RNAi Firms Find a New Rival (and Partner) in an Old Technology

What? Can antisense possibly be hot again? Many people wondered if the decades-old RNA-targeting approach to drug development was even still alive. But look again. Recent events show antisense isn’t just hanging in there; its products might actually beat their much-ballyhooed RNAi-based rivals (from the likes of firms like Cambridge’s Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Worcester’s RXi … Continue reading “RNAi Firms Find a New Rival (and Partner) in an Old Technology”

Robots Drive Around Courtroom—But Still No Decision As Witness Testimony Ends in IRobot-Robotic FX Case

As 29-year-old Jameel Ahed steered from a remote control perched on the judge’s bench, the two-foot-long Negotiator robot careened across the olive-green carpet, swiveled its electronic eye around the courtroom, and reared up on its hind wheels. “This could get your exhibits for you,” Ahed remarked to the judge. “I’m sure it could,” Judge Nancy … Continue reading “Robots Drive Around Courtroom—But Still No Decision As Witness Testimony Ends in IRobot-Robotic FX Case”

Constant Contact Completes $107 Million IPO; Shares Up $10 Out of the Gate

Shares of Waltham, MA-based Constant Contact (NASDAQ: CTCT) jumped $10 out of the blocks, opening trading around 11:30 this morning at $26 per share. The e-mail marketing firm yesterday priced its 6.7 million-share offering (with some 870,000 of the shares coming from stockholders) at $16 per share, which itself was up from the $12 to … Continue reading “Constant Contact Completes $107 Million IPO; Shares Up $10 Out of the Gate”

State Ethics Group Pushes Investigation of Biotech Council Head

A formal investigation has been launched into the actions of recently named Massachusetts Biotechnology Council president Robert Coughlin, the Boston Globe reports today. The question at issue is whether Coughlin violated Massachusetts conflict-of-interest laws when he started discussing the council job while still working as the state’s undersecretary of economic development and playing a major … Continue reading “State Ethics Group Pushes Investigation of Biotech Council Head”

CoreStreet Smarts: How to Put a Smart Card Lock on Every Office Door

Many modern office buildings have smart-card-based electronic locking systems, where users wave their cards over an RFID sensor panel that checks the IDs on the cards against a central database. But this security layer usually stops at the front entrance. Installing the wiring for the access-control panels needed to make individual offices secure can cost … Continue reading “CoreStreet Smarts: How to Put a Smart Card Lock on Every Office Door”

ViaCell Shares Soar on News of $300 Million Acquisition Deal with PerkinElmer

Shares of Cambridge, MA-based ViaCell (NASDAQ: VIAC) jumped more than 50 percent from yesterday’s close on the late-afternoon news that the company has reached a $300 million agreement to be acquired by Waltham’s PerkinElmer (NYSE: PKI). For PerkinElmer, a $1.55 billion multinational company known as a major manufacturer of scientific and medical equipment, the deal … Continue reading “ViaCell Shares Soar on News of $300 Million Acquisition Deal with PerkinElmer”

Cars Gone Wild: Acton Company Looks Beyond Cable, Puts Automotive Video on Internet, Mobile Phones

Say you’ve developed hundreds of hours of video content for a new cable TV channel about Americans’ love affair with their automobiles. Then one day the cable network calls up to say “Oops, we’re out of bandwidth—it’s been eaten up by high-definition and video-on-demand and we can’t add any more TV channels.” What do you … Continue reading “Cars Gone Wild: Acton Company Looks Beyond Cable, Puts Automotive Video on Internet, Mobile Phones”

Sermo CEO Offers Answers to Xconomy Readers’ Questions About Privacy

I don’t know what you did this past weekend, but I spent a lot of mine watching the virtual fur fly in the comments section of my post from last week about Sermo, the password-protected social network for physicians run by the Kendall Square startup of the same name. That story had focused on Sermo … Continue reading “Sermo CEO Offers Answers to Xconomy Readers’ Questions About Privacy”

Punchbowl Software, Inc. Lands New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9749adff-0c86-4aa1-9247-857edf703581&Preview=1 Date 10/2/2007 Company Name Punchbowl Software, Inc. Mailing Address 873 Concord Street Framingham, MA 01701 Company Description At Punchbowl Software, we believe that planning an event or party should be enjoyable and easy. Website http://www.mypunchbowl.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes “Intel Capital, with its … Continue reading “Punchbowl Software, Inc. Lands New Financing”

Slow Progress But High Stakes in iRobot–Robotic FX Tangle

Hearings in iRobot‘s Massachusetts lawsuit against Illinois rival Robotic FX lurched forward a few steps today, with both sides scoring minor points. But key issues in the case—in which iRobot is accusing Robotic FX and its founder, Jameel Ahed, of misappropriation and misuse of confidential information related to iRobot’s Packbot military robot—remained undecided as Federal … Continue reading “Slow Progress But High Stakes in iRobot–Robotic FX Tangle”

Konarka Garners $45 Million in Financing—Prepares To Bring “Power Plastic” to Market

Konarka Technologies, a Lowell, MA, maker of nanotech-based solar materials, announced today that it had secured $45 million in private funding intended to accelerate development and commercialization of its organic photovoltaic products. Konarka’s materials, which convert light to electricity, are aimed at providing low-cost, renewable sources of power for everything from cell phone chargers to … Continue reading “Konarka Garners $45 Million in Financing—Prepares To Bring “Power Plastic” to Market”

Potentially Planted Evidence, Memory Lapses, and Unwanted Memorabilia: the Latest from the IRobot-Robotic FX Files

A feeling of being followed. A mysterious memory lapse. Beating U.S. Marshals to the scene of a search. Hints of a tampered-with car trunk and planted evidence. A company using a former employee (and potential competitor) as a consultant, perhaps without making him sign a confidentiality agreement. It just seems to get wilder and wilder. … Continue reading “Potentially Planted Evidence, Memory Lapses, and Unwanted Memorabilia: the Latest from the IRobot-Robotic FX Files”

Mixed Feelings About “The Funded”

Am interested to hear what people think about this website (www.thefunded.com) where entrepreneurs rank venture funds. I like the concept of shifting the power dynamic and keeping venture funds on their toes but I have a few issues with the execution. My biggest problem is that there doesn’t appear to be any objective quality-control mechanism. … Continue reading “Mixed Feelings About “The Funded””

Coalition of Boston Libraries Chooses the Un-Google Route to Digitization

If there’s one thing New England has in great supply, it’s books. And that makes the area one of the battlegrounds in the digital library wars—the competition between commercial entities such as Google and Microsoft and non-profit groups such as the Internet Archive to secure agreements to scan, digitize, and distribute the world’s print literature. … Continue reading “Coalition of Boston Libraries Chooses the Un-Google Route to Digitization”

Novartis-MIT Center Aims To Transform Drug-Manufacturing Process

Strengthening the ties to the world-class university science that spurred it to move its global research operations to Cambridge five years ago, pharmaceutical maker Novartis (NYSE: NVS) announced today that it has formed a 10-year, $65 million partnership with MIT. The funding will be used to create a new center aimed at transforming the way … Continue reading “Novartis-MIT Center Aims To Transform Drug-Manufacturing Process”

Can ToleRx Escape the Autoimmunity-Drug-Development Deathtrap?

“Like does not like like that is obnoxious.” Poet Marianne Moore wasn’t thinking of autoimmune diseases when she penned this line but it memorably captures the strife behind them—when our immune cells see their cellular kin as obnoxious, all hell breaks loose. Still, our immune systems are teachable. Early in life they learn to tolerate … Continue reading “Can ToleRx Escape the Autoimmunity-Drug-Development Deathtrap?”

Genzyme to Bioenvision Board: Acquisition Offer Price Will Not be Raised

With shareholders of New York-based Bioenvision (NASDAQ: BIVN) set to vote in one week on a controversial proposed merger with Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ), the Cambridge, MA-based biotech giant reiterated today that it would not raise its offer for shares of the New York firm. In a letter to the Bioenvision board, Genzyme President Mark J. … Continue reading “Genzyme to Bioenvision Board: Acquisition Offer Price Will Not be Raised”

Roomba With a View: iRobot Launches Webcam-Carrying Robot and $99 Gutter Cleaner

Recent headlines about Burlington, MA-based iRobot have all focused on the robot maker’s legal tangle with Robotic FX, which beat it out for a $279.9 million defense contract but is now in court defending against iRobot’s accusations of patent infringement and industrial espionage. Hearings in that case have been continued until Monday, when we’ll bring … Continue reading “Roomba With a View: iRobot Launches Webcam-Carrying Robot and $99 Gutter Cleaner”

U.S. Cleantech Venture Deals Soar; A123 Tops New England List

U.S. venture capital firms poured money into clean technology startups in the first half of 2007, investing $892.6 million in 71 deals, a 70 percent jump from the $525 million put into 46 deals a year earlier, according to a report released yesterday by Dow Jones VentureOne and Ernst & Young. The funding surge helped … Continue reading “U.S. Cleantech Venture Deals Soar; A123 Tops New England List”

As Facebook Becomes the New Face of the Web, Boston-Area Startups Pitch In

In three years, Facebook has grown from a project in a Harvard dorm room to the seventh-most-trafficked site on the Web. Three years from now, if the company succeeds with its strategy to cultivate Facebook versions of typical Internet applications from e-mail and photo-sharing to games and music playlists, Facebook will be the Web, or … Continue reading “As Facebook Becomes the New Face of the Web, Boston-Area Startups Pitch In”

A Directory of Facebook Apps from Boston-Area Web Startups

In May, Facebook opened up its site so that outside software developers could build applications that Facebook users can add to their profiles. Since then, more than 4,600 applications have been released, ranging from comical, viral apps such as Vampire and games such as Scrabulous (a version of Scrabble) to useful and serious apps such … Continue reading “A Directory of Facebook Apps from Boston-Area Web Startups”

Targanta Therapeutics Sets IPO Terms—Could Make for Nice Comeback for Firm’s CEO

Targanta Therapeutics, a Cambridge biopharmaceutical company focused on developing antibiotics to combat serious infections, today set the terms of its impending IPO, announcing plans to sell 5.75 million shares of common stock at between $12 and $14 a share. In the mid-range of the pricing, after commissions, discounts, and other expenses, the company said it … Continue reading “Targanta Therapeutics Sets IPO Terms—Could Make for Nice Comeback for Firm’s CEO”

Sermo Strikes Back: A Physicians’ Online Community Lashes Out Against Bloggers Who Publicize Security Gap

When I saw over the weekend that two different blogs had posted on the apparent ease of hacking into Sermo, the password-protected social network for physicians, my first thought was: “Those docs are going to be pissed.” Sermo, after all, promises physicians a secure, closed environment where they can consult with their peers, and if … Continue reading “Sermo Strikes Back: A Physicians’ Online Community Lashes Out Against Bloggers Who Publicize Security Gap”

Finding That Nuclear Needle in a Vast Cargo Haystack

The next time you are waiting for your luggage at the airport baggage carousel and marveling at the security challenge posed by those hundreds of bags, consider this: somewhere between 9 and 11 million cargo containers come into the United States through its 361 seaports annually, according to the Department of Homeland Security. That’s roughly … Continue reading “Finding That Nuclear Needle in a Vast Cargo Haystack”

From Patriots Football to Film Preferences: Kraft Group Spinout Matchmine Launches “Portable Personalization” Platform

Remember when computer scientists promised back in the 1990s that we’d all have artificially intelligent “personal agents” running cyberspace errands for us, booking travel, filtering the news, and finding things we like? A new widget for personal computers called a “MatchKey” doesn’t quite qualify as intelligent, but it does take a new approach to the … Continue reading “From Patriots Football to Film Preferences: Kraft Group Spinout Matchmine Launches “Portable Personalization” Platform”

Getting Found in All the Right Places—Search Engine Marketing Networking Event

We didn’t have to search for this event—we got a tip from an attendee of a previous event. The SEMNE (Search Engine Marketing New England) mission is to provide networking and educational opportunities for search marketers in New England, “while having a little fun along the way.” The speaker at this get-together is Greg Jarboe, … Continue reading “Getting Found in All the Right Places—Search Engine Marketing Networking Event”

Carbonite CEO Feeling Rosy about EMC Reportedly Buying Mozy

David Friend, CEO of Boston-based online backup company Carbonite, says the rumored acquisition of rival Mozy by Hopkinton storage giant EMC (NYSE: EMC) is great news for his company, too. Both companies launched in 2005 with bankrolls of around $2 million. Both provide software that automatically encrypts and copies the information on users’ hard drives … Continue reading “Carbonite CEO Feeling Rosy about EMC Reportedly Buying Mozy”

Robotic FX Founder Admits Destroying Data But Says Some Evidence Might Have Been Planted; Hearing Will Resume Monday

Citing fear and panic, Robotic FX founder Jameel Ahed yesterday acknowledged destroying CD-ROM disks and erasing the data from a laptop computer after iRobot filed lawsuits against him and his firm alleging theft of trade secrets. At the same time, he speculated that one item found by private detectives who were observing him “was possibly … Continue reading “Robotic FX Founder Admits Destroying Data But Says Some Evidence Might Have Been Planted; Hearing Will Resume Monday”

Never Mind That IPO–Adnexus Acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb

Just a month after filing for an $86 million IPO, and less than two months after raising $15.5 million in a Series C financing round, Adnexus Therapeutics announced yesterday that it is being acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY). Under the terms of the deal Adnexus, which develops biologic therapeutics derived from the protein fibronectin, … Continue reading “Never Mind That IPO–Adnexus Acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb”

Judge Asks For More Information on Venue Issue in IRobot–Robotic FX Case

In an electronic order posted today, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner said more information was needed to support an argument by Robotic FX and the U.S. Attorney’s office that iRobot’s lawsuit against Robotic FX should be heard in another venue. The order gives Robotic FX until Friday to make its case for the change. … Continue reading “Judge Asks For More Information on Venue Issue in IRobot–Robotic FX Case”

EMC Reportedly Acquiring Online Backup Startup Mozy for $76 Million

As broadband Internet connectivity spreads, the data pipes into homes and small businesses are becoming wide enough to regularly send large amounts of data to the cloud of servers on the Internet, making online data backup a real business. The niche has attracted a growing list of startups—with the usual selection of funny names, such … Continue reading “EMC Reportedly Acquiring Online Backup Startup Mozy for $76 Million”

Consumers Asked to Lend “$100 Laptop” Initiative A Hand

With early orders, principally from governments in developing nations, for its lime-green, crank-powered, and low-cost XO laptop computer running short of what’s needed to trigger mass production, the One Laptop Per Child project is today kicking off two initiatives that will allow paying consumers to purchase machines for the benefit of children in its target … Continue reading “Consumers Asked to Lend “$100 Laptop” Initiative A Hand”

The PRIZE is Right

Hello World, come on down… You’re the next contestant on the PRIZE is Right. That’s right, play the game, solve the challenge…and we ALL win. Competitions and prizes are nothing new, but the era of high-profile, world-changing contests is upon us. History has seen its share of successful prizes, such as the 20,000 pound, British … Continue reading “The PRIZE is Right”

Alnylam and Merck Go Their Separate Ways, TransMedics Files to Go Public, ZipCar Reservation System Ready to Go Anywhere, and More

Another week, another giant inbox full of news. Here are the highlights. —Not long after closing one of New England’s 10 biggest second-quarter venture deals, Andover-based TransMedics filed for an IPO. The firm, which is developing a device for keeping donated organs for transplantation warm and functioning outside of the body, proposed a maximum price … Continue reading “Alnylam and Merck Go Their Separate Ways, TransMedics Files to Go Public, ZipCar Reservation System Ready to Go Anywhere, and More”

Microsoft Hires Eons CTO to Start Lab Next Door to MIT

Microsoft has hired Eons chief technology officer and local software legend Reed Sturtevant to head a new development lab and innovation group that is expected to set up shop next door to the MIT campus. “That’s true,” said Sturtevant when I asked him about the lab in a telephone conversation this evening. “It’s starting Monday … Continue reading “Microsoft Hires Eons CTO to Start Lab Next Door to MIT”

Reed Sturtevant: New Force for Microsoft in Boston is Veteran of Many Startups

If anyone can bring a startup sensibility to a software giant like Microsoft, it’s Reed Sturtevant. The MIT dropout, who left his position as CTO at over-50 social networking site Eons on Friday to spearhead a new Cambridge-based development team for Microsoft, has been CEO or CTO of at least eleven technology startups. Some of … Continue reading “Reed Sturtevant: New Force for Microsoft in Boston is Veteran of Many Startups”

Local Boys Make Good: Two Xconomists Win the Day, One Literally

Tuesday was a great day for two of our favorite Xconomists (not that we don’t love all of them), and we’ve been remiss in not giving them a shout-out sooner. First off, Boston University bioengineer Jim Collins, already tapped as a genius by the MacArthur Foundation, among other honors, won an NIH Director’s Pioneer Award. … Continue reading “Local Boys Make Good: Two Xconomists Win the Day, One Literally”

Funders Commit $100 Million More for GreatPoint’s Coal-to-Gas Technology

Not so many decades ago, natural gas was considered a nuisance—a dangerous explosive to be vented from underground pockets and flared so that miners and drillers could get at the good stuff, oil and coal. But today natural gas is seen as coal’s cleaner cousin, and one Cambridge startup, GreatPoint Energy, has spent the last … Continue reading “Funders Commit $100 Million More for GreatPoint’s Coal-to-Gas Technology”

Hearing in IRobot v. Robotic FX Continued Until Monday; Robot-Delivery Deadline Looms

A U.S. District Court hearing scheduled for yesterday in iRobot’s lawsuit against Alsip, IL-based Robotic FX was continued until Monday, a court clerk said today. In the lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts, and in a separate one filed in Alabama, Burlington, MA-based iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT) has accused the rival firm of infringing on patents for a … Continue reading “Hearing in IRobot v. Robotic FX Continued Until Monday; Robot-Delivery Deadline Looms”

LocaModa: Outfitter for “The Web Outside”

It takes cajones to say your company is going to be “the Google of” anything, whether it’s the “the Google of personal finance” or “the Google of lunch trucks.” But that’s the phrasing used by Stephen Randall, CEO of Somerville startup LocaModa, which he says is on its way to becoming “the Google of the … Continue reading “LocaModa: Outfitter for “The Web Outside””

Azuki Systems (FKA Peermeta) Lands $6,000,000 Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=76f0f52a-45da-4fa1-9c67-3a226a0e4aa1&Preview=1 Date 9/21/2007 Company Name Azuki Systems (FKA Peermeta) Mailing Address 43 Nagog Park Acton, MA 01720 Company Description Leveraging the growing proliferation of digitized content, Web 2.0 enabled services and new wireless technologies, Azuki is leading the charge into a new era of mobile innovation and user experiences. We are changing … Continue reading “Azuki Systems (FKA Peermeta) Lands $6,000,000 Series A Financing”

Athenahealth IPO Prices Above Expectations, Soars Out of the Gate

Shares of Watertown, MA-based Athenahealth, which provides online billing and other business services for medical practices, debuted at $30 today, well above the $18.00 per share price set for the firm’s IPO—which itself was well above the $14 to $16 per-share range that the firm projected a couple of weeks ago. (The firm’s co-founder, chairman, … Continue reading “Athenahealth IPO Prices Above Expectations, Soars Out of the Gate”

U.S. Government Weighs in Against iRobot Request for Injunction Against Rival Firm

Declaring that “the lives of soldiers presently at war in Iraq and Afghanistan” could be placed in peril, the federal government has injected itself into the legal battle between iRobot and Robotic FX—asking a U.S. District Court judge in Massachusetts on the brink of this morning’s hearing not to let iRobot’s efforts to win a … Continue reading “U.S. Government Weighs in Against iRobot Request for Injunction Against Rival Firm”

BioEngine: One Step Closer to Artificial Liver Device

For almost as long as surgeons have been transplanting organs such as hearts, livers, and lungs, they’ve been frustrated by the scarcity of available organs, and have imagined a future where artificial organs might ease the shortage. One local transplant surgeon, Massachusetts General Hospital’s Joseph Vacanti, has spent more than twenty years working toward that … Continue reading “BioEngine: One Step Closer to Artificial Liver Device”

Dumpster-Diving Detectives and Tales of Industrial Espionage: Court Filings Reveal Twists and Turns of iRobot-Robotic FX Case

The private detective took up position near the six-unit condominium building in Chicago shortly after noon. At 3:02 p.m. the white Saturn with Indiana plates he’d been waiting for appeared, stopping down the street near a rusty dumpster. The detective, Tomas Romano, snapped pictures as a man wearing a lime-green polo shirt got out of … Continue reading “Dumpster-Diving Detectives and Tales of Industrial Espionage: Court Filings Reveal Twists and Turns of iRobot-Robotic FX Case”

Boston Blogtoberfest 2007

Graphic artist / designer / marketer / blogger Jenny Frazier of Alleyesonjenny.com and JennyFrazierDesign.com is organizing this second annual beer bash for Boston bloggers. She’s calling it “a chance to put down the mouse, step away from the keyboard, and meet some of your favorite Boston bloggers face to face in a casual setting.” Register … Continue reading “Boston Blogtoberfest 2007”

VCs in DC: Local Energy Investors Take A DOE Field Trip

It wasn’t a secret meeting, but it wasn’t widely publicized either. A small group of Boston-area venture capitalists, along with a few representatives of local energy-related enterprises, journeyed to the nation’s capital in late August for a two-day session with the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. They were part of … Continue reading “VCs in DC: Local Energy Investors Take A DOE Field Trip”

Mobile Entrepreneurs: Social Networking Good, Carriers Bad

On Monday night Orange Labs Boston (which is actually in Cambridge) hosted the fall’s first Mobile Monday Boston event, the Beantown version of a tradition that began in Helsinki, Finland, in 2000 and has now spread to 50 cities around the world. A panel on social networking applications led by Orange Labs’ director of commercial … Continue reading “Mobile Entrepreneurs: Social Networking Good, Carriers Bad”

Market Likes Millennium’s Velcade News; Analysts Not So Sure

Shares of Millennium Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MLNM) got an early morning boost on news that the Cambridge-based biotech has gotten good results in a Phase 3 trial of its cancer drug, Velcade, and plans to seek a new FDA approval for the drug. First approved to much fanfare in 2003 for treating multiple myeloma patients for … Continue reading “Market Likes Millennium’s Velcade News; Analysts Not So Sure”

Silicon Valley East? New England Web 2.0 Firms Attracted $102 Million in Venture Funding in Year’s First Half, Beating Their Bay-Area Counterparts

Web 2.0 firms based in New England received nearly $102 million in venture capital funding in the year’s first half, the highest total of any region, including perennial leader the Bay Area. Such was the heady news (for defenders of Boston Web entrepreneurship) contained in a report released yesterday by Dow Jones VentureOne and Ernst … Continue reading “Silicon Valley East? New England Web 2.0 Firms Attracted $102 Million in Venture Funding in Year’s First Half, Beating Their Bay-Area Counterparts”