The race to treat hemophilia with gene therapy, a one-time, long-lasting infusion, is entering its final stages. And with new data released this morning, Dutch and Lexington, MA, firm UniQure has finalized its plans to be among the top finishers. UniQure (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QURE]]) today disclosed preliminary results from a tiny mid-stage study of a gene … Continue reading “Data Starts Stretch Run for UniQure’s Upgraded Hemophilia Gene Therapy”
Category: Boston
Cadent Pulls In $40M for Phase 2 Tests of Movement Disorder Drug
The shaking, tremors, and loss of muscle control in some movement disorders can be traced to misfiring neurons. Cadent Therapeutics has developed a drug intended to help those neurons send signals properly. The Cambridge, MA-based company now has $40 million in Series B funding to advance the drug into mid-stage human studies. The Cadent drug, … Continue reading “Cadent Pulls In $40M for Phase 2 Tests of Movement Disorder Drug”
Synthorx Files for IPO to Advance Enhanced Cytokine Drugs
Synthetic biology company Synthorx is laying plans for an initial public offering to raise money to advance its suite of enhanced cytokine drugs. The San Diego-based company says it wants to use the proceeds to put its lead product candidate, an investigational cancer therapy that’s based on the drug interleukin-2 (IL-2), through dose escalation and … Continue reading “Synthorx Files for IPO to Advance Enhanced Cytokine Drugs”
Boston’s Economy Urgently Needs Immigrants in Order to Thrive
I grew up in Guyana in the 1970s, where political turmoil gripped the country and water outages and power blackouts were frequent. When I was 11, our family came to America, and I remember being dazzled by the lights, the buildings, and the planes at New York’s Kennedy airport. Even an airport escalator amazed me … Continue reading “Boston’s Economy Urgently Needs Immigrants in Order to Thrive”
Celgene Doubles Down on Dragonfly, Pays $50M to Expand Cancer Pact
Celgene’s collaboration with Dragonfly Therapeutics is less than 18 months old, but the pharmaceutical company is already expanding the alliance. Celgene (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CELG]]) is paying Waltham, MA-based Dragonfly $50 million upfront to add four more drug targets to the four covered by the original partnership last year. Celgene has the option to license and further … Continue reading “Celgene Doubles Down on Dragonfly, Pays $50M to Expand Cancer Pact”
Bain Capital Ventures Nets $1B Funding to Fuel New Round of Tech Bets
Bain Capital Ventures has raised $1 billion to pour into technology companies large and small across a swath of industries, the largest single round of fundraising in the firm’s history. The cash includes a $650 million core fund—that’ll be aimed half at early stage startups and half at later-stage growth companies—as well as a $250 … Continue reading “Bain Capital Ventures Nets $1B Funding to Fuel New Round of Tech Bets”
Amazon Ends “HQ” Search, Pledges to Spend $5B on New Sites in NY, VA
The wait is finally over. Amazon said Tuesday it plans to significantly expand its presence in the New York City and Washington, DC, metropolitan areas beginning next year. The announcement was widely expected following news reports identifying the locales as likely winners of Amazon’s lengthy search process for an additional “headquarters,” as the company is … Continue reading “Amazon Ends “HQ” Search, Pledges to Spend $5B on New Sites in NY, VA”
JCI Simplifies Focus with $13.2B Sale of Car Battery Business
The transformation of Johnson Controls International continues. On Tuesday, the company said it reached a deal to sell its power solutions business, which makes a variety of vehicle batteries, in a cash transaction valued at $13.2 billion. The buyers are investment firm Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE: [[ticker:BBU]]) and a group of partners, including Canadian investment … Continue reading “JCI Simplifies Focus with $13.2B Sale of Car Battery Business”
ClearSky Data Raises Another $20M Amid Cloud Arms Race
[Updated 11/13/18, 12:05 pm, with executive comments throughout.] The data storage wars rage on. Boston-based primary data storage and backup provider ClearSky Data has raised $20 million in new funding to bring more customers aboard its “on-demand” hybrid cloud storage system. To date, ClearSky has taken in $59 million from investors. It shouldn’t be much … Continue reading “ClearSky Data Raises Another $20M Amid Cloud Arms Race”
Kymera Adds $65M in New Funding and Eyes First Clinical Test
Cells have a built-in way of breaking down damaged or unneeded proteins. Kymera Therapeutics is trying to harness this process as a therapy—using it to get rid of disease-causing proteins. As the biotech prepares to test its technology in humans, it has now raised $65 million in financing. The cellular process for disposing of proteins … Continue reading “Kymera Adds $65M in New Funding and Eyes First Clinical Test”
CEOs and Scientific Founders: Tips for a Long and Successful Marriage
It seemed like the perfect match: A scientist founder from a top-tier academic institution; A technological innovation based on years and millions of dollars of federally-funded research in a university lab; And a successful entrepreneur and industry veteran named as the CEO of the startup that would take the work forward. But soon after the … Continue reading “CEOs and Scientific Founders: Tips for a Long and Successful Marriage”
Ribometrix Takes Aim at “Undruggable” RNA with $30M Series A Funding
Most drugs target proteins in the cell, but the world of RNA has remained largely untapped by companies making chemical-based, or small-molecule drugs. That’s changing though—just in the last couple of years, there’s been a mini-boom in biotechs trying to overturn the long-held dogma that messenger RNA molecules (which carry the genetic instructions for proteins … Continue reading “Ribometrix Takes Aim at “Undruggable” RNA with $30M Series A Funding”
Universal Robots Hires Former Rethink Robotics Workers After Closure
A little more than a month after Rethink Robotics shut down, a competitor has hired more than 20 of the Boston-based firm’s former employees. Universal Robots, a Denmark-based maker of collaborative industrial robots, announced Tuesday it has brought on key Rethink personnel, primarily in engineering and product development. The hires include former Rethink chief operating … Continue reading “Universal Robots Hires Former Rethink Robotics Workers After Closure”
Apptio Sells to PE Firm Vista Equity for $1.94B Two Years After IPO
Apptio is being taken private by investment firm Vista Equity Partners in a $1.94 billion acquisition. Founded in Bellevue, WA, in 2007, Apptio (NASDAQ: [[ticker:APTI]]) helps corporate leaders track and manage IT spending. The company went public in 2016 with a $96 million IPO, and has recently been acquiring other businesses. It bought FittedCloud, a … Continue reading “Apptio Sells to PE Firm Vista Equity for $1.94B Two Years After IPO”
Nuance Goes All-in on Speech Tech, Sells Document Business to Kofax
Nuance Communications is selling its document imaging division to Kofax for $400 million in cash, as Nuance’s new CEO narrows the company’s focus on its conversational artificial intelligence products and cloud-related technologies. Nuance’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NUAN]]) document imaging business provides enterprise software tools for securely capturing data from print or electronic documents, printing documents, and uploading … Continue reading “Nuance Goes All-in on Speech Tech, Sells Document Business to Kofax”
Veritas, Elliott Strike $5.7B Deal for Athenahealth
[Updated 11/12/18, 10:31 am, with deal terms.] Athenahealth has reached an agreement to be bought for approximately $5.7 billion in cash by private equity firms Veritas Capital and Evergreen Coast Capital, an affiliate of activist hedge fund Elliott Management. The acquisition was announced Monday morning. Reuters first reported the deal Sunday and said an official announcement was … Continue reading “Veritas, Elliott Strike $5.7B Deal for Athenahealth”
After Accident, Sector67 Ramps Up Operations in Rehabbed Warehouse
When Chris Meyer was enveloped by a ball of fire in a construction accident and rushed to a Madison, WI, hospital 14 months ago, his loved ones and friends feared for his life. They also worried about the future of Sector67, the nonprofit collaborative workshop for technology development, product prototyping, and advanced manufacturing he founded … Continue reading “After Accident, Sector67 Ramps Up Operations in Rehabbed Warehouse”
Eyeing $500M, Moderna Outlines Plans for Biotech’s Biggest IPO Ever
One of the biggest gambles in biotech history is about to be tested on Wall Street. Moderna, the high-flying yet secretive developer of messenger RNA therapeutics, filed papers on Friday afternoon outlining its long-awaited IPO. In its prospectus, Moderna set an initial target of $500 million for the offering, which would make it the largest … Continue reading “Eyeing $500M, Moderna Outlines Plans for Biotech’s Biggest IPO Ever”
Boston Tech Watch: Neurala A.I., GE, MaxQ, Threat Stack, Bluefyre
Acquisitions, partnerships, and an FDA approval mark this week’s roundup in Boston technology news. Read on for more: —Boston University is adding artificial intelligence education to its electrical and computer engineering courses through a partnership with Boston A.I. company Neurala, to bridge a growing “skills gap” in the technology. Neurala is providing its A.I. education … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Neurala A.I., GE, MaxQ, Threat Stack, Bluefyre”
Bio Roundup: Midterm Fallout, Alzheimer’s Search, Postpartum Panel
There was plenty at stake in this week’s midterm elections, and not just in terms of political wins and losses. With congress now divided—Democrats took back control of the House and Republicans extended their majority in the Senate—the implications are significant for U.S. healthcare. Just a day after the results, for instance, Senate Majority Leader … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Midterm Fallout, Alzheimer’s Search, Postpartum Panel”
Jnana Therapeutics Appoints Joanne Kotz to Chief Executive Post
Joanne Kotz has been named CEO of Jnana Therapeutics. Kotz, a co-founder of Jnana, had been president of the Boston-based company since last December, when it raised $50 million in Series A financing. Jnana is researching drugs that target solute carrier transporters, which are proteins that move substances across cellular membranes.
Google’s Schmidt: 5 Years Before A.I. Is More Than Advisory Tool
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt says the next five years of artificial intelligence and machine learning will be more like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa than a self-driving sedan or a robo-surgeon taking out your appendix. “There are still significant errors, as you know, in machine learning systems that we tolerate. They are advisory,” Schmidt … Continue reading “Google’s Schmidt: 5 Years Before A.I. Is More Than Advisory Tool”
In Search of Names, Tech Startups Look to Galaxies Far, Far Away
All-seeing orbs, a distant planet and source of a life-giving drug, interstellar faster-than-light space travel, a carbon-freezing technique used to lock away enemies. The science fiction and fantasy creations—carbonite, palantir, Arrakis, warp drive—evoke the sort of futuristic vision that many startups dream to make a reality, or at least plumb for inspiration (and marketing). In … Continue reading “In Search of Names, Tech Startups Look to Galaxies Far, Far Away”
Hold Your Horsepower: For Mobility Industry, “Reality Is Sinking In”
Earlier this month, GM CEO Mary Barra told the crowd at a financial conference that her company was on track to unveil a ridesharing service in 2019 that would be powered by autonomous vehicles. It sounded like pretty big news, but to understand company announcements about the commercial viability of driverless cars, one must first … Continue reading “Hold Your Horsepower: For Mobility Industry, “Reality Is Sinking In””
Boston’s Salsify Buys Austin Maker of E-Commerce Chat Tools
Salsify, a maker of e-commerce software, has acquired Welcome Commerce, an Austin-based developer of chat technology. Boston-based Salsify sells technology that helps retail brands like Michelin and Anheuser-Busch manage their products across e-commerce platforms such as Amazon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]), Walmart (NYSE: [[ticker:WMT]]), or Target (NYSE: [[ticker:TGT]]). Adding Welcome’s chat technology “is a logical extension” of that mission, … Continue reading “Boston’s Salsify Buys Austin Maker of E-Commerce Chat Tools”
Rainwater Foundation Deploys Millions Toward Rare Brain Disease, PSP
Dallas — A foundation started by a Texas billionaire announced Tuesday it will offer millions of dollars in awards to scientists who research neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and progressive supranuclear palsy. The Rainwater Charitable Foundation, which was founded in the 1990s by billionaire investor Richard Rainwater, announced it will start to offer in 2019 an … Continue reading “Rainwater Foundation Deploys Millions Toward Rare Brain Disease, PSP”
Aileron Therapeutics Names Vojislav Vukovic Chief Medical Officer
Vojislav Vukovic has joined Aileron Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALRN]]) to serve as the Watertown, MA, company’s chief medical officer. He succeeds Manual Aivado, who was promoted to CEO in September. Vukovic was most recently chief medical officer of Taiho Oncology. Aileron is testing its lead drug candidate, ALRN-6924, in multiple clinical trials as a treatment for … Continue reading “Aileron Therapeutics Names Vojislav Vukovic Chief Medical Officer”
Amazon Reportedly Picks HQ2 City—and, in Surprise, Another for HQ3
Amazon is reportedly choosing two cities, not one, for its second headquarters, according to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Amazon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]) is working on a deal to move into both the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in New York City and the Crystal City neighborhood of … Continue reading “Amazon Reportedly Picks HQ2 City—and, in Surprise, Another for HQ3”
Esperanto Reaps $58M to Speed Development of Its AI Chip
Esperanto Technologies, a startup AI chip developer that has operated mostly below the radar since its founding in 2014, announced this week that it raised $58 million in a Series B fundraising round. Mountain View, CA-based Esperanto is vying with a host of competitors to create new processors for high-order tasks like machine learning and … Continue reading “Esperanto Reaps $58M to Speed Development of Its AI Chip”
Broadcom to Sell Veracode for $950M After $19B CA Technologies Deal
Broadcom is selling application security testing business Veracode for $950 million to private equity firm Thoma Bravo. Broadcom gained Veracode as a part of its blockbuster acquisition of CA Technologies. Broadcom (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVGO]]) announced in June it would acquire CA Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CA]]) for $18.9 billion, and announced today it has completed that deal. New … Continue reading “Broadcom to Sell Veracode for $950M After $19B CA Technologies Deal”
MEI Pharma Inks Cancer Drug Deal with Japan’s Kyowa Hakko Kirin
The second-most advanced investigational drug in MEI Pharma’s four-asset portfolio is drawing attention from overseas as a potential treatment for several leukemias and lymphomas. Japanese life sciences company Kyowa Hakko Kirin has agreed to pay the San Diego company $10 million upfront for rights to develop and commercialize ME-401 in Japan. The Japanese company will … Continue reading “MEI Pharma Inks Cancer Drug Deal with Japan’s Kyowa Hakko Kirin”
“Don’t Go Nuts With This”: Tech CEOs on What $100M Can Buy
So, your long-scrappy tech startup cashed a nine-figure check from a gaggle of venture capital types. What now? Launch a hiring spree? Land a beachhead in Europe? Squirrel some away for a rainy day? Build all the features into your gizmo that you always wanted (and promised to customers)? By our count, at least 14 … Continue reading ““Don’t Go Nuts With This”: Tech CEOs on What $100M Can Buy”
Win $2 Million to Solve Alzheimer’s: New Prize Will Reward Fresh Ideas
San Antonio — A Texas billionaire is funding a new competition that will give $4 million to seven individuals who present promising ideas about the cause of Alzheimer’s disease and say they’ll work to prove it. Called the Oskar Fischer Project, the program will give the grand prize winner $2 million of the total, while two … Continue reading “Win $2 Million to Solve Alzheimer’s: New Prize Will Reward Fresh Ideas”
With FDA Panel’s Nod, First Postpartum Depression Drug Nears Approval
A panel of experts on Friday voted in favor of bringing what could be the first-ever drug approved specifically for postpartum depression to market. But should it get the expected green light from the FDA next month, how widely will the treatment, which requires a continuous, 60-hour intravenous infusion that a professional will have to … Continue reading “With FDA Panel’s Nod, First Postpartum Depression Drug Nears Approval”
Boston Tech Watch: CIC, Zylotech, Freebird, Mavrck, Sheprd
Venture funding rounds, a co-working center opening, and a shuttered ride-sharing service marked the Boston-area technology news this week. Read on for more. —Freebird, a Cambridge, MA-based flight re-booking service, brought in $8 million in new funds to accelerate growth in its main corporate travel market. The Series A investment was led by American Express … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: CIC, Zylotech, Freebird, Mavrck, Sheprd”
Bio Roundup: Depression Drug Dashed, Peek at ASH, CRISPR Worry & More
The gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 is opening up new research avenues all the time, such as giving drug developers a cheaper, faster way to knock out genes in tumor cells. Studies of CRISPR-Cas9 to treat human disease are about to start, too. But will our immune systems, already on alert for common infections by the bacteria … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Depression Drug Dashed, Peek at ASH, CRISPR Worry & More”
Cloud Leaders Shrug at IBM’s $34B Red Hat Deal
In some ways, the biggest software acquisition of all time could be a yawner. IBM’s planned $34 billion deal to acquire open-source software maker Red Hat is a hefty price to pay to give its cloud computing business a shot in the arm. But even if the purchase ultimately boosts IBM’s bottom line, some cloud … Continue reading “Cloud Leaders Shrug at IBM’s $34B Red Hat Deal”
Alkermes Depression Drug Faces Long Odds After FDA Advisors Say No
An FDA advisory panel Thursday panned a new experimental drug for depression from Alkermes, meaning the agency is likely to reject the treatment by early next year. By a 21 to 2 vote, the 23 experts decided that the data accrued by Alkermes (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALKS]]) don’t support approval of the drug, currently known as ALKS-5461. … Continue reading “Alkermes Depression Drug Faces Long Odds After FDA Advisors Say No”
Intellia’s Adel Nada Joins Casebia as Chief Medical Officer
Casebia Therapeutics has appointed Adel Nada to serve as its chief medical officer. He comes to Cambridge, MA-based Casebia from Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NTLA]]), where he was vice president and head of clinical development. Formed in 2016, Casebia is a joint venture between Bayer and CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CRSP]]) that is using CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing to … Continue reading “Intellia’s Adel Nada Joins Casebia as Chief Medical Officer”
Small Businesses Need Digital Support, Not More Bureaucracy
It is well-known that Massachusetts is home to some of the most innovative technology firms in the country. Our state’s pro-innovation, pro-entrepreneur environment has been carefully crafted and protected through public policy, enviable access to private investment, and arguably the strongest tech talent pipeline in the country. Though proposals for stricter oversight of technology firms … Continue reading “Small Businesses Need Digital Support, Not More Bureaucracy”
Nurse Staffing Startup Gets $10.8M as Personnel Ratios Hit MA Ballot
IntelyCare, a Massachusetts-based nurse-staffing platform for long-term care, assisted living, and rehabilitation facilities, has raised $10.8 million from venture investors, less than a week before voters weigh in on a new state mandate hospital for patient-to-nurse ratios. San Francisco firm Leerink Revelation Partners led the Series A funding round and was joined by Longmeadow Capital, … Continue reading “Nurse Staffing Startup Gets $10.8M as Personnel Ratios Hit MA Ballot”
IRobot’s Roombas to Map Households for Google Smart Homes
Autonomous vehicle developers rely heavily on navigational technology that maps the complex terrain of roads, curbs, signs, and people that their cars have to thread through. Google, as it develops its smart home systems, is turning to a company that already knows how to navigate the terrain of a household—corridors, kitchens, cat beds, cast-off shoes, … Continue reading “IRobot’s Roombas to Map Households for Google Smart Homes”
To Boost Cancer Pipeline, Gilead Bets at Least $50M on Startup Tango
Gilead Sciences is paying tiny Tango Therapeutics $50 million to tap into the startup’s cancer drug program, adding to what has been so far an expensive, but not yet lucrative, foray into cancer immunotherapy for Gilead. Cambridge, MA-based Tango is still in the early phases of looking for cancer drugs by exploiting a well-known tumor … Continue reading “To Boost Cancer Pipeline, Gilead Bets at Least $50M on Startup Tango”
Twist Bioscience IPO Hauls In $70M for DNA Synthesis Technology
Synthetic biology company Twist Bioscience has joined the long list of life science firms going public this year, raising $70 million in its stock market debut. The San Francisco company sold 5 million shares at $14 apiece, which was within the $14 to $16 per share range it had targeted. After those shares started trading … Continue reading “Twist Bioscience IPO Hauls In $70M for DNA Synthesis Technology”
Moonshots, Tough Tech, and Not Falling in Love With Your Robot
Before researchers at Google’s skunkworks labs embark on a new project, they decide when to kill it. The technical and business teams set parameters for when to walk away from the “moonshot” idea to avoid being so seduced by the technology that they forget about the underlying problem it aimed to solve. “It becomes less … Continue reading “Moonshots, Tough Tech, and Not Falling in Love With Your Robot”
Orchard, Fueled by GSK’s Ex-Gene Therapy Biz, Nets $200M in IPO
GlaxoSmithKline’s former gene therapy portfolio is at the center of a $200 million IPO, among the larger biopharma offerings on Wall Street over the last several years. Orchard Therapeutics, a London, Boston, and San Francisco-based biotech, sold 14,285,715 shares in its IPO late Tuesday at $14 apiece, raising just over $200 million before discounts due … Continue reading “Orchard, Fueled by GSK’s Ex-Gene Therapy Biz, Nets $200M in IPO”
Facebook’s 3Q Growth Suffices to Stave Off Another Stock Dive
Facebook (NASDAQ: [[ticker:FB]]) shares gained nearly 3 percent Tuesday, and ticked up further in after-hours trading following the release of a third quarter earnings report that showed some strengths as well as shortfalls. Investors have been concerned about the social media giant’s slowing growth rate in a year when it has been under scrutiny for … Continue reading “Facebook’s 3Q Growth Suffices to Stave Off Another Stock Dive”
A.I., Cybersecurity & the Changing Face of VC at X·CON Next Week
Bob Brennan has some pretty interesting lessons from his time working with Veracode and CloudHealth Technologies. Those are two of the bigger Boston tech exits in the past few years—the companies were acquired by CA Technologies and VMware, respectively. Brennan, the former CEO of Veracode and Iron Mountain, and former board member of CloudHealth, will … Continue reading “A.I., Cybersecurity & the Changing Face of VC at X·CON Next Week”
FDA Blasts Data, Trial Design For Alkermes Depression Drug
The FDA this morning has issued a scathing review of an experimental drug that could be, if the agency ends up approving it next year, a new option for the millions of Americans who struggle with depression and don’t respond to typical treatment. The drug is known as ALKS-5461, from Dublin and Waltham, MA-based Alkermes … Continue reading “FDA Blasts Data, Trial Design For Alkermes Depression Drug”
Stantt CEO Thinks Its Approach to Selling Men’s Wear Fits Just Right
Stantt wants to make standard sizing anything but. “Traditional sizing only fits 15 percent of guys,” says Matt Hornbuckle, the startup’s founder and co-CEO. “Twins come in and get different sizes.” To connect guys with a shirt that fits well, the men’s wear startup created a database of “tens of thousands” of body scans. That … Continue reading “Stantt CEO Thinks Its Approach to Selling Men’s Wear Fits Just Right”