This is a two-week hackathon that brings together students, health professionals, and innovators from industry to build technology that empowers patients to take control of their health. Twitter hashtag: #HW2013 Information and registration here.
Category: Boston
Marvell Gives a Glimpse of the New OLPC Laptop, Bearing Its Tech Inside
Part of the fun during last week’s International CES in Las Vegas was coming across surprises, such as Marvell of Santa Clara, CA bringing along the yet-to-be released new computer from the One Laptop Per Child project. The nonprofit OLPC project, whose foundation is based in Cambridge, MA, develops rugged, inexpensive laptops for children in … Continue reading “Marvell Gives a Glimpse of the New OLPC Laptop, Bearing Its Tech Inside”
Mass Innovation Nights: Foodie Edition
Mass Innovation Nights is showcasing new local food and food-related innovation. Featured products and companies include Bixby Bars, Boston Teawrights, NoshOnIt, KEO, and more. #MIN47 Information and registration here.
Aileron Secures Funding for First Stapled Peptide Clinical Trial
[Updated 1/14/13, 1:31 pm. See below] Aileron Therapeutics said today that, as the result of successful preclinical studies, it secured the $12 million it needs to move its experimental treatment ALRN-5281 into initial clinical trials, in patients with rare endocrine disorders. According to Aileron, ALRN-5281 will be the first of a new class of drugs called stapled … Continue reading “Aileron Secures Funding for First Stapled Peptide Clinical Trial”
Why Women Tech Execs Can and Must Thrive on Risk
The stereotypical image of women as risk avoiders is changing fast. More women are occupying the boardroom, making important strategic decisions, and taking on high-risk responsibilities as CEOs, CFOs, and even chief risk officers. As a woman who worked her way up to various executive roles, and now as the CEO of a governance, risk, … Continue reading “Why Women Tech Execs Can and Must Thrive on Risk”
If You’ve Got a Real Breakthrough, the FDA Wants To Talk
If you ever want to have an interesting chat with a healthcare journalist, ask about use of the word “breakthrough.” Like many reporters, I generally avoid it. The word may be good for generating eyeballs/pageviews/ratings, but it’s usually an exaggeration that serves the financial interest of drugmakers and gives patients false hope. Sometimes, though, breakthroughs … Continue reading “If You’ve Got a Real Breakthrough, the FDA Wants To Talk”
Microsoft Roots, Social Media Chops: Spindle’s Take on Local Search
We’re now six full years into the smartphone revolution, and software developers of all stripes still haven’t figured out one of its most promising equations: How to put consumers and local businesses together at the right time, in the right place. And oh boy, have they been trying. From giants like Google and Facebook to … Continue reading “Microsoft Roots, Social Media Chops: Spindle’s Take on Local Search”
RedShift Systems Obtains $2,403,639 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=61362eba-6f29-4a98-9c2f-c09a9a500f98&Preview=1 Date 1/14/2013 Company Name RedShift Systems Mailing Address 41 Second Avenue Burlington, MA 01803 Company Description RedShift Systems Corp. is a pioneer in enabling low-cost, high-performance thermal imaging solutions for mass-market applications. The RedShift Thermal Light ValveTM technology translates thermal energy into visible images – allowing CMOS sensors to see heat. … Continue reading “RedShift Systems Obtains $2,403,639 New Funding”
Aileron Therapeutics Garners $12,000,000 Series D Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=22a75b16-902c-49d4-8401-dc995286b9cf&Preview=1 Date 1/14/2013 Company Name Aileron Therapeutics Mailing Address 281 Albany St. Cambridge, MA 02139 Company Description Aileron Therapeutics is an emerging biopharmaceutical company that is applying its proprietary cell permeable peptide technology to generate breakthrough therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Aileron’s technology is the first and only … Continue reading “Aileron Therapeutics Garners $12,000,000 Series D Financing”
Women ARE Running Startups
There has been tremendous sensationalizing of the women and entrepreneurship issue. Self-proclaimed (male) pundits pontificate on how women entrepreneurs face tremendous obstacles, huge prejudice. I disagree. A blog post that I wrote on the subject in October 2010 still garners readership and discussions. Meanwhile, our 1M/1M virtual incubator continues to work with women entrepreneurs actively, … Continue reading “Women ARE Running Startups”
Livestream Reveals Updated Video Broadcaster Built with Verizon’s Help
New York’s Livestream this week showed off the fruits of its collaboration with the Verizon Innovation Center in Waltham, MA, unveiling an updated video broadcasting device at the International Consumer Electronics Show. Max Haot, Livestream’s CEO and co-founder, talked up the new broadcaster equipped with a Verizon 4G modem when he came by the wireless provider’s … Continue reading “Livestream Reveals Updated Video Broadcaster Built with Verizon’s Help”
Polaris’s Dogpatch Labs Evolving in Boston, Dublin, Closing in NY, Palo Alto
Big changes are afoot in Polaris Ventures’ network of startup incubators, known as Dogpatch Labs. The short story: Dogpatch in Cambridge, MA, is moving from its current office, subleased from Microsoft, to a nearby space in Kendall Square run by the Cambridge Innovation Center. Dogpatch in Dublin, Ireland, is ramping up. And the Dogpatch offices … Continue reading “Polaris’s Dogpatch Labs Evolving in Boston, Dublin, Closing in NY, Palo Alto”
Turning On to Live Internet Radio with TuneIn
Radio. It’s my periodic obsession, my news lifeline, my aural ecosystem. It’s the most antique of electronic media, yet at the same time, it’s evolving as fast as the Internet, perhaps faster. Where is radio going? How will it thrive? What will it look like (or sound like) in an era when every phone, tablet, … Continue reading “Turning On to Live Internet Radio with TuneIn”
ArQule’s Lead Cancer Drug Fails Another Clinical Trial
More bad news for ArQule’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARQL]]) lead drug candidate, tivantinib. Just months after the drug failed a Phase 3 trial in non-small cell lung cancer, ArQule said today that tivantinib also failed in a Phase 2 trial against colorectal cancer. The Woburn, MA-based company is developing the drug in partnership with Daiichi Sankyo of Japan. ArQule’s … Continue reading “ArQule’s Lead Cancer Drug Fails Another Clinical Trial”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Bind, Boston Children’s, J&J, More
The life sciences industry was focused on the west coast, not the east, this week. Virtually all of the industry’s movers, shakers, and wannabes were at the 31st Annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco Jan 7-9. My colleague Luke Timmerman will be combing his notebooks for features from this premier industry meeting for … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Bind, Boston Children’s, J&J, More”
Epocrates Attracted Athenahealth Buyout by Getting Back to Basics
When I sat down with Epocrates CEO Andrew Hurd on December 19, I wanted to know why the company had decided to abandon its ambitious project to build an electronic health record (EHR) system, which previous executives had portrayed as a cornerstone of the company’s expansion. I also wanted to hear what opportunities for growth … Continue reading “Epocrates Attracted Athenahealth Buyout by Getting Back to Basics”
Feld, Herron, and O’Driscoll Talk Startups and Investments at Eureka Park
Beyond the glitz of new big ticket electronics, startup innovations sparked chatter at this year’s International CES in Las Vegas—especially after a trio of high-profile VCs came to Eureka Park, the startup-focused exhibitor area at the show. Frank Gruber, founder of Las Vegas–based media company and events organizer Tech Cocktail, moderated the spirited chat that … Continue reading “Feld, Herron, and O’Driscoll Talk Startups and Investments at Eureka Park”
Mok Oh, Ex-PayPal, Joins North Bridge to Build “Consumer Big Data” Startup
When last we heard from Mok Oh, he was done with being chief scientist at PayPal. That was October, and the Boston-bred entrepreneur and veteran of companies like EveryScape and Where was on the move. We speculated he would dive back into the early stage startup world. And we would be correct. I got a … Continue reading “Mok Oh, Ex-PayPal, Joins North Bridge to Build “Consumer Big Data” Startup”
Biogen ALS Failure Highlights Clinical Trial Frustrations
Drug development doesn’t get much more depressing than the so-far futile search for a lasting treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease. More than 20 experimental drugs have failed in clinical trials, the most recent being Biogen Idec’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) closely watched dexpramipexole. Dex, as it is often called, made it all … Continue reading “Biogen ALS Failure Highlights Clinical Trial Frustrations”
Innovation or Litigation?
The story of the year in the technology industry has to be HP’s claims that it was deceived by Autonomy in the $11 billion purchase of the software company. The questions of who knew what, and who did (or didn’t) do what, will be discussed and debated for years. And as many business and technology … Continue reading “Innovation or Litigation?”
Got Cancer? Sorry, There’s No App for That
That’s right. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there are no apps for treating Parkinson’s either. Or ALS. Or Alzheimer’s, or one of a large number of other diseases I could name and you don’t want to have. Numerous pharma and biotech companies have created more than a hundred different apps, … Continue reading “Got Cancer? Sorry, There’s No App for That”
VidSys Secures $3,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f6f3d0b8-ea45-4ce9-a83f-0eb4fd6f3048&Preview=1 Date 1/10/2013 Company Name VidSys Mailing Address 8219 Leesburg Pike Marlborough, MA 22182 Company Description We are a leading provider of Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) solutions and the only operations center software company that provides truly collaborative situational awareness for safety, security, military and transportation organizations. Our VidShield platform is … Continue reading “VidSys Secures $3,000,000 New Funding”
Scrybe Lands $300,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4a19333b-0738-41ac-a6c6-19bb6e7b5648&Preview=1 Date 1/10/2013 Company Name Scrybe Mailing Address Undisclosed Boston, MA 02400 Company Description Scrybe is a new online organizer that leverages the innovations of rich internet platforms to bring users a simple, elegant yet powerful experience, designed to work the way users think. Website http://www.iscrybe.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $300,000 … Continue reading “Scrybe Lands $300,000 New Financing Round”
Continuity Engine Secures $625,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=46fe9042-fa20-4df4-89e8-94971524115f&Preview=1 Date 1/10/2013 Company Name Continuity Engine Mailing Address 5 Science Park Third Floor New Haven, CT 06511 Company Description Our mission is to help community financial institutions survive and thrive by cutting their Compliance Tax through the use of cutting edge technology. Website http://www.continuity.net Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $625,000 … Continue reading “Continuity Engine Secures $625,000 New Financing Round”
Kitsy Lane Receives $3,500,000 Series A Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0f19144e-a9de-4bcd-99f1-b948bb7f61bc&Preview=1 Date 1/10/2013 Company Name Kitsy Lane Mailing Address 2 Clock Tower Place Maynard, MA 01754 Company Description It’s all about the find, the hunt, the deal, the giving and receiving. And, it’s all about you. Kitsy Lane is made up of a community of Boutique Owners (from stay-at-home moms to professional … Continue reading “Kitsy Lane Receives $3,500,000 Series A Financing Round”
‘Small Ball’ Investing as an Alternative Model in Life Sciences
The phrase “the VC model is broken” has become cliché over the past few years. Many theories on why this is the case have been posed, including Sequoia Capital’s Douglas Leone, who told a VC conference at MIT last month, “Big is completely the enemy of great.” I agree with Leone; in fact, I have … Continue reading “‘Small Ball’ Investing as an Alternative Model in Life Sciences”
Boston Roundup: Athenahealth, Foundation, Attivio, & More
[Updated 9:05 am] It’s trade-show week in the technology and life sciences fields, with the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the JP Morgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco. That means announcements and deals have been pouring forth, along with some of the usual dealmaking and people-moving of note in the greater Boston technology … Continue reading “Boston Roundup: Athenahealth, Foundation, Attivio, & More”
BIND CEO Says Amgen Deal Marks Nanomedicine Turning Point
BIND Bioscience CEO Scott Minick is having a good JP Morgan Health Conference. As reported early Tuesday by Xconomy, he was able to announce just one day in to the meeting that BIND signed its first major drug development deal, worth at least $180.5 million, with biotech powerhouse Amgen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMGN]]) of Thousand Oaks, CA. … Continue reading “BIND CEO Says Amgen Deal Marks Nanomedicine Turning Point”
Digital Lumens Receives $10,000,000 Series C Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e95d124d-9623-46a8-92ab-85b9494b7ae7&Preview=1 Date 1/9/2013 Company Name Digital Lumens Mailing Address 374 Congress Street 6th Floor Boston, MA 02210 Company Description Founded by a group of engineers and executives with years of experience in solid-state lighting and distributed networking, Digital Lumens is creating lighting solutions that deliver 100% of the light at 10% of … Continue reading “Digital Lumens Receives $10,000,000 Series C Financing”
Shire Pharmaceuticals Acquires Lotus Tissue Repair for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=757a8151-ac2d-4e1a-8564-d196eee86d97&Preview=1 Date 1/9/2013 Company Name Lotus Tissue Repair Mailing Address One Mifflin Place Cambridge, MA 02138 Company Description Lotus Tissue Repair is developing its proprietary recombinant human collagen Type VII (rC7) technology as a treatment for dermatologic conditions in which rC7 may play an important role in accelerating chronic wound healing, such … Continue reading “Shire Pharmaceuticals Acquires Lotus Tissue Repair for Undisclosed Sum”
Shire Buys Third Rock’s Lotus Tissue Repair
Third Rock Ventures, the prolific five-year-old Boston-based VC firm, likes to bet on biotech startups that are developing unusual drugs, and today one of those bets paid off. Shire (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SHPG]]) announced that it agreed to acquire Lotus Tissue Repair of Cambridge for an undisclosed amount, just 18 months after Third Rock unveiled the startup. Third … Continue reading “Shire Buys Third Rock’s Lotus Tissue Repair”
Wayfair and the Future of E-Retail: CEO Niraj Shah Talks Transition Strategy
When you’ve raised $200 million in venture funding, that qualifies you as the top VC-backed technology bet in Boston. When you’ve been profitable for the better part of a decade, and all the outside investment has come in the past year and a half, there’s probably a deeper story there. And when you say no … Continue reading “Wayfair and the Future of E-Retail: CEO Niraj Shah Talks Transition Strategy”
Bill Gates, Yuri Milner Join $13.5M Round For Foundation Medicine
Some prominent people with big money came together last fall to bet on Cambridge, MA-based Foundation Medicine and its vision for using genomic technology to improve cancer care. Now the company has attracted some even bigger pockets to the table. Foundation Medicine said today that Bill Gates has joined a $13.5 million expansion of its … Continue reading “Bill Gates, Yuri Milner Join $13.5M Round For Foundation Medicine”
Amgen in $180.5 Million Drug Development Deal with BIND Biosciences
Cambridge, MA-based BIND Biosciences got a large vote of confidence today for its novel targeted nanomedicine technology. The startup announced today that Amgen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMGN]]), in Thousand Oaks, CA, has agreed to invest up to $180.5 million to co-develop a cancer drug based on BIND’s drug development platform, starting with upfront and milestone payments of … Continue reading “Amgen in $180.5 Million Drug Development Deal with BIND Biosciences”
Programming Literacy Done Right: It’s About the Tools
Bonnie Nardi is an anthropologist who studies interactions between humans and computers. In 1993, she published her first book, A Small Matter of Programming. The book’s thesis is bold and simple: every human being can, and should, learn to program computers. The book didn’t get much attention outside of academia and is now long out … Continue reading “Programming Literacy Done Right: It’s About the Tools”
Ovuline Obtains $1,400,000 Seed Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2992ddc0-af92-48b8-b061-2b9cbfe3fa90&Preview=1 Date 1/8/2013 Company Name Ovuline Mailing Address 10 Magaine Street Cambridge, MA 02139 Company Description Ovuline helps couples conceive faster. Going way beyond fertility calendars and period trackers, Ovuline tells couples when they are fertile and exactly what to do each day to maximize their chances of getting pregnant. Ovuline can … Continue reading “Ovuline Obtains $1,400,000 Seed Funding”
Ovuline Secures $1,400,000 Seed Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2992ddc0-af92-48b8-b061-2b9cbfe3fa90&Preview=1 Date 1/8/2013 Company Name Ovuline Mailing Address 10 Magaine Street Cambridge, MA 02139 Company Description Ovuline helps couples conceive faster. Going way beyond fertility calendars and period trackers, Ovuline tells couples when they are fertile and exactly what to do each day to maximize their chances of getting pregnant. Ovuline can … Continue reading “Ovuline Secures $1,400,000 Seed Financing Round”
Athenahealth Goes Mobile, Acquires Epocrates for $293M
Who says we can’t build big, independent tech companies in Boston? Consider Athenahealth (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ATHN]]), the Watertown, MA-based health IT firm that is becoming a larger anchor for talent and technology, thanks to today’s announcement that it is acquiring San Mateo, CA-based Epocrates (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EPOC]]), a mobile medical-app company. The deal is worth about $293 … Continue reading “Athenahealth Goes Mobile, Acquires Epocrates for $293M”
TechStars Grad Ovuline Gets $1.4M for Pregnancy-Tracking Software
Alex Baron is a pretty hard-core technical guy: Advanced degrees in computer science and statistics, expertise in machine learning, experience in the finance world and high-tech industry. So when he was confronted with a sometimes-elusive piece of human biology—how to get two people together at just the right time to conceive a baby—it was pretty … Continue reading “TechStars Grad Ovuline Gets $1.4M for Pregnancy-Tracking Software”
Biotech CEOs See Insurers as the New Boogeymen, Not FDA
Most biotech executives would have said a few years ago that the FDA was the No. 1 barrier standing in the way of business success. It was the one thing they worried about most. But now biotech CEOs appear to be more concerned about a new kind of threat, coming from the people who pay … Continue reading “Biotech CEOs See Insurers as the New Boogeymen, Not FDA”
My Report Card for JP Morgan Healthcare Conference Picks
Forecasting trends in an industry that you cover every day, if you take time to think about it, is not that hard. Checking back a year later to see how right you were? That can be a little uncomfortable. Rather than add to the pile of predictions people have already made about biotech in 2013, … Continue reading “My Report Card for JP Morgan Healthcare Conference Picks”
Mobility and Big Data: Why They Need Each Other to Thrive
Mobile devices and apps will generate seven exabytes of data by 2015, a number that will continue to double and perhaps triple each year. Not only are huge volumes of data/content being communicated through mobile networks, but there has been unexpected growth in related communications and transactions, such as: —Salesforce.com getting 60 percent of its … Continue reading “Mobility and Big Data: Why They Need Each Other to Thrive”
Attivio Receives $8,000,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=14327a43-87c3-4b4a-a8ec-293fcafce36d&Preview=1 Date 1/7/2013 Company Name Attivio Mailing Address 275 Grove St. Newton, MA 02466 Company Description Attivio’s Active Intelligence Engine rapidly delivers comprehensive, high-value insight the way you want it, when you want it – regardless of what applications or sources you rely on. With Attivio AIE, users retrieve and analyze all … Continue reading “Attivio Receives $8,000,000 New Round”
Tryton Medical Receives $24,000,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0e8cedb0-9fb9-4077-9c27-8ee80e3c36d7&Preview=1 Date 1/7/2013 Company Name Tryton Medical Mailing Address 1000 Park Forty Plaza Durham, MA 27713 Company Description Tryton Medical, Inc. is the leading developer of stents that are designed to definitively treat bifurcation lesions. 540,000 bifurcation coronary lesions are sub-optimally treated every year with a variety of time consuming and technically … Continue reading “Tryton Medical Receives $24,000,000 New Financing”
Repligen in Drug Development Licensing Deal with Pfizer
In a boost to the drug discovery side of its business, Repligen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RGEN]]) said it has found a very big pharma partner for its spinal muscular atrophy program—New York-based Pfizer (NYSE: [[ticker:PFE]]). Pfizer has agreed to pay up to $70 million to Waltham, MA-based Repligen for the licensing rights to any drugs that come out of … Continue reading “Repligen in Drug Development Licensing Deal with Pfizer”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Pfizer, J&J, Alkermes, More
Xconomy took Christmas week off, but the FDA didn’t—the agency issued a flurry of new drug approvals in the last two weeks of the year, bringing its total number of approvals for 2012 to 39, the highest yearly total in 16 years. Some of those last minute approvals benefited East Coast companies. (Drumroll, please): —- … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Pfizer, J&J, Alkermes, More”
10 Apps That Will Make You Feel Smarter & More Cultured in 2013
Right before the holidays, I shared a list of 20 Must-Have Apps for That Tablet Under the Tree. That list focused on apps for the iPad and Android tablets, and it was intended as an introductory guide for new tablet owners eager to test-drive their gifts with apps that really showcase the capabilities of today’s … Continue reading “10 Apps That Will Make You Feel Smarter & More Cultured in 2013”
UpdateLogic Obtains $10,973,011 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=db719883-d9b1-4ac2-b63d-97a934609ac3&Preview=1 Date 1/4/2013 Company Name UpdateLogic Mailing Address 2 Willow Street Fayville, MA 01745 Company Description UpdateLogic provides a service called UpdateTV which allows manufacturers to deliver software patches to consumer’s digital television receiver devices such as High Definition Television (HDTV) sets, cable boxes and digital-to-analog converter boxes. Website http://www.updatelogic.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “UpdateLogic Obtains $10,973,011 New Financing”
Biogen Idec’s ALS Drug Fails Phase III Trial
A lot of patients’ hopes were dashed today with the news that Biogen Idec’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) closely watched drug dexpramipexole for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) failed in a late-stage clinical trial. The Weston, MA-based company said it will discontinue further development of the once-promising drug. Biogen said the drug neither slowed the loss of muscle … Continue reading “Biogen Idec’s ALS Drug Fails Phase III Trial”
Sialix Moves into SD’s Janssen Labs to Focus on Inflammatory Target
Experts in nutrition science have long fretted about the correlation between diets that are rich in certain foods—such as red meat and dairy products—with an increased risk of heart attacks, cancer, and other diseases associated with inflammation. Ajit Varki, a UC San Diego professor of molecular and cellular medicine, has identified a potential explanation—from an … Continue reading “Sialix Moves into SD’s Janssen Labs to Focus on Inflammatory Target”