As much as 40 percent of food in this country is never eaten, yet 41 million people don’t have enough to eat, including 13 million children, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Some of that food insecurity is due to food spoilage, rendering billions of dollars’ worth of … Continue reading “Blockchain Tomatoes & Edible Peels: Startups Innovate to Fight Spoilage”
Category: Boston
Bluebird, Regeneron Team Up To Make Cell Therapies For Cancer
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Bluebird Bio have struck a wide-ranging partnership to broaden the reach of their respective cancer immunotherapy work, inking a deal to develop multiple cell therapies together. Regeneron (NASDAQ: [[ticker:REGN]]) develops antibody drugs, while Bluebird (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BLUE]]) is a gene and cell therapy specialist. In the deal, the two companies will work together … Continue reading “Bluebird, Regeneron Team Up To Make Cell Therapies For Cancer”
The Technology Behind Fighting California’s Fires & Other Disasters
As wildfires continued to burn across the length of California this month, Gov. Jerry Brown urged residents to stay on the alert and warned that the cost of fighting the climate-driven blazes will continue to strain future state budgets. Residents of the three Northern California counties hardest hit by wildfires last year have already learned … Continue reading “The Technology Behind Fighting California’s Fires & Other Disasters”
An Evening of Diversity and Inclusion at Biotech Week Boston
Connect with leaders who are ready to talk about diversity and inclusion with practical solutions for propelling all dimensions of diversity throughout your organization. PANEL DISCUSSION Lead the Way: How to Champion Diversity and Inclusion in Life Sciences 6:00 – 7:00 PM We all agree that diversity and inclusion is an integral part of a … Continue reading “An Evening of Diversity and Inclusion at Biotech Week Boston”
Bio Roundup: Alnylam’s Moment, Read on Rebates, Skinny Plans & More
Millions of people might be on vacation as we hit the dog days, but drug makers and politicians aren’t taking a break from the gamesmanship over high drug prices. After two years of blowing smoke, the Trump administration is threatening action on a few fronts, including against the powerful middlemen known as PBMs that decide … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Alnylam’s Moment, Read on Rebates, Skinny Plans & More”
Patients Have “Fingers Crossed” As Alnylam Awaits Historic FDA Decision
[Updated, 8/6/18, see below] By next weekend, the FDA could for the first time approve a medicine that uses a biological trick that was only discovered two decades ago: RNA interference, which silences a gene before it can make a harmful protein. That medicine is patisiran (Onpattro), from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]). An approval wouldn’t … Continue reading “Patients Have “Fingers Crossed” As Alnylam Awaits Historic FDA Decision”
Boston Tech Watch: Noncompetes, Markforged, Mimecast & More
[Updated 8/3/18, 12:27 pm. See below.] Here are some of the latest headlines from the Boston-area tech sector: —The Massachusetts Legislature passed an economic development bill that includes some limits to employee noncompete contracts, the Boston Globe reported. The bill prohibits noncompetes for hourly workers and interns; shortens the allowable length of the noncompete period … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Noncompetes, Markforged, Mimecast & More”
Zafgen Exec Thomas Hughes Resigns to Take CEO Job at Navitor
Thomas Hughes is leaving Zafgen, which he led for nine years, in order to take the top job at another biotech company. The job change comes 10 months after Hughes resigned as CEO of Zafgen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZFGN]]) and took on a new role as the Boston company’s president and chief scientific officer. Zafgen announced Hughes’ … Continue reading “Zafgen Exec Thomas Hughes Resigns to Take CEO Job at Navitor”
SQZ Biotech Exec Agarwal Surfaces as Epizyme Chief Medical Officer
Shefali Agarwal has joined Cambridge, MA-based Epizyme (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EPZM]]) as chief medical officer. Before coming to Epizyme, Agarwal most recently worked at SQZ Biotech, where she was chief medical officer. She has also held leadership roles at Curis and Tesaro (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TSRO]]). Epizyme develops therapies based on epigenetics—turning certain genes on or off without altering … Continue reading “SQZ Biotech Exec Agarwal Surfaces as Epizyme Chief Medical Officer”
Arm Snaps Up Treasure Data To Complete IoT Device-To-Data Platform
[Corrected 8/3/18, 5:22 pm. See below.] Leading chipmaker and designer Arm announced today it is acquiring Silicon Valley data management company Treasure Data to complete a comprehensive platform to help customers efficiently extract and analyze data from Internet of Things devices. Cambridge, UK-based Arm, which was acquired by SoftBank for $32 billion in 2016, unveiled its … Continue reading “Arm Snaps Up Treasure Data To Complete IoT Device-To-Data Platform”
PureTech Health’s Karuna Snags $42M Series A for Schizophrenia Drug
[Updated August 3, 9:00am ET, see note below.] With $42 million in new investment, Karuna Pharmaceuticals, a PureTech Health company based in Boston, now has the funds to test in a Phase 2 clinical trial a drug for a disease where many have previously failed: schizophrenia. Karuna’s lead candidate, KarXT, is a combination of two … Continue reading “PureTech Health’s Karuna Snags $42M Series A for Schizophrenia Drug”
Boeing, Aurora to Move Into R&D Space in Kendall Square Via MIT Initiative
Aerospace giant Boeing has agreed to lease 100,000 square feet in an MIT-owned space in the heart of Kendall Square. The Boeing Aerospace & Autonomy Center, at 314 Main Street in Cambridge, MA, is slated to open by the end of 2020 and will focus on autonomous aircraft and related technologies. Financial terms of the … Continue reading “Boeing, Aurora to Move Into R&D Space in Kendall Square Via MIT Initiative”
Siemens Scoops Up Mendix for $730M to Boost Digital Capabilities
[Updated 8/2/18, 9:11 am. See below.] Mendix, one of the long-standing players in the business app development sector, is being snapped up by Siemens for 628 million euros, or about $730 million, according to a spokesperson. [Updated price.—Eds.] The German industrial conglomerate will pay cash to acquire Boston-based Mendix, and it also plans to invest … Continue reading “Siemens Scoops Up Mendix for $730M to Boost Digital Capabilities”
EmTech 2018
MIT Technology Review’s flagship event. Information and registration here. From the website: “EmTech is your opportunity to discover future trends and to understand the technologies that will drive the new global economy. It’s where tech, business, and culture converge, and where you gain access to the most innovative people and companies in the world. Our … Continue reading “EmTech 2018”
3D Printing “Unicorn” Formlabs Grabs $15M, Ex-GE CEO Joins Board
Here’s an idea for the next figurine Formlabs should make with one of its 3D printers: a unicorn. Today, the MIT Media Lab spinout announced it received a $15 million investment from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), bringing the seven-year-old company’s venture capital haul to more than $100 million. Formlabs says its latest cash infusion puts … Continue reading “3D Printing “Unicorn” Formlabs Grabs $15M, Ex-GE CEO Joins Board”
Going Against the Grain: Meet the Xconomy Contrarian Award Finalists
Our profiles of the finalists for this year’s Xconomy Awards roll on today with a look at the nominees for the Contrarian award. These finalists have been nominated for different reasons. One, for instance, may have paved the way for gene therapies to be commercially adopted in the U.S., by being the first insurer to … Continue reading “Going Against the Grain: Meet the Xconomy Contrarian Award Finalists”
Orphan Tech’s Patrick Horn Joins Albireo as Chief Medical Officer
Albireo Pharma (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALBO]]) has appointed Patrick Horn to serve as chief medical officer. He will succeed Paresh Soni, who is stepping down from the Boston company but will continue to serve as a consultant. Horn was most recently senior vice president, medical and clinical development at Switzerland-based Orphan Technologies. Albireo develops drugs to treat … Continue reading “Orphan Tech’s Patrick Horn Joins Albireo as Chief Medical Officer”
For Women Only: E-Retail Subscription Firm Athena Club Raises $3.8M
[Updated 7/31/18 7:46 am. The story and headline has been changed to reflect an updated amount.] Athena Club, a subscription program for feminine hygiene products, is the latest entrant into the direct-to-women e-commerce space and announced today that it has raised $3.8 million in funding. Co-founder Maria Markina says her New York-based startup gives women … Continue reading “For Women Only: E-Retail Subscription Firm Athena Club Raises $3.8M”
Precision Tinkering of Cells, Genes & Microbes: The Big Idea Finalists
Biology research has gotten so precise these days that scientists barely bat an eye when they talk about their ability to study the genome of individual cells or swap out single “letters” in DNA. So it’s probably no surprise that ultra-precise ways of measuring and manipulating cells, molecules and microbes have found their way into … Continue reading “Precision Tinkering of Cells, Genes & Microbes: The Big Idea Finalists”
10 Must-Read Stories From Xconomy (and Elsewhere) This Week
Ah, Friday: The gateway to a relaxing weekend. If you’re reading this, it’s likely you’re starting your Friday off the right way with some casual reading. Here’s a peek at some of the fine work Xconomy editors have put out in the last week—and a few from other publications, too, that are very interesting reads. … Continue reading “10 Must-Read Stories From Xconomy (and Elsewhere) This Week”
Bio Roundup: An Alzheimer’s Head-Scratcher, OUTBio, GSK & Gilead Shakeups
The devil is in the details, and key clinical trial results made that abundantly clear this week. Eisai and partner Biogen released the highly anticipated details of an Alzheimer’s disease study they had already deemed positive, after an initial failure. In one sense, the study was the success they have claimed. A high dose of … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: An Alzheimer’s Head-Scratcher, OUTBio, GSK & Gilead Shakeups “
Boston Tech Watch: SessionM, Salesforce, Facebook, Squadle & More
It’s time to catch up on a flurry of recent Boston-area tech headlines: —SessionM, a seller of marketing automation and customer loyalty software, said it grabbed $23.8 million in venture funding from previous backers. The round was led by Salesforce Ventures, with contributions from Causeway Media Partners, CRV, General Atlantic, Highland Capital Partners, and Kleiner … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: SessionM, Salesforce, Facebook, Squadle & More”
Flywire Tracks Down $100M as Global Payments Race Heats Up
Investors continue to cut big checks to global payments startups. The latest to cash in is Flywire, which announced Thursday it raised a $100 million Series D funding round led by Singapore-based Temasek. Flywire has now hauled in a total of $144 million from investors, a spokeswoman said. Other investors in the Series D round … Continue reading “Flywire Tracks Down $100M as Global Payments Race Heats Up”
With $76M Second Fund, Root Ventures Investing in Hardware, Automation
Startups often struggle to attract their first funding from venture capital firms. But some of those VC firms are startups themselves, hoping to draw investors willing to trust their judgment so they can back young companies that take off. Avidan Ross, a former industrial robot designer and financial firm CTO, was the solo founder of … Continue reading “With $76M Second Fund, Root Ventures Investing in Hardware, Automation”
Vertex Exec Saltarelli Joins Syntimmune as Chief Medical Officer
Mario Saltarelli has been appointed chief medical officer of Boston-based Syntimmune. Saltarelli comes to Syntimmune from Vertex (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]), where he was senior vice president of early development and neurology. Donald Johns, who has been acting chief medical officer of Syntimmune, will now become executive vice president of medical and scientific affairs. Syntimmune is developing … Continue reading “Vertex Exec Saltarelli Joins Syntimmune as Chief Medical Officer”
OUTBio, a Biopharma LGBTQ Group, Grows Fast & Ponders Its Future
In June, Jennifer Petter, the founder and chief scientific officer of biotech startup Arrakis Therapeutics, got an e-mail from a stranger. His name was Ramsey Johnson, a biotech veteran who works in clinical operations at Boston startup Phoenix Tissue Repair. Johnson was writing about OUTBio, a networking organization for LGBTQ members of the biopharma community. … Continue reading “OUTBio, a Biopharma LGBTQ Group, Grows Fast & Ponders Its Future”
Eisai & Biogen Reveal Promising Alzheimer’s Data, But Questions Linger
Data from six additional months of treatment with an experimental drug for Alzheimer’s disease were enough to turn a failed mid-stage clinical trial into a possible success. On Wednesday, the Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai and its U.S.-based partner, Biogen, explained how, providing details that point to ways that their drug, unlike many before it, might … Continue reading “Eisai & Biogen Reveal Promising Alzheimer’s Data, But Questions Linger”
LevelUp’s Winding Path Pays Off With $390M Sale to Grubhub
LevelUp is the latest startup story to end in an acquisition. The company has gone through several transformations since it was founded a decade ago, eventually landing on mobile payments processing, customer loyalty programs, and data analytics tools for restaurants. Its journey ultimately led to Grubhub: the online food-ordering and delivery giant announced Wednesday it … Continue reading “LevelUp’s Winding Path Pays Off With $390M Sale to Grubhub”
ResTORbio Shares Soar on Clinical Data From Lung Infection Drug
Shares of Boston-based resTORbio (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TORC]]) have nearly doubled to roughly $16 apiece, based on positive results the company released this morning from a Phase 2b trial of its drug for respiratory tract infections. The drug, RTB101, is a pill that blocks an enzyme called TORC1. The company says the drug works by boosting immune … Continue reading “ResTORbio Shares Soar on Clinical Data From Lung Infection Drug”
Alector Snags $133M to Activate Immune Cells Against Neurodegeneration
Pharmaceutical companies have been working for years to find a drug that could break up the toxic clusters of proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Many of those companies have suffered disappointing failures by targeting those clusters head-on. Now a Bay Area biotechnology company, Alector, is ready to try tackling the problem … Continue reading “Alector Snags $133M to Activate Immune Cells Against Neurodegeneration”
SnappyScreen’s Booths Protect People While They Have Fun in the Sun
Applying sunscreen while outdoors is a long-accepted way to help keep our skin safe from sunburn and cancer. Yet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says less than a third of women, and even fewer men, report using it when going outside for more than an hour. “You should put it on more frequently … Continue reading “SnappyScreen’s Booths Protect People While They Have Fun in the Sun”
Seattle Startups Land Cash for Machine Learning & Self-Storage Techs
New funding for startups continues to flow—this week it’s early stage Seattle tech companies that are grabbing money, including a machine learning business and a service that picks up and stores your extra junk. DefinedCrowd, which participated in the Microsoft Accelerator in 2016 before it raised a $1.1 million seed round, gathers data points from … Continue reading “Seattle Startups Land Cash for Machine Learning & Self-Storage Techs”
Qlik Buys Podium Data as Big Data Deal-Making Continues
Big software companies continue to shop for data management and analytics startups. The latest deal is Qlik’s acquisition of Podium Data, announced Tuesday morning. The price was not disclosed. Four-year-old Podium sells software that helps large enterprises manage and prepare data for analysis, focusing on data quality and security. Business analysts and data scientists use … Continue reading “Qlik Buys Podium Data as Big Data Deal-Making Continues”
Nancy Hopkins Named Xconomy’s 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
We at Xconomy are excited to announce that we are honoring Nancy Hopkins, professor emerita at MIT, with our 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognizes Hopkins’s career in genetics and cancer biology research, as well as her groundbreaking work advocating for women in science that sparked change and inspired many in both academia and industry. She … Continue reading “Nancy Hopkins Named Xconomy’s 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner”
Announcing XCON 2018: A Conference on Technology and Transformation
This fall, we are convening exemplary business leaders, investors, and far-seeing technologists for an in-depth exploration of the innovation ecosystem and its impact on the future. Come join us at our newest interactive conference, XCON: The Xconomy Conference on Technology and Transformation. It spans three days, November 4-6, and three innovation venues in the Boston … Continue reading “Announcing XCON 2018: A Conference on Technology and Transformation”
Retailers Need to Get Real About Security
It seems a distant memory now. In December 2013 – light years ago in technology time – the retail giant Target disclosed a massive software security breach of its point of sale systems. The bad guys fled the virtual premises with the credit card information of 40 million customers. This astounding number would later rise … Continue reading “Retailers Need to Get Real About Security”
Sanofi Backs Click Therapeutics as Digital Medicines Gain Momentum
Drug makers are making more bets on the nascent field of digital medicine. The latest example: Click Therapeutics announced Monday that it grabbed a $17 million investment led by Sanofi Ventures, the Cambridge, MA-based venture capital arm of the French pharmaceutical giant. New York-based Click Therapeutics develops mobile apps intended to be prescribed by doctors … Continue reading “Sanofi Backs Click Therapeutics as Digital Medicines Gain Momentum”
Goldman Sachs Leads $37M Investment in Cogito’s A.I. for Call Centers
Cogito, one of the startups working to enhance businesses’ call center operations with sophisticated analytics software, has scooped up $37 million from investors to try and take its business to the next level. The Series C funding round was led by Goldman Sachs’s growth equity fund, with earlier Cogito backers Salesforce Ventures and OpenView Venture … Continue reading “Goldman Sachs Leads $37M Investment in Cogito’s A.I. for Call Centers”
Empatica, Kyruus, Pear & More: Digital Trailblazer Award Finalists
Healthcare is seeing an explosion in the use of data analytics, machine learning tools, wearable devices, mobile apps, and other digital technologies. Software products are not only augmenting the capabilities of doctors—in some cases, the digital product is itself being prescribed as a treatment. In recognition of the growing impact of such technologies in healthcare, … Continue reading “Empatica, Kyruus, Pear & More: Digital Trailblazer Award Finalists”
Agios Pharma’s Drug for Rare Blood Cancer Wins Speedy FDA Nod
An Agios Pharmaceuticals drug developed to treat a rare form of leukemia has received FDA approval ahead of schedule. This marks the second time in the past year that the company has won the regulatory nod for a treatment for the disease, but this is the first approved drug that’s wholly owned by the Cambridge, … Continue reading “Agios Pharma’s Drug for Rare Blood Cancer Wins Speedy FDA Nod”
Bio Roundup: Drug Prices, CRISPR Caveats, Rubius IPO Pop & More
After nearly two years of all smoke, no fire around President Trump’s promise to curtail drug prices, there’s finally some glimmer of action. Pfizer said last week it would halt its price hikes, and Novartis and Merck took similar actions this week. But we still don’t know the details of the administration’s drug-pricing policy, if … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Drug Prices, CRISPR Caveats, Rubius IPO Pop & More”
Hyundai Launches Digital Showroom on Amazon to Better Reach Customers
Replicating the car dealership experience online has historically been a challenge. Although many of us have grown to prefer the ease and convenience of shopping online, there’s nothing quite like kicking the tires of a vehicle in person. Because cars are one of the most expensive purchases many of us will make, it’s especially important … Continue reading “Hyundai Launches Digital Showroom on Amazon to Better Reach Customers”
Boston Tech Watch: Wistia, Armored Things, TowerIQ, Cignifi & More
[Updated 7/20/18, 1:08 pm. See below.] Time to catch up on the latest Boston-area tech news: —State Street (NYSE: [[ticker:STT]]), the financial services giant based in Boston, said it inked an agreement to acquire Charles River Systems, also known as Charles River Development, for $2.6 billion in cash. Burlington, MA-based Charles River provides investment management … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Wistia, Armored Things, TowerIQ, Cignifi & More”
PTC Dives Into Gene Therapy with $50M Agilis Biotherapeutics Deal
PTC Therapeutics is looking to gene therapy in a bid to broaden its pipeline, scooping up privately held Agilis Biotherapeutics in a cash and stock deal. South Plainfield, NJ-based PTC (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PTCT]]) will pay $50 million up front, plus $150 million in PTC shares, for Agilis. Agilis, based in Cambridge, MA, could get up to … Continue reading “PTC Dives Into Gene Therapy with $50M Agilis Biotherapeutics Deal”
FDA Puts Mersana Cancer Study on Partial Hold After Patient Death
[Updated, 7/19/18, 6:25 p.m. See below.] A patient has died in a clinical trial testing Mersana Therapeutics’ lead cancer drug, and the FDA has put a partial hold on the early-stage study as a result. The partial hold means that no new patients will be enrolled in the Phase 1 clinical trial. But patients who … Continue reading “FDA Puts Mersana Cancer Study on Partial Hold After Patient Death”
If the Shoe Fits: Luxury Shoe Club Launches E-Consignment Store
One in five pairs of shoes sit unworn in the average woman’s closet. So, why not sell these unused, or slightly used, pairs to someone who will wear them? That’s the view of Scott Van Valkenburgh, co-founder of Luxury Shoe Club, a Raleigh, NC-based startup that caters to women who want to buy and sell … Continue reading “If the Shoe Fits: Luxury Shoe Club Launches E-Consignment Store”
Google Partners With Zapata on Open-Source Quantum Computing Effort
Zapata Computing, a Harvard University spinout developing software to enable quantum computers, said Wednesday it’s working with Google to advance quantum computing technologies. Zapata said it’s one of the first users of Cirq, Google’s new open-source software framework for quantum computing. The initiative is yet another example of the growing investment in quantum computing research … Continue reading “Google Partners With Zapata on Open-Source Quantum Computing Effort”
Fresh Off Bristol Buyout, IFM Backers Raise $31M to Plot a Second Strike
Nearly one year ago, biotech startup IFM Therapeutics sold some of its assets to Bristol-Myers Squibb for $300 million. But IFM’s founders stuck around to try to capitalize on the startup’s remaining research. They’ve formed a Boston business, IFM Tre, that has just raised $31 million to fund some of that work. The cash comes … Continue reading “Fresh Off Bristol Buyout, IFM Backers Raise $31M to Plot a Second Strike”
E.U. Slaps $5B Antitrust Fine on Google; Trump Blasts Back With Tweet
[Updated 7/19/18, 9:59 am. See below.] If top European leaders faced a testy President Donald Trump in a series of meetings this summer, imagine the mood when the president of the European Commission arrives at the White House next Wednesday. President Trump and the European Union’s top executive officer, Jean-Claude Juncker, are slated to discuss … Continue reading “E.U. Slaps $5B Antitrust Fine on Google; Trump Blasts Back With Tweet”
Corindus Vascular Promotes Douglas Teany to Chief Operating Officer
Douglas Teany has taken on a new role at Corindus Vascular Robotics (NYSE American: [[ticker:CVRS]]) as the Waltham, MA, company’s chief operating officer. Since 2016, he had served as Corindus’ senior vice president of R&D and operations. Corindus has commercialized the CorPath System, an FDA-cleared medical device that uses robotics technology in vascular procedures.