Spiral Genetics, the Seattle-based maker of software that helps crunch big volumes of DNA data, has just raised its first sizable round of venture capital. Spiral is announcing today it has raised $3 million in its Series A financing from DFJ, the high-profile venture firm formerly known as Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Spiral has now raised … Continue reading “Spiral Genetics, Maker of Software for the Genome, Gets $3M from DFJ”
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.
IMS Health Acquires Appature to Get Healthcare Marketing Software
[Updated: 11:30 am PT] Seattle-based Appature, the maker of software for healthcare marketers, has graduated from scrappy startup into something much bigger. Appature is announcing today that it has agreed to be acquired by Parsippany, NJ-based IMS Health, the giant data provider that tracks prescription trends for healthcare companies. IMS, a private company founded in … Continue reading “IMS Health Acquires Appature to Get Healthcare Marketing Software”
Biotech for the Belt-Tightening Era: Last Chance For Early-Bird Tix
The explosion of healthcare spending affects everybody who pay taxes to support Medicare and Medicaid. It affects anyone who has a job that comes with healthcare benefits, which keep getting more expensive. It affects anybody who ever has to see a doctor. No doubt, this issue affects everybody. But people in the biotech industry have … Continue reading “Biotech for the Belt-Tightening Era: Last Chance For Early-Bird Tix”
Some Bold Baseball and Biotech Picks for the 2013 Season
Spring training is here. That means I get to spend days thinking and writing about biotech and nights dreaming about hard-throwing setup men with decent walks-plus-hits-allowed per inning pitched (WHIP) ratios who have a shot at becoming a closer. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which obsession is the greater malady. Kidding aside, … Continue reading “Some Bold Baseball and Biotech Picks for the 2013 Season”
Veracyte Wins Over UnitedHealth With Thyroid Cancer Diagnostic
South San Francisco-based Veracyte was built to provide clear diagnostic answers for patients with curious thyroid lumps that might be cancerous. It’s taken a lot of research to build a convincing body of evidence, and now it’s getting an important endorsement from UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest private health insurer. Veracyte is announcing today that Minnetonka, … Continue reading “Veracyte Wins Over UnitedHealth With Thyroid Cancer Diagnostic”
Roger Perlmutter Returns to Merck, Looks to Biotech Future (Again)
Roger Perlmutter is heading back to Merck, after a decade away. This time around, he’s got a lot more experience knowing how to build a pharmaceutical pipeline. The Whitehouse Station, NJ-based pharmaceutical giant (NYSE: [[ticker:MRK]]) said today it has hired Perlmutter as executive vice president and president of Merck Research Laboratories, starting April 15. He … Continue reading “Roger Perlmutter Returns to Merck, Looks to Biotech Future (Again)”
Boston Biotech Seizes the Momentum: Last Chance for Early Bird Tix
I live in Seattle, and recently had a couple conversations with well-known West Coast biotech executives about what they see happening in Boston. “Clearly, Boston has taken the leadership role” among U.S. biotech clusters, said Mitch Gold, the former CEO of Dendreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]), the cancer immunotherapy pioneer. A few days ago, a San Diego … Continue reading “Boston Biotech Seizes the Momentum: Last Chance for Early Bird Tix”
Cerulean Pharma Arrives at Turning Point With Cancer Drug
One day this month, Cambridge, MA-based Cerulean Pharma will get the answers to two important questions that few private, venture-backed biotech companies ever get far enough to answer. It will find out if it has a legit new technology platform for fighting cancer, and whether it has a drug that helps cancer patients live longer. … Continue reading “Cerulean Pharma Arrives at Turning Point With Cancer Drug”
Presage Snags $13M from Celgene to Pick Winning Cancer Drug Combos
Seattle-based Presage Biosciences has found another big partner that thinks it can help separate the winners from the losers in early cancer drug development, before the really big bucks get wasted on bad experiments. Presage, a spinoff from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is announcing today it has struck a new partnership with Summit, … Continue reading “Presage Snags $13M from Celgene to Pick Winning Cancer Drug Combos”
Someone Needs to Rank U.S. Biotech Hubs, For Real
[Updated: 11:40 am PT] It’s time for a challenge: Will somebody please come out with a deeply researched and credible report that ranks U.S. regional biotech clusters, on the criteria that matter the most? I’m feeling compelled to issue this challenge after going over the latest deeply flawed report on this subject, from real estate … Continue reading “Someone Needs to Rank U.S. Biotech Hubs, For Real”
Paul Allen Gives $7.5M to Little-Known Scientists Dreaming Big
Just a few days after tech moguls Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin gave a bunch of prize money to some of biotech’s biggest stars, along comes Paul Allen doing his own thing, giving his money to some lesser-known scientists striving for all different kinds of breakthroughs. The Seattle-based Paul G. Allen Family Foundation said today … Continue reading “Paul Allen Gives $7.5M to Little-Known Scientists Dreaming Big”
Kala Pharma, From MIT & Johns Hopkins, Grabs $11.5M for Eye Drugs
If you need an effective drug today for age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly, you need to get an injection at the back of the eye. Waltham, MA-based Kala Pharmaceuticals believes it may be able to get the drug where it needs to go, without sticking a needle in your … Continue reading “Kala Pharma, From MIT & Johns Hopkins, Grabs $11.5M for Eye Drugs”
UW Spinoff Resolve Therapeutics Lures In Takeda, Lines Up Return
Seattle-based Resolve Therapeutics was founded three years ago on the notion that on a shoestring budget, and short timeline, it could deliver a venture-style return for its investors without pulling off a miraculous IPO or big-ticket acquisition. Today it has announced it has found the partner it was looking for to make the dream come … Continue reading “UW Spinoff Resolve Therapeutics Lures In Takeda, Lines Up Return”
Optimer Board Ousts CEO, Brings Back Former Pfizer CEO McKinnell
The board of Optimer Pharmaceuticals ousted the company’s co-founder and chairman and fired a couple of executives last spring over conflicts of interest stemming from an affiliated company in Taiwan. Apparently, the trouble didn’t end there. Jersey City, NJ and San Diego-based Optimer (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OPTR]]) said today in a statement that CEO Pedro Lichtinger agreed … Continue reading “Optimer Board Ousts CEO, Brings Back Former Pfizer CEO McKinnell”
Third Rock’s Bet on Lotus Tissue Repair Generates Big Return
Third Rock Ventures has seen its biotech startup companies achieve some impressive things since it got going in 2007. But now the firm can point to the first venture-style return on one of its home-grown startups. Dublin, Ireland-based Shire (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SHPG]]) shed some light on Third Rock’s biggest return in a regulatory filing this week. … Continue reading “Third Rock’s Bet on Lotus Tissue Repair Generates Big Return”
Concert Pharma, Jazz Pharma Strike $120M Deal for Narcolepsy
If there was ever an occasion to play some Miles Davis around a Boston biotech company’s office, today is the day. Lexington, MA-based Concert Pharmaceuticals has the right to play it cool, or at least crack a few music jokes, after striking a collaboration with another musically inspired company—Dublin, Ireland-based Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:JAZZ]]). The … Continue reading “Concert Pharma, Jazz Pharma Strike $120M Deal for Narcolepsy”
Cubist Grabs Option to Acquire Adynxx, Getting Drug for Pain
Cubist Pharmaceuticals has been looking to diversify for a while, to get something more than antibiotics it can sell to hospitals. Now it’s getting the rights to what it hopes will be a big new pain drug. The Lexington, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CBST]]) said today it has obtained an exclusive right to acquire San … Continue reading “Cubist Grabs Option to Acquire Adynxx, Getting Drug for Pain”
Intersect ENT Grabs $30M for Drug/Device Combo for the Sinuses
If you utter the phrase “drug/device combo” inside the life sciences industry, most people will think you’re talking about products for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or maybe neurological disorders like Parkinson’s. Intersect ENT is hoping to find a niche of its own with combo products for the sinuses. The Menlo Park, CA-based company is announcing today … Continue reading “Intersect ENT Grabs $30M for Drug/Device Combo for the Sinuses”
Zuckerberg Takes a Small Step in Right Direction, Backing Biotech
Woody Allen is often quoted as saying 80 percent of life is just showing up. This past week Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote a decent check, and just as important, he showed up for life sciences. It’s a small gesture, but a start. The social-networking wizard took some time out of his week to stop … Continue reading “Zuckerberg Takes a Small Step in Right Direction, Backing Biotech”
Genentech, ImmunoGen Win FDA OK for Souped-Up Breast Cancer Drug
Genentech’s scientists have long wondered about what would happen if they could deliver a more powerful version of their original hit antibody drug for breast cancer. Now they’ll see. The South San Francisco-based company, a unit of Roche, said today that it won FDA clearance to start selling ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla) as a new treatment … Continue reading “Genentech, ImmunoGen Win FDA OK for Souped-Up Breast Cancer Drug”
Blaze Bioscience Caps Off $8.5M Financing, Charges Toward Clinic
Seattle-based Blaze Bioscience has gotten a little extra vote of confidence, a little more cash, and a few more smart people to help it move ahead with its new cancer surgery technology. Blaze, a spinoff from Jim Olson’s lab at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is announcing today it has closed its Series A … Continue reading “Blaze Bioscience Caps Off $8.5M Financing, Charges Toward Clinic”
Adimab Grows Up, Looks to Pay Off the VCs In Unusual Way
Adimab has raised a shade under $40 million in venture capital since it was founded in 2007. If things break the way co-founder and CEO Tillman Gerngross expects, this could be the year the VCs get their money bank without him going through the trouble of an IPO, or selling out to some Big Pharma … Continue reading “Adimab Grows Up, Looks to Pay Off the VCs In Unusual Way”
Facebook, Google Moguls Give $33M in Prizes to Biomedical Stars
[Updated 11:35 am with Zuckerberg comment] Some of the highest achievers in technology are giving away a lot of money to people who have made some of the biggest achievements in biotech. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, along with Google’s Sergey Brin and his wife Anne Wojcicki, announced today they have come … Continue reading “Facebook, Google Moguls Give $33M in Prizes to Biomedical Stars”
Natera Joins Quest in Four-Way Battle for Prenatal Genetic Tests
[Corrected: 9:10 am PT] Parents have long wanted to know whether they are about to bring a child into the world with a chromosomal abnormality like Down syndrome. There’s never been a noninvasive, simple, and highly accurate way to make that call at an early stage of pregnancy. But after a flurry of innovation in … Continue reading “Natera Joins Quest in Four-Way Battle for Prenatal Genetic Tests”
NanoString Starts Selling First Breast Cancer Test in EU
NanoString Technologies is now officially in the diagnostics business. Seattle-based NanoString is announcing today that it has begun selling its first diagnostic product in the European Union and Israel. It’s called the Prosigna Breast Cancer Prognostic Gene Signature Assay, and it’s designed to provide a digital readout on the expression of 50 genes that are … Continue reading “NanoString Starts Selling First Breast Cancer Test in EU”
Sage Bionetworks Absorbs Dream, Plans Open Science ‘Challenges’
Sage Bionetworks is a nonprofit, so it isn’t in the business of doing mergers and acquisitions in the traditional sense. But today it’s completing a merger of sorts that will enable it to expand its reach on the Web. Sage, the Seattle-based nonprofit working to spark an open-source biology movement, is announcing today it will … Continue reading “Sage Bionetworks Absorbs Dream, Plans Open Science ‘Challenges’”
Biotech & Pharma Whining About Talent: That Makes Me Mad
Pharmaceutical and biotech companies axed something like 150,000 workers from 2009 through 2012. Now guess what? Those same companies are complaining, in a recent report from the consulting firm PwC, that they are unable to find enough qualified workers to fill key positions they need to grow. Sometimes, you come across a message in one of these … Continue reading “Biotech & Pharma Whining About Talent: That Makes Me Mad”
Join Us at “Biotech in the Belt-Tightening Era” April 9 in Seattle
Payers didn’t have much power in biotech’s old days. For a long time, biotech companies could get away with believing that if they offered patients important new drugs, devices or diagnostics they could essentially impose high prices on U.S. health insurers. Getting data to win over the FDA, physicians, and shareholders was what counted. Those … Continue reading “Join Us at “Biotech in the Belt-Tightening Era” April 9 in Seattle”
Third Rock’s Latest, Jounce, Grabs $47M For Cancer Immunotherapy
Scientists have been striving for decades to find a way to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer, with only a couple of recent success stories to show for it. Now Third Rock Ventures, the Boston firm drawn to the biggest and edgiest ideas in biotechnology, is making its biggest up-front investment yet on cancer … Continue reading “Third Rock’s Latest, Jounce, Grabs $47M For Cancer Immunotherapy”
Tokai Looks to Follow Fast Behind J&J, Medivation in Prostate Cancer
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: [[ticker:JNJ]]) and Medivation (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MDVN]]) shook up the prostate cancer world the past couple years by introducing two important new FDA-approved treatments. Now Cambridge, MA-based Tokai Pharmaceuticals is looking to see if it can go a step further, by combining the best features of each of those drugs into a single … Continue reading “Tokai Looks to Follow Fast Behind J&J, Medivation in Prostate Cancer”
Seattle Genetics Gets $138M in First-Year Sales of Cancer Drug
[Updated 3:16 pm PT] Seattle Genetics ended up getting $138.2 million of sales in the first full year of marketing its first cancer drug. And it expects next year’s sales will be in the same ballpark. The Bothell, WA-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]) said today, in its fourth quarter and full-year financial report for 2012, that it … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics Gets $138M in First-Year Sales of Cancer Drug”
Catabasis Passes First Trials With Anti-Inflammatory Drug
Catabasis Pharmaceuticals has a vision of combining the stuff you get in fish oil with a common anti-inflammatory. The idea is that the benefits of the whole might be greater than the sum of the parts. Today, the Cambridge, MA-based company is releasing the first data from clinical trials that suggests it is on the … Continue reading “Catabasis Passes First Trials With Anti-Inflammatory Drug”
Poll: Which of These 10 New Drugs Is Priced Too High?
Drug pricing tends to drive people to extreme positions. Critics see the drug companies as evil, greedy bastards out to gouge grandma. Defenders say the industry improves patients’ lives, and merely charges what the free market will bear, and what it must to recoup its substantial R&D investments. Those positions have held firm for at … Continue reading “Poll: Which of These 10 New Drugs Is Priced Too High?”
Celgene Wins FDA Approval of Third Myeloma Drug
Celgene has diversified its lineup of drugs once again, winning FDA approval today to start selling its third product for multiple myeloma in the U.S. Summit, NJ-based Celgene (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CELG]]) said today it has gotten FDA clearance to start selling pomalidomide (Pomalyst) for patients whose disease has gotten worse after two prior rounds of treatment … Continue reading “Celgene Wins FDA Approval of Third Myeloma Drug”
Infinity Pharmaceuticals Bounces Back To Compete in Crowded Field
Sometimes in biotech, and in life, you just need to stick it out long enough through the bad times to get to enjoy the good times. The folks at Cambridge, MA-based Infinity Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:INFI]]) have learned what that’s all about in the last few months. Infinity suffered a painful setback a year ago, when … Continue reading “Infinity Pharmaceuticals Bounces Back To Compete in Crowded Field”
Join Us for ‘Boston Biotech Seizes the Momentum’ on April 4
The San Francisco Bay Area can rightfully claim to be biotech’s birthplace and the perennial No. 1 cluster. But something special is happening now in Boston biotech. While many regions struggle to fulfill their biotech dreams, Boston has been gaining ground on the Bay Area, and has seized momentum in the last few years that … Continue reading “Join Us for ‘Boston Biotech Seizes the Momentum’ on April 4”
Ironwood Bucks the Trends, Makes Big Bet on Drug For Millions
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals is a bit of throwback in biotech. And this is the year the Cambridge, MA-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRWD]]) will find out if some old-school sensibility, combined with new technology, can still pay off. While many of today’s biotechs aspire to become bite-size entities that are easily absorbed by Big Pharma acquirers, Ironwood has … Continue reading “Ironwood Bucks the Trends, Makes Big Bet on Drug For Millions”
OncoGenex CFO Resigns After Developing Personal Relationship With CEO
Michelle Burris, the chief financial officer and executive vice president of operations at Bothell, WA-based OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OGXI]]), is stepping down from her executive management roles after she and CEO Scott Cormack disclosed to the company’s board that they have “a developing personal relationship.” The disclosure, made this afternoon in a filing with the … Continue reading “OncoGenex CFO Resigns After Developing Personal Relationship With CEO”
Alnylam Gets $25M From Medicines Co. for Cholesterol Drug
Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has found a partner willing to help it go up against against some formidable competitors with a new class of cholesterol-lowering drugs. Alnylam (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) said today that The Medicines Company of Parsippany, NJ, has agreed to take an exclusive global license to Alnylam’s RNA interference drug candidates that block PCSK9, … Continue reading “Alnylam Gets $25M From Medicines Co. for Cholesterol Drug”
What’s in a Name? A Lot, When It Comes to ‘Precision Medicine’
Personalized medicine was supposed to be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It was going to be the payoff our society would see after investing in the Human Genome Project and so much other biomedical research. While most people on the street can’t say what it means, anybody can understand the … Continue reading “What’s in a Name? A Lot, When It Comes to ‘Precision Medicine’”
Foresite Capital Closes $100M Fund for Late-Stage Biotechs
Biotech venture capital isn’t what it used to be, but there’s still money to invest in healthcare. Now one biotech investment firm just starting out has found $100 million to plow into “late-stage” companies. Foresite Capital Management, a San Francisco- and New York-based firm founded by Jim Tananbaum in 2011, said today it has officially … Continue reading “Foresite Capital Closes $100M Fund for Late-Stage Biotechs”
Crowdfunding Is Coming to Biotech, so Get Ready for a Wild Ride
Most biotech pros will shrug, or chuckle, if you ask whether crowdfunding will transform life sciences financing in the U.S. This, after all, is an industry where you often need to raise at least $50 million or $100 million to even have a chance at developing a new drug or medical device. Scraping together a … Continue reading “Crowdfunding Is Coming to Biotech, so Get Ready for a Wild Ride”
Alder Biopharma Looks to Take On Migraines, and the World
[Corrected, 8:58 am PT. See below.] Nobody has ever come up with a drug that can stop migraine headaches before they start. This will be the year that Bothell, WA-based Alder Biopharmaceuticals finds out if it can achieve that lofty goal, and change the way patients and physicians think about treating migraines. Alder passed its … Continue reading “Alder Biopharma Looks to Take On Migraines, and the World”
SV Bio, Backed by Sequoia, Strives to Make Medical Genomics Simple
Physicians don’t usually learn much about genetics in medical school, but they increasingly need to know about it. That’s why Dietrich Stephan, the co-founder of Navigenics, is building a new company to give physicians clear and simple information about the genome so they can better tailor treatment to individual patients. Foster City, CA-based SV Bio, … Continue reading “SV Bio, Backed by Sequoia, Strives to Make Medical Genomics Simple”
Boston’s Got Big Mo in Biotech, But SF is Pushing Back
San Francisco is used to being No. 1 in lots of things. It’s there in technology, and in biotechnology. Every magazine that ever ranked ‘Best Places to Live’ is practically required to put it near the top. Even Bay Area sports teams are riding high, as the Giants won the World Series, the 49ers are … Continue reading “Boston’s Got Big Mo in Biotech, But SF is Pushing Back”
InVitae, Led by Randy Scott, Goes ‘All-in’ For Genomic Diagnostics
You could call Randy Scott an E.F. Hutton for the genomics business. People listen when the co-founder and former CEO of Genomic Health talks. And Scott isn’t just talking. He’s gone “all-in,” putting his time, and a significant amount of his own money, into a new San Francisco company called InVitae. The plan is to develop a … Continue reading “InVitae, Led by Randy Scott, Goes ‘All-in’ For Genomic Diagnostics”
Brook Byers of Kleiner Perkins on Sticking With Healthcare
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is one of the kingpins of venture capital, best known as the firm that got in on the ground floor at Google, Amazon, Genentech and plenty of other industry-defining companies. The firm has gotten its share of glory, but it attracted some unwanted attention last year when a sexual harassment … Continue reading “Brook Byers of Kleiner Perkins on Sticking With Healthcare”
Illumina CEO Jay Flatley on Diagnostics, the $1K Genome & China
Illumina is the dominant player in the high-speed gene sequencing business, and has been for a number of years. That powerful position in a field that’s vital to the future of healthcare has made it the object of intense scrutiny, and in some cases, scorn, from customers, competitors, and potential acquirers. Last year, the big … Continue reading “Illumina CEO Jay Flatley on Diagnostics, the $1K Genome & China”
If You’ve Got a Real Breakthrough, the FDA Wants To Talk
If you ever want to have an interesting chat with a healthcare journalist, ask about use of the word “breakthrough.” Like many reporters, I generally avoid it. The word may be good for generating eyeballs/pageviews/ratings, but it’s usually an exaggeration that serves the financial interest of drugmakers and gives patients false hope. Sometimes, though, breakthroughs … Continue reading “If You’ve Got a Real Breakthrough, the FDA Wants To Talk”
Bill Gates, Yuri Milner Join $13.5M Round For Foundation Medicine
Some prominent people with big money came together last fall to bet on Cambridge, MA-based Foundation Medicine and its vision for using genomic technology to improve cancer care. Now the company has attracted some even bigger pockets to the table. Foundation Medicine said today that Bill Gates has joined a $13.5 million expansion of its … Continue reading “Bill Gates, Yuri Milner Join $13.5M Round For Foundation Medicine”