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.

Biotech Bigwig, Steve Burrill, Brings National Profile to Local Conference

Steve Burrill, the San Francisco-based merchant banker with one of the best Rolodexes in the life sciences industry, is getting serious about Seattle. And his name and connections might be just the thing to help lift the Northwest’s annual biotech investing conference out of obscurity. Burrill & Co. made it official yesterday that it has … Continue reading “Biotech Bigwig, Steve Burrill, Brings National Profile to Local Conference”

Flexion Snags Pfizer Bucks, Three Pharma Deals, For New Drug Model

Flexion Therapeutics is a little company built on the idea it can steer through early clinical trials in a faster and cheaper way than a lumbering Big Pharma giant. Now the Woburn, MA-based startup, founded by a pair of Eli Lilly veterans, has secured backing from four major drugmakers to put the idea to the … Continue reading “Flexion Snags Pfizer Bucks, Three Pharma Deals, For New Drug Model”

Amira Mixes Small Biotech Irreverence, With Big Pharma Rigor, To Create New Lung Drugs

Amira Pharmaceuticals looks and feels like a typical small biotech company, with the sort of irreverent sense of humor that you don’t often find at a Big Pharma shop. While CEO Bob Baltera showed me around the Amira offices on my last visit to San Diego, he opened up a storage room where employees had … Continue reading “Amira Mixes Small Biotech Irreverence, With Big Pharma Rigor, To Create New Lung Drugs”

Accelerator Slowed Down, Inside the Latest Seattle Genetics Deal, Ekos Finds New Use, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

Biotech companies took a vow of silence during this week of breathless national celebration over the latest creation from Apple. The sarcasm you detect is intended. A few other things happened this week. —The University of Washington has hired two heavy hitters from the world of high tech and biotech to help it get better … Continue reading “Accelerator Slowed Down, Inside the Latest Seattle Genetics Deal, Ekos Finds New Use, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

Biogen Idec Advances First Regenerative MS Medicine into Human Study

One of the more intriguing experimental drugs for multiple sclerosis has just entered its first clinical trial. Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) has now started what it believes to be the first-ever clinical trial of a drug with the potential to regenerate the fatty protective coating around nerves that gets damaged in people with … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Advances First Regenerative MS Medicine into Human Study”

Vertex’s Matt Emmens on His Journey From Security Guard to CEO

The man hired to turn Cambridge, MA-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals into biotechnology’s next big success story might never have gotten into the industry if he hadn’t been a security guard. It was the early 1970s, and Matt Emmens was a middle-class New Jersey kid with a vague idea of studying business at nearby Fairleigh Dickinson University. … Continue reading “Vertex’s Matt Emmens on His Journey From Security Guard to CEO”

Accelerator Slowed Down in 2009, Expects to Rev Back Up in 2010

Any fair assessment of Seattle biotech over the past five years would have to count Accelerator as one of the bright spots. But the past year or so has been unusually quiet at the biotech startup incubator. Accelerator recently endured a six-month dry spell when it didn’t see any exciting new investment ideas enter its … Continue reading “Accelerator Slowed Down in 2009, Expects to Rev Back Up in 2010”

Burnham Snags $50M Gift, Sparks Translation of Basic Science into New Treatments

Big news is out this morning from the Burnham Institute for Medical Research. The San Diego-based nonprofit says it’s getting a $50 million donation from T. Denny Sanford, enough for the whole institution to be re-named in honor of the philanthropist. The center will now be called the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. That decision was … Continue reading “Burnham Snags $50M Gift, Sparks Translation of Basic Science into New Treatments”

Helixis, Like PC Firms of Old, Putting “Desktop” Genetics Tools on Every Biology Bench

The folks at Life Technologies, the giant Carlsbad, CA-based maker of supplies and instruments for biologists, like to say they seek to “democratize” molecular biology. That means simplifying sophisticated tests so they don’t have to be done in a few hard-core, central labs, but can be done at an everyday lab bench. This is the … Continue reading “Helixis, Like PC Firms of Old, Putting “Desktop” Genetics Tools on Every Biology Bench”

UW Adds Heavy Hitters from High Tech and Biotech to Turn More Ideas Into Companies

Two big names from the Seattle high tech and biotech scene—Rick LeFaivre of OVP Venture Partners and Pathway Medical’s Tom Clement—are taking new jobs at the University of Washington to help turn some of its most promising research ideas into new startup companies. LeFaivre and Clement are joining the rebranded UW Center for Commercialization as … Continue reading “UW Adds Heavy Hitters from High Tech and Biotech to Turn More Ideas Into Companies”

Top Trends for the Decade Ahead in Venture, Tech, Genomics, IP, and More Innovative Fields

We hit a nerve last month when we asked leading innovators in high-tech, biotech, cleantech, and venture capital to write guest editorials about the transformational changes they see coming in their fields over the next decade. We got so many thoughtful submissions from the advisers we call “Xconomists,” and other tech leaders, that we figured … Continue reading “Top Trends for the Decade Ahead in Venture, Tech, Genomics, IP, and More Innovative Fields”

Amylin Braces for Big Event of 2010, the (Hoped-For) Approval of Once-Weekly Diabetes Drug

Amylin Pharmaceuticals CEO Dan Bradbury likes to list his company’s priorities in a well-organized series of little bullet points. But this is the year the San Diego-based company is counting on one event to dwarf all others, as it seeks FDA approval for an injectable diabetes treatment that only needs to taken once a week. … Continue reading “Amylin Braces for Big Event of 2010, the (Hoped-For) Approval of Once-Weekly Diabetes Drug”

Ekos, Listening to Docs, Takes Ultrasound Clot Buster From the Legs to the Lungs

Ekos has been hearing scuttlebutt from doctors over the past few months about a new way of using its ultrasound technology to treat dangerous blood clots in a new organ—the lungs. The company hadn’t seriously considered investing in it, but over the past few months, anecdotes from doctors kept pouring in. So now the Bothell, … Continue reading “Ekos, Listening to Docs, Takes Ultrasound Clot Buster From the Legs to the Lungs”

Merck’s Alan Sachs, on RNAi’s Big Challenge: Delivery, Delivery, Delivery

Merck hasn’t said much in public about what it’s doing in the field of RNA-based therapies, since it paid the jaw-dropping sum of $1.1 billion to acquire Sirna Therapeutics back in October 2006. So when I had the chance last week to sit down for an exclusive interview in San Francisco with Merck’s RNA therapeutics … Continue reading “Merck’s Alan Sachs, on RNAi’s Big Challenge: Delivery, Delivery, Delivery”

Dendreon’s New Operations Man, Acucela Enters Fast Growth Phase, JP Morgan Recap, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

News flow was light on the biotech beat this week, partly because of the MLK Day holiday, and everybody needed a little rest after the networking frenzy at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. —One of the more interesting interviews I had last week at the JP Morgan conference was with Hans Bishop, the new chief … Continue reading “Dendreon’s New Operations Man, Acucela Enters Fast Growth Phase, JP Morgan Recap, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

Acucela Enters Fast-Growth Phase As Macular Degeneration Drug Advances to Key Trial

Brain teaser time: Name the Bothell, WA-based biotech company that has never raised a nickel from local VCs, has scored a partnership with a Big Pharma company, operates on a cash-flow positive basis, and plans to more than double in size from 40 employees to about 100 this year. Think it’s Alder Biopharmaceuticals? Guess again. … Continue reading “Acucela Enters Fast-Growth Phase As Macular Degeneration Drug Advances to Key Trial”

Quanterix CEO Sets Sight on Early Detection of Cancer, Neurological Diseases in the Blood

The new CEO of Quanterix isn’t afraid to dream big, and say it out loud. “We participate in an $8 billion market,” says CEO Dave Okrongly, referring to the business of antibody-based diagnostics. “Quanterix can be a platform for that whole $8 billion market.” Okrongly was named CEO of the Cambridge, MA-based company in September, … Continue reading “Quanterix CEO Sets Sight on Early Detection of Cancer, Neurological Diseases in the Blood”

Dendreon’s New Operations Man, Hans Bishop, Aims to Keep Provenge Trains Running on Time

Dendreon has a new man on the spot, and his name is Hans Bishop. The Seattle biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) settled the raging debate last year about whether its immune booster can help men with prostate cancer live longer without serious side effects. Now the company has graduated to a less glamorous, but equally important … Continue reading “Dendreon’s New Operations Man, Hans Bishop, Aims to Keep Provenge Trains Running on Time”

Sequenom Settles Shareholder Lawsuit for $14M, Plus Stock

Sequenom (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SQNM]]) has reached a legal settlement in a class action suit filed by a group of  shareholders. The San Diego-based company said today that it has agreed to pay shareholders $14 million from its insurance proceeds, and issue them new shares worth a 9.95 percent stake in the company. The settlement still needs … Continue reading “Sequenom Settles Shareholder Lawsuit for $14M, Plus Stock”

The Value of Bumping Into People in the Hall: A Lesson from the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference

Twitter and Facebook have taken social networking to a higher level on the web, but I just got a reminder about the power of actually meeting people in person. I’m talking about the kind of interactions that happen when attending a jam-packed professional conference and bumping into a lot of smart people with similar interests. … Continue reading “The Value of Bumping Into People in the Hall: A Lesson from the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference”

VentiRx Nabs $25M, Gilead Deepens Seattle Roots, Sage Strikes Deal With Pfizer & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

Hope sprang eternal at this year’s JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, the annual kickoff event for the biotech industry. A few Seattle biotech companies offered some reasons for people to think a little hope may be justified. —VentiRx Pharmaceuticals said it raised $25 million to further develop its drugs that stimulate the innate immune system against … Continue reading “VentiRx Nabs $25M, Gilead Deepens Seattle Roots, Sage Strikes Deal With Pfizer & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

Excel Venture Management, Starting With Clean Slate, Shows Early Returns on Broad Vision

All year long, I listened to venture capitalists talk about the steady decline their industry is facing. Returns in a number of sectors just aren’t there anymore to justify the risk. Big pension funds and endowments that provide the fuel for innovative VC-backed companies are still licking their wounds from the downturn, and looking for … Continue reading “Excel Venture Management, Starting With Clean Slate, Shows Early Returns on Broad Vision”

Gilead Deepens Roots in Seattle, Seeks Long-Term Payoff From Lung Disease Research

Gilead Sciences spent $365 million to get a toehold in Seattle back in 2006, and so far, it has zero U.S. product sales to show for it. That’s made investors antsy, but it hasn’t deterred the world’s second-most valuable biotech company from continuing to bet big on Seattle as part of its plan to diversify … Continue reading “Gilead Deepens Roots in Seattle, Seeks Long-Term Payoff From Lung Disease Research”

VentiRx Nabs $25M for Cancer, Allergy Drugs

VentiRx Pharmaceuticals has raised a venti-sized load of new cash. The San Diego and Seattle-based company that’s developing drugs to amplify the body’s innate immune system to fight cancer and allergies has pulled in $25 million through a new round of financing. The deal is technically described as an extension of a $26.6 million Series … Continue reading “VentiRx Nabs $25M for Cancer, Allergy Drugs”

Sage Bionetworks Strikes Deal With Pfizer to Find Cancer Drug Targets

Sage Bionetworks, the Seattle-based nonprofit seeking to spark a movement toward open-source style sharing of biological data, is announcing today it has secured a partnership with Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company. Financial terms, and the length of the collaboration, aren’t being disclosed. But the deal will bring in enough cash for Sage to add … Continue reading “Sage Bionetworks Strikes Deal With Pfizer to Find Cancer Drug Targets”

Alnylam Maps Out First Steps in ‘RNA Decade’

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals CEO John Maraganore had a snappy greeting ready for our first conversation of 2010. “Happy RNA Decade,” Maraganore said. For the sake of his Cambridge, MA-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]), Maraganore is wagering that this will be the decade in which scientific seeds of RNA-based therapies start to fulfill their potential. The decade-long vision … Continue reading “Alnylam Maps Out First Steps in ‘RNA Decade’”

Tandem Diabetes Care Snags $52M Financing for Insulin Pumps

Tandem Diabetes Care, a San Diego-based company developing insulin pumps for diabetics, has raised a whopping $52.3 million round of equity financing that began last May, according to a regulatory filing. The company is led by CEO Kim Blickenstaff, the co-founder and former CEO of Biosite, a diagnostic company that was acquired by Inverness Medical … Continue reading “Tandem Diabetes Care Snags $52M Financing for Insulin Pumps”

See You at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference

It’s mid-January, and in biotech that means only one thing—it’s time for the annual industry pilgrimage known as the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. I’m here as always, attending the meeting in San Francisco’s Union Square that draws most of this fragmented industry’s major investors, biotech executives, and pharma dealmakers in one place for a frenzy … Continue reading “See You at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference”

Alder Rival Wins FDA Approval

[Correction: 1/11/10, 9:15 am Pacific, with distinction between IL-6 and IL-6 receptor.] Genentech, the U.S.-based unit of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, said the FDA has granted clearance to start selling a new drug for rheumatoid arthritis. The treatment, tocilizumab (Actemra), is the first approved antibody engineered to block the receptor for an inflammatory protein called … Continue reading “Alder Rival Wins FDA Approval”

Synta Nabs $25M in Stock Deal

Synta Pharmaceuticals, the Lexington, MA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has raised $25 million in a stock offering. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SNTA]]) sold 5.5 million shares at $4.50 apiece—about a 17.6 percent discount from yesterday’s closing price of $5.46. Lazard Capital Markets led the offering and RBC Capital Markets served as a co-manager. … Continue reading “Synta Nabs $25M in Stock Deal”

ISB Wins Top Scientific Impact Rank

The Institute for Systems Biology, a Seattle-based research center known for its entrepreneurial activity, was ranked No. 1 among all U.S. research institutions and No. 3 worldwide in terms of the impact of its scientific publications, according to an analysis by Spain-based SCImago Research Group. The impact ranking was based on an institution’s total research … Continue reading “ISB Wins Top Scientific Impact Rank”

Alder Rises from Ashes, Seattle Genetics Gets Empowered, ZymoGenetics Nets $79M & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

The New Year kicked off with a lot of exclusive biotech news and features, and next week will be even busier when I’m attending next week’s JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. —Alder Biopharmaceuticals was one of the Seattle biotech companies that emerged in 2009, but few people realize what humble beginnings it had … Continue reading “Alder Rises from Ashes, Seattle Genetics Gets Empowered, ZymoGenetics Nets $79M & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

Predictive Buys OncoDiagnostic Lab

Predictive Biosciences, a Lexington, MA-based developer of diagnostics, said today it has acquired Cleveland, OH-based OncoDiagnostic Laboratory. By acquiring the company, founded in 1985, Predictive has obtained a certified pathology lab that serves urologists, gastroenterologists, dermatologists and other specialty physicians around the country. The facility will provide a commercial base of operation for Predictive, which … Continue reading “Predictive Buys OncoDiagnostic Lab”

ZymoGenetics Gets $79M in Stock Sale

ZymoGenetics, the Seattle-based biotech company, said today it has raised about $79 million after expenses from an underwritten stock offering. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZGEN]]) sold 14 million shares at $6 apiece, and also offered its underwriters a 30-day option to buy another 2.1 million shares. Leerink Swann was the sole book-running manager of the offering, … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics Gets $79M in Stock Sale”

Lycera, a Midwestern Biotech Star, Moves Head Office to Boston, Hires Biogen Vet as CEO

One of the hot biotech startups from the Midwest is setting up shop in Boston. Lycera, the Ann Arbor, MI-based company with a novel idea for attacking autoimmune diseases, has decided to move its headquarters to Cambridge, MA and is naming a young management talent as CEO. Lycera is announcing today it has hired Bill … Continue reading “Lycera, a Midwestern Biotech Star, Moves Head Office to Boston, Hires Biogen Vet as CEO”

Tysabri’s PML Count Climbs to 28, and Some Reflections From Biogen Idec’s Departing CEO

At least one more patient has been diagnosed with a rare, and potentially fatal brain infection after taking natalizumab (Tysabri), the hit drug for multiple sclerosis from Biogen Idec and Elan, according to Biogen CEO James Mullen. There are now 28 confirmed cases of patients with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) as of the last count … Continue reading “Tysabri’s PML Count Climbs to 28, and Some Reflections From Biogen Idec’s Departing CEO”

Halosource Nails Down $10M for Global Expansion of Water Purifying Technology

Halosource, the Bothell, WA-based company with a cheap and simple technology for purifying water in developing countries, has raised another $10 million in a venture financing that could be worth as much as $15 million, Xconomy has learned. The investment is being led by Prime Partners Asia Merchant Capital of Singapore, according to Halosource’s chief … Continue reading “Halosource Nails Down $10M for Global Expansion of Water Purifying Technology”

ZymoGenetics On the Prowl to Raise $85M in Stock Deal

ZymoGenetics is on the prowl for a lot more cash from investors—possibly more than $85 million. The Seattle-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZGEN]]) said today it is looking to sell 12 million new shares to investors in an underwritten stock offering, plus another 1.8 million shares to its underwriters. The company currently has about 69 million … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics On the Prowl to Raise $85M in Stock Deal”

Stratos Gets WTC Lab Access

Stratos Genomics, a Seattle-based company developing faster and cheaper DNA sequencing technology, has been granted three months of access to a microfabrication laboratory operated by the Washington Technology Center on the University of Washington campus. Stratos’ proposal is to create a “Nanopore Noise Reduction Project” that “creates, encodes and measures surrogate molecules derived from DNA … Continue reading “Stratos Gets WTC Lab Access”

Acton Pharmaceuticals Snares $15M for Inhaled Asthma Drug

Acton Pharmaceuticals, the Marlborough, MA-based developer of an inhalable drug for asthma, said today it has secured $15 million in a Series A financing round led by Sequoia Capital. The company doesn’t have to navigate most of the usual technology and regulatory risks that are inherent in biotech. Acton is getting started with a license … Continue reading “Acton Pharmaceuticals Snares $15M for Inhaled Asthma Drug”

Seattle Genetics Maps Out a Future With Antibody Drugs That Are “Empowered”

Some of the best-selling drugs in the pharmaceutical industry are what biotechies call “naked” antibodies. These are engineered Y-shaped proteins that zero in on markers of diseased cells, while sparing healthy ones. They generate an estimated $30 billion in annual sales, from big names like Roche’s trastuzumab (Herceptin) for breast cancer. But to hear one … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics Maps Out a Future With Antibody Drugs That Are “Empowered””

Alnylam Gets Milestone From Roche

Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) said today it has received an undisclosed milestone payment from its partner, Roche, for starting studies that pave the way for clinical trials of a certain drug candidate. The Roche collaboration, formed in July 2007, provided $331 million in upfront cash and equity, and could be worth more than … Continue reading “Alnylam Gets Milestone From Roche”

CombinatoRx Names New CEO

Cambridge, MA-based CombinatoRx (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CRXX]]) said today it has named Mark Corrigan as its new CEO, following the merger with NeuroMed Pharmaceuticals. Corrigan, 52, is the former executive vice president of R&D at Sepracor and a director of CombinatoRx. He will be paid an annual base salary of $450,000, may get a bonus worth half … Continue reading “CombinatoRx Names New CEO”

Ensemble Discovery Nabs Second Partner, Pfizer, to Develop New Class of Therapies

Ensemble Discovery has found a second Big Pharma partner to support its R&D engine. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech is announcing today it has secured a partnership with Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, to develop a new class of drugs that combine some of the more desirable traits of conventional small molecule drugs and bigger … Continue reading “Ensemble Discovery Nabs Second Partner, Pfizer, to Develop New Class of Therapies”

Ambrx, Saying Thanks to its Rivals, Rides Wave of Interest in “Empowered” Antibodies

There’s no denying that Ambrx CEO Steve Kaldor is a competitor. Still, when I visited him in his San Diego office a few weeks ago, Kaldor was happy to tip his cap to a couple of trail-blazing competitors who have done a lot over the past year to make his life easier. Ambrx ended the … Continue reading “Ambrx, Saying Thanks to its Rivals, Rides Wave of Interest in “Empowered” Antibodies”