An appellate court ruling could spell relief for the heartburn that Santarus has been feeling over the past couple of years. We have the latest developments, along with the rest of San Diego’s life sciences news. —San Diego-based Santarus (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SNTS]]) said it partially won a federal appeals court ruling regarding patents Santarus had asserted … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: Santarus, Shire, Illumina, & More”
Category: National
Eye Candy: Gazelle, Smarterer, & Ion Interactive Release Graphics
Today is infographics day. I have come across three charts that are worthy of your consumption. They span the fields of mobile devices, marketing tech, and human resources. So fire up your biggest monitor and follow these links to techie enlightenment… —Marketing Technology Landscape, from Scott Brinker at Ion Interactive, will give you a headache … Continue reading “Eye Candy: Gazelle, Smarterer, & Ion Interactive Release Graphics”
EMC, Actifio, Google Ventures Join “Future of Big Data” Program on Oct. 24
We’ve been overwhelmed with the response to our announcement of the Xconomy forum on “The Future of Big Data” on October 24, at the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology in Boston. Tickets have been selling like iPhones—we’re on pace to sell out well before the date. And everyone and their brother in tech (and healthcare, … Continue reading “EMC, Actifio, Google Ventures Join “Future of Big Data” Program on Oct. 24″
Secondary Markets and the Venture Economy: Friend, Not Foe
For decades the venture capital economy of Silicon Valley has been the epitome of technological and business model innovation. Yet some of even the most forward-thinking VCs have bristled at the emergence of market-driven secondary investment exchanges (secondary markets). Before Facebook went public, sales of the company’s shares on the secondary markets brought unprecedented visibility … Continue reading “Secondary Markets and the Venture Economy: Friend, Not Foe”
Chartio Gives Tools to a New Generation of Database Jockeys
Even though data is more important than ever—whole businesses are built around collecting it, analyzing it, and repackaging it—you don’t see a lot of CEOs boasting that their companies are “data driven” anymore. That would be like saying that your car is “road based” or that your refrigerator is “cold driven.” It’s so obvious that … Continue reading “Chartio Gives Tools to a New Generation of Database Jockeys”
TriPlay Thinks It Can Outmaneuver Apple iCloud in Sharing Across Devices
Everyone seems to want a piece of the cloud storage-action these days, making it a challenge to stand out. Apple iCloud and Google Drive are two of the better-known file sharing services in use today, but New York’s TriPlay says its technology offers access and flexibility its rivals have yet to match. With a recent … Continue reading “TriPlay Thinks It Can Outmaneuver Apple iCloud in Sharing Across Devices”
Zymeworks Hits Antibody Drug Milestone For Merck, Raises $11M
One year ago, Zymeworks was a little company that hardly anybody in the U.S. biotech or pharmaceutical industry had ever heard of. Then it formed a collaboration worth as much as $187 million with Merck (NYSE: [[ticker:MRK]]). Suddenly, it seemed to Zymeworks CEO Ali Tehrani like everybody in the pharma industry wanted to hear about … Continue reading “Zymeworks Hits Antibody Drug Milestone For Merck, Raises $11M”
SweetLabs Offers an Option for PCs in Desperate Need of a Makeover
As a startup aiming to disrupt the personal computing continuum, San Diego’s SweetLabs represents an intriguing challenge to the Microsoft juggernaut. With the new Windows 8 operating system scheduled for general availability next month, SweetLabs recently completed beta testing its Pokki technology for the desktop PC, saying Pokki now has more than 1 million monthly … Continue reading “SweetLabs Offers an Option for PCs in Desperate Need of a Makeover”
Nokia & Microsoft: Features Alone Can’t Win the Smartphone War
After a long debut party in New York, the latest best chance for Nokia and Microsoft to make a dent in the smartphone market is finally upon us. From afar, the list of features and ideas packed into the two new Nokia phones looked pretty impressive. In a world of iPhone clones, Windows Phone remains … Continue reading “Nokia & Microsoft: Features Alone Can’t Win the Smartphone War”
Zillow Raising $130M Through Secondary Share Sale
Online real estate service-provider Zillow, the most recent Seattle-area tech company to hit the public stock market, is seeking to raise round $130 million by selling off nearly 3.2 million common shares. Several insiders, including co-founders Lloyd Frink and Rich Barton, also are cashing out some Zillow stock. That’s a much bigger haul than the … Continue reading “Zillow Raising $130M Through Secondary Share Sale”
U-M’s New Drug Discovery Center to Commercialize Research
Last week, the University of Michigan announced a new Center for the Discovery of New Medicines (CDNM) to help speed the school’s research findings to the marketplace. The new initiative is a cross-departmental effort to leverage resources like former Pfizer researchers, unique libraries of compounds, and a culture of data sharing to streamline early-stage drug … Continue reading “U-M’s New Drug Discovery Center to Commercialize Research”
Workday, Nebula, SV Angel: Bay Area Tech News By the Numbers
It’s been a while since our last roundup of recent Bay Area technology investing news, so let’s catch up a little. From biggest to smallest: $400 million—The amount that Pleasanton, CA-based Workday hopes to raise in an upcoming IPO, according to SEC filings released last week. The company builds cloud-based applications for human resources, payroll, accounting, … Continue reading “Workday, Nebula, SV Angel: Bay Area Tech News By the Numbers”
Stephen Wolfram on the Singularity
Last month, I posted a story about which Boston-area innovators subscribe to the belief that there will be a technological “singularity,” as popularized by Ray Kurzweil and Vernor Vinge. The idea is that a superhuman artificial intelligence will emerge in a few decades, thereby creating an event horizon beyond which humans cannot fathom—and leading to … Continue reading “Stephen Wolfram on the Singularity”
One Year after Being Acquired, Hipcricket at Core of Augme’s Strategy
There can be a lot of noise in the advertising scene in New York, which overflows with players scrambling for dominance—especially on the mobile front. Mobile marketing and advertising services company Hipcricket, a transplant from the Seattle area, continues to grow in spite of mounting competition. Hipcricket barged into this crowded landscape one year ago … Continue reading “One Year after Being Acquired, Hipcricket at Core of Augme’s Strategy”
Would Longer Drug Patents Really Lead to Lower Drug Prices?
Imagine needing a drug to save your life, finding one that is likely to work, and then realizing you can’t afford it. This was the ironic situation that recently confronted a research physician who was diagnosed with leukemia, the very disease he had devoted his life to studying. Fortunately, the doctor’s friends raised the money … Continue reading “Would Longer Drug Patents Really Lead to Lower Drug Prices?”
Copiun, Dyn, Viewfinity, and More from the Boston Deals Roundup
[Updated 9/05/12 10:10 am. See below.] We’ve seen deals across New England developers of technology in the mobile, packaging, security, and energy spaces. —Boston-based SimpleTuition, an online provider of resources on college costs, inked a $5 million loan financing from Connecticut-based Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HRZN]]). —A few local startups revealed new financing deals through SEC … Continue reading “Copiun, Dyn, Viewfinity, and More from the Boston Deals Roundup”
Korrio Adds $4.6M to Expand Youth Sports Sites
Korrio, the Seattle-based startup that offers websites to help grownups organize youth sports leagues, has raised another $4.6 million from existing investors. That brings the total venture investment in the company to nearly $8 million. Korrio, founded in 2009, offers an online service corrals game and practice updates, and can also handle team registration, payments, and … Continue reading “Korrio Adds $4.6M to Expand Youth Sports Sites”
Detroit Startup Chalkfly Helps Customers Give Back to Schools
As a new school year starts today for Detroit kids, a new Bizdom startup has launched that allows customers to help make lives of local students and teachers a little bit easier. It’s called Chalkfly, an office and school supplies website that donates 5 percent from each purchase back to the schools or teachers of the … Continue reading “Detroit Startup Chalkfly Helps Customers Give Back to Schools”
Running on Two-Year Cycle, Avalon Ventures Lands $200M for Tenth Fund
Healthy venture firms typically raise new funds every three to four years, but Avalon Ventures, which is based in San Diego and Cambridge, MA, appears to be operating closer to a two-year cycle. The venture firm, which invests early in both life sciences and Web technology startups, has secured $201.6 million for its tenth fund, … Continue reading “Running on Two-Year Cycle, Avalon Ventures Lands $200M for Tenth Fund”
India vs. Silicon Valley: A SaaSy War
Software as a service (SaaS) probably grew in popularity as quickly as it did thanks to Salesforce.com. The customer relationship management (CRM) giant made the lives of sales professionals much easier, and the platform soon gained traction as a handy tool for non-sales professionals as well. But Salesforce.com wasn’t—and still isn’t—affordable for everybody. Enter Zoho, … Continue reading “India vs. Silicon Valley: A SaaSy War”
WikiCell Whips Up $10M from Flagship and Polaris for Edible Food Packaging
No, Julian Assange is not involved. Not as far as we know, anyway. WikiCell Designs, a startup based in Cambridge, MA, and Paris, France, said today it has closed $10 million in Series A funding led by Flagship Ventures and Polaris Venture Partners. The idea behind the company is to produce edible forms of food … Continue reading “WikiCell Whips Up $10M from Flagship and Polaris for Edible Food Packaging”
Pulmatrix Names Clarke CEO, Releases Promising Data on Lung Drug
Lexington, MA-based Pulmatrix, which is developing inhalable therapies for a variety of lung disorders, said today it is promoting chief scientific officer Robert Clarke to CEO. He will be replacing former CEO Robert Connelly, who is leaving Pulmatrix to become CEO of Cambridge, MA-based startup WikiCell, which he co-founded. Connelly will remain on the board … Continue reading “Pulmatrix Names Clarke CEO, Releases Promising Data on Lung Drug”
NYC Bio Luminaries to Gather Oct. 4th for Xconomy Xchange
Xconomy is gearing up for what’s sure to be a stimulating panel event, Xconomy Xchange: Reinventing Biotech’s Business Model for the Big Apple, which will be held the evening of Thursday, October 4. But the early bird discount is ending in just a couple of days, so order your tickets today. The evening will feature … Continue reading “NYC Bio Luminaries to Gather Oct. 4th for Xconomy Xchange”
Fearless Football and Biotech Picks For Fall 2012
Football season starts this week, which means a few things to me. Summer vacation season is over, people’s batteries should be recharged, and it’s time to start fresh at work and school. This is also the time of year I look for lessons and storylines from America’s most popular spectator sport for ways to liven … Continue reading “Fearless Football and Biotech Picks For Fall 2012”
Medivation Wins FDA Approval of Prostate Cancer Drug
[Updated: 3:10 pm ET] The FDA usually waits until the last-minute deadline to finish its review of whether to approve a new drug for sale in the U.S. But the agency has given San Francisco-based Medivation clearance to start selling its prostate cancer drug today—about three months ahead of its statutory deadline. Medivation (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MDVN]]) … Continue reading “Medivation Wins FDA Approval of Prostate Cancer Drug”
8 Things We Learned This Summer About the Boston Tech Scene
Before you head out for the long holiday weekend—well, some of you—I wanted to remind you of one thing. Boston innovation scene, I am watching you. I am watching you because you are changing before my eyes. Some of it is surprising, some of it isn’t. Some of it is of local interest, but most … Continue reading “8 Things We Learned This Summer About the Boston Tech Scene”
Phones on Flights: The New Mobile Madness
Earlier this week I was in seat 27D on an American Airlines 737 flying from Dallas-Fort Worth to San Francisco. We were descending into SFO on the final leg of the flight when I glanced across the aisle and was surprised to see that the people in 27B and 27C—an older gentleman and a young … Continue reading “Phones on Flights: The New Mobile Madness”
The Recipe for Success Behind Elevation Pharmaceuticals’ $430M Deal
What was Bill Gerhart’s recipe for success at San Diego’s Elevation Pharmaceuticals? Less than four years ago, Gerhart took a glycoyrrolate, a generic drug approved decades ago by the FDA, and set out to reformulate the compound for use with a nebulizer for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Gerhart … Continue reading “The Recipe for Success Behind Elevation Pharmaceuticals’ $430M Deal”
VLST Scoops Up Antibody for Cancer From Pfizer
Biopharmaceutical companies, sooner or later, must get drug candidates moving through clinical trials where most of the value gets created for investors. VLST has spent eight long years working to get to that point, and now it has its first product ready to roll in tests of human beings. The Seattle-based biotech company is announcing … Continue reading “VLST Scoops Up Antibody for Cancer From Pfizer”
It’s Time to Woo More Foreign Students and Companies, Says Paul Krutko
Paul Krutko is the president and CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK, the city’s economic development agency. He’s just back from Washington, D.C., where he was part of a delegation—along with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Mike Finney; JoAnn Crary, president of Saginaw Future; and Ray Byers, Wayne County’s chief economic development officer—who attended this week’s … Continue reading “It’s Time to Woo More Foreign Students and Companies, Says Paul Krutko”
Sunovion, Ironwood, OvaScience, & More Boston Life Sciences Newsmakers
[Corrected 8/31/12, 10:15 am. See below.] No slowdown in this unofficial last week of summer. We saw plenty of activity with partnerships, funding, IPO filings, and FDA approvals among New England life sciences companies. —Agriculture giant Monsanto is buying worldwide rights to Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’ (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) RNAi-based technology for use in farming. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech is … Continue reading “Sunovion, Ironwood, OvaScience, & More Boston Life Sciences Newsmakers”
Amazon’s Fuzzy Math: Stop Encouraging Them
Amazon is ramping up its marketing push for a big product announcement right after Labor Day weekend, which will surely be a new Kindle Fire tablet and perhaps additional e-ink Kindle readers. And since we’re talking about Amazon, that means it’s time for another round of handcrafted statistics meant to convey huge sales numbers. Unfortunately, most … Continue reading “Amazon’s Fuzzy Math: Stop Encouraging Them”
Sunovion Targets Respiratory Drug in $430M Deal for Elevation Pharma
[Updated throughout 8/30/12 2:00 pm.] Sticking with a lean business model has paid off big for San Diego’s Elevation Pharmaceuticals, which has agreed to a buyout offer from Marlborough, MA-based Sunovion Pharmaceuticals that could eventually be worth as much as $430 million. With the deal, Sunovion (a subsidiary of the Japanese drug maker Dainippon Sumitomo) … Continue reading “Sunovion Targets Respiratory Drug in $430M Deal for Elevation Pharma”
Vecna Designs Mobile Health Systems for Rural Care
How do you design an electronic health records interface for people who are computer illiterate? And for use in locations where electricity is scarce? Vecna Technologies, the Cambridge, MA-based healthcare IT and robotics company, is taking a crack at this problem with the Global Health Initiative, which it runs with the non-profit Vecna Cares Foundation. … Continue reading “Vecna Designs Mobile Health Systems for Rural Care”
San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: PrecisionMed, Acutus, & More
It’s been a light week for new developments among San Diego’s biotech and medical device companies. Here’s a very quick rundown. —PrecisionMed, a Solana Beach, CA-based supplier of human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), said it has begun to enroll up to 2,000 donors in an Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Registry. The ALS Registry would be used … Continue reading “San Diego Life Sciences Roundup: PrecisionMed, Acutus, & More”
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Wins FDA Approval For Constipation Drug
[Updated 3:23 pm ET] Ironwood Pharmaceuticals CEO Peter Hecht is fond of saying he wants to build the next great pharmaceutical company, and now he’ll have a chance to prove it. The company was cleared today by the FDA to start selling its first drug in the U.S. Cambridge, MA-based Ironwood (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRWD]]) was given … Continue reading “Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Wins FDA Approval For Constipation Drug”
Why Yammer Said Yes to Microsoft: Q&A with Co-founder David Sacks
I’ve been meaning to catch up with David Sacks, the co-founder and CEO of Yammer, for a while now, and we actually had a meeting on the books for June 6 at the company’s SoMa headquarters. That meeting got canceled, for reasons that went totally unexplained at the time. But it turns out that the … Continue reading “Why Yammer Said Yes to Microsoft: Q&A with Co-founder David Sacks”
OvaScience, Founded by Sirtris Vets, Plans IPO
Boston-based OvaScience, which is developing infertility treatments based on stem cell science, filed documents with the SEC announcing its plans to go public. According to the filing, the company intends to register 7.6 million shares that have been sold to private investors and to trade on the over-the-counter exchange. OvaScience was founded on technology developed at … Continue reading “OvaScience, Founded by Sirtris Vets, Plans IPO”
Jun Group CTO Fears Salary Bubble Pushing Tech Sector to the Brink
Concerns about a rising shortage of developers and engineers may be driving somewhat unrealistic expectations among entry-level tech hires. And that will make it all that more difficult for small companies to lure in talent. David Wood, chief technology officer for Jun Group in New York, says his company—the developer of an opt-in, social video … Continue reading “Jun Group CTO Fears Salary Bubble Pushing Tech Sector to the Brink”
Evelo Aims to Tap into Burgeoning Electric Bicycle Commuting Trend
What do peer-to-peer car sharing and electric bicycles have in common? They represent a shift in consumer attitudes towards transportation, says Boston-area entrepreneur Boris Mordkovich. “It’s really interesting to see the perceptions people have about car ownership,” Mordkovich says. “Years ago, owning a car meant freedom and flexibility. Right now people are looking for a … Continue reading “Evelo Aims to Tap into Burgeoning Electric Bicycle Commuting Trend”
Vision or Hallucination? Founders and Pivots
A founder’s skill is knowing how to recognize new patterns and to pivot on a dime. At times the pattern is noise, and the vision turns out to be a hallucination. Knowing how to sort between vision and hallucination can avoid chaos inside your startup. ——— Yuri, one of my ex students, started a big-data … Continue reading “Vision or Hallucination? Founders and Pivots”
Microsoft’s Sneak-Attack on Apple: SkyDrive, Xbox Live Show the Way
Microsoft won’t compete with Apple by going head-to-head in the hardware business. But the software pioneer could still climb back into the fight by offering connected software services that work on every platform—including Apple’s. That’s the read from Charlie Kindel, a Seattle-area entrepreneur and angel investor who spent some 20 years at Microsoft. In a … Continue reading “Microsoft’s Sneak-Attack on Apple: SkyDrive, Xbox Live Show the Way”
MIT Startup Flyberry Capital Emerges with Big-Data Hedge Fund
In the good old days—say, the early ‘90s—math and physics PhDs who wanted to make lots of money became quantitative analysts, or quants, on Wall Street. Now, they just start their own hedge funds. It isn’t that simple, of course, but here’s a case in point: Flyberry Capital, a one-year-old startup in Cambridge, MA, founded … Continue reading “MIT Startup Flyberry Capital Emerges with Big-Data Hedge Fund”
Matrix Genetics Snags Investment from Avista for Algae Biofuel
Matrix Genetics is pursuing the dream of turning algae into the workhorses of oil production, and now it has gotten some financing to go after it. The Seattle-based startup, led by Margaret McCormick, said today it has secured an investment from Avista Development, the venture arm of Spokane, WA-based energy company Avista (NYSE: [[ticker:AVA]]). The … Continue reading “Matrix Genetics Snags Investment from Avista for Algae Biofuel”
SpiderOak: The Online Backup and Sharing Service Where Privacy Counts
When it comes to putting your data in the cloud, the options seem to fall into two familiar groups. There are services like Carbonite and Mozy for backing up individual computers, and then there are services like Dropbox or Box for accessing or synchronizing files across many computers. But maybe that isn’t all there is. … Continue reading “SpiderOak: The Online Backup and Sharing Service Where Privacy Counts”
Ziopharm Awaits Cancer Drug Data as Wall Street Withholds Judgment
Jonathan Lewis, the CEO of New York-based Ziopharm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZIOP]]), was stunned earlier this year when he ran across a commercial on YouTube produced by his company’s biggest investor, Fidelity. In the video (see below), a young man makes a bold prediction: “Within 50 years we could have more life forms invented in the lab … Continue reading “Ziopharm Awaits Cancer Drug Data as Wall Street Withholds Judgment”
Xconomist of the Week: Josh Linkner On Detroit “Getting Back Its Mojo”
Detroit Venture Partners CEO and managing partner Josh Linkner, with his success as a serial entrepreneur, venture fund backed by Quicken Loans founder and chairman Dan Gilbert, and unwavering commitment to nurturing Motor City startups, has become an icon of the city’s revitalization. He’s the kind of guy other investors all over the country—and I … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Josh Linkner On Detroit “Getting Back Its Mojo””
Amid Wave of Bioinspiration, San Diego Zoo Creates Innovation Center
Over the past few years, the San Diego Zoo has generated a new revenue stream by developing a variety of educational and business programs focused on biomimicry, a school of thought often described as “innovation inspired by nature.” Using its in-house expertise in conservation, zoology, botany, and other fields, the zoo has organized conferences, developed … Continue reading “Amid Wave of Bioinspiration, San Diego Zoo Creates Innovation Center”
Alnylam, OmniGuide, Ginger Software, and More from the Boston Deals Roundup
New England software makers, biotech companies, and startup incubators have been pumping out deals news in the last week. —Westford, MA-based RiverMeadow Software, whose technology helps migrate servers to the cloud, raised $5 million of a targeted $10.7 million equity-based offering, according to an SEC filing. —Ginger Software, a Lexington, MA-based maker of proofreading software, … Continue reading “Alnylam, OmniGuide, Ginger Software, and More from the Boston Deals Roundup”
RealNetworks Cutting 160, as Glaser Promises New Direction
RealNetworks is cutting another 160 jobs as part of a re-organization being led by founder and newly returned CEO Rob Glaser. The Seattle company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RNWK]]) disclosed the plans in a regulatory filing today. Glaser also sent out a company-wide memo, which he posted on his personal Facebook account. The job cuts will reduce Real’s … Continue reading “RealNetworks Cutting 160, as Glaser Promises New Direction”