Category: National

Affymax Shares Climb As FDA Considers Wider Use for Anemia Drug

[Corrected: 3:48 pm, 12/7/11] Investors have had pretty low expectations about the prospects for Affymax’s anemia drug, which seeks to challenge Amgen’s 22-year monopoly in the field. But the expectations are starting to rise today, as Affymax approaches its make-or-break moment. Palo Alto, CA-based Affymax (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AFFY]]) saw its shares rise more than 20 percent … Continue reading “Affymax Shares Climb As FDA Considers Wider Use for Anemia Drug”

EnVivo Posts Positive Trial of Schizophrenia Drug

Watertown, MA-based EnVivo Pharmaceuticals presented results from a Phase 2b study of its schizophrenia compound, EVP-6124, today at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology meeting in Hawaii. The drug demonstrated statistically significant improvements in cognitive function—the study’s main endpoint—the company said in a statement. Improvements were also observed in so-called negative symptoms of the disease—the inability … Continue reading “EnVivo Posts Positive Trial of Schizophrenia Drug”

Dave Balter Joins Nicole Stata’s Boston Seed Capital as VC Fund Ramps Up

The Boston ecosystem for tech startup investing just got a little more active. Boston Seed Capital said today it has hired Dave Balter, the CEO of BzzAgent, as a venture advisor (see photo, right). Balter joins Peter Blacklow from Worldwinner, now executive vice president of digital for GSN, as a top advisor to the fund. … Continue reading “Dave Balter Joins Nicole Stata’s Boston Seed Capital as VC Fund Ramps Up”

Health Startups And Bigwigs Crowd Into First NYC Health IT Showcase

For two days last week, the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) hosted presentations and exhibits from 43 companies eager to show off their health IT initiatives. The gathering attracted big names like UnitedHealth and GE, as well as nine startups seeking to make a name in health IT. The organizers of NYeC were stunned by … Continue reading “Health Startups And Bigwigs Crowd Into First NYC Health IT Showcase”

UTest, Boosted by Surge in Mobile App Development, Inks $17M

UTest, a Southborough, MA-based startup that crowdsources testing for software applications, said today that it has raised a $17 million Series D financing, at a company valuation that more than doubled since uTest’s last funding round 15 months ago. Baltimore, MD-based QuestMark Partners led the investment, which also included all existing uTest investors: Scale Venture … Continue reading “UTest, Boosted by Surge in Mobile App Development, Inks $17M”

Steve Jobs’s Dying Realization About Biology and Technology

Take a guess who made the following statement: “I think the biggest innovations of the 21st century will be at the intersection of biology and technology. A new era is beginning.” A. Bill Gates B. Steve Jobs C. Paul Allen The comment has gotten little attention in the last few weeks, but it jumped off … Continue reading “Steve Jobs’s Dying Realization About Biology and Technology”

iPubSci: An Alternative to Unaffordable Science Journals

Advances in the biomedical sciences are highly dependent upon researchers having a clear understanding of the current state of knowledge. This information is primarily acquired by having access to the scientific literature via professional journals and, less commonly, books. Unfortunately, this body of literature has not only expanded greatly over the past few decades, most … Continue reading “iPubSci: An Alternative to Unaffordable Science Journals”

The Immunex Impact: Some Great Memories and Photos

What was it, I asked last night, that made Immunex so special? Co-founder Steve Gillis summed it all up pretty succinctly, as usual. “It was the people,” Gillis said. The brainpower, entrepreneurial spirit, good humor, and camaraderie from Seattle’s pioneering biotech company were all on display last night at our big event, “The Immunex Impact.” … Continue reading “The Immunex Impact: Some Great Memories and Photos”

U-M Competition Helps Earliest Stage Startups Refine Business Models

The Michigan Business Challenge, a four-month business plan competition sponsored by the University of Michigan’s Zell Lurie Institute, kicks off today in Ann Arbor. Student teams will compete for $60,000, gaining valuable feedback and broadening networks along the way. And the public is invited to watch at every step. Tim Faley, managing director of the institute … Continue reading “U-M Competition Helps Earliest Stage Startups Refine Business Models”

Oncothyreon CEO Bob Kirkman Returns from Medical Leave

Bob Kirkman, the CEO of Seattle-based Oncothyreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ONTY]]), took an unexplained medical leave from the company back in September. The company said at the time he’d return in the fourth quarter of 2011, but now it’s official that he’s back on the job as CEO, Xconomy has learned. “Bob is back,” says Christopher Henney, … Continue reading “Oncothyreon CEO Bob Kirkman Returns from Medical Leave”

Infinity, Idera, Civitas, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences Headlines

Medical device makers, drug developers, charity foundations, and health IT startups rounded out the New England life sciences news pot this week. —Cambridge, MA-based MedicalRecords.com is raising $500,000 to put toward the development of its website, which connects sellers of electronic medical records software with doctors looking to adopt the technology. —Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, a New … Continue reading “Infinity, Idera, Civitas, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences Headlines”

WeVideo Makes Cloud Video Editing Look Like Kids’ Stuff

Video editing software is way too hard to use. At least, that seems to be what most consumers think. It explains why most of the videos you’ll find on YouTube and other video sharing sites are so raw, with no cuts, titles, or other effects. Apparently, people have a hard enough time just getting video … Continue reading “WeVideo Makes Cloud Video Editing Look Like Kids’ Stuff”

Join Us for a Tweetchat Monday on Biotech Startups

[Update: 10:50 am PT] Biotech VCs had their chance to vent on Twitter last week about the sad state of affairs in financing startups, and now it’s time for the entrepreneurs to take their turn. So we’re bringing together a couple of top biotech startup executives, Carol Gallagher and Jason Rhodes, to share their thoughts … Continue reading “Join Us for a Tweetchat Monday on Biotech Startups”

Cheezburger CEO Ben Huh’s Amazing Story of Survival

If you just read the headlines and watch the reality shows, the life of a tech entrepreneur probably sounds something like this: Work hard, play hard, raise tons of money, change the world, retire early. It’s a swashbuckling, mile-a-minute joyride filled with the best and the brightest. Except when it’s not. The flip side of … Continue reading “Cheezburger CEO Ben Huh’s Amazing Story of Survival”

Buyouts, Quantified Health, & More San Diego Life Sciences News

In the news since the Thanksgiving holiday, we’ve had a fascinating bit of biomedical research from Internet guru Larry Smarr, a criminal conviction, and an extended Q&A with Eli Lilly CEO John Lechleiter. Your life sciences briefing begins now. —Under fierce competition in the market for gene expression microarray tests, Santa Clara-based Affymetrix (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AFFX]]) … Continue reading “Buyouts, Quantified Health, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”

WorkForce Software Raises $17 Million in Series A, Mezzanine Funding

Livonia, MI-based WorkForce Software recently announced it has raised $17 million in Series A and mezzanine funding. The round of funding came from Los Angeles-based K1 Capital and Raleigh, NC-based Triangle Capital, and is a combination of Series A funding ($5 million) and mezzanine funding ($12 million). The company was founded in 1999 by three Michigan natives … Continue reading “WorkForce Software Raises $17 Million in Series A, Mezzanine Funding”

Seattle Genetics Sees Case of PML, Causing Market Twitch

Seattle Genetics has had a bit of a dust-up today in the stock market, as investors have been seeking to make sense of a second case of a dangerous adverse event seen in a patient on the company’s new lymphoma drug. Shares of the company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]) dipped almost 6 percent early in the day, … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics Sees Case of PML, Causing Market Twitch”

Jive, Solaria, Awe.sm: Bay Area Biztech News by the Numbers

It’s been a while since our last data-driven news roundup of Bay Area business and technology news. Here are some of the choicest tidbits from the last few days, from biggest to smallest: $134.6 million—The amount that San Francisco- and Portland, OR-based Jive Software hopes to raise in its upcoming IPO, according to a regulatory … Continue reading “Jive, Solaria, Awe.sm: Bay Area Biztech News by the Numbers”

Clearwire Gets $1.6B from Sprint, Makes Debt Payment

Financially troubled wireless provider Clearwire and majority shareholder Sprint are keeping their seemingly reluctant partnership alive today, announcing a new injection of up to $1.6 billion from Sprint for current and future network capacity, along with possible equity sales. The move allows Kirkland, WA-based Clearwire to make a $237 million debt payment due today—a bill … Continue reading “Clearwire Gets $1.6B from Sprint, Makes Debt Payment”

Qualcomm Picks Up Pixtronix

Pixtronix, an Andover, MA-based maker of low-power displays, has been acquired by San Diego tech giant Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]), according to Scott Kirsner’s Innovation Economy blog. Terms of the purchase weren’t disclosed, but the report cites a price range of $175-200 million, based on sources close to the deal. A source of mine confirmed the … Continue reading “Qualcomm Picks Up Pixtronix”

Xconomist of the Week: 5 Questions with Sapphire Energy CEO Jason Pyle

November was a big month for news in the algae-based biofuels sector. On November 7, roughly four months after renewable fuels were approved for use in commercial aviation, United Airlines flew passengers from Houston to Chicago aboard a Boeing 737-800 powered by a mixture of algae-based jet fuel and conventional, petroleum-based fuel. Two days later, … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: 5 Questions with Sapphire Energy CEO Jason Pyle”

Regeneron Debuts Eye Drug, as Rivals Race to Grab Share of Hot Market

The folks at Regeneron (NASDAQ: [[ticker:REGN]]) had plenty to be thankful for the Friday before Thanksgiving, when late in the day, the FDA approved aflibercept (Eylea), the Tarrytown, NY-based biotech company’s drug to treat age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in elderly people. It was a happy ending to a long and sometimes frustrating … Continue reading “Regeneron Debuts Eye Drug, as Rivals Race to Grab Share of Hot Market”

Genentech Looks to Turn the Page at Breast Cancer Confab

Genentech was at the center of controversy over the past year in the breast cancer world because of an argument about one of its top-selling antibody drugs. But now the biotech giant is hoping that a new antibody in the pipeline will get people talking again about clear-cut medical progress. The South San Francisco-based unit … Continue reading “Genentech Looks to Turn the Page at Breast Cancer Confab”

Xconomy’s 6X6 Big Tech Ideas Forum This Afternoon: 5 Tickets Left

A mini-invasion of tech companies hits Boston today. The clock is counting down for 6×6: Six Cities, Six Big Tech Ideas, Xconomy’s forum this afternoon that features one cool tech company from each of the six cities in our network. The legendary computer scientist Stephen Wolfram, creator of Mathematica and Wolfram|Alpha, kicks things off with … Continue reading “Xconomy’s 6X6 Big Tech Ideas Forum This Afternoon: 5 Tickets Left”

Kogeto Brings Panoramic Video to iPhones With Its Dot iCONIC Lenses

User-generated videos are getting a new perspective, thanks to Kogeto’s Dot, a lens attachment that lets the iPhone 4 family of smartphones shoot panoramic footage. Jeff Glasse, founder and CEO of New York-based Kogeto has been busy in his offices in the Soho neighborhood developing what he calls an “ecosystem” for users to share videos … Continue reading “Kogeto Brings Panoramic Video to iPhones With Its Dot iCONIC Lenses”

Game Lab, From Bocoup and Atlas, Looks to Fund Open Web Game Developers

Big video games studios are a bit old school, with everything from game design, production, execution, and financing done in house, says Boaz Sender, a JavaScript programmer at the Boston-based Web consulting firm Bocoup. But they’re about to go the way that the old Hollywood movie studios did, he says, by outsourcing many of the … Continue reading “Game Lab, From Bocoup and Atlas, Looks to Fund Open Web Game Developers”

Harvard Bioscience Tool Used in First Transplants of Synthetic Tracheae

How does a 110-year-old medical device company end up on the cutting edge of regenerative medicine? The answer: A little innovation and a lot of persistence. That formula paid off this week for Holliston, MA-based Harvard Bioscience (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HBIO]]). On Monday, the company announced that a product it makes called the InBreath Bioreactor was featured … Continue reading “Harvard Bioscience Tool Used in First Transplants of Synthetic Tracheae”

So That’s What Wavii is Up To: “Making Facebook out of Google”

Seattle startup Wavii, previously seen taking the concept of “stealth mode” to extreme lengths, is letting slip more details about the product it’s been building for these many quiet months. In a pair of blog posts today, the startup says it’s using machine learning to sort content from across the Web into feeds—as they say … Continue reading “So That’s What Wavii is Up To: “Making Facebook out of Google””

A123 Lays Off 125 Staff at Michigan Plants

Waltham, MA-based A123 Systems (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AONE]]), the lithium-ion battery maker, has laid off about 125 employees at its manufacturing facilities in Livonia and Romulus, MI. The news originally broke the week of Thanksgiving and was reported by media outlets including the Observer & Eccentric and Crain’s Detroit Business. The layoffs are apparently the result of … Continue reading “A123 Lays Off 125 Staff at Michigan Plants”

Amazon Admits it: Collecting Sales Taxes Not So Hard Anymore

In the long-running debate over online sales tax laws, one of the most laughable ideas has been that calculating sales tax rates all over the country is somehow a difficult job for big e-commerce companies like Amazon.com. You know, the same company that adds enough servers every single weekday to run a circa-2000 version of … Continue reading “Amazon Admits it: Collecting Sales Taxes Not So Hard Anymore”

Healthline Battles WebMD with Personalized Medical Search Tools, Body Maps

“Marcus Welby is dead.” So says West Shell, the CEO of San Francisco-based Healthline. Not that Dr. Welby was ever actually alive—the fictional physician, played by Robert Young, made house calls for ABC TV from 1969 to 1976. But Shell’s point is that few people these days have a family physician like Welby to whom … Continue reading “Healthline Battles WebMD with Personalized Medical Search Tools, Body Maps”

Cheers and Jeers: National Surveys Find Southeast Michigan Sad, Booming, Smart

Another day, another (wholly unscientific) survey from Men’s Health indicating Detroit is a crappy place to live. This time, they’ve named the Motor City the second saddest city in the United States; in August, the lad mag skewered residents of our fair city for not buying iPads fast enough. This time around, they’ve created their … Continue reading “Cheers and Jeers: National Surveys Find Southeast Michigan Sad, Booming, Smart”

Spiral Genetics, Started by UW Classmates, Looks to Crunch DNA Data in New Way

DNA data is piling up on servers and hard drives near you, and scientists are struggling to sort through it all as genome sequencing keeps getting faster and cheaper. Seattle-based Spiral Genetics is the latest startup in town with ambitions to help relieve some of the IT pain that biomedical scientists are feeling. Spiral was … Continue reading “Spiral Genetics, Started by UW Classmates, Looks to Crunch DNA Data in New Way”

You’ll Be Dead Soon-Carpe Diem

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. —Steve Jobs Watching an … Continue reading “You’ll Be Dead Soon-Carpe Diem”

Startups and VCs to Gather for Xconomy’s New York Venture Emergence Forum

Silicon Valley may get the lion’s share of attention when it comes to tech and biotech startups, but as has been clear since well before we launched Xconomy New York in April, the Big Apple has plenty to brag about, too. Take, for example, Gilt Groupe, the fashion e-commerce site that has raised more than … Continue reading “Startups and VCs to Gather for Xconomy’s New York Venture Emergence Forum”

Affymetrix Pushes Into Diagnostics, Acquiring eBioscience for $330M

Gene chip pioneer Affymetrix is continuing its push into becoming more of a diagnostics player, through a sizable acquisition announced today. Santa Clara-based Affymetrix (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AFFX]]) said today it has agreed to acquire San Diego-based eBioscience for $330 million in cash. Through this deal, Affymetrix is getting eBioscience’s flow cytometer instruments (which count cells in … Continue reading “Affymetrix Pushes Into Diagnostics, Acquiring eBioscience for $330M”

Roche Embraces Three-Way Rare-Disease Play With PTC and Patient Group

Yesterday, European drug giant Roche and South Plainfield, NJ-based PTC Therapeutics announced they had entered into a drug-development pact that could be worth as much as $490 million to PTC. Such alliances are nothing new, especially these days, when Big Pharma companies are increasingly looking towards their smaller rivals for innovations. But this deal is … Continue reading “Roche Embraces Three-Way Rare-Disease Play With PTC and Patient Group”

CircuLite Pulls in $30M for Heart Device

Saddle Brook, NJ-based CircuLite announced today that it has raised $30 million in an oversubscribed Series D financing round. The company said in a statement that it will use the proceeds to support the anticipated 2012 European launch of a device it dubs “the world’s smallest surgically implanted blood pump,” which is used to treat … Continue reading “CircuLite Pulls in $30M for Heart Device”

Retroficiency Reels In $3.3M, Buys Nexamp’s Energy Efficiency Division

A Boston cleantech-software startup is making some noise today in a burgeoning market. Retroficiency announced it has raised $3.32 million in new financing led by Point Judith Capital. As part of the deal, the startup has acquired the energy efficiency division of Nexamp, a North Andover, MA-based solar power producer that is also backed by … Continue reading “Retroficiency Reels In $3.3M, Buys Nexamp’s Energy Efficiency Division”

Rhapsody at 10 Years: Surviving Long Enough to Face a Herd of New Competitors

Being too early with a concept is one of the more frustrating ways that an entrepreneur can wind up going bust. But a decade after emerging as one of the original subscription music services in the U.S., Seattle’s Rhapsody is still around. That survivor story includes a pretty twisted ownership history, as Rhapsody evolved from … Continue reading “Rhapsody at 10 Years: Surviving Long Enough to Face a Herd of New Competitors”

Verdezyne Claims Milestone in Renewable Replacement of Petrochemical

When Verdezyne said last year it had made adipic acid in the laboratory, the Carlsbad, CA, industrial biotech said its eco-friendly fermentation process could make the valuable chemical for 20 percent less than it would cost a conventional petrochemical plant. Today, Verdezyne says it is now operating a pilot plant in Carlsbad that can make … Continue reading “Verdezyne Claims Milestone in Renewable Replacement of Petrochemical”

Rib-X, Skyhook, Michael J. Fox Foundation & More Boston-Area Deals News

The holiday weekend didn’t seem to slow New England deals making down. —MedicalRecords, a Cambridge, MA-based startup connecting doctors with sellers of health record software, is working on raising its first outside funding round. It’s got about 60 percent of a targeted $500,000 round committed, from investors like Ty Danco and Peter Bordes. —New Haven, … Continue reading “Rib-X, Skyhook, Michael J. Fox Foundation & More Boston-Area Deals News”

The Immunex Impact: What to Expect Tomorrow Night

We here at Xconomy are eagerly anticipating our biggest Seattle biotech event of the year: “The Immunex Impact.” We expect to pack the house tomorrow night at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, as more than 230 people have registered. There is still a little bit more room to squeeze a few more folks … Continue reading “The Immunex Impact: What to Expect Tomorrow Night”

Objective Logistics Moves to Cambridge, Gets $1.5M from Atlas and Google Ventures for Restaurant Tech

Phil Beauregard is hungry. His scrappy startup, Objective Logistics, is hungry, too. Good thing they are in the restaurant business. Actually, the truth is they want to turn the restaurant business upside down. But in a good way (if you believe them). OK, I’ve avoided the G-word for as long as possible. Beauregard and company … Continue reading “Objective Logistics Moves to Cambridge, Gets $1.5M from Atlas and Google Ventures for Restaurant Tech”

FCC Report on AT&T + T-Mo Deal: Sorry, We’re Not Buying It

The Federal Communications Commission gave AT&T and T-Mobile USA a little kick on the way out the door today, releasing its staff report on the companies’ proposed $39 billion merger. AT&T and T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom pulled their merger application last week (on Thanksgiving!), choosing instead to focus their regulatory fight where it really matters—the … Continue reading “FCC Report on AT&T + T-Mo Deal: Sorry, We’re Not Buying It”

BarkBox, Led by Uber and Meetup Veterans, Bites Into Curated Gifts for Dogs

BarkBox in New York launched its website today ready to ship monthly boxes of new toys and treats to dog lovers who want to pamper their four-legged companions. Co-founder Carly Strife says subscribers will receive, for a fee, well-designed, curated products chosen by BarkBox. Though not affiliated with cosmetics sample service Birchbox, also in New … Continue reading “BarkBox, Led by Uber and Meetup Veterans, Bites Into Curated Gifts for Dogs”

Fresh Off Amira Success, Versant’s Bolzon and San Diego’s Prasit Begin Anew with Inception

Last year’s blockbuster film “Inception,” was about a dream within a dream within a dream, which made it a little hard to follow. Likewise with “Inception,” the San Diego life sciences startup that was founded earlier this year by Versant Ventures’ Brad Bolzon and Peppi Prasit, the former co-founder and chief scientific officer at San … Continue reading “Fresh Off Amira Success, Versant’s Bolzon and San Diego’s Prasit Begin Anew with Inception”

Get Satisfaction Makes Customer Support Less Robotic-And More Strategic

Get Satisfaction, the San Francisco-based builder of freemium online customer support communities, has one of those longest-overnight-success-ever stories. Founded in 2007 by Thor Muller, Amy Muller, and Lane Becker, the company has had at least a couple of brushes with death on its way to finding thousands of customers and $21 million in venture capital. … Continue reading “Get Satisfaction Makes Customer Support Less Robotic-And More Strategic”