Category: Boston

This is Personal: A Legislative Attack on Personalized Medicine

It has long been known that different individuals react to the same drug differently. Matching the right therapy with the right individual, commonly know as “personalized medicine,” could improve treatment, reduce side effects, and ultimately save healthcare dollars. This idea has captured the attention of not only research scientists, but also healthcare providers, the pharmaceutical … Continue reading “This is Personal: A Legislative Attack on Personalized Medicine”

Robotic FX Concedes it May Deserve Sanctions for Ahed’s “Improper” Actions—But Asks Court to Forego Default Judgment Against It

There was another small flurry of filings late last week in Alabama and Massachusetts courts, where Burlington, MA’s iRobot (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRBT]]) is bringing two different suits against Illinois-based Robotic FX. Most were focused on procedural matters, but a more substantive one was made on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alabama. It’s a brief filed … Continue reading “Robotic FX Concedes it May Deserve Sanctions for Ahed’s “Improper” Actions—But Asks Court to Forego Default Judgment Against It”

Society for New Communications Research Symposium & Awards Gala

The Society for New Communications Research is a global nonprofit think tank dedicated to the advanced study of new communications tools, technologies and emerging modes of communication, and their effect on traditional media, professional communications, business, culture and society. The Society’s Fellows include futurists, scholars, business leaders, professional communicators, members of the media and technologists, … Continue reading “Society for New Communications Research Symposium & Awards Gala”

Pfizer Snaps Up Coley for Vaccine Boost

It’s not the Massachusetts deal everyone was waiting for—as all eyes have been on Biogen Idec and, more recently, Genzyme. But Pfizer (NYSE: [[ticker:PFE]]) finally pounced again today, announcing it’s buying former partner Coley Pharmaceutical Group (NASDAQ: [[ticker:COLY]]) of Wellesley for $164 million in a move aimed at bolstering the pharma giant’s position in vaccine … Continue reading “Pfizer Snaps Up Coley for Vaccine Boost”

Boston Startup Brings Back Interactive TV—By Marrying It to the Internet

Interactive television is the hottest technology that never was. Broadcasters and cable companies have been tinkering with the idea since at least 1977, when Warner Communications rolled out a two-way service called Qube that allowed subscribers in Columbus, OH, to participate in game shows and electronic town meetings through their set-top boxes. Though it was … Continue reading “Boston Startup Brings Back Interactive TV—By Marrying It to the Internet”

Molecular Insight Aims for Straight Shot to Market with $150M Bond Financing

With a fast-tracked drug in one hand and too little money in the other, Cambridge, MA-based Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MIPI]]) recently settled on a bond financing to get one last big cash infusion before that final dash to market. The company has been around since 1997 and is working on about half a dozen … Continue reading “Molecular Insight Aims for Straight Shot to Market with $150M Bond Financing”

Recharge Your Cell Phone by Taking It For A Walk

Wilmington, MA-based @Ventures is one of the key players in an $8 million Series A funding round announced today by M2E Power, which is developing technology that could help energize mobile gadgets by transforming motion into electricity. @Ventures partner Rob Day says the Boise, ID, company is already testing portable micro-generators, the size of D-cell … Continue reading “Recharge Your Cell Phone by Taking It For A Walk”

Two New Sites to Ease Your Way Through Dating Hell

So it’s Friday night, you’re single, and you have no plans for the evening. You can clean out your refrigerator, catch the latest nail-biting episode of Deal or No Deal, or maybe, if you’re feeling courageous, go out on a crazy blind date. Time was, setting up a blind date required some matchmaking (or meddlesome) … Continue reading “Two New Sites to Ease Your Way Through Dating Hell”

Annual Patent Report Shows Growing Backlog in Key Technology Areas

The big news in the annual report from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office out today: it takes longer than ever to get a patent these days, and the backlog in patent applications continues to grow at an alarming rate. Average “pendency”—as the patent office calls the waiting period from application to issued patent—is now … Continue reading “Annual Patent Report Shows Growing Backlog in Key Technology Areas”

Inverness Prices Secondary Public Offering, Nearly Doubling Its Size

In the middle of an acquisition spree that has hoovered up some $2.5 billion worth of companies in 2007 alone, Waltham, MA-based Inverness Medical Innovations (AMEX: [[ticker:IMA]]) today priced a previously announced secondary public offering of its stock, in the process nearly doubling the number of shares offered and boosting total value of the deal … Continue reading “Inverness Prices Secondary Public Offering, Nearly Doubling Its Size”

Music and Technology in Boston, Round Two

Last month we brought you Boston: The Hidden Hub of Music and Technology, a look at the surprisingly large but previously under-reported cluster of local startups that are mixing up music, software, computing, and the Web in various innovative ways. Readers responded eagerly to our piece, and thanks to their comments and suggestions, we’ve come … Continue reading “Music and Technology in Boston, Round Two”

Tucci Basking in Glow of VMware Bet—And Says Competitors Are Way Behind

Joe Tucci loves virtualization. And why wouldn’t he? Tucci is CEO of EMC (NYSE: [[ticker:EMC]]), which produced this year’s hottest IPO when it offered 10 percent of its virtualization subsidiary VMware (NYSE: [[ticker:VMW]]) for public sale, netting the company billions (at least on paper) in the process. But at an analysts’ conference yesterday at Boston’s … Continue reading “Tucci Basking in Glow of VMware Bet—And Says Competitors Are Way Behind”

Carl Icahn Ups Biogen Idec Stake—Now Owns 3 Percent; Also Buys Shares in Genzyme

UPDATED NOV. 15: Billionaire investor and takeover artist Carl Icahn, who’s been trying to force a sale of Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]), has tripled his stake in the company, a document filed today with the SEC reveals. At the same time, he has also purchased a smaller stake in Genzyme (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GENZ]]), located almost around … Continue reading “Carl Icahn Ups Biogen Idec Stake—Now Owns 3 Percent; Also Buys Shares in Genzyme”

Berners-Lee Strikes A Blow for the Mobile Web

Browsing the Web on a mobile device such as a phone is a mixed experience at best. Some website designers provide stripped-down mobile version of their sites containing just the essential text and navigation elements; others make little or no effort to be mobile-friendly, meaning surfers have to download every annoying logo, photo, and advertisement … Continue reading “Berners-Lee Strikes A Blow for the Mobile Web”

VMware Feeling Pressure as Virtualization Becomes a Commodity

The supply of stock investors willing to pay premium prices for EMC (NYSE: [[ticker:EMC]]) subsidiary VMware (NYSE: [[ticker:VMW]]) seemed to dry up around Halloween—perhaps, analysts are saying, because they’ve started to realize that the supply of companies willing to pay premium prices for VMware’s virtualization software isn’t infinite, either. The seemingly unstoppable stock, whose rise … Continue reading “VMware Feeling Pressure as Virtualization Becomes a Commodity”

Another Flurry of Deals—BG Medicine’s IPO, EnerNOC Trims Offering, Venture Rounds, and More

Looks like maybe we should have waited a day to post yesterday morning’s roundup of recent deals, because the rest of the day brought a flurry of new deals news. —Molecular diagnostics firm BG Medicine of Waltham, MA, set the terms for its IPO at 4.5 million shares priced between $14 and $16. Bob had … Continue reading “Another Flurry of Deals—BG Medicine’s IPO, EnerNOC Trims Offering, Venture Rounds, and More”

Amid Buying Spree, Inverness to Sell More Stock—But Some Observers Skeptical

It’s been buy, buy, buy, for the last couple of years. Then last Thursday, Waltham, MA-based Inverness Medical Innovations (AMEX: [[ticker:IMA]]) announced it plans to sell 7 million new shares—the second such offering the company has made this year. (In January, Inverness sold 6.9 million shares at $39.65 apiece.) It’s all part of a plan … Continue reading “Amid Buying Spree, Inverness to Sell More Stock—But Some Observers Skeptical”

Genzyme Arthritis Treament Approval Delayed

Genzyme (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GENZ]]) announced today that approval of its knee osteoarthritis treatment Synvisc-One will be delayed until the second half of next year, or later, because the FDA has requested more data on the treatment. Synvisc-One combines three doses of an already approved treatment, Synvisc, into a single injection. The news marks a second recent … Continue reading “Genzyme Arthritis Treament Approval Delayed”

IBM To Buy Cognos For Almost $5 Billion; Xconomy Updates Its Local Big Blue Map

IBM announced yesterday that it would buy Canadian business intelligence software firm Cognos for nearly $5 billion, its largest acquisition in history. Cognos’ U.S. headquarters is in Burlington, MA, and the company employs nearly 400 people in Massachusetts. The staggering purchase price nearly equals the total Big Blue paid for two other state software powerhouses, … Continue reading “IBM To Buy Cognos For Almost $5 Billion; Xconomy Updates Its Local Big Blue Map”

EqualLogic’s Record-Setting Sale, ExaGrid’s Sizable Third Round, and the Rest of Last Week’s Deals

Dealmaking was a bit slower over the last week—actually eight days—but there’s still plenty to recap. And the first one is a doozy. —Network storage device maker EqualLogic of Nashua, NH, eschewed an IPO in favor of a $1.4 billion sale to Dell Computer (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DELL]]). If completed, the deal with be the largest all-cash … Continue reading “EqualLogic’s Record-Setting Sale, ExaGrid’s Sizable Third Round, and the Rest of Last Week’s Deals”

Imprivata: Working Toward a One-Password World

If you think you’re drowning in computer passwords, consider the plight of some doctors today. Many medical offices have a separate computer in each exam room, with several databases and other programs running on each machine. Programs containing patient data must be password-protected, and one study found that to access this data, some doctors had … Continue reading “Imprivata: Working Toward a One-Password World”

IRobot Seeks Sanctions Against Robotic FX in Alabama Case; In Other News, the DeLorean Has at Least Two Remaining Fans

Having won a partial injunction against Robotic FX in a Massachusetts court, attorneys for iRobot last week turned their attention to the firm’s separate Alabama lawsuit against its rival. In a motion filed on Wednesday, iRobot asked that Robotic FX be held in contempt and sanctioned for founder Jameel Ahed’s destruction of evidence after the … Continue reading “IRobot Seeks Sanctions Against Robotic FX in Alabama Case; In Other News, the DeLorean Has at Least Two Remaining Fans”

Can Massachusetts Win the Life Sciences World Series?

A little while ago, I had the honor of traveling to Beacon Hill, where I testified before the joint committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies. The matter at hand was House Bill number 4238, a.k.a. Governor Patrick’s Life Sciences Initiative. The hearing began just after lunchtime with a kick-off address from Gov. Patrick that … Continue reading “Can Massachusetts Win the Life Sciences World Series?”

Northeastern and Local Startup Say They Invented A Key to Google Searches—Hit Search Giant With Lawsuit

Behind every great database search is, no doubt, a patent (or series of patents). Google is the champion of searching vast databases—such as its index of billions of Web pages. And it has lots of patents. Only now, according to a report in today’s Boston Globe by Hiawatha Bray, Northeastern University and a Waltham, MA, … Continue reading “Northeastern and Local Startup Say They Invented A Key to Google Searches—Hit Search Giant With Lawsuit”

Xconomy’s Gala Launch Party—The Photos

Xconomy is officially underway: we held our first party—the Xconomy Gala Launch Party—on November 1, a week ago Thursday, at the Broad Institute here in Cambridge. (Yes, we’ve been up since June 27, but this was our real coming out). It was a grand evening, attended by close to 250 people. Boston Scientific founder John … Continue reading “Xconomy’s Gala Launch Party—The Photos”

Website Innovation Recognized at MITX Awards

New England’s Web design and advertising community—a much larger and rowdier crowd than I had realized—piled into the grand ballroom at Boston’s Marriott Copley hotel last night for the MITX Awards, an annual ceremony recognizing the coolest examples of online design, marketing, and media. The high-tech event, sponsored by the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange, … Continue reading “Website Innovation Recognized at MITX Awards”

Bind Biosciences, My IPO Prediction, and Brain Overload at MassOpps

I just got back from MassOpps—a life sciences PowerPointapalooza put on by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council—and boy my brain is tired. In conference rooms at the Logan Airport Hilton, more than 40 companies (startups and public firms both) made their pitches to the gathered venture capitalists, investment bankers, potential partners, and hangers-on. Concurrent sessions, so … Continue reading “Bind Biosciences, My IPO Prediction, and Brain Overload at MassOpps”

Cilk Arts Commercializes MIT’s Approach to Parallel Programming

If your computer only has a single processor, you’re at increasing risk for “core envy.” The Intel Core 2 Duo chip in the latest Apple iMac, for example, contains two processors or cores, while the HP Pavilion Media Center desktop has a four-core chip. Sun has been making an eight-core version of its UltraSPARC T1 … Continue reading “Cilk Arts Commercializes MIT’s Approach to Parallel Programming”

Biogen Idec Shares Push Upward on Down Day for Market: More Grist for the Takeover Mill

An after-market-hours report by the Financial Times‘ dealReporter yesterday evening on the bidding for Biogen Idec appears to have put wind in the firm’s stock today—as shares surged more than six points to $77.45 before settling down on another off day for Wall Street to close up $3.86 (nearly 5.5 percent) at $74.99. Yesterday’s dealReporter … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Shares Push Upward on Down Day for Market: More Grist for the Takeover Mill”

Xconomy Forum, December 5: The Future of Innovation in New England

Innovation springs from diversity. And bringing together people and ideas from diverse backgrounds, fields, and experience to help explore and drive innovation is core to Xconomy’s mission. We’re trying to do that online, through both our editorial coverage and our Xconomist Forum, which we hope add a fresh, more personal, and insightful dimension to the … Continue reading “Xconomy Forum, December 5: The Future of Innovation in New England”

ExaGrid Pulls in $20 Million Series C Round in Bid to Replace Tape-Based Backup

Magnetic tape may seem so 20th-century in an era when a single iPod Classic can carry 160 gigabytes of data on its tiny hard drive, but tape is still a key technology in the world of corporate data management, where it’s a cheaper way to store large volumes of data over long periods than disk … Continue reading “ExaGrid Pulls in $20 Million Series C Round in Bid to Replace Tape-Based Backup”

Young Venture Capitalists to Launch Social Networking Site for VCs

Aiming to encourage collaborations that could fuel more effective creation of new businesses in the greater Boston region and beyond, a group of young venture capitalists will gather tonight at the EMC Club in Fenway Park to kick off their new professional networking website. VentureNetwork.VC, set to go live by tomorrow morning, is the offspring … Continue reading “Young Venture Capitalists to Launch Social Networking Site for VCs”

Setback for Momenta, Setback for Biogenerics?

A drug company is never happy to get a “not approvable” letter from the FDA, and the one received Monday by Cambridge, MA’s Momenta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ [[ticker:MNTA]]) and its partner Sandoz was a doozy, coming more than two years after the firms filed for approval of a generic version of Lovenox, which had U.S. sales … Continue reading “Setback for Momenta, Setback for Biogenerics?”

Xconomy’s First Poll: If You Had $10 Million…You’d Invest In Cleantech! Say What?

Last week, in our usual understated fashion, we here at Xconomy launched a new poll widget. It’s just another in a growing line of features—such as our recent podcasts and News Xpress offerings—that we like to drop into the site to hopefully engage and inform our readers (News Xpress is taking off, but I think … Continue reading “Xconomy’s First Poll: If You Had $10 Million…You’d Invest In Cleantech! Say What?”

Making Your Next Computer from Carbon Dioxide

Many industrial processes such as coal gasification create carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide as waste products. Usually, these gases are vented straight into the atmosphere, where they contribute to pollution and global warming. But what if they could instead be diverted into a chemical process for making some useful material—say, the plastic case of your … Continue reading “Making Your Next Computer from Carbon Dioxide”

Acusphere Passes Latest Stress Test, But is Time Running Out?

It was finally good news for Watertown-based Acusphere (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ACUS]]) this week, as the company reported positive clinical trial results for its lead product, called Imagify, at the American Heart Association (AHA) annual meeting. But the burning question is whether that news comes in time. Acusphere is 14 years old and running out of cash. … Continue reading “Acusphere Passes Latest Stress Test, But is Time Running Out?”

GrandBanks Beams Toronto Virtualization Startup to Beantown; Its Fourth Canadian Transplant Since 2001

Virtualization is all about breaking down artificial boundaries. Typically, the boundaries involved are those between machines such as business servers—and Xkoto, a virtualization startup that announced a $7.5 million Series B funding round yesterday, fits that mold perfectly. It’s one of many companies these days looking at corporate data centers and trying to figure out … Continue reading “GrandBanks Beams Toronto Virtualization Startup to Beantown; Its Fourth Canadian Transplant Since 2001”

SOLD OUT—Xconomy Forum: The Future of Innovation in New England

New England is home to the world’s greatest concentration of elite universities, large corporations and startups, venture-capital and business leadership, great research hospitals, and science and technology expertise spanning everything from life sciences to energy to robotics and IT. But how well do we collaborate and share ideas? How well do we identify and tackle … Continue reading “SOLD OUT—Xconomy Forum: The Future of Innovation in New England”

Will it Rain RNAi Companies? Dicerna Co-Founder John Rossi Says New IP Opens Avenues

If all goes as planned, Cambridge-based RNAi pioneer Alnylam (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) will be celebrating Thanksgiving with a new competitor in its backyard, in the form of Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, a brand-new startup fueled by about $13 million from Oxford Biosciences. Dicerna capitalizes on a new approach to making gene-silencing medicines that sprang from the laboratory of … Continue reading “Will it Rain RNAi Companies? Dicerna Co-Founder John Rossi Says New IP Opens Avenues”

Floating All Boats: Local Companies Have Their Own Reasons for Joining Google’s Open Source Handset Alliance

Google may be the instigator behind the new Open Handset Alliance, which plans to create an open-source operating system and application software for mobile phones, but alliance members contributing to the so-called Android platform have their own futures in mind, not necessarily Google’s. After yesterday’s official launch of the alliance, I spoke with representatives of … Continue reading “Floating All Boats: Local Companies Have Their Own Reasons for Joining Google’s Open Source Handset Alliance”

Boston Wireless Internet Plans Hit Snag—Won’t Likely Happen Before 2009

Boston’s ambitious effort to offer wireless Internet access throughout the city by the end of 2008 has run into technology and funding problems that seem bound to delay the network’s implementation, officials of the project acknowledge. Pamela Reeve, head of OpenAirBoston, the non-profit organization created to manage the program, said the debut of citywide Internet … Continue reading “Boston Wireless Internet Plans Hit Snag—Won’t Likely Happen Before 2009”

Dell to Buy Nashua’s EqualLogic for $1.4 Billion—History’s Largest Cash Payout for a Venture-Backed Firm

Nashua, NH-based EqualLogic, a fast-growing maker of network storage devices that was, until today, on the verge of going public, will instead be acquired by Dell Computer (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DELL]]) for an eyebrow-raising $1.4 billion in cash, the two companies announced today. The deal—to be completed sometime next year, subject to regulatory approval—would be the largest … Continue reading “Dell to Buy Nashua’s EqualLogic for $1.4 Billion—History’s Largest Cash Payout for a Venture-Backed Firm”

IRobot Stock Holds Weekend Gains Made on News of Preliminary Injunction Win

Shares of Burlington, MA-based iRobot (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRBT]]) are up this morning on last week’s news that the company had won a partial preliminary injunction against Robotic FX. The ruling is likely to prevent the Illinois firm from selling the Negotiator robot, which iRobot alleges in lawsuits in Alabama and Massachusetts is based largely on its … Continue reading “IRobot Stock Holds Weekend Gains Made on News of Preliminary Injunction Win”

Numbers Game: IBM’s “Many Eyes” Portal Turns Data Visualization into Community Art

With the wrong visualization tools, data can be deathly boring—just think of all the dry, meaningless PowerPoint presentations and Excel spreadsheets you’ve endured in darkened lecture halls and conference rooms. But with the right tools and context, data can come alive, as Yale information designer Edward Tufte has famously argued and you’ll understand yourself if … Continue reading “Numbers Game: IBM’s “Many Eyes” Portal Turns Data Visualization into Community Art”

The Economic Shock to Venture Investing—Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know

Over the past several years, and especially since this summer when CommonAngels (where I serve as managing director) became the first angel group to join the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), I’ve frequently been asked in varying tones of voice from the curious to the cynical, “Is CommonAngels an angel group or a venture capital … Continue reading “The Economic Shock to Venture Investing—Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know”

Despite Strong Showing, MIT Team Finishes Out of the Money in DARPA Robotic Vehicle Challenge

A robot car built by MIT faculty and students was one of just six autonomous vehicles to successfully complete the DARPA Urban Challenge competition this weekend. However, when the results were announced Sunday afternoon, Team MIT had missed out on the big prize money, which went to the first three finishers: Tartan Racing (led by … Continue reading “Despite Strong Showing, MIT Team Finishes Out of the Money in DARPA Robotic Vehicle Challenge”

Saying Ahed’s Destruction of Evidence “Profoundly Undermines” His Credibility, Judge Issues Partial Injunction Against Robotic FX—Much of Record Sealed

UPDATED (Nov. 2, 2007, 8:45 pm): In a federal district court ruling issued tonight, Burlington, MA-based iRobot has won a limited victory over Robotic FX, the Illinois-based maker of the Negotiator bomb-detection robot. The company secured a partial injunction that an iRobot attorney says effectively prevents Robotic FX from delivering on a $279.9 million contract … Continue reading “Saying Ahed’s Destruction of Evidence “Profoundly Undermines” His Credibility, Judge Issues Partial Injunction Against Robotic FX—Much of Record Sealed”