Healthcare software firm Eclipsys reports it has completed its buyout of Farmington, CT-based Premise, a provider of patient-tracking software for hospitals. Last week Atlanta-based Eclipsys (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ECLP]]) said it would pay $38.5 million in cash to acquire venture-backed Premise.
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.
BSX Buys Irish Stent Firm
Boston Scientific (NYSE:[[ticker:BSX]]), the Natick, MA-based medical devices giant, reports that it has acquired drug-eluting stent developer Labcoat, headquartered in Galway, Ireland. Labcoat has developed technology to produce ultra-thin coatings of biodegradable polymers and drugs on the outer surface of coronary stents, which are designed to prop open arteries after surgeries to remove plaques. Financial … Continue reading “BSX Buys Irish Stent Firm”
Broad Institute Scientists’ Forma Therapeutics Raises $25M, Aims to Knock Out Underpinnings of Cancer
Forma Therapeutics, a startup company co-founded by scientists at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, has raised $25 million to create drugs that build on research that has yielded clues about the root genetic causes of what makes a cell turn cancerous. Forma, based in Cambridge, MA, was formed 2007 to generate drug compounds … Continue reading “Broad Institute Scientists’ Forma Therapeutics Raises $25M, Aims to Knock Out Underpinnings of Cancer”
Cleantech Engine Revved In ’08—Deals to Remember
These are the salad days for the Boston area’s developers of alternative energy and clean technologies. Such firms had no problem landing big deals with corporate partners, governments, and investors in 2008. At the risk of sounding whimsical, the standout cleantech deals in 2008 provoked thoughts of a not-so-distant future when, for example, advanced batteries … Continue reading “Cleantech Engine Revved In ’08—Deals to Remember”
Alexion Settles Legal Dispute
Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALXN]]) reports it will pay $25 million to PDL BioPharma (NASDAQ:[[ticker:PDLI]]) to license a patent related to humanizing antibodies and to settle a legal dispute between the two companies. Cheshire, CT-based Alexion says the license enables the firm to commercialize its humanized antibody eculizumab (Soliris)—now approved to treat a rare blood disorder called … Continue reading “Alexion Settles Legal Dispute”
Survey Shows VC-Backed IPOs Hit 31-Year Low In ’08
Venture-backed companies are no doubt ready to put 2008 in the past. Year-end reports show a dismal number of initial public offerings and M&A deals last year, after a flurry of tech companies canceled plans to go public and buyout activity slowed to its lowest level in five years. Thomson Reuters and the National Venture … Continue reading “Survey Shows VC-Backed IPOs Hit 31-Year Low In ’08”
Hey Life Sciences Fans, Remember The Deals Back in 2008…
I recently had coffee with a venture capitalist at the Starbucks across the street from Biogen Idec’s (NASDAQ:[[ticker:BIIB]]) headquarters in Kendall Square, and he asked me what I thought were the biggest life sciences deals of 2008. The question is really tough to answer, both because the answers are somewhat subjective and I didn’t want … Continue reading “Hey Life Sciences Fans, Remember The Deals Back in 2008…”
MBC Chief Fined $10K
The Massachusetts Ethics Commission has given a $10,000 fine to Bob Coughlin, president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, because the former Bay State economic development official took part in meetings about state policy affecting the biotech industry while he was “secretly” a candidate for his current MBC post, the Boston Globe reported this morning. The … Continue reading “MBC Chief Fined $10K”
MIT Spinout Semprus BioSciences Looks for Strong Bonds with Medical-Device Companies After Closing $8M Series A
David Lucchino doesn’t like to use the word “coating” to describe the technology under development at his Cambridge, MA-based startup, Semprus Biosciences. Semprus, which was spun out of famous MIT inventor Bob Langer’s lab in 2007, is in the early stages of providing surfaces for medical devices engineered to fight bugs, prevent unhealthy blood clots, … Continue reading “MIT Spinout Semprus BioSciences Looks for Strong Bonds with Medical-Device Companies After Closing $8M Series A”
Another Next-Generation RNAi Startup Emerges, Makes Big Claims About Its Ability to Silence Bad Genes
I was initially skeptical when I first heard about biotech startup AiRNA Pharmaceuticals and its new approach to RNA-interference (RNAi already gets lots of attention for its ability to silence genes for cancer and many other diseases). The Norwood, MA, firm claimed in a press release that its next-generation RNA-interference (RNAi) technology is “superior” to … Continue reading “Another Next-Generation RNAi Startup Emerges, Makes Big Claims About Its Ability to Silence Bad Genes”
Biotech Veteran Talks of Hedge Fund Investing, Boston Celtics, and Hot Companies
The first thing I noticed when I sat down in the office of biotech investor Rich Aldrich was a shelved paperback copy of Barbarians at the Gate, the book about the legendary leveraged buyout of R.J.R Nabisco. It reminded me that Aldrich is a main character in a somewhat similar book about the biotech industry, … Continue reading “Biotech Veteran Talks of Hedge Fund Investing, Boston Celtics, and Hot Companies”
SellMyTimeshareNow Raises $8.5M
Sell My Timeshare Now, the Dover, NH-based operator of timeshare resale and rental Web site SellMyTimeshareNow.com, says it has raised $8.5 million in expansion capital. The company says that Edison Venture Fund, which has offices in Needham, MA and elsewhere, is the company’s only institutional investor.
Venture Survey Forecasts A Big Chill, With Solar Bright Spot, in 2009
More gloomy forecasts from private investors in high-tech sectors. U.S. venture capitalists see a cooling trend in the investment climate for the year ahead. One of the only bright spots I saw in the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) Predictions Survey is that a majority of VCs are optimistic that the market for initial public … Continue reading “Venture Survey Forecasts A Big Chill, With Solar Bright Spot, in 2009”
Yale Endowment Down 25 Percent
Yale University president Richard Levin revealed in this letter yesterday that the New Haven, CT, university’s endowment was valued at an estimated $17 billion, down an about 25 percent from June 30, 2008. The letter follows Harvard University’s announcement earlier this month that its endowment lost more than $8 billion, or 22 percent, of its … Continue reading “Yale Endowment Down 25 Percent”
Seventh Sense Biosystems Raises $4.75M Series A, Board Attracts MIT’s Langer and Other Big Names
Cambridge, MA-based Flagship Ventures has managed to keep the existence of one of the companies it has been incubating, Seventh Sense Biosystems, a secret for about a year. But the closing of the startup’s Series A round of financing put some information about the firm in the public domain this week. (PE Hub had this … Continue reading “Seventh Sense Biosystems Raises $4.75M Series A, Board Attracts MIT’s Langer and Other Big Names”
Mass Life Sciences Center Attracts J&J Matching Funds, Awards $3.7M in Industry-Academic Grants
It’s a big day for the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the quasi-public agency that manages the state’s plan to invest $1 billion in its life sciences industry over the next 10 years. New Jersey-based medical products giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:[[ticker:JNJ]]) has become the first company to join the agency’s new Corporate Consortium intended to … Continue reading “Mass Life Sciences Center Attracts J&J Matching Funds, Awards $3.7M in Industry-Academic Grants”
Arch Names Two New Partners
Arch Venture Partners, which has its Northwest offices in Seattle, says that it has named Kristina Burow and Paul Thurk as partners. Burow is a co-founder and director of Seattle-based domestic crude oil firm Sapphire Energy and is based at Arch’s San Francisco office. Thurk, who began his career in the firm’s Austin office, co-founded … Continue reading “Arch Names Two New Partners”
Mass Life Sci. Center Picks Waltham
The Massachsuetts Life Sciences Center—the agency in charge of the $1 billion stimulus plan for the state’s life sciences industry—announced today that it plans to lease 5,855 square feet of office space in Waltham, MA. Susan Windham-Bannister, president and CEO of the center, said in a statement that the new office in the suburbs is … Continue reading “Mass Life Sci. Center Picks Waltham”
Santarus Nabs U.S. Rights for Two Drugs in Cosmo Collaboration
San Diego specialty drug firm Santarus (NASDAQ:[[ticker:SNTS]]) says it has struck a deal with a unit of Italy-based Cosmo Pharmaceuticals (SIX:[[ticker:COPN]]) to commercialize two Cosmo drugs in the U.S. The drugs—which are extended-release versions of budesonide, a steroid, for ulcers and rifamycin, an antibiotic, for traveler’s diarrhea—are in clinical development in Europe and the U.S. … Continue reading “Santarus Nabs U.S. Rights for Two Drugs in Cosmo Collaboration”
FDA Approves BSX Renal Stent
Boston Scientific (NYSE:[[ticker:BSX]]), the Natick, MA-based medical devices giant, says that the FDA has approved its stent for certain patients who undergo surgeries to remove plaques from their renal arteries. The stent is designed to prop open renal arteries, which are the main source of blood to the kidneys.
Economy Makes Disease Foundations Get Choosier
The biotech industry is always on the lookout for cash, so one of the more positive developments of recent years has been the entrance of disease foundations into the pool of potential investors. Cambridge, MA-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:VRTX]]), for one, has said that their efforts to develop VX-770 for treating cystic fibrosis wouldn’t be possible … Continue reading “Economy Makes Disease Foundations Get Choosier”
Biogen Idec VC Group Sees Opportunity in Tough Market, Has $100M New Allocation to Invest in Biotech Firms
It’s tough times for biotech entrepreneurs in search of new funds to launch startups, with early-stage investors conserving capital for their existing portfolio companies. Yet one venture group that isn’t hurting for capital nowadays is Biogen Idec New Ventures, the San Diego-based VC arm of big biotech company Biogen Idec (NASDAQ:[[ticker:BIIB]]). Biogen this year committed … Continue reading “Biogen Idec VC Group Sees Opportunity in Tough Market, Has $100M New Allocation to Invest in Biotech Firms”
Angel Groups Pull Back in 2008
It would have been a surprise—at least to me—to see any group of investors seek more deals in this turbulent economy. So it wasn’t shocking to see that many angel groups reported less deal activity in the Angel Capital Association’s (ACA) latest nationwide Angel Group Confidence Report. The Lenexa, KS-based angel association says it tapped … Continue reading “Angel Groups Pull Back in 2008”
Panacos Pharma Plans Layoffs
Panacos Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:PANC]]), a Watertown, MA-based developer of drugs for HIV, announced that it plans to immediately reduce its workforce to 15 workers from 33 employees to manage its capital while the firm seeks such strategic options as a financing, partnership, sale of the company, or sale of certain assets. Last month Panacos said that … Continue reading “Panacos Pharma Plans Layoffs”
Semprus Raises 8M Series A Round
Semprus BioSciences, a Cambridge, MA-based developer of antimicrobial coatings for medical devices, has raised $8 million in a Series A financing round, according to Mass High Tech. MHT reports that 5AM Ventures, which has an office in Waltham, MA, and Pangaea Ventures, of Vancouver, co-led the round.
Salary.com to Buy Genesys
Salary.com, the Waltham, MA-based compensation and personnel-management software firm, announced that it has agreed to acquire human resource-management software provider Genesys Software Systems, which has an office in Methuen, MA. Salary.com, which expects to close the deal by December 17, has agreed to buy the company for a total of $6.8 million in cash and … Continue reading “Salary.com to Buy Genesys”
Alnylam Forms UCSF Collaboration
Alnylam Pharmeceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALNY]]), a Cambridge, MA-based developer of RNA-interference (RNAi) drugs, says it has formed a collaboration with the University of California, San Francisco, to explore the use of RNAi therapeutics to treat eye tumors. In previous research, scientists have found that RNAi treatments silenced a gene linked to the survival of eye tumor cells.
FDA Panel Votes Down Acusphere Drug
An FDA advisory panel voted 16-1 (with one panelist abstaining) against recommending approval of Watertown, MA-based Acusphere’s (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ACUS]]) heart imaging agent, citing abnormally low blood pressure and other reported side effects of perflubutane polymer microspheres (Imagify) as concerns, the AP reports. The imaging agent is intended for use in diagnosing heart disease. The FDA is … Continue reading “FDA Panel Votes Down Acusphere Drug”
Acusphere Stock Temporarily Halted During FDA Panel on Heart Imaging Drug
(UPDATE: This story has been corrected from an earlier version, which said Acusphere stock has been “bounced” from the Nasdaq exchange. The shares haven’t been de-listed, but trading in Acusphere has been temporarily halted today while an FDA advisory panel meets to discuss whether to recommend approval of its lead product candidate, Imagify. This is … Continue reading “Acusphere Stock Temporarily Halted During FDA Panel on Heart Imaging Drug”
Targanta Faces New Challenges to Raise Cash After FDA Shoots Down the Firm’s Antibiotic
Targanta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:[[ticker:TARG]]) faces an uphill journey now that the FDA has decided to not to approve the Cambridge, MA-based biotech firm’s antibiotic oritavancin. The FDA, in summary, told Targanta to conduct an additional clinical trial to show the safety and effectiveness of oritavancin before it seeks approval again. The drug is intended to treat … Continue reading “Targanta Faces New Challenges to Raise Cash After FDA Shoots Down the Firm’s Antibiotic”
FDA Panel Gives Nod to Genzyme Osteoarthritis Treatment
An FDA advisory panel has voted 5-0 in favor of recommending approval of Cambridge, MA-based Genzyme’s (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) osteoarthritis treatment hylan GF 20 (Synvisc-One) in single injections, the company announced Tuesday. Christopher Raymond, an analyst for Robert W. Baird, reiterated his “outperform” rating on Genzyme’s stock with the following note: “Although FDA does not necessarily have … Continue reading “FDA Panel Gives Nod to Genzyme Osteoarthritis Treatment”
New Biotechs and Other Tidbits from Mass Biotech Council Pitch Event
Last week I wrote that the current financial crisis would likely flavor the goings on here at today’s Massachusetts Biotechnology Council’s (MBC) 10th annual investors forum, and my conversations from biotech executives and the early comments of industry officials on event panels confirmed this repeatedly. Bob Coughlin, president of the MBC, stressed that “creativity” was … Continue reading “New Biotechs and Other Tidbits from Mass Biotech Council Pitch Event”
FDA Declines Approval of Targanta Antibiotic
Targanta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:[[ticker:TARG]]), a Cambridge, MA-based developer of antibiotics, says that the FDA has declined to approve the company’s application for approval of antibiotic oritavancin as a treatment for complicated skin and skin structure infections, telling the biotech firm that it needs to conduct additional clinical studies to demonstrate safety and effectiveness of the drug. … Continue reading “FDA Declines Approval of Targanta Antibiotic”
Rib-X Reveals “Positive” Antibiotic Data
Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, a New Haven, CT-based developer of antibiotics, announced that its antibiotic delafloxacin in both 300 mg and 450 mg doses was as effective as an FDA-approved antibiotic in treating patients with complicated skin and skin structure infections in a mid-stage clinical trial. In October I wrote a feature profile about Rib-X and its … Continue reading “Rib-X Reveals “Positive” Antibiotic Data”
InVivo CEO Overcame Spinal Cord Injury, Now Aims to Create Better Treatment For Same Problem
Frank Reynolds, the CEO of Cambridge, MA-based InVivo Therapeutics, says he still feels pain in his lower back when he steps off a curb. The pain stems from the spinal cord injury Reynolds suffered in an auto accident in 1992. It’s no coincidence that today he is running a medical technology firm with an implant … Continue reading “InVivo CEO Overcame Spinal Cord Injury, Now Aims to Create Better Treatment For Same Problem”
NitroMed Gets Buyout Offer
Lexington, MA-based drug maker NitroMed (NASDAQ:[[ticker:NTMD]]) says it has received an unsolicited bid from investment group Deerfield Management—which already owns about 12 percent of NitroMed’s stock—to acquire NitroMed for 50 cents per share in cash, a 40-percent premium on its closing price today of 30 cents per share. The company says it’s evaluating the offer. … Continue reading “NitroMed Gets Buyout Offer”
EMC and Microsoft Expand Partnership
EMC (NYSE: [[ticker:EMC]]), the Hopkinton, MA-based IT storage company, announced a new partnership between Microsoft (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) and EMC security division RSA to improve data security for the companies’ customers across networks and data centers. The partnership will combine RSA’s and Redmond, WA-based Microsoft’s resources and technologies to, among other things, integrate RSA data-protection software … Continue reading “EMC and Microsoft Expand Partnership”
GlassHouse Raises $9.8M in Series F Round
GlassHouse Technologies, a Framingham, MA-based provider of data center management and Internet-based data backup services, has raised $9.8 million in a Series F financing round led by Cisco Systems, PE Hub reports. GlassHouse, which we included in our list of tech companies with “aging” bids for initial public offerings, has been in registration for a … Continue reading “GlassHouse Raises $9.8M in Series F Round”
Catalyst Biosciences Raises $40M from Boston-Area Backers and Other Firms
Cambridge, MA-based venture firm HealthCare Ventures and several other backers have invested $40.4 million in a Series C round of financing for Catalyst Biosciences, a South San Francisco developer of protein-based drugs for diseases such as hemophilia and cancer, according to a company statement. Morgenthaler Ventures, a Menlo Park, CA-based firm which says it has … Continue reading “Catalyst Biosciences Raises $40M from Boston-Area Backers and Other Firms”
Korean Biotech Opens Mass. Office
OCT USA, a U.S. unit of Korean biotech firm Osteogenic Core Technologies, plans to open an office in Cambridge, MA, today, the Boston Globe reports. The Globe says that OCT—which is developing treatments for osteoporosis and arthritis—plans to hire 30 scientists in Cambridge and pump $8 million to $10 million into its new operation at … Continue reading “Korean Biotech Opens Mass. Office”
Boston Biotechs Seek Scarce Funds Amid Market Famine at Annual Pitch Event
Many biotech firms in the Boston area and elsewhere are starved for capital, and initial public offerings appear to be off the table due to the economic recession. These harsh realities are likely to flavor the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council’s (MBC) annual MassBio Investors Forum next week, when 17 biotech outfits (including a new regenerative medicine … Continue reading “Boston Biotechs Seek Scarce Funds Amid Market Famine at Annual Pitch Event”
PerkinElmer Buys Gas Analyzer Firm
PerkinElmer (NYSE:[[ticker:PKI]]), a Waltham, MA-based provider of products and services in the health-care, analytical sciences and photonics industries, announced it has acquired gas analyzer supplier Arnel, headquartered in Parlin, NJ. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The buyout of Arnel, which has served as a supplier to PerkinElmer for 18 years, is expected to enhance … Continue reading “PerkinElmer Buys Gas Analyzer Firm”
Harvard Endowment Down $8B, Further Losses Expected
Harvard University’s endowment, the largest in higher education and historically a major investor in venture capital funds, has dropped a scary 22 percent, or $8 billion, from its $36.9 billion value on June 30, the Harvard Crimson student newspaper reports. The impact of the big decline is already being felt. The Crimson reports that university … Continue reading “Harvard Endowment Down $8B, Further Losses Expected”
Artes Files for Bankruptcy After Drop in Facial Filler Sales
Artes Medical, a maker of an injectable filler to smooth facial wrinkles, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, citing reduced consumer spending on its cosmetic treatment due to the poor economy. The San Diego-based medical technology firm said in an earlier SEC filing on November 21 that a liquidation of its assets and bankruptcy were … Continue reading “Artes Files for Bankruptcy After Drop in Facial Filler Sales”
Vestas Wind Picks Mass. R&D Site
Vestas Wind Systems, a Danish wind turbine maker, reports that it plans to open an R&D center at an undisclosed location in the western suburbs of Boston, where it will develop generators, converters, and control technologies for future wind turbines. The company says that the core staff of the R&D hub will come from ePower, … Continue reading “Vestas Wind Picks Mass. R&D Site”
Venom-Derived Drug Trial Gets FDA OK
Transmolecular, a Cambridge, MA-based biotech firm, reports that the FDA has agreed to consider a filing for approval of its lead anti-cancer drug (TM601) if the molecule meets goals of a late-stage clinical trial, under the agency’s so-called Special Protocol Assessment process. The trial will test the molecule—derived from yellow scorpion venom—as a treatment for … Continue reading “Venom-Derived Drug Trial Gets FDA OK”
Biogen Confirms HQ Move from Cambridge to Suburbs
Biogen Idec (NASDAQ:[[ticker:BIIB]]) confirmed yesterday that the biotech company plans to move its corporate headquarters from Cambridge, MA, to a site in Weston, MA, in 2010, the Boston Business Journal reports. A company spokeswoman told the BBJ that the firm has recently inked a lease on 350,000 square feet of office space in the Boston … Continue reading “Biogen Confirms HQ Move from Cambridge to Suburbs”
Boston Scientific in $11M Funding for Estech
Natick, MA-based medical devices giant Boston Scientific (NYSE:[[ticker:BSX]]) has invested in an $11 million closing of a second-round financing for Endoscopic Technologies (Estech), a privately held provider of minimally invasive devices for heart surgeries headquartered in San Ramon, CA, VentureBeat reported today, citing a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. VentureBeat says that other investors … Continue reading “Boston Scientific in $11M Funding for Estech”
Hospital-Backed Partners VC Fund Finds Deals Close to Home—Here’s the Early List
It occurred to me that Partners Innovation Fund, unlike all other venture investors I can think of, knows exactly where it will find its future deals. That’s because the fund, launched by Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s hospitals last year, invests exclusively in startups with science from the two Harvard-affiliated hospitals. And given that … Continue reading “Hospital-Backed Partners VC Fund Finds Deals Close to Home—Here’s the Early List”
Having Vanquished Hair Frizz, Living Proof Looks to Skin Care and Cosmetics
Since I wrote about Living Proof this summer, we’ve had a flurry of comments and questions about the Cambridge, MA-based firm’s biotech-inspired products for combating frizzy hair. And my Xconomy colleagues and I have had some questions of our own about the company and its wares, so I recently caught up with Living Proof CEO … Continue reading “Having Vanquished Hair Frizz, Living Proof Looks to Skin Care and Cosmetics”