Bill Gates can summon the CEOs of every major global pharmaceutical company, and get them thinking and talking about things that won’t help them make more money. Pharma and biotech companies, cast as the villain pretty much everywhere, certainly like the PR boost they get from working with Gates and putting their immense resources to … Continue reading “Gates Foundation Health Chief on Coaxing Pharma to Do Good”
Author: Luke Timmerman
Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.
David Botstein, 71, on Joining Google’s Anti-Aging Play, Calico
David Botstein, one of the more prominent geneticists of his generation, was winding down his academic lab earlier this year. His term as director of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at Princeton University expired in July. He’s 71. He had recently won a “Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences” worth $3 million. He was planning … Continue reading “David Botstein, 71, on Joining Google’s Anti-Aging Play, Calico”
Flagship Takes a Stab at Microbiome Therapy With Seres Health
We live every day with trillions of bacterial neighbors that do all sorts of mysterious things in our guts, good and bad. The broadening scientific understanding of the “microbiome,” powered by the modern tools of genomic analysis, has been in the news for a while. Today, Cambridge, MA-based Flagship Ventures is betting the knowledge has … Continue reading “Flagship Takes a Stab at Microbiome Therapy With Seres Health”
Look Who’s Hiring in Biotech: Companies That Are Built to Last
Many of today’s biotech companies don’t aspire to be companies at all. They’re more like temporary “virtual” projects, with skeleton crews of contractors who come together for a spell and then move on to the next thing. As others have observed, it’s much like what actors, directors and producers do to make movies in Hollywood. … Continue reading “Look Who’s Hiring in Biotech: Companies That Are Built to Last”
Moderna Vacuums Up Another $110M to Make Messenger RNA Drugs
Moderna Therapeutics doesn’t need cash to keep the doors open, like many biotech startups. It just went out and raised a ton of dough, anyway. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech startup, which is attempting to make injectable messenger RNA molecules that trigger production of protein drugs in the body, has raised a whopping $110 million in … Continue reading “Moderna Vacuums Up Another $110M to Make Messenger RNA Drugs”
Google Anti-Aging Startup, Calico, Snags Big Names: Barron, Botstein
[Updated: 5:55 pm PT] Google’s new high-profile anti-aging startup, Calico, stirred up plenty of intrigue this fall when it made the cover of Time magazine. Now it has recruited a few superstars of biomedical R&D to work full-time on the startup, including Hal Barron, the chief medical officer and head of global product development at … Continue reading “Google Anti-Aging Startup, Calico, Snags Big Names: Barron, Botstein”
Building Biotechs to Last: A Sneak Peek at the Agenda for Dec. 9
What does it take to build a life sciences company that can stand on its own two feet for a long, long time? There’s no single answer to that question. Lots of companies have different ideas. That’s why I’m excited to bring together a great group of thoughtful life sciences executives on Dec. 9 for … Continue reading “Building Biotechs to Last: A Sneak Peek at the Agenda for Dec. 9”
The Biotech Startup Class of 2013: Don’t Worry, It’s a Short List
[Updated: 12:45 pm PT 12/13/13] We’ve heard a lot this year about the IPO boom for biotech companies. Even after a few high-profile blowups (Ariad, Sarepta), the public biotech stock indexes are still outperforming the Nasdaq Composite Index and S&P 500. Some biotechs have been acquired for megabucks (Onyx, ViroPharma). We’ve heard about another biotech … Continue reading “The Biotech Startup Class of 2013: Don’t Worry, It’s a Short List”
Genentech CMO Hal Barron Joins ‘Building Biotechs to Last’ Dec. 9
Hal Barron, when he was a young physician, joined Genentech as a clinical scientist back in 1996. It was the year of Genentech’s 20th anniversary. It sounds hard to believe today, but that was at a time before names like Rituxan, Herceptin, and Avastin meant anything in the world of cancer care. Point being, if there’s … Continue reading “Genentech CMO Hal Barron Joins ‘Building Biotechs to Last’ Dec. 9”
Pharmacyclics, J&J Win FDA Approval for Big Blood Cancer Drug
[Updated: 11:15 am PT] Investors have been projecting billions in future sales for a new blood cancer treatment from Sunnyvale, CA-based Pharmacyclics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PCYC]]) and Johnson & Johnson, and today the two companies got the official green light from the FDA to start selling the drug. The FDA said today it has cleared ibrutinib (Imbruvica) … Continue reading “Pharmacyclics, J&J Win FDA Approval for Big Blood Cancer Drug”
How Did Your Biotech Company Get Out of a Jam? Join Us Dec. 9 in SF
Any biotech company that that wants to last more than a few years has been tested a time or two, and has a story to tell about a near-death experience. How did it plan to stay afloat through the inevitable stormy seas? When the company truly found itself in a bind, how did it get … Continue reading “How Did Your Biotech Company Get Out of a Jam? Join Us Dec. 9 in SF”
Dendreon Cuts 150 Jobs, As Prostate Cancer Drug Sales Decline
Dendreon once had 2,000 employees at its peak, less than three years ago. Its stock was once over $40 a share. Analysts once predicted its prostate cancer drug would rake in billions in sales every year, with no generic competition in sight. Today, it’s down to 820 employees, its stock is under $3, and it’s … Continue reading “Dendreon Cuts 150 Jobs, As Prostate Cancer Drug Sales Decline”
Una Ryan to Spearhead New Bay Area BioEconomy Initiative
Una Ryan spent much of her biotech career doing what she could to build organizations in Boston. Now she’s going to do what she can to connect various pieces of the biotech puzzle at a new nonprofit in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area BioEconomy Initiative is the new group with Ryan as … Continue reading “Una Ryan to Spearhead New Bay Area BioEconomy Initiative”
How Alkermes Survived a Brush With Death
Most every biotech company with some mileage has had at least one near-death experience. Maybe the key experiment failed, or a dangerous side effect emerged late in the game. Maybe a rich competitor decided to squash the little guy with a frivolous intellectual property lawsuit. Maybe a key partner bailed for whatever reason. Maybe the … Continue reading “How Alkermes Survived a Brush With Death”
Bristol-Myers Cuts Clinical Team at ZymoGenetics Seattle Site
[Update: 2:50 pm PT] Bristol-Myers Squibb has laid off as many as 20 people in its clinical development/operations group at ZymoGenetics in Seattle as part of a companywide R&D restructuring, Xconomy has learned. New York-based Bristol-Myers acquired ZymoGenetics for about $885 million in October 2010, and pledged a few months later to retain the remaining … Continue reading “Bristol-Myers Cuts Clinical Team at ZymoGenetics Seattle Site”
Building Biotechs to Last: See Bonnie Anderson, Dan Bradbury & More
For a few years, “virtual” biotech companies with a single asset and a handful of employees and contractors were the rage. The idea was to get a small team to work together a few years, hit some milestone, and flip it to Big Pharma. This year, in what looks like the second-biggest crop of biotech … Continue reading “Building Biotechs to Last: See Bonnie Anderson, Dan Bradbury & More”
Indi Looks to Show Bang for the Buck With New Lung Cancer Blood Test
[Updated: 11 am PT] People with a history of smoking, and people who are getting up there in age, have an increased risk of lung cancer. That’s been known a long time. But only recently have doctors seen hard data that says routine screening tests for ‘high-risk’ patients, which attempts to spot lung tumors early, … Continue reading “Indi Looks to Show Bang for the Buck With New Lung Cancer Blood Test”
Which Regions Are Churning Out the Most Biotech IPOs?
If you’ve got ambitions to start and build a biotech company that may someday go public, where is the best place to make it happen? Which regional clusters provide the most fertile places where people, scientific ideas, technology, and money come together to build NASDAQ-worthy biotech companies? This is just one more way of looking … Continue reading “Which Regions Are Churning Out the Most Biotech IPOs?”
Genentech Does it Again, Wins FDA Approval for ‘Son of Rituxan’
Genentech is the “goose that keeps laying golden eggs” in the words of one biotech entrepreneur I spoke with last week, who worked there as a scientist in the ‘80s. Another golden egg just came out today. South San Francisco-based Genentech, a unit of Roche, said today it has won FDA approval of obinutuzumab (Gazyva), … Continue reading “Genentech Does it Again, Wins FDA Approval for ‘Son of Rituxan’”
Alector Goes After Alzheimer’s, With Cash from Polaris & OrbiMed
Alzheimer’s disease scares the bejesus out of millions of aging Baby Boomers, who fear they’ll lose their memories and everything that makes them who they are. The biology of the disease has stumped researchers and pharma companies for years. The field is crying out for fresh entrepreneurial thinking. Now a couple prominent biotech entrepreneurs are … Continue reading “Alector Goes After Alzheimer’s, With Cash from Polaris & OrbiMed”
Lessons from the St. Louis Cardinals and ‘Building Biotechs to Last’
When I hit the couch tonight to watch Game 6 of the World Series, I won’t be rooting for anyone. I will just be another baseball fan hoping for a great game between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals. But I have been thinking about not just baseball, but organizational strategy lately, … Continue reading “Lessons from the St. Louis Cardinals and ‘Building Biotechs to Last’”
Veracyte, Thyroid Cancer Diagnostic Player, Pulls Off IPO
Maybe this biotech IPO boom isn’t just for drug companies after all. South San Francisco-based Veracyte said today it has completed its initial public offering by selling 5 million shares at $13 apiece, raising a total of $65 million. The company’s underwriters have a 30-day option to buy another 750,000 shares, which would increase the … Continue reading “Veracyte, Thyroid Cancer Diagnostic Player, Pulls Off IPO”
Immune Design Grabs $32.5M, Cashing in on Cancer Immunotherapy Rush
Seattle-based Immune Design imagines growing into one of the next big players in immunotherapy for cancer, and today it’s secured some big venture bucks to see if it can deliver the goods. Immune Design is announcing today it has raised $32.5 million in a Series C venture financing that could be worth as much as $49 million if … Continue reading “Immune Design Grabs $32.5M, Cashing in on Cancer Immunotherapy Rush”
Calithera BioSciences Nabs $35M for Cancer Drugs
South San Francisco-based Calithera Biosciences has just raised a lot more money to add its name to the list of companies that hope to fight tumors by starving them to death. The company said today it has raised $35 million in a Series D venture financing. Adage Capital Partners led the deal, and was joined … Continue reading “Calithera BioSciences Nabs $35M for Cancer Drugs”
Vertex Cuts 15% of Workforce as Hepatitis C Drug Sales Drop
Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a brief moment in the sun with its hepatitis C drug, and now that it’s coming to an end, the company is making some big job cuts. Cambridge, MA-based Vertex (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]) said today it is cutting 370 jobs, about 15 percent of its workforce, after a dismal third-quarter sales performance for … Continue reading “Vertex Cuts 15% of Workforce as Hepatitis C Drug Sales Drop”
Frazier Healthcare Adds Carol Gallagher as Venture Partner
Carol Gallagher made a lot of money for Frazier Healthcare Ventures by leading of one of its portfolio companies, and now she’s going to see if she can help the firm in a new way. Gallagher, the former CEO of Seattle-based Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, a Frazier investment sold to Gilead Sciences for up to $600 million … Continue reading “Frazier Healthcare Adds Carol Gallagher as Venture Partner”
Bristol-Myers, Alder Drug for Rheumatoid Arthritis Passes Key Test
Four years ago, the CEO of Bothell, WA-based Alder Biopharmaceuticals declared that his company’s experimental rheumatoid arthritis drug would someday give multibillion-dollar products from Amgen and AbbVie a “run for their money.” Today, some more clinical trial data trickled out to suggest that Alder’s partner, Bristol-Myers Squibb, is maneuvering into a position to compete in … Continue reading “Bristol-Myers, Alder Drug for Rheumatoid Arthritis Passes Key Test”
The Biggest Bargains Pharma Scooped Up in the Down Years
Most little biotech companies, until this year’s IPO boom, couldn’t seriously think about raising money from public investors. Most couldn’t raise big venture dollars from an ever-shrinking pool of VCs. The pool of potential partners and buyers in Big Pharma was shrinking, too, because mega-mergers reduced the number of potential bidders. With cash running low … Continue reading “The Biggest Bargains Pharma Scooped Up in the Down Years”
Report: Dendreon Looking to Get Acquired
Dendreon is apparently crying uncle, and seeking some other company to take it over. The Seattle-based pioneer of cancer immunotherapy (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) is working with JP Morgan to find someone to buy the company, according a report Friday by Bloomberg News, which cited anonymous sources. Representatives for both Dendreon and JP Morgan declined to comment … Continue reading “Report: Dendreon Looking to Get Acquired”
Paul Hastings, Adelene Perkins Join Xconomy Biotech Event Dec. 9
One of the biggest business books of the ‘90s was “Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies” by James Collins and Jerry Porras. Many biotech companies today don’t dare dream that big anymore, but some do. Some are even being rewarded for their long-term vision by investors. What’s their secret? Questions like that are … Continue reading “Paul Hastings, Adelene Perkins Join Xconomy Biotech Event Dec. 9”
What Can Washington Do to Revitalize Biotech? Q&A With Gov. Inslee
Seattle biotech isn’t what it used to be. A decade ago, Seattle was basking in the glory of one of the biggest pharmaceutical success stories ever—etanercept (Enbrel). The region was home to what you could call five major league life sciences companies. I’m talking about locally grown biotech companies with big dreams, a strong foundation … Continue reading “What Can Washington Do to Revitalize Biotech? Q&A With Gov. Inslee”
Flagship’s Pronutria Emerges to Make Medicines and Medical Foods
Sometimes there may be good protein drugs lurking in your lunch and you just don’t know it. There may be a business in there, too. That’s one way to look at the latest concept being cooked up at Flagship VentureLabs in Cambridge, MA. The young company, Pronutria, is emerging from stealth mode today after more … Continue reading “Flagship’s Pronutria Emerges to Make Medicines and Medical Foods”
Kona Medical Gets $10M to Take Ultrasound to China
Bellevue, WA-based Kona Medical has raised another $10 million to take its big idea for ultrasound to China. Kona said today it has secured that eight-figure sum from a single investor, Morningside Group, which aims to help Kona expand in China. The company predicts a market will emerge there for its ultrasound technology that is … Continue reading “Kona Medical Gets $10M to Take Ultrasound to China”
21 Red Flags to Watch for in a Biotech Company
Nutty things are happening in biotech. Irrational exuberance has returned. Generalist investors with lots of money are suddenly buying these stocks first and asking questions later. Companies can fire off meaningless press releases, and be rewarded. I heard a big-time money manager talk the other day about a recent biotech IPO being one of the … Continue reading “21 Red Flags to Watch for in a Biotech Company”
Profiles in Perseverance: Building Biotechs to Last. Coming Dec. 9
What does it take to build an independent biotech with legs? When should a company hold on through tough times? When is it a better idea to make a quick run for the exit? These are some of the tough questions that biotech leaders wrestle with all the time, and which we are planning to … Continue reading “Profiles in Perseverance: Building Biotechs to Last. Coming Dec. 9”
The $100M Club: Where the Major League Life Sciences Companies Are
[Updated: 1:15 pm PT 11/10/13] People love to rank U.S. biotech clusters. Most of these reports are full of data on venture financing, patents, jobs, and NIH funding. But many are riddled with flawed and biased methodology, and are usually designed to push a political agenda. These rankings, which many people take at face value, … Continue reading “The $100M Club: Where the Major League Life Sciences Companies Are”
Gilead Climbs on More Good News for Cancer Drug From Seattle
The most lucrative drug to ever come from Seattle is etanercept (Enbrel) for autoimmune diseases. The most famous drug from Seattle is tadalafil (Cialis) for erectile dysfunction. Now the Seattle biotech cluster can start taking credit for one of the world’s best cancer drugs in development. Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GILD]]), the Foster City, CA-based biotech … Continue reading “Gilead Climbs on More Good News for Cancer Drug From Seattle”
Harvard’s Verdine Blazing Trail for Scientific Entrepreneurs
If you’re a tenured biomedical researcher at a university today, and you have a big idea for what could be a new drug or diagnostic test, you can do a couple things. Hand it off to someone else at a startup, keep your day job, dabble as an advisor for a couple hours a week … Continue reading “Harvard’s Verdine Blazing Trail for Scientific Entrepreneurs”
Join Xconomy for Profiles in Biotech Perseverance in SF Dec. 9
Drugs don’t just roll out of anybody’s lab by next Tuesday, and then keep popping out on some exponential curve. The biotech industry depends on investors who are willing to speculate on hot ideas in science, and wait years to see a payoff that may never come. That notion, which has been with the industry … Continue reading “Join Xconomy for Profiles in Biotech Perseverance in SF Dec. 9”
Moderna Snags $25M DARPA Grant to Fight Pandemics With mRNA Drugs
One of the wilder ideas in biotechnology just got a vote of confidence from the people who gave the world the Internet. Cambridge, MA-based Moderna Therapeutics is announcing later today it has snagged a grant worth as much as $24.6 million over the next five years from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The … Continue reading “Moderna Snags $25M DARPA Grant to Fight Pandemics With mRNA Drugs”
The Pharma Bureaucracy Index: Who’s Nimble, and Who’s Sloooowww?
Bureaucracy is one of the dirty words in business. Nobody wants to publicly admit their company is bogged down with too many layers of management, or needs a dozen committees to sign off on every little decision. For a couple years now, I’ve been hearing entrepreneurs complain about suffocating bureaucracy in pharma. So I started … Continue reading “The Pharma Bureaucracy Index: Who’s Nimble, and Who’s Sloooowww?”
Oncothyreon Stock Surges on Partner’s Renewed Bet in Lung Cancer
Seattle-based Oncothyreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ONTY]]) was written off by a lot of investors last year when a cancer immunotherapy it developed failed in a pivotal clinical trial run by one of its partners. Today, the company bounced back as its partner, Merck KGaA, said it essentially saw enough of a silver lining in the data to … Continue reading “Oncothyreon Stock Surges on Partner’s Renewed Bet in Lung Cancer”
The Best Biotech Graduate Schools in Real Life
[Updated 2 pm ET 9/30] Let’s imagine, for a second, you are someone in your 20s or 30s, getting started in the biotech industry. You want to work somewhere you can acquire a well-rounded set of experiences over the next five to 10 years so that you will have what it takes to be qualified … Continue reading “The Best Biotech Graduate Schools in Real Life”
InDi Spinoff Gets $1.5M, Aims to Beat Antibodies in Diagnostics
Seattle-based InDi, aka Integrated Diagnostics, is planning to graduate from startup mode this year and start selling its first product, a diagnostic test that spots lung cancer in a tiny sample of blood. But before it does that, it has decided to spin out some of its key intellectual property into a new startup called … Continue reading “InDi Spinoff Gets $1.5M, Aims to Beat Antibodies in Diagnostics”
Don’t Be Naïve: 7 Things to Know Before Taking a Biotech Startup Job
You’ve spent years working hard to hone your skills in science, medicine, or business. You’ve accomplished things, and you have the talent and desire to do more. You may be bored, or stuck at a dead end job in academia, Big Biotech, or Big Pharma. You are intrigued by a job posting you just saw … Continue reading “Don’t Be Naïve: 7 Things to Know Before Taking a Biotech Startup Job”
NPR Highlights Seattle’s Pediatric Cancer Innovator, Jim Olson
People who listen to one of NPR’s most popular shows during their morning routine just found out about the work of one of the important innovators in Seattle’s biotech community. Listeners to NPR’s nationally syndicated “Morning Edition” show heard two separate in-depth reports this week about the work of Jim Olson, the pediatric oncologist at … Continue reading “NPR Highlights Seattle’s Pediatric Cancer Innovator, Jim Olson”
Gilead Seeks FDA OK for Lymphoma Drug, First Big Move into Cancer
Gilead Sciences has its sights set on becoming a cancer drugmaker, and today it it took an important step in that direction by turning in a key application to the FDA. Foster City, CA-based Gilead (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GILD]]), the world’s largest maker of HIV medicines, said today it has filed a new drug application to the … Continue reading “Gilead Seeks FDA OK for Lymphoma Drug, First Big Move into Cancer”
Genentech Aims to Set Precedent With FDA OK in Early Breast Cancer
Exactly when does it make sense to start giving breast cancer patients one of the most potent, targeted drugs that doctors have in their repertoire? That’s the gist of a question that an FDA panel of cancer drug experts will consider on Thursday, when they review an application from South San Francisco-based Genentech, a unit … Continue reading “Genentech Aims to Set Precedent With FDA OK in Early Breast Cancer”
NanoString Wins FDA Approval of Breast Cancer Diagnostic Test
NanoString Technologies got started in the diagnostics business in Europe about six months ago, and now it’s gotten the go-ahead from regulators in the U.S. The Seattle-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NSTG]]) said today it has been cleared by the FDA to market its Prosigna test in the U.S. The test is designed to provide doctors and … Continue reading “NanoString Wins FDA Approval of Breast Cancer Diagnostic Test”
Biogen Idec Strikes $100M Upfront Deal With Isis for Neurology
Biogen Idec has been working with Isis Pharmaceuticals on neurological disorders for a while, and today it’s making an even bigger bet on the company and its antisense technology. Weston, MA-based Biogen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]), the world’s largest maker of multiple sclerosis drugs, said today it has agreed to pay $100 million upfront to Carlsbad, CA-based … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Strikes $100M Upfront Deal With Isis for Neurology”