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.

Genzyme, PTC Therapeutics Form Collaboration on Drug For Genetic Diseases

Genzyme has struck another big drug development partnership, this time with PTC Therapeutics, a privately-held biotech in South Plainfield, NJ. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GENZ]]), the world’s largest maker of drugs for rare genetic disorders, is paying $100 million in upfront cash, plus milestone payments and royalties for the right to co-develop and co-market … Continue reading “Genzyme, PTC Therapeutics Form Collaboration on Drug For Genetic Diseases”

Genzyme Reaching For a Slice From Biogen’s Breadbasket, Multiple Sclerosis Drugs

If Genzyme gets its way, it will be eating Biogen Idec’s lunch in a few more years. The two Cambridge, MA-based companies, the largest independent biotechs in the state, could be duking it out with competing multiple sclerosis treatments, in a market worth an estimated $8 billion to $9 billion annually by 2011. It would … Continue reading “Genzyme Reaching For a Slice From Biogen’s Breadbasket, Multiple Sclerosis Drugs”

Allen Institute Releases First Data for Spinal Cord Researchers, Unveils New Financing Model

Paul Allen gave researchers a map of the mouse brain first, and now comes the spinal cord. The Allen Institute for Brain Science, a Seattle-based nonprofit backed by the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, said today it is releasing a cellular map on its website that shows 2,000 genes at work in the mouse spinal cord … Continue reading “Allen Institute Releases First Data for Spinal Cord Researchers, Unveils New Financing Model”

UW Foster School of Business, Evening MBA Session

All applicants are encouraged to visit campus. We conduct information sessions on Thursdays at 4:00 p.m. for the Full-Time MBA Program and on the first Thursday of every month at 5:00 p.m. for the Evening MBA Program. Come to Mackenzie Hall 110 to be directed to the location. No RSVP required. For more information, contact … Continue reading “UW Foster School of Business, Evening MBA Session”

NWEN August Venture Breakfast: Angel Financing Demystified

You’ve got a stellar initial team, a great value proposition, and-best of all-traction with early customers. You’ve bootstrapped to get this far, but now you need a larger infusion of capital to pull it all together. The process, however, feels daunting-and you wish you could be a fly on the wall watching somebody else go … Continue reading “NWEN August Venture Breakfast: Angel Financing Demystified”

Alliance of Angels Pitch Clinic

Since 1999, the Program Managers at the Alliance of Angels have been coaching early-stage companies and bringing the best deals to angel investor members. Having collectively interviewed hundreds of companies, we have developed a set of best practices regarding the presentations that resonate with the angel investment community. In the 10-Minute Pitch Clinic, we share … Continue reading “Alliance of Angels Pitch Clinic”

Alnylam, Novartis Extend RNA Interference Collaboration

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, the developer of drugs using RNA interference technology, said today that Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company Novartis has chosen to extend their RNAi collaboration another year, through October 2009. The partnership, worth as much as $700 million to Alnylam if certain development milestones are met, was first struck in 2005. Under the deal, Novartis (NYSE: … Continue reading “Alnylam, Novartis Extend RNA Interference Collaboration”

Dendreon Starts Trial of Patients With Localized Prostate Cancer

Dendreon, the Seattle-based maker of immune-boosting therapies for cancer, said today it has started a mid-stage clinical trial of Provenge for patients with localized prostate cancer who are about to have their prostates surgically removed. The trial, called NeoACT, will enroll about 40 patients at the University of California San Francisco. That study will be … Continue reading “Dendreon Starts Trial of Patients With Localized Prostate Cancer”

Predictive Biosciences Hires New Chiefs for Finance, Medicine

Predictive Biosciences, a privately held maker of diagnostic tests for cancer, said today it has hired Ellen Sheets to become its first chief medical officer, and Vikram Lamba as its chief financial officer. Sheets is joining the Lexington, MA-based startup after holding the same position at Bedford, MA-based Hologic (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HOLX]]), a company which specializes … Continue reading “Predictive Biosciences Hires New Chiefs for Finance, Medicine”

Cortria Hires CEO Grau To Develop Heart Drugs That Won’t Make You Red in the Face

Cortria thinks it has discovered a way to get the heart benefits of niacin drugs without the embarrassing side effect of making patients red in the face. If it’s right, the Boston-based company might have a drug that can be taken alongside statins, the multi-billion dollar cholesterol-lowering drugs taken by millions of people in the … Continue reading “Cortria Hires CEO Grau To Develop Heart Drugs That Won’t Make You Red in the Face”

Congress Overrides Bush Veto on Medicare Bill, Cell Therapeutics’ Zevalin Reimbursement Survives

Seattle-based Cell Therapeutics won a victory yesterday in the standoff between Congress and President Bush over a new Medicare bill. Congress voted to overrule Bush’s veto, which would have killed a provision that extended the current reimbursement rate for doctors who prescribe Zevalin, the company’s sole marketed product for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. As we wrote about … Continue reading “Congress Overrides Bush Veto on Medicare Bill, Cell Therapeutics’ Zevalin Reimbursement Survives”

Collegium Collects $20 Million in Venture Round, Led by Frazier

Collegium Pharmaceutical just got some capital that may make it more difficult for people to abuse narcotic pain medicines. The specialty drugmaker based in Cumberland, RI, said today it raised $20 million in a fourth-round venture financing. Seattle-based Frazier Healthcare Ventures led the investment, which included previous investors Boston Millennia Partners and Westfield Capital Management. … Continue reading “Collegium Collects $20 Million in Venture Round, Led by Frazier”

Light Sciences Oncology Raises $40 Million for Cancer Trials

The show must go on at Light Sciences Oncology, with or without public investors. The privately-held company in Bellevue, WA, raised $40.1 million in a third-round financing to continue running a pair of final-stage clinical trials of its experimental cancer treatment, which uses a drug activated by light. The company has now raised $137 million … Continue reading “Light Sciences Oncology Raises $40 Million for Cancer Trials”

T2 Biosystems Diagnostic Holds Its Own In Comparison Against Hospital Tool

T2 Biosystems is putting some punch in a very small package. The company has gotten some early validation for its 8-pound prototype medical diagnostics machine, through a paper published last week in Nature Medicine, which says the T2 instrument performed on par with hefty hospital-based diagnostic tools that are the size of a chest of … Continue reading “T2 Biosystems Diagnostic Holds Its Own In Comparison Against Hospital Tool”

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Raises Another $8.4 Million for Next-Generation RNAi

Investors apparently can’t get enough of RNA interference. Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held developer of RNAi drugs in Cambridge, MA, has raised $8.4 million to cap off a first-round venture financing totaling $21.4 million. Dicerna attracted the newest cash from Abingworth, as well as additional funds from Oxford Bioscience Partners and Skyline Ventures, who seeded the … Continue reading “Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Raises Another $8.4 Million for Next-Generation RNAi”

MediQuest Vying to Get First Drug Across FDA Goal Line, Put Raynaud’s in Your Vocabulary

Punch “Raynaud’s disease” into a simple Google search, and the first site you get is one from the Mayo Clinic that says it’s a condition of limited blood circulation that causes numbness in the fingers and toes in cold temperatures. “For most people, Raynaud’s disease is more a nuisance than a disability,” according to the … Continue reading “MediQuest Vying to Get First Drug Across FDA Goal Line, Put Raynaud’s in Your Vocabulary”

Infinity Pharmaceuticals Pulls Plug on Treatment for Prostate Cancer

Infinity Pharmaceuticals, the Cambridge, MA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has halted enrollment in a mid-stage study of IPI-504 for patients with prostate cancer, after it didn’t see evidence the drug was working. The treatment, being developed in partnership with AstraZeneca, will continue to be tested against non-small cell lung cancer and gastrointestinal … Continue reading “Infinity Pharmaceuticals Pulls Plug on Treatment for Prostate Cancer”

Sound Pharmaceuticals Applies to Test Drug Against Chemo-Induced Hearing Loss

Sound Pharmaceuticals said today it has filed an application to run a clinical trial of an experimental drug for hearing loss caused by cancer chemotherapy. The privately held Seattle biotech company said it plans to test the compound, ebselen, in patients with advanced lung cancer and head and neck tumors who received platinum-based chemotherapy. It … Continue reading “Sound Pharmaceuticals Applies to Test Drug Against Chemo-Induced Hearing Loss”

Lee Hood’s Proteges Strike Again: Nanostring Ships Its First Commercial Cell Analyzer

[Updated July 23, 2008, see editor’s note below.] Nanostring Technologies, a company born in the lab of biotech pioneer Leroy Hood, has grown up and is starting to sell a product in the real world. The privately-held maker of gene-analysis tools in Seattle has booked the first sale of its commercial product, and is planning … Continue reading “Lee Hood’s Proteges Strike Again: Nanostring Ships Its First Commercial Cell Analyzer”

Alnylam Loses RNAi Patent in Europe; Analyst Says No Worries

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) isn’t used to losing patent cases, but it happened yesterday in Europe to one of the company’s RNA interference patents, known as Glover. The company said it plans to appeal. What does it all mean to the Cambridge, MA-based company and its quest to develop new drugs through the gene silencing … Continue reading “Alnylam Loses RNAi Patent in Europe; Analyst Says No Worries”

Momenta Gets Some Mojo As FDA Agrees To Review Application of Generic MS Drug

Shares of Cambridge, MA-based Momenta Pharmaceuticals rose more than 11 percent today after the FDA agreed to review an application filed by its partner, Sandoz, to sell a generic version of Copaxone, a billion-dollar drug for multiple sclerosis. Momenta, (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MNTA]]) doesn’t have any marketed products of its own. So, naturally, the application to market … Continue reading “Momenta Gets Some Mojo As FDA Agrees To Review Application of Generic MS Drug”

Calistoga Starts First Clinical Trial of Cancer Drug

Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, a Seattle biotech startup backed by Frazier Healthcare Ventures, said today it has started its first test in humans of its lead drug candidate for patients with blood cancers. The treatment, a small-molecule compound called CAL-101, is designed to block the PI3 kinase, which controls cell growth and survival signals. The trial will … Continue reading “Calistoga Starts First Clinical Trial of Cancer Drug”

Targeted Genetics Gets Recommended for up to $2.4 Million Government Grant

Targeted Genetics, the Seattle-based biotech company, said today it has been recommended for a grant worth as much as $2.4 million from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Targeted Genetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TGEN]]) plans to develop a conventional small-molecule drug for animal tests against the … Continue reading “Targeted Genetics Gets Recommended for up to $2.4 Million Government Grant”

Big Drugmakers Pool Resources, Creating New Company Built to Improve R&D

Three of the world’s biggest drugmakers can agree on this—the research and development model for creating new drugs needs a serious kick in the rear. Pfizer, Merck, and Eli Lilly, through a collaboration hatched by Boston-based PureTech Ventures, have agreed to put $39 million into a new Boston company called Enlight Biosciences, whose job will … Continue reading “Big Drugmakers Pool Resources, Creating New Company Built to Improve R&D”

Spiration, Uptake Medical Vying to Develop Better Emphysema Treatment

Not many innovations have come along lately for patients with emphysema, a deadly lung disease. There are inhalers, supplemental oxygen, and, if you’re in really bad shape, a risky surgery to cut out damaged lung tissue. Now two competing Seattle-area medical device companies are in the hunt to change the standard of care, with less … Continue reading “Spiration, Uptake Medical Vying to Develop Better Emphysema Treatment”

Cell Therapeutics Gets a Win on Capitol Hill, Zevalin Reimbursement To Remain Same

Cell Therapeutics got its way in Washington DC today. The Senate voted 69-30 in favor of a Medicare bill that includes a provision extending the current reimbursement rate for doctors who prescribe Zevalin, a drug for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which happens to be the Seattle biotech company’s sole marketed product. Medicare had proposed a new reimbursement … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Gets a Win on Capitol Hill, Zevalin Reimbursement To Remain Same”

MIT Enterprise Forum Names Richard Kivel as New Global Chair

The MIT Enterprise Forum, a networking organization for entrepreneurs, said today that Richard Kivel has been named as chairman of its global board of directors. Kivel, a member of the Enterprise Forum’s board since 2006, is the CEO of TheraGenetics, a personalized medicine company based in London. He replaces Joe Hadzima, managing director of Main … Continue reading “MIT Enterprise Forum Names Richard Kivel as New Global Chair”

Genocea Teams With Nonprofit PATH on Vaccine for Children in Developing World

Genocea Biosciences is aiming to upstage the best-selling vaccine ever. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech startup, through funding from Seattle-based PATH, a nonprofit that supports global health technologies, has started pursuing a next-generation pneumococcus vaccine that may offer broader protection to infants in the developing world than Prevnar, a vaccine made by drug giant Wyeth, and … Continue reading “Genocea Teams With Nonprofit PATH on Vaccine for Children in Developing World”

Fidelity Biosciences and Flagship Ventures Back Maker of Smaller, Cheaper Cell Analysis Machines

Accuri Cytometers sees the day coming when every biomedical research lab has a flow cytometer—a high-speed cell analyzer—as a basic tool, alongside microscopes and petri dishes. The company took a step toward its goal today, raising $13 million in a third-round venture financing led by a pair of Cambridge, MA-based venture firms, Fidelity Biosciences and … Continue reading “Fidelity Biosciences and Flagship Ventures Back Maker of Smaller, Cheaper Cell Analysis Machines”

Codon Signs Partnership to Develop Biofuels From Algae

Codon Devices, the Cambridge, MA-based company working on commercial uses of synthetic biology, said today it has formed a multi-year partnership with Naples, FL-based Algenol Biofuels to work on alternative fuel made from algae. Codon will offer its BioLogic protein engineering techniques to the collaboration, which it has begun emphasizing as part of a new … Continue reading “Codon Signs Partnership to Develop Biofuels From Algae”

Northstar Neuroscience Rejects Tang Capital’s Unsolicited Takeover Bid

Northstar Neuroscience has rejected an unsolicited takeover bid from Tang Capital Partners. The Seattle-based company, developer of an electrical stimulation treatment for stroke patients, said today it wouldn’t accept Tang’s bid of $2.25 a share, because it “is not in the best interest of all shareholders.” Northstar (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NSTR]]) rose 2 cents to $1.86 at … Continue reading “Northstar Neuroscience Rejects Tang Capital’s Unsolicited Takeover Bid”

Seattle Genetics Licenses Antibody-Drug Linking Technology to Daiichi Sankyo

Seattle Genetics, the developer of targeted antibody drugs for cancer, said today it has licensed its technology for linking antibodies to potent cell-killing agents to Daiichi Sankyo. The Tokyo-based drugmaker will get exclusive rights to develop antibody-drug combination treatments against a single target found on multiple types of tumors. Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]) will receive … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics Licenses Antibody-Drug Linking Technology to Daiichi Sankyo”

Summer in Seattle: Cardiologists Gather in Town to Learn State-of-the-Art Treatment

The world’s leading pharmaceutical and medical device companies are going to be in town this week for a meeting known as Summer in Seattle, and they’re not just here to catch some scenery and sun. The eighth annual conference, running Thursday through Sunday, is drawing 350 cardiologists, heart surgeons, radiologists, neurologists, and industry representatives from … Continue reading “Summer in Seattle: Cardiologists Gather in Town to Learn State-of-the-Art Treatment”

Washington Technology Center Awards $512,000 in Research Grants

The Washington Technology Center, a state-supported economic development organization, said today it has awarded $512,000 to seven projects between university researchers and companies. The grant winners include Ekos, a Bothell, WA-based medical device company working with University of Washington engineers to improve a catheter-based drug-delivery system, and Healionics, a biomaterials startup in Redmond, WA, working … Continue reading “Washington Technology Center Awards $512,000 in Research Grants”

Agios, Developer of Drugs That Starve Cancer Cells, Scarfs Up $33 Million in Venture Funds

Agios Pharmaceuticals has made some noise coming out of the holiday weekend. The Boston-area company, a developer of new drugs that starve cancer cells of essential nutrients, has snagged $33 million in an initial round of venture capital from Third Rock Ventures, Flagship Ventures, and Arch Venture Partners. Agios plans to take advantage of new … Continue reading “Agios, Developer of Drugs That Starve Cancer Cells, Scarfs Up $33 Million in Venture Funds”

Immune Design Aiming To Make Vaccines That Work Better in a Single Shot

Steve Reed sums up his goal for Immune Design, his new vaccine company, in a few bullet points: Better protection, fewer doses, less raw material. The Seattle-based company got started last month with $18 million in first-round financing from The Column Group, Alta Partners, and Versant Ventures. The idea is to make vaccines loaded with … Continue reading “Immune Design Aiming To Make Vaccines That Work Better in a Single Shot”

Halosource, Maker of Low-Cost Water Purifying Technology, Cracking Consumer Market In India

A million people in India are getting clean, cheap drinking water every day because of technology from a little company in Bothell, WA, that few people in the Northwest have ever heard of. The company, Halosource, has started getting traction in the Indian market this year with its technology that makes water safe to drink. … Continue reading “Halosource, Maker of Low-Cost Water Purifying Technology, Cracking Consumer Market In India”

Resolvyx Experiment Shows Fish-Oil Derivative Tamps Down Asthma, Inflammation

Fish oil is good for you, we get it. Now we also know, thanks to scientists connected to Bedford, MA-based Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals, that if you give mice tiny doses of a fish oil derivative, you can suppress two specific proteins that play a role in asthma, and other inflammatory diseases. Researchers at Brigham & Women’s … Continue reading “Resolvyx Experiment Shows Fish-Oil Derivative Tamps Down Asthma, Inflammation”

Northstar Neuroscience Huddles to Consider Unsolicited Takeover Bid

Northstar Neuroscience is in one tight spot. The Seattle-based medical device company’s lead product candidate for stroke patients failed in clinical trials on Jan. 22, and 83 percent of its stock value (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NSTR]]) evaporated in a heartbeat. Then yesterday, San Diego-based Tang Capital Partners, its largest shareholder, made an unsolicited bid to buy the … Continue reading “Northstar Neuroscience Huddles to Consider Unsolicited Takeover Bid”

Boston Scientific Stent, With New Drug Coating, Wins FDA Approval

Boston Scientific (NYSE: [[ticker:BSX]]) said today the FDA has approved a new type of stent for propping open clogged coronary arteries. The FDA cleared for sale the Promus stent that secretes everolimus, a drug designed to reduce scar tissue around the device and reduce blockages. Natick, MA-based Boston Scientific currently sells the Taxus stent coated … Continue reading “Boston Scientific Stent, With New Drug Coating, Wins FDA Approval”

Northstar Neuroscience Shares Climb on Tang Capital Bid

Northstar Neuroscience shares shot up 21 percent today after Tang Capital Partners announced it has offered $2.25 a share in cash to purchase the Seattle-based medical device company. Northstar’s stock collapsed on Jan. 22, falling 83 percent to $1.36 a share, after it said its lead product candidate failed to restore arm movement for stroke … Continue reading “Northstar Neuroscience Shares Climb on Tang Capital Bid”

Cubist Agrees to Promote AstraZeneca Antibiotic

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, the Lexington, MA-based maker of the Cubicin antibiotic, said today it has agreed to promote Merrem, another intravenous antibiotic drug made by AstraZeneca. Cubist, (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CBST]]) will receive a minimum of $20 million a year in revenue under the deal, and the figure could go higher based on Merrem sales, the company said. … Continue reading “Cubist Agrees to Promote AstraZeneca Antibiotic”

VLST Hires Paul Carter, Antibody Drug Expert, as New Chief Scientist

VLST has landed a big scientific fish. The Seattle biotech startup has hired Paul Carter, a top scientist at Bothell, WA-based Seattle Genetics, as its new chief scientific officer. Carter, 47, has a reputation as a leader in the world of antibody drugs, which zero in on specific targets on cells. In a 14-year run … Continue reading “VLST Hires Paul Carter, Antibody Drug Expert, as New Chief Scientist”

Thermo Fisher Acquires Open Biosystems for RNAi Technology

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: [[ticker:TMO]]) said today it has acquired Open Biosystems, a maker of RNA interference products for research and development of new drugs. Thermo, based in Waltham, MA, didn’t disclose the purchase price, although it did say Huntsville, AL-based Open Biosystems had $14 million in revenues in 2007. Open Biosystems specializes in short-hairpin … Continue reading “Thermo Fisher Acquires Open Biosystems for RNAi Technology”

Epix Resubmits Vasovist Application to FDA

Epix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EPIX]]) said today it has resubmitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration for marketing of Vasovist, and hopes to win approval to market the product in the U.S. by the end of 2008. The Lexington, MA-based company’s original application was filed in December 2003, and has been delayed by regulators’ … Continue reading “Epix Resubmits Vasovist Application to FDA”

ZymoGenetics Takes on First Debt. Deerfield Bets Recothrom Will Pay Dividends

ZymoGenetics is growing up. For the first time, the Seattle-based biotech company has raised capital by borrowing it, instead of following the usual industry playbook—getting it by selling more equity shares to investors. The latter technique, which creates more supply of available shares and therefore dilutes the value of existing ones, would certainly have raised … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics Takes on First Debt. Deerfield Bets Recothrom Will Pay Dividends”

The Washington Tech Industry’s Summer Celebration

Blue Skies. Warm Weather. Cold Beer. The Washington Technology Industry Association is planning its annual summer celebration on July 17th at the Pyramid Brewery Beer Garden in Seattle. Come take a swing at Pyramid’s seasonal beers and great chow – all in a casual, networking setting. There will also be a raffle to benefit Mariners … Continue reading “The Washington Tech Industry’s Summer Celebration”