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.

Adimab Finds $4M More from Google and Other Investors

Lebanon, NH-based Adimab, which is developing a yeast-based human antibody discovery technology, has raised $4 million in a Series E funding round, CEO and co-founder Tillman Gerngross confirmed today. The financing was first revealed in a filing on the SEC website yesterday. Adimab raised the new funding round at a pre-money valuation of $520 million, … Continue reading “Adimab Finds $4M More from Google and Other Investors”

Aileron and Scripps Ink Deal

Cambridge, MA-based Aileron Therapeutics, a  developer of peptide-based drugs, said today it gained exclusive rights to “click” chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. “Click chemistry describes synthetic chemistry tailored to generate substances quickly and reliably by joining (“clicking”) small reactive molecular building blocks together selectively and covalently to drive a spontaneous … Continue reading “Aileron and Scripps Ink Deal”

Selventa Changes Name from Genstruct, Reveals New Efforts to Help Pharma Match Patients with Right Drugs

The complex field of systems biology might be in need of some clarification. Cambridge, MA-based Selventa has been renamed from its former moniker Genstruct as part of an effort to clarify to pharmaceutical companies and others in the life sciences industry how the firm uses computational methods to help its customers match patients with the … Continue reading “Selventa Changes Name from Genstruct, Reveals New Efforts to Help Pharma Match Patients with Right Drugs”

EcoSynthetix Raises $7.2M from U.S. Backers, Much More from Abroad

EcoSynthetix has garnered more support from both domestic and international investors, according to an SEC filing. The Lansing, MI-based company—which applies its “green chemistry” to make latex and other materials from renewable resources—said it has raised $7.2 million from U.S. investors in an equity funding round. The filing does not list the investors in the … Continue reading “EcoSynthetix Raises $7.2M from U.S. Backers, Much More from Abroad”

Akrivis Sets Out to Improve Diagnostics and Therapies with Northeastern U. Tech

Cambridge, MA-based Akrivis Technologies is named after a Greek word that means precision and accuracy. It’s too early to say whether it can fulfill that promise, but if it does, it could provide highly sensitive diagnostics for serious health conditions, targeted drug delivery for cancer, and even a platform on which to integrate drugs and … Continue reading “Akrivis Sets Out to Improve Diagnostics and Therapies with Northeastern U. Tech”

GloStream Seeks to Make Software Easy for Doctors to Use, Built on What They Already Know—Microsoft Office

Troy, MI-based gloStream calls itself the Microsoft Office of medical practice software. Yet in addition to emulating the business strategy behind Microsoft’s dominant desktop applications franchise, gloStream has actually built its software for doctors’ offices on the Redmond, WA-based software giant’s (NASDAQ:[[ticker:MSFT]]) technology. There are thousands of companies that embed Microsoft technology into their software—and … Continue reading “GloStream Seeks to Make Software Easy for Doctors to Use, Built on What They Already Know—Microsoft Office”

From Honolulu to Back Bay: eHana Moving Behavioral Health Agencies from Paper to Pixel Records

Boston is a great place for bumping into people who are pushing the envelope in healthcare. In fact, the city’s leadership in health IT factored into Jacob Buckley-Fortin’s decision to expand his software firm eHana from its original home of Honolulu, HI, to Boston in 2006. Now Buckley-Fortin, the co-founder and CEO of eHana, is … Continue reading “From Honolulu to Back Bay: eHana Moving Behavioral Health Agencies from Paper to Pixel Records”

Genzyme to Let Diagnostics Unit Loose for $265M

Genzyme’s sales of non-core businesses continues. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) said this morning that it has agreed to sell its diagnostic products business to Japan’s Sekisui Chemical for $265 million in cash. The deal takes Genzyme, the world’s largest provider of drugs for rare genetic diseases, a step further in sharpening its focus … Continue reading “Genzyme to Let Diagnostics Unit Loose for $265M”

$4.6M for Minerva Biotechnologies

Minerva Biotechnologies, a Waltham, MA-based biotech firm that researches cancer, nanotechnology, and stem cells, has raised $4.6 million in equity and rights funding round, according to an SEC filing. Xconony tried this afternoon but was unable to reach Cythia Bamdad, a founder of the firm, to discuss the financing.

HealthEdge Finds $975K

HealthEdge Software, a Burlington, MA-based provider of benefits administration software for healthcare payers, has raised $975,000 in an equity and rights financing, according to an SEC filing. Rob Gillette, the firm’s chief executive, wasn’t immediately available to comment on the funding round. Gillette told me for this August 26 story that his company had raised … Continue reading “HealthEdge Finds $975K”

Forma Gets $20M Deal with Eisai

Cambridge, MA-based Forma Therapeutics has struck a collaboration deal with the U.S. unit of Tokyo-based drug powerhouse Eisai that is focused on discovering drugs against normally intractable disease targets, according to the companies. Eisai is paying Forma $20 million in upfront and committed fees over a three-year period, according to the companies. The deal gives … Continue reading “Forma Gets $20M Deal with Eisai”

iRobot’s Michigan Unit Aids in Key Military Deal

IRobot (NASDAQ:[[ticker:IRBT]]) has quietly added to its forces in Michigan. The Bedford, MA-based provider of robotics for the home, government, and industrial markets now has two full-time employees based in the Wolverine state, where it first established a one-person office in 2009 to focus on its military customers. Joe Dyer, iRobot’s chief of operations, sounded … Continue reading “iRobot’s Michigan Unit Aids in Key Military Deal”

Cerulean Grabs $24M for Nano Drugs

[Correction—8:16 pm Eastern time on 11/15/10. See editor’s note.] Tiny drugs just got a big endorsement. Cambridge, MA-based Cerulean Pharmaceuticals has closed a $24 million Series C funding round to fuel development of its nanoparticle drugs, the company announced this morning. The deal gives the startup funding for a mid-stage clinical trial of its lead … Continue reading “Cerulean Grabs $24M for Nano Drugs”

Fusion Coolant Systems Cracks Big Problems in Manufacturing, Now Needs Customers

Manufacturers have made strides in rolling eco-friendly products like electric vehicles off their assembly lines, yet it might be a bigger challenge to entice industry to clean up its production methods. Ann Arbor, MI-based startup Fusion Coolant Systems is taking on this challenge with its brand new metalworking fluid technology. Steven Skerlos, a co-inventor of … Continue reading “Fusion Coolant Systems Cracks Big Problems in Manufacturing, Now Needs Customers”

Alkermes CEO Leans on Internal Pipeline as Bydureon Hangs Out in the Penalty Box

When biotech firms get bad news from the FDA, the fallout can have a dramatic impact on everyone from the CEO to the bench scientists. But Waltham, MA-based biotech firm Alkermes (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALKS]]) was able to escape a disappointing regulatory ruling last month without any impact on its day-to-day operations, Richard Pops, the company’s chairman and … Continue reading “Alkermes CEO Leans on Internal Pipeline as Bydureon Hangs Out in the Penalty Box”

Avila Therapeutics Pursuing Rival to Lung Cancer Drug in Dana-Farber Lawsuit

An experimental lung cancer drug discovered at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is currently at the center of a lawsuit involving Dana-Farber, Swiss drug giant Novartis, and Millbrae, CA-based Gatekeeper Pharmaceuticals. But while that complicated case continues to unfold, Waltham, MA-based biotech startup Avila Therapeutics is working on a similar molecule, which is designed to treat … Continue reading “Avila Therapeutics Pursuing Rival to Lung Cancer Drug in Dana-Farber Lawsuit”

Kamen Joins Third Rock Ventures

Third Rock Ventures said today it has named Robert Kamen, previously of Oxford Bioscience Partners, as an entrepreneur-in-residence. Kamen’s 30 years in biologics includes time spent as president of Abbott Bioresearch Center, where was involved in the discovery of the blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug adalimumab (Humira), according to Third Rock. Kamen is also an alumnus … Continue reading “Kamen Joins Third Rock Ventures”

Dana-Farber and Bay-Area Startup File Responses in Lawsuit Over Rights to Cancer Molecule

There’s a new round of interesting court filings in Boston-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s lawsuit against a Bay Area biotech startup co-founded by Dana-Farber scientists. It’s the latest chapter in a case primarily concerning who has rights to a potential game-changing drug for lung cancer discovered at Dana-Farber. Dana-Farber filed a lawsuit against Millbrae, CA-based Gatekeeper … Continue reading “Dana-Farber and Bay-Area Startup File Responses in Lawsuit Over Rights to Cancer Molecule”

HealthcareSource Buys TestSource

HealthcareSource, a Woburn, MA-based provider of human resources management software for the healthcare industry, said today that it has bought its partner TestSource of Grand Rapids, MI. Financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed. TestSource provides behavioral assessments of job applicants for healthcare customers, and the firm has worked on more than 100 integrations … Continue reading “HealthcareSource Buys TestSource”

French Biotech to Buy GTC

Framingham, MA-based GTC Biotherapeutics, the first company to get FDA approval of a drug derived from genetically modified animals, has struck a stock purchase and merger deal with LFB Biotechnologies, according to a press release. France’s LFB has agreed to take GTC private through its purchase of GTC stock for 30 cents per share or … Continue reading “French Biotech to Buy GTC”

Uncle Sam Delivers $18.4M in Research Awards to Michigan Biotechs

Usually, people pay the Internal Revenue Service. But this week the IRS announced awards to biotech companies in Michigan and elsewhere in the U.S. through the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project program. The program awarded 57 Michigan firms a total of $18.4 million in grants, according to the IRS website. The program’s grants and tax credits—which … Continue reading “Uncle Sam Delivers $18.4M in Research Awards to Michigan Biotechs”

Charles River Labs Closing Molecular Imaging Facility in Ann Arbor

Charles River Laboratories International (NYSE:[[ticker:CRL]]) is closing its discovery and molecular imaging facility in Ann Arbor, MI, as part of a plan to save the struggling company $40 million in annual expenses. The Wilmington, MA-based contract research firm reported yesterday that it’s cutting 4 percent of its global work force in response to weakened demand … Continue reading “Charles River Labs Closing Molecular Imaging Facility in Ann Arbor”

Biogen Idec Chief Aims to Make Firm More Like Biotech and Less Like Pharma with Restructuring Plan

Biogen Idec is returning to its biotech roots, in a way. The Weston, MA-based company (NASDAQ:[[ticker:BIIB]]) made headlines yesterday for its plans to cut 650 full-time jobs and narrow its research and development focus to emphasize its core expertise in neurology. And a big part of the restructuring plan, the firm’s CEO, George Scangos, says, … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Chief Aims to Make Firm More Like Biotech and Less Like Pharma with Restructuring Plan”

Biogen Idec Offering Jobs to Quarter of San Diego Workers, While Most Get Layoff Notices

Weston, MA-based Biogen Idec (NASDAQ:[[ticker:BIIB]]) plans to lay off most of the 300 to 350 employees at the company’s San Diego research center as part of the restructuring plan announced this morning, Biogen spokeswoman Christina Chan said. The drug development company, which was created in the 2003 merger of Massachusetts’ based Biogen and San Diego’s … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Offering Jobs to Quarter of San Diego Workers, While Most Get Layoff Notices”

Energesis Pharmaceuticals, Co-Founded by Sirtris Vet, Seeks to Tap Power of “Good Fat” in Fighting Obesity and Diabetes

It’s a case of good fat versus bad fat. Scientists have discovered recently that so-called brown fat, long known to be present in animals and human infants, might also play an important role in the metabolic functions of adult humans. Now Energesis Pharmaceuticals, a Boston-area startup, wants to use its founders’ knowledge of this phenomenon … Continue reading “Energesis Pharmaceuticals, Co-Founded by Sirtris Vet, Seeks to Tap Power of “Good Fat” in Fighting Obesity and Diabetes”

Via Science Forms to Launch “Big Data” Analytics Startups

Entrepreneur Colin Hill has formalized his plans to create new data analytics startups with the launch of Via Science. The Cambridge, MA-based firm will serve as part holding company of Hill’s previous two companies, GNS Healthcare and Fina Technologies, and part incubator for hatching new startups, Hill says. Via Science is the corporate vehicle that … Continue reading “Via Science Forms to Launch “Big Data” Analytics Startups”

Provident Healthcare Ventures Launches

Provident Healthcare Ventures is publicly launching this week to make early-stage venture and middle-market private equity investments in the healthcare sector, said Bill Shepard, a managing director of the Boston group. The group was formed with $25 million in funding commitments from the Boston investment-banking firm Provident Healthcare Partners and others, including Shepard and Bob … Continue reading “Provident Healthcare Ventures Launches”

Bay Area Biotech Startup at Odds with Dana-Farber and Novartis Over Cancer Drug Rights

[Updated and corrected, 12:24 pm Eastern time on 11/02/10.] There’s been some wrangling over a potential breakthrough lung cancer drug in U.S. District Court in Boston, according to court records. The legal battle has pitted a little-known biotech firm in Millbrae, CA, called Gatekeeper Pharmaceuticals against the prominent Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and the … Continue reading “Bay Area Biotech Startup at Odds with Dana-Farber and Novartis Over Cancer Drug Rights”

Boston Scientific to Sell Neurovascular Unit to Stryker for $1.5B

Natick, MA-based Boston Scienfic is getting out of the neurovascular business. The medical devices giant (NYSE:[[ticker:BSX]]) said today it has agreed to sell the business to Kalamazoo, MI-based Stryker (NYSE:[[ticker:SYK]]) for $1.5 billion in cash. The deal is expected to close before the end of the year, according to the companies. Boston Scientific said it … Continue reading “Boston Scientific to Sell Neurovascular Unit to Stryker for $1.5B”

Ariad Pharma, After 18-plus Years, Sets Sights on Not One, But Two, Marketed Cancer Drugs

The cancer drug developer Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ARIA]]) is headquartered on the same block in Cambridge, MA, as Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company. Like Millennium has done with its game-changing cancer treatment bortezomib (Velcade), Ariad now has a big opportunity with the lead cancer drug in its pipeline, ridaforolimus. Ariad, which has no marketed products, could … Continue reading “Ariad Pharma, After 18-plus Years, Sets Sights on Not One, But Two, Marketed Cancer Drugs”

InVivo Completes Reverse Merger, Raising $10.5M

Cambridge, MA-based InVivo Therapeutics said today it has completed a reverse merger and is conducting a $10.5 million private placement financing in part to fund a human study of its implant to treat spinal cord injuries. The firm did the reverse merger with an entity called InVivo Therapeutics Holdings, and it will be quoted on … Continue reading “InVivo Completes Reverse Merger, Raising $10.5M”

MedNetworks, Co-Founded by Harvard’s Nicholas Christakis, Aims to Tap Healthcare’s Hidden Social Networks

A Facebook dashboard might be the first thing that comes to mind when we think of social networks. Yet the next big thing in social networking might be technologies that enable businesses to benefit from a deep understanding of existing social networks rather than creating them from scratch like Facebook. Newton, MA-based MedNetworks, for one, … Continue reading “MedNetworks, Co-Founded by Harvard’s Nicholas Christakis, Aims to Tap Healthcare’s Hidden Social Networks”

Curaspan Undergoes Big Expansion as Demand for Patient-Transition Software Grows

Curaspan Health Group set out 11 years ago to pursue founder and CEO Tom Ferry’s idea that there had to be a better way than the long, paper- and people-intensive process traditionally required to transition patients from hospitals to their post-acute care facilities or elsewhere. Now the Newton, MA-based firm is enjoying a period of … Continue reading “Curaspan Undergoes Big Expansion as Demand for Patient-Transition Software Grows”

Transcend Buys Spryance for $6.5M

Transcend Services (NASDAQ:[[ticker:TRCR]]), an Atlanta-based provider of medical transcription services, said on October 22 that it acquired Waltham, MA-based Spryance for $6.5 million. Spryance has doing business as Heartland since its acquisition of a company by that name in 2006. The Heartland business provides transcription services to about 55 hospitals as well as several surgical … Continue reading “Transcend Buys Spryance for $6.5M”

Shots from the Front Row of Boston’s War on Cancer Event

Xconomy’s “Boston’s War on Cancer” forum on Wednesday delivered insights into some of the biggest questions about how scientists might be able to defeat one of the most fierce and complex diseases of our time, cancer. We heard some inspiring developments from Boston-area biotech chiefs whose companies are trying to make cancer treatments more precise, … Continue reading “Shots from the Front Row of Boston’s War on Cancer Event”

Metabolic Solutions Development Grabs Venture Dollars For Diabetes Drugs, Gets New CEO

It’s a happy day for Metabolic Solutions Development. The Kalamazoo, MI-based firm said today it has reeled in $23.5 million to fund development of its experimental drug for Type 2 diabetes and its other treatments for metabolic diseases. It also announced the appointment of Stephen Benoit as its new chief executive. Hopen Life Sciences, a … Continue reading “Metabolic Solutions Development Grabs Venture Dollars For Diabetes Drugs, Gets New CEO”

Dicerna Gets Glaxo’s SR One to Join Investor Syndicate

[Corrected—10/22/10 at 6:25 am ET. See editor’s note] Watertown, MA-based Dicerna Pharmaceuticals said this morning it has brought in $4 million from SR One, the venture capital arm of London-based drug giant GlaxoSmithKline. The funding makes Glaxo’s SR One the latest big-name investor to buy into Dicerna’s new approach to silencing disease-related genes to treat … Continue reading “Dicerna Gets Glaxo’s SR One to Join Investor Syndicate”

Alnylam Seeks to Prove RNAi Skeptics Wrong After Layoffs, End of Novartis Deal

[Corrected—10/22/10 at 6:30 am ET. See editor’s note.] Those of us who follow Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALNY]]]) have come to expect the biotech to land major deals with large drug makers related to its gene-silencing drugs. The firm’s pacts with Novartis, Roche, Takeda Pharmaceutical, and others have been the envy of the biotech industry … Continue reading “Alnylam Seeks to Prove RNAi Skeptics Wrong After Layoffs, End of Novartis Deal”

Compendia Bioscience Morphs Into Big Pharma’s Cancer Genomics Partner

Compendia Bioscience has evolved significantly since it spun out of the University of Michigan with its cancer genomics research software four years ago. Instead of just selling software and moving on to the next customer, Compendia co-founder and CEO, Daniel Rhodes, says that his firm has prospered by forming close ties to pharmaceutical companies that … Continue reading “Compendia Bioscience Morphs Into Big Pharma’s Cancer Genomics Partner”

Genzyme Cancer Treatment Doubles Remission Rate

Cambridge, MA-based Genzyme (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) reported data today  from its late-stage clinical trial that compared its drug clofarabine (Clolar) in combination with chemotherpy with chemotherapy and placebo. The firm said that patients in clofarabine-chemotherapy treatment combo arm of the study did not live longer than those in the chemotherapy and placebo arm, but the clofarabine group … Continue reading “Genzyme Cancer Treatment Doubles Remission Rate”

Cubist Prices $400M Notes Offering

Cubist Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:CBST]]), a Lexington, MA-based provider of acute care drugs  such as the antibiotic daptomycin (Cubicin), said in a press release on Tuesday night that it has priced a $400 million convertible notes offering. The notes bear an annual interest rate of 2.5 percent and mature on November 1, 2017, and underwriters of the … Continue reading “Cubist Prices $400M Notes Offering”

Study Shows Startup Executive Pay on the Mend

A study of private information technology and life sciences companies shows that tech executive pay is recovering from a dismal 2009. And it provides the public a rare glimpse at how much executives at startups are paid; that’s information privately held firms don’t have to divulge to the SEC, as public companies do. The CompStudy—completed … Continue reading “Study Shows Startup Executive Pay on the Mend”

1366 Technologies Gets $20M Round to Move Solar Tech into Production

1366 Technologies has the cash to advance toward production of technology that could reduce the cost of solar energy. The Lexington, MA-based firm said today it has brought in $20 million in Series B funding, including investments from Korea-based Hanwha Chemical and the European cleantech investor Ventizz Capital Fund. Those new investors joined previous backers … Continue reading “1366 Technologies Gets $20M Round to Move Solar Tech into Production”