Earlier this month, GM and Honda announced they are embarking on a long-term agreement to co-develop next-generation fuel cell technologies and infrastructure, with the goal of driving the technology forward faster. The target date the automakers are shooting for is 2020. “We’re working together to innovate and drive costs down,” says Charles Freese, GM’s executive … Continue reading “GM, Honda Detail Long-Term Fuel Cell Co-Development Strategy”
Category: National
Sprint Amps Its Rooftop Signal, Joins Transit Wireless Subway Project
Through the labyrinthine stairwells that led to the roof of the Holiday Inn near Columbus Circle in New York, I followed Joe Meyer, vice president of network service management with Sprint, to see one of Sprint’s new base stations. The array of components and antennae are part of the wireless provider’s upgrades to its above-ground … Continue reading “Sprint Amps Its Rooftop Signal, Joins Transit Wireless Subway Project”
MIT Swartz Report: Instead of Leading, School was “Hands-Off”
MIT’s internal report on its role in the prosecution of Aaron Swartz—the Internet activist who committed suicide earlier this year amid a federal criminal case—is critical of the university’s “hands-off” approach and lack of leadership. The Swartz report team, led by computer science professor Hal Abelson, found that MIT leaders cooperated with authorities but otherwise … Continue reading “MIT Swartz Report: Instead of Leading, School was “Hands-Off””
Santa Cruz, the City Over the Hill, Builds Its Own Startup Culture
Part 1 in a three-part series. If you’re visiting from the north, part of the delight of arriving in Santa Cruz—quite apart from its numerous attractions, both natural and man-made—is that you have survived the terrifying drive over the Santa Cruz Mountains on California State Route 17. Engineers opened the narrow, sinuous, partial-access expressway in … Continue reading “Santa Cruz, the City Over the Hill, Builds Its Own Startup Culture”
Aegerion Shares Soar on New Numbers For Rare Disease Drug
Investors appear to be pretty happy with Aegerion Pharmaceuticals’ (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AEGR]]) latest results for its rare disease drug, lomitapide (Juxtapid). Shares of the Cambridge, MA-based biotech jumped about 14 percent, to $88 apiece, in pre-market trading as Aegerion released its second-quarter earnings and showed that sales of lomitapide are tracking ahead of its estimates. Aegerion … Continue reading “Aegerion Shares Soar on New Numbers For Rare Disease Drug”
Boundless in Settlement Talks with Textbook Publishers
Boundless, a Boston-based startup that offers free online college learning materials, is working on a possible legal settlement with the textbook publishers that sued the young company for copyright infringement. Putting the case to rest would be a big plus for Boundless, which has raised about $10 million in venture backing for its free online … Continue reading “Boundless in Settlement Talks with Textbook Publishers”
As ReVision Raises $55M, Domain’s Dovey Assesses Rusnano Gambit
Almost 18 months ago, Domain Associates and the Russian state technology firm Rusnano agreed to jointly invest as much as $760 million in life sciences deals in the U.S. and Russia. Yesterday, the partners said they have completed their fifth deal—joining a $55 million equity round in ReVision Optics, a Lake Forest, CA-ophthalmic company. ReVision, … Continue reading “As ReVision Raises $55M, Domain’s Dovey Assesses Rusnano Gambit”
Foundation Medicine Lays Groundwork For $86M IPO
The appetite for biotech IPOs is as rabid as it has been in a decade. Will that good fortune seep into diagnostics? Now that Foundation Medicine has become the latest to step into the IPO queue, we’ll soon find out. Cambridge, MA-based Foundation, a cancer diagnostics company backed by big names such as Bill Gates … Continue reading “Foundation Medicine Lays Groundwork For $86M IPO”
Fort Worth’s Athlon Energy to Raise $363 Million in IPO
Athlon Energy, a Fort Worth-based oil and natural gas company, could raise as much as $363 million in an initial public stock offering this week, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company, which was founded in 2010, focuses its drilling activities in about 220 wells in the Permian Basin in … Continue reading “Fort Worth’s Athlon Energy to Raise $363 Million in IPO”
Array to Receive $11M From Celgene as Part of New Development Deal
Array BioPharma and Celgene have signed a drug development deal that will bring Array $11 million up front and could yield $376 million in milestone payments for Array if its experimental drugs reach certain goals, the companies announced Monday. The companies are collaborating on a preclinical development program that targets a novel inflammation pathway, which … Continue reading “Array to Receive $11M From Celgene as Part of New Development Deal”
New Data Could Open Vertex’s CF Drug to 400 More Patients
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]) is losing steam in the treatment of hepatitis C, but it continues to churn out good news for cystic fibrosis patients. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech released new data from a late-stage clinical trial today showing that its CF drug, ivacaftor (Kalydeco), improved the lung function of patients aged six and older … Continue reading “New Data Could Open Vertex’s CF Drug to 400 More Patients”
A Night at Union Square Ventures: NYU-Poly Talks Up Incubator Success
Fred Wilson opened the doors at Union Square Ventures last Thursday night to let folks from the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (commonly referred to as NYU-Poly) talk up the jobs and other positive influences their incubators have had on New York’s economy. Alumni and current tenants came out to celebrate the fourth anniversary … Continue reading “A Night at Union Square Ventures: NYU-Poly Talks Up Incubator Success”
U-M Startup TurtleCell Offers Solution to Tangled iPhone Earbuds
Those of us who can scarcely leave the house without our headphones firmly anchored in our ears all have the same problem: perpetually tangled cords. TurtleCell, a startup based in Ann Arbor, MI, believes it has the solution. TurtleCell has designed an iPhone case with headphones embedded inside on a retractable cord, which means there … Continue reading “U-M Startup TurtleCell Offers Solution to Tangled iPhone Earbuds”
TrueAbility, San Antonio Online Recruiting Tool, Raises $2 Million
San Antonio startup TrueAbility today announced it has completed a Series A fundraising of $2 million in venture capital. TrueAbility sells a cloud-based service that allows recruiting managers to assess candidates’ technical skills in an online environment that mimics the workplace. “In the typical interview process, it isn’t easy to assess the technical skills of … Continue reading “TrueAbility, San Antonio Online Recruiting Tool, Raises $2 Million”
Pharma Fails Credibility Test, Misses Opportunity, on Transparency
Some of the biggest scandals in the pharmaceutical industry (think Vioxx and Avandia) have been about drug safety, and how much of the clinical trial data on prescription drugs—especially the negative stuff—is kept hidden. Not surprisingly, some scientists, physicians, regulators, and patients have joined forces to push for all clinical-trial results, positive or negative, to … Continue reading “Pharma Fails Credibility Test, Misses Opportunity, on Transparency”
After Raising $59M, aTyr Plans Physiocrines Proof-of-Concept Trials
San Diego’s aTyr Pharma says today it has closed on $59 million in a Series D financing to advance its development of a new class of protein-based drugs for treating rare immune diseases. The $59 million deal includes $49 million in venture funding raised in recent months from an unnamed “global public investment fund” and … Continue reading “After Raising $59M, aTyr Plans Physiocrines Proof-of-Concept Trials”
Celgene Nabs Option to Buy Acetylon for More Than $1.7B
In early 2012, Celgene (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CELG]]) made a seemingly innocuous investment in Acetylon Pharmaceuticals in a deal that didn’t give it any rights to the company, but rather, left it with a non-invasive observer’s seat on the Boston-based biotech’s board of directors. Apparently, Celgene liked what it saw, because it’s prepared to throw around $1.7 … Continue reading “Celgene Nabs Option to Buy Acetylon for More Than $1.7B”
Texas Oilman Created The Fracking Boom, Ignited Energy Startups
Texas billionaire oilman George Mitchell, who spawned a modern-day gold rush as the “father of fracking,” died Friday in Galveston. He was 94. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, refers to a procedure that injects fluids under pressure to increase the yield of underground oil and gas formations. Mitchell’s innovation set off an entrepreneurial boom in the … Continue reading “Texas Oilman Created The Fracking Boom, Ignited Energy Startups”
Mile High Roundup: Winners Needed, TechStars, and $50K for Failures
Welcome to the Mile High Roundup, a look at some of the interesting things that have happened over the past two weeks in the tech scene in Boulder, Denver, and around Colorado. In this edition, Convercent’s CEO reminds Denver of a truth, TechStars’ Class of 2013 starts taking the stage, and the state finds four … Continue reading “Mile High Roundup: Winners Needed, TechStars, and $50K for Failures”
Abbott to Acquire Medical Device Startup Idev Technologies
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) is acquiring Idev Technologies, a suburban Houston medical device company, in a $310 million deal. Idev manufactures stents used by interventional radiologists, vascular surgeons, and cardiologists to treat blockages in arteries in the leg. The market for peripheral artery disease is expected to grow to $3.3 billion by 2017, according to Millennium … Continue reading “Abbott to Acquire Medical Device Startup Idev Technologies”
Rally Investors, Executives Cash In With $114M Follow-On Offering
Three Boulder-based venture capital firms are about to be rewarded for their stakes in Rally Software, as they will soon sell shares in company’s follow-on public offering. Rally (NYSE: [[ticker:RALY]]) announced last week it was conducting the offering, and on Thursday it priced the shares. They will be available to the public at a price … Continue reading “Rally Investors, Executives Cash In With $114M Follow-On Offering”
Amazon’s Cambridge Office Confirmed, with Room for More Than 600
Amazon’s footprint in the Boston area is even bigger than we thought. The Seattle-based e-commerce and Web services pioneer is leasing more than 129,000 square feet in Cambridge, according to real estate documents filed with local officials. That’s room for more than 600 people, if you use the standard commercial real estate estimate of roughly … Continue reading “Amazon’s Cambridge Office Confirmed, with Room for More Than 600”
What Will the End of Moore’s Law Mean for Consumers? Not Much
“The party isn’t exactly over, but the police have arrived, and the music has been turned way down.” That’s how Peter Kogge, an ex-IBM computer scientist who teaches at Notre Dame, described the state of supercomputing in a 2011 article in IEEE Spectrum. The giant machines that researchers use to simulate things like climate change, … Continue reading “What Will the End of Moore’s Law Mean for Consumers? Not Much”
Audentes, Loaded With $30M, Pursues Gene Therapy for Rare Diseases
Five years ago, hardly anybody would invest in a startup focused on gene therapies for ultra-rare diseases. But gene therapy has been on the comeback trail, and a San Francisco startup called Audentes Therapeutics has corralled $30 million to see if it can overcome some of the obstacles that have tripped up others in this … Continue reading “Audentes, Loaded With $30M, Pursues Gene Therapy for Rare Diseases”
East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Sarepta, Agios, Gerngross, & (Much) More
It was earnings week for a few of the big biotech staples on the East Coast, but that was far from all that happened. In case you’ve been stuck under a rock, we’ve got the highlights, lowlights, and everything in-between wrapped up below. —Cambridge, MA-based Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SRPT]]) plans to submit a new drug … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Sarepta, Agios, Gerngross, & (Much) More”
Commentary: Bankruptcy Won’t Stop Detroit’s Innovative Entrepreneurs
On Wednesday, the city of Detroit celebrated its 312th birthday. Incidentally, that makes it older than the United States itself by 75 years. A city doesn’t endure for more than three hundred years (and sometimes thrive, lest we forget the 20th century) without a little grit, a lot of innovation, and an abundance of the … Continue reading “Commentary: Bankruptcy Won’t Stop Detroit’s Innovative Entrepreneurs”
Apple’s Boston-Area Team: Working on Speech in Nuance’s Backyard
It’s been one of the Boston-area tech industry’s more intriguing questions for months: Just what is Apple doing here? Today, we’ve got an answer. Apple has assembled a small team of notable names in speech technology and is looking to expand those efforts in the Boston area, industry sources tell Xconomy. Based on their online … Continue reading “Apple’s Boston-Area Team: Working on Speech in Nuance’s Backyard”
Adimab Turns Cash Flow Positive With GSK, Biogen Tech Transfer Deals
Tillman Gerngross has always had a two-step business model in mind for his Lebanon, NH-based drug discovery startup, Adimab. First, lure several big pharmaceutical companies to test out its efficient, yeast-based process for discovering antibodies. Then, wait for them to write a big check to license that technology and bring it in-house, providing big returns … Continue reading “Adimab Turns Cash Flow Positive With GSK, Biogen Tech Transfer Deals”
Connect CEO Improving From Head Injury After Bike Crash in Mountains
Connect CEO Duane Roth, who sustained a head injury while bicycling Sunday in the Cuyamaca Mountains east of San Diego, has passed through the most-critical period after undergoing emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, according to his brother Ted. “We’re certainly moving in the right direction,” Ted Roth told me today by phone. … Continue reading “Connect CEO Improving From Head Injury After Bike Crash in Mountains”
Concur Pushes Business Travel Technology with Venture Investments
Since Concur busted out a $150 million corporate venture capital fund last November, the travel expense management company has backed nine startups—including three investments announced this week—in a bid to accelerate technology development in the business travel industry. The Redmond, WA-based company is backing StayNTouch, which raised $1.6 million from Concur and Acceleprise, to build a … Continue reading “Concur Pushes Business Travel Technology with Venture Investments”
Vertex Sees Liver Toxicity With Emerging Hep C Drug, Faces FDA Hold
Vertex Pharmaceuticals suffered a meaningful setback today in its bid to remain a long-term player in the treatment of hepatitis C. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRTX]]) said today that the FDA has stopped the company from giving certain doses of its VX-135 drug candidate for hepatitis C in a mid-stage U.S. study, after … Continue reading “Vertex Sees Liver Toxicity With Emerging Hep C Drug, Faces FDA Hold”
Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund Invests $1.5M in Six Startups
The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund announced this week that it has invested $1.5 million in six early-stage tech startups: AutoBike, AlertWatch, BEET Analytics Technology, IROA Technologies, Patient Provider Communications, and TM3 Systems. To date, the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund has invested $20 million in 89 Michigan companies. Ann Arbor SPARK acts as the fund’s administrator. About the companies receiving investment: —AutoBike, based in … Continue reading “Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund Invests $1.5M in Six Startups”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Illumina, Conatus, Isis, and More
San Diego biotech companies are continuing to take advantage of Wall Street’s goodwill toward the life sciences sector, but venture capital funding in the area dropped to a four-year low. Here’s our roundup of news over the past week. —After setting the price range of its planned IPO earlier this month, San Diego’s Conatus Pharmaceuticals … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Illumina, Conatus, Isis, and More”
Canary’s Call for Crowdfunding Answered More than Fourfold in 48 Hours
All the “cool kids” seem to have crowdfunding campaigns these days but Canary in New York is among the few who hit their goal with blinding speed. The startup is developing a home security device equipped with an HD camera, night vision, motion detection, and other sensors that can be monitored via smartphone. On Monday, … Continue reading “Canary’s Call for Crowdfunding Answered More than Fourfold in 48 Hours”
Biogen’s Oral MS Drug Tops Estimates, Brings in $192M in First Quarter
The hype for Biogen Idec’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) oral pill for multiple sclerosis, dimethyl fumarate (Tecfidera), was deafening when the FDA gave the biotech the green light to begin selling the drug in March. Though Biogen didn’t blow the doors down today with its first look at the drug’s sales, the Cambridge, MA-based company still beat … Continue reading “Biogen’s Oral MS Drug Tops Estimates, Brings in $192M in First Quarter”
Setem Technologies Gets $1.7M to Decode the “Cocktail Party Problem”
What does Woody Guthrie have in common with next-generation voice-recognition technology that could improve your smartphone or hearing aid? Plenty, if a small Massachusetts company has anything to say about it. I’m talking about Setem Technologies, an angel-funded startup based outside of Boston. Quite a bit outside—the offices are in an unassuming building off Route … Continue reading “Setem Technologies Gets $1.7M to Decode the “Cocktail Party Problem””
High-end SSD Developer SolidFire Closes $31M C Round Led by Samsung
SolidFire, a developer of solid-state drive data storage technology, announced today that it has closed a $31 million Series C round. The investment brings the total of venture capital raised by the Boulder, CO-based startup to $68 million. That’s not bad for a company that was formed in 2009 and only really began selling its … Continue reading “High-end SSD Developer SolidFire Closes $31M C Round Led by Samsung”
Startup Colorado Forms $200K Fund to Back Events for Entrepreneurs
Rounding up money to support your latest great idea is tough, whether it’s for funding your company or putting together an event that benefits local entrepreneurs. Well, the latter just got easier, following Startup Colorado’s announcement today that it has created a $200,000 fund to provide financial support for groups that are hosting speakers or … Continue reading “Startup Colorado Forms $200K Fund to Back Events for Entrepreneurs”
Amid Strong Demand, Illumina CEO Sees Need for More “Tuck-in” Deals
Shares of San Diego-based Illumina (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ILMN]]) climbed today by more than $7 a share, or roughly 10 percent, after the gene sequencing equipment maker posted quarterly results that exceeded Wall Street expectations. The stock was above $81 a share in heavy trading this afternoon. Illumina reported its seventh consecutive quarter of sequential revenue growth—driven … Continue reading “Amid Strong Demand, Illumina CEO Sees Need for More “Tuck-in” Deals”
Boston Roundup: Mediaspectrum, SciAps, Cloudbees, DailyFeats, Netotiate, & More
[Updated 2:15 pm with Mediaspectrum deal.] One big financing deal, and a healthy dose of seed funding and other smallish rounds for Boston-area companies in this midweek catchup of startup news: —Mediaspectrum, a Boston-based provider of advertising and content software for media companies, has raised $35.8 million in a “minority equity investment” from private equity … Continue reading “Boston Roundup: Mediaspectrum, SciAps, Cloudbees, DailyFeats, Netotiate, & More”
Agios Rockets to $29 Per Share in Market Debut
Score one for the venture backers of Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AGIO]]). Cambridge, MA-based Agios debuted on the Nasdaq this morning and public investors dove right in, immediately sending the cancer metabolism specialist’s shares roaring up to $29 apiece, giving it an opening market capitalization of more than $800 million. Shares pulled back slightly shortly thereafter … Continue reading “Agios Rockets to $29 Per Share in Market Debut”
Instacart Bets the Market Is Ripe Again for Grocery Delivery
Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta submitted an interesting application to get into startup acclerator Y Combinator. Instead of going through the normal process, he used his grocery delivery service startup to send the partners beer—a month after the program’s spring 2012 term had started. It worked. The company was admitted. Apoorva had founded Instacart at the … Continue reading “Instacart Bets the Market Is Ripe Again for Grocery Delivery”
Sarepta to Seek FDA Approval For Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Drug
[Updated, 10:20 am ET] It has been perhaps the biggest biotech debate of the year: whether Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SRPT]]) can file for, and win approval from the FDA based on a tiny, but very promising data set showing that its drug for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy just might reverse the effects of the crippling disorder … Continue reading “Sarepta to Seek FDA Approval For Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Drug”
No Easy Climb as EquaMetrics Looks to Disrupt Trading and FinTech
New York may be hallowed ground for financial business but it can still be hard for some local startups to break into this sector. Chris Ivey, CEO and co-founder of New York-based EquaMetrics, believes companies such as his can insinuate themselves much deeper in this world. “They never really enter financial technology, and if they … Continue reading “No Easy Climb as EquaMetrics Looks to Disrupt Trading and FinTech”
Agios Prices Upsized IPO Above Range, Preps For Nasdaq Debut
Agios Pharmaceuticals is about to find out how willing public investors are to throw their dollars behind the promise—if not the clinical data—of cancer metabolism. If the early signs are any indication, they’re up for the risk. Cambridge, MA-based Agios priced its IPO late Tuesday, selling 5,888,888 shares at $18 apiece for a raise of … Continue reading “Agios Prices Upsized IPO Above Range, Preps For Nasdaq Debut”
ForwardMetrics Combines SaaS, Networking for Business Consultants
ForwardMetrics, an Encinitas, CA-based startup, says it has raised $1 million from individual investors to expand its Web-based platform for consultants and business leaders. The Web startup says the fresh capital brings its total funding to $1.75 million since the company was founded in late 2011. Co-founders Ozzie DiVinere and Scott Warner started ForwardMetrics to … Continue reading “ForwardMetrics Combines SaaS, Networking for Business Consultants”
Connect CEO Remains Critical, Family Expects a Prolonged Recovery
Connect CEO Duane Roth remains in critical condition in the intensive care unit at UC San Diego Medical Center following a biking accident Sunday morning, according to a statement his wife Renee released yesterday through a hospital spokeswoman. “Many thanks to all of you for your kind notes and wishes for Duane as he recovers,” … Continue reading “Connect CEO Remains Critical, Family Expects a Prolonged Recovery”
Tillman Gerngross’ Plan to Revamp Tech Transfer at Dartmouth
For all its cache as an Ivy League school and a beacon of research in New England, the Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH has an innovation problem. It’s looking now to one of the area’s most successful biotech entrepreneurs to solve it. It isn’t that the ideas aren’t there. It isn’t that the university isn’t … Continue reading “Tillman Gerngross’ Plan to Revamp Tech Transfer at Dartmouth”
Roundup: Funding for Minetta Brook, Yapta, Viableware, Sparq
Another week, another Seattle-area big data startup collects funding. This week it’s Minetta Brook, which is coming out of stealth with a fintech play. Airfare tracker Yapta; restaurant payments technology company Viableware; and mobile marketer Sparq also recently closed funding rounds. And the City of Seattle is trying to make paying for street parking more … Continue reading “Roundup: Funding for Minetta Brook, Yapta, Viableware, Sparq”
Array Shares Climb After Asthma Drug Shows Positive Phase 2 Results
Array Biopharma’s stock price jumped more than 15 percent this morning, following the company’s announcement that an oral treatment for asthma it is developing showed positive results in a Phase 2 trial. Boulder, CO-based Array (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARRY]]) is developing ARRY-502 as a treatment for mild-to-moderate persistent asthma. About 12 million patients in the U.S. suffer … Continue reading “Array Shares Climb After Asthma Drug Shows Positive Phase 2 Results”