This week we had a couple of notable personnel moves, a big clinical trial result for a drug with local roots, and some sobering commentary about how this crazy biotech business keeps getting harder by the day. —Seattle-based Immune Design, the developer of new vaccine technology, hired a big fish to be its new CEO. … Continue reading “Immune Design Gets New CEO, Seattle Biomed Nabs $9M, VCs Turn Up Heat on FDA, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
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.
PacBio, After 7 Years and $580M, Starts Shipping New Generation DNA Sequencer
Pacific Biosciences has spent seven long years in R&D, and raised $580 million, to arrive at a milestone that all businesses must reach sooner or later. Today, it has officially started selling its much-anticipated commercial product. Menlo Park, CA-based PacBio (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PACB]]) is announcing today that it has begun commercial shipments of its PacBio RS … Continue reading “PacBio, After 7 Years and $580M, Starts Shipping New Generation DNA Sequencer”
Seattle Biomed Nabs $9M Gates Foundation Grant to Speed Up Malaria Vaccine Effort
Seattle Biomed isn’t wasting any time putting the whole systems biology idea to work. The nonprofit global health research center is announcing today it has nailed down an $8.9 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to use systems biology techniques to identify new biomarkers that could become building blocks for a new … Continue reading “Seattle Biomed Nabs $9M Gates Foundation Grant to Speed Up Malaria Vaccine Effort”
Immune Design, Developer of New Vaccines, Adds Former Elan President as New CEO
Immune Design aspires to become a bigger company, and now it has recruited a CEO from a bigger company. The Seattle-based vaccine developer is announcing today that its new chief executive is Carlos Paya, the former president of Elan, the Ireland-based biotech company which has significant operations in South San Francisco. Paya is replacing Immune … Continue reading “Immune Design, Developer of New Vaccines, Adds Former Elan President as New CEO”
Al Gore’s Favorite Waste-to-Energy Company On Deck for Xconomy May 19 Event
Poke around a little bit here on the West Coast, and you can find some fascinating people working on big alternative fuel ideas that are below the public radar. You’d never know it, but one of the brains behind one of Al Gore’s favorite alternative fuel companies is right here in Seattle, and will be … Continue reading “Al Gore’s Favorite Waste-to-Energy Company On Deck for Xconomy May 19 Event”
Dyax, FivePrime Cut Antibody Deal
Cambridge, MA-based Dyax (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DYAX]]) and South San Francisco-based FivePrime Therapeutics said today they have agreed to collaborate on an effort to discover new antibody drugs. Dyax will use its phage display technology to help FivePrime identify the best antibody candidates aimed at multiple biological targets. Dyax will get undisclosed technology license fees, and support … Continue reading “Dyax, FivePrime Cut Antibody Deal”
FDA Says Vertex Drug a Wee Bit More Effective Than Advertised; Stock Climbs
The FDA often finds a few flies in the ointment when it digs through new drug applications, but in the case of Cambridge, MA-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]), its new hepatitis C drug looks a bit better under close scrutiny. Shares of Vertex climbed more than 10 percent after FDA briefing documents on the new … Continue reading “FDA Says Vertex Drug a Wee Bit More Effective Than Advertised; Stock Climbs”
Proteostasis Adds Targets, Drugs From Harvard
Proteostasis Therapeutics, the Cambridge, MA-based company seeking to keep proteins in balance to fight neurodegenerative diseases, said today it has obtained two exclusive technology licenses from Harvard University. The licenses pertain to the ubiquitin-proteosome pathway, and include biological targets and small-molecule drug candidates. Proteostasis, founded by Healthcare Ventures in Boston with technology from The Scripps … Continue reading “Proteostasis Adds Targets, Drugs From Harvard”
Illumina Joins $41M Bet on Oxford Nanopore
San Diego-based Illumina (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ILMN]]), the world’s biggest maker of high-speed gene sequencing machines, has made another equity investment in U.K-based Oxford Nanpore. Oxford said today it has raised $41 million (25 million pounds) from Lansdowne Partners, IP Group, Invesco Perpetual, Redmile Group, Illumina and other undisclosed investors. Illumina first invested in Oxford, and its … Continue reading “Illumina Joins $41M Bet on Oxford Nanopore”
Acucela Adds Finance Chief
Acucela, the Seattle-based maker of drugs for eye diseases, said today it has hired David Lowrance as its chief financial officer. Lowrance was most recently chief financial officer for Nashville, TN-based Cumberland Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CPIX]]), where he part of that company’s IPO.
Sean Tunis, Former Medicare Guru, on What Biotechies Gotta Do the Next Five Years
There are a lot of biotech entrepreneurs out there who are living by yesterday’s rules. The idea was you really had to design and execute a bang-up clinical trial for your new drug or device, win FDA approval, market the heck out of it, and count the money. If that sounds like your idea of … Continue reading “Sean Tunis, Former Medicare Guru, on What Biotechies Gotta Do the Next Five Years”
Vertex, Merck Step Up to the Public Stage With Hepatitis C Drugs This Week
Vertex Pharmaceuticals is heading down the home stretch in its bid to transform treatment of hepatitis C, and this week the public will get an up-close look at the risks and benefits of its drug that could change the standard of care for millions of people. Cambridge, MA-based Vertex (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]) will have its big … Continue reading “Vertex, Merck Step Up to the Public Stage With Hepatitis C Drugs This Week”
VCs Turn Up The Heat on FDA to Get Faster, More Predictable
The FDA felt the heat in the 1990s when AIDS activists marched in the streets, shouting about how bureaucratic foot-dragging meant that patients died while waiting for approvals of experimental drugs. The FDA listened. It started clearing more new drugs for sale, and completing safety and effectiveness reviews faster than before. Now it’s venture capitalists, … Continue reading “VCs Turn Up The Heat on FDA to Get Faster, More Predictable”
BayBio’s Annual Conference, Tweet by Tweet
Most biotechies haven’t yet embraced the whole Twitter thing like techies, but I’m starting to see more curiosity in life sciences. I saw it this week, as I experimented by writing about the BayBio annual conference entirely through tweeting. Twitter, for the skeptics out there, is actually a lot more than a silly place to … Continue reading “BayBio’s Annual Conference, Tweet by Tweet”
Amgen Passes Key Trial With “Son of Dmab” For Osteoporosis
The financial crowd who follows Amgen may be talking all about dividends or techniques to boost the stock through share buybacks, but the medical and scientific world will be chirping today about an interesting new finding the company has made for treating osteoporosis. Amgen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMGN]]), the Thousand Oaks, CA, biotech giant with R&D operations … Continue reading “Amgen Passes Key Trial With “Son of Dmab” For Osteoporosis”
Life Science Discovery Fund Faces Cuts, Boeing’s Biofuel Push, SeaGen’s Latest Deal, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
We’ve got biofuel on the brain here at Xconomy as we prep for our next big event. —Boeing and Alaska Airlines are taking the lead on a regional network that wants to turn the Northwest into a hotspot for biofuel production by growing the plants, refining the oil, transporting, and consuming it all locally to … Continue reading “Life Science Discovery Fund Faces Cuts, Boeing’s Biofuel Push, SeaGen’s Latest Deal, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Gilead Cuts Deal With MicroDose
Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GILD]]) said today it has obtained a license from MicroDose Therapeutx to an inhalable small molecule drug for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Foster City-based Gilead agreed to make an upfront cash payment, research funding, milestone payments, and royalties on product sales to Monmouth Junction, NJ-based MicroDose. The dollar amount of the deal … Continue reading “Gilead Cuts Deal With MicroDose”
Boeing, Alaska Airlines Lead Push for Renewable Aviation Fuel From the Northwest
To borrow a phrase from folks in Texas, the biofuel industry has been “all hat, and no cattle” for quite some time. But that could be changing, as a group of 40 power players in the Northwest, led by Boeing, has coalesced to create what could be the first strategic plan to turn the region … Continue reading “Boeing, Alaska Airlines Lead Push for Renewable Aviation Fuel From the Northwest”
Genmab Expands SeaGen Alliance
Genmab, the Denmark-based developer of antibody drugs, said today it has formed a second collaboration to use technology from Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]) that’s designed to make antibodies more potent. Genmab will seek use the “empowered antibody” technology against a target known as CD74, which is found on various blood cancer and solid tumor cells. … Continue reading “Genmab Expands SeaGen Alliance”
SciClone Buys China-Based NovaMed
SciClone Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SCLN]]), the Foster City, CA-based specialty pharmaceutical company, said today it has acquired China-based NovaMed Pharmaceuticals. SciClone agreed to pay as much as $105 million, by providing about $24.7 million in upfront cash, offering 8.3 million shares of stock worth $37 million at yesterday’s close, and making NovaMed eligible for cash milestones … Continue reading “SciClone Buys China-Based NovaMed”
Novartis, Trying Not to Burn the Hamburger, Increases its Bet on the Bay Area
One of the more memorable quotes I’ve picked up on the biotech beat came in a 2004 story about the company once known as Chiron. Speaking of Emeryville, CA-based Chiron’s $700 million acquisition of Pathogenesis in 2000, a Seattle researcher said the following: “Chiron bought filet mignon, turned it into hamburger, and now it’s burning … Continue reading “Novartis, Trying Not to Burn the Hamburger, Increases its Bet on the Bay Area”
Separating Hype from Reality in Alternative Fuels: Slated for May 19 at Institute for Systems Biology
If clean-burning renewables are ever going to replace fossil fuels at the corner fueling station, it will probably require a rethinking of the biofuel production process at the basic level of genes and cells. That’s why I’m jazzed to say we’re convening the next big Xconomy Seattle event at one of the hotspots where scientists … Continue reading “Separating Hype from Reality in Alternative Fuels: Slated for May 19 at Institute for Systems Biology”
Gilead Drug Fails AIDS Prevention Trial
Researchers have halted a study of Gilead Sciences’ emtricitabine tenofovir (Truvada) after it failed to show in a study that it can help prevent HIV infections among women in Africa, according to a report from the Associated Press. The finding was disappointing, the AP notes, because a previous study showed that the drug from Foster … Continue reading “Gilead Drug Fails AIDS Prevention Trial”
Regulus Names Chief Scientist
San Diego-based Regulus Therapeutics, the developer of mircoRNA therapies, said today it has named Neil Gibson as its new chief scientific officer. Gibson was most recently the chief scientific officer and oncology therapeutics head at Pfizer’s oncology research unit in La Jolla, CA. Gibson replaces Peter Linsley, who left last month to join Bothell, WA-based … Continue reading “Regulus Names Chief Scientist”
CoDa Therapeutics Adds $19M Round, Led by Domain, to Pursue Diabetes Complication
San Diego-based CoDa Therapeutics isn’t the biggest name in the local diabetes R&D business, but today it has reloaded with a sizable amount of cash to test its idea for treating a common complication of the disease. CoDa, which also has operations in Auckland, New Zealand, said today it has secured a $19 million Series … Continue reading “CoDa Therapeutics Adds $19M Round, Led by Domain, to Pursue Diabetes Complication”
Sanofi, Stanford Form Alliance
Paris-based drug giant Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: [[ticker:SNY]]) said today it has formed a multi-year research collaboration with Stanford University’s Bio-X program. Under the deal, a joint steering committee from both organizations will agree on funding terms for as many as five projects a year, according to a statement. Sanofi may also host postdoctoral fellows from Stanford, … Continue reading “Sanofi, Stanford Form Alliance”
Cytokinetics Adds $20M
Cytokinetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CYTK]]), the South San Francisco-based drug developer, said today it has raised about $20 million by offering a combination of common and preferred stock. Deerfield Management bought the preferred stock, which is non-voting, and convertible into common stock holdings that are capped at 9.98 percent ownership of the company, Cytokinetics said. Cytokinetics has … Continue reading “Cytokinetics Adds $20M”
Asemblon, Forging Ahead With Hydrogen Fuel Dream, Leans on Partners to Make it Happen
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, and scientists have dreamed for years about turning it into a source of clean alternative fuel. The vision hasn’t materialized, but one Seattle-area entrepreneur, Michael Ramage of Asemblon, says he is more confident than ever that this idea can reach the marketplace in about two years. … Continue reading “Asemblon, Forging Ahead With Hydrogen Fuel Dream, Leans on Partners to Make it Happen”
Biotech’s Missed Opportunity: Small-Town and Rural America
The biotech and pharmaceutical industry is full of people who went to the top universities, live in the fanciest neighborhoods, and work for brand-name companies. But this industry needs to start thinking more about millions of people who are mostly an afterthought today. I’m talking about people who live in America’s small cities and rural … Continue reading “Biotech’s Missed Opportunity: Small-Town and Rural America”
Amylin, Alkermes Shares Jump as EU Regulators Recommend Diabetes Drug
Amylin Pharmaceuticals and its partners, Eli Lilly and Alkermes, have had a rough time in their quest to market the first once-weekly injectable drug for diabetes patients in the U.S. But they have found a more sympathetic set of ears in Europe. San Diego-based Amylin, along with Lilly and Waltham, MA-based Alkermes, said today that … Continue reading “Amylin, Alkermes Shares Jump as EU Regulators Recommend Diabetes Drug”
Medivation Flunks Huntington’s Trial, Calibra Nabs Venture Cash, Open Source Biology Comes to SF, & More Bay Area Life Sciences News
The open source biology movement is converging on San Francisco today at a conference organized by Sage Bionetworks, and I will be there today listening carefully to find out what it might mean for the future of drug development. More to come. —Calibra Medical, the Redwood City, CA-based developer of a mechanical pump for delivering … Continue reading “Medivation Flunks Huntington’s Trial, Calibra Nabs Venture Cash, Open Source Biology Comes to SF, & More Bay Area Life Sciences News”
Calibra Medical, Maker of Cheap Mechanical Insulin Pump, Pockets $8.1 M
Calibra Medical has raised some new venture cash to see how far it can go in the marketplace with an inexpensive insulin pump for people with diabetes. The Redwood City, CA-based company collected $8.1 million in venture financing out of a round that could be worth as much as $30 million, according to a filing … Continue reading “Calibra Medical, Maker of Cheap Mechanical Insulin Pump, Pockets $8.1 M”
Life Sciences Discovery Fund On Pins and Needles During Budget Talks (Again)
The state budget being hashed out in Olympia is spreading angst far and wide, and you can bet Washington state’s biotech community will feel it this time. The Life Sciences Discovery Fund, the program championed by Gov. Chris Gregoire to foster more biotech innovations and jobs in Washington, is being primed for what looks like … Continue reading “Life Sciences Discovery Fund On Pins and Needles During Budget Talks (Again)”
Regulus, UCSD Form Alliance
San Diego-based Regulus Therapeutics, the developer of microRNA therapies, said today it has formed a research collaboration with UC San Diego. The partners will seek to develop microRNA therapies that work to block new blood vessel formation (anti-angiogenesis), as a way to treat various diesases, Regulus said in a statement. Financial terms of the deal aren’t … Continue reading “Regulus, UCSD Form Alliance”
Open Source Biology’s Moment, Mirador Advances the Runner, Allen’s Latest Brain Map, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
We had an eclectic news mix this week, with features on medical devices, open source biology and an innovation story from the East Side of the Cascades. —Sage Bionetworks, the Seattle-based nonprofit seeking to light a spark for open source biology, is gearing up for its second big annual conference, which is expected to draw … Continue reading “Open Source Biology’s Moment, Mirador Advances the Runner, Allen’s Latest Brain Map, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Spokane’s Latest Idea: Invest in New Med School To Create Biotech Hub
The state budget is a mess, but that isn’t stopping the folks in Spokane, WA from thinking big about planting seeds today for biotech. I’ve been in Spokane the past couple days to give a keynote talk on the Northwest biotech industry at an event organized by an entrepreneurial networking group called LaunchPad Inland Northwest. … Continue reading “Spokane’s Latest Idea: Invest in New Med School To Create Biotech Hub”
Mirador Biomedical, Playing ‘Small Ball’ in Medical Devices, Pockets $1.5M Financing
Seattle-based Mirador Biomedical was able to win FDA approval of its first medical device on a shoestring budget of a shade over $1 million, and now investors are rewarding it with some more cash to see what it can do in the marketplace. Mirador has pulled in another $1.5 million in its Series B financing … Continue reading “Mirador Biomedical, Playing ‘Small Ball’ in Medical Devices, Pockets $1.5M Financing”
Allen Institute Releases Human Brain Map
The Allen Institute for Brain Science, the Seattle-based nonprofit founded by billionaire Paul Allen, is announcing today it has released what it says is the first comprehensive anatomical and genomic map of the human brain. The Allen Human Brain Atlas, based on two normal adult brains, showed about 94 percent similarity between the two specimens, … Continue reading “Allen Institute Releases Human Brain Map”
Kineta Gets $1M NIH Contract Extension
Kineta, the Seattle-based drug developer, said today it has received a $1 million contract extension from the National Institutes of Health to mine existing computer databases to find new drug targets and candidates. The first part of the contract was designed to set up computational infrastructure for the project, which involves collaborators at the University … Continue reading “Kineta Gets $1M NIH Contract Extension”
Medivation, Pfizer Fail Huntington’s Test
San Francisco-based Medivation (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MDVN]]) and its partner, New York-based Pfizer (NYSE: [[ticker:PFE]]) said today that an experimental drug for Huntington’s disease failed in a pivotal clinical trial. The companies are now discontinuing development of the drug, dimebon, for Huntington’s, although a Phase III clinical trial is continuing for patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease.
Biogen Idec Passes Pivotal Trial With Oral MS Drug; Shares Climb
Biogen Idec is the world’s biggest maker of multiple sclerosis drugs, and today it just cleared a hurdle that might help it stay at the top of the heap for years to come. The Weston, MA-based biotech giant (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) said today that its oral MS drug candidate, dimethyl fumarate (BG-12), met its main goal … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Passes Pivotal Trial With Oral MS Drug; Shares Climb”
Open Source Biology Deserves a Shot
Gene sequencing has gotten incredibly fast and cheap, and researchers around the world are pouring huge volumes of genomic data onto their private servers, in the hope they will sift through it all to make groundbreaking discoveries. Should so much genomic data be so closely guarded, or should it be poured into a free and … Continue reading “Open Source Biology Deserves a Shot”
Evolve or Die: Versant’s Beckie Robertson on Four Ways Med Device Companies Can Survive
The business model for medical device startups is said to be in jeopardy, and it’s the topic du jour at conferences everywhere, as entrepreneurs are complaining bitterly about arbitrary FDA regulators and tight-fisted insurers. Much of this industry’s spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship is migrating overseas, it is often said. Yesterday, I heard all that … Continue reading “Evolve or Die: Versant’s Beckie Robertson on Four Ways Med Device Companies Can Survive”
Separating Hype From Reality in Alternative Fuels: Mark Your Calendars for May 19
Energy independence and reducing greenhouse gas emissions were big issues in the last couple Presidential elections. Yet, if you look around town in 2011, it’s still the norm to see people filling up inefficient cars with gasoline from non-renewable sources, at a cost of about $4 a gallon. Lots of entrepreneurs are pursuing dreams of … Continue reading “Separating Hype From Reality in Alternative Fuels: Mark Your Calendars for May 19”
Xenoport Wins FDA Green Light, The Coming ‘HealthTech’ Wave, More Genomes Go Public, & More Bay Area Life Sciences News
If your definition of news is when something surprising happens, then we had some pretty big news on the SF biotech beat this week. —Santa Clara, CA-based Xenoport (NASDAQ: [[ticker:XNPT]]), which many investors wrote off a year ago, bounced back big-time this week by winning a surprise FDA approval. The company, and its partner GlaxoSmithKline, … Continue reading “Xenoport Wins FDA Green Light, The Coming ‘HealthTech’ Wave, More Genomes Go Public, & More Bay Area Life Sciences News”
Zacharon Nabs $210M Deal With Pfizer to Tackle Orphan Diseases
San Diego-based Zacharon Pharmaceuticals just struck its first really big partnership. The company, backed by Avalon Ventures, said today it has formed an alliance with New York-based Pfizer that could be worth as much as $210 million to develop drugs for rare diseases. Specific financial terms weren’t provided in today’s statement, but Zacharon will get … Continue reading “Zacharon Nabs $210M Deal With Pfizer to Tackle Orphan Diseases”
Xenoport Shares Boom, Company Sketches Out Sales Plan for New Drug
Xenoport shocked the biotech world late last night by winning FDA approval of a new drug for restless legs syndrome that was turned down in February 2010. Now the Santa Clara, CA-based company and its partner GlaxoSmithKline are onto the next critical assignment: making this thing sell. At least today, Xenoport (NASDAQ: [[ticker:XNPT]]) and its … Continue reading “Xenoport Shares Boom, Company Sketches Out Sales Plan for New Drug”
The ImClone Alumni: Where Are They Now?
[Updated: 10:20 pm, 4/15/11] ImClone Systems is the biotech company that Martha Stewart made famous, but after the scandalous headlines faded away, it has left a lasting imprint on New York. The ImClone story has been told many times over, about the 2001 insider trading allegation that ended up landing both ImClone CEO Sam Waksal and … Continue reading “The ImClone Alumni: Where Are They Now?”
Omeros Flunks Pivotal Trials, Dendreon’s Shareholder Hubbub, AVI Biopharma Nabs $30M, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
Lots of little blurbs crossed the desk this week, along with one major blowup for a drug in the third and final stage of clinical trials. —Seattle-based Omeros (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OMER]]) said it failed in a series of pivotal clinical trials with its anti-inflammatory drug to help patients undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. The trials, which enrolled … Continue reading “Omeros Flunks Pivotal Trials, Dendreon’s Shareholder Hubbub, AVI Biopharma Nabs $30M, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Glaxo, Xenoport Win FDA Green Light to Treat Restless Leg Syndrome; Shares Boom
The FDA slapped down Santa Clara, CA-based Xenoport (NASDAQ: [[ticker:XNPT]]) and GlaxoSmithKline hard a year ago, but the companies have made a heck of a comeback. Glaxo and Xenoport proved it today by winning clearance from the FDA to start selling a new drug for restless leg syndrome. Shares of Xenoport rocketed up 57 percent … Continue reading “Glaxo, Xenoport Win FDA Green Light to Treat Restless Leg Syndrome; Shares Boom”