It’s a nice change from previous weeks this year to be writing about IPOs and big exits for venture firms. At least in Boston and environs, big paydays for investors and entrepreneurs seemed to be materializing. And startups from a variety of innovation sectors secured capital to fuel their movement toward hoped-for exits. Not sure … Continue reading “Epizyme Grabs $32M, A123 Systems’ IPO Enriches BU, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Author: Ryan McBride
Ryan is an award-winning business journalist who contributes to our life sciences and technology coverage. He was previously a staff writer for Mass High Tech, a Boston business and technology newspaper, where he and his colleagues won a national business journalism award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers in 2008. In recent years, he has made regular TV appearances on New England Cable News.
Prior to MHT, Ryan covered the life sciences, technology, and energy sectors for Providence Business News. He graduated with honors from the University of Rhode Island in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in communications. When he’s not chasing down news, Ryan enjoys mountain biking and skiing in his home state of Vermont.
Paratek and Novartis Strike Antibiotic Deal
Paratek Pharmaceuticals, a Boston-based firm focused on treating infections that are immune to existing antibiotics, said it has struck an exclusive deal with Swiss drug giant Novartis for worldwide development and commercialization of its experimental aminomethylcycline antibiotic drug, classified as PTK 0796. The deal could bring as much as $485 million in initial fees and … Continue reading “Paratek and Novartis Strike Antibiotic Deal”
$1.5M for LegiTime Technologies
LegiTime Technologies, a Farmington, CT-based developer of software that organizes and secures text messages on mobile phones, has raised $1.5 million in equity financing, according to an SEC filing. Company executives could not be immediately reached this morning. The regulatory filing does not identify the investors in the round, but the firm’s website says that … Continue reading “$1.5M for LegiTime Technologies”
Bigtime Biotech Thinkers Steven Burrill and Gary Pisano Agree on Bright Future of Industry, Disagree on How to Build Value
Harvard Business School professor Gary Pisano is considered a leading scholar of biotech industry economics, and has developed a reputation for providing treatises on how biotech firms have been unable to generate profits throughout history. Steven Burrill gives his own critiques in his life sciences banking and investment firm Burrill & Company’s industry reports. These … Continue reading “Bigtime Biotech Thinkers Steven Burrill and Gary Pisano Agree on Bright Future of Industry, Disagree on How to Build Value”
MIT Plans New Online Publication About Entrepreneurship
MIT is planning to launch a student-led online publication focused on entrepreneurship by the end of the year, a leader of the effort tells Xconomy. The fledgling publication will be called the MIT Entrepreneurship Review (MITER) and will aim to serve as a resource for entrepreneurs and to raise the already high profile of the … Continue reading “MIT Plans New Online Publication About Entrepreneurship”
Rib-X Founder Gets Nobel Prize
Thomas Steitz, a Yale University chemist and co-founder of New Haven, CT-based Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, has won the 2009 Nobel Prize in chemistry along with two other researchers for their use of X-ray crystallography to map the structure of ribosomes, according to the company. Rib-X says it has applied Steitz’s research in this area and computer … Continue reading “Rib-X Founder Gets Nobel Prize”
Gomez Takes $295M Buyout Offer
It’s good to be Gomez. The Lexington, MA-based software firm has agreed to be purchased by Detroit’s Compuware (NASDAQ:[[ticker:CPWR]]) for $295 million in cash, the companies report today. Gomez, which provides performance-management software for Web and mobile applications, was already in registration for an $80.5 million IPO and had raised, according to PeHub, $66 million … Continue reading “Gomez Takes $295M Buyout Offer”
Alnylam Chief Foresees Another Gene-Silencing Spin-Off, and More News Tidbits from Boston’s MassBio Investors Forum
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALNY]]) had more than $470 million in the bank as of the last official count at the end of June, so it struck me as odd that the Cambridge, MA-based developer of gene-silencing drugs was a presenter along with dozens of cash-starved biotech startups at the MassBio Investors Forum in Boston yesterday. Alnylam … Continue reading “Alnylam Chief Foresees Another Gene-Silencing Spin-Off, and More News Tidbits from Boston’s MassBio Investors Forum”
Variety of Investors Expected at Mass. Biotech Council Forum
How hard has it gotten for life sciences companies to raise capital? Will biotech startups eventually resort to collecting change in hats to raise money? Companies these days are ready to consider a number of different avenues to raise money and move their science toward commercialization—venture capital financings, corporate partnerships, government grants, awards from nonprofits. … Continue reading “Variety of Investors Expected at Mass. Biotech Council Forum”
Google Ventures Backs Adimab in Antibody Discovery Business
[Updated 10/01/09 10:45 am. See below] Adimab has added Google Ventures to the roster of venture investors that are backing the Lebanon, NH-based biotech startup in its development of a fast and powerful antibody discovery platform, the company reports this morning. Google Ventures, the corporate venture arm of the Internet giant Google (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GOOG]]), led a … Continue reading “Google Ventures Backs Adimab in Antibody Discovery Business”
Former Harvard Official Tapped to Expand Tech Transfer at Brown U.
Brown University says it has hired Katherine Gordon, a veteran of Harvard University’s technology transfer office, to help the Providence, RI-based university commercialize more of its research. Brown’s tech transfer efforts have lagged some of its Ivy League counterparts in the past, but Gordon says she has the industry experience and contacts to expand commercial … Continue reading “Former Harvard Official Tapped to Expand Tech Transfer at Brown U.”
Vertex Raises $155M Through Debt Financing for Hepatitis C Drug in Europe
Vertex Pharmaceuticals said today it will bring in $155 million in cash through a pair of deals related to the potential commercialization of its lead hepatitis C drug in Europe, the company said this afternoon. In both transactions, investors are betting on telaprevir, a projected multibillion-dollar seller, to win European approval. The Cambridge, MA-based drug … Continue reading “Vertex Raises $155M Through Debt Financing for Hepatitis C Drug in Europe”
E Ink Buyer Amends Merger Offer After Shareholder Unrest
After some E Ink shareholders said they would block a merger between the Cambridge, MA-based firm and Taiwan’s Prime View International (PVI), an amended merger agreement has gained enough shareholder support for the deal to reach fruition, both companies report. E Ink shareholders had complained PVI’s initial offer of $215 million in cash, made in … Continue reading “E Ink Buyer Amends Merger Offer After Shareholder Unrest”
Blackwave Captures $3.5M Financing
Blackwave, an Acton, MA-based provider of servers that store video content and deliver it to users over the Internet, has raised $3.5 million of a planned $9.1 million round of equity financing, according to an SEC filing. The document did not identify the investors in the round, and Blackwave CEO Bob Rizika could not be … Continue reading “Blackwave Captures $3.5M Financing”
Genzyme Faces More Setbacks, Humedica Creating a Healthcare “Census,” Pops Back as Alkermes CEO, & More Boston-Area Life Science News
There were a wide variety of developments in the Boston-area life sciences sector over the past week. Companies in the headlines included big ones like Genzyme and Covidien as well as smaller startups such as Humedica and Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals. Here are some highlights: —We got an early look at Cambridge, MA-based Humedica’s strategy for developing … Continue reading “Genzyme Faces More Setbacks, Humedica Creating a Healthcare “Census,” Pops Back as Alkermes CEO, & More Boston-Area Life Science News”
MooBella’s Revamped Ice Cream Machines Debut at MIT After $18M Financing Deal
MooBella was having no trouble finding people willing to try out its make-your-own ice cream machines last week at MIT. If only designing market-ready versions of the machines—which are now more than a decade in the making—were as easy. Xconomy got the inside scoop recently on how MooBella has spent the last couple of years … Continue reading “MooBella’s Revamped Ice Cream Machines Debut at MIT After $18M Financing Deal”
Investors Inject $51M B Round into Zogenix to Combat Migraines
San Diego-based Zogenix has closed a $51 million equity financing to fund the planned January 2010 launch of its needle-free system for delivering a drug for serious headaches, according to the company. The commercialization dollars from the Series B round of preferred stock will fill a funding void the firm faced when it cancelled its … Continue reading “Investors Inject $51M B Round into Zogenix to Combat Migraines”
A123Systems IPO Massively Exceeds Estimates
[Updated 4:15 p.m. 9/24/09 with A123System’ closing stock price for the day, see below] A123Systems, the Watertown, MA-based developer of advanced lithium-ion batteries for cars and power tools, said this morning that it has priced its initial public offering of 27.5 million shares of common stock at $13.50 per share—way above the $8 to $9.50 … Continue reading “A123Systems IPO Massively Exceeds Estimates”
Sirtris’ Westphal and Collaborators Launching New Nonprofit to Help People Live Longer
Christoph Westphal, the CEO of biotech firm Sirtris, says that he and several of his colleagues are forming a new nonprofit group in the Boston area called the Healthy Lifespan Institute. The institute is being formed to research non-pharmaceutical measures that people can take to live longer and healthier lives and to educate people about … Continue reading “Sirtris’ Westphal and Collaborators Launching New Nonprofit to Help People Live Longer”
Candescent Healing Raises $21.5M
Candescent Partners, an Boston investment firm, has raised $21.5 million in equity and mezzanine debt through a newly formed company called Candescent Healing to acquire an operator of 12 outpatient wound care facilities called the Center for Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine, which has corporate offices on Long Island, Stephen Jenks, a founder and managing … Continue reading “Candescent Healing Raises $21.5M”
Momenta Prices $40M Stock Offering
Momenta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:MNTA]]), a Cambridge, MA-based developer of generic and original biotech drugs, reports this morning that it has priced an offering of 4 million shares of its common stock at $10.75 per share. The offering, which is due to close on September 28, is expected to net the company $40.6 million. The stock offering … Continue reading “Momenta Prices $40M Stock Offering”
Humedica Wants to Dose U.S. Healthcare Crisis with Clinical Analytics, Raises $30M from Investors
Imagine a national repository of detailed information on patient populations organized by their disease types, treatments received, and other metrics—similar to a U.S. Census for healthcare. Hospitals could use this trove of data to track the quality and costs of care. Pharmaceutical companies could gain new insight into how their products are consumed. Humedica, a … Continue reading “Humedica Wants to Dose U.S. Healthcare Crisis with Clinical Analytics, Raises $30M from Investors”
Microsoft Buys Interactive Supercomputing
Microsoft (NASDAQ:[[ticker:MSFT]]) confirmed yesterday on its Windows Server Division Weblog that the company has purchased the technology assets of Interactive Supercomuting (ISC), a Waltham, MA, developer of parallel computing software. Financial details of the acquisition weren’t revealed. The Microsoft blog says that ISC’s CEO, Bill Blake, and his firm’s technical experts are moving into the … Continue reading “Microsoft Buys Interactive Supercomputing”
Boston-Power and Dr. Battery in Deal
Boston-Power, a Westborough, MA-based provider of next-generation lithium-ion batteries, reported yesterday that battery company Dr. Battery, of Vancouver, is now distributing Boston-Power’s long-lasting laptop replacement batteries for use with Acer, Dell, IBM/Lenovo, and Toshiba laptops. The batteries are based on Boston-Power’s Sonata battery technology used in the laptop replacement batteries that Hewlett-Packard sells under its … Continue reading “Boston-Power and Dr. Battery in Deal”
Optherion Sells $5M in Convertible Notes and Warrants
Optherion, a New Haven, CT-based developer of diagnostics an drugs for eye and kidney diseases, has raised $5 million in a planned $9.5 million convertible notes and warrants offering, according to an SEC filing. The company writes in the filing that the notes and warrants can be converted into capital stock under certain conditions. Colin … Continue reading “Optherion Sells $5M in Convertible Notes and Warrants”
Ginkgo BioWorks Tapped for $4.1M Synthetic DNA Effort
Boston-based synthetic biology startup Ginkgo BioWorks has been selected as one of two entities to support a Scottish initiative to find better ways to assemble synthetic DNA, according to ITI Life Sciences, which has committed $4.1 million to the effort. ITI Life Sciences is a unit of ITI Scotland, a firm that was formed in … Continue reading “Ginkgo BioWorks Tapped for $4.1M Synthetic DNA Effort”
Sonian Closes Series A
Sonian, a Needham, MA, provider of cloud-based e-mail archiving services for businesses, announced on its website earlier this week that it has closed a $5.6 million Series A round of financing. The institutional investors in the round include Prism VentureWorks and SummerHill Venture Partners. Greg Arnette, founder and chief technology officer of Sonian, told me … Continue reading “Sonian Closes Series A”
Yale startup 3PrimiR Raises $2.1M
Westport, CT-based diagnostics startup 3PrimiR has raised $2.1 million of a proposed $4 million round of equity financing, according to an SEC filing. Yale scientists launched the startup based on their research that involves how mutations in micro RNA molecules can be used in cancer diagnostics, according to the Yale University Office of Cooperative Research … Continue reading “Yale startup 3PrimiR Raises $2.1M”
Ascent Therapeutics’ Blood Cancer Drug Could Rival Genzyme’s Mozobil
Ascent Therapeutics is advancing several of its proprietary “pepducin” drugs through early testing, with a lead candidate emerging as a potential rival to Genzyme’s drug plerixafor (Mozobil) for patients with certain types of blood cancer. Cambridge, MA-based Ascent is touting some of its early research at a biotechnology conference in Zurich, Switzerland this week in … Continue reading “Ascent Therapeutics’ Blood Cancer Drug Could Rival Genzyme’s Mozobil”
Pervasis Therapeutics Secures $10M in New Financing
Pervasis Therapeutics, a Cambridge, MA-based developer of drugs to heal blood vessels, has raised $10 million of a proposed $17.4 million round of private equity financing, according to an SEC filing. The startup names the prolific MIT inventor Bob Langer among its board members. The SEC filing does not say who invested in the round, … Continue reading “Pervasis Therapeutics Secures $10M in New Financing”
Altus Pharma to Shut Doors
Waltham, MA-based Altus Pharmaceuticals, a developer of protein-based drugs, revealed in an SEC filing yesterday that it decided last week “wind down” the company’s operations. The company (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALTU]]) is also ending a mid-stage clinical trial to test its growth hormone deficiency drug ALTU-238 in children. The firm plans to let go “substantially all” of its … Continue reading “Altus Pharma to Shut Doors”
Termeer to Chair Boston Fed Reserve
Henri Termeer, chairman and CEO of Cambridge, MA-based biotech firm Genzyme (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]), has been named chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the Federal Reserve reported yesterday. His term as chairman of the federal bank begins in 2010. Termeer is now serving as deputy chairman of the Fed board in Boston.
BeyondTrust Acquired by Symark
BeyondTrust, a provider of software for managing IT access privileges for large businesses, has has been acquired by Symark International, according to a press release. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but Dow Jones VentureWire has estimated the deal to be worth about $30 million, according to peHUB. The combined company will be called BeyondTrust and be … Continue reading “BeyondTrust Acquired by Symark”
Thermo Fisher Names New CEO
Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:[[ticker:TMO]]) said today that Marc Casper has been appointed to become president and CEO of the company on October 15. Casper now serves as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Waltham, MA-based Thermo Fisher, a maker of scientific research products that reported 2008 revenue of $10.5 billion. He will replace … Continue reading “Thermo Fisher Names New CEO”
Brown U. and Johns Hopkins Researchers Form Sentient Bioscience to Improve Liver Cancer Treatment
Most people diagnosed with liver cancer are unlikely to live more than a few years, so there’s plenty of room for new innovative treatments. That’s why Tim Murphy, an interventional radiologist at Rhode Island Hospital and his colleagues at Brown University and Johns Hopkins University have formed Providence, RI-based Sentient Bioscience to develop treatments that … Continue reading “Brown U. and Johns Hopkins Researchers Form Sentient Bioscience to Improve Liver Cancer Treatment”
$5M for Akorri Networks
Akorri Networks, a Littleton, MA-based provider of software for physical and virtual IT infrastructure, has raised $5 million in equity financing of a proposed $5.9 million round of private capital, according to an SEC filing. The news website PE Hub reports that Akorri has previously raised more than $45 million from BlueStream Ventures, Matrix Partners, … Continue reading “$5M for Akorri Networks”
AstraZeneca Plans Local Job Cuts, Report Says
London-based drug giant AstraZeneca (LON:[[ticker:AZN]]) plans to eliminate 113 jobs at its Westborough, MA, plant next month due to generic drug competition for its asthma drug budesonide (Plumicourt), the Boston Globe reports. Our Boston Tech Layoff Tracker has been updated accordingly. AstraZeneca also has a large R&D operation in Waltham, MA, where the company recently … Continue reading “AstraZeneca Plans Local Job Cuts, Report Says”
Pops Back as Alkermes’ CEO
Cambridge, MA-based biotech firm Alkermes (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALKS]]) said this morning that its chairman and former CEO Richard Pops is resuming the role of president and chief executive of the company. Pops, 47, was previously CEO of Alkermes between 1991 and April 2007. He replaces David Broeker, who has resigned from the CEO job and his seat … Continue reading “Pops Back as Alkermes’ CEO”
Jobzle.com Launched in Providence by Brown U. Students to Help College Kids Get Jobs
Brown University student Walker Williams is leading the launch of a new online job service for college students, Jobzle.com, through a marketing campaign that began this week in Providence and is expected to spread to other universities in Rhode Island in the days and weeks ahead. Jobzle is initially focusing on serving students in the … Continue reading “Jobzle.com Launched in Providence by Brown U. Students to Help College Kids Get Jobs”
Daktari Diagnostics Closes $2.8M Series A Round to Combat Global HIV Crisis
In remote villages in Africa, clinics are struggling to deliver timely blood tests to help doctors determine the best way to treat HIV patients. But Bill Rodriguez, a Harvard-trained physician, through his new startup Daktari Diagnostics, is working on a handheld device that could someday perform blood tests for HIV patients virtually anywhere within a … Continue reading “Daktari Diagnostics Closes $2.8M Series A Round to Combat Global HIV Crisis”
Drugmaker Sepracor Accepts $2.6B Buyout Offer from Japan’s Dainippon
In what could become Massachusetts’ largest life science deal of the year, Marlborough, MA-based drugmaker Sepracor (NASDAQ:[[ticker:SEPR]]) has agreed to be acquired by the Japanese pharmaceutical firm Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma for a whopping $2.6 billion, the companies reported early this morning. The deal would put another Massachusetts-based life sciences company in the hands of a … Continue reading “Drugmaker Sepracor Accepts $2.6B Buyout Offer from Japan’s Dainippon”
Harvard Spinout Outcome Sciences Digs Up Precious Medical Data that Obama Wants
How safe and useful are the drugs that we use? Physician Richard Gliklich, CEO of Outcome Sciences, was researching the real-world clinical outcomes of approved drugs and devices in the 1990s before there was much of market for that kind of information. Now the FDA and more than 2,000 other healthcare organizations around the world … Continue reading “Harvard Spinout Outcome Sciences Digs Up Precious Medical Data that Obama Wants”
Quanterix Taps New CEO
Quanterix, a Cambridge, MA-based developer of single-molecule analysis technology for use in cancer and other disease diagnostics, said today that it has named David Okrongly its new CEO. Nicholas Naclerio, founding CEO of the startup, will continue to serve as its chairman. Okrongly was most recently a senior vice president in the molecular diagnostics unit … Continue reading “Quanterix Taps New CEO”
Zendesk Ditching Boston for West Coast
Zendesk, a provider of a software-as-a-service system for help desk support for Twitter and other businesses, plans to relocate its corporate offices from Boston to San Francisco, Mass High Tech reported yesterday. Zendesk moved to the Hub from its original home in Denmark just four months ago, according to MHT, and the firm is relocating … Continue reading “Zendesk Ditching Boston for West Coast”
Life Technologies to Get $450M for Business Stake
Carlsbad, CA-based Life Technologies (NASDAQ:[[ticker:LIFE]]) said today that it plans to sell its stake in its mass spectrometry business to Danaher (NYSE:[[ticker:DHR]]) for $450 million in cash. Danaher, based in Washington, D.C., has also agreed to buy the company with which Life Technologies jointly owns the business, MDS Analytical Technologies, headquartered in Ontario, Canada. Life … Continue reading “Life Technologies to Get $450M for Business Stake”
Acadia Pharma Shares Crash After Lead Parkinson’s Drug Fails in Trial
San Diego-based Acadia Pharmaceuticals stock price collapsed today on news that its drug for psychosis related to Parkinson’s disease failed in a late-stage clinical trial. It’s a big setback for the small firm because it has no products on the market, and the Parkinson’s drug was the candidate furthest along in its development pipeline. The … Continue reading “Acadia Pharma Shares Crash After Lead Parkinson’s Drug Fails in Trial”
SeaChange Buys EventIS for $45M
SeaChange International, an Acton, MA-based provider of technology for video-on-demand television, said today that it has acquired its Dutch counterpart EventIS Group in a deal valued at $45 million. The deal also includes additional performance-based payments to EventIS shareholders that depend on certain annual sales goals for SeaChange (NASDAQ:[[ticker:SEAC]]) and EventIS products and services through … Continue reading “SeaChange Buys EventIS for $45M”
Another Genzyme Rival Advancing
The corporate parent of Cambridge, MA-based Shire Human Genetic Therapies said today that it has wrapped up the submission of its FDA application for approval of velaglucerase alfa, an enzyme-replacement therapy for patients with Type 1 Gaucher’s disease. The company still needs FDA approval before it begins U.S. sales of the treatment. Cambridge-based Genzyme (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) … Continue reading “Another Genzyme Rival Advancing”
New Constellation Pharma CEO Gives Expected Timeline for Epigenetics Firm’s Cancer Drug Research
For all of the publicity it’s gotten lately, Constellation Pharmaceuticals has managed to keep a remarkably tight lid on the specifics of its research. So I was enthused when the Cambridge, MA-based firm’s new CEO, Mark Goldsmith, gave me some insights into where the firm stands in advancing potential drugs in the emerging field of … Continue reading “New Constellation Pharma CEO Gives Expected Timeline for Epigenetics Firm’s Cancer Drug Research”
Betaspring Unveils First Class of Startup Groups in Providence, Plans Micro-Seed Fund Akin to Y Combinator
Ji Kim was able to raise $100,000 in seed financing for his ad software startup Dijipop this summer through connections he gained in a new program called Betaspring, which was launched this year to support young entrepreneurs in Providence, RI, in their quest to form technology- and design-oriented startups. Dijipop was one of the seven … Continue reading “Betaspring Unveils First Class of Startup Groups in Providence, Plans Micro-Seed Fund Akin to Y Combinator”