Category: National

Crescendo Bioscience Snags $28M For Arthritis Test

Billions are spent every year on treating rheumatoid arthritis patients with drugs that sometimes work, and sometimes don’t. Now South San Francisco-based Crescendo Bioscience has pulled in more cash to help commercialize a diagnostic test that is supposed to help physicians better treat individual patients. Crescendo is announcing today it has raised $28 million in … Continue reading “Crescendo Bioscience Snags $28M For Arthritis Test”

Alkermes Aims for Psychiatric Drug That Won’t Pack on the Pounds

Eli Lilly once made a fortune on a schizophrenia drug that helped a lot of people, but came with a nasty side effect—weight gain. Now Dublin, Ireland- and Waltham, MA-based Alkermes is wagering that it can get the benefits of the original treatment without causing patients to add so many extra pounds. Alkermes (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALKS]]) … Continue reading “Alkermes Aims for Psychiatric Drug That Won’t Pack on the Pounds”

BioMarin Delays Profit to Pursue New Products

Struggling biotechnology companies feel the heat from Wall Street when their drug candidates fall flat. But successful biotech companies can face a different kind of pressure from investors, says BioMarin CEO Jean-Jacques Bienaimé. BioMarin’s total revenues are still rising for the three drugs it shepherded to FDA approval from 2003 to 2007. The drugs–laronidase (Aldurazyme), … Continue reading “BioMarin Delays Profit to Pursue New Products”

Mobile Madness Motor City: Check Out the Agenda for our Jan. 17 Forum

Now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays is over, we’re getting pretty excited for Mobile Madness Motor City, Xconomy’s inaugural mobile event in Detroit. The half-day forum is packed with some of southeast Michigan’s top technology innovators tackling Michigan’s growing mobile scene and the many ways mobile is revolutionizing the way we live, … Continue reading “Mobile Madness Motor City: Check Out the Agenda for our Jan. 17 Forum”

Latest Venture Funding Deepens Independa’s Ties with LG Electronics

Independa, the San Diego startup developing Web-based services for the elderly, says today it has closed its Series A financing at $5 million. In a telephone interview this afternoon, Independa CEO Kian Saneii says the round is more of a round-up that includes all of the company’s prior equity funding, the conversion of $2.35 million … Continue reading “Latest Venture Funding Deepens Independa’s Ties with LG Electronics”

MI Innovators: Compete in DARPA’s $4M Vehicle Design Challenges

Seeking to engage innovators outside of the traditional defense sector, the federal government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently launched the Fast, Adaptable, Next-Generation Ground Vehicle (FANG) Challenges, a military design competition. And officials say Michigan engineers should take note. Ricardo, a global engineering and consultancy company with Michigan operations in Van Buren Township, will administer … Continue reading “MI Innovators: Compete in DARPA’s $4M Vehicle Design Challenges”

7 Reasons to Hate the Zipcar-Avis Deal

Some people make New Year’s resolutions. I make a list of reasons to hate the biggest Boston-area tech deal of the new year. I am a grump. Yes, Zipcar (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZIP]]), the soon-to-be-Boston-based car-rental company, is being acquired by Avis Budget Group for about half a billion dollars. Yes, the venture capitalists who held onto … Continue reading “7 Reasons to Hate the Zipcar-Avis Deal”

Stitcher, the Pandora of Talk, Works to Make Internet Radio Easier

Sometimes we don’t realize what was so great about a traditional medium until a new one comes along and tries to take its place. Consider radio. Web-based radio has been around since the 1990s, and this year marks the 10th anniversary of the technology behind podcasting. Yet old-fashioned broadcast radio is still a $17 billion … Continue reading “Stitcher, the Pandora of Talk, Works to Make Internet Radio Easier”

Zipcar Snatched Up by Avis After Poor Stock Performance

Zipcar’s modern take on rental cars always seemed like it could give the established industry some headaches. Now, the Cambridge, MA-based company will have to tackle that mission from within the establishment. The Avis Budget group announced today that it’s buying Zipcar (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZIP]]) for around $500 million. That works out to $12.25 per share, a … Continue reading “Zipcar Snatched Up by Avis After Poor Stock Performance”

CES Countdown: Startups Plant their Flags and Changes Coming to TV

Each January the makers of gadgets big and small bring an electronic carnival to Las Vegas as they tease the world with glimpses of devices they plan to unleash during the coming year. A few changes are in store for next week’s International CES, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center and nearby hotels. After … Continue reading “CES Countdown: Startups Plant their Flags and Changes Coming to TV”

New Seattle Accelerator 9Mile Labs Wants To Build On TechStars Model

Three startup devotees are launching a new accelerator program called 9Mile Labs in a bid to boost support for technology entrepreneurs in the Seattle area, testing demand in the burgeoning—some say bubbling—market for business incubators. Sandy Sharma, Sanjay Puri, and Kevin Croy are technology executives with experience founding or working at about a dozen startups … Continue reading “New Seattle Accelerator 9Mile Labs Wants To Build On TechStars Model”

Ending the Culture of Illness through Healthy Eating

[Editor’s note: To tap the wisdom of our distinguished group of Xconomists, we asked a few of them to answer this question heading into 2013: What makes you optimistic?] As a person who has worked in the healthcare field for over 25 years, I am extremely optimistic about the recent trend towards the democratization of healthful behavior and … Continue reading “Ending the Culture of Illness through Healthy Eating”

Making a Case For Boston JP Morgan

Mens et manus. It’s Latin for “mind and hands” and just happens to be the school motto of MIT. I suspect these words are etched somewhere above a concrete arch that serves as an entrance into one of the halls of learning of this renowned technical university; much the way some of the world’s most … Continue reading “Making a Case For Boston JP Morgan”

City Hill Leads $6M Financing to Pioneer RA Diagnostics at Ignyta

San Diego-based Ignyta, founded in 2011 as NexDx with a focus on improving the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, says today its Series B financing has expanded to $5.5 million—about $2.5 million more than its original target. With a $500,000 loan provided in June by Silicon Valley Bank, Ignyta says its Series B financing … Continue reading “City Hill Leads $6M Financing to Pioneer RA Diagnostics at Ignyta”

FDA Approves J&J Drug for Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis

The Food & Drug Administration today approved the first drug to treat multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE: [[ticker:JNJ]]) bedaquiline (Sirturo), an important breakthrough in the global fight against one of the world’s deadliest diseases. Made by J&J’s Janssen Therapeutics division, based in Titusville, NJ, bedaquiline is meant for patients who have failed to … Continue reading “FDA Approves J&J Drug for Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis”

Misfit Wearables Puts Design First in New Activity Tracker

Misfit Wearables cofounder and CEO Sonny Vu learned a valuable lesson at his last company, AgaMatrix. The mobile health startup produced a blood glucose meter called the iBGStar, which allows users to check, monitor and share their readings on their iPhones. With only a glucose strip and the iPhone plug-in, users could track and analyze … Continue reading “Misfit Wearables Puts Design First in New Activity Tracker”

New York Got Smarter, Dressed Sharper, and Faced Off with Failure in 2012

Adolescence can be a tough and fascinating period of discovery—even for New York’s innovation community. At the onset of 2012, education technology startups in the city trumpeted their platforms for sharing knowledge via the cloud and social networks. Other technology sectors, e-commerce especially, saw rapid evolution as once-hot daily deals faded further from the spotlight. … Continue reading “New York Got Smarter, Dressed Sharper, and Faced Off with Failure in 2012”

5 Boston Tech Companies Not to Watch in 2013

Everyone, including me, has been talking about which innovative companies people should keep an eye on in the coming year. Zzzzzz … there are plenty of those companies, and too many of those articles. I’m here to tell you about something that might actually be more important: which companies not to watch. Maybe they’re not … Continue reading “5 Boston Tech Companies Not to Watch in 2013”

The Fiscal Cliff Is Forcing a Biomedical Day of Reckoning

Sarah Palin, the onetime candidate for the second-highest elected office in the U.S., once delivered a rant on the campaign trail about waste she perceived in federal support of fruit fly research. Scientists everywhere were appalled. Regardless of whether Palin knew about the historic importance of the drosophila to genetics, they were furious that a … Continue reading “The Fiscal Cliff Is Forcing a Biomedical Day of Reckoning”

Some Xconomy San Diego Predictions for 2013

Editor’s note: As a New Year’s exercise, we asked a select group of Xconomists to answer this question: “What does your gut tell you will happen in 2013, even though you don’t have data to prove it? Here’s a sampling from several San Diego Xconomists: Ramesh Rao: Surreptitious behavioral data gathering and the appearance of … Continue reading “Some Xconomy San Diego Predictions for 2013”

The War on Success Will Rage On

[Editor’s note: To tap the wisdom of our distinguished group of Xconomists, we asked a few of them to answer this question heading into 2013: “What does your gut tell you will happen this year even though you don’t have data to prove it?”] The war on success will continue on and capital gains taxes will … Continue reading “The War on Success Will Rage On”

The Year In New York Biotech—Still Trying to Make It Here

It’s been a year and a half since Xconomy added New York to the cities it covers. I came on as New York Editor in October, taking over from Arlene Weintraub, who pioneered coverage here, knowing that the city is a rich source of tech stories and more than deserving of Xconomy’s focus. It might … Continue reading “The Year In New York Biotech—Still Trying to Make It Here”

Editor’s Picks: Xconomy Seattle’s Best Stories of 2012

When you work on news at Internet speed, it’s sometimes hard to remember what you did last week. Maybe that’s why I enjoy this annual ritual of sifting through the best journalism of the year that appeared on Xconomy Seattle. This task reminds me that we’ve published a lot of interesting, important, and exclusive stories … Continue reading “Editor’s Picks: Xconomy Seattle’s Best Stories of 2012”

A Pivotal Year in Mobile, Energy, Automobiles, Education

[Editor’s note: To tap the wisdom of our distinguished group of Xconomists, we asked a few of them to answer this question heading into 2013: What does your gut tell you will happen in the coming year even though you don’t have data to prove it?] This is a pivotal year in mobile, we are seeing the … Continue reading “A Pivotal Year in Mobile, Energy, Automobiles, Education”

Detroit in 2012: The Year Our Tech Scene Became Legit

Late December is the time for media reflection, so let me officially say in this space that Detroit has had a hell of a year. A breakthrough year, just as I hoped it would when I wrote the 2011 wrap-up piece last December. In 2012, Detroit’s nascent tech scene finally gained recognition and legitimacy in … Continue reading “Detroit in 2012: The Year Our Tech Scene Became Legit”

The Top Stories of 2012 from Xconomy San Francisco

It’s fun to look back at our Web traffic statistics once in a while, because the stories that prove most popular with readers aren’t always the ones we would expect. I wasn’t surprised that our series of stories this year about Google (looking at Google Transit, Google’s M&A strategy, the Google Lunar X Prize, and … Continue reading “The Top Stories of 2012 from Xconomy San Francisco”

Xconomy Boston’s Top 20 Stories of the Year: Editor’s Picks

‘Tis the season to be jolly—and to recap the top stories of the year from Xconomy Boston. As always, these aren’t necessarily the highest-traffic stories, though in some cases they are. More importantly, they are stories that best represent what we as a staff try to deliver to our readers every day: real stories, features, … Continue reading “Xconomy Boston’s Top 20 Stories of the Year: Editor’s Picks”

A Banner Year for New Drugs

[Editor’s note: To tap the wisdom of our distinguished group of Xconomists, we asked a few of them to answer this question heading into 2013: “What does your gut tell you will happen this year even though you don’t have data to prove it?”] I think there will be even more FDA approvals for New Molecular … Continue reading “A Banner Year for New Drugs”

Paper and Airplanes: The Long Road to Obsolescence

As the years go by, I increasingly find the history of the future as interesting as the future itself. We’ve all seen lists of incredibly bad technological predictions, and of course it’s always fun to smugly reflect on how wrong a smart person can be. Grandiose predictions of the future of technology often lead to … Continue reading “Paper and Airplanes: The Long Road to Obsolescence”

Amazon’s Boston Expansion: Cloud, Kiva, Digital Product Jobs

The news that Amazon would finally bring its huge appetite for technical talent to the Boston area was a welcome year-end revelation for the local tech scene. But it also left plenty of room for speculation—namely, just what are they working on over there? I didn’t get any comment from Amazon headquarters in Seattle, which … Continue reading “Amazon’s Boston Expansion: Cloud, Kiva, Digital Product Jobs”

Tough B Rounds and Valuations, New Business Models in 2013

[Editor’s note: To tap the wisdom of our distinguished group of Xconomists, we asked a few of them to answer this question heading into 2013: “What does your gut tell you will happen this year even though you don’t have data to prove it?”] I expect many companies looking for their Series B rounds to … Continue reading “Tough B Rounds and Valuations, New Business Models in 2013”

Water Mission to Israel (Day 4): Bringing It All Back Home

Wednesday, December 19th, marked the last day the full delegation was together in Israel. Several members headed for the airport to catch late-night flights after the final dinner, while a number of smaller groups are remaining behind to pursue additional meetings and touring activities over the coming days. The morning sessions were dedicated to open … Continue reading “Water Mission to Israel (Day 4): Bringing It All Back Home”

Lee Hood, Bob Langer Win National Medals

[Updated: 8:40 pm ET/5:40 pm PT] Leroy Hood, the man who transformed biology by leading the team that invented automated DNA sequencers, has picked up one of the highest honors a scientist can get in the United States—the National Medal of Science. Hood, the co-founder and president of the Seattle-based Institute for Systems Biology, was named … Continue reading “Lee Hood, Bob Langer Win National Medals”

NPS Wins First FDA Approval, for Short Bowel Syndrome Drug

NPS Pharmaceuticals  (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NPSP]]) finally scored today with its first FDA drug approval since its founding 26 years ago. The agency said it approved teduglutide (Gattex) for adults with short bowel syndrome who do not receive enough nutrition from intravenous feeding, which is standard treatment for this rare and often fatal disease. The approval wasn’t … Continue reading “NPS Wins First FDA Approval, for Short Bowel Syndrome Drug”

Spreading Good Cheer, and Yankee Candle Scents, with Robot Add-Ons

If you’re still looking for that perfect holiday gift, the folks at Georgetown, MA-based Robot Add-Ons have some ideas. One of them is a charming accessory that lets a Roomba vacuum cleaner spread Yankee Candle fragrance around your home. I know what you’re thinking. It’s not a lit candle moving around on the back of … Continue reading “Spreading Good Cheer, and Yankee Candle Scents, with Robot Add-Ons”

Water Mission to Israel (Day 3): Startup Day in Startup Nation

Tuesday, December 18th, was the midpoint of the Mission agenda and the centerpiece event of the trip. The Massachusetts Delegation hosted the W.E.T. Revolution at Tel Aviv University in the lovely and historic Green House, which was apparently originally built as part of a Palestinian Village, and at various times since has been part of … Continue reading “Water Mission to Israel (Day 3): Startup Day in Startup Nation”

An Xconomy Experiment in Crowdfunding, Colorado Style

Back in 2007, when Bob Buderi tapped out the first news story for the Xconomy Boston website, he wrote, “Ours is a grassroots endeavor, supported by some of the world’s great innovators and business leaders.” Our founding CEO and editor-in-chief took their lessons of entrepreneurship to heart—assembling a team of extraordinarily talented journalists who have … Continue reading “An Xconomy Experiment in Crowdfunding, Colorado Style”

20 Must-Have Apps for That Tablet Under the Tree

It’s time for the third annual version of “iStocking Stuffers,” the holiday apps edition of my weekly column World Wide Wade. The slide show above covers 20 of my favorite apps from 2012, which makes it my longest list yet: the 2010 edition of this guide had just 10 apps, and the 2011 version had 15. … Continue reading “20 Must-Have Apps for That Tablet Under the Tree”

Madrona Invests $4.2m in 2nd Watch; TechStars’ MobileDevHQ Funded

It’s time to squeeze in a couple more local deals before Christmas. Madrona Venture Group is investing in a cloud services provider, and MobileDevHQ, a graduate of TechStars Seattle, has secured some new angel investment. The details: —Madrona is leading a $4.2 million investment in 2nd Watch, which helps companies use public clouds, such as … Continue reading “Madrona Invests $4.2m in 2nd Watch; TechStars’ MobileDevHQ Funded”

East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Blend, Amicus, Vertex, & More

Christmas came early for a bunch of biotech startups in the form of new funds, while Amicus and Vertex got only coal in their stocking. —- On Tuesday, Avaxia Biologics, based in Lexington, MA, pulled in $6.4 million in a Series B financing, which will help pay for its first clinical trial of AVX-70, a … Continue reading “East Coast Life Sciences Roundup: Blend, Amicus, Vertex, & More”

Protean Payment’s Echo Card: The Only Card You’ll Ever Need?

If you’re like me, your wallet is bulging with cards. Debit card, library card, loyalty cards, gift cards, etc. They’re stacked up in the little sleeves and can sometimes be a real pain in the arse to wiggle free. But an Ann Arbor-based startup called Protean Payment has a solution: Its Echo card and accompanying … Continue reading “Protean Payment’s Echo Card: The Only Card You’ll Ever Need?”

MediaFriends, Maker of HeyWire and Bandwagon, Looks to Break Out in 2013

There’s a mobile-tech company in the Boston area that doesn’t get as much attention as it probably should. Maybe because it has too many names: MediaFriends, HeyWire, Bandwagon (and going back further, Integra5). Maybe because it has been quiet about its fundraising ($30 million to date, from investors including Lauder Partners and Benchmark Capital). Or … Continue reading “MediaFriends, Maker of HeyWire and Bandwagon, Looks to Break Out in 2013”