CMC Icos Biologics, the Bothell, WA-based contract manufacturer of biotech drugs, said today it has signed a deal to manufacture an experimental drug for acute lung injury. CMC will make IC14, an antibody drug, for Brisbane, Australia-based Implicit Bioscience. The treatment, which is scheduled to enter Phase II trials next year, was previously tested in … Continue reading “CMC Icos to Make Lung Drug”
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.
Dendreon Raises $197M in Stock Offering
Dendreon raised $197.4 million in the offering it announced last week, according to a regulatory filing. The Seattle biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) sold 10.7 million shares of stock at $18.45 apiece last Thursday, about a 15 percent discount on the closing market stock price of $19.76 that day. The sale is expected to close on … Continue reading “Dendreon Raises $197M in Stock Offering”
Novocell Hires John West as CEO
Novocell, the San Diego-based developer of stem cell therapies for diabetes, said it has named John West as president, CEO , and a member of its board. West was previously CEO of Solexa, a maker of genome sequencing machines that was sold to San Diego-based Illumina (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ILMN]]) in 2007 for more than $600 million.
Aspen Medtech Shuts Down
Aspen Medtech, a Bellevue, WA-based medical device incubator, has shut down, according to Dow Jones Venture Capital Dispatch. Daniel Hawkins, the former general manager of Aspen Medtech, said it was founded in mid-2007 with $1 million from Prospect Venture Partners and Three Arch Partners, according to the report.
Biotech Exec Sentenced to Probation
Christopher Ma, a former director of business affairs with Auburn, WA-based Syntrix Biochip, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to three years of supervised release, 240 hours of community service, and a $5,000 fine for making false statements. Ma, 35, was accused of submitting false audits to the National Institutes of Health, … Continue reading “Biotech Exec Sentenced to Probation”
Cell Therapeutics Cash To Last Into August
Cell Therapeutics has really been living life on the edge. The Seattle biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]) had just $700,000 in cash left at the end of March, before it got another $6.5 million last month to keep paying the bills. Even after an investor put in another $15 million last month, it’s only enough to … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Cash To Last Into August”
Dendreon Sells Shares To Raise $200M For Provenge Manufacturing, Marketing
Dendreon is striking while the iron is hot. The Seattle biotech company said today it is offering 10.7 million new shares of stock to investors, and has hired Deutsche Bank Securities as the sole manager of the offering. Dendreon didn’t disclose the price of the shares, but with its shares trading at $19.50 a share … Continue reading “Dendreon Sells Shares To Raise $200M For Provenge Manufacturing, Marketing”
Targeted Genetics, Mainstay of Gene Therapy, Faces Likely Shutdown
Targeted Genetics, one of the diehards in the field of gene therapy, appears to be near the end of the road. The Seattle-based biotech company said if it is unable to improve its finances by the end of next month, “We plan to begin the process of ceasing operations, seeking bankruptcy protection or otherwise winding … Continue reading “Targeted Genetics, Mainstay of Gene Therapy, Faces Likely Shutdown”
Genzyme Offers Glimpse at Growth Engine, New Drugs for High Cholesterol, Gaucher’s
Genzyme is getting to the point where the law of large numbers start to look really daunting. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company has been so successful for so long, it gets harder every year to sustain the breakneck sales and profit growth that investors in the company have come to expect. So what to do? … Continue reading “Genzyme Offers Glimpse at Growth Engine, New Drugs for High Cholesterol, Gaucher’s”
Dendreon’s Hiring Binge, Calistoga’s Venture Round, ZymoGenetics Unloads Drugs, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
Biotech is a volatile business, and this week hammered home that point. Seattle had layoffs at one important device company (Pathway Medical), a hiring boom at another (Dendreon), and a national report that had some humbling stats about the local life sciences scene. —Dendreon is moving ahead fast to make the most of its good … Continue reading “Dendreon’s Hiring Binge, Calistoga’s Venture Round, ZymoGenetics Unloads Drugs, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Acucela Drug for Macular Degeneration Passes Early Safety Test
Acucela, the Bothell, WA-based biotech company, is on a mission to develop the first effective treatment for the leading cause of blindness in elderly people. Today, it is presenting some preliminary data that shows its drug has passed an early safety test and is ready to advance to the next phase, in which it begins … Continue reading “Acucela Drug for Macular Degeneration Passes Early Safety Test”
Dendreon Plans to Raise Cash for Manufacturing, Marketing
Dendreon is gearing up to raise more cash. The Seattle biotech company disclosed today in its quarterly report that it had $91.2 million in cash and investments on hand on March 31, an amount that “will not be sufficient” to pay all the bills over the next 12 months as it ramps up to market … Continue reading “Dendreon Plans to Raise Cash for Manufacturing, Marketing”
AVI Wins Part of $2.5M Contract
AVI Biopharma, the Portland, OR-based developer of RNA-based therapies, said today it has been awarded part of a $2.5 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop a drug for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The contract, awarded to researchers at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C., will support animal studies to develop … Continue reading “AVI Wins Part of $2.5M Contract”
Dendreon Goes on Hiring Binge After Prostate Cancer Drug Boosts Survival
Dendreon partied at a medical meeting last week in Chicago after it showed that its immune-stimulating therapy could extend the lives of prostate cancer patients with minimal side effects. Now the biotech company is fast at work again, looking to hire 60 new people to make sure it performs all the work necessary to turn … Continue reading “Dendreon Goes on Hiring Binge After Prostate Cancer Drug Boosts Survival”
ZymoGenetics Drug Sales Still Slumping After Full Year on Market
ZymoGenetics is still struggling to generate sales from its lone commercial product. The Seattle biotech company said today it had $4.5 million in sales of recombinant thrombin (Recothrom) for surgical bleeding in the first quarter, which is down slightly from $4.7 million in the previous quarter. The trend can’t be encouraging, although ZymoGenetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZGEN]]) … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics Drug Sales Still Slumping After Full Year on Market”
Dendreon Execs Sell Shares
Dendreon CEO Mitchell Gold and other executives sold big stakes in the company a day after reporting positive results of their immune-stimulating drug for prostate cancer, according to this Dow Jones report. Gold sold 600,000 shares of the company at $24.92 apiece on April 29, generating gross proceeds of $15 million, according to this filing … Continue reading “Dendreon Execs Sell Shares”
Calistoga Raises $30M to Develop Drugs for Cancer, Inflammation
Seattle-based Calistoga Pharmaceuticals has raised $30 million in a second round of venture capital to support its growing pipeline of drugs for cancer and inflammatory diseases. The venture financing is the second-biggest of the year in the Seattle life sciences cluster, behind the $40 million raised in March by Kirkland, WA-based Pathway Medical Technologies. Calistoga … Continue reading “Calistoga Raises $30M to Develop Drugs for Cancer, Inflammation”
Biotech Business Model “Unsustainable” in Financial Crisis, E&Y Says
Biotechnology by its nature goes through booms and busts driven by hope and fear, but now the industry is really in deep trouble. That’s the big headline coming out of this year’s Ernst & Young annual biotech survey, Beyond Borders. Common sense would tell you that in a global economic meltdown, where mainstays like Citigroup … Continue reading “Biotech Business Model “Unsustainable” in Financial Crisis, E&Y Says”
Pathway Medical Cuts One-Fifth of Staff as Fundraising, Sales Projections Fall Short
Pathway Medical Technologies, the Kirkland, WA-based medical device maker, has cut about one-fifth of its staff because its latest round of venture financing fell short of expectations, Xconomy has learned. Today, Pathway eliminated 39 jobs, or about 19 percent of its workforce, leaving it with a staff of about 170, according to CEO Paul Buckman. … Continue reading “Pathway Medical Cuts One-Fifth of Staff as Fundraising, Sales Projections Fall Short”
ZymoGenetics Unloads Drug Candidates to Cut Costs, Spin Off New Company
One company’s cost burden can sometimes be a vital building block for another. That’s the impression I got today from Seattle-based ZymoGenetics, which said it is licensing away the rights to eight different drug candidates in early development to a new startup company called Seattle Life Sciences. Under the deal, ZymoGenetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZGEN]]) is handing … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics Unloads Drug Candidates to Cut Costs, Spin Off New Company”
Arrowsmith Challenges Scientific Establishment With New Approach for Brain Cancer
Much has been written about personalizing cancer drugs by giving them to patients with a genetic profile that makes them likely to respond to treatment. But what if doctors could tailor cancer drugs a different way, confining standard chemotherapy to a precise organ or cancerous region, without sending the drugs flowing throughout the rest of … Continue reading “Arrowsmith Challenges Scientific Establishment With New Approach for Brain Cancer”
Acadia Shares Soar on Alliance With Biovail for Parkinson’s Psychosis Drug
Acadia Pharmaceuticals struck an important deal this morning to continue developing a Parkinson’s drug. The San Diego-based biotech company said it will get $30 million in upfront cash through an alliance with Biovail to develop a new drug for psychoses related to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Acadia (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ACAD]]) stands to get as much as … Continue reading “Acadia Shares Soar on Alliance With Biovail for Parkinson’s Psychosis Drug”
Ironwood Gets $40M From European Partner for Constipation Drug
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has found a way to sustain its momentum, even in a downturn. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company is announcing today it has secured $40 million in upfront payments by finding a partner to develop and commercialize its top drug candidate in Europe. Ironwood said it is providing European development and commercial rights for … Continue reading “Ironwood Gets $40M From European Partner for Constipation Drug”
How to Raise $50M in a Recession: Highlights from the Xconomy Life Sciences Forum
Some of biotech’s most innovative drugs emerged under the worst financial conditions. Two big breakthroughs in the 1990s, Enbrel for rheumatoid arthritis and Rituxan for lymphoma, came from small biotech companies that toiled for years, and survived brushes with extinction, before they made it. This history lesson came up in conversations I had with entrepreneurs … Continue reading “How to Raise $50M in a Recession: Highlights from the Xconomy Life Sciences Forum”
Dendreon Drug Prolongs Life, ZymoGenetics Cuts Staff, Microsoft Tackles Biotech & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
This week, Seattle biotech got some of the best news it has seen in years. One local biotech company, Dendreon, scored a major coup by generating results that show its immune-boosting drug for prostate cancer can prolong life with minimal side effects. But there was a lot more happening in the local lab scene than … Continue reading “Dendreon Drug Prolongs Life, ZymoGenetics Cuts Staff, Microsoft Tackles Biotech & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Oral RNAi Drug Stops Inflammation in Mice, RXi Says
The big challenge in the field of RNA interference drugs is with how to deliver them effectively through the body. Now scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School are reporting today in Nature they have come up with an oral pill form of this gene-silencing approach, which passed an early test in mice. If … Continue reading “Oral RNAi Drug Stops Inflammation in Mice, RXi Says”
ZymoGenetics Cuts One-Third of Workforce To Hold Onto Cash
ZymoGenetics, the largest independent biotech company in Washington, said today it is cutting one-third of its workforce to conserve cash. The Seattle biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZGEN]]) said today it is eliminating 161 jobs, or 32 percent, of its staff, which will leave it with about 350 employees. The company said it is cutting costs broadly … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics Cuts One-Third of Workforce To Hold Onto Cash”
Ebola Fighter AVI Biopharma Gears Up for Biodefense Contracts
AVI Biopharma has got Ebola virus on its mind. This horrifying bug from central Africa would only have to infect a few people in the U.S. to cause a real bioterror scare, because it’s so deadly and there’s no cure. The federal government would like to get an effective treatment stockpiled just in case a … Continue reading “Ebola Fighter AVI Biopharma Gears Up for Biodefense Contracts”
No Devil in Details: Dendreon Data Stands Up to Scrutiny from Doctors, Investors
Suspense has been building for two weeks about just how good Dendreon’s big clinical trial results were going to be, and when the results finally came out today, fans of the company had nothing to be disappointed about. Earlier in the day, we reported what readers needed to remember about the context of this trial, … Continue reading “No Devil in Details: Dendreon Data Stands Up to Scrutiny from Doctors, Investors”
Tysabri May Promote Healing Around Nerves, Study Says
Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) and its partner, Elan, catch a lot of heat because their fastest-growing drug for multiple sclerosis is associated with a rare, potentially fatal brain infection called PML. But today they are pushing back a bit with a study that suggests the drug may provide an important benefit to balance … Continue reading “Tysabri May Promote Healing Around Nerves, Study Says”
Life Technologies, Geospiza Form Cloud Computing Deal for Scientists to Dig Into Genome
Genome sequencing instruments have gotten so much faster and cheaper over the years that they have created a new problem for scientists—digging through mountains of data on DNA, and maintaining these stores of data. So today, Carlsbad, CA-based Life Technologies and its Applied Biosystems division have formed a partnership with Seattle-based Geospiza to help researchers … Continue reading “Life Technologies, Geospiza Form Cloud Computing Deal for Scientists to Dig Into Genome”
Dendreon Immune-Booster for Prostate Cancer Extends Survival 4.1 Months
[[Updated with analyst comment 2:25 pm Eastern]] Dendreon’s immune-stimulating therapy for prostate cancer, called Provenge, was able to improve median survival time by 4.1 months, and lowered the risk of death by 22.5 percent, according to long-awaited clinical trial results presented today. Side effects were consistent with previous trials, involving fever and chills that lasted … Continue reading “Dendreon Immune-Booster for Prostate Cancer Extends Survival 4.1 Months”
AVI Gets Patent For Ebola Drug
AVI Biopharma (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVII]]), the Portland, OR-based developer of RNA interference drugs, said today it has gotten the second of two patents needed for its drug that treats infections with Ebola Zaire virus. The patents cover composition of matter and methods for treating Ebola with a range of compounds, and they expire Oct. 31, 2025, … Continue reading “AVI Gets Patent For Ebola Drug”
Dendreon Clinical Trial Primer: What You Need to Know About Today’s Provenge Data
Dendreon said it made history a couple weeks ago, when its drug for stimulating the immune system to fight cancer cells was found to be the first of its kind to help men with prostate cancer live longer. Today, we’ll find out just how strong the medical evidence is to support that claim. The Seattle … Continue reading “Dendreon Clinical Trial Primer: What You Need to Know About Today’s Provenge Data”
Microsoft Aims to Help Scientists Move Past Excel, Make Sense of Gene Data Overload
Biologists are living in an era of information overload, and Microsoft says it’s making an effort to help them cut through the noise. The Redmond, WA-based software firm is introducing a new program today called Amalga Life Sciences, designed to help lab scientists make sense of the vast reams of genomic data piling up from … Continue reading “Microsoft Aims to Help Scientists Move Past Excel, Make Sense of Gene Data Overload”
SonoSite Lowers Sales Forecast
SonoSite, the Bothell, WA-based maker of portable ultrasound machines, said today in its first-quarter financial report that its annual revenue for 2009 may be flat to down 10 percent compared with the previous year. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SONO]]) said it is responding by cutting expenses 5 to 10 percent, a deeper round of cuts than … Continue reading “SonoSite Lowers Sales Forecast”
Newspapers Need Less Paper, More Kindle to Survive, Says Madrona’s Tom Alberg
The death spiral of the newspaper industry is one of the big business stories of 2009, right up there with the free fall of the U.S. auto industry. It’s especially close to my heart as someone who learned the journalism trade at newspapers (including The Seattle Times) before taking the online leap. So when Greg … Continue reading “Newspapers Need Less Paper, More Kindle to Survive, Says Madrona’s Tom Alberg”
Vertex’s Telaprevir Passes Test in Tough-To-Treat Hepatitis C Patients
Vertex’s telaprevir is starting to stand the test of time. The experimental drug for hepatitis C is showing today that it can cure about half of the patients who failed to respond to standard treatments. That’s about triple the cure rate for patients who tried a second round of the existing drugs. The latest findings … Continue reading “Vertex’s Telaprevir Passes Test in Tough-To-Treat Hepatitis C Patients”
PATH Gets $52M for HIV Work
PATH, the nonprofit organization that works to reduce health disparities worldwide, has nailed down a pair of grants worth $52 million to prevent HIV and improve how communities respond to the epidemic. One grant for $35 million over three years from the U.S. Agency for International Development, to strengthen the public health response to HIV … Continue reading “PATH Gets $52M for HIV Work”
Gov. Gregoire’s Life Sciences Discovery Fund Survives Budget Axe
One of Gov. Chris Gregoire’s prime strategies for economic development was threatened with a death sentence, but it looks like the plan will survive after all, albeit in diminished form. The House compromise budget released online calls for $38 million in funding for the Life Sciences Discovery Fund over the next two-year budget cycle. This … Continue reading “Gov. Gregoire’s Life Sciences Discovery Fund Survives Budget Axe”
Seattle Has Performed CPR on Global Health, Says Famed Doctor Paul Farmer
You know you’re a global health rock star when you can tease the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on its home turf and get away with it. That was what Paul Farmer did last night as the keynote speaker for the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute’s Passport to Global Health fundraiser. Farmer is best known as … Continue reading “Seattle Has Performed CPR on Global Health, Says Famed Doctor Paul Farmer”
Zymo Drug Kills Hep C Virus
ZymoGenetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZGEN]]), a Seattle biotech company, and partner Bristol-Myers Squibb said today that a drug they are co-developing for hepatitis C was able to kill the virus with minimal side effects in a small four-week study. The trial looked at pegylated interferon lambda on its own, or in combination with a standard ribavirin treatment. … Continue reading “Zymo Drug Kills Hep C Virus”
Dendreon Full Results Coming Tuesday
Dendreon, the Seattle maker of an immune-stimulating therapy for prostate cancer, said today it will report the full results of a pivotal trial next week. The company already said the trial, called Impact, hit its main goal of helping men live longer, but the details will have to wait for a presentation at 2:20 pm … Continue reading “Dendreon Full Results Coming Tuesday”
Biogen Idec To Show Off MS Drugs at Seattle Neurology Meeting
Biogen Idec is the world’s largest maker of multiple sclerosis drugs, and to keep it that way, the company needs to stay on the good side of neurologists. So when a large number of these docs get together for a scientific meeting, it’s time to start wooing. This is at the top of Biogen’s agenda … Continue reading “Biogen Idec To Show Off MS Drugs at Seattle Neurology Meeting”
Why Should the Public Care About Biotech? Why is the Answer Always Jobs?
Why isn’t public health important enough? This is what I wondered, sitting in a press conference yesterday at Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute, listening to high government and business officials talk about the urgent need to foster greater public understanding of biotechnology and why it matters to the future of Washington state and our country. … Continue reading “Why Should the Public Care About Biotech? Why is the Answer Always Jobs?”
Investors Dump Anadys Shares on Report of Itchy Side Effect
Did three cases of skin rash prompt Anadys shareholders to act rashly? The company’s stock crashed today after investors interpreted the cases as a warning sign that the company’s hepatitis C drug might not be as safe as expected. The shares (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ANDS]]) fell 40 percent to $3.51, making it the biggest percentage decliner on … Continue reading “Investors Dump Anadys Shares on Report of Itchy Side Effect”
Anadys Hepatitis C Drug Shows Potent Effect in Small Study
San Diego-based Anadys Pharmaceuticals generated a ton of buzz almost four months ago when it offered an early peek at data suggesting its hepatitis C drug might be working, and now a presentation of the full data appears to reinforce the first impression. Anadys’ lead drug candidate, ANA598, was able to wipe out more than … Continue reading “Anadys Hepatitis C Drug Shows Potent Effect in Small Study”
Amgen Shows Pipeline, Dendreon Revs Up Second Drug, Asemblon Raises $2.9M, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
Cancer research is one of the strengths of the Seattle biotech cluster, and a few companies showed off some of their progress at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Denver. No earth was shattered, because most of this involves early-stage clinical trials and animal experiments, but it’s usually a good indicator of what’s … Continue reading “Amgen Shows Pipeline, Dendreon Revs Up Second Drug, Asemblon Raises $2.9M, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Five Intriguing Green Startups Seek Angel Bucks on Earth Day
[[Updated 9:30 am Pacific with winners]] I wasn’t around for the first Earth Day back in 1970, but I figure it’s safe to say there weren’t any investment forums celebrating the capitalist pursuit of opportunities in the green revolution. It occurred to me, on Earth Day 2009, that it’s pretty remarkable to see how far … Continue reading “Five Intriguing Green Startups Seek Angel Bucks on Earth Day”
Alkermes Moving to Waltham
Alkermes, the Cambridge, MA-based developer of anti-addiction drugs, said today it has signed a lease to move its headquarters to Waltham, MA. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALKS]]), which has more than 600 employees, plans to complete the move in early 2010. The move is supposed to save the company $8 million a year starting in fiscal … Continue reading “Alkermes Moving to Waltham”