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.

Aveo Nabs $20M From Extended Deal with OSI Pharma

Aveo Pharmaceuticals has insisted it can bankroll its operations this year through partnerships, not venture capital, and now its proving the point again. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company has nabbed $20 million by extending a partnership with Melville, NY-based OSI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OSIP]]). The new deal between the two companies, which first teamed up in … Continue reading “Aveo Nabs $20M From Extended Deal with OSI Pharma”

Dicerna, Archemix Team Up to Make Souped Up RNAi Combo Drugs

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals has set its sights on silencing problematic genes using what it calls the “second doorway” of RNA interference—an approach to the burgeoning field that other RNAi companies aren’t pursuing. But to get its drugs over the transom and where they need to go in the body, the Watertown, MA-based company will need a … Continue reading “Dicerna, Archemix Team Up to Make Souped Up RNAi Combo Drugs”

ZymoGenetics Picks Up Some of Human Genome Sciences’ Mojo With Lupus Drug

ZymoGenetics watched in obscurity from the sidelines yesterday as one of its main competitors rocked the biotech world. Yet Zymo cheered every minute like this was a gift from heaven. Say what? The big news came before markets opened yesterday when Rockville, MD-based Human Genome Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HGSI]])—once an overhyped darling of the genome bubble … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics Picks Up Some of Human Genome Sciences’ Mojo With Lupus Drug”

OncoGenex Raises $9.5M

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, the Bothell, WA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has reached agreements to raise $9.5 million from institutional investors through a registered stock offering. The company has agreed to sell 475,000 new shares at $20 apiece. OncoGenex (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OGXI]]) has been a hot commodity with investors since it presented data from a … Continue reading “OncoGenex Raises $9.5M”

Orexigen Obesity Drug Hits Weight Loss Goal in Studies, Company Looks Toward FDA

San Diego-based Orexigen Therapeutics dumped a boatload of information in the public domain this morning about clinical trials of its experimental obesity drug. Investors have been in a wait-and-see mode about this drug for months after arguing over the merits of one big trial, but they reacted positively to this new batch of data, sending … Continue reading “Orexigen Obesity Drug Hits Weight Loss Goal in Studies, Company Looks Toward FDA”

Biogen Idec, Trying to Go Beyond Rituxan, Assembles Cancer Drug Pipeline

Biogen Idec, as avid biotech readers know, is the world’s largest maker of multiple sclerosis drugs. Not the world’s largest maker of cancer drugs. Not even close. Yet the Cambridge, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) has its sights on carving out a bigger niche in the fiercely competitive field of cancer drug development. It’s a … Continue reading “Biogen Idec, Trying to Go Beyond Rituxan, Assembles Cancer Drug Pipeline”

Off the Beaten Trail, WBBA Corrals Investors to Sniff Around Seattle Biotech

Venture capitalists from high-profile shops like SR One, the venture arm of drug giant GlaxoSmithKline, aren’t known for scouting companies in the Pacific Northwest. If the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association gets its way, a few more of those well-connected firms will start looking, and then maybe investing, in Northwest startups. SR One recently sent … Continue reading “Off the Beaten Trail, WBBA Corrals Investors to Sniff Around Seattle Biotech”

MicroGreen Polymers Grabs $1.6M to Put Green Plastics Into Your Morning Coffee Cup

Xconomy has learned that MicroGreen Polymers, an Arlington, WA-based developer of technology to recycle plastics into cheaper, environmentally friendly coffee cups among other things, has raised $1.6 million for expansion from WRF Capital and local angel investors (Northwest Energy Angels, Alliance of Angels, and Atlas Accelerator), out of an ongoing round the company expects will … Continue reading “MicroGreen Polymers Grabs $1.6M to Put Green Plastics Into Your Morning Coffee Cup”

Targeted Genetics Dumps Lease, Amgen’s Dmab Works in Cancer Trial, Theraclone Nabs Cash, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

Seattle biotech is quieting down these days, so it’s a good time for your local life sciences correspondent to step away on vacation. See you back here on July 20. —EndoGastric Solutions, the medical device firm based in Redmond, WA, and Redwood City, CA, raised $7.5 million from investors. The company makes devices to combat … Continue reading “Targeted Genetics Dumps Lease, Amgen’s Dmab Works in Cancer Trial, Theraclone Nabs Cash, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

Genzyme Rival, Actelion, Seeks to Fill Void Created by Cerezyme Shortage

Genzyme dominates the market for treating Gaucher’s disease, each year selling more than $1.2 billion worth of its drug imiglucerase (Cerezyme) to patients with the rare genetic disease, who need to take the treatment throughout their lives. But competitors are flocking in to grab some of the market now that the Cambridge, MA-based biotech is … Continue reading “Genzyme Rival, Actelion, Seeks to Fill Void Created by Cerezyme Shortage”

Rapid Micro Biosystems Raises $18.6M for Faster Detection of Microbial Contamination

Rapid Micro Biosystems, a Bedford, MA-based developer of technology that quickly spots microbes that can cause disaster in the biotech drugmaking process, has nailed down a whopping $18.6 million in a Series A round of venture financing. The company, led by CEO Steve Delity, secured the cash from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, TVM Capital, … Continue reading “Rapid Micro Biosystems Raises $18.6M for Faster Detection of Microbial Contamination”

Kineta Acquires Multiple Sclerosis, Diabetes Drug Candidates to Test Unusual Biotech Strategy

Seattle-based Kineta doesn’t want to grow up to be the next Amgen. It has seen plenty of biotech companies go up in flames when they try to do everything from drug discovery to development, and manufacturing to marketing. Instead, the company sees opportunity in carving out one piece of that product development continuum, doing it … Continue reading “Kineta Acquires Multiple Sclerosis, Diabetes Drug Candidates to Test Unusual Biotech Strategy”

Amgen’s Dmab Works in Cancer Trial

Amgen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMGN]]), the world’s largest biotechnology company, said today that its lead experimental drug, denosumab, reached all its goals in a clinical trial of more than 2,000 women with breast cancer. Women with breast cancer often have tumors spread to their bones, and the drug, “dmab,” was able to delay the time it took … Continue reading “Amgen’s Dmab Works in Cancer Trial”

Immuneering, Led by Young CEO and Mentor, Aims to Pick Which Cancer Drugs Should Work

Cancer drugs are notorious for offering slim odds of helping patients live longer, while guaranteeing they’ll suffer some unhappy side effects. Lots of scientists are searching for clues in the genome for how to select people most likely to benefit from a drug, while sparing everyone else. Boston-based Immuneering thinks there’s a better place to … Continue reading “Immuneering, Led by Young CEO and Mentor, Aims to Pick Which Cancer Drugs Should Work”

Cadence, Aiming to Reduce Narcotics Use in Hospitals, Gears Up to Market IV Pain Reliever

One of the most common drugs in the world, acetaminophen pain reliever that’s found in Tylenol and Excedrin, got some bad press last week. An FDA advisory panel recommended new restrictions be placed on the drug because it can cause liver failure at high doses. So if you’re San Diego-based Cadence Pharmaceuticals, and the future … Continue reading “Cadence, Aiming to Reduce Narcotics Use in Hospitals, Gears Up to Market IV Pain Reliever”

Excel Venture Unveils $125M Fund to Make Life Sciences Ideas Cross Over to IT, Energy

Here’s a rare bit of good news from the venture capital world. Boston-based Excel Venture Management has nailed down a $125 million fund to invest in new life sciences companies that it hopes will have broad potential to shake up a variety of industries, including information technology and alternative energy. Excel has been operating for … Continue reading “Excel Venture Unveils $125M Fund to Make Life Sciences Ideas Cross Over to IT, Energy”

Qliance Raises $4M To Expand New Primary Care Model, Circumvent Health Insurers

Qliance Medical Management, the Seattle-based company that doesn’t accept health insurance for primary care medical services, has raised $4 million in venture capital to expand its practice in Washington and to other states around the country. The financing was led by Seattle-based Second Avenue Partners, and also included New Atlantic Ventures and Clear Fir Partners. … Continue reading “Qliance Raises $4M To Expand New Primary Care Model, Circumvent Health Insurers”

Theraclone Gets Funding for HIV

Theraclone Sciences, the Seattle-based developer of antibody drugs formerly known as Spaltudaq, said today it has received additional funding from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative to continue developing antibodies that could lead to an AIDS vaccine, or new treatment. The HIV virus has dodged past attempts to develop antibody-based treatments or vaccines, because it mutates … Continue reading “Theraclone Gets Funding for HIV”

Targeted Genetics Sheds Lease

Targeted Genetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TGEN]]), the Seattle-based gene therapy company struggling to avoid bankruptcy, said today that it has terminated a lease on a manufacturing facility in Bothell, WA. The company agreed to pay a $500,000 fee to terminate the lease on the facility, which will allow Targeted to avoid $12 million in lease payments through … Continue reading “Targeted Genetics Sheds Lease”

Ramgen, Maker of CO2 Compression Technology, Aims to Fight Climate Change

Forget renewable fuels for a minute. If the world is ever going to get serious about avoiding a global warming catastrophe, then we need to capture carbon dioxide being spewed from power plants into the atmosphere and bury it underground, at least according to one school of thought. The technology to make this practical on … Continue reading “Ramgen, Maker of CO2 Compression Technology, Aims to Fight Climate Change”

Intellikine, Chasing Hot Cancer Drug Target, Raises Big Venture Round

La Jolla, CA-based Intellikine, a company developing drugs against one of the hottest targets in cancer biology, has nailed down $16 million in venture capital out of a round that could be worth as much as $38.5 million, according to a regulatory filing. Intellikine got the capital infusion from its founding crew of investors—Sofinnova Ventures, … Continue reading “Intellikine, Chasing Hot Cancer Drug Target, Raises Big Venture Round”

Stem Cell Entrepreneur Quinn Dies, Dendreon Tames Shorts, PhysioSonics Monitors Brain Blood, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

News flow in Seattle life sciences slowed down heading into the holiday weekend, so I rolled out a couple biotech and medical device features I’ve been meaning to clear off my to-do list for a while. —Dendreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) raised $221 million last month to expand its manufacturing and marketing efforts for its prostate cancer … Continue reading “Stem Cell Entrepreneur Quinn Dies, Dendreon Tames Shorts, PhysioSonics Monitors Brain Blood, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

Illumina Sales Miss Expectations

San Diego-based Illumina, the maker of genetic analysis tools for biologists, said today that its second-quarter sales fell short of the company’s forecast. Illumina (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ILMN]]), in a preliminary, unaudited financial review, said it expects to report $161 million in second quarter sales—less than the $168 to $173 million it expected. It blamed the shortfall … Continue reading “Illumina Sales Miss Expectations”

Amag Pharmaceuticals Wins FDA Approval to Sell Iron Deficiency Drug

Amag Pharmaceuticals, the Lexington, MA-based developer of a drug for iron deficiency, said today it has received clearance from the FDA to start selling the drug on the U.S. market. The intravenous drug, feromoxytol, will be marketed under the brand name Feraheme for adult patients with iron deficiency anemia with chronic kidney disease. The company … Continue reading “Amag Pharmaceuticals Wins FDA Approval to Sell Iron Deficiency Drug”

Stephen Quinn, Biotech and Medical Device Entrepreneur, Dies Suddenly at 46

Xconomy is sad to report that Stephen Quinn, an emerging biotech and medical device entrepreneur in the Northwest, died suddenly at his home in Redmond, WA, on Sunday. He was 46. The cause of death is unknown. Paramedics found Quinn at home on Sunday afternoon with no pulse, and rushed him to Overlake Hospital Medical … Continue reading “Stephen Quinn, Biotech and Medical Device Entrepreneur, Dies Suddenly at 46”

CTI, OncoGenex Join Russell Indexes

Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]) and OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OGXI]]), a pair of Seattle-area cancer drug developers, were added to several stock indexes compiled by Russell Investments. Both companies joined the Russell 3000 Index, which measures the performance of the 3,000 largest U.S. public companies. The Russell indexes are widely used for index funds, and as … Continue reading “CTI, OncoGenex Join Russell Indexes”

Dendreon Tames Short Sellers, Transforms Itself into Old-School Buy-and-Hold Stock

Dendreon has had enough of the fast money world. The short sellers who hope to profit from a falling stock, and the hedge fund players who thrive on volatility that comes from rumors and speculation, turned this Seattle-based biotech company into one of Wall Street’s great running dramas of the past two years. Not anymore. … Continue reading “Dendreon Tames Short Sellers, Transforms Itself into Old-School Buy-and-Hold Stock”

Aveo Pieces Together a Plan to Rival Big Boys of Cancer Drug World

Great biotechnology stories have three essential ingredients—science, medicine, and business. Aveo Pharmaceuticals CEO Tuan Ha-Ngoc told me last week that he thinks about these same elements in his quest to build a sustainable company. Few companies ever put together all the pieces, though, and it’s too early to say if Cambridge, MA-based Aveo is one … Continue reading “Aveo Pieces Together a Plan to Rival Big Boys of Cancer Drug World”

PhysioSonics, Looking at Blood in the Brain, Aims to Monitor Effects of Drugs

Walk into a hospital with the telltale symptoms of a stroke, and chances are you’ll get something called a transcranial Doppler ultrasound test. This tool uses ultrasound waves to look inside the brain, noninvasively, to see how fast blood is flowing. What’s important about that? It’s a useful technique to see whether a clot or … Continue reading “PhysioSonics, Looking at Blood in the Brain, Aims to Monitor Effects of Drugs”

Boston Scientific CEO Retires, Replaced by Former Zimmer Boss

[Updated with CEO pay packages, 9:52 am Eastern] Boston Scientific president and CEO Jim Tobin is retiring, and will be replaced by Ray Elliott, the Natick, MA-based medical device maker said today in a statement. Tobin, who has led the company (NYSE: [[ticker:BSX]]) for a decade, will turn 65 in another two months. The change … Continue reading “Boston Scientific CEO Retires, Replaced by Former Zimmer Boss”

Cell Therapeutics Ships App to FDA, Targeted Genetics Cuts Again, Sanofi CEO Looks to Biotech & More Seattle Area Life Sciences News

We had a smorgasbord of life sciences news this week, featuring updates on Northwest companies developing drugs, devices, vaccines, and scientific instruments. —Cell Therapeutics has bet the company on pixantrone for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and this week it hit one of its key goals for the year, by turning in its new drug application to the … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Ships App to FDA, Targeted Genetics Cuts Again, Sanofi CEO Looks to Biotech & More Seattle Area Life Sciences News”

Cell Therapeutics Files Cancer Drug Application, In Nick of Time

Cell Therapeutics has bet the company on an experimental drug for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and today it hit a critical deadline in the nick of time. The Seattle biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]) said today it turned in its application to the FDA for clearance to start marketing the drug in the U.S., meeting its goal of … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Files Cancer Drug Application, In Nick of Time”

Amnis Rolls Out Souped Up Scientific Tool, Just as Customers Start Feeling Flush

Seattle-based Amnis spun out of the University of Washington a decade ago, fired up about developing a new type of sophisticated imaging instrument with potential to enable all kinds of cool experiments in the lab. Yet it never really caught on in a big way, and nobody has yet published a groundbreaking paper in Nature … Continue reading “Amnis Rolls Out Souped Up Scientific Tool, Just as Customers Start Feeling Flush”

Oncothyreon Drug Enters Pivotal Trial

Oncothyreon, the Seattle-based developer of cancer drugs, said today that its partner, Germany-based Merck KGaA, has started a pivotal clinical trial of the Stimuvax immunotherapy for breast cancer. The study will seek to enroll 900 patients in 30 countries, who are randomly assigned to get Stimuvax or a placebo. Oncothyreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ONTY]]) has shifted most … Continue reading “Oncothyreon Drug Enters Pivotal Trial”

AVI Developing Swine Flu Drugs

AVI Biopharma, a Portland, OR-based developer of RNA-based drugs, said today it has secured a contract with the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency to develop drugs for H1N1, or swine flu. Under the contract, worth as much as $5.1 million, AVI will analyze the H1N1 sequence, determine appropriate targets and identify lead and back-up candidate … Continue reading “AVI Developing Swine Flu Drugs”

Targeted Genetics Cuts Workforce in Half in Bid to Survive Into August

Targeted Genetics, the Seattle-based developer of gene therapies, said today it is cutting more than half of its workforce in a bid to make its dwindling cash reserves last into August. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TGEN]]) said it will cut its staff down to just 10 to 15 employees by the end of the July, compared … Continue reading “Targeted Genetics Cuts Workforce in Half in Bid to Survive Into August”

Mirabilis Medica Aims to Help Women Avoid the Dreaded Hysterectomy

It only takes about 30 minutes from downtown Seattle to get to what some people like to call the “Silicon Valley of Ultrasound,” in Bothell, WA. So when I heard about another ultrasound startup company, one with a name that comes from the Latin word for “miraculous,” I figured it was worth checking out. There’s … Continue reading “Mirabilis Medica Aims to Help Women Avoid the Dreaded Hysterectomy”

Cell Therapeutics Dumps $52.9M Debt

Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]), the Seattle-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has gotten rid of $52.9 million worth of debt, or about 44 percent of its total debtload. The company had sought to unload all of its $118.9 million in debt, but ended up paying out $7.1 million in cash and 24.2 million … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Dumps $52.9M Debt”

MDRNA Gains Full Rights to Drug Technology

MDRNA, the Bothell, WA-based developer of RNA interference drug technology, said today it has renegotiated a key technology license so that it has full control and no longer needs to make future payments for it. MDRNA (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MRNA]]) bought the rights in October to unlocked nucleobase analog technology from Denmark-based RiboTask, which has been studying … Continue reading “MDRNA Gains Full Rights to Drug Technology”

Sanofi CEO Bets Outside U.S., Gears Up for Flu Pandemic, and Seeks To Learn From Biotech

Not long ago, drug companies would break out quarterly income streams from the U.S., Europe, Japan, and something called ROW, as in rest-of-world. Investors usually didn’t care about the last numbers, because they were little more than a rounding error. That’s not the case anymore, as these countries are often called “emerging markets.” They’ve grown … Continue reading “Sanofi CEO Bets Outside U.S., Gears Up for Flu Pandemic, and Seeks To Learn From Biotech”

Global Health Funding Booms, But Not Just From Gates, UW-Harvard Study Finds

[Updated: 7:05 pm Eastern] Wealthy donors like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have helped spark a movement that has almost quadrupled financial support for global health in the past two decades, yet much of the world’s financial support is being spread unevenly, and isn’t always getting to the poorest people in the neediest countries, … Continue reading “Global Health Funding Booms, But Not Just From Gates, UW-Harvard Study Finds”

ImmunoGen Grabs $33M in Stock Sale

ImmunoGen, the Waltham, MA-based developer of technology to make antibody drugs more potent, said today it has raised $33 million through a stock offering, after expenses. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IMGN]]) sold 5 million shares at $7 apiece. Demand for ImmunoGen shares has climbed this year, after researchers presented promising clinical trial results of trastuzumab DM1, … Continue reading “ImmunoGen Grabs $33M in Stock Sale”

HIV’s “Tireless Warrior,” Anthony Fauci, Calls for Transformation of TB Research

Anthony Fauci is known around the world as a leading scientist and advocate, starting in the early 1980s, for research to fight HIV. The Voice of America once called him a “tireless warrior” for the cause. Now, Fauci says, biologists need to channel their creative energy to fight another deadly bug that has been around … Continue reading “HIV’s “Tireless Warrior,” Anthony Fauci, Calls for Transformation of TB Research”

UW Stem Cell Startup is Born, Global Health’s “Davos” Arrives, MDRNA Unloads Debt, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

Center stage in Seattle life sciences moved to the waterfront this week, as 250 global movers and shakers in science, global health, and the pharmaceutical business gathered for the Pacific Health Summit. —The Pacific Health Summit, an invitation-only event of global health stars, in its fifth year, focused this year on multidrug resistant tuberculosis, as … Continue reading “UW Stem Cell Startup is Born, Global Health’s “Davos” Arrives, MDRNA Unloads Debt, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

Sanofi-Aventis Donates 100 Million Flu Vaccine Doses to WHO at Seattle Summit

Sanofi-Aventis, the Paris-based drugmaker that produces 40 percent of the world’s flu vaccines, is announcing today that it will donate 100 million doses of flu vaccine to the World Health Organization to help poor countries deal with the swine flu pandemic. The announcement is being made this morning in Seattle at the Pacific Health Summit, … Continue reading “Sanofi-Aventis Donates 100 Million Flu Vaccine Doses to WHO at Seattle Summit”

Johnson & Johnson, TB Alliance Form Partnership to Push New TB Drug Through Clinic

Johnson & Johnson, the diversified healthcare giant, is forming a partnership with the nonprofit TB Alliance to share expertise and resources needed to finish clinical trials aimed at developing the first new drug for tuberculosis in more than 40 years. The announcement from J&J (NYSE : [[ticker:JNJ]]) is being made this morning in Seattle at … Continue reading “Johnson & Johnson, TB Alliance Form Partnership to Push New TB Drug Through Clinic”

CombiMatrix Reinvents Itself From Lab Toolmaker to Cancer Diagnostics Player

CombiMatrix tried for years to sell sophisticated genetic analysis instruments to laboratories, and essentially got overrun by big competitors like Santa Clara, CA-based Affymetrix and San Diego-based Illumina. But the little Mukilteo, WA-based company is still around, and hoping to flank the big boys in an emerging market that could be more lucrative—diagnostics for earlier … Continue reading “CombiMatrix Reinvents Itself From Lab Toolmaker to Cancer Diagnostics Player”