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.

U.S. Chief Humanitarian: We Want to Buy Your Health Products For Poor Countries

The guy whose job is to make sure the U.S. is the world’s leading humanitarian showed up yesterday in Seattle to talk to a bunch of venture capitalists and biotech entrepreneurs. If that sounds odd, it should. But this is Seattle, home of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a cluster of hard-charging social … Continue reading “U.S. Chief Humanitarian: We Want to Buy Your Health Products For Poor Countries”

Somaxon Eagerly Awaits (Another) FDA Ruling on Insomnia Drug

[Updated: 11:45 am Eastern, 3/17/10] Who was it that once said ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again?’ This Friday, San Diego-based Somaxon expects find out from the FDA whether its persistence has paid off, and whether its insomnia drug is finally ready to be cleared for sale on the U.S. market. The … Continue reading “Somaxon Eagerly Awaits (Another) FDA Ruling on Insomnia Drug”

Adapt or Die, Biotechies: Steve Burrill on the Transformation of the Health Care Business

[Updated: 5:15 pm, 3/17/10] Biotechies, of all people, ought to relate to an old quote often attributed to Charles Darwin. It’s the one about how the strongest and most intelligent aren’t necessarily the ones who survive—it’s the ones who are most adaptable to change. That was the closest thing to a single theme running through … Continue reading “Adapt or Die, Biotechies: Steve Burrill on the Transformation of the Health Care Business”

Tekmira Cuts Deal With Pfizer

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, the Vancouver, BC-based developer of RNA interference drugs, said today it has formed a partnership with New York-based Pfizer (NYSE: [[ticker:PFE]]) to use its lipid-nanoparticle technology as a delivery vehicle for Pfizer’s RNAi drug candidates. Tekmira will make the drug formulations, while Pfizer will run the animal tests. This marks the latest significant … Continue reading “Tekmira Cuts Deal With Pfizer”

Presage, a Hutch Spinoff, Raises $3M From Angels to Boost Cancer Drug Hit Rate

Seattle-based Presage Biosciences has a big dream for a biotech startup—and now it has seed capital to put that dream to the test. Presage, a spinoff from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is announcing today it has raised $3.1 million from angel investors to get the company off the ground at a $5 million … Continue reading “Presage, a Hutch Spinoff, Raises $3M From Angels to Boost Cancer Drug Hit Rate”

The 20-Year Outlook for San Diego Life Sciences: Sold Out? Not Anymore

You spoke, and we listened. Demand has been surging for the event we’re organizing on the 20-year outlook for San Diego’s life sciences cluster. We sold out all 130 tickets with three weeks left before the big event on March 31. While I must say we were pretty darn happy about that, it also meant … Continue reading “The 20-Year Outlook for San Diego Life Sciences: Sold Out? Not Anymore”

Amylin, Alkermes Diabetes Drug Delayed by FDA

[Updated: 8:38 am Eastern, 3/15/10] Amylin Pharmaceuticals and its partners Eli Lilly and Alkermes are going to have to wait a while to celebrate. The FDA has delayed an application from San Diego-based Amylin (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMLN]]) and Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly to start marketing their new diabetes drug, the first once-weekly shot, as a more convenient … Continue reading “Amylin, Alkermes Diabetes Drug Delayed by FDA”

FiatLux Takes 3-D Imaging from Video Games to a PC in Your Doctor’s Office

The same people who cultivated their skills with 3-D imaging in the video game department at Microsoft have a new challenge in mind. They want to crunch some of medicine’s more complex 3-D images into a form that’s easy to use for the average physician and patient with a Windows-based PC. That’s the vision of … Continue reading “FiatLux Takes 3-D Imaging from Video Games to a PC in Your Doctor’s Office”

Great Expectations Along the Columbia River, as PNNL Reels In Big Energy Problems

There’s a billion-dollar-a-year research operation in the middle of Washington state, with 4,600 staff, working on some of the biggest energy challenges in the world. Yet very few of the locals know a thing about it. And while it hasn’t solved the world’s energy woes, people should start counting on breakthroughs to emerge from there, … Continue reading “Great Expectations Along the Columbia River, as PNNL Reels In Big Energy Problems”

Ligand Drug OK’d in Europe

San Diego-based Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LGND]]) said today that its partner, GlaxoSmithKline, has won clearance to start marketing a new drug for a platelet deficiency in Europe. The treatment, eltrombopag (Revolade), is for patients for idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP), a rare bleeding disorder in which the immune system attacks platelet cells that help people form … Continue reading “Ligand Drug OK’d in Europe”

The Hybritech Alumni: Where Are They Now?

[Updated: 6:45 pm, 2/23/11] Plenty of ink has been devoted over the years to how San Diego’s biotech family tree can be traced back to Hybritech. The company was born in biotech’s halcyon days in the ’70s, and it quickly became the magnet for young scientific and business talent in San Diego. After Eli Lilly … Continue reading “The Hybritech Alumni: Where Are They Now?”

Aveo Pharmaceuticals Goes Public at $9, Falls Short of Hoped-For Range

[Updated: 4:40 pm Eastern, 3/12/10] Aveo Pharmaceuticals is proving once again that IPO investors have a limited appetite for biotech companies. The Cambridge, MA-based developer of cancer drugs sold its initial public shares to investors last night at $9, a long shot from its hoped-for range of $13 to $15. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVEO]]) started … Continue reading “Aveo Pharmaceuticals Goes Public at $9, Falls Short of Hoped-For Range”

Bruce Montgomery Joins Zymo Board

Bruce Montgomery, the senior vice president of Gilead Sciences in Seattle, is joining the board of directors at Seattle-based ZymoGenetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZGEN]]). ZymoGenetics also said that Lars Rebien Sorensen, the CEO of Novo Nordisk, has resigned from the board. Montgomery recently led the team at Gilead that won FDA approval of a new inhalable antibiotic … Continue reading “Bruce Montgomery Joins Zymo Board”

Cell Therapeutics’ Friday Bonuses, Dendreon’s IT Partner, Lee Hood’s Eye on South Lake Union, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

We had a little bit of everything on the Seattle biotech beat this week: muckraking, exclusive breaking news, in-depth analytical features, and a sharp guest editorial. —Seattle-based Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]) has been known to disclose less-than-flattering news in SEC filings late on Fridays, when most journalists are wiped out and heading home. Sure enough, … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics’ Friday Bonuses, Dendreon’s IT Partner, Lee Hood’s Eye on South Lake Union, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

Biotech Pioneer Lee Hood: Whole Families Will Get Whole Genomes Sequenced

[Updated: 9:20 pm Pacific, 3/10/10 with independent expert comment] Doctors and researchers in the future won’t just want to look at your genome to see how to treat or prevent illness. Instead, they will look at how all of an individual’s DNA compares with the closest members of their family, according to biotech pioneer Leroy … Continue reading “Biotech Pioneer Lee Hood: Whole Families Will Get Whole Genomes Sequenced”

Amylin, Alkermes Sit in Suspense For FDA Verdict on Once-Weekly Diabetes Drug

It’s pins-and-needles time for employees and investors at San Diego-based Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Waltham, MA-based Alkermes. The FDA has a deadline of Friday, March 12, to say whether it has approved a new drug from Amylin and Alkermes (oh yeah, and Eli Lilly too) which seeks to transform diabetes treatment with the first once-weekly injectable … Continue reading “Amylin, Alkermes Sit in Suspense For FDA Verdict on Once-Weekly Diabetes Drug”

Leroy Hood Sizes Up South Lake Union as Institute for Systems Biology Expands

[Clarification: 3:35 pm, 4/2/10] Leroy Hood‘s eye is turning from the north to the south side of Seattle’s Lake Union. The biotechnology pioneer and his colleagues at the Institute for Systems Biology are looking for new digs that are twice as big as their 65,000 square foot facility on the north side of the lake, … Continue reading “Leroy Hood Sizes Up South Lake Union as Institute for Systems Biology Expands”

Joe Eichinger, Top Medical Device Entrepreneur and UW Volunteer, Dies From Cancer

Joe Eichinger, one of the Northwest’s best-known medical device entrepreneurs of the past three decades, died yesterday at his home in Everett, WA, from complications of pancreatic cancer. He was 65. Eichinger was in his prime as a businessman, and was fired up about his latest startup, Redmond, WA-based CoAptus Medical, when he was diagnosed … Continue reading “Joe Eichinger, Top Medical Device Entrepreneur and UW Volunteer, Dies From Cancer”

The 20-Year Future of San Diego Biotech, Coming March 31

A wise man once said that overnight success in biotech takes about 15 years. All kidding aside, we at Xconomy recognize that real innovation in life sciences doesn’t just pop out of the blue on a quarterly time horizon. So we thought it would be worthwhile to ask some of San Diego’s scientific and business … Continue reading “The 20-Year Future of San Diego Biotech, Coming March 31”

Isis Nabs $6M Bristol Payment

Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ISIS]]), the Carlsbad, CA-based biotech company, said today it has earned a $6 million payment from Bristol-Myers Squibb for getting clearance from regulators to begin clinical trials of a new cholesterol-lowering drug. Isis and Bristol are collaborating on BMS-PCSK9Rx, as a targeted antisense therapy which seeks to lower cholesterol by hitting the … Continue reading “Isis Nabs $6M Bristol Payment”

Cell Therapeutics Passes Factory Test

Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]), the Seattle-based company developing pixantrone for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, said today that the FDA has certified that a contract manufacturer is ready to make the treatment. The factory, run by NerPharMa in Italy, was inspected and found to be in compliance and acceptable for continued manufacturing,  Cell Therapeutics said. The treatment is … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Passes Factory Test”

Vertex Maps Out Combo Drug Game Plan for Treating Hepatitis C

HIV has taught the pharmaceutical industry that the best way to fight an infectious virus that resists a single drug is to make a cocktail that attacks the virus in more than one way. Vertex Pharmaceuticals and its competitors are now following a similar formula with new therapies for hepatitis C. Vertex, the Cambridge, MA-based … Continue reading “Vertex Maps Out Combo Drug Game Plan for Treating Hepatitis C”

Dendreon Leans on California 9-1-1 Software Vendor to Keep Provenge Trains on Time

If Dendreon makes any information technology screw-ups with its experimental treatment for prostate cancer, it could be a matter of life and death for patients. That’s why the Seattle-based biotech company has turned to a custom software vendor with a reputation for supporting the California 9-1-1 system for 12 years with zero downtime. The Dendreon … Continue reading “Dendreon Leans on California 9-1-1 Software Vendor to Keep Provenge Trains on Time”

Cell Therapeutics Offers Execs Big Cash Bonuses As Stock Trades Below a Buck

[Updated: 6:17 pm Eastern, 3/5/10, with company comment.] Cell Therapeutics stock is trading at less than a buck, but the company’s board still rewarded its senior management with a big boost in the annual bonus column. The Seattle biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]) made the disclosure in a regulatory filing after markets closed for the week … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Offers Execs Big Cash Bonuses As Stock Trades Below a Buck”

Trius Puts the Brakes on IPO Plan, While It Adjusts to New FDA Clinical Guidelines

[Updated: 4:05 pm Eastern, 3/5/10, with company comment] San Diego will have to wait a while longer for another biotech IPO. Trius Therapeutics, the San Diego-based developer of an antibiotic against dangerous MRSA infections, said this week it has postponed its plan to go public while it adapts to new guidelines from the FDA that … Continue reading “Trius Puts the Brakes on IPO Plan, While It Adjusts to New FDA Clinical Guidelines”

Life Tech to Sequence Breast Cancer Genomes

Life Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LIFE]]) the Carlsbad, CA-based maker of gene sequencing instruments and lab supplies, said today it is joining an effort with two partners to sequence the genomes of 14 women with an aggressive form of breast cancer. The partnership, with the Phoenix-based Translational Genomics Research Institute and U.S. Oncology in  Woodands, TX, will … Continue reading “Life Tech to Sequence Breast Cancer Genomes”

Neurocrine Nabs $20M

Neurocrine Biosciences, the San Diego biotech company developing treatments for neurological and endocrine disorders, said today it has raised gross proceeds of about $20 million in a stock offering. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NBIX]]) sold 9.1 million shares at $2.20 apiece. Jefferies & Co., the sole book-running manager of the offering, has a 30-day option to … Continue reading “Neurocrine Nabs $20M”

Ekos, Swedish Aim to Shake Up Stroke Treatment with Ultrasound Brain Clot Buster

Innovation stories don’t get more local than this. A local medical device company provides an innovative tool to a local doctor, who gets money from local taxpayers to test the idea. And, before you dismiss this as some irrelevant insider-y project, an independent expert from Boston has said publicly that this Seattle collaboration may transform … Continue reading “Ekos, Swedish Aim to Shake Up Stroke Treatment with Ultrasound Brain Clot Buster”

Dendreon’s False Rumor, Cell Therapeutics’ New FDA Day, Microsoft’s Health-IT Plan, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

Speculation about the future of a few cancer drugs attracted a ton of interest in Seattle biotech this week. —Seattle-based Dendreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) lived up to its nickname on Wall Street this week: Dendrama. The company was forced to fight back against a rumor from analyst Elliott Favus, which turned out to be wrong, but … Continue reading “Dendreon’s False Rumor, Cell Therapeutics’ New FDA Day, Microsoft’s Health-IT Plan, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

ActivX Biosciences, Showing Life After Takeover, Keeps Innovative Ties in San Diego

Cover business long enough, and some storylines becomes routine. Startup creates something valuable, gets acquired. Valuable thing gets plucked away by big company, cost cuts ensue, jobs are lost, founders bolt, remaining employees are never to be heard from again. But ActivX Biosciences isn’t following that script. This San Diego-based company was a highflier during … Continue reading “ActivX Biosciences, Showing Life After Takeover, Keeps Innovative Ties in San Diego”

Tolerx, After a Decade and $150M, Eagerly Awaits Data from Big Diabetes Trial

By the end of this year, the people at Tolerx will have a good sense of what they’ve created with $150 million of investment over the past decade. If the Cambridge, MA-based company has played its cards right, it should have positive results from a pivotal clinical trial of a drug with an unorthodox approach … Continue reading “Tolerx, After a Decade and $150M, Eagerly Awaits Data from Big Diabetes Trial”

Dendreon Follow-Up Confirms Survival Edge, Helping Fend off Sanofi Rival

Dendreon’s pivotal clinical trial is standing up to the test of time—and it may need that sort of analysis to fend off a tough new competing chemo drug. The Seattle-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) said today that its first-of-a-kind immune booster for prostate cancer helped men live longer than a placebo, after another couple extra … Continue reading “Dendreon Follow-Up Confirms Survival Edge, Helping Fend off Sanofi Rival”

Seaweed Biofuel Company, Seattle’s Bio Architecture Lab, Struck by Chile Quake

One of Seattle’s most interesting clean energy startups is feeling the impact from the earthquake last weekend in Chile. Seattle-based Bio Architecture Lab, a University of Washington spinoff that’s developing microbes to turn seaweed into renewable fuel, has built a big part of its business on relationships in Chile. The company has an office in … Continue reading “Seaweed Biofuel Company, Seattle’s Bio Architecture Lab, Struck by Chile Quake”

Seattle Genetics Gets Roche Cash

Seattle Genetics said today it has received an undisclosed milestone payment from Genentech, a wholly owned unit of Switzerland-based Roche. Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]) is getting the payment because Genentech has filed an application with the FDA to begin clinical trials of an antibody for cancer that uses Seattle Genetics’ technology that links those targeting … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics Gets Roche Cash”

Geospiza Runs in the Black, as Scientists Turn to Software to Help Crunch Genomes

The faster and cheaper that gene sequencing gets, the better things start to look for Seattle-based Geospiza. This small angel-backed company has stuck to its guns for 13 years, many of them lean, arguing that biologists need better software to make sense of the digital mountains of DNA being created every day. Geospiza—knock wood—has now … Continue reading “Geospiza Runs in the Black, as Scientists Turn to Software to Help Crunch Genomes”

Novalar Strikes Deal With Sanofi to Market Dental Drug in Germany, Maybe Rest of EU

Novalar has convinced one of the world’s biggest drugmakers, Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis, that it might be onto something. The San Diego-based biotech is announcing today that it has struck a partnership in which Sanofi’s unit in Germany will have exclusive marketing rights to the vasodilator drug phentolamine mesylate (OraVerse) in that country, plus an option to … Continue reading “Novalar Strikes Deal With Sanofi to Market Dental Drug in Germany, Maybe Rest of EU”

Dendreon Stock Rides Roller Coaster on FDA Panel Rumor

Dendreon stock is in for some wild times today. The Seattle-based biotech company woke up this morning to a new rumor that suggests it will have to appear before an FDA advisory panel one more time before it can get clearance to sell its prostate cancer drug in the U.S. Shares of the company (NASDAQ: … Continue reading “Dendreon Stock Rides Roller Coaster on FDA Panel Rumor”

Ion Torrent Systems Unveils New Gene Machine, Introducing Watson to Moore’s Law

The world of DNA sequencing is buzzing about a startup based in Guilford, CT, and San Francisco called Ion Torrent Systems. This stealthy operation, which is advised by Harvard genomics pioneer George Church and supported by a partner in Seattle, finally pulled off the veil last weekend on a tool that uses semiconductors to generate … Continue reading “Ion Torrent Systems Unveils New Gene Machine, Introducing Watson to Moore’s Law”

Cell Therapeutics Gets New Day in Front of FDA

Cell Therapeutics has been walking a “tight-wire act” for more than a year, and now we’ll see if the company keeps its balance or crashes to the ground on March 22. That’s the date FDA has now set for a re-scheduled a meeting of cancer drug experts who will recommend whether the Seattle-based company ought … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Gets New Day in Front of FDA”

Optimer Nets $51.5M

San Diego-based Optimer Pharmaceuticals, the developer of an antibiotic for a dangerous hospital infection, said today it has raised $51.5 million through a secondary stock offering after deducting expenses. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OPTR]]) sold about 4.9 million shares of common stock at $11 a share. Jefferies & Co. was the sole book-running manager in the … Continue reading “Optimer Nets $51.5M”

Light Sciences Oncology Sits Tight, Awaits Key Cancer Trial Results This Summer

The suspense is excruciating for the people at Bellevue, WA-based Light Sciences Oncology. They have been waiting almost a year longer than expected for results from a couple of cancer studies that could make or break their company. They have no idea if they are waiting because their drug is a big success, helping cancer … Continue reading “Light Sciences Oncology Sits Tight, Awaits Key Cancer Trial Results This Summer”

3Tier Pockets $3M

3Tier Group, the Seattle-based company that has developed a map of the world’s best places for wind and solar power plants, has raised $3 million in new equity financing, according to a regulatory filing. The company raised $10 million in December 2008, and recently completed its detailed map of solar power hotspots. The company, which … Continue reading “3Tier Pockets $3M”

Arena Gets October FDA Deadline

Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARNA]]), the San Diego-based developer of an obesity drug, said today that the FDA has set a deadline of October 22 for completing a review of Arena’s application to market lorcaserin in the U.S. The company’s application includes 18 clinical trials that enrolled more than 8,500 patients. If the FDA clears the … Continue reading “Arena Gets October FDA Deadline”

Avila Aims to Trump Vertex With Drug that Hits Hepatitis C Virus and Won’t Let Go

Avila Therapeutics can’t be accused of thinking too small. This Waltham, MA-based startup is on a quest to show it has the scientific chops to build a better drug than one of Boston’s anchor biotech companies—Vertex Pharmaceuticals. So this is shaping up to be a big year for Avila (AH-vill-uh), as it plans to start … Continue reading “Avila Aims to Trump Vertex With Drug that Hits Hepatitis C Virus and Won’t Let Go”

Microsoft Builds Out Health IT Portfolio, Waits (and Waits) for Market to Materialize

Patience has got to be the watchword for the 800 or so people who work at Microsoft’s Health Solutions Group. There’s certainly been a lot of political rhetoric over the past year about dragging the inefficient world of pen and paper medical records into the 21st century—but this is still one big market opportunity waiting … Continue reading “Microsoft Builds Out Health IT Portfolio, Waits (and Waits) for Market to Materialize”