Author: Rebecca Zacks

Rebecca is Xconomy's co-founder. She was previously the managing editor of Physician's First Watch, a daily e-newsletter from the publishers of New England Journal of Medicine. Before helping launch First Watch, she spent a decade covering innovation for Technology Review, Scientific American, and Discover Magazine's TV show. In 2005-2006 she was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. Rebecca holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Brown University and a master's in science journalism from Boston University.

Elixir, NameMedia, Archemix, and More: What’s on Tap for New England IPOs in 2008

Last year was the best IPO year for venture-backed firms since 2004, and a great year for Boston-area offerings in particular, with area firms completing 17 IPOs worth a combined $1.3 billion, second only to San Jose-based firms’ 19 deals worth $2 billion But enough about 2007. There are 10 New England life sciences and … Continue reading “Elixir, NameMedia, Archemix, and More: What’s on Tap for New England IPOs in 2008”

Genzyme Places Big Bet on Antisense RNA With Isis Deal

Back in the fall, Malorye raised the question of whether antisense RNA technology—the older, dowdier cousin of the very trendy RNAi—could possibly be hot again. Well, hang on to your pleated pants and oversized glasses because it looks like the answer is yes, as evidenced by yesterday afternoon’s announcement of a potentially ginormous strategic alliance … Continue reading “Genzyme Places Big Bet on Antisense RNA With Isis Deal”

Verenium and Bunge Team Up On Oils

Shares of biofuel and specialty enzyme firm Verenium (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRNM]]) rose slightly this morning on the news that the Cambridge, MA-based firm has inked a deal with St. Louis’s Bunge Oils. Under the agreement, Bunge will fund Verenium’s development of enzymes to improve the production of edible oils, and will become the Cambridge firm’s process … Continue reading “Verenium and Bunge Team Up On Oils”

Boston-Power Banks Big Bucks, Follica Sprouts From Stem-Cell Science, NetApp Nabs Onaro, & More

The new year got off to a good start last week for Boston-area tech firms. Even with the abbreviated work week there were plenty of deals for us to discuss. —Needham, MA’s HiWired announced it has raised $9 million in a Series B financing led by North Hill Ventures and joined by Sigma Partners and … Continue reading “Boston-Power Banks Big Bucks, Follica Sprouts From Stem-Cell Science, NetApp Nabs Onaro, & More”

Obesity Startup Gelesis Gobbles Up $16M in Financing

Gelesis, a Boston-based biotech startup focusing on obesity, announced this morning that it has raised $16 million in its first institutional financing. The round was led by healthcare investment giant OrbiMed Advisors of New York and joined by Australia’s Queensland BioCapital Funds and others. It comes on top of a $900,000 seed investment from PureTech … Continue reading “Obesity Startup Gelesis Gobbles Up $16M in Financing”

EMC, Cubist, and Others Do Some Last-Minute Shopping, Dyax Readies for an Offering, Millennium Sees a Payday, and More

It’s been relatively quiet since last we rounded up (on Christmas Eve), but a few local tech companies managed to ink a deal or two—mainly acquisitions—in the waning hours of 2007. —Dyax (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DYAX]]) filed a shelf registration statement that, when declared effective by the SEC, will give the Cambridge, MA-based biotech the ability to … Continue reading “EMC, Cubist, and Others Do Some Last-Minute Shopping, Dyax Readies for an Offering, Millennium Sees a Payday, and More”

The Xconomy Half-Dozen-Stories-of-the-Half-Year Awards

This is the week that everybody in the media seems to be gazing back upon 2007, but here at Xconomy, well, we’re not that into the first half of the year. No offense intended to January, February, et al—we just weren’t around yet to cover all the people, companies, and happenings that surely made those … Continue reading “The Xconomy Half-Dozen-Stories-of-the-Half-Year Awards”

Glasshouse Plots for VMware IPO Sequel, Idera Partners With Merck, iRobot Inks Deal With Army, & More

Ho, ho, holy cow there were a lot of deals last week! In case you missed any on account of snow-shoveling, shopping, or hall-decking, here’s a recap: —Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: [[ticker:BMY]]) agreed to sell its Billerica, MA-based medical imaging division to private equity firm Avista Capital Partners for some $525 million. —Burlington, MA’s iRobot (NASDAQ: … Continue reading “Glasshouse Plots for VMware IPO Sequel, Idera Partners With Merck, iRobot Inks Deal With Army, & More”

Big Win Looming for IRobot as it Settles Both Cases With Robotic FX

[Updated 2:45 pm—see end of story.] IRobot’s two lawsuits against Robotic FX are being settled in favor of the Burlington, MA-based plaintiff, according to filings in U.S. District Courts in Massachusetts and Alabama. Settlements filed over the last couple of hours include judgment in favor of iRobot on all counts of the Alabama suit, and … Continue reading “Big Win Looming for IRobot as it Settles Both Cases With Robotic FX”

Abiomed Device Approved

Abiomed (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ABMD]]) has gained FDA approval for a new circulatory support device, the Danvers, MA-based company announced today. The device—a console that drives various balloons and pumps used in treating heart failure—is already approved in Europe.

Biogen Idec, Vertex, and Genzyme Try Different Ways to Skin the Innovation Cat

Back in July, Bob had an intriguing conversation with Rainer Fuchs, a Biogen Idec VP on a mission to find new ways for the Cambridge, MA-based biotech giant to tap into ideas that could help fill its pipeline. Fuchs’ answer was the Biogen Idec Innovation Incubator, a quirky spin on the incubator model that doesn’t … Continue reading “Biogen Idec, Vertex, and Genzyme Try Different Ways to Skin the Innovation Cat”

$5 Million for Inmagic

Woburn, MA-based Inmagic, which makes softwares that companies used to manage online and offline libraries, announced it had received a $5 million investment from New Jersey-based Edison Venture Fund. The deal is not your typical startup financing–Inmagic was founded in 1982 by an expert in library scientist and a technologist from MIT.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Division Sold for $525M

New York-based private equity firm Avista Capital Partners seems to be on a holiday shopping spree in Massachusetts–last week it acquired two Boston Scientific business units, and today it announced it’s picking up the Billerica, MA-based medical imaging division of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: [[ticker:BMY]]) for some $525 million. The deal is expected to close by … Continue reading “Bristol-Myers Squibb Division Sold for $525M”

Nuance Plans an Offering, Memsic Makes Disappointing Debut, Inverness Orders the Usual, & More

The Boston-area biz/tech news was piling up almost as fast as the snow last week, and there were a few deals we didn’t manage to plow through at the time. Here they are, along with a few of the ones we caught the first time around. —Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NUAN]]), which sells speech and imaging … Continue reading “Nuance Plans an Offering, Memsic Makes Disappointing Debut, Inverness Orders the Usual, & More”

Hologic Contraceptive Device Gets Nod From FDA Panel

Bedford, MA-based Hologic’s $6.2 billion union with Cytyc, completed in October, seems set to bear fruit. The newly merged company, now one of Massachusetts’ largest life sciences concerns, announced today that an FDA panel has recommended that its permanent contraception device, Adiana, be approved. The device—which offers a minimally invasive alternative to tubal ligation—is an … Continue reading “Hologic Contraceptive Device Gets Nod From FDA Panel”

BSX Sheds “Non-Strategic” Businesses for $425M

As part of a previously announced restructuring effort, Natick, MA-based Boston Scientific (NYSE: [[ticker:BSX]]) has agreed to sell two of its businesses to private equity firm Avista Capital Partners for $425 million in cash. With this deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of next year, “We now have under agreement the … Continue reading “BSX Sheds “Non-Strategic” Businesses for $425M”

Massachusetts Spared Novartis Cuts

Novartis (NYSE: [[ticker:NVS]]) today unveiled a plan to cut some 2,500 job but—despite an ominously worded reference to to the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, which employs 1,300 people in Cambridge, MA—there will be no Massachusetts jobs lost. This according to the Boston Business Journal‘s Mark Hollmer, who writes that some 300 additional Novartis jobs … Continue reading “Massachusetts Spared Novartis Cuts”

For Logical Therapeutics It’s a New City and a New Approach to Anti-Inflammatory Drugs; For the CEO, It’s a Whole New Career

For a company so new it still has that new-car smell (literally—the firm’s slate-and-beige carpet is still very much in off-gas mode), Logical Therapeutics has made some decent distance on the road to commercializing its first product. The Waltham, MA-based biotech startup already has a drug in clinical trials—one that could ultimately address a multibillion-dollar … Continue reading “For Logical Therapeutics It’s a New City and a New Approach to Anti-Inflammatory Drugs; For the CEO, It’s a Whole New Career”

Look Out, EveryScape—Google Gives Users a Better Look Around Boston

I can tell you right now that Wade is not going to like this post. As many of you know, he’s a huge fan of both maps and 3-D modeling technology, and anything that puts the two together…well, forget about it. Which is why, I’m guessing, he is so intrigued by EveryScape, a Waltham, MA-based … Continue reading “Look Out, EveryScape—Google Gives Users a Better Look Around Boston”

Calling All Tech Bands: It’s Time to Rock and Rule

If there’s one thing we’ve learned since launching Xconomy back in June, it’s that our readers and sources rock—often in a couple of different senses of the word. Which is to say that not only have we been overwhelmed by the technical smarts, business savvy, and plain old neighborliness of the people we’ve met over … Continue reading “Calling All Tech Bands: It’s Time to Rock and Rule”

GTC Drug Gets Orphan Status

Framingham, MA-based GTC Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GTCB]]) announced that its lead drug candidate, ATryn, has received orphan-drug status as a treatment for patients with a rare hereditary clotting disease. The drug—a protein produced it the milk of genetically engineered goats—was fast-tracked by the FDA back in September; GTC plans to complete its filings for approval of … Continue reading “GTC Drug Gets Orphan Status”

$16M for Blackwave, Memsic Sets IPO Range, Hologic Prices $1.5B Worth of Notes, and the Rest of Last Week’s Wheeling and Dealing

Last week saw a little blip in the action among companies working on aspects of fixed and mobile media delivery—or is it the beginning of a trend? Oh, and there were some life sciences deals in there as well. This is Boston, after all. —Blackwave, an Acton, MA-based maker of hardware for video streaming, raised … Continue reading “$16M for Blackwave, Memsic Sets IPO Range, Hologic Prices $1.5B Worth of Notes, and the Rest of Last Week’s Wheeling and Dealing”

Harvard Bioscience to Buy Back $10M in Stock

Harvard Bioscience (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HBIO]]), a Holliston, MA-based maker of instrumentation for life sciences industries, plans to buy back some $10 million of its common stock over the next two years, the company announced yesterday. The stock is up some 6 percent this afternoon, at $4.24.

Of Red Wine, Robotics, and What Folks Would Do As Governor—Xconomy’s Forum Sparks Debate on the Future of Innovation in New England

I don’t know if the cold medicine was getting to me or what, but venture capitalist Michael Greeley was sounding awfully like a socialist for a minute there last night at the Xconomy Forum. Greeley—a general partner at IDG Ventures, president of the New England Venture Capital Association, and an Xconomist—was moderating a spirited discussion … Continue reading “Of Red Wine, Robotics, and What Folks Would Do As Governor—Xconomy’s Forum Sparks Debate on the Future of Innovation in New England”

$80M Payday for Synta

GlaxoSmithKline has written Lexington, MA-based Synta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SNTA]]) a check for $80 million. The payment is the first installment under a cancer-drug development agreement that could ultimately be worth $1.1 billion for the Lexington firm.

Bruker Buys Bruker for Almost $1B

Shares of Bruker BioSciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BRKR]]), a Billerica, MA-based scientific instruments maker, are climbing on yesterday’s announcement that the firm will acquire the Bruker BioSpin Group, which develops magnetic resonance core technology, for $914 million in cash and stock. The resulting company, which will be called Bruker Corporation, is projected to have more than 3,700 … Continue reading “Bruker Buys Bruker for Almost $1B”

Group Led by Harvard’s George Church Will Bid for Genomics X Prize

A local group has finally thrown its hat into the ring for the $10 million Archon X Prize for Genomics, and it’s a biggie: the newly minted Personal Genome X-Team (PGx), led by genomics pioneer George Church. Church, a Harvard Medical School professor of genetics and co-founder of companies including Cambridge, MA’s Codon Devices and … Continue reading “Group Led by Harvard’s George Church Will Bid for Genomics X Prize”

$35M for Merrimack

A regulatory filing indicates that Cambridge, MA-based Merrimack Pharmaceuticals has raised $35 million of an $80 Series F financing round, according to PE Week Wire. No investors were named in the filing, but Merrimack’s $65 million Series E round, closed in April of 2006, included Jennison Associates, Modal Capital, Sorenson Development, WT Investment Advisors Fund, … Continue reading “$35M for Merrimack”

Inverness Buys Again, BIND Ties Up Some Dough, TurboPower Fires Up, Passport Systems Screens New Funds, and More

Last week saw a steady stream of smallish and medium-sized deals for Greater Boston’s high-tech and life-sciences firms. The list includes many familiar faces: —Inverness Medical Innovations (AMEX: [[ticker:IMA]]), a Waltham-based diagnostics maker, announced its planned $230 million acquisition of Upper Saddle River, NJ’s ParadigmHealth. Malorye profiled Inverness a couple of weeks ago. —Voice-over-Internet device … Continue reading “Inverness Buys Again, BIND Ties Up Some Dough, TurboPower Fires Up, Passport Systems Screens New Funds, and More”

MA’s Woman-Led Firms Growing, Well-Represented in Tech Industries

Woman-led businesses in Massachusetts are outpacing state and national growth averages, and are less concentrated in lifestyle or retail sectors than their national counterparts, according to a report unveiled today by Babson College and the nonprofit Commonwealth Institute. Indeed, female-helmed firms are particularly well represented in tech and life sciences industries. The report is based … Continue reading “MA’s Woman-Led Firms Growing, Well-Represented in Tech Industries”

Wilson TurboPower Raises $4M in 2nd Series A Closing

Wilson TurboPower, a Woburn, MA-based MIT spinoff, yesterday announced it had closed $4M in Series A funding, on top of nearly 3 million Series A dollars that the firm closed in early October. The funds bring the company’s total Series A closings and near-term warrants to nearly $18M, and will be used to complete development … Continue reading “Wilson TurboPower Raises $4M in 2nd Series A Closing”

Massachusetts Firms Rolling in a Growing Pile of Cleantech Venture Cash

Massachusetts is second only to California when it comes to raking in VC dollars for cleantech—and those dollars are evidently piling up faster than maple leaves in autumn. This according to new data from Thomson Financial and the National Venture Capital Association. The numbers, released yesterday, show that in the first three quarters of this … Continue reading “Massachusetts Firms Rolling in a Growing Pile of Cleantech Venture Cash”

Legislators Promise Action on $1 Billion Biotech Bill

After months of delays that have clearly frustrated the Governor’s office, leaders of the Massachusetts legislature have set a schedule for acting on the Governor’s proposed $1 billion initiative to bolster the commonwealth’s life sciences industry. According to a joint statement from Governor Deval Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray, and Speaker of the House Salvatore … Continue reading “Legislators Promise Action on $1 Billion Biotech Bill”

New IRobot Contract Unrelated to Lawsuit (and Not Actually Issued Yet)

Never let it be said that Xconomy doesn’t look out for its readers. Yesterday you asked us to look into an intriguing posting on a government website about what looked to be a new $200 million contract for iRobot—marked with a date suspiciously close to when the Army set aside the $279.9 million “xBot” contract … Continue reading “New IRobot Contract Unrelated to Lawsuit (and Not Actually Issued Yet)”

BIND Biosciences Raises $16 Million for Targeted, Drug-Loaded Nanoparticles

As it promised during its “public debut” a few weeks ago at MassOpps (here’s my take on that presentation and the rest of the conference) BIND Biosciences has closed a $16 million Series B financing round. Polaris Venture Partners and Flagship Ventures—founding investors of the Cambridge, MA-based startup—were joined in the deal by ARCH Ventures … Continue reading “BIND Biosciences Raises $16 Million for Targeted, Drug-Loaded Nanoparticles”

Inverness to Pay $230 Million for ParadigmHealth

Fast on the heels of a $806.4 million stock sale, Waltham-based diagnostics maker Inverness Medical Innovations (AMEX: [[ticker:IMA]]) today announced it has agreed to acquire Upper Saddle River, NJ-based ParadigmHealth for roughly $230 million in cash. Bent on growth, Inverness has already announced about a dozen acquisitions this year alone.

Inverness Investors Go Back for Seconds, Alkermes Grabs a Slice of the GSK/Reliant Pie, Kalido Restocks the (Cash) Larder, and the Rest of Thanksgiving Week’s Deals

Even with all the roasting, basting, and digesting everybody had to do last week, Boston-area tech businesses still managed to cut a few deals: —Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) agreed to pay Swiss startup Neurimmune Therapeutics as much as $380 million for potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, which Biogen will develop and commercialize. —Diagnostics maker Inverness … Continue reading “Inverness Investors Go Back for Seconds, Alkermes Grabs a Slice of the GSK/Reliant Pie, Kalido Restocks the (Cash) Larder, and the Rest of Thanksgiving Week’s Deals”

Just in Time for the Holidays, We Gobble Up More Filings in the iRobot-Robotic FX Case

The chances of a Pilgrims-and-Indians-style Thanksgiving detente between iRobot and Robotic FX, if they ever existed, are looking pretty slim today. The latest point of contention is a request from Robotic FX that Judge Nancy Gertner of U.S. District Court in Boston change her November 2 injunction against Robotic FX. The injunction effectively prevents the … Continue reading “Just in Time for the Holidays, We Gobble Up More Filings in the iRobot-Robotic FX Case”

ConforMIS is Reaching for a Big Piece of the Knee-Surgery Market by Taking Smaller Pieces of Bone

I pride myself on having an extraordinarily high tolerance for medical gore, but I have to admit that the phrase “bone saw” always gives me the willies. Which is probably why I was intrigued when I first heard that there was a company out in Burlington, MA, that makes a new kind of implant for … Continue reading “ConforMIS is Reaching for a Big Piece of the Knee-Surgery Market by Taking Smaller Pieces of Bone”

Mass’s $1 Billion Biotech Bill Likely Stalled for the Year, House Speaker Says

Things aren’t looking so good for Governor Deval Patrick’s $1 billion life sciences initiative, according to the Boston Globe. There’s just a day left before the state legislature closes shop for the calendar year, and House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi told a Globe reporter that Patrick’s life sciences bill doesn’t have a great chance of … Continue reading “Mass’s $1 Billion Biotech Bill Likely Stalled for the Year, House Speaker Says”

Biogen Inks $380 Million Deal With Swiss Company

Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) today announced that it has formed an alliance with a Swiss startup, Neurimmune Therapeutics, to develop antibody-based treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Under the terms of the deal, Biogen could pay up to $380 million for candidate molecules, which it will be responsible for developing and commercializing. In an interview … Continue reading “Biogen Inks $380 Million Deal With Swiss Company”

Pfizer Picks a Local Target, Sermo Meets Satellite Radio, and the Rest of the Recent Deals

Even though last week was a short one, there was so much wheeling and dealing that I wound up doing an extra roundup on Wednesday. But wait, there was more… Here are the deals that were announced since last we rounded up. —Boston-based RNAi therapeutics startup Dicerna finalized its $13M Series A financing led by … Continue reading “Pfizer Picks a Local Target, Sermo Meets Satellite Radio, and the Rest of the Recent Deals”

Boston Scientific Settlement Upped

Natick, MA-based Boston Scientific (NYSE: [[ticker:BSX]]) announced this morning that it will pay up to $240 million to cover 8,550 patient claims related to defibrillators from Guidant, which Boston Scientific acquired last year. This settlement is expanded from a $195 million agreement announced in July, and covers “substantially all currently asserted claims in the United … Continue reading “Boston Scientific Settlement Upped”

Inverness Prices Secondary Public Offering, Nearly Doubling Its Size

In the middle of an acquisition spree that has hoovered up some $2.5 billion worth of companies in 2007 alone, Waltham, MA-based Inverness Medical Innovations (AMEX: [[ticker:IMA]]) today priced a previously announced secondary public offering of its stock, in the process nearly doubling the number of shares offered and boosting total value of the deal … Continue reading “Inverness Prices Secondary Public Offering, Nearly Doubling Its Size”