Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.

Biotech CEOs See Insurers as the New Boogeymen, Not FDA

Most biotech executives would have said a few years ago that the FDA was the No. 1 barrier standing in the way of business success. It was the one thing they worried about most. But now biotech CEOs appear to be more concerned about a new kind of threat, coming from the people who pay … Continue reading “Biotech CEOs See Insurers as the New Boogeymen, Not FDA”

Illumina Acquires Verinata Health, Prenatal Testmaker, For $350M

Illumina spent much of the last year trying to avoid being swallowed up by a bigger corporate fish, and now it has taken a gulp of its own out of the fast-growing market for prenatal genetic tests. The San Diego-based genetic instrument maker (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ILMN]]) said tonight it has agreed to pay $350 million upfront, … Continue reading “Illumina Acquires Verinata Health, Prenatal Testmaker, For $350M”

Crescendo Bioscience Snags $28M For Arthritis Test

Billions are spent every year on treating rheumatoid arthritis patients with drugs that sometimes work, and sometimes don’t. Now South San Francisco-based Crescendo Bioscience has pulled in more cash to help commercialize a diagnostic test that is supposed to help physicians better treat individual patients. Crescendo is announcing today it has raised $28 million in … Continue reading “Crescendo Bioscience Snags $28M For Arthritis Test”

Alkermes Aims for Psychiatric Drug That Won’t Pack on the Pounds

Eli Lilly once made a fortune on a schizophrenia drug that helped a lot of people, but came with a nasty side effect—weight gain. Now Dublin, Ireland- and Waltham, MA-based Alkermes is wagering that it can get the benefits of the original treatment without causing patients to add so many extra pounds. Alkermes (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALKS]]) … Continue reading “Alkermes Aims for Psychiatric Drug That Won’t Pack on the Pounds”

The Fiscal Cliff Is Forcing a Biomedical Day of Reckoning

Sarah Palin, the onetime candidate for the second-highest elected office in the U.S., once delivered a rant on the campaign trail about waste she perceived in federal support of fruit fly research. Scientists everywhere were appalled. Regardless of whether Palin knew about the historic importance of the drosophila to genetics, they were furious that a … Continue reading “The Fiscal Cliff Is Forcing a Biomedical Day of Reckoning”

Editor’s Picks: Xconomy Seattle’s Best Stories of 2012

When you work on news at Internet speed, it’s sometimes hard to remember what you did last week. Maybe that’s why I enjoy this annual ritual of sifting through the best journalism of the year that appeared on Xconomy Seattle. This task reminds me that we’ve published a lot of interesting, important, and exclusive stories … Continue reading “Editor’s Picks: Xconomy Seattle’s Best Stories of 2012”

Lee Hood, Bob Langer Win National Medals

[Updated: 8:40 pm ET/5:40 pm PT] Leroy Hood, the man who transformed biology by leading the team that invented automated DNA sequencers, has picked up one of the highest honors a scientist can get in the United States—the National Medal of Science. Hood, the co-founder and president of the Seattle-based Institute for Systems Biology, was named … Continue reading “Lee Hood, Bob Langer Win National Medals”

Ultragenyx, Led by BioMarin Vet, Snags $75M for Ultra-Rare Diseases

Some of the biggest investment checks in biotech are going to startups focused on treating extremely tiny groups of patients. You can see the story playing out at a little company in Novato, CA, called Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical. The company, founded by former BioMarin Pharmaceuticals executive Emil Kakkis in April 2010, is announcing today it has … Continue reading “Ultragenyx, Led by BioMarin Vet, Snags $75M for Ultra-Rare Diseases”

UW Spinoff PhysioSonics Gets FDA OK For Monitoring Brain Blood Flow

PhysioSonics, the Bellevue, WA-based developer of ultrasound for automated monitoring of stroke symptoms, is graduating from R&D mode and moving into the commercial world. The company has won clearance from the FDA to start selling its Presto 1000 Flow Monitor system in the U.S., according to CEO Brad Harlow. The company has also raised a … Continue reading “UW Spinoff PhysioSonics Gets FDA OK For Monitoring Brain Blood Flow”

Oncothyreon Cancer Drug Fails in Final Trial; Shares Tank

Despite all the advances of modern medicine, pharmaceutical companies still sometimes take a drug all the way to the third and final phase of clinical trials before finding out it’s a failure. It’s a massive waste of time and money, and it happened today to Germany-based Merck KGaA, which was testing a cancer immunotherapy licensed … Continue reading “Oncothyreon Cancer Drug Fails in Final Trial; Shares Tank”

Sutro Strikes Celgene Deal Worth Up to $500M

South San Francisco-based Sutro Biopharma thinks it has a way to make biotech drugs that’s faster and better than the traditional method that incubates the molecules inside living cells. And today it got a big vote of confidence from one of biotech’s big players, Celgene (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CELG]]). Sutro said today it struck a broad agreement … Continue reading “Sutro Strikes Celgene Deal Worth Up to $500M”

2012: The Year When Genomic Medicine Started Paying Off

Remember a couple of years ago when people commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the first draft human genome sequencing? The storyline then, in 2010, was that we all went off to genome camp and only came home with a lousy T-shirt. Society, we were told, invested huge scientific resources in deciphering the code of life, … Continue reading “2012: The Year When Genomic Medicine Started Paying Off”

Fred Hutch Strikes Deal With GSK on Form of Muscular Dystrophy

[Updated: 12:55 pm PT] The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has spun out more than a few ideas for startup companies over the years, but it doesn’t have a history of forming big collaborations with Big Pharma. Now the Seattle-based research center is taking a step in that direction through a partnership with London-based GlaxoSmithKline. … Continue reading “Fred Hutch Strikes Deal With GSK on Form of Muscular Dystrophy”

Amgen Acquires DeCode Genetics, the Once-Fallen Star, for $415M

Biotech companies rarely ever recover after falling into bankruptcy, but Iceland-based deCode Genetics just pulled off that rare feat. And it apparently has made some significant returns for its two recent venture backers—Polaris Venture Partners and Arch Venture Partners. Iceland-based deCode agreed to be acquired by Thousand Oaks, CA-based Amgen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMGN]]) for $415 million … Continue reading “Amgen Acquires DeCode Genetics, the Once-Fallen Star, for $415M”

NanoString Pockets $15.3M For Diagnostic Rollout

Seattle-based NanoString Technologies has pulled in another $15.3 million in investment cash to help build momentum for its new foray into the molecular diagnostic business. NanoString said Monday it took in $15.3 million in a Series E sale of preferred stock. Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital and AllianceBernstein Alternative Investment Management Group led the new investment. … Continue reading “NanoString Pockets $15.3M For Diagnostic Rollout”

Where’s the Can-Do Spirit in Biotech? It’s Alive, Deep Down

How many people in the biotech industry today really feel like they are part of something special, something bigger than themselves? How many people feel such camaraderie with their co-workers that they’d show up to meet them at a reunion five years from now? How many people in biotech feel the task in front of … Continue reading “Where’s the Can-Do Spirit in Biotech? It’s Alive, Deep Down”

AMRI Closes Bothell R&D Site, Sending Jobs to Singapore, NY

AMRI, the contract research firm also known as Albany Molecular Research, is closing its research and development center in Bothell, WA that employs 24 people. AMRI (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMRI]]) said today it is moving the Bothell site’s drug discovery capabilities to a company facility in Singapore, while certain analytical work will be consolidated at the company’s … Continue reading “AMRI Closes Bothell R&D Site, Sending Jobs to Singapore, NY”

The Few and the Proud: The Biotech Startup Class of 2012

[Updated: 3:35 pm PT, 12/3/12] Quick: Can you name three exciting biotech companies that got started, in your city, in 2012? I can’t, as a citizen of Seattle. Chances are, no matter where you live in the U.S., and no matter how plugged-in you are into the industry, you can’t either. This wasn’t supposed to … Continue reading “The Few and the Proud: The Biotech Startup Class of 2012”

The Icos Impact: What to Expect Next Week

We’re one week away from our next big life sciences gathering in Seattle, called “The Icos Impact.” We’re expecting more than 150 people at this event who either worked at this important local biotech company or crossed paths with many of the smart and hard-working people who worked there in the ‘90s and 2000s. As … Continue reading “The Icos Impact: What to Expect Next Week”

Seattle Biomed, Emerald Bio and Peers Get Big NIH Contract Extension

Seattle Biomedical Research Institute and its scientific partners set out five years ago to better understand, in fine-grain detail, the 3-D structures of proteins on infectious bugs that sicken and kill people in developing countries. Nobody in the pharmaceutical industry had reason to look very hard before. But the scientists figured that if you could … Continue reading “Seattle Biomed, Emerald Bio and Peers Get Big NIH Contract Extension”

Stanford’s Mike Snyder is Showing the Way With Personalized Medicine

Say the words “personalized medicine” to people from various walks of life, and you’re likely to get one of about four different reactions. A. “Personalized medicine? What’s that?” (Usually spoken by 99 percent of patients.) B. “Personalized medicine will bankrupt the country with expensive new diagnostic tests, and overrated targeted drugs.” (Usually spoken by health … Continue reading “Stanford’s Mike Snyder is Showing the Way With Personalized Medicine”

Intarcia Snags $210M to Push Implantable Device for Diabetes

Private biotech companies are fortunate if they can scrape together a few million bucks in this year’s venture financing drought, but didn’t stop Hayward, CA-based Intarcia Therapeutics from raking in a whopping $210 million to support its drug/device combo treatment for diabetes. Intarcia, a private company moving its commercial headquarters to the Boston area while keeping … Continue reading “Intarcia Snags $210M to Push Implantable Device for Diabetes”

Alnylam, Tekmira Look Ahead After RNAi Divorce

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Tekmira Pharmaceuticals were married, more or less, for eight years. But now that their divorce is final, each side sounds like it is relieved to be going off in separate directions. And shareholders of the companies who watched this dispute from afar basically agreed yesterday. After news of a legal settlement broke … Continue reading “Alnylam, Tekmira Look Ahead After RNAi Divorce”

Alnylam to Pay Tekmira $65M to Settle RNAi Delivery Dispute

[Updated: 11:27 pm ET] Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay Vancouver, BC-based Tekmira Pharmaceuticals $65 million upfront, and potentially another $10 million next year, to settle a legal dispute over technology that enables Alnylam’s RNA interference drugs to be delivered where they are supposed to go inside cells. Alnylam (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) and Tekmira … Continue reading “Alnylam to Pay Tekmira $65M to Settle RNAi Delivery Dispute”

Who Are Biotech’s New Go-To Investment Bankers?

[Updated: 2:40 pm PT] Not that long ago, biotech executives weren’t sure who to call on Wall Street, or whether anyone would answer the phone. In late 2008 and early 2009, nobody could say for sure who would still be around in a couple years to supply capital to aspiring drugmakers. Partly inspired by all … Continue reading “Who Are Biotech’s New Go-To Investment Bankers?”

The Icos Impact: A Few Photos From Memory Lane

Dig around in the old files from Icos, and a few things jump out. There were a lot of smart people who worked hard, and clearly enjoyed working together. A lot of sweat equity went into turning it from an R&D shop into a “fully integrated” company with a product to sell. Much of this … Continue reading “The Icos Impact: A Few Photos From Memory Lane”

Omeros Passes 2nd Trial for Eye Drug, Preps for FDA Push

Seattle-based Omeros (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OMER]]) has spent 18 years as an R&D company, and now it can say that some of that biomedical research and development is being translated into what looks like a marketable product. The company said today it passed the second of two pivotal clinical trials with its experimental drug for use in … Continue reading “Omeros Passes 2nd Trial for Eye Drug, Preps for FDA Push”

LinkedIn: The Quiet Force Transforming Biotech & Pharma

Mark Levin’s business is biotechnology, so it’s no surprise he knew zilch about a tech company called LinkedIn as recently as two years ago. But these days Levin sounds like he can barely do his job without it. “I’m not the most social media savvy person. I haven’t used a lot of these tools at … Continue reading “LinkedIn: The Quiet Force Transforming Biotech & Pharma”

Allen Institute Moving to South Lake Union as Growth Continues

The Allen Institute for Brain Science is in the midst of an audacious $300 million expansion, as it plans to grow to 350 employees, and recruit neuroscientists from around the world to tackle some of the toughest questions in biology. Those people need someplace to work together, and no surprise, that place is going to … Continue reading “Allen Institute Moving to South Lake Union as Growth Continues”

Omeros Settles Wrongful Termination Suit With Former CFO for $3.9M

Omeros, the Seattle-based drug developer, has ended a long-running dispute with former chief financial officer Richard Klein by agreeing to pay him $3.94 million to settle a wrongful termination case he brought against the company three years ago. Omeros (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OMER]]) said today in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it … Continue reading “Omeros Settles Wrongful Termination Suit With Former CFO for $3.9M”

Hoist a Pint With Xconomy’s New Team Member: Benjamin Romano

Once in a while at Xconomy Seattle we like to crawl out of our little writer dens, and meet the readers we serve in person. The time has come to do it again this Friday afternoon. Benjamin Romano, the new tech and cleantech writer here on staff, is the guest of honor at this little … Continue reading “Hoist a Pint With Xconomy’s New Team Member: Benjamin Romano”

UW Spinoff Resolve Therapeutics Snags $5.8M for Lupus Drug

Resolve Therapeutics, the University of Washington spinoff with a new strategy for the treatment of lupus, has nailed down $5.8 million in its second round of venture financing, Xconomy has learned. The company has secured the additional cash from its existing investors New Science Ventures and Easton Capital, as well as a new backer, Seattle-based … Continue reading “UW Spinoff Resolve Therapeutics Snags $5.8M for Lupus Drug”

Seattle Genetics, Millennium Cancer Drug Cleared in EU

Seattle Genetics cashed a $60 million check three years ago from Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, as Millennium wanted a piece of a potent new cancer drug it could sell outside the U.S. Now regulators have given Millennium the go-ahead to start recouping that investment by selling the drug in the 27-member European Union, world’s … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics, Millennium Cancer Drug Cleared in EU”

PacBio Looks to Hang On, Pull a Turnaround With Genomics Tool

Pacific Biosciences represents one of the big dreams in genomics of the past decade. It rallied big money and prominent people around a one-of-a-kind sequencing technology. The Menlo Park, CA-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PACB]]) ended up reaching the market, and has helped researchers make some high-profile discoveries, like the origin of the 2010 cholera outbreak in … Continue reading “PacBio Looks to Hang On, Pull a Turnaround With Genomics Tool”

UCSF Spinout Principia Biopharma Thinking Big and Covalent

[Updated and corrected 9:35 am PT] Anyone who invested in Sunnyvale, CA-based Pharmacyclics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PCYC]]) or Bedford, MA-based Avila Therapeutics the past couple years must love to see the words “covalent” and “drug” in the same sentence. While most people probably haven’t thought much about covalent bonds since high school chemistry, those two companies have … Continue reading “UCSF Spinout Principia Biopharma Thinking Big and Covalent”

Digging in the Closet for Halloween? Get Out Your Icos Mementos

Somewhere, buried deep in the closets of many biotech professionals in the Northwest, there are old T-shirts, coffee mugs, or little squeezy stress balls with a logo that says “Icos.” Even though many of these things probably have been stuck in boxes for years, it’s time to dig them out for a big party coming … Continue reading “Digging in the Closet for Halloween? Get Out Your Icos Mementos”

The New Power Players in Drug R&D Are Wearing Bright T-Shirts

See all those people signing up for the 10K charity run/walk in your hometown this weekend? Those folks in your Facebook photo album, decked out with colorful T-shirts and uplifting messages about fighting some disease? You could easily have written off many of these nonprofit fundraisers a few years ago as well-intended, but ultimately ineffective, … Continue reading “The New Power Players in Drug R&D Are Wearing Bright T-Shirts”

Exclusive: Skyline Ventures Cuts Partners, Postpones Fundraising

Skyline Ventures, one of the high-profile venture firms in the U.S. biotech and medical device business over the past 15 years, has let go three of its six partners and postponed plans to raise a new venture fund, Xconomy has learned. Skyline, which has offices in Palo Alto, CA, Waltham, MA, and Stamford, CT, raised … Continue reading “Exclusive: Skyline Ventures Cuts Partners, Postpones Fundraising”

Meet Benjamin Romano, Our New Tech and Cleantech Writer in Seattle

Xconomy Seattle just added a heavy hitter to our lineup. I’m thrilled to announce that Benjamin Romano is the newest member of our editorial team, starting today as a senior editor in Seattle focused on the tech and cleantech industries. Ben brings a load of relevant experience to this job. He spent four years at … Continue reading “Meet Benjamin Romano, Our New Tech and Cleantech Writer in Seattle”

Seattle Genetics Gets $25M in Broader Abbott Deal

The world has been beating a path to Seattle Genetics’s door the past couple years as it has proven it can make a “smart bomb” cancer drug work. And it’s translating into a series of more and more lucrative partnerships. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]) said today that Abbott Laboratories has agreed to pay $25 million … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics Gets $25M in Broader Abbott Deal”

Alnylam Gets $22.5M From Genzyme for Asia Rights to Amyloidosis Drug

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has said it is modeling itself after Genzyme, and now it has formed a new partnership with the pioneering developer of drugs for rare diseases. Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]), the developer of RNA interference drugs, said today it has agreed to give Genzyme an exclusive license to develop and market ALN-TTR02 as … Continue reading “Alnylam Gets $22.5M From Genzyme for Asia Rights to Amyloidosis Drug”

Who Will Survive the Biotech VC Downturn? The Young and the Proven

[Updated: 10:10 am PT, 12/10/12] Most people, if they’re being honest, don’t have a clear plan for what they’ll be doing in their careers five years from now. But career planning is serious, high-stakes business for biotech venture capitalists. When a firm raises a new fund to invest in biotechnology, the partners have to personally … Continue reading “Who Will Survive the Biotech VC Downturn? The Young and the Proven”

E. Donnall Thomas, Bone Marrow Transplant Pioneer at the Hutch, Dies at 92

E. Donnall Thomas, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who helped put the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center on the map with his pioneering work in bone marrow transplantation, died on Saturday. He was 92. Thomas had been suffering from cardiovascular disease, according to his obituary in The Seattle Times. Thomas was a legend at the Seattle-based … Continue reading “E. Donnall Thomas, Bone Marrow Transplant Pioneer at the Hutch, Dies at 92”

Reinventing Biotech’s Business Model: The Photos

Big Pharma is cutting back on internal R&D, many biotech venture capital firms that once financed innovation are going extinct, and federal research budgets are under perennial attack. It’s all enough to make a guy wonder, where are all the great new drugs going to come from in the next decade if there’s so much … Continue reading “Reinventing Biotech’s Business Model: The Photos”

Calling All Seattle Biotechies: The Icos Impact Is Coming Up Nov. 27

Ever wonder what the people inside Icos really thought about tadalafil (Cialis), way back in 1996? That was when GlaxoSmithKline bailed out of a partnership with the Bothell, WA-based biotech company, thinking this molecule was just another dud for cardiovascular disease. Two years later, it became obvious that GlaxoSmithKline truly didn’t know what it had. … Continue reading “Calling All Seattle Biotechies: The Icos Impact Is Coming Up Nov. 27”

See You Today at Onyx for ‘Reinventing Biotech’s Business Model’

The Xconomy team is getting ready to head over this afternoon to Onyx Pharmaceuticals for our big event titled “Reinventing Biotech’s Business Model.” More than 160 people have registered online in advance, and there is still a little room for folks who’d like to register at the door. For those of you who can’t make … Continue reading “See You Today at Onyx for ‘Reinventing Biotech’s Business Model’”