Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=98cb0fdd-0f3f-4eab-93d0-aad51e24d22b&Preview=1 Date 1/6/2009 Company Name Entra Pharmaceuticals Inc Mailing Address 950 Winter Street Waltham, MA 02451 Company Description The company is developing various drug delivery technologies. Website Undisclosed Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $4,200,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Undisclosed
Category: Boston
Indevus, Maker of ‘Male Menopause’ Drug, Agrees to $370M Takeover by Endo
Indevus Pharmaceuticals has reached the end of its road. The Lexington, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IDEV]]) said today it has agreed to be acquired by Endo Pharmaceuticals for $370 million, or $4.50 a share in cash. The acquisition, approved by the boards of both companies, also has a sweetener clause which could kick in another … Continue reading “Indevus, Maker of ‘Male Menopause’ Drug, Agrees to $370M Takeover by Endo”
Alexion Settles Legal Dispute
Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALXN]]) reports it will pay $25 million to PDL BioPharma (NASDAQ:[[ticker:PDLI]]) to license a patent related to humanizing antibodies and to settle a legal dispute between the two companies. Cheshire, CT-based Alexion says the license enables the firm to commercialize its humanized antibody eculizumab (Soliris)—now approved to treat a rare blood disorder called … Continue reading “Alexion Settles Legal Dispute”
EMC Confirms Acquisition of Some SourceLabs Assets and Staff to Bolster Cloud Business, Denies Swik.net Part of Deal
EMC has acquired some of the assets and personnel of Seattle’s SourceLabs and will integrate them into its cloud computing business, the Hopkinton, MA-based company confirmed today. But contrary to news reports over the weekend, EMC has not acquired all of SourceLabs—nor has it acquired the Swik.net open-source documentation project run by SourceLabs, an EMC … Continue reading “EMC Confirms Acquisition of Some SourceLabs Assets and Staff to Bolster Cloud Business, Denies Swik.net Part of Deal”
Survey Shows VC-Backed IPOs Hit 31-Year Low In ’08
Venture-backed companies are no doubt ready to put 2008 in the past. Year-end reports show a dismal number of initial public offerings and M&A deals last year, after a flurry of tech companies canceled plans to go public and buyout activity slowed to its lowest level in five years. Thomson Reuters and the National Venture … Continue reading “Survey Shows VC-Backed IPOs Hit 31-Year Low In ’08”
Biogen Idec Takes Aim at New Parkinson’s Paradigm
Biogen Idec will get an early glimpse next week into whether it has created an important new innovation for Parkinson’s disease. If the company’s drug candidate lives up to its promise, it could be one of the early movers in a new class of medicines that minimize the secondary symptoms and keep standard therapy from … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Takes Aim at New Parkinson’s Paradigm”
India’s Innovation Front Lines, Part 7: Of Trains, Countryside, and The Great Indian Laughter Challenge
Mumbai-Delhi, Tuesday, December 23—I boarded the overnight train to Delhi at Bombay Central Terminal (the mixed use of old and new city names for Bombay is a metaphor for old and new India—the old structures retain the original Bombay, and everything new is named Mumbai). I had forgotten to print out my e-ticket and was … Continue reading “India’s Innovation Front Lines, Part 7: Of Trains, Countryside, and The Great Indian Laughter Challenge”
Hey Life Sciences Fans, Remember The Deals Back in 2008…
I recently had coffee with a venture capitalist at the Starbucks across the street from Biogen Idec’s (NASDAQ:[[ticker:BIIB]]) headquarters in Kendall Square, and he asked me what I thought were the biggest life sciences deals of 2008. The question is really tough to answer, both because the answers are somewhat subjective and I didn’t want … Continue reading “Hey Life Sciences Fans, Remember The Deals Back in 2008…”
PlumChoice Garners $2,000,000 Series D Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d5af8f93-732e-4f30-9d10-266103e98365&Preview=1 Date 1/5/2009 Company Name PlumChoice Mailing Address 5 Federal Street Billerica, MA 01821 Company Description PlumChoice’s premium remote computer and technology service is available to home and business PC users, business travelers, telecommuters, college students, persons with limited mobility and any PC user with Internet access. The company’s remote services include … Continue reading “PlumChoice Garners $2,000,000 Series D Financing”
What Will Change Everything?
What game-changing scientific ideas and developments do you expect to live to see? The Internet, television, antibiotics, automobiles, electricity, nuclear power, space travel, and cloning—these inventions were born out of dreams, persistence, and imagination. What game-changing ideas can we expect to see in OUR lifetimes? As each year winds to a close, John Brockman, a … Continue reading “What Will Change Everything?”
Five Bands Selected to Compete in Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands 2
The suspense is over—or is just starting, depending on your point of view. After reviewing dozens of MP3s and MySpace pages, and convening an epic, knock-down, drag-out selection meeting, Xconomy’s editors and guest judges have picked five bands—Anomopoly, The Dirty Truckers, EneROCK, The Main Drag, and Seymore Willie—to compete for audience approbation and big prizes … Continue reading “Five Bands Selected to Compete in Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands 2”
Of Drivable Airplanes, Hair-Raising, OLPC, Card-Counting, Black Silicon, & More: New England’s Top Innovation Stories of 2008
What did the New England innovation community devote itself to, struggle with, and just plain obsess over in 2008? Well, as you might expect, the answer was far different from 2007. Last year at this time we were reminiscing about iRobot’s legal battles with Robotic FX, the upheaval at Mitsubishi’s computer research lab in Cambridge, … Continue reading “Of Drivable Airplanes, Hair-Raising, OLPC, Card-Counting, Black Silicon, & More: New England’s Top Innovation Stories of 2008”
A Different Type of Tech Giving Guide
It’s an unofficial tradition in my family to spend the last few days of the year—often New Year’s Eve itself, I’m embarrassed to admit—deciding what charities we’d like to support before the tax-deduction clock resets for another year. So for any of you who are thinking along the same lines this week, and who are … Continue reading “A Different Type of Tech Giving Guide”
San Diego’s CovX and Pfizer’s New Strategy For Innovation
It has been a year since the largest pharmaceutical company in the world acquired San Diego’s CovX, a venture-backed life sciences company developing new treatments for cancer and diabetes. At the time, Pfizer already had invested more than $522 million to develop a San Diego campus, which has more than 1,000 employees and operates as … Continue reading “San Diego’s CovX and Pfizer’s New Strategy For Innovation”
India’s Innovation Front Lines, Part 6: Return to Pune, the Boston of India
Pune, Monday, December 22—I visited the cerebral city of Pune, 120 miles southeast of Bombay (Mumbai), on the Deccan plateau. Pune is the closest parallel city to Boston, with a multitude of universities and government research labs. I attended high school in Pune over 30 years ago. The city was unrecognizable, with huge population and … Continue reading “India’s Innovation Front Lines, Part 6: Return to Pune, the Boston of India”
Wishing You A Healthy and Happy Holiday Season; Posting Will Be Light
Another year is coming to an end, and for us at Xconomy it has been an action-packed 12 months. Not only has our flagship Boston site grown beyond our expectations, we have also launched Xconomy Seattle and Xconomy San Diego, building our own small, but rapidly growing, network. We’d like to take this occasion to … Continue reading “Wishing You A Healthy and Happy Holiday Season; Posting Will Be Light”
MBC Chief Fined $10K
The Massachusetts Ethics Commission has given a $10,000 fine to Bob Coughlin, president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, because the former Bay State economic development official took part in meetings about state policy affecting the biotech industry while he was “secretly” a candidate for his current MBC post, the Boston Globe reported this morning. The … Continue reading “MBC Chief Fined $10K”
Take an Innovation Tour of India
The world might not be completely flat, but a bulldozer has been working overtime on leveling the global innovation playing field—and many previously emerging nations are establishing themselves as serious competitors to the U.S. India is near the top of the list. Previously known in the technology world as a place for cheap outsourcing of … Continue reading “Take an Innovation Tour of India”
New RNAi Drugs, Major Cutbacks at Targanta, Big Partnerships for Arqule and Archemix, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
There was quite a bit of news this week relating to RNA-interference drugs, and to FDA approval (or non-approval, as the case may be) of drugs under development by local biotechs. Without further ado: —It was sports week for Ryan. First, he interviewed biotech hedge fund founder Rich Aldrich, part of the group that owns … Continue reading “New RNAi Drugs, Major Cutbacks at Targanta, Big Partnerships for Arqule and Archemix, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Volcano Corporation Acquires Axsun Technologies, Inc. for $21,500,000
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6d535227-32de-44a9-9959-52ef3fdf487a&Preview=1 Date 12/24/2008 Company Name Axsun Technologies, Inc. Mailing Address 1 Fortune Drive Billerica, MA 01821 Company Description With an experienced, multi-disciplined team of engineering, manufacturing, and marketing professionals, Axsun Technologies, founded in 1999, is developing a bold new approach to the design and manufacture of miniaturized optical micro-instruments for a variety … Continue reading “Volcano Corporation Acquires Axsun Technologies, Inc. for $21,500,000”
Fund It! Raising Money through the Entire Business Life Cycle
The current environment for raising capital is tough, to say the least. But the money is there—and the folks at this meeting of the WPI Venture Forum want to help you find it. As the event description reads: “Where can entrepreneurs seek funding? Can start-ups raise money without superstar status? Three financing experts will answer … Continue reading “Fund It! Raising Money through the Entire Business Life Cycle”
Three Keys to Beat the Recession
There are seven or eight keys to succeeding in business, but there are only three you need to beat the recession—and you don’t need to be a locksmith to use them. You just have to attend this meeting of the New England Womens Business Network. The event’s full title is: “Three Keys to Beat the … Continue reading “Three Keys to Beat the Recession”
Term Sheets and Valuations
It’s all about closing the financing—and the valuation. The New Year’s first meeting of the Boston Entrepreneurs’ Network will get down to the nitty-gritty of term sheets and valuations (neither of which have been looking great for entrepreneurs in today’s slug-like economy), examining such issues as how valuations are set, what should be part of … Continue reading “Term Sheets and Valuations”
Imaging Agent for Early Detection of Heart Disease, From Molecular Insight, Reaches Goal
Cambridge, MA-based Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals said today that its experimental imaging agent, when combined with standard diagnostic tests, reached its goal in a clinical trial of detecting early signs of cardiac ischemia—or reduced blood flow to the heart–which can lead to a heart attack or stroke. Molecular Insight (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MIPI]]) said the Phase II study … Continue reading “Imaging Agent for Early Detection of Heart Disease, From Molecular Insight, Reaches Goal”
Archemix Secures Partnership with Glaxo to Develop Drugs for Inflammatory Diseases
(Update: The first paragraph includes information that seven drugs are subject to the partnership, and the final paragraph includes comment from Archemix about this deal’s impact on its proposed merger.) Archemix scored one of the biggest biotech deals of the year just in time for Christmas. The privately held Cambridge, MA-based drug developer secured a … Continue reading “Archemix Secures Partnership with Glaxo to Develop Drugs for Inflammatory Diseases”
Alnylam Pushes First RNAi Drug That Circulates Through Body Into Human Test
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, one of the leaders in developing drugs through RNA interference, has achieved another big first for the emerging field. The Cambridge, MA-based drug developer (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) is announcing today that it has filed an application with the FDA to start the first clinical trial of an RNAi drug that can circulate throughout the … Continue reading “Alnylam Pushes First RNAi Drug That Circulates Through Body Into Human Test”
New Privacy Regulations A Burden for Most Massachusetts Companies, A Blessing for Others
If not for a reprieve granted in mid-November by the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR), most businesses in the Bay State would be spending these last two weeks before the New Year rushing to meet state mandates requiring the encryption of personal data about Massachusetts residents stored on laptops or transmitted … Continue reading “New Privacy Regulations A Burden for Most Massachusetts Companies, A Blessing for Others”
KaloBios Gets $12M Genzyme, Baxter
KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, a South San Francisco-based biotech company, said today it has raised $12 million in the second closing of a $32 million Series D round of venture financing. Baxter International, Genzyme Ventures, and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital were among the investors in the round. The company is developing a human antibody fragment to fight bacterial … Continue reading “KaloBios Gets $12M Genzyme, Baxter”
Epix Wins FDA Approval of Vasovist
Epix Pharmaceuticals, a Lexington, MA-based biotech company, said today it has received FDA clearance to market gadofosveset trisodium (Vasovist) as a new contrast agent to help doctors interpret magnetic resonance scans of narrowing arteries. Epix originally asked for FDA approval in December 2003. Shares of the company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EPIX]]) more than doubled on the news, … Continue reading “Epix Wins FDA Approval of Vasovist”
Sermo, Taking a Page from Google, Creates Flu Tracker
Looks like Cambridge, MA-based startup Sermo is trying to one-up Google, at least when it comes to tracking flu outbreaks. Back in November, Google researchers revealed that for the last year or more they’ve been keeping track whenever users enter search terms related to common flu symptoms. Working with flu experts at the Centers for … Continue reading “Sermo, Taking a Page from Google, Creates Flu Tracker”
Y Combinator Startup Posterous Raises Round, Launches Group Blog Feature
This past summer, I had a great time at the Y Combinator Demo Day, schmoozing with guests and watching some altogether fascinating demos from the incubator’s latest batch of startup companies. One of those that made my list of favorite demos was Posterous, which today announced a $750,000 funding round from a group of high … Continue reading “Y Combinator Startup Posterous Raises Round, Launches Group Blog Feature”
Biotech “Walks With Light,” But If We Don’t Start Explaining it Better, We’re “Cuckoo”
For the last 17 years my office at Targeted Genetics looked out closely onto a pretty major intersection, busy with cars and pedestrians going to and from downtown Seattle. For years the pedestrian crossing signs stated “Walk with Light.” Maybe I’m a romantic fool, but I always thought of that phrase, “walk with light,” as … Continue reading “Biotech “Walks With Light,” But If We Don’t Start Explaining it Better, We’re “Cuckoo””
The Greater Boston Mobile Technology Cluster
Though we in Boston can’t claim to host a major handset maker like Nokia or Motorola or a major wireless carrier like Verizon or AT&T, the New England area is nonetheless one of the world capitals of the mobile business. As Xconomy’s lead infotech writer for the East Coast, I spend at least a quarter … Continue reading “The Greater Boston Mobile Technology Cluster”
India’s Innovation Front Lines, Part 5: The Emerging Entrepreneurial Class
Mumbai Friday December 19, 2008—The TiE Entrepreneurial Summit in Bangalore was a huge success–the sponsoring hotel was barely able to manage the large crowd. What struck me was how young the crowd was and how aggressive the entrepreneurs were in approaching anyone who looked like they had money to invest. Speaker after speaker lauded the … Continue reading “India’s Innovation Front Lines, Part 5: The Emerging Entrepreneurial Class”
MIT Spinout Semprus BioSciences Looks for Strong Bonds with Medical-Device Companies After Closing $8M Series A
David Lucchino doesn’t like to use the word “coating” to describe the technology under development at his Cambridge, MA-based startup, Semprus Biosciences. Semprus, which was spun out of famous MIT inventor Bob Langer’s lab in 2007, is in the early stages of providing surfaces for medical devices engineered to fight bugs, prevent unhealthy blood clots, … Continue reading “MIT Spinout Semprus BioSciences Looks for Strong Bonds with Medical-Device Companies After Closing $8M Series A”
JAZD Markets Obtains $8,000,000 Series A Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5aa04a03-4ab5-4d85-b69d-e7a2984da63a&Preview=1 Date 12/22/2008 Company Name JAZD Markets Mailing Address 3 Dundee Park Andover, MA 01810 Company Description As the leading on-line directory driven marketing solution for B2B, Jaz’d! is changing the way on-line marketing works by aligning buyers and sellers together in highly informative, measurable and easy-to-navigate environments. Jaz’d! partners with leading … Continue reading “JAZD Markets Obtains $8,000,000 Series A Financing Round”
ArQule Snags $60M From Daiichi Sankyo
ArQule, a Woburn, MA-based cancer drug developer, said today it will receive a $60 million payment through a partnership with Tokyo-based Daiichi Sankyo. The companies will co-develop ARQ-197, a drug designed to block a target on cancer cells called c-Met. Separately, ArQule (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARQL]]) said Swiss pharma giant Roche declined an option to develop another … Continue reading “ArQule Snags $60M From Daiichi Sankyo”
Putting XO Laptops Under Christmas Trees—and into Classrooms—via Amazon
As the holidays approach, the Cambridge, MA-based One Laptop Per Child Foundation (OLPC) has revived its Give One, Get One program, designed to encourage consumers in industrialized nations to buy the foundation’s XO laptops for schoolchildren in the developing world while also securing one for a child in their own family. The foundation, which is … Continue reading “Putting XO Laptops Under Christmas Trees—and into Classrooms—via Amazon”
Tysabri Patient Dies of Brain Infection, First Death Since Drug Re-Introduced
A patient taking Biogen Idec’s fastest-growing multiple sclerosis drug has died from a rare brain infection. The patient, a woman in the U.S., was diagnosed in October with the PML brain infection after taking natalizumab (Tysabri) for her neurodegenerative disease, said Naomi Aoki, a spokeswoman for the Cambridge, MA-based biotech company. The death represents the … Continue reading “Tysabri Patient Dies of Brain Infection, First Death Since Drug Re-Introduced”
CRV Funds Scribd
Waltham, MA-based Charles River Ventures is the lead investor in a $9 million Series B financing round for Scribd, a San Francisco startup and Y Combinator graduate whose “iPaper” document reader allows users to upload documents such as Word, PDF, and PowerPoint files to the Internet and share them by embedding them in Web pages. … Continue reading “CRV Funds Scribd”
Helicos Raises $18M in Private Financing
Helicos Biosciences, the Cambridge, MA-based maker of genetic analysis tools, said today it has reached an agreement to raise $18 million in a private offering of common stock and warrants to buy shares. Helicos (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HLCS]]) didn’t say how much longer the cash infusion will allow it to operate. The company reported a net loss … Continue reading “Helicos Raises $18M in Private Financing”
Video: Local CTOs Mull the Future of Mobile Software in Boston
On December 1, I moderated the dinner conversation at a gathering of some 20 CTOs from Boston-area companies that create software and services for mobile devices. Organized by Mobile Monday Boston and sponsored by Flybridge Capital Partners, the dinner at the Lenox Hotel’s Azure restaurant was an opportunity for many of the local mobile community’s … Continue reading “Video: Local CTOs Mull the Future of Mobile Software in Boston”
A Totally Cool $45M for Konarka, a $24M Boost for Momenta, IPO Woes for TransMedics and BioTrove, & More Boston-Area Deals News
A couple more IPOs bit the dust this last week. But elsewhere in the Boston area, tech and life sciences firms were having reasonable luck raising money and cutting deals. —Konarka raised $45 million from Total and inked an R&D agreement with the Paris-based international oil and gas conglomerate. Based in Lowell, MA, Konarka is … Continue reading “A Totally Cool $45M for Konarka, a $24M Boost for Momenta, IPO Woes for TransMedics and BioTrove, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Top Web Apps for the Real World: Seattle and Boston Startups Make 2008 List
Seattle and Boston, two of Xconomy’s network cities, have something extra to be proud of today—at least when it comes to Internet startups. Each city contributed two companies to a popular list of the year’s best Web applications for improving customers’ real lives. That’s according to the tech-news blog ReadWriteWeb, which has published its list … Continue reading “Top Web Apps for the Real World: Seattle and Boston Startups Make 2008 List”
The 3-D Graphics Revolution of 1859—and How to See in Stereo on Your iPhone
Gadget lovers and other technology enthusiasts suffer from a curious myopia about the past. The general assumption—fostered by the admittedly blinding pace of progress in computing and software—is that everything really cool must have been invented in the last decade or two. Marvels like wearable virtual-reality displays with force feedback gloves are often described as … Continue reading “The 3-D Graphics Revolution of 1859—and How to See in Stereo on Your iPhone”
Targanta Cuts 75 Percent of Staff
Cambridge, MA-based Targanta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TARG]]) received a harsh blow last week as the FDA declined to approve it sole drug candidate, an antibiotic called oritavancin intended to treat antibiotic-resistant infections like MRSA. Today Targanta announced staff cutbacks intended to help the company conserve capital while it seeks approval for oritavancin in Europe and tries … Continue reading “Targanta Cuts 75 Percent of Staff”
BioTrove Shelves IPO Plans
Eight months after bucking the trend by filing to go public in a very unhospitable market, Woburn, MA-based BioTrove has evidently thought better of things. The MIT spinoff, which is developing tools for genomic analysis and drug discovery, today pulled the planned offering, which was to have been worth up to $75 million. BioTrove might … Continue reading “BioTrove Shelves IPO Plans”
ExaGrid Bytes into $12M Round
Westborough, MA-based disk-based backup solutions company ExaGrid Systems has garnered $12 million in Series D funding, PE Hub reports. Participants include previous investors Highland Capital Partners, Sigma Partners, and Lehman Brothers Venture Partners. The company has reportedly taken in some $87 million in venture funding since its 2002 founding.
Entra Pharma Raises $4.2M
Entra Pharmaceuticals, a Waltham, MA-based drug delivery startup, raised $4.2 million in the first tranche of a Series A venture financing, according to PE Hub, which cited a regulatory filing. The round could be expanded to $12.5 million by the end of November if Entra reaches certain milestones. Flybridge Capital Partners and North Bridge Venture … Continue reading “Entra Pharma Raises $4.2M”
Another Next-Generation RNAi Startup Emerges, Makes Big Claims About Its Ability to Silence Bad Genes
I was initially skeptical when I first heard about biotech startup AiRNA Pharmaceuticals and its new approach to RNA-interference (RNAi already gets lots of attention for its ability to silence genes for cancer and many other diseases). The Norwood, MA, firm claimed in a press release that its next-generation RNA-interference (RNAi) technology is “superior” to … Continue reading “Another Next-Generation RNAi Startup Emerges, Makes Big Claims About Its Ability to Silence Bad Genes”