It was a big news week for the intersection of information technology and healthcare, with our first ever forum completely dedicated to the topic, and a few startups in the space nabbing funding. Headlines from big pharma companies rounded it out for us, too. —Athenahealth (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ATHN]]), the Watertown, MA-based maker of electronic health records … Continue reading “Novartis Buys Alnylam Shares, Xconomy Holds First Ever Health IT Forum, Vertex Alumni Spread Throughout Life Sciences Sector, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Category: National
Dendreon CEO Mitch Gold: Seattle Biotech Has An Anchor Tenant Again
The impact of today’s FDA approval of Dendreon’s prostate cancer drug is being covered exhaustively from every angle on the Web. There’s the company saga, the benefit for prostate cancer patients, the boost to the field of cancer immunotherapy research, and the stock market surge. But one thing that’s not lost on Dendreon CEO Mitch … Continue reading “Dendreon CEO Mitch Gold: Seattle Biotech Has An Anchor Tenant Again”
Beyond the Electronic Health Record
With the passage of health care reform legislation last month, attention has now turned from arguing its merits to understanding its practical implications. In the world of health information technology, or health IT, the electronic health record (EHR) is one focus of this attention, but applications that build on their widespread adoption are where the … Continue reading “Beyond the Electronic Health Record”
Dendreon Sets Provenge Price at $93,000, Says Only 2,000 People Will Get it in First Year
[Updated: 12:55 pm Pacific] Dendreon’s groundbreaking new immune-booster for prostate cancer helps men live longer, and it will not be cheap. The Seattle-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) said it is planning to charge $93,000 per patient for the new drug. The product, sipuleucel-T (Provenge) will cost $31,000 per infusion, and patients will get three infusions … Continue reading “Dendreon Sets Provenge Price at $93,000, Says Only 2,000 People Will Get it in First Year”
Dendreon Makes History: FDA Approves First Active Immune-Booster to Fight Cancer
[Updated: 11:05 am Pacific] Scientists have been dreaming for a century about therapies that actively harness the power of the body’s immune system to kill cancer cells like an invading virus or bacteria. Today, Seattle-based Dendreon has made history by winning the first-ever FDA approval for this kind of cancer-fighter. Shares climbed 15 percent to … Continue reading “Dendreon Makes History: FDA Approves First Active Immune-Booster to Fight Cancer”
Thinking Screen Pulls in $2 Million, Looks to Apple iPad
Thinking Screen Media, the Wellesley Hllls, MA, startup that pushes news, photos, and other content to Internet-connected screens, is tweaking its business model once again. Formerly called Frame Media, the company started out in 2006 with a focus on delivering information to wireless photo frames. But last year it started thinking bigger—wireless photo frames weren’t … Continue reading “Thinking Screen Pulls in $2 Million, Looks to Apple iPad”
Entrepreneurs at UW Business Plan Competition Show Drive for Cleantech, Biotech, High Tech
The University of Washington’s president, Mark Emmert, has been talking about making the state’s biggest institution of higher education an “entrepreneurial university.” While Emmert is on his way out, the startup fire was still burning bright yesterday when I was on campus to serve as a judge for the UW’s 13th annual Business Plan Competition. … Continue reading “Entrepreneurs at UW Business Plan Competition Show Drive for Cleantech, Biotech, High Tech”
Celladon Enjoys Early Success With Gene Therapy Trial, FDA Gives Digirad Green Light for a Nuclear Camera, Aragon Pharmaceuticals Gets $22M & More San Diego Biotech News
We saw a healthy mix of life sciences news over the past week, with a generous serving of device news, some venture funding, a dash of clinical trial results, and voila! Enjoy! —San Diego’s Celladon said an experimental gene therapy treatment met its primary goal of showing the treatment was more effective than a placebo … Continue reading “Celladon Enjoys Early Success With Gene Therapy Trial, FDA Gives Digirad Green Light for a Nuclear Camera, Aragon Pharmaceuticals Gets $22M & More San Diego Biotech News”
The Vertex Alumni: Where Are They Now?
[Updated: 1 pm, 11/26/11] Vertex Pharmaceuticals was a pretty audacious place, even by biotech standards, when it was founded twenty years ago. It started when a senior chemist from Merck, Joshua Boger, quit that job and assembled a small band of chemists that aimed to beat the Big Pharma companies at their own game of … Continue reading “The Vertex Alumni: Where Are They Now?”
Accelerator’s Mirina Advances, Qliance Nabs Bezos Bucks, Spiration Adds $6.5M Debt, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
There was quiet before the storm this week, as Dendreon is eagerly awaiting the FDA’s decision by May 1 on whether it will clear the company’s prostate cancer drug for sale. Buckle your seat belts for that one. —Accelerator’s microRNA startup, Mirina, has made enough progress in its early days that it has secured an … Continue reading “Accelerator’s Mirina Advances, Qliance Nabs Bezos Bucks, Spiration Adds $6.5M Debt, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
UV Sciences Tries to Tap Into Water Purification Industry With Smaller and Less Costly Technology
After Ultraviolet Sciences was founded in 2002, it took the little San Diego cleantech startup seven years to launch its first product. It’s a water purification device that uses ultraviolet (UV) light to sterilize microbial contaminants in drinking water. Such UV technology has been gaining momentum in recent years as an alternative to chlorine disinfectant, … Continue reading “UV Sciences Tries to Tap Into Water Purification Industry With Smaller and Less Costly Technology”
What U.S. Manufacturers Can Learn from Europe—One Reporter’s Perspective
On March 29 MIT arranged a round table seminar entitled “The Future of Manufacturing Innovation—Advanced Technologies.” The seminar focused on technological advances that could spur manufacturing in the U.S. MIT president Susan Hockfield opened the afternoon by reflecting on the status of the U.S. as a manufacturing nation. “Many Americans tend to believe that hardly … Continue reading “What U.S. Manufacturers Can Learn from Europe—One Reporter’s Perspective”
Bonanzle Raises $1M from Angel Investors, Plus Three VC Firms, to Expand Its Online Marketplace
The motto of Bonanzle is “everything but the ordinary.” That about sums up the latest news from this Seattle-area startup, which has built a fast-growing online marketplace for niche items and collectibles. I learned through the grapevine that Bonanzle founder Bill Harding has closed a $1 million funding round led by angel investor and venture … Continue reading “Bonanzle Raises $1M from Angel Investors, Plus Three VC Firms, to Expand Its Online Marketplace”
IRobot Sends One-Man Army to Detroit in Advance of Planned Invasion
Bruce Legge is on a mission to infiltrate the Detroit area’s defense industry and report back to his iRobot overlords in Bedford, MA. For a lone flesh-and-blood vanguard of a future invasion of metallic warriors, Legge’s not doing too badly.
Four Ways Michigan Can Reinvigorate Its Economy (And One Way to Enjoy the Journey)
1. Invest substantially in targeted initiatives at the University of Michigan, and in programs that encourage the state’s best students to attend. Michigan is one of the nation’s truly great universities, public or private. It has superb programs in biomedicine and in engineering. It is a huge attractor of out-of-state funding—a highly successful multi-billion-dollar business. … Continue reading “Four Ways Michigan Can Reinvigorate Its Economy (And One Way to Enjoy the Journey)”
Under-the-Radar in New England: 16 Startup Financings Under $1 Million
March was a big month for little deals—at least when it comes to investing in New England’s startups. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the venture investing deals worth $1 million and up for March, which totaled to $194.5 million across 17 deals, according to data provided to us by private company intelligence … Continue reading “Under-the-Radar in New England: 16 Startup Financings Under $1 Million”
What Do Techies Know About the Future of Healthcare? Find Out on May 12
Health IT is one of those innovation sectors that is exploding around us here at Xconomy. Every day we’re hearing about a new company, or health-related website or gadget, or experienced financier who’s getting into the act. It’s still pretty early, but it won’t be for long. And the Northwest is already positioning itself as … Continue reading “What Do Techies Know About the Future of Healthcare? Find Out on May 12”
How to Predict Whether a Startup Will Succeed or Fail: Testing the “Disruptive Innovation” Model
Thomas Thurston is a startup predictor. Tell him about your company, and he’ll tell you whether it will survive or fail. No, he’s not an investor, or a psychic. By day, Thurston is a mild-mannered researcher and consultant whose training is in law and business. He’s the founder of Portland, OR-based Growth Science International, a … Continue reading “How to Predict Whether a Startup Will Succeed or Fail: Testing the “Disruptive Innovation” Model”
Michigan Startups to Pitch For Ann Arbor SPARK Incubator Space
Business incubator Ann Arbor SPARK is asking Michigan startups to take their best shots at five open spots in a business pitch competition it plans to host on June 4, the group announced today. The winner will get up to $50,000 in business acceleration services and a one-year incubator lease at SPARK East in Ypsilanti, … Continue reading “Michigan Startups to Pitch For Ann Arbor SPARK Incubator Space”
d’Arbeloff Departs New England Clean Energy Council for EnerNOC, Rothstein Replaces Him
[Updated 2:00 p.m. 4/28/10] There’s an unexpected transition underway at Boston-based energy management company EnerNOC (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ENOC]]) and the Cambridge, MA-based New England Clean Energy Council (NECEC). In a pair of announcements today, the organizations said that Nick d’Arbeloff, founding president of NECEC, has joined EnerNOC as vice president of enterprise energy management. Peter Rothstein, former … Continue reading “d’Arbeloff Departs New England Clean Energy Council for EnerNOC, Rothstein Replaces Him”
Assured Labor Raises $1 Million in Seed Funding for Jobs Marketplace
Assured Labor, a Boston-based online services marketplace that launched in January 2009, said today that it has raised $1 million in seed funding from a group including Nexus Venture Partners, Kima Ventures, former Skype CEO Michael Van Swaaij, and OLX.com CEO Fabrice Grinda. The MIT Media Lab spinoff, which Xconomy profiled shortly after its launch, … Continue reading “Assured Labor Raises $1 Million in Seed Funding for Jobs Marketplace”
Total Joins GM, Advanced Technology Ventures In Funding Biofuels Developer Coskata
Paris-based oil company Total has joined General Motors as an investor in Coskata, according to an announcement by the cellulosic biofuels company based in Warrenville, IL. GM invested an undisclosed amount in early 2008 and said in February this year that some of Coskata’s ethanol is being tested at the automaker’s proving grounds in Milford, … Continue reading “Total Joins GM, Advanced Technology Ventures In Funding Biofuels Developer Coskata”
Averting “Disaster” in Healthcare: Xconomy Forum at MIT Tackles Big Problems and Potential Technology Fixes
There’s perhaps no better place in the Boston area to talk about the future use of information technology in healthcare than the modern building in Kendall Square that houses the MIT Media Lab. The abundant windows and glass interior walls allow natural light to spill onto researchers as they advance new technologies to transform healthcare. … Continue reading “Averting “Disaster” in Healthcare: Xconomy Forum at MIT Tackles Big Problems and Potential Technology Fixes”
Lycera Keeps Its Investors Happy, Snags $11M to Pursue New Autoimmune Drugs
Lycera has taken an important early step in its journey of developing new treatments for autoimmune diseases. The startup, with operations in Plymouth, MI, and Cambridge, MA, has nailed down an $11 million cash infusion, which represents the second installment of a three-part, $36 million financing originally announced a year ago. The company secured the … Continue reading “Lycera Keeps Its Investors Happy, Snags $11M to Pursue New Autoimmune Drugs”
Celladon’s Gene Therapy Passes Heart Failure Trial; Maintains Suspense on Details
Celladon has some tantalizing news today for the world of gene therapy. The San Diego-based biotech company is announcing that its experimental treatment, which delivers a gene to help people with heart failure pump blood more efficiently, has met its primary goal of showing the treatment is more effective than a placebo. The trial enrolled … Continue reading “Celladon’s Gene Therapy Passes Heart Failure Trial; Maintains Suspense on Details”
News or Noise? Gather CEO Tom Gerace on New England’s Fastest Growing Web Property
For a while now I’ve been curious about Gather, a privately funded news and social networking site based in downtown Boston. I knew that Gather was founded by marketing pro Tom Gerace, that it is owned in part by the public radio operator American Public Media, that it has an unusual way of paying users … Continue reading “News or Noise? Gather CEO Tom Gerace on New England’s Fastest Growing Web Property”
Go Back to the Basics, Take Care of Your Customers
There’s no getting around it, these are tough times for entrepreneurs. We all are strapped for cash, both in our households and in our business enterprises. What keeps coming back to me is a philosophy one of my old mentors, the late W. Hunter Simpson used to say: “Take care of your customers, and the … Continue reading “Go Back to the Basics, Take Care of Your Customers”
Fuel Cell Developer Adaptive Materials On Finding Engineers and the Company’s Future
Yesterday, we ran Part 1 of my interview with Michelle Crumm, co-founder and chief business officer for fuel cell manufacturer Adaptive Materials of Ann Arbor, MI. We discussed how it took a decade of old-fashioned hard work to get to a point where the company is signing deals to supply the military with the fuel cells needed … Continue reading “Fuel Cell Developer Adaptive Materials On Finding Engineers and the Company’s Future”
High-Tech Jobs Stayed Resilient Amid Last Year’s National Job Losses, TechAmerica Says
The high-tech industry lost 245,600 jobs, or about 4 percent of the nationwide technology workforce, as the recession hit bottom last year, according a report being released today. But there are still jobs to be had in high-tech fields. Unemployment in several high-tech sectors remained below 5 percent at a time when overall unemployment soared … Continue reading “High-Tech Jobs Stayed Resilient Amid Last Year’s National Job Losses, TechAmerica Says”
Warner Bros. Acquires Turbine, Athenahealth Taps IBM, Alkermes Reveals Diabetes Drug Royalty, & More Boston-Area Deals News
News of financings, partnerships, royalties, and acquisitions among New England’s video game, transportation, biotech, and energy companies have kept us buzzing in the last week. —Westwood, MA-based online games maker Turbine was purchased by the Home Entertainment Group of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a unit of Time Warner (NYSE: [[ticker:TWX]]). Turbine produces the massively multiplayer … Continue reading “Warner Bros. Acquires Turbine, Athenahealth Taps IBM, Alkermes Reveals Diabetes Drug Royalty, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Qliance Nails $6M From Bezos, Dell, Drew Carey for Primary Care That Avoids Insurance
Qliance Medical Management isn’t the richest startup in Seattle, but it may have the most star power behind it. The company, which deals directly with patients and doesn’t accept health insurance for primary care medical services, has nailed down another $6 million in venture capital from a group led by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and … Continue reading “Qliance Nails $6M From Bezos, Dell, Drew Carey for Primary Care That Avoids Insurance”
The Company is Dead, But Its PayPal Billing Service Lives On
If a consumer-oriented Web-based services company goes out of business, shouldn’t its PayPal account expire too? I’m just wondering if other online consumers have had a similar experience to Encinitas, CA, resident Judd Handler. He says he recently discovered that he had been charged $17.95 on his PayPal account for a junk-mail screening service provided … Continue reading “The Company is Dead, But Its PayPal Billing Service Lives On”
Twitter Buys Cloudhopper, Belkin Acquires Zensi, Mirina Raises Cash, & More Seattle-Area Deals News
A fairly busy week for deals in the Northwest. Twitter bought its first Seattle company. A prominent young mobile startup and a biotech company out of the Accelerator each got some important funding. But let’s start with the cleantech/energy news, of which there was plenty. —Seattle-based construction firm McKinstry acquired the Enterprise Energy Management software … Continue reading “Twitter Buys Cloudhopper, Belkin Acquires Zensi, Mirina Raises Cash, & More Seattle-Area Deals News”
Ground Truth Raises $7M More; CEO Sterling Wilson Talks Company Culture, Global Expansion
Seattle-based Ground Truth, a mobile measurement and intelligence startup, is announcing a new $7 million Series B funding round today, led by new investor Emergence Capital Partners. OpenAir Ventures, another new investor, also participated, as did existing backers Voyager Capital and Steamboat Ventures. Ground Truth CEO and co-founder Sterling Wilson calls the deal “great confirmation … Continue reading “Ground Truth Raises $7M More; CEO Sterling Wilson Talks Company Culture, Global Expansion”
New Connect Lobbyist for Technology Innovation Discusses His Role and Priorities
Connect CEO Duane Roth made hiring a full-time lobbyist in Washington D.C. a key part of last summer’s initiative to boost San Diego’s innovation economy. Last week, the nonprofit group named Timothy Tardibono, a lawyer and policy analyst, as its government affairs director and chief counsel—and Tardibono says he’s already got some issues on his … Continue reading “New Connect Lobbyist for Technology Innovation Discusses His Role and Priorities”
Motorola to Put Skyhook’s Location Technology into Android Phones, Bypassing Google
For Google, it’s been a good news/bad news week. The good news is that the search leader’s open-source Android mobile operating system is catching on fast, with more manufacturers and carriers selling Android-equipped phones and more consumers buying them. The bad news is the story isn’t playing out exactly the way Google planned. Yesterday the … Continue reading “Motorola to Put Skyhook’s Location Technology into Android Phones, Bypassing Google”
Verdiem, Cisco Team Up to Help Companies Lower Their Energy Bill for Networked Devices
Seattle-based Verdiem is announcing today a new partnership with San Jose, CA-based Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CSCO]]). Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will market and sell Verdiem’s energy management software for PCs and networked devices under Cisco’s “EnergyWise Orchestrator” brand, through its worldwide distribution network. Financial details weren’t given, but it’s an original equipment … Continue reading “Verdiem, Cisco Team Up to Help Companies Lower Their Energy Bill for Networked Devices”
NuVasive Takes a Different Angle, Shakes Up Spinal Surgery Business
Writing about life sciences innovation around the country, I hear stories every day of companies that envision transforming medical standards of care through new drugs or devices. San Diego-based NuVasive is living the dream right now. NuVasive (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NUVA]]), as its name suggests, has developed a less invasive way for surgeons to do spinal fusion … Continue reading “NuVasive Takes a Different Angle, Shakes Up Spinal Surgery Business”
Gene Network Sciences Using Supercomputing to Match Patients with a Drug That Works
Health insurers have wasted billions of dollars on reimbursing drugs that don’t work for certain patients. But Cambridge, MA-based Gene Network Sciences might have a cure for this spending ailment. It is using supercomputing technology to build databases that can match patients with the most suitable drugs or other treatments, company CEO Colin Hill says. … Continue reading “Gene Network Sciences Using Supercomputing to Match Patients with a Drug That Works”
Five Ideas for Building the Innovation Economy in Michigan
1. Build clusters of excellence. Single companies have a tough time in isolation! 2. Provide meaningful ownership incentives to all employees. Share the big picture with every employee, often. Establish, communicate frequently and live a concise, coherent set of Corporate Values—“walk the talk.” 3. Embrace change as a constant. Know how to evolve your company … Continue reading “Five Ideas for Building the Innovation Economy in Michigan”
Fuel Cell Developer Adaptive Materials Is Michigan Success Story; Maybe Too Successful
Something strange has been happening over at Adaptive Materials, a fuel cell developer based in Ann Arbor, MI. During the past few months, as everybody talks about how to get things moving forward in Southeast Michigan, Adaptive has been, well, actually moving forward. A contract worth a few million from the Department of Defense here, … Continue reading “Fuel Cell Developer Adaptive Materials Is Michigan Success Story; Maybe Too Successful”
Central Square’s Barron Building Emerges as Startup Hub
If there were a heat map showing how high-tech entrepreneurs are distributed around Boston, there would be a new red spot at 614 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge’s Central Square. From the outside, the four-story office building is distinguished mainly by its white-tiled facade and its large plate-glass windows. Deep inside is the office of Carl … Continue reading “Central Square’s Barron Building Emerges as Startup Hub”
Seattle Tech Luminaries in the News: Redfin, Jeremy Jaech, and Kindle Vs. iPad
Just a quick roundup of Seattle-area tech leaders making the national news this weekend: —The New Yorker has a very interesting feature by Ken Auletta about the competition between the Amazon Kindle and Apple’s iPad, and what it means for the future of books. I haven’t had time for it to sink in yet, but … Continue reading “Seattle Tech Luminaries in the News: Redfin, Jeremy Jaech, and Kindle Vs. iPad”
Addition, Subtraction at Local Venture Firms
Already in the week, we’ve had a few moves at some local venture capital firms. Read below for the details. —Rob Go, formerly a senior associate at Boston-based Spark Capital, announced on his blog today that last Friday was his last day at the firm. He didn’t specify where he’d be going next, but says … Continue reading “Addition, Subtraction at Local Venture Firms”
UW’s O’Donnell Leads National Summit to “Sexify” Engineering, Inspire Students, Entrepreneurs, VCs
Engineering has an image problem. Sure, it’s the technical backbone of many things people use every day, from airplanes, cars, and buildings to new medicines, mobile devices, and the Internet. But it doesn’t always attract the best and brightest young people interested in solving society’s biggest problems or changing the world. That’s because people often … Continue reading “UW’s O’Donnell Leads National Summit to “Sexify” Engineering, Inspire Students, Entrepreneurs, VCs”
Charles River Labs to Buy Chinese R&D Powerhouse WuXi for $1.6B
The world of outsourced drug research and development might get a lot smaller. Charles River Laboratories International is aiming to buy the Chinese R&D services firm WuXi PharmaTech for a whopping $1.6 billion, the companies announced this morning. Wilmington, MA-based Charles River (NYSE:[[ticker:CRL]]) reported that it plans to gobble up Shanghai-based WuXi in a deal … Continue reading “Charles River Labs to Buy Chinese R&D Powerhouse WuXi for $1.6B”
Confident Technologies Makes San Diego Debut, Startups Get Fresh Venture Funding, Peter Preuss Gets Inducted to Connect Hall of Fame, & More San Diego BizTech News
—Xconomy’s list of San Diego’s top 10 VC deals during the first quarter of 2010 included funding for three high-tech startups, although investments in life sciences and medical devices accounted for most of the money and deals. EMN8, which is developing automated kiosks for fast-service restaurants, raised almost $14.5 million; Avaak, which developed a wireless … Continue reading “Confident Technologies Makes San Diego Debut, Startups Get Fresh Venture Funding, Peter Preuss Gets Inducted to Connect Hall of Fame, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Alkermes Reveals Higher-Than-Expected Royalty on Diabetes Drug
Alkermes is usually cast on Wall Street as a supporting actor in the eagerly-anticipated debut of the once-weekly diabetes drug from Eli Lilly and Amylin Pharmaceuticals. But today, Waltham, MA-based Alkermes, stepped into the spotlight, announcing it stands to collect more cash from the drug than expected. Alkermes (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALKS]]) is reporting today it will … Continue reading “Alkermes Reveals Higher-Than-Expected Royalty on Diabetes Drug”
Breaking the Myopic Mold: Q&A with David Egner of Detroit’s New Economy Initiative
If you ask people who’s lighting the innovation fires around Detroit, pretty soon you get directed to the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan. This coalition of 10 community and philanthropic organizations was formed in 2008 with the goal of pooling resources to “restore southeast Michigan to a position of leadership in the new global … Continue reading “Breaking the Myopic Mold: Q&A with David Egner of Detroit’s New Economy Initiative”
Accelerator’s MicroRNA Play, Mirina, Forges Ahead With One More Year of Cash
Mirina, one of the intriguing startups hatched in the past couple years at Seattle-based Accelerator, has passed a key test that will allow it to live to fight another day. The developer of microRNA-based therapies has secured an undisclosed “expansion round” of financing that will allow it to operate another 12 to 15 months, according … Continue reading “Accelerator’s MicroRNA Play, Mirina, Forges Ahead With One More Year of Cash”