidly expanding to commercial-scale operations already can be found in the biotech industry, experts said yesterday. The premise of presentations organized by Biocom, San Diego’s life sciences industry group, is that collaborations being formed between biofuel startups and big … Continue reading “Big Energy Collaborations Seen to Jump-Start Emerging Biofuels Technologies”

San Diego’s Cottage Industry of Marine Technology Innovation

Long before San Diego was known as a hub of telecommunications innovation or for its proliferation of biotech companies, it was a leading center for the development of deep underwater technologies. During the 1960s and ’70s, scientists from the U.S. Navy laboratories on Point Loma and UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography founded numerous startups with … Continue reading “San Diego’s Cottage Industry of Marine Technology Innovation”

Kleiner Perkins’ Ellen Pao on Opportunities in Greentech Investing

I had an opportunity to sit down recently (along with several other journalists) for an informal chat with Ellen Pao, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and a member of the famed Menlo Park, CA, venture firm’s GreenTech investment team. Pao was in town to be the keynote speaker at the inaugural Cleantech … Continue reading “Kleiner Perkins’ Ellen Pao on Opportunities in Greentech Investing”

Rift Reported Between Founders and Board at Futuristic Carmaker Aptera

Paul Wilbur, a Detroit auto industry veteran who was named CEO of Carlsbad, CA-based Aptera 14 months ago, gave no indication of internal turmoil at the futuristic car’s headquarters when he appeared last week at an event sponsored by Cleantech San Diego. But as Darryl Siry reports today on Wired’s Autotopia blog, a prolonged power … Continue reading “Rift Reported Between Founders and Board at Futuristic Carmaker Aptera”

Global Analytics Raises $10M Amid Possible Deal

San Diego’s Global Analytics Holdings says it has raised $10 million of a targeted $14 million round that consists of equity investments, options, and rights to securities, according to a recent regulatory filing. The company provides consulting services for business customers and specializes in developing software for statistical analysis, predictive modeling, and neural networks. The … Continue reading “Global Analytics Raises $10M Amid Possible Deal”

Qualcomm Takes on Network Bottlenecks, Google Buys Gizmo5, a Cluster of Analytics Startups Emerges, & More San Diego BizTech News

San Diego serial entrepreneur Michael Robertson is going to have to find something else to do now that Gizmo5, the VoIP (voice-over-Internet-protocol) company he founded in 2003, has become part of a certain search giant to the north. We have that news and more. —Google confirmed that it’s buying San Diego-based Gizmo5, a six-year-old company … Continue reading “Qualcomm Takes on Network Bottlenecks, Google Buys Gizmo5, a Cluster of Analytics Startups Emerges, & More San Diego BizTech News”