The Northwest Association for Biomedical Research, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization that supports science education, has been awarded a three-year grant for $1.3 million from the National Science Foundation. The grant, called Bio-ITEST, will be used to help secondary school teachers and students understand how IT is used in biomedical research. “This grant will help make … Continue reading “NW Bio-Educators Get $1.3.M From NSF”
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.
Biogen Idec, Extending Life of its Top-Selling Drug, Eyes Longer-Lasting Shot for MS
Biogen Idec is the world’s biggest maker of drugs for multiple sclerosis, and it wants to keep things that way. But every drug that’s born eventually dies, and the last remaining patents on Biogen’s biggest-selling drug, interferon-beta1a (Avonex), run out in 2011 and 2013. To protect this $2.2 billion-a-year MS franchise—which generates more than half … Continue reading “Biogen Idec, Extending Life of its Top-Selling Drug, Eyes Longer-Lasting Shot for MS”
Calypso Gets Florida Medicare Unit to Pay for “GPS for the Body” for Prostate Cancer
Calypso Medical Technologies has an expensive new technology for targeting radiation beams to cancerous prostate glands, so it shouldn’t be any surprise when insurers balk before they pay up. But Calypso got some good news this week as it persuaded an important customer, the regional Medicare unit that serves a lot of elderly men with … Continue reading “Calypso Gets Florida Medicare Unit to Pay for “GPS for the Body” for Prostate Cancer”
Pathway Medical Raises $40M for Device to Clear Out Blocked Leg Arteries
Pathway Medical Technologies, the Kirkland, WA-based maker of a device that clears out blockages in clogged leg arteries, has raised $40 million in new venture capital, Xconomy has learned. The investing group was led by Amsterdam-based Forbion Capital Partners, and joined by HLM Venture Partners, Oxford Bioscience Partners, Latterell Capital Management, Cooperative AAC, and Giza … Continue reading “Pathway Medical Raises $40M for Device to Clear Out Blocked Leg Arteries”
Millennium, After Takeda Takeover, Shows Off Cancer Drug Pipeline
About 11 months ago, Cambridge, MA-based Millennium Pharmaceuticals agreed to be acquired by Tokyo-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals for $8.8 billion. We’ve already written some about how this deal presented Millennium’s CEO, Deborah Dunsire, some special challenges in terms of language barriers, cultural barriers, taking control of Takeda’s entire cancer drug portfolio, and trying to fit her … Continue reading “Millennium, After Takeda Takeover, Shows Off Cancer Drug Pipeline”
Obama Stimulates UW, Public Biotechs Run Low on Cash, Healionics Ships Glaucoma Product & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
Biomedical research funded by Uncle Sam is hot, but publicly traded biotech companies that seek to develop those discoveries in the Northwest are cold. Here’s a recap of the week’s ups and downs in the local life sciences scene: —President Obama is proposing a whopping $10 billion addition to the National Institutes of Health’s budget … Continue reading “Obama Stimulates UW, Public Biotechs Run Low on Cash, Healionics Ships Glaucoma Product & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Molecular Insight Preps for Pivotal Trial of Heart Attack Warning Sign Detector
Cambridge, MA-based Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals is gearing up for a pivotal clinical trial of a new type of diagnostic tool for spotting early signs of blockages in the heart that can lead to a heart attack or stroke. Molecular Insight (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MIPI]]) is making this strategic move after reviewing detailed results from a 510-patient mid-stage … Continue reading “Molecular Insight Preps for Pivotal Trial of Heart Attack Warning Sign Detector”
Trubion Starts Lupus Trial
Trubion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TRBN]]), said today it has started a clinical trial of a drug for lupus, an autoimmune disease. The drug, SBI-087, is made to hit a target called CD20, that’s currently blocked by Genentech and Biogen Idec’s rituximab (Rituxan) for patients with a different form of autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis. The Trubion drug-which … Continue reading “Trubion Starts Lupus Trial”
Sticking to its Guns with Gene Therapy, Genzyme To Present Key Findings Within Days
Dozens of companies have given up on gene therapy after the technology failed to live up to its early promise, but not Genzyme. The world’s largest maker of drugs for genetic diseases has stuck with this field through two decades of ups and downs, and it expects to see important results in coming days on … Continue reading “Sticking to its Guns with Gene Therapy, Genzyme To Present Key Findings Within Days”
The Northwest Biotech Survival Index 2: Companies Scraping By in Downturn
When I last crunched the financial numbers of the Northwest’s life sciences companies in November, the local contingent was taking a beating, and it has only continued. Just three of the 12 publicly-traded life sciences companies in the Northwest—Seattle Genetics, SonoSite, and Dendreon—were really well-positioned to weather this downturn with more than $100 million in … Continue reading “The Northwest Biotech Survival Index 2: Companies Scraping By in Downturn”
Clean Water Boom: Halosource Spreads Purifying Technology Across India, China
The last time I checked in with Bothell, WA-based Halosource in July, it was gaining momentum with a cheap, simple technology for purifying drinking water that was being used by a million people in India. Nine months later, privately held Halosource, a company with just 100 employees, appears to have a hit on its hands. … Continue reading “Clean Water Boom: Halosource Spreads Purifying Technology Across India, China”
Nanostring CEO Perry Fell Departs
Nanostring Technologies CEO Perry Fell has resigned as CEO, and has been replaced on an acting basis by chief financial officer Wayne Burns. The Seattle-based company, which makes instruments that provide a digital readout for large-scale genomic experiments, shipped its first commercial product in July. The company was founded in 2004, and has raised $17 … Continue reading “Nanostring CEO Perry Fell Departs”
Leroy Hood, ISB Scientists Spot Genes For “Mad Cow” Disease; May Lead to Diagnostic Test
A team of scientists led by biotech pioneer Leroy Hood have spotted a set of genes that go haywire in mice infected with a form of “Mad Cow” disease—a finding that could pave the way for more effective early diagnostic tests for the brain-wasting condition in cattle. The new findings are being published online today … Continue reading “Leroy Hood, ISB Scientists Spot Genes For “Mad Cow” Disease; May Lead to Diagnostic Test”
Arena Gets $50M Commitment
Arena Pharmaceuticals, the San Diego-based developer of an obesity drug, said it has received a $50 million equity financing commitment from Azimuth Opportunity. Under the commitment, Arena will decide over the next 18 months when to sell shares to Azimuth at an undisclosed discount to the market price. Arena (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARNA]]) is awaiting results of … Continue reading “Arena Gets $50M Commitment”
Healionics Takes First Step Toward Glaucoma Treatment, Appoints New CEO
Healionics is taking an important step today toward becoming a commercial business. The Redmond, WA-based company, the two-year-old developer of technology to promote healing around implantable medical devices, has sold and shipped its first product. It has also undergone a leadership shake-up, with CEO Rob Brown stepping aside and being replaced by the company’s former … Continue reading “Healionics Takes First Step Toward Glaucoma Treatment, Appoints New CEO”
Calixa Passes Key Safety Test in Clinical Trial of New Antibiotic
MRSA is the headline-grabbing boogeyman of the day when it comes to the type of deadly infections that people can pick up in the hospital. But there are all sorts of other nasty bugs crawling around your healthcare facility, and San Diego-based Calixa Therapeutics says it is on its way to creating a new drug … Continue reading “Calixa Passes Key Safety Test in Clinical Trial of New Antibiotic”
MDRNA Nabs $7.25M From Novartis
MDRNA, the Bothell, WA-based developer of RNA interference technology for drug development, said today it agreed to provide a non-exclusive license its technology to Novartis in exchange for $7.25 million in upfront fees. MDNRA (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MRNA]]) also negotiated a separate deal that gives Novartis an exclusive period in which it can strike a larger R&D … Continue reading “MDRNA Nabs $7.25M From Novartis”
Obama Stimulus Plan May Generate $300M Research Windfall, UW Says
The Northwest’s biggest research center is going to get a lot bigger in a hurry. The University of Washington expects it will rake in a $300 million windfall of research money in the next six months as part of President Obama’s economic stimulus plan, according to Linden Rhoads, the UW’s vice provost of technology transfer. … Continue reading “Obama Stimulus Plan May Generate $300M Research Windfall, UW Says”
EU Spurns Gilead’s Aztreonam
Gilead Sciences, the Foster City, CA-based biotech company that has a research center in Seattle, said a scientific committee of the European Union adopted a negative opinion of its aztreonam lysine drug. The treatment, an inhalable antibiotic for cystic fibrosis developed by Seattle-based Corus Pharma, was turned down by the FDA last fall. EU regulators … Continue reading “EU Spurns Gilead’s Aztreonam”
The San Diego Biotech Survival Index 2: Clinging to Cash in the Downturn
Something like one-third of the public biotech companies are running with six months’ worth of cash or less, and it doesn’t look like San Diego companies are bucking this disturbing trend. When I last surveyed how much cash was available at San Diego’s public biotech companies in November, I found just 10 of 23 public … Continue reading “The San Diego Biotech Survival Index 2: Clinging to Cash in the Downturn”
Five More Life Sciences Companies To Watch: Invest Northwest Notebook, Part 2
There were lots of intriguing ideas circulating at this year’s Invest Northwest conference in Seattle; so many, in fact, that I couldn’t jam them all into one story. Yesterday, I offered an update on the progress of five intriguing Seattle-area companies in the business of making new drugs, vaccines, or medical devices—Alder Biopharmaceuticals, Immune Design, … Continue reading “Five More Life Sciences Companies To Watch: Invest Northwest Notebook, Part 2”
Invest Northwest Notebook: Five of Seattle’s Next-Generation Life Sciences Innovators Seek to Adapt
No single company captured the lion’s share of buzz at this year’s Invest Northwest conference with a mega-partnership or a lucrative round of venture capital. But there were signs that the Northwest’s life sciences companies have adapted to life in a recession, and are continuing to get out of bed each day with plans to … Continue reading “Invest Northwest Notebook: Five of Seattle’s Next-Generation Life Sciences Innovators Seek to Adapt”
Merck’s Creationist-Turned-Genomicist, Pfizer’s VC Leader Scouts the Northwest, Zymo Nabs $20M, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
This was a busy week in Xconomy’s life sciences department with lots of story ideas to chase at Invest Northwest, a fascinating life story of Merck’s Eric Schadt, and the usual pace of breaking news. —Merck’s Eric Schadt has been in the news lately since he and Rosetta Inpharmatics founder Stephen Friend told me about … Continue reading “Merck’s Creationist-Turned-Genomicist, Pfizer’s VC Leader Scouts the Northwest, Zymo Nabs $20M, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
How to Stimulate Biotech? Gillis, Chhabra, Williams Sound Off
No one would have been surprised if there was a lot of self-pity going around at this year’s Invest Northwest conference. After all, biotech investors have been clobbered like every other sector in the market, and one-third of public biotech companies are said to be running on their last six months of cash or less. … Continue reading “How to Stimulate Biotech? Gillis, Chhabra, Williams Sound Off”
Amira’s Drug Discovery Team, Pioneers of Hit Asthma Treatment, Take Aim at Pulmonary Fibrosis
People with pulmonary fibrosis have a pretty raw deal. Scientists don’t really know what causes this lung-damaging disease, and there’s no really effective FDA-approved treatment. The disease makes it hard to breathe, and kills an estimated 40,000 people a year. That’s a bigger killer than some far better known culprits like prostate cancer. A few … Continue reading “Amira’s Drug Discovery Team, Pioneers of Hit Asthma Treatment, Take Aim at Pulmonary Fibrosis”
Pfizer’s VC Leader, Barbara Dalton, on Corporate Venture and Northwest Deal Hunting
Pfizer is the world’s largest drugmaker, and it tends to make headlines when it pulls off megadeals like its pending $68 billion takeover of Wyeth. It’s one of the deals the company is hoping will help replenish its pipeline with new medicines after the patent expires in 2010 for atorvastatin (Lipitor), the $12 billion a … Continue reading “Pfizer’s VC Leader, Barbara Dalton, on Corporate Venture and Northwest Deal Hunting”
Geospiza Wins $1.1M NIH Grant
Geospiza, the Seattle-based maker of software to help researchers sort through massive amounts of genomic data, said today it has received a two-year, $1.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. It’s part of a collaboration with The HDF Group. The collaboration will aim to support biological software applications that use Hierarchical Data Format, … Continue reading “Geospiza Wins $1.1M NIH Grant”
Biotech Survival Index 2: Boston Life Sciences Companies Squirrel Away More Cash for Long Winter
When I last crunched the numbers on the financial health of the Boston area’s public life sciences companies, back in November, I noted that 15 of them had more than $100 million stockpiled. These firms, I reasoned, were likely in a decent position to weather the economic storm. Now with quarterly financial reporting through December … Continue reading “Biotech Survival Index 2: Boston Life Sciences Companies Squirrel Away More Cash for Long Winter”
Using HIV as Model, Anadys Develops Drug Cocktail Ingredient for Hepatitis C
HIV was transformed from a terminal illness into a chronic disease in wealthy countries in the late 1990s, once scientists learned to mix anti-viral drugs into a potent cocktail. That was supposed to hold the virus in check by attacking it from many different angles, keeping it from developing resistance to any one drug. The … Continue reading “Using HIV as Model, Anadys Develops Drug Cocktail Ingredient for Hepatitis C”
Cell Therapeutics Reports Severe Cardiac Events in Drug Trial
[[Updated: March 16, 5:50 pm. Adds comments from chief medical officer Jack Singer and clarifies study results.]] Cell Therapeutics is betting its future on winning FDA approval of a drug that looks effective for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but now comes word that patients on the drug in a clinical trial had a higher number of heart … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Reports Severe Cardiac Events in Drug Trial”
What’s a Biotech Banker To Do in a Downturn? How About M&A
George Milstein is a survivor. Lots of peers in his line of work, biotech investment banking, have vanished from the scene with pink slips in hand. Yet after 15 years in the business, living through the mid-90s health reform bust, the genomics collapse of 2001, and now this mortgage-fueled catastrophe, Milstein is still doing what … Continue reading “What’s a Biotech Banker To Do in a Downturn? How About M&A”
Pico Pharmaceuticals, In Its Early Days, Aims to Make More Potent Cancer Drugs, Anti-Bacterials
One out of three biotech companies in the U.S. are running down to their last six months of cash, but biotech entrepreneurs are continuing to start new companies. The latest one to cross my desk is San Diego-based Pico Pharmaceuticals, which emerged last week on the local biotech scene in style, with a scientific paper … Continue reading “Pico Pharmaceuticals, In Its Early Days, Aims to Make More Potent Cancer Drugs, Anti-Bacterials”
Google’s Brian Bershad on the Search Giant’s “Second Act,” and Building More Trust
Google owns the world’s most popular Internet search engine, but to hear the leader of the company’s Seattle site talk, building that was “the easy part.” All the information on the Internet was free and available for indexing with its clever algorithms, but that’s just a tiny fraction of the world’s information, when you start … Continue reading “Google’s Brian Bershad on the Search Giant’s “Second Act,” and Building More Trust”
Born a Creationist, Merck’s Schadt Leads Open Source Effort to Unravel Genome
One of the world’s brightest minds at analyzing human DNA was born into a family of creationists. When he was 17 and graduating from high school in a rural area of southwestern Michigan, Eric Schadt couldn’t even imagine going to college. “My parents were very religious,” Schadt told me on a visit to his office … Continue reading “Born a Creationist, Merck’s Schadt Leads Open Source Effort to Unravel Genome”
Dendreon Ends Year With $109M
Dendreon, the Seattle biotech company developing an immune-boosting treatment for cancer, said today it finished ended 2008 with $108.5 million in cash and investments. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) didn’t provide a financial forecast for how much of that it plans to spend in 2009. Dendreon is awaiting final results next month from a trial of … Continue reading “Dendreon Ends Year With $109M”
Cadence Drug Fails to Prevent Hospital Infections; Company Scraps Program
Cadence Pharmaceuticals has taken a couple steps forward in the past few months, and now it took one step back. The San Diego-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CADX]]) said today the second drug candidate in its pipeline failed in a final-stage clinical trial to help prevent infections from developing in hospitalized patients. Cadence said it is … Continue reading “Cadence Drug Fails to Prevent Hospital Infections; Company Scraps Program”
Biogen Idec R&D Boss Retires
Biogen Idec said today that its president of R&D, Cecil Pickett, is retiring. Pickett, 62, will stay in the job until a replacement is filled, and he will keep his seat on the board of directors after retirement, the company said in a regulatory filing. Pickett joined the Cambridge, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) in … Continue reading “Biogen Idec R&D Boss Retires”
OVP Taps Elder Weissman as Adviser
OVP Venture Partners, the Kirkland, WA-based venture investor in IT, cleantech, and digital biology, said today it has recruited Irv Weissman to join its technical advisory group. Weissman, a professor at Stanford University, co-discovered stem cells that form blood in humans, and is a co-founder of three stem cell companies—SyStemix, StemCells, and Cellerant. He is … Continue reading “OVP Taps Elder Weissman as Adviser”
ZymoGenetics Gets $20M From Bristol
ZymoGenetics disclosed today that it has received a $20 million milestone payment from Bristol-Myers Squibb, as part of a larger partnership potentially worth $1.1 billion, which the companies announced in January. ZymoGenetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZGEN]]) has now received $105 million under the deal, which gives Bristol-Myers Squibb the right to co-develop pegylated interferon lambda. It’s an … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics Gets $20M From Bristol”
CG Retools with Dendreon Alumni, Microsoft Explains HealthVault, Calistoga Reunites Icosians, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
Cancer drugs are one of the core strengths of Seattle’s life sciences hub, and this week we found a couple of intriguing stories about startups that haven’t been covered anywhere else in depth. —Seattle-based CG Therapeutics is moving toward clinical trials with an immune-boosting therapy designed to knock down a protein that cloaks tumor cells … Continue reading “CG Retools with Dendreon Alumni, Microsoft Explains HealthVault, Calistoga Reunites Icosians, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Biogen Idec, Genentech’s Rituxan Fails in Pivotal Study of Lupus of Kidneys
Rituxan, the hit lymphoma drug from Genentech and Biogen Idec, has failed in yet another bid to expand into treating other diseases. The drug fell short of reaching the main goal in a final-stage study of 144 patients with lupus nephritis, an inflammatory disease of the kidneys. The study, called Lunar, showed that patients who … Continue reading “Biogen Idec, Genentech’s Rituxan Fails in Pivotal Study of Lupus of Kidneys”
OncoGenex Cash To Last Into 2010
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, the Bothell, WA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it had $12.4 million in cash and investments left at the end of 2008, which ought to be enough to fund its operations through February 2010. OncoGenex (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OGXI]]) hopes to use the cash to further develop its experimental prostate cancer drug which showed … Continue reading “OncoGenex Cash To Last Into 2010”
Calistoga Reunites Icos Execs To Pursue Cancer, Inflammation Drugs
Some members of the band that pumped out a one-hit wonder at Icos are getting back together to see if they can produce at least one more hit at Seattle-based Calistoga Pharmaceuticals. Calistoga has been building up its management team over the past year, and the latest recruit is chief business officer Cliff Stocks. He … Continue reading “Calistoga Reunites Icos Execs To Pursue Cancer, Inflammation Drugs”
Biogen Idec Aims to Regenerate Damaged Nerves, Crack Multi-Billion Dollar Market
Biogen Idec’s scientists have a vision for regenerative medicine, and it has nothing to do with what’s been written and said about embryonic stem cells. Deep in Biogen’s pipeline, on the verge of entering clinical trials, are a pair of regenerative medicines that the company hopes will become trailblazers in the world of neurological diseases. … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Aims to Regenerate Damaged Nerves, Crack Multi-Billion Dollar Market”
Clean Energy Revenues Climbed 53% in 2008: Forecast Flat to Down for This Year
The global cleantech industry stayed on a bull run despite a shaky economy in 2008, but the momentum is bound to slow down this year. That was the key finding from a report released yesterday by Portland, OR-based Clean Edge, a consulting firm. The three major clean energy sectors—solar photovoltaics, wind power, and biofuels—saw their … Continue reading “Clean Energy Revenues Climbed 53% in 2008: Forecast Flat to Down for This Year”
CG Therapeutics, Immune-Booster For Cancer, Recruits Dendreon Vets, New CEO
Flameouts are the norm for any company that dares to try to stimulate the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells. Cell Genesys, Genitope, Favrille, and Antigenics have been added to the long list of companies that have stumbled in this promising field that hasn’t yet produced a single FDA-approved therapy. One of the sector … Continue reading “CG Therapeutics, Immune-Booster For Cancer, Recruits Dendreon Vets, New CEO”
How to Make a Better Lightbulb, Biofuel, or Energy Storage Technology: Xconomy Forum Adds Voices of Leading Entrepreneurs
Lots of creative entrepreneurs are popping up in the Northwest cleantech business, so we invited three of them to explain their ideas at our upcoming Xconomy Forum, The Rise of Cleantech in the Northwest, on March 26. These new special guests will offer up expertise in biofuels, energy storage, and conservation—some of the region’s key … Continue reading “How to Make a Better Lightbulb, Biofuel, or Energy Storage Technology: Xconomy Forum Adds Voices of Leading Entrepreneurs”
Stemgent Nails Down $14M to Make Supplies, Tools for Stem Cell Researchers
Stemgent, a startup in Cambridge, MA, and San Diego that makes consumable materials for stem cell research labs, has raised $14 million in venture capital, according to PE Hub. The company’s backers include HealthCare Ventures and Morgenthaler Ventures, according to PE Hub. CEO Ian Ratcliffe didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment about the … Continue reading “Stemgent Nails Down $14M to Make Supplies, Tools for Stem Cell Researchers”
Surface Logix, Developer of Obesity and Diabetes Drugs, Nabs $20M Financing
Surface Logix got a new CEO on board last fall, and five months later it has nailed down a load of new cash. The Brighton, MA-based biotech company, which uses an unusual chemical trick to treat obesity and diabetes, has secured $20 million to see if it can prove its experimental drugs work in human … Continue reading “Surface Logix, Developer of Obesity and Diabetes Drugs, Nabs $20M Financing”
Microsoft’s Vet of Online Banking, Travel Aims To Make You Switch to Digital Health Records
No way would American consumers ever switch to online banking. It’s too risky, people used to tell David Cerino in the 1990s. Travel? Same story. Consumers would never voluntarily put their credit card numbers into a website that could get hacked. Turned out the switch to online banking and travel took less than four years, … Continue reading “Microsoft’s Vet of Online Banking, Travel Aims To Make You Switch to Digital Health Records”