Some of the world’s biggest selling cancer drugs today work for only a small fraction of patients, and researchers have struggled to say for sure why that is. A Cambridge, MA-based biotech company, Ensemble Discovery, has developed a diagnostic test that its partner Roche, the world’s largest maker of cancer drugs, is advancing to clinical … Continue reading “Personalized Treatments for Cancer: Ensemble Moves Ahead with Roche on New Breed of Test”
Category: Boston
It’s Hard to Build Green Organizations When You’re Stuck Fighting Fires
[Editor’s Note: On September 19, Xconomist and MIT Sloan School Professor Rebecca Henderson gave a lecture to the MIT Sloan 2008 Convocation entitled “Getting Unstuck: How to Promote More Sustainable Practices in Our Organizations.” Henderson observed that while many businesses say they want to reengineer their products and processes to reduce their carbon footprint and … Continue reading “It’s Hard to Build Green Organizations When You’re Stuck Fighting Fires”
A Robot Store in Every Mall? IRobot CEO Discuss Firm’s Efforts to Boost Retail Sales
Who couldn’t use a robot or two to help with household chores? To make finding that robo-helper easier (and to boost holiday sales) Bedford, MA-based iRobot (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRBT]]) announced last week it was opening a kiosk in the Burlington Mall that will show off its Roomba robot vacuum cleaners and other bots for gutter cleaning, … Continue reading “A Robot Store in Every Mall? IRobot CEO Discuss Firm’s Efforts to Boost Retail Sales”
PeerApp Raises $8 Million
PeerApp, a Newton, MA-based maker of caching servers that Internet service providers use to speed delivery of frequently-downloaded peer-to-peer video and music files, said today that it has closed an $8 million Series B financing round. Investors Pilot House Ventures, Cedar Fund, and Evergreen Venture Partners, who ponied up $3 million in Series A funding … Continue reading “PeerApp Raises $8 Million”
Observing Veterans Day
It’s a holiday for us here at Xconomy, as we join banks, schools, state and federal offices, and the rest of the nation in commemorating those who’ve served in the military. We’ll be back on Wednesday with a new bundle of stories.
PeerApp Receives $8,000,000 Series B Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=47cacd91-7fd0-4cee-b866-8cd253c822a7&Preview=1 Date 11/11/2008 Company Name PeerApp Mailing Address 375 Elliot Street Newton Upper Falls, MA 02464 Company Description PeerApp is a leading supplier of peer-to-peer infrastructure solutions for Internet service providers. PeerApp solutions reduce Peer-to-Peer (P2P) related bandwidth costs without impacting subscriber experience; support service provider network/subscriber growth and enable new revenue-generating … Continue reading “PeerApp Receives $8,000,000 Series B Financing”
Molecular Biometrics Snags $12M For IVF Procedure
Molecular Biometrics has raised $12 million in a Series A round of venture capital from Boston-based Oxford Bioscience Partners and Safeguard Scientifics. The cash will be used to support development of ViaMetrics, a diagnostic tool to help doctors identify which embryos created through in vitro fertilization have the greatest chance to become viable embryos. The … Continue reading “Molecular Biometrics Snags $12M For IVF Procedure”
MicroLogic Sold to Alanco
Lowell, MA-based MicroLogic, which developed the wireless technology behind the LoJack theft recovery system for vehicles and has recently focused on wireless tracking of heavy construction equipment, will be acquired by the StarTrak Systems division of Alanco Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALAN]]), the Scottsdale, AZ-based company announced today. StarTrak makes cellular- and satellite-based systems that track “cold … Continue reading “MicroLogic Sold to Alanco”
Conde Nast Picks Brightcove
Brightcove, the Cambridge, MA, Internet video hosting company, announced today that Conde Nast Publications has hired it to launch new advertising-supported video channels “across the company’s websites.” The magazine publishing company is already using the new Brightcove 3 platform to power video sections at Wired.com, Portfolio.com, Glamour.com, Parade.com, and Self.com, and plans to launch video … Continue reading “Conde Nast Picks Brightcove”
Three Boston Startups Finalists in Amazon’s $100K Web Services Challenge
Conditions today in Boston: increasing clouds. Cloud-computing startups, that is. Out of the seven companies named Friday as finalists in Amazon’s latest AWS Start-Up Challenge—designed to reward the most innovative companies using the cloud-based Amazon Web Services infrastructure to deliver their products or services—three are based right here in the Boston area. (Sorry, Seattle.) Each … Continue reading “Three Boston Startups Finalists in Amazon’s $100K Web Services Challenge”
Second Rotation Gets $6 Million Second Round for Electronics Recycling
The flailing economy is already hurting consumer electronics sales—and no one thinks things will get better soon. But will a slowdown in purchases of new gizmos and gadgets spur sales of used electronics as people look for bargains? Or will it diminish the supply of previously owned electronics as people hold onto their goods longer? … Continue reading “Second Rotation Gets $6 Million Second Round for Electronics Recycling”
Genzyme and Osiris Forge Stem-Cell Agreement, Xtalic Nabs $10M for Nano Alloys, Atlas Out for Half a Billion Bucks, & More Boston-Area Deals News
The biggest deals among Boston-area firms last week came from the life sciences sector. —Xtalic of Marlborough, MA—a developer of nanostructured alloys for a variety of applications—reportedly raised about $10 million in Series B financing. North Bridge Venture Partners and Matrix Partners participated in the deal. —Cambridge, MA-based Genzyme (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) forged a potentially massive partnership … Continue reading “Genzyme and Osiris Forge Stem-Cell Agreement, Xtalic Nabs $10M for Nano Alloys, Atlas Out for Half a Billion Bucks, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Second Rotation Garners $6,000,000 Series B Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=228f848d-e0e5-4d1e-a29b-961ebf8916df&Preview=1 Date 11/10/2008 Company Name Second Rotation Mailing Address 61 North Beacon ST Boston, MA 02134 Company Description Second Rotation is the destination for simplified selling of consumer electronics and gadgets online. The process is easy: Second Rotation determines the value of the item online, arranges pickup and shipping, and pays the … Continue reading “Second Rotation Garners $6,000,000 Series B Financing”
IdeaPaint Lands $5,000,000 Series A Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6ec16145-072e-4ed8-980b-6520ba3dd142&Preview=1 Date 11/10/2008 Company Name IdeaPaint Mailing Address 19 Stanhope Street Boston, ME 02116 Company Description deaPaint is a patent-pending single-coat roller-applied paint that transforms any smooth surface into a high performance dry-erase writing surface. IdeaPaint is perfect for the conference room, creative spaces, classrooms, home offices, kids rooms, playrooms… or any … Continue reading “IdeaPaint Lands $5,000,000 Series A Funding Round”
Heartland Robotics Ramps Up, Rejiggers Management as Co-founder Departs and IntelliVid Founder Arrives
Heartland Robotics, the two-month-old industrial robotics startup MIT computer science guru Rod Brooks envisions as an engine for revitalizing the American workforce, has ramped up its own workforce while making some key changes at the top, Xconomy has learned. Founding CEO Ken Zolot has departed and will no longer be involved in company operations. Meanwhile, … Continue reading “Heartland Robotics Ramps Up, Rejiggers Management as Co-founder Departs and IntelliVid Founder Arrives”
In the World of Total Information Awareness, “The Last Enemy” Is Us; A TV Show Good Enough to Inspire a Political Rant
If you thought the notorious Total Information Awareness program went away when Congress eliminated funding for the Pentagon’s mass-surveillance experiment in 2003, you were misled. The program itself may have been dismantled, but as an investigation by the Wall Street Journal detailed in March, many pieces of it were simply transferred to other federal agencies, … Continue reading “In the World of Total Information Awareness, “The Last Enemy” Is Us; A TV Show Good Enough to Inspire a Political Rant”
Aileron Develops New Class of Drugs To Go Where None Could Before
If Aileron Therapeutics is on the right track, it will turn “stapled peptides” into a biotech industry buzzword along the lines of RNA interference. The Cambridge, MA-based company says its technology, like RNAi, is starting to show in animal tests that it can work against diseases where conventional drugs don’t. This company, whose name is … Continue reading “Aileron Develops New Class of Drugs To Go Where None Could Before”
iSkoot Lands $19,000,000 Series C Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0a85aee0-b53f-427e-98b6-e1c4ef4abef8&Preview=1 Date 11/7/2008 Company Name iSkoot Mailing Address 1 Broadway Cambridge, MA 02142 Company Description of Internet telephony by allowing users to make and receive calls over the Internet using any mobile phone. With iSkoot, VoIP users are no longer bound to their PCs to make and receive calls. iSkoot enables users … Continue reading “iSkoot Lands $19,000,000 Series C Financing Round”
Reinventing Venture Capital
The 11th Annual MIT Venture Capital Conference will “focus on investors’ and entrepreneurs’ strategies in the fast changing financial and economic conditions.” The all-day conference includes a free Entrepreneur Showcase in the evening, and, of course, plenty of opportunities to rub shoulders with real and aspiring entrepreneurs and investors.
SiCortex Introduces “Green Computing Index” to Rank Big Computers on Energy Efficiency
There’s no such thing as a free flop. A “flop,” or floating-point operation, is a calculation involving a decimal number; engineers often measure the performance of computers in terms of the number of “gigaflop/s” (billions of floating-point operations per second) they can sustain. In the supercomputing community, it’s a longstanding ritual to compare various machines’ … Continue reading “SiCortex Introduces “Green Computing Index” to Rank Big Computers on Energy Efficiency”
Take the Initiative: A Conversation on the $1B Life Sciences Initiative
One of a series of informational meetings on the Life Sciences Initiative. Remarks by MBC President and CEO Robert Coughlin, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center President and CEO Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister, and Congressman Richard E. Neal. Event details here.
RI Turns To Innovation Economy in Face of Record Job Losses; A List of Tech and Life Sciences Firms in the State to Watch
We at Xconomy Boston, despite focusing much of our coverage on business and innovation in Massachusetts, cover stories on companies from all over New England—understanding that there is a regional innovation ecosystem. (Plus, there are some great stories to be told outside of the tech-rich Route 128 corridor.) Rhode Island, for one, is producing some … Continue reading “RI Turns To Innovation Economy in Face of Record Job Losses; A List of Tech and Life Sciences Firms in the State to Watch”
Shire Settles Claims with Investors of Former Cambridge, MA Biotech TKT
Irish drug maker Shire (LSE:[[ticker:SHP]]) has settled claims from investors of former Cambridge, MA-based Transkaryotic Therapies (TKT) for $37 per share, or $567.5 million. Those shareholders who originally objected to the 2005 takeover because they thought the price was too low, are settling for the original acquisition price of $37 per share plus interest, Shire … Continue reading “Shire Settles Claims with Investors of Former Cambridge, MA Biotech TKT”
Memento Inc. Lands $10,000,000 Series D Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4e71894c-0f85-401d-afde-bda62feeb582&Preview=1 Date 11/6/2008 Company Name Memento Inc. Mailing Address 35 Forest Ridge Road Concord, MA 01742 Company Description Memento’s QuickMetrics software can help companies manage risk by preventing internal fraud, monitoring a company’s controls and finding indicators of risk, according to the company. Memento’s software can determine if business applications that are … Continue reading “Memento Inc. Lands $10,000,000 Series D Round”
Historic Obama Win Also Sets Web Traffic Records
At 11:00 pm Eastern time last night—when the polls closed on the U.S. West Coast and most TV news outlets called the election in favor of the new President-elect, Barack Obama—Internet users streamed to news websites in unprecedented numbers, according to Cambridge, MA-based Akamai. The company, which has been measuring Internet traffic to news, retail, … Continue reading “Historic Obama Win Also Sets Web Traffic Records”
Atlas Venture Raising Half a Billion
Waltham, MA-based Atlas Venture has embarked on fundraising for a new venture capital fund, and hopes to raise $500 million, according to reports today in VentureWire and PE Hub. It’s the eighth fund the firm has raised since its founding in 1980; the seventh fund, closed in 2006, totaled $385 million.
Broadband Video’s Disruptive Impact
Newton, MA-based Internet video new site VideoNuze, in association with that Cable & Television Association for Marketing (which is holding its annual conference in Boston next week), hosts a breakfast on how companies can profit from the rise of broadband video. Panelists will offer their diverse perspectives and practical insights on what the broadband future … Continue reading “Broadband Video’s Disruptive Impact”
A Trio of Tysabri Stories, Genzyme’s Big Deal with Osiris, A Peek Inside a Winning Hedge Fund, & More Life Sciences News
Last week brought an interesting mix of theory and practice about the impact of the current economic climate on life sciences. —There was a flurry of news related to natalizumab (Tysabri), the multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease drug from Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) and its Irish partner Elan. First, the drug was linked … Continue reading “A Trio of Tysabri Stories, Genzyme’s Big Deal with Osiris, A Peek Inside a Winning Hedge Fund, & More Life Sciences News”
Memento Secures $10M
Memento, a Concord, MA-based developer of fraud-detection software for banks and credit unions, has raised $10 million in its fourth round of venture capital, according to PE Hub. The company, which PE Hub reports had previously raised $12 million, received backing in the round from 406. Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Rock Maple Ventures.
Aphios Targets “Marijuana Addiction” with Reformulated THC
For opponents of Massachusetts ballot question 2 worried that yesterday’s decriminalization of marijuana will lead to a new generation of users, help may soon be on the way from a small Woburn biotech company. The firm, called Aphios, aims to make a reformulated version of THC—the psychoactive substance found in marijuana that has long been … Continue reading “Aphios Targets “Marijuana Addiction” with Reformulated THC”
Announcing the Battle of the Tech Bands 2
Xconomy’s first Battle of the Tech Bands last January was such a huge success—with close to 350 people gathering to hear six local groups, from the pop/dub/electronica hipsters Deadbeat Darling to the sonically massive Souled Out Superband to the proudly cheesy indie pop rock band MacAlister Drive—that we’ve decided to do it again. Same place … Continue reading “Announcing the Battle of the Tech Bands 2”
Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands 2
A tech networking event that really rocks. Musicians from New England’s most innovative companies play their geeky hearts out—you pick the winners! Half of all ticket proceeds will be donated to Science Club for Girls and Community Music Center of Boston. Date: Thursday, January 22, 2009. Location: Middle East Restaurant & Nightclub, 472 Massachusetts Avenue, … Continue reading “Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands 2”
CombinatoRx Cuts 45 Percent of Staff After Arthritis Drug Failure
CombinatoRx said today is cutting 45 percent of its staff after its lead drug candidate failed in a clinical trial for arthritis patients, according to a regulatory filing. The company said it had about 160 employees when I profiled it in late September, so that means about 70 workers are likely getting pink slips between … Continue reading “CombinatoRx Cuts 45 Percent of Staff After Arthritis Drug Failure”
Safeguarding Cash & Investments in a Turbulent Economy
The election will be behind us, but change takes time, so we can use all the advice we can get on the economy. The Financial Management Association (FMA) of New Hampshire is presenting a panel of experts at its event to offer their views—Albert Romero, Bank of America (Business Banking), Matthew Finn, Bradford Networks, and … Continue reading “Safeguarding Cash & Investments in a Turbulent Economy”
Adobe Fixes Software Flaw Exposed by Core Security
Boston’s Core Security, a provider of automated penetration software and computer security consulting services, published details today of a flaw in some versions of the widely used program Adobe Reader that could leave users’ computers vulnerable to takeover by hackers. Shortly after the company published details of the vulnerability, Adobe announced a software update designed … Continue reading “Adobe Fixes Software Flaw Exposed by Core Security”
Obama Voters Text Support to LocaModa Display in Times Square
Okay, it’s an election-day stunt, but it’s one of the more imaginative ones we’ve seen. Cambridge, MA-based outdoor-communications startup LocaModa, working with a grassroots group of Barack Obama fundraisers called An Obama Minute, is providing the software behind a system that will display text messages in support of the Presidential candidates on a Times Square … Continue reading “Obama Voters Text Support to LocaModa Display in Times Square”
Amylin, Alkermes Shares Plunge On Possible FDA Delays
San Diego-based Amylin Pharmaceuticals and its partner, Cambridge, MA-based Alkermes, both took a dive in the stock market today after they said they might face regulatory delays in developing a new diabetes drug. The companies said the FDA might ask them to run another clinical study before they can receive approval of a once-weekly form … Continue reading “Amylin, Alkermes Shares Plunge On Possible FDA Delays”
Brightcove Drops Free Service
Cambridge, MA-based Brightcove, which rolled out an overhauled version of its Internet video publishing platform last month, notified users in an e-mail and blog post yesterday that it will shut down the Brightcove Network, a free advertising-supported version the platform, on December 17. Launched in 2006, the Brightcove Network and its showcase site Brightcove.tv were … Continue reading “Brightcove Drops Free Service”
Acusphere raises $20M from Cephalon
Watertown, MA-based biotech firm Acusphere (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ACUS]]) reports it has received a $5 million initial fee and $15 million in loans from biotech company Cephalon (NASDAQ:[[ticker:CEPH]]), headquartered in Frazer, PA. The deal gives Cephalon an exclusive worldwide license to Acusphere’s injectable formulation of anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib, which is in preclinical development.
Egenera Lays Off 87
Egenera, a Marlborough, MA-based, maker of data center management software, told employees yesterday that it will respond to a global sales slowdown by cutting 87 people from its staff, including 30 to 35 employees in Marlborough, according to a report in the Boston Globe. The company said its sales staff would shrink by 40 percent … Continue reading “Egenera Lays Off 87”
Genzyme Elects $1.38B Stem Cell Deal with Osiris
Making its own Election Day news, Cambridge, MA-based biotech powerhouse Genzyme (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) has struck a deal with Osiris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:[[ticker:OSIR]]), of Columbia, MD, to commercialize and develop two adult stem cell treatments in a variety of diseases. If all goes as planned, one of the two, called Prochymal, could become the first stem-cell therapy to … Continue reading “Genzyme Elects $1.38B Stem Cell Deal with Osiris”
How Bad is the Biotech Climate? Think 4 on a Scale of 10
The climate for biotechnology companies in Massachusetts today is 33 percent worse than it was this time last year—rating a ‘4’ on a scale of 10, in contrast to the ‘6’ last fall. This was the definitive, near-unanimous view—four out of five—from panelists at a Massachusetts Biotechnology Council finance committee event I moderated recently on … Continue reading “How Bad is the Biotech Climate? Think 4 on a Scale of 10”
Tysabri: The Big Multiple Sclerosis Drug That Emerged From “The Hutch”
The most effective drug on the market today for patients with multiple sclerosis has roots in a dingy old lab in the 1980s on Seattle’s First Hill. It was there that a pair of young scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Bill Carter and Elizabeth Wayner, made key discoveries that paved the way … Continue reading “Tysabri: The Big Multiple Sclerosis Drug That Emerged From “The Hutch””
ZeeVee Launches Free, Browser-based Version of Zviewer Video Portal
There’s a new development in the saga of ZeeVee, the Littleton, MA, startup that makes a “localcasting” PC-to-HDTV appliance called the ZvBox. It’s taking the best part of its appliance—an elegant user interface that aggregates video from across the Internet—and making it available to all Windows computer users over the Web. The newly liberated “ZViewer” … Continue reading “ZeeVee Launches Free, Browser-based Version of Zviewer Video Portal”
Tatara Sells Mobile Broadband Assets
Acton, MA-based Tatara Systems, a mobile communications software company, said last week that it has sold its broadband mobile product line to Smith Micro Software for an undisclosed sum. The company said the sale would allow it to focus on systems that let corporate users to access voice-over-Internet telephony services on their cell phones.
Youth Marketing Mashup East
YPulse hosts a two-day conference on From the conference website: “Teens, college students and early twenty-somethings use technology in every aspect of their lives, from studying, to socializing, to entering the workforce, to consuming media…Today’s youth marketers not only have to stay current with youth culture, but they also have to leverage technology to engage … Continue reading “Youth Marketing Mashup East”
Biogen Pays $31.5M to Genentech to Co-Develop Anti-CD20 Drug
Biogen Idec has agreed to pay $31.5 million upfront to Genentech co-develop a next-generation antibody drug against the CD20 protein on cells, the same target on cells of Rituxan. Cambridge, MA-based Biogen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) said Thursday it agreed to participate in the development of GA101, a humanized antibody that’s designed to increase the direct cell-killing … Continue reading “Biogen Pays $31.5M to Genentech to Co-Develop Anti-CD20 Drug”
Xtalic Shines With 10M Series B Funding
Marlborough, MA-based Xtalic, which develops nanostructured alloys as decorative coatings, as well as to protect against corrosion and wear resistance in everything from tools to sporting goods to electronics, has garnered roughly $10 million in Series B funding, according to PE Hub, which cites a regulatory filing. Investors include North Bridge Venture Partners and Matrix … Continue reading “Xtalic Shines With 10M Series B Funding”
Where’s the Money for Energy Entrepreneurs? Our Podcast Previewing the Conference on Clean Energy Has Some Hints
Last week the organizers of the Fourth Conference on Clean Energy, coming up November 18 and 19 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, asked me to host a panel discussion on the funding climate for new clean-energy ventures. In a teleconference recorded October 28, I asked four leaders from the local venture capital and … Continue reading “Where’s the Money for Energy Entrepreneurs? Our Podcast Previewing the Conference on Clean Energy Has Some Hints”
Vertex Co-Founder’s Hedge Fund RA Capital Makes Waves in Biotech Industry with Former Harvard Grad Student at Helm
RA Capital Management, like most hedge funds, doesn’t make much noise publicly about its investment activities outside of its regulatory filings. But the word among insiders in the biotech industry is that the Boston hedge fund is piling up more wins than losses with its portfolio of life sciences stocks. As of late last month, … Continue reading “Vertex Co-Founder’s Hedge Fund RA Capital Makes Waves in Biotech Industry with Former Harvard Grad Student at Helm”