More San Diego Layoffs Hit Cymer, Goodrich Aerostructures, La Jolla Pharmaceutical

With unemployment in San Diego County at 8.6 percent in January—its highest level since the 1970s—it should come as no surprise that some of San Diego’s leading technology companies continue to shed workers. Still, the depth of the layoffs has been surprising among the companies we follow at Xconomy. You can check our updated list … Continue reading “More San Diego Layoffs Hit Cymer, Goodrich Aerostructures, La Jolla Pharmaceutical”

Quidel Shares Plunge on Warning

A surprisingly light flu season is drawing to a close, which is good news except perhaps at San Diego-based Quidel (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QDEL]]), which makes rapid diagnostic tests. Investors hammered the stock after Quidel said it anticipates a first quarter loss due to a significant decline in sales of its diagnostic products for influenza and Strep … Continue reading “Quidel Shares Plunge on Warning”

Case Dismissed: Broadcom’s Legal Bid to Defang Qualcomm Patents

The lawyers for Irvine, CA-based Broadcom have been on a roll in a protracted legal battle over mobile phone technology patents against San Diego arch-rival Qualcomm, including one case that led to sanctions last year. But Broadcom’s lawyers misfired in a lawsuit filed against Qualcomm just five months ago. The suit broadly alleged that Qualcomm … Continue reading “Case Dismissed: Broadcom’s Legal Bid to Defang Qualcomm Patents”

Obama’s Stem Cell Reversal Sparks Deals, Qualcomm’s MediaFLO Revealed, Nokia’s Wireless Mapping, & More SD BizTech News

President Obama’s reversal of federal funding restrictions on research using embryonic stem cells prompted some interesting commentary last week, along with some related developments among local startups. We also have news about the expanding world of mobile media and wireless mapping technologies, so read on! —No one is expecting immediate and widespread changes after the … Continue reading “Obama’s Stem Cell Reversal Sparks Deals, Qualcomm’s MediaFLO Revealed, Nokia’s Wireless Mapping, & More SD BizTech News”

Sangart Raises $50 Million For Blood Substitute

San Diego-based Sangart, a biopharmaceutical company developing artificial blood products based on human hemoglobin, says it has raised $50 million in funding that completes its Series F round. Sangart says the $50 million was raised when its investors exercised warrants the company had issued in 2007 as part of its Series F round, and bring … Continue reading “Sangart Raises $50 Million For Blood Substitute”

Kauffman Seminar Asks How Universities Can Improve Innovation

It’s taken as a given that universities are integral to the innovation process. Researchers create technology, the university finds a licensee or a startup company is formed to develop the invention, and products are created that drive growth in the economy. But that is a simplistic view of a complex system. And today, a select … Continue reading “Kauffman Seminar Asks How Universities Can Improve Innovation”

Greening the Internet and Verari Systems’ “Data Center in a Box”

Making improvements in energy efficiency may not seem like the cutting edge of innovation, but the combined effects of the recession and rising energy costs have many big companies scrambling for novel ways to get on top of energy demands. At the same time, efforts to reduce the load on California’s increasingly constrained power grid … Continue reading “Greening the Internet and Verari Systems’ “Data Center in a Box””

Qualcomm Faces Allegations Over Certain Practices in Korea

Qualcomm said today the Korean Fair Trade Commission has made allegations about “the lawfulness of certain business practices.” The company says the allegations, set forth in a case examiner’s report, relate to Qualcomm’s integration of multimedia technologies into its chipsets, which are widely used in cell phones, along with “rebates and discounts provided to its … Continue reading “Qualcomm Faces Allegations Over Certain Practices in Korea”

What Lifting The Federal Ban on Stem Cell Research Means: Our Xconomists Offer Some Thoughts

[Updated at 2:30 pm with additional commentary. See details below] After President Barack Obama signed a new executive order yesterday that clears the way to resume federal funding for stem cell research, we asked some local Xconomists and other biotech leaders for their reaction. The president’s order reversed eight years of federal funding restrictions imposed … Continue reading “What Lifting The Federal Ban on Stem Cell Research Means: Our Xconomists Offer Some Thoughts”

Inside MediaFLO’s Operations Center—And the Race to Deploy Over-the-Air Mobile TV Service

The digital broadcast center for Qualcomm’s MediaFLO mobile TV service is a hushed, dimly lit room in San Diego that is dominated by 24 flat-screen, rear-projection screens mounted along one wall. The engineers in the room face these ever-changing displays at work stations equipped with even more flat-panel screens, so the darkness is illuminated by … Continue reading “Inside MediaFLO’s Operations Center—And the Race to Deploy Over-the-Air Mobile TV Service”

Pain Specialist Victory Pharma Raises $45M in Venture Round

San Diego’s Victory Pharma, a venture-backed pharmaceutical company that specializes in treatments for pain, said today it has raised $45 million in a secondary investment round. The investment was headed by Essex Woodlands Health Ventures of Palo Alto, CA, and included existing investor Ampersand Ventures of Wellesley, MA.Victory, which acquired its lead drug product in … Continue reading “Pain Specialist Victory Pharma Raises $45M in Venture Round”

Biotechs Raise Capital, the Tale of Four Finns Who Helped Pioneer the Web Browser, Qualcomm Takes Another Step in Its Corporate Succession, & More SD BizTech News

It’s hard for any company to raise capital in this recession, but several San Diego life sciences startups disclosed last week they had done just that. A few bright spots also appeared during a local seminar on mergers and acquisitions—so let the news light your way. —A big deal on the other side of North America … Continue reading “Biotechs Raise Capital, the Tale of Four Finns Who Helped Pioneer the Web Browser, Qualcomm Takes Another Step in Its Corporate Succession, & More SD BizTech News”

Fibromyalgia Drug Delayed

San Diego’s Cypress Bioscience (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CYPB]]) and New York’s Forest Laboratories (NYSE: [[ticker:FRX]]) said Friday their launch of a new drug for treating fibromyalgia, which was expected to be available this month, has been delayed by several months. The companies now say they expect to ship the recently approved drug milnacipran HCL (Savella) to wholesalers and … Continue reading “Fibromyalgia Drug Delayed”

A Veteran Entrepreneur Looks to Rescue St. Bernard Software

Like any entrepreneur, Lou Ryan has a job that’s roughly akin to kindling a blaze from a faint spark. In Ryan’s case, though, it might be more like trying to rebuild a fire that was started in 1995. Ryan, 54, is the software industry veteran (and former venture partner at Menlo Park, CA-based Sand Hill Capital) … Continue reading “A Veteran Entrepreneur Looks to Rescue St. Bernard Software”

M&A Workshop Offers A Glimmer of Hope For Defense Companies, Others

Some unexpected bright spots appeared in the outlook for mergers and acquisitions yesterday during a workshop for local executives, which was co-sponsored by Connect and the San Diego offices of the Allen Matkins law firm. The overall M&A market is bleak. But John Stiska, who oversees venture lending for the San Diego office of Agility … Continue reading “M&A Workshop Offers A Glimmer of Hope For Defense Companies, Others”

Judge Dismisses 3 Lawsuits Over Qualcomm’s Licensing Practices

Qualcomm has taken a beating in the courtroom in recent years through its patent disputes with Irvine, CA-based Broadcom. So the San Diego wireless giant (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) was no doubt relieved when a San Diego federal judge dismissed three class-action consumer complaints against the company yesterday. U.S. District Court Judge William Q. Hayes granted Qualcomm’s … Continue reading “Judge Dismisses 3 Lawsuits Over Qualcomm’s Licensing Practices”

St. Bernard Software Names Ryan CEO

Internet security appliance maker St. Bernard Software (OTCBB: [[ticker:SBSW]])has named its chairman, Lou Ryan, as CEO. Ryan, who acquired a 5.3 percent stake in the San Diego company in December, replaces CEO Vincent Rossi, who also was serving as the company’s chief financial officer. Ryan, a software industry veteran, plans to remain as chairman.

Qualcomm’s Irwin Jacobs Passes Chairman’s Role to Son

Qualcomm said today that CEO Paul Jacobs is succeeding his father, co-founder Irwin Jacobs, as chairman of the San Diego wireless giant. Irwin Jacobs, 75, started the digital wireless company with Andy Viterbi and a handful of others in 1985 and served as CEO for 20 years. He plans to remain on the board. The … Continue reading “Qualcomm’s Irwin Jacobs Passes Chairman’s Role to Son”

Buzztime Games Moving Online After Restructuring, Layoffs

NTN Buzztime (AMEX: [[ticker:NTN]]), a Carlsbad, CA, company that sells interactive, multi-player games to sports bars and restaurants, said today it is reorganizing and refocusing its business, and named Terry Bateman as CEO. As part of a cost-cutting initiative, the company said it laid off about 17 percent of its workforce in January, without saying how … Continue reading “Buzztime Games Moving Online After Restructuring, Layoffs”

Evoke Pharma Developing its Drug Candidate in Stealth Mode

San Diego-based Evoke Pharma has managed to maintain a low profile since early 2007, when the specialized drug development company got started with the help of some prominent names in the local biotech industry. Cam Garner, who is listed on Evoke’s web site as a co-founder and chairman, has been on the ground floor of … Continue reading “Evoke Pharma Developing its Drug Candidate in Stealth Mode”

What It Takes to Raise Capital Today

Financial companies are still investing and lending, but the mindset among capital providers has changed radically over the past six months. The San Diego Venture Group has organized an informative panel discussion for this breakfast session as a way to find out who is getting capital—and how. Register online here.

Qualcomm Absorbs Digital Fountain’s Streaming Media Technologies

Qualcomm, with its abiding interest in streaming video technologies, has acquired key assets of Digital Fountain, a Freemont, CA, startup that has developed software to optimize digital media transmitted over any network. Qualcomm made no announcement about its purchase, which was reported by PE Hub and several blogs. The San Diego wireless technology giant did not … Continue reading “Qualcomm Absorbs Digital Fountain’s Streaming Media Technologies”

Pacira and Histogen Disclose Layoffs, Optimer Advances Diarrhea Drug, Torrey Path Comes to Town, & More SD BizTech

Between President Obama’s speech to the joint session of Congress and California’s jobless data reported Friday, economics dominated the news last week. We saw the effects with a couple of layoffs here in San Diego’s innovation community, along with news about local startups, clinical trials, and new technologies. Read on! —The unemployment rate in California … Continue reading “Pacira and Histogen Disclose Layoffs, Optimer Advances Diarrhea Drug, Torrey Path Comes to Town, & More SD BizTech”

San Diego Celebrates Its Breakout Companies of 2008

The San Diego Venture Group hailed three local companies for their breakout year in 2008, then put an executive from each company on stage yesterday with a newspaper reporter asking them to explain how they did it. It could have made for a hesitant and stilted panel discussion, but the format actually was informative and … Continue reading “San Diego Celebrates Its Breakout Companies of 2008”

FDA Rejects Somaxon’s Application for Insomnia Drug

San Diego specialty drugmaker Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SOMX]] said today the FDA turned down its application to market a new drug for insomnia. Somaxon says the FDA raised a number of issues related to the interpretation of the efficacy data in its new drug application. The company says the FDA did not specifically ask it … Continue reading “FDA Rejects Somaxon’s Application for Insomnia Drug”

Enerdyne Adds Technology to Thwart Possible UAV Eavesdroppers

I was a little surprised yesterday when Enerdyne Technologies, a subsidiary of Carlsbad, CA-based ViaSat, said encryption technology is now available for its digital data link systems to unmanned military surveillance aircraft. Isn’t the video transmitted from robotic spy planes already encrypted? Not necessarily, says Enerdyne general manager Steve Gardner. As it turns out, it’s … Continue reading “Enerdyne Adds Technology to Thwart Possible UAV Eavesdroppers”

Quasar Leads Development of Advanced Sensing Technologies for Government

In the 11 years since Andrew Hibbs started QUASAR, the privately held company has flourished by developing a smorgasbord of sophisticated sensing technologies under various government research and development contracts. I met Hibbs more than a decade ago, during the formative years of San Diego’s Quantum Magnetics, where he led development of advanced electromagnetic sensors … Continue reading “Quasar Leads Development of Advanced Sensing Technologies for Government”

Patent Lawsuit Against Histogen Forces Layoffs And A Scramble For New Funding

A patent infringement lawsuit filed last month against Histogen has triggered a funding crisis at the San Diego biomedical startup, which was forced to lay off all 36 of its employees at the end of January. Histogen founder and CEO Gail Naughton told me this afternoon the suit filed by rival SkinMedica of Carlsbad, CA, … Continue reading “Patent Lawsuit Against Histogen Forces Layoffs And A Scramble For New Funding”

A Reluctant Entrepreneur Bringing Bioinformatics Startup to San Diego

A couple of years ago, Peter Dresslar saw an opportunity to start his own company when he was working as an information science consultant for a big corporation he describes only as the world’s largest research-based pharmaceutical company. Now Dresslar is the 38-year-old CEO of a software analytics company with plans to move to San … Continue reading “A Reluctant Entrepreneur Bringing Bioinformatics Startup to San Diego”

Pacira Cuts 40 Jobs After Setback in Clinical Trial of Painkilling Drug-Delivery Product

[Updated Feb. 26, 2009—Clarifies and corrects terms of Pacira’s financing. See details below.] San Diego-based Pacira Pharmaceuticals, which got a final $10 million installment of a venture capital commitment just a few months ago, laid off about 40 employees last week. Pacira CEO David Stack, who also is a managing director in the Boston office of … Continue reading “Pacira Cuts 40 Jobs After Setback in Clinical Trial of Painkilling Drug-Delivery Product”

Contract Gives Lift to Fire Scout

Northrop Grumman said today the Pentagon has awarded a planned low-rate, initial production contract to procure three unmanned Fire Scouts helicopters developed in San Diego. The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD, awarded the contract, which is not to exceed $40 million, under the Navy’s vertical takeoff and landing tactical unmanned aerial vehicle … Continue reading “Contract Gives Lift to Fire Scout”

Tech Coast Angels Still Investing

Southern California’s Tech Coast Angels said today its members participated in 15 first-time financings in 2008, providing $75 million in funding for new companies from members and affiliated investors. The organization of angel investors also participated in 16 follow-on rounds last year. That compares with 12 first-time fundings and 14 follow-on rounds in 2007. Since … Continue reading “Tech Coast Angels Still Investing”

Recruiters Say They’re Hiring, But UCSD Engineering Students See It Differently

California’s jobless data for January is set for release Friday, but there’s little reason to expect much improvement since December, when the statewide unemployment rate hit 9.3 percent, with more than 1.73 million California residents out of work. In San Diego County, overall unemployment was at 7.4 percent in December, with 117,000 people jobless. For … Continue reading “Recruiters Say They’re Hiring, But UCSD Engineering Students See It Differently”

Early Histogen Study Offers Hope for Retreating Hairlines, Cadence Pharmaceuticals and Vertex Raise Lots of Cash, Unmanned Predator Begins New Air Patrol, & More San Diego BizTech News

It was the best of times and worst of times for the life sciences in San Diego last week. Stalwarts Cadence Pharmaceuticals and Vertex Pharmaceuticals raised cash to expand their businesses, while La Jolla Pharmaceutical and 4-D Neuroimaging basically went in the opposite direction. Biofuels also were back in the news, along with the unmanned … Continue reading “Early Histogen Study Offers Hope for Retreating Hairlines, Cadence Pharmaceuticals and Vertex Raise Lots of Cash, Unmanned Predator Begins New Air Patrol, & More San Diego BizTech News”

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Looks at Sale or “Winding Down”

There are not many options remaining for La Jolla Pharmaceutical, (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LJPC]]) which last week reported the failure of its Riquent drug candidate for treating lupus. In a brief statement, CEO Deirdre Gillespie said Riquent was the San Diego biotech’s sole significant asset. The company says it is taking steps to reduce costs, “including a … Continue reading “La Jolla Pharmaceutical Looks at Sale or “Winding Down””

Kent BioEnergy, With Decades of Algae Experience, Predicts Biofuel Innovation Will Come From “A Guy on a Tractor”

Jack Van Olst and Michael Massingill have an interesting perspective on the green gold rush underway in San Diego, where there has been a proliferation of startups focused on algae-based biofuels. At a time when venture funds are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into startups that plan to make diesel, gasoline and jet fuel … Continue reading “Kent BioEnergy, With Decades of Algae Experience, Predicts Biofuel Innovation Will Come From “A Guy on a Tractor””

San Diego Specialist in Biomagnetic Technologies Shuts Down

San Diego-based 4-D Neuroimaging, a small company that specializes in magnetoencephelography, or MEG, to detect bio-electric fields in the brain and other organs, has abruptly ceased operations. A letter posted on the company’s web site explains 4-D Neuroimaging could not secure additional financing it needed to continue operations. Our updated San Diego layoff tracker is here. … Continue reading “San Diego Specialist in Biomagnetic Technologies Shuts Down”

General Atomics’ Unmanned Predator Aircraft Goes Domestic with New Missions

In 1994, the Pentagon awarded a contract to develop a new type of unmanned aircraft to a three-year-old company in San Diego. The idea behind the Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration was to build a more robust version of a drone that a former Israeli aircraft designer had developed in the 1980s. The result was the … Continue reading “General Atomics’ Unmanned Predator Aircraft Goes Domestic with New Missions”

San Diego Biotechs With Good News Step Forward at Roth Conference

Many investors are nursing their wounds in the recession, so some of the big technology investment conferences have been canceled—or the investment banks that sponsored them no longer exist. That’s why the turnout at Roth Capital Partners’ 21st annual growth stock conference has been a pleasant surprise for Aaron Gurewitz, a managing director at Roth’s … Continue reading “San Diego Biotechs With Good News Step Forward at Roth Conference”

San Diego’s Stem Cell Startup Reports Hair-Regrowth Results

San Diego-based Histogen CEO Gail Naughton is presenting encouraging preliminary results today at a stem cell conference from the startup’s first human trial of its hair regrowth treatment, ReGenica. The company says it is in the midst of conducting a five-month clinical trial somewhere outside the United States to assess the safety of ReGenica. After … Continue reading “San Diego’s Stem Cell Startup Reports Hair-Regrowth Results”

Venture Lender Hercules Technology Pulls Out of San Diego

Hercules Technology Growth Capital (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HTGC]]), a specialty finance company based in Palo Alto, CA, has closed its San Diego office—roughly a year and a half after announcing its expansion into the San Diego venture market. The public company, which issues loans to startup technology companies and also makes venture investments, had three employees in … Continue reading “Venture Lender Hercules Technology Pulls Out of San Diego”

Xconomy San Diego Hosts its Premiere Event, A Regional Algae Initiative Blooms, Mpex Pharmaceuticals Raises $27.5M, La Jolla Pharmaceuticals Fails Key Trial, & More San Diego BizTech News

The highlight last week for Xconomy San Diego was our premiere event, “Physics for Future Presidents,” which drew a big turnout (about 200 people registered), including at least two Ph.D. physicists—Lowell Burnett of Quasar Federal Systems and J. Robert Beyster, the founder and retired chairman and CEO of defense contractor SAIC. Yet it also was … Continue reading “Xconomy San Diego Hosts its Premiere Event, A Regional Algae Initiative Blooms, Mpex Pharmaceuticals Raises $27.5M, La Jolla Pharmaceuticals Fails Key Trial, & More San Diego BizTech News”

Making Sense of Websense’s Acquisitions Strategy

When Websense (NASDAQ: [[ticker:WBSN]]) announced a couple of weeks ago it had acquired Defensio, a Canadian spam filtering Web service, I realized the San Diego software developer had morphed into something bigger and more robust than I remembered. “A lot has changed in the last three or four years,” David Meizlik, a Websense product marketing manager, … Continue reading “Making Sense of Websense’s Acquisitions Strategy”

With DOE Contract, SAIC Can Seek $5B in Energy Conservation Work

SAIC’s acquisition of an Oklahoma engineering company in 2007 could yield a substantial new revenue source for the San Diego-based government contractor. The company also known as Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: [[ticker:SAI]]) said earlier this week its Benham Companies subsidiary was recently awarded an Energy Savings Performance Contract by the U.S. Department of Energy. … Continue reading “With DOE Contract, SAIC Can Seek $5B in Energy Conservation Work”

Syntricity Promotes Griffith to CEO

San Diego’s Syntricity today named Steven Griffith as CEO, replacing A.C. D’Augustine, who served as chief executive since last year. Griffith was the company’s chief operating officer and chief technology officer. D’Augustine plans to retain his seat as board chairman. Syntricity develops software used by semiconductor makes, test vendors and wafer foundries to improve yield … Continue reading “Syntricity Promotes Griffith to CEO”

Cymer Sees Continuing Downturn

The outlook for the semiconductor industry remains grim, based on financial results reported yesterday by San Diego’s Cymer (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CYMI]]), which supplies 65 percent of the specialized laser equipment used worldwide to make integrated circuits. Cymer says it expects revenue to decline between 40 percent and 50 percent in its first-quarter from the fourth-quarter, which showed … Continue reading “Cymer Sees Continuing Downturn”

Former San Diego Chipmaker Lays Off 16 Percent of Global Workforce

In Sunnyvale, CA, yesterday, Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMCC]]) announced it was making pay cuts and laying off 100 employees in its worldwide workforce. The company, which was founded in San Diego and based here until 2005, now has between 470 to 500 employees around the world, spokesman Gilles Garcia told me. Some of … Continue reading “Former San Diego Chipmaker Lays Off 16 Percent of Global Workforce”

Virtual Initiative Cultivating Algae Industry Bloom in San Diego

One of the distinguishing characteristics about algae is that it grows fast, and it seems that may be true as well for the algae biomass industry in San Diego. After reporting last month about a push to establish a multimillion-dollar hub for algae-based biofuels research in San Diego, I learned of a related effort with … Continue reading “Virtual Initiative Cultivating Algae Industry Bloom in San Diego”

Huntington Capital Discloses Four Deals (So Far) From Its Second Fund

Huntington Capital, San Diego’s boutique private equity and venture lending firm, says it has made four investments so far from Huntington Capital Fund II, after raising $78 million in capital for the second fund it formed last May. Partner Tim Bubnack told me in October the privately-held firm was seeing a lot of prospects, as … Continue reading “Huntington Capital Discloses Four Deals (So Far) From Its Second Fund”