Category: Boston

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

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

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

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

New CEO for Idenix

Cambridge, MA-based Idenix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IDIX]]), an antiviral drug developer, announced today that it has promoted Ronald Renaud, Jr. to the position of president and chief executive. Renaud, who previously served as Idenix’s CFO and treasurer and most recently its chief business officer, will also take a seat on the company’s board of directors. He … Continue reading “New CEO for Idenix”

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

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

Triangulation: How Universities, Government, and Business Can Stir More Innovation

Successful innovation in the life sciences requires that three entities with fiercely independent cultures and largely non-overlapping goals—government, universities, and the private sector—have meaningful dialogues with each other. That is not happening at the moment. Consider the cycle for creating a therapy, diagnostic or medical device. Academic research is funded largely by the federal government, … Continue reading “Triangulation: How Universities, Government, and Business Can Stir More Innovation”

Dexrex Gear’s Technology Makes Instant, Text Messaging and Social Media Appropriate for the Workplace

There have been countless times where I’ve started a conversation on Facebook, expanded on it via e-mail, and wrapped it up through text messaging. For me, it’s not really a big deal, as I’m usually discussing weekend plans or roommate issues and not anything subject to examination by a federal agency. But for entities that … Continue reading “Dexrex Gear’s Technology Makes Instant, Text Messaging and Social Media Appropriate for the Workplace”

Solx Receives $3,700,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=900728a6-1f6e-4bff-992c-f81d89285612&Preview=1 Date 10/28/2010 Company Name Solx Mailing Address 98 Ruddock Rd. Sudbury, MA 01776 Company Description The SOLX Glaucoma Treatment System is the next generation treatment platform that has the potential to change the current approach to glaucoma therapy. Website http://www.solx.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $3,700,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds … Continue reading “Solx Receives $3,700,000 New Financing Round”

peerTransfer Receives $1,100,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=82a8792a-8c28-4c2f-8e41-2ecc7067a0fb&Preview=1 Date 10/28/2010 Company Name peerTransfer Mailing Address 222 3rd St., Fourth Floor Cambridge, MA 02142 Company Description peerTransfer is the pioneer in low cost online international money transfer and global payments, helping individuals and businesses securely transfer funds internationally while saving money. Website http://www.peerTransfer.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,100,000 … Continue reading “peerTransfer Receives $1,100,000 New Financing Round”

InVivo Completes Reverse Merger, Raising $10.5M

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

CardStar Gets $750K

CardStar, a Boston-based maker of applications for accessing customer loyalty cards on mobile phones, has brought in $750,000 of a planned $1 million offering of equity- and rights-based funding, according to an SEC filing. The startup, formerly located in Canton, CT, announced in March that it had raised a $1 million Series A financing. Its … Continue reading “CardStar Gets $750K”

Funding, Acquisition for Neohapsis

Cambridge, MA-based Neohapsis, a maker of software for governance, risk, and compliance, announced today that received a $4.5 million investment, led by New Venture Partners, a firm with offices in New Jersey, Silicon Valley, the U.K., and the Netherlands. The funding round included existing Neohapsis backers, Trident Capital and Paladin Capital Group. Neohapsis revealed that … Continue reading “Funding, Acquisition for Neohapsis”

Novartis to Invest $600M in Cambridge Complex

Swiss pharma behemoth Novartis, already Cambridge, MA’s biggest corporate employer, planns to invest $600 million more in a new 4 acre office and lab complex here, according to a report on the Boston Globe website. As part of a plan to strengthen its global research operations, which have been headquartered in Cambridge since 2002, Novartis expects … Continue reading “Novartis to Invest $600M in Cambridge Complex”

5×5: Five Cities, Five Big Tech Ideas Coming to Boston on Dec. 8

For entrepreneurs, sometimes the next great Twitter app or IT software package just isn’t enough. Sometimes you need to build something that takes longer than a few months to design and test. Sometimes you need to think big—really big. What are the biggest ideas in technology, and where are they coming from? How will they … Continue reading “5×5: Five Cities, Five Big Tech Ideas Coming to Boston on Dec. 8”

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

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

Trimble Scoops Up ThingMagic, Resolvyx Sells Option to Celtic Therapeutics, GSK Venture Arm Puts $4M into Dicerna, & More Boston-Area Deals News

Dealmaking activity was on the light side this week in the New England tech and life sciences sectors, but there are still some interesting items to report. —Search-engine developer Goby raised $2.5 million from Kepha Partners and Flybridge Capital Partners, both return investors. The Boston-based startup is taking a local-search approach to helping people find … Continue reading “Trimble Scoops Up ThingMagic, Resolvyx Sells Option to Celtic Therapeutics, GSK Venture Arm Puts $4M into Dicerna, & More Boston-Area Deals News”

Competitors Claim ITA Acquisition Would Give Google an Unfair Advantage in Travel Search

[Updated, see page 2] Quite a few online travel-info companies—FareCompare, Fly.com, Hotwire, Kayak, Sidestep, TripAdvisor, and Orbitz, to name a few—get their airline fare and seat availability information from a vast real-time database called QPX, the creation of Cambridge, MA-based ITA Software. Even search engines like Bing rely on QPX for flight data. So it … Continue reading “Competitors Claim ITA Acquisition Would Give Google an Unfair Advantage in Travel Search”

CommonAngels, Moving Into Smaller Seed-Stage Deals, Looks to Drive East Coast “Super Angel” Agenda—Some Reactions

Anyone can say they want to be “Boston’s super angels.” But Chris Sheehan and James Geshwiler are trying to back that up with some action. The managing directors of Lexington, MA-based CommonAngels announced last week they are adding a key new component to their firm’s financing strategy: the ability to invest in a greater number … Continue reading “CommonAngels, Moving Into Smaller Seed-Stage Deals, Looks to Drive East Coast “Super Angel” Agenda—Some Reactions”

ThingMagic-Trimble Deal a “Desired Outcome,” and a Next Stage for RFID and GPS Technologies

Yesterday’s acquisition of Cambridge, MA, technology firm ThingMagic by Silicon Valley-based Trimble (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TRMB]]) left a lot of people in the radio frequency identification (RFID) and location-based tech sectors wanting to know more. I spoke with both companies late in the day to get some answers. Overall it sounds like a fairly standard acquisition that … Continue reading “ThingMagic-Trimble Deal a “Desired Outcome,” and a Next Stage for RFID and GPS Technologies”

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

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

Trend in Q3 Venture Data From Dow Jones Falls in Line

The quarterly venture capital survey by Dow Jones VentureSource was released earlier today, showing a trend that’s generally in line with data previously reported by CB Insights and The MoneyTree Report. Dow Jones says venture-backed companies in the U.S. raised $5.5 billion in the third quarter—a 5 percent drop in funding from the $5.8 billion … Continue reading “Trend in Q3 Venture Data From Dow Jones Falls in Line”

ThingMagic Technology Bought by Location Firm Trimble—Terms and Future Unclear

This is big news for the Boston and MIT startup communities—and maybe for Silicon Valley tech observers too. Cambridge, MA-based ThingMagic said today its technology has been acquired by Trimble (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TRMB]]), a mobile and location tech firm based in Sunnyvale, CA. Terms of the deal weren’t given, and representatives from the companies weren’t immediately … Continue reading “ThingMagic Technology Bought by Location Firm Trimble—Terms and Future Unclear”

Fall Angel Education Workshop: Due Diligence and Deal Terms

The New England chapter of the Angel Capital Association (ACA) and the Angel Capital Education Forum (ACEF) will continue its series of Fall Angel Education workshops with this session on Due Diligence and Deal Terms. Led by leading investors from local angel investing groups, this Due Diligence and Deal Terms workshop aims to provide attendees with … Continue reading “Fall Angel Education Workshop: Due Diligence and Deal Terms”

13th Annual MIT VC Conference

The MIT Venture Capital Conference brings together venture capitalists, rising entrepreneurs, and industry leaders to discuss current opportunities and challenges in Venture Capital investing. This year’s conference theme, Here and Now, returns the focus to the entrepreneur and building successful companies in the present. Registration is here.

Transcend Buys Spryance for $6.5M

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

Antigenics, and its UCSF Champion, Stick With Immune Booster For Brain Cancer

Antigenics could easily have thrown in the towel on its immune boosting therapy for cancer. But now the Lexington, MA-based biotech company, with the help of one of its main backers at UC San Francisco, is gearing up to run a significant trial to see if its lead therapy has a shot as a treatment … Continue reading “Antigenics, and its UCSF Champion, Stick With Immune Booster For Brain Cancer”

Massachusetts Startups Raise $147M in 25 September Deals; Software Investments Surge

The activity around events in the Boston startup community rapidly picked up pace in September, but venture investments in Massachusetts tech and life sciences companies grew far more modestly. The equity investments last month totaled $146.8 million, up slightly from $143.6 million in August. The September money came in across a smaller number of deals … Continue reading “Massachusetts Startups Raise $147M in 25 September Deals; Software Investments Surge”

MediaFriends Receives $13,529,064 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d16b6ab6-f585-4f74-95e1-1930178cb09e&Preview=1 Date 10/25/2010 Company Name MediaFriends Mailing Address 120 Presidential Way, Third Floor Woburn, MA 01801 Company Description MediaFriends blends real-time communications and social media into personalized communities spread seamlessly across today’s multi-device world. Consumers want new ways to interact and communicate with their friends, so we deliver new ways to keep … Continue reading “MediaFriends Receives $13,529,064 New Funding Round”

Trimble Navigation Ltd Acquires ThingMagic for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4cf1ca2d-fc4d-4a26-a5bb-f2a764930de0&Preview=1 Date 10/25/2010 Company Name ThingMagic Mailing Address One Broadway 5th Floor Cambridge, MA 02142 Company Description ThingMagic is a privately held company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in RFID (radio frequency identification) readers, sensors, and other embedded and low cost computing technologies. Website http://www.thingmagic.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction … Continue reading “Trimble Navigation Ltd Acquires ThingMagic for Undisclosed Sum”

Find The Investor of Your Dreams—For Free

There’s all sorts of wisdom about how to find folks to invest in your startup, ranging from the obvious to the slightly stalkerish. Approach investors who’ve supported companies like yours in the past. Go to startup school. Wait until a famous VC is stranded somewhere and give him a lift. In some ways, the most … Continue reading “Find The Investor of Your Dreams—For Free”

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

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

Small Business Tech Tour Boston

This U.S.-wide tour educating smaller companies on how to use technology to enhance their businesses is making a stop in Boston this month. Sessions will focus on cloud computing, mobile, social media, digital marketing, and more. Register here.

**SOLD OUT**Xconomy Forum: 5×5-Five Cities, Five Big Tech Ideas

What are the next big ideas in technology, and where are they coming from? How will they rock your world? And how are entrepreneurs and investors building viable businesses around them? Xconomy has canvassed its national network for the most potentially transformative tech ideas—across mobile, software, hardware, energy, robotics, Internet, and more—and we are inviting … Continue reading “**SOLD OUT**Xconomy Forum: 5×5-Five Cities, Five Big Tech Ideas”

10 Fantastic Photo Apps for the iPad

The Apple iPad doesn’t have a camera—yet. But it does have a big, beautiful, multi-touch screen. And that makes it one of the best devices ever built for browsing and manipulating images. Mobile app developers have realized this, and have created a profusion of fascinating apps for editing or simply exploring photographs. In fact, there … Continue reading “10 Fantastic Photo Apps for the iPad”

Alkermes Drops on FDA Rejection, Glaxo’s SR One Backs Dicerna, Biogen Reworks Genentech Alliance, & More Boston-Are Life Sciences News

It was a busy New England area life sciences news week, with headlines of drug collaborations, failed applications with the FDA, clinical trial results, plus some lengthier profile stories. —Providence, RI-based Shape Up The Nation is using social networking to invite people’s friends to encourage them to eat better and make healthier choices, Ryan wrote. … Continue reading “Alkermes Drops on FDA Rejection, Glaxo’s SR One Backs Dicerna, Biogen Reworks Genentech Alliance, & More Boston-Are Life Sciences News”

MassChallenge Awards $1M to 16 Startups Across IT, Cleantech, Retail, and Healthcare (Also Some Words of Wisdom from Steve Case)

It was a packed house at the MassChallenge finals last night in Boston’s Seaport District. Business luminaries such as Desh Deshpande, Steve Case, Josh Boger, Brad Feld, and Greg Bialecki were in attendance. And Boston mayor Tom Menino kicked things off by emphasizing that, especially compared with other innovation clusters around the country, “what Boston … Continue reading “MassChallenge Awards $1M to 16 Startups Across IT, Cleantech, Retail, and Healthcare (Also Some Words of Wisdom from Steve Case)”

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Secures $4,000,000 Series B Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3be9be83-0ffd-41d9-8912-69b03ef3446d&Preview=1 Date 10/22/2010 Company Name Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 480 Arsenal Street Building 1 Watertown, MA 02472 Company Description Dicerna Pharmaceuticals is a venture-backed startup developing novel therapeutics in multiple therapeutic areas based on Dicer substrate technology, which makes use of the RNA interference mechanism. Website http://www.dicerna.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Secures $4,000,000 Series B Round”

EMC’s Innovation Steward: CTO Jeff Nick Talks Company Strategy Amid Soaring Profits, Rumors of Big Acquisition

It has been a ridiculously busy week for EMC—and for everyone else, it seems. For starters, the Hopkinton, MA-based data storage giant (NYSE: [[ticker:EMC]]) announced record quarterly revenues for the third quarter of 2010. Yesterday the firm hosted its fourth annual innovation conference from its center in Cork, Ireland—which amounted to a company-wide session on … Continue reading “EMC’s Innovation Steward: CTO Jeff Nick Talks Company Strategy Amid Soaring Profits, Rumors of Big Acquisition”

MIT $100K Elevator Pitch Contest Finale Show

The Elevator Pitch Contest is a slice of MIT’s $100K Entrepreneurship Competition where participants pitch their business ideas in 60 seconds, without any materials like handouts or PowerPoint slides. They’ll compete for up to $10,000 in prizes. Come to the finale show to see the top performers in the six tracks: emerging markets, energy, life … Continue reading “MIT $100K Elevator Pitch Contest Finale Show”

Dicerna Gets Glaxo’s SR One to Join Investor Syndicate

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

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

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

With Boston Pilot Project, Next Step Living Aims to Show Energy Efficiency Retrofits Aren’t Only for the Wealthy

Retrofitting homes for energy efficiency may not be as expensive or unattainable as consumers may think, says Next Step Living founder and CEO Geoff Chapin. His Boston-based startup is working to bring energy improvements to more households by helping consumers making sense of the array of rebates and financial incentives available for such home renovations, … Continue reading “With Boston Pilot Project, Next Step Living Aims to Show Energy Efficiency Retrofits Aren’t Only for the Wealthy”