There’s a speed dating game of sorts happening as pharmaceutical companies that have approved cancer immunotherapies are testing their medications in combination with experimental drugs in hopes of reaching more patients. San Diego’s Oncolytics Biotech (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ONCY]]) has been an active participant in those combination efforts, with multiple pharmaceutical companies pairing its lead drug candidate, … Continue reading “Oncolytics Bio Tacks On Cancer Combo Study with Merck KGaA, Pfizer”
Author: Sarah de Crescenzo
Sarah is Xconomy's San Diego-based editor. Prior to joining the team in 2018, she wrote about startups, tech and finance at the San Diego Business Journal. Her decade of full-time news experience includes coverage of subjects including campaign finance, crime and courts as a reporter and editor at outlets throughout California, including the Orange County Register.
She earned a bachelor's degree in English Literature at UC San Diego, where she wrote for the student newspaper and played collegiate lacrosse. In 2019, she earned an MBA at UC Irvine.
Element Biosciences Lands $15M to Develop New Genetic Analysis Tools
Most of the genetic analysis done today is performed on machines made by Illumina, the DNA sequencing giant. Now a former director from the company is leading a startup that has raised $15 million to develop new genome sequencing tools. San Diego’s Element Biosciences said Tuesday that it had secured a Series A round led … Continue reading “Element Biosciences Lands $15M to Develop New Genetic Analysis Tools”
Oncternal Therapeutics Goes Public After Reverse Merger With GTx
Oncternal Therapeutics has joined the growing ranks of San Diego biotechs to go public, but it didn’t go through an IPO to get there. The San Diego-based company said Monday that it completed a reverse merger with GTx, a Memphis, TN biotech whose market value plummeted last fall after its lead drug candidate failed a … Continue reading “Oncternal Therapeutics Goes Public After Reverse Merger With GTx”
Celebrating San Diego Life Sciences: Xconomy Awards Gala Slideshow
We at Xconomy were thrilled to see such a great turnout at our first-ever awards gala in San Diego. About 250 people from the local life sciences community filled a ballroom at Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa (see photos above). As Greg Huang, Xconomy’s editor in chief, said in his opening remarks before a … Continue reading “Celebrating San Diego Life Sciences: Xconomy Awards Gala Slideshow”
Tealium CEO, Founder Among San Diego’s Entrepreneurs of the Year
Two executives at software company Tealium were recognized Thursday with a regional “Entrepreneur of the Year” award from EY for their leadership of the rapidly growing San Diego-based tech firm, which recently raised $55 million in outside investment. Tealium CEO Jeff Lunsford and Mike Anderson, its founder and CTO, were jointly given the Software category … Continue reading “Tealium CEO, Founder Among San Diego’s Entrepreneurs of the Year”
Agtech Startup GroGuru Gets Audience Kudos at EvoNexus Demo Day
Three wildly different startups among those incubating at EvoNexus, a La Jolla, CA-based nonprofit organization that supports early-stage tech companies, earned top marks from the audience at a pitch contest this week. EvoNexus typically hosts a “Demo Day” event twice per year to highlight the top startups currently housed in its incubator. The event is … Continue reading “Agtech Startup GroGuru Gets Audience Kudos at EvoNexus Demo Day”
Inhibrx, Fresh Off $40M Funding to Advance Cancer Drugs, Eyes IPO
Two weeks after raising $40 million to push ahead with its drug development programs, Inhibrx submitted paperwork to the SEC revealing that it aims to raise money in the public market, too. The La Jolla, CA-based company, which is developing protein drugs targeting cancer and other diseases, was founded in 2010. Read more about the … Continue reading “Inhibrx, Fresh Off $40M Funding to Advance Cancer Drugs, Eyes IPO”
The Winners of the 2019 Xconomy Awards San Diego Are…
The nominees and finalists for the first-ever Xconomy Awards San Diego were an impressive bunch, making it tough for our judges and the editors to pick the winners. There were multiple deserving companies and people in each category. After much discussion and debate, we decided that these winners represent the best of the San Diego … Continue reading “The Winners of the 2019 Xconomy Awards San Diego Are…”
San Diego Tech Roundup: Startup Week, Planck, TuSimple & More
On the eve of the start of the seventh annual San Diego Startup Week, let’s learn more about the event—which is expected to draw thousands to its talks and gatherings—and take a look at some other recent tech news. —Local entrepreneurs have dozens of speakers teed up and get-togethers organized for Startup Week, which kicks … Continue reading “San Diego Tech Roundup: Startup Week, Planck, TuSimple & More”
Inhibrix Pulls In $40M to Press Ahead With Cancer Drug Clinical Trials
Inhibrx, developer of protein drugs targeting cancer and other diseases, has raised $40 million from the hedge fund Viking Global Investors as the biotech steers several programs through early-stage clinical trials. The La Jolla, CA-based company was founded in 2010 by Mark Lappe, Brendan Eckelman, and Quinn Deveraux. Eckelman is the company’s chief scientific officer … Continue reading “Inhibrix Pulls In $40M to Press Ahead With Cancer Drug Clinical Trials”
Reneo Pharma Launches with $50M to Target Energy-Depleting Diseases
Yet another new biotech company has been founded in San Diego by serial entrepreneur Mike Grey and other alumni of rare disease startup Lumena Pharmaceuticals. Reneo Pharmaceuticals, which has offices in San Diego and in the UK, announced Monday it has raised $50 million to advance a compound it is testing as a therapy for … Continue reading “Reneo Pharma Launches with $50M to Target Energy-Depleting Diseases”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: MedCrypt, LunaDNA, Dynacure & More
Let’s catch up with the latest life sciences news in San Diego. — Cybersecurity company MedCrypt, which makes software to protect medical devices, raised a $5.3 million Series A funding round. The company says it will use the new funds to hire new salespeople and engineers and further develop its technology, which medical devices vendors … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: MedCrypt, LunaDNA, Dynacure & More”
BioClarity, Maker of “Clean, Green” Skincare Products, Raises $13M
BioClarity, which sells plant-based skincare products to online shoppers, announced Wednesday that it has raised a $13 million investment round. The San Diego-based company is part of Adigica Health, an e-commerce company founded in 2016 to develop and market direct-to-consumer healthcare products. Prolog Ventures led the round with a $6 million investment; BioClarity said earlier … Continue reading “BioClarity, Maker of “Clean, Green” Skincare Products, Raises $13M”
ViaCyte, Fate & More: Xconomy Awards San Diego Big Idea Finalists
The finalists in the Big Idea category of the Xconomy Awards San Diego are pursuing ambitious goals in pursuit of better ways of improving health. Their approaches range, from a new way to deliver insulin to patients with Type 1 diabetes to an innovative method to detect brain trauma that could reduce the need for … Continue reading “ViaCyte, Fate & More: Xconomy Awards San Diego Big Idea Finalists”
Eyeing Future IPO, A Rarity for SD Software Firms, Tealium Adds $55M
San Diego has had plenty of businesses go public in recent years, but most have been life sciences companies. Now software startup Tealium, which has about 215 employees at its San Diego headquarters, announced Wednesday it has added $55 million in a Series F financing. Eleven-year-old Tealium has now hauled in more than $160 million … Continue reading “Eyeing Future IPO, A Rarity for SD Software Firms, Tealium Adds $55M”
Science & Strategy Stars: Xconomy Awards San Diego Secret Weapon Finalists
[Updated 11:30 a.m. 5/16. See below.] Success in life sciences is always a team effort. Often, those doing the heavy lifting do so behind the scenes, without much external recognition of their role. To celebrate these hidden stars, we created the Secret Weapon category for the Xconomy Awards San Diego. The finalists in this category … Continue reading “Science & Strategy Stars: Xconomy Awards San Diego Secret Weapon Finalists”
Lundbeck to Buy Abide Therapeutics For $250M, Make SD Lab a US Hub
Danish pharma firm Lundbeck has agreed to acquire Abide Therapeutics for $250 million upfront. The La Jolla, CA-based company, spun out of research from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), is developing drugs to treat diseases of the central nervous system, among them Tourette syndrome. Its drugs block enzymes known as serine hydrolases, which play a … Continue reading “Lundbeck to Buy Abide Therapeutics For $250M, Make SD Lab a US Hub”
New VC Firm Blueprint Equity Puts $6M into Florida Software Company
A new venture capital firm, which in November marked its launch by raising a $53 million-plus fund to invest in startups, has made its first investment. Blueprint Equity managing partners Sheldon Lewis and Bobby Ocampo, 30-somethings who are part of a new generation of investors in San Diego, said Thursday that the firm had invested … Continue reading “New VC Firm Blueprint Equity Puts $6M into Florida Software Company”
Ivor Royston Named Xconomy’s 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner in San Diego
We at Xconomy are excited to announce that we are honoring Ivor Royston, co-founder of Hybritech and Idec Pharmaceuticals, with our 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award—the first ever awarded in San Diego. The award recognizes Royston’s wide-ranging career as an academic physician, entrepreneur, investor, and life sciences executive. His foundational role in starting Hybritech, San Diego’s … Continue reading “Ivor Royston Named Xconomy’s 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner in San Diego”
Vividion Raises $82M to Advance Small Molecule Drugs to the Clinic
Vividion Therapeutics, a biotechnology company that launched in 2017 around discoveries made in Scripps Research Institute labs, has raised $82 million in financing. Nextech Invest, a Swiss investment firm that funds companies developing cancer therapeutics, led the Series B round of funding. As part of the investment, Nextech partner Jakob Loven gets a board seat. … Continue reading “Vividion Raises $82M to Advance Small Molecule Drugs to the Clinic”
Takeda Unites San Diego Operations At New ‘Biotech-Style’ R&D Center
In 2005, Japan’s big drug firm Takeda acquired a company in North America for the first time. That company was Syrrx, a private San Diego-based biotech that used X-ray crystallography to help determine the structures of disease-related molecules so drugs could be designed to target them. Now, 14 years and multiple other acquisitions of North … Continue reading “Takeda Unites San Diego Operations At New ‘Biotech-Style’ R&D Center”
Connect, San Diego Venture Group Announce Plan to Merge Operations
Connect, which runs the San Diego region’s longest-standing accelerator program for early-stage startups, is combining its operations with that of the San Diego Venture Group to form an organization that will be better equipped to support young ventures, the two companies said this week. Mike Krenn, who became president of SDVG in August of 2014, … Continue reading “Connect, San Diego Venture Group Announce Plan to Merge Operations”
Avidity Biosciences Gets $35M in Immunology R&D Deal with Eli Lilly
Avidity Biosciences, a biotech developing drugs that deliver bits of RNA and DNA to cells to treat disease, has signed its first strategic pharmaceutical partner. Eli Lilly (NYSE: [[ticker:LLY]]) is paying Avidity $20 million upfront—plus $15 million in equity—for the rights to use the La Jolla, CA, startup’s technology to try and develop new medicines. … Continue reading “Avidity Biosciences Gets $35M in Immunology R&D Deal with Eli Lilly”
Forge Therapeutics, Basilea Sign Deal to Pursue New Antibiotics
Forge Therapeutics, founded in 2015 with the goal of developing drugs that target metalloenzymes, said Wednesday it had agreed to let Basilea Pharmaceutica use its chemistry platform to develop new antibiotics. Basilea, a Swiss company, has previously commercialized two drugs, an antifungal, isavuconazole (Cresemba), and an antibiotic, ceftobiprole (Zevtera). The former is marketed and distributed … Continue reading “Forge Therapeutics, Basilea Sign Deal to Pursue New Antibiotics”
ServiceNow Alum’s Perspectium Adds $8M More for Integration Tools
ServiceNow, one of the most valuable software companies ever founded in San Diego, launched in 2003, before enterprise software-as-a-service became a topic of mainstream discussion. Today’s tech landscape is dotted with companies that investors have valued at $1 billion or more—an elite club, members of which have come to be known as “unicorns,” and dozens … Continue reading “ServiceNow Alum’s Perspectium Adds $8M More for Integration Tools”
Poseida to Advance CAR-T For Myeloma with Novartis-Led $142M Round
[Updated 4/23/19 9:10 a.m. See below.] The race to bring CAR-T cell therapy to multiple myeloma, a persistent and deadly cancer of the bone marrow, continued on Monday with a fresh round of funding for Poseida Therapeutics. Swiss pharma giant Novartis has invested $75 million in a $142 million Series C round for San Diego-based … Continue reading “Poseida to Advance CAR-T For Myeloma with Novartis-Led $142M Round”
Turning Point Prices IPO, Raising $166M to Test Cancer Drugs
Turning Point Therapeutics raised more than $166 million in its IPO, pricing at the top of its range and putting nearly 2 million more shares into the public markets than it had initially planned. Strong demand ahead of the offering prompted the company, which is developing targeted cancer drugs for patients that have developed resistance … Continue reading “Turning Point Prices IPO, Raising $166M to Test Cancer Drugs”
Qualcomm, Apple End Worldwide Legal Fights with Settlement Agreement
Wireless giant Qualcomm and smartphone maker Apple have been publicly feuding in courts around the globe, accusing one another of illegal business practices for more than two years. On Tuesday, the companies announced that the litigation between the two tech firms would be dismissed. San Diego-based Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]])—which, among other products, makes sophisticated components … Continue reading “Qualcomm, Apple End Worldwide Legal Fights with Settlement Agreement”
Insitro Lands Three-Year Deal With Gilead to Find New NASH Drugs
Drug discovery startup Insitro burst onto the scene last year with ambitions of using machine learning techniques to find new therapies. Now the company has its first pharmaceutical partner. Gilead Sciences will work with Insitro to find medicines to treat a liver disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), that is fast becoming a global epidemic fueled by … Continue reading “Insitro Lands Three-Year Deal With Gilead to Find New NASH Drugs”
As Drug Resistance Grows, Amplyx Tests New Antifungal Drug
While fungal infections may seem like an annoyance rather than a serious health problem, sick people in hospitals and long-term care facilities are contracting potentially deadly infections that current treatments are failing to ameliorate, thanks to the evolution of many such germs. One such fungus, Candida auris, like some bacteria, has become increasingly resistant to … Continue reading “As Drug Resistance Grows, Amplyx Tests New Antifungal Drug”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Evofem, Cullgen, BrainLeap & More
Locally based biotech companies receive fresh funding from investors. A software startup launches games that it says may help children with disorders that cause attention difficulties. Get the details on these developments and more in San Diego life sciences news: —Evofem Biosciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EVFM]]) struck a deal to raise up to $80 million in a … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Evofem, Cullgen, BrainLeap & More”
EvoNexus Gets Bank, Investment Firm Backing for Fintech Incubator
Financial firms are facing competition from legacy players and disruptive fintech startups as technology continues to reshape the heavily regulated industry. Two financial firms are betting on a nonprofit incubator program in San Diego in hopes of identifying top talent and potential targets for investment or acquisition. The incubator, EvoNexus, said this week that Royal … Continue reading “EvoNexus Gets Bank, Investment Firm Backing for Fintech Incubator”
San Diego Tech Roundup: Bitmo, Dvele, Cybersecurity Report & More
—Mobile app startup Bitmo announced it had raised more than $3 million in seed funding from investors including Everplus Capital, Longboard Capital Advisors, and several Southern California-based family fund offices. Bitmo’s mobile app allows users to send and receive digital gift cards that can be switched between a number of stores. The company says it … Continue reading “San Diego Tech Roundup: Bitmo, Dvele, Cybersecurity Report & More”
Reveal Biosciences Gets Intel’s Backing on “AI-Powered” Pathology
A 25-person startup developing advanced computing tools to speed up pathology work has raised its first institutional financing from a group of investors led by Intel Capital, the corporate investment arm of the chipmaker. The San Diego-based company, Reveal Biosciences, is among 14 early-stage companies with business plans that include artificial intelligence, a catchall term … Continue reading “Reveal Biosciences Gets Intel’s Backing on “AI-Powered” Pathology”
Charles River Labs Says It Will Close San Diego Research Facility
Contract research organization Charles River Labs is shutting down its San Diego-area operations, moving the work done there to one of its two Northern California sites. In a filing with California’s Employment Development Department, Wilmington, MA-based Charles River (NYSE: [[ticker:CRL]]) said it would lay off 24 workers by May 20 in connection with the closure. … Continue reading “Charles River Labs Says It Will Close San Diego Research Facility”
Xconomy Awards San Diego CEO Finalists Show How To Build Value
To succeed as a CEO means having the fortitude to make the tough decisions that all companies face. Often, that means persevering in pursuit of a mission, whether that’s proving a new class of drugs can work, turning around a company that’s facing financial difficulties, battling much larger competitors, convincing investors to back cutting-edge technology, … Continue reading “Xconomy Awards San Diego CEO Finalists Show How To Build Value”
33 Tech Startups Make San Diego Venture Group “Cool Companies” List
What does it take for a tech startup to be considered “cool?” In the eyes of the San Diego Venture Group, the key element is readiness for venture capital backing. It’s through that lens that the nonprofit organization, whose mission is to connect local startups with venture capitalists who are looking to invest, annually vets … Continue reading “33 Tech Startups Make San Diego Venture Group “Cool Companies” List”
Kyriba to Get $160M in Majority Stake Sale to Private Equity Firm
Kyriba has been making cloud-based software since well before software-as-a-service (SaaS) became a tech buzzword. Nearly 20 years ago, the company, a spin-off of a French firm, began developing software to provide chief financial officers and other finance leaders with a comprehensive view of company cash and liquidity. Now Kyriba, which sells access to its … Continue reading “Kyriba to Get $160M in Majority Stake Sale to Private Equity Firm”
Biolinq Adds $4.75M to Advance Glucose Monitoring Biosensor Patch
[Corrected 9:30 am PT. See below.] Biosensor startup Biolinq said Thursday it has raised $4.75 million from new investors, including the New York-based Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, following the results of a clinical study of its experimental biomarker monitoring device. Founders Jared Tagney and Joshua Windmiller, who met while in grad school at UC San … Continue reading “Biolinq Adds $4.75M to Advance Glucose Monitoring Biosensor Patch”
Acadia to Move Experimental Pediatric Rett Syndrome Drug to Phase 3
Acadia Pharmaceuticals said it plans to advance a drug it licensed last year from Australia’s Neuren Pharmaceuticals into a late-stage trial following promising Phase 2 results of the potential Rett syndrome treatment. San Diego-based Acadia (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ACAD]]) announced in August that it had licensed the drug, trofinetide, for development and commercialization in North America as … Continue reading “Acadia to Move Experimental Pediatric Rett Syndrome Drug to Phase 3”
The 2019 Xconomy Awards San Diego Finalists Are…
It was no easy task. After an extensive review of the many nominees for the first-ever Xconomy Awards San Diego, Xconomy editors across the country and a panel of local experts together narrowed the list to 42 finalists (listed below) across eight categories. In the coming weeks leading up to the awards gala in May, … Continue reading “The 2019 Xconomy Awards San Diego Finalists Are…”
Amid Acquisition Drama, Celgene Resubmits MS Drug for FDA Approval
Celgene said Monday it has again sent the FDA an application for approval of ozanimod, an experimental multiple sclerosis drug it added to its pipeline in 2015 as part of its $7.2 billion acquisition of San Diego’s Receptos. Just over a year ago, the FDA refused to review Celgene’s application for ozanimod, citing a lack … Continue reading “Amid Acquisition Drama, Celgene Resubmits MS Drug for FDA Approval”
Sanford Burnham Prebys, WARF Partner on Drug Discovery
A program launched last year by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation to invest in promising biotech discoveries made on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus will also work with the La Jolla, CA-based Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, the organizations said recently. The partnership is part of a broader movement to accelerate the “bench to … Continue reading “Sanford Burnham Prebys, WARF Partner on Drug Discovery”
Turning Point Therapeutics Plans IPO to Advance Targeted Cancer Drugs
Turning Point Therapeutics, which is developing targeted cancer drugs for patients whose tumors resist other precision therapies, has outlined plans for an IPO. The company, which started operations in 2014, has raised nearly $148 million since inception. It is headed by Athena Countouriotis, who joined the company in May as its chief medical officer, then … Continue reading “Turning Point Therapeutics Plans IPO to Advance Targeted Cancer Drugs”
Corza Health Emerges Led by Former NuVasive, GreatCall Executives
A Chicago-based private equity firm has tapped the former head of NuVasive and finance chief of GreatCall to start a new healthcare company in San Diego. The company, Corza Health, is headed by Greg Lucier, most recently CEO at NuVasive, and backed by the PE firm, GTCR, with money from its $5.25 billion Fund XII. … Continue reading “Corza Health Emerges Led by Former NuVasive, GreatCall Executives”
Why Comma.ai, Maker of Self-Driving Tech, is Moving to San Diego
Tech salaries may not be as high outside of Silicon Valley, but neither is the cost of operating a business—or the cost of living. San Diego’s startup community has rejoiced in recent months as massive companies that employ thousands of engineers—including Amazon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]), Apple (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AAPL]]), and the tech arm of Walmart (NYSE: [[ticker:WMT]])—have … Continue reading “Why Comma.ai, Maker of Self-Driving Tech, is Moving to San Diego”
Servier Licenses CureMatch Tech for Custom Cancer Drug Treatments
A global pharmaceutical company based in France has licensed software developed by San Diego digital health startup CureMatch that aims to help cancer doctors customize the combination of drugs they prescribe to patients based on mutations in cancer DNA. CureMatch was founded in 2015 to commercialize technology developed at the UC San Diego Moores Cancer … Continue reading “Servier Licenses CureMatch Tech for Custom Cancer Drug Treatments”
Qualcomm Gets $31M in Patent Infringement Trial Win Over Apple
Wireless giant Qualcomm notched a win Friday in its ongoing multijurisdictional war with smartphone maker Apple as a federal jury in San Diego unanimously backed its patent infringement case. Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) said Friday that the jury found that some versions of Apple’s iPhones—the 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, and X—infringed two of its … Continue reading “Qualcomm Gets $31M in Patent Infringement Trial Win Over Apple”
Blood Test Study Meets Goal, Validates Epic’s Prostate Cancer Target
Epic Sciences has developed a blood test that can predict how likely a patient with late-stage prostate cancer treated with hormones is likely to respond to an additional course of such therapy. Now, the San Diego-based company has additional data that it says supports use of its tests to determine when not to use hormone … Continue reading “Blood Test Study Meets Goal, Validates Epic’s Prostate Cancer Target”
Connect, Longtime Local Accelerator, Names Silvia Mah as President
Connect, a 34-year-old nonprofit which runs the well-known Springboard Accelerator Program for startups, announced Monday that it had tapped Silvia Mah, a San Diego investor and entrepreneur, as its new president. She succeeds Greg McKee, who served as president and CEO of the San Diego-based organization for five years before stepping down last month to … Continue reading “Connect, Longtime Local Accelerator, Names Silvia Mah as President”