March 2010 is Mass Mobile Month, a celebration of mobile technology innovation in New England. Who says so? Xconomy and the 22 other local organizations that have banded together to highlight the remarkable string of mobile-related events happening around town in March. Actually, the fun started in mid-February and will continue into early April—but today, … Continue reading “Mass Mobile Month Is Here!”
Category: National
Microsoft HealthVault Makes Pitch to Hospitals, Tries to Crack Tough Nut of Health-IT Adoption
One of the big questions surrounding the burgeoning field of healthcare IT is, who is going to push to adopt the technology—patients, doctors, or hospitals? After much thought, it seems Microsoft is banking on the latter. The Redmond, WA, company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) is announcing a new software system geared toward hospitals today at the 2010 … Continue reading “Microsoft HealthVault Makes Pitch to Hospitals, Tries to Crack Tough Nut of Health-IT Adoption”
Qualcomm Ventures Leads Funding for Visage Mobile, Venture Deal Terms Favor Investors (Still), Leap Wireless Forms Joint Venture, & More San Diego BizTech News
It was a light week in San Diego for tech news, perhaps balancing the blizzard of life sciences news that blanketed our region. Good thing that’s the only kind of blizzard we see around here. —When I met last summer with Qualcomm Venture’s Nagraj Kashyap, he told me the corporate venture arm of San Diego’s … Continue reading “Qualcomm Ventures Leads Funding for Visage Mobile, Venture Deal Terms Favor Investors (Still), Leap Wireless Forms Joint Venture, & More San Diego BizTech News”
With VCs Ready to Hold Office Hours For Entrepreneurs, Venture Café Gets a Test Drive
For most entrepreneurs, a beta stage or beta product is a crucial way to flesh out new ideas, and find out what works and what doesn’t for their business. And it’s no different for a new endeavor meant to create community and dialog between entrepreneurs and investors in the Boston area. That endeavor would be … Continue reading “With VCs Ready to Hold Office Hours For Entrepreneurs, Venture Café Gets a Test Drive”
Light Sciences Oncology Sits Tight, Awaits Key Cancer Trial Results This Summer
The suspense is excruciating for the people at Bellevue, WA-based Light Sciences Oncology. They have been waiting almost a year longer than expected for results from a couple of cancer studies that could make or break their company. They have no idea if they are waiting because their drug is a big success, helping cancer … Continue reading “Light Sciences Oncology Sits Tight, Awaits Key Cancer Trial Results This Summer”
FDA Refuses to Accept Adventrx Pharma’s New Drug Application
Adventrx Pharmaceuticals (NYSE Amex: [[ticker:ANX]]), the San Diego biotech that sprang back to life in January with a new drug application, says in a statement today that it has received a “refuse to file letter” from the FDA—which basically means it’s back to the drawing board. Adventrx cut its workforce to just two employees almost … Continue reading “FDA Refuses to Accept Adventrx Pharma’s New Drug Application”
Dossia Doubles List of Key Health Record Adopters with Intel and Pitney Bowes
More big companies are giving electronic health records a go. The Cambridge, MA-based nonprofit Dossia says that two of its founding members, computer chip giant Intel and mail system provider Pitney Bowes, are offering its electronic health records system to at least some of their workers. The next big test will be how many Intel … Continue reading “Dossia Doubles List of Key Health Record Adopters with Intel and Pitney Bowes”
Why BlackBerry Needs Real Innovation, and How Boston Can Help
Heads up, stodgy bankers and business road warriors: in case you haven’t noticed the blatant signs over the past 12 months or so, your trusty BlackBerry is no longer cool. Yeah, I know you think that because you recently traded in your old-school model with scroll wheel for the sleek black Tour or Bold 2, … Continue reading “Why BlackBerry Needs Real Innovation, and How Boston Can Help”
Under the Radar Deals: 10 Northwest Financings You Might Not Have Heard Of
Unlike the retail industry, Northwest startups pulled in a fair amount of cash in January. Venture investing jumped from $22 million in December to $57 million in the first month of 2010. But there’s another layer of data that further attests to the state of financing in the startup landscape. That would be last month’s … Continue reading “Under the Radar Deals: 10 Northwest Financings You Might Not Have Heard Of”
AFraxis CEO Outlines Biotech’s Success With Ultra-Lean Pre-Clinical R&D in Russia
AFraxis, a mostly stealthy San Diego biotech, is getting ready to come out with a big announcement in the next week or so, but CEO Jay Lichter previewed some key parts of the story yesterday during a presentation before the San Diego Venture Group. He says the biotech has completed pre-clinical testing of a promising … Continue reading “AFraxis CEO Outlines Biotech’s Success With Ultra-Lean Pre-Clinical R&D in Russia”
Breakthrough Ideas: Hanauer, Hood, Myhrvold to Keynote Xconomy Event at UW
Entrepreneurs need to think bigger. Big companies need to think bigger. Everyone needs to think bigger. Including Xconomy. That’s why we’re organizing our biggest event in Seattle so far, called “What’s Your Breakthrough Idea?” It’s on the afternoon of March 29 at the University of Washington, in the atrium of the Computer Science & Engineering … Continue reading “Breakthrough Ideas: Hanauer, Hood, Myhrvold to Keynote Xconomy Event at UW”
Video and Books: Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together?
If a book can be made from something other than paper—say, pixels on a screen—then why can’t it consist of something other than plain old words and pictures? It can. Companies like Eastgate Systems in Watertown, MA, have been publishing PC-based interactive “hypertexts” for almost 30 years. Thanks to the built-in speech synthesis software on … Continue reading “Video and Books: Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together?”
Avila Aims to Trump Vertex With Drug that Hits Hepatitis C Virus and Won’t Let Go
Avila Therapeutics can’t be accused of thinking too small. This Waltham, MA-based startup is on a quest to show it has the scientific chops to build a better drug than one of Boston’s anchor biotech companies—Vertex Pharmaceuticals. So this is shaping up to be a big year for Avila (AH-vill-uh), as it plans to start … Continue reading “Avila Aims to Trump Vertex With Drug that Hits Hepatitis C Virus and Won’t Let Go”
FDA Says Novalar Brochure for Dental Drug is Misleading
[Updated 2/26/10, 1:30 pm. See below.] The FDA has told San Diego-based Novalar to stop using a misleading patient brochure promoting the company’s injectible dental drug, phentolamine mesylate, which is intended to help dissipate the prolonged numb sensation of dental anesthetic. The brochure omits and minimizes the risks of the drug while overstating its benefits, … Continue reading “FDA Says Novalar Brochure for Dental Drug is Misleading”
Microsoft Builds Out Health IT Portfolio, Waits (and Waits) for Market to Materialize
Patience has got to be the watchword for the 800 or so people who work at Microsoft’s Health Solutions Group. There’s certainly been a lot of political rhetoric over the past year about dragging the inefficient world of pen and paper medical records into the 21st century—but this is still one big market opportunity waiting … Continue reading “Microsoft Builds Out Health IT Portfolio, Waits (and Waits) for Market to Materialize”
Under the Radar in January: A Baker’s Dozen of New England Startup Financings Worth $1M or Less
Earlier this month, we wrote about some of the mammoth venture deals that helped add up to $355 million worth of investments in Massachusetts startups in January. But don’t think we’ve forgotten about the little guys. These are what we call our under-the-radar deals, typically worth between $100,000 and $1 million (though the January list … Continue reading “Under the Radar in January: A Baker’s Dozen of New England Startup Financings Worth $1M or Less”
La Jolla Pharmaceutical: Going, Going, But Not Quite Gone
Staying in business was a challenge for La Jolla Pharmaceutical. Going out of business may be harder still. After its lead drug candidate bombed last year in a clinical trial, La Jolla Pharmaceutical had few options. It proposed liquidation, but too few of its investors voted, so the plan failed due to lack of a … Continue reading “La Jolla Pharmaceutical: Going, Going, But Not Quite Gone”
Biogen Idec Seeks Science-Savvy CEO, LifeImage Partners With EMC, GenomeQuest Aims to be Genetic Google, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
Another eventful week for New England’s life sciences companies, with big changes potentially in store for two of the biggest firms. —Biogen Idec’s new board chairman, Bill Young, told Luke that the committee tasked with finding a replacement for outgoing CEO Jim Mullen is first and foremost looking for somebody “who has managed and understands … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Seeks Science-Savvy CEO, LifeImage Partners With EMC, GenomeQuest Aims to be Genetic Google, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
PhotoRocket Hires Michael Cockrill; Founder Scott Lipsky Shares More Details
Seattle stealth startup PhotoRocket has some intriguing news today. The company, which says it is planning on “changing the landscape of the photo sharing space,” has hired former Atlas Accelerator managing partner Michael Cockrill to lead the delivery of its products and services. PhotoRocket has also officially opened a new round of financing, which it … Continue reading “PhotoRocket Hires Michael Cockrill; Founder Scott Lipsky Shares More Details”
How Amazon Innovates: Lessons in Strategy for Microsoft and Others
Sometimes a question that sounds naïve at first can lead to a revealing answer. So here goes: What is it about Amazon’s corporate culture that seems to foster creativity and innovation, while Microsoft gets ripped constantly for failing to innovate? Are there simple principles at work inside Amazon that might explain the difference? I choose … Continue reading “How Amazon Innovates: Lessons in Strategy for Microsoft and Others”
What Makes a City Entrepreneurial?
Why are some metropolitan areas so much more entrepreneurial than others? Silicon Valley seems almost magically entrepreneurial, with a new startup on every street corner, but in declining Rust Belt cities such startups are far and few between. In a new Policy Brief published by Harvard’s Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, which is sponsoring a … Continue reading “What Makes a City Entrepreneurial?”
The X Lists Debut: San Diego’s Online Reference Library for Innovators and Entrepreneurs
If Xconomy had a storefront in downtown San Diego instead of a Web address, it might be easier for readers to see what we’ve got under construction, because people could peer behind the plywood fencing and the signs reading “Pardon Our Dust.” Instead, curious visitors who clicked on the tab that says “resources” only got … Continue reading “The X Lists Debut: San Diego’s Online Reference Library for Innovators and Entrepreneurs”
Mobile Madness Mega-Post: The Full Details on Xconomy’s Can’t-Miss March 9 Mobile Technology Forum
Xconomy’s next big event, Mobile Madness: The New Future of Computing, is coming up fast—it’s on March 9 at Microsoft’s New England R&D Center in Cambridge. Once again, the tech community has come out in force to support our event, and I have an amazing lineup of speakers to tell you about, as well as … Continue reading “Mobile Madness Mega-Post: The Full Details on Xconomy’s Can’t-Miss March 9 Mobile Technology Forum”
Startup Ra Pharmaceuticals Bags $10.3M Funding
Ra Pharmaceuticals has big-named backers and a co-founder of Transkaryotic Therapies (now part of Shire) serving as CEO, but not much else is known about the secretive startup. Yesterday the Boston-based firm reported in an SEC filing that it had raised $10.3 million of a planned $27.6 million round of equity financing. The company is … Continue reading “Startup Ra Pharmaceuticals Bags $10.3M Funding”
Tips on How Academic Scientists Can Make the Career Switch to Industry
Scientists have a lot to consider if they want to leave the world of academia for a job in industry. I picked up a lot of good insights yesterday at a meeting of people with experience in making that transition. This event was hosted by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, organized by the Washington … Continue reading “Tips on How Academic Scientists Can Make the Career Switch to Industry”
Regulus, the MicroRNA Child of Isis and Alnylam, Strikes Potential $150M Deal with Glaxo
Two years have passed since GlaxoSmithKline anointed a startup called Regulus Therapeutics as a leader in the bleeding-edge world of microRNA drugs, and now the pharma giant has made clear it likes what it sees so far. Regulus, a Carlsbad, CA-based spinoff from neighboring Isis Pharmaceuticals and Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, is announcing today it … Continue reading “Regulus, the MicroRNA Child of Isis and Alnylam, Strikes Potential $150M Deal with Glaxo”
Anadys Hep C Drug Shows Promise, Synthetic Genomics Recruits Illumina Exec, ProActa Gets Funds, & More San Diego Life Sciences News
There was a smorgasbord of announcements in the last week. Get your fill here. —Anadys Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ANDS]]) said preliminary findings from a mid-stage trial in hepatitis C patients showed that a drug cocktail consisting of its experimental drug ANA598, interferon, and ribavirin was about as effective after 12 weeks as interferon and ribavirin alone. … Continue reading “Anadys Hep C Drug Shows Promise, Synthetic Genomics Recruits Illumina Exec, ProActa Gets Funds, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”
Cadence’s Manufacturing Woes Detailed; Black Eye for Baxter?
San Diego-based Cadence (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CADX]]) disclosed two weeks ago that the FDA could not approve the company’s pain reliever because of manufacturing problems, but the company didn’t provide any details. Now the FDA inspection report on the manufacturing plant has surfaced—and the details aren’t pretty. The FDA found numerous deficiencies in the production process and … Continue reading “Cadence’s Manufacturing Woes Detailed; Black Eye for Baxter?”
Dendreon Spending Big Bucks, Gilead Gets FDA Nod, NanoString Thinking Diagnostics, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
Seattle biotech had more than the usual flow of good news this week. —The top executives at Seattle-based Dendreon provided a detailed overview to analysts this week about their plans for the year ahead. Dendreon is planning to spend $460 million of its cash hoard on the commercial push for sipuleucel-T (Provenge), a first-of-its-kind immune … Continue reading “Dendreon Spending Big Bucks, Gilead Gets FDA Nod, NanoString Thinking Diagnostics, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
GenomeQuest Wants to Be the Google of DNA Data Searches
A flood of new genetic data generated by advanced DNA sequencing systems has landed some life sciences researchers in a bit of information-management pickle. But this problem is a major opportunity for GenomeQuest and its competitors in the business of proving DNA analysis software. GenomeQuest aspires to do for biologists what Google did for people … Continue reading “GenomeQuest Wants to Be the Google of DNA Data Searches”
Smilebox CEO Talks New Funding, Profitability, and European Expansion
Smilebox is turning into an intriguing story of a young company grappling with the challenges of expanding to new markets and geographies. The Redmond, WA-based company just raised $2 million from its existing investors, as we reported yesterday, and the money is being used to fuel its expansion to Europe, starting with the U.K., Germany, … Continue reading “Smilebox CEO Talks New Funding, Profitability, and European Expansion”
Anadys Hepatitis C Drug Increases Punch Over Time (But So Does Placebo)
San Diego-based Anadys Pharmaceuticals reports that its hepatitis C drug appears to get better at wiping out the virus over time, although the company will have some explaining to do about why patients on a placebo appear to be doing almost as well. Anadys (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ANDS]]) is announcing today that its lead product candidate, ANA598, … Continue reading “Anadys Hepatitis C Drug Increases Punch Over Time (But So Does Placebo)”
3Tier Group Finishes Map of the World’s Wind, Solar Energy Hotspots
Seattle-based 3Tier Group set an audacious goal two years ago of remapping the world to find the best spots to generate solar and wind power, and now it’s done. Of course, that means it’s time for 3Tier to show this information is truly valuable to customers. 3Tier finished its map of the world’s wind currents … Continue reading “3Tier Group Finishes Map of the World’s Wind, Solar Energy Hotspots”
Luminus Devices Nabs $19M, Aveo Sets IPO Range, Thermo Fisher Scientific Reportedly Makes $6 B Move on Millipore, & More Boston-Area Deals News
It was a good week for venture dealmaking among New England’s tech and life sciences firms. —Needham, MA-based Stata Venture Partners led a $7 million Series B financing round for NABsys, a Providence, RI-based firm developing a DNA sequencing technology that employs silicon chips for rapid electronic detection of DNA sequences. —Boston-based Battery Ventures sold … Continue reading “Luminus Devices Nabs $19M, Aveo Sets IPO Range, Thermo Fisher Scientific Reportedly Makes $6 B Move on Millipore, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
World Energy Unveils “Demand Response” Auctions, Disrupting a Market Dominated by Boston’s EnerNOC
It’s so costly and complicated to build new generating plants these days that utilities would rather prepare for periods of peak demand, such as hot summer days, by buying “negawatts”—that is, by agreeing to pay big customers like factories, stores, and municipalities to dial back their electricity use when called upon. EnerNOC (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ENOC]]), a … Continue reading “World Energy Unveils “Demand Response” Auctions, Disrupting a Market Dominated by Boston’s EnerNOC”
Ocera Cheers from the Bleachers As Rival Succeeds with New Drug for Brain Damage
Sometimes in biotech you have to root for your biggest competitors to succeed. That’s why yesterday was a very good day for the folks at San Diego-based Ocera Therapeutics. The big news came out yesterday from suburban Washington D.C., where an FDA advisory panel recommended that regulators approve a new drug from Morrisville, NC-based Salix … Continue reading “Ocera Cheers from the Bleachers As Rival Succeeds with New Drug for Brain Damage”
Amazon and Microsoft Strike Patent Deal, Yapta and Kayak Team Up, Smilebox Scores Cash, & More Seattle-Area Deals News
Microsoft showed up in three deals this past week, involving healthcare-IT, Web search, and software patents. Other than that, the Northwest deals scene felt a little too quiet for its own good. —Redmond, WA-based Smilebox raised $2 million in equity financing, according to a filing with the SEC. The investors weren’t disclosed, and Smilebox hasn’t … Continue reading “Amazon and Microsoft Strike Patent Deal, Yapta and Kayak Team Up, Smilebox Scores Cash, & More Seattle-Area Deals News”
Sermo Aims to Launch New Version of Doctors-Only Social Networking Site
Sermo is getting a technology makeover. The Cambridge, MA-based provider of the country’s largest social networking website exclusively for physicians is planning to launch a revamped version of its site called Sermo X, intending to improve the online experience of its users and customers, company founder and CEO Daniel Palestrant tells Xconomy. When CEOs tell … Continue reading “Sermo Aims to Launch New Version of Doctors-Only Social Networking Site”
Marathon Technologies Stretches B Round to $13.5M
Marathon Technologies has socked away more cash, about five months after announcing the arrival of new CEO Jim Welch. The Littleton, MA-based maker of fault tolerance software has wrapped up a third closing of its Series B round of venture capital, bringing the total funding in the round to $13.5 million, according to a regulatory … Continue reading “Marathon Technologies Stretches B Round to $13.5M”
Leap Wireless Combines its Cricket Service With Pocket Communications in South Texas
Call it an example of newfound pragmatism among the flat-rate wireless service providers, which are coming under growing pressure to consolidate. San Diego’s Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LEAP]]) announced today that it’s forming a “joint venture” with San Antonio, TX-based Pocket Communications that will provide pre-paid wireless services to customers of both companies in South Texas. … Continue reading “Leap Wireless Combines its Cricket Service With Pocket Communications in South Texas”
Smilebox Raises $2M, Keeps Pushing E-Cards and Photo Services
Redmond, WA-based Smilebox, a provider of software and photo services for electronic greeting cards, scrapbooks, and photo albums, has raised $2 million in equity financing, according to an SEC filing. The investors weren’t disclosed, but Paul Bialek, Rob Stavis, and Richard Wolpert are listed on the form as directors, and they are all previous investors … Continue reading “Smilebox Raises $2M, Keeps Pushing E-Cards and Photo Services”
TeachStreet Rolls Out Test Prep Sites, Does Lead Generation with Big Partners
“It’s like figuring out what we want to be when we grow up.” That’s Dave Schappell, founder and CEO of Seattle-based TeachStreet, an Internet startup focused on helping students and teachers connect through classes and online tools in seven metro areas around the U.S. Today, the company announced an important milestone in its growth: the … Continue reading “TeachStreet Rolls Out Test Prep Sites, Does Lead Generation with Big Partners”
Sage Bionetworks Snaps Up $6.7M Grant to Train Young Network Biologists
Sage Bionetworks, a fledgling Seattle nonprofit attempting to launch an open-source biology movement, has nabbed a $6.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to train young scientists to learn to better use genomic data to help improve drug discovery and patient care. The grant lasts for four years, and it may be supplemented and … Continue reading “Sage Bionetworks Snaps Up $6.7M Grant to Train Young Network Biologists”
Qualcomm Ventures Leads New Investment Round in Revived Visage Mobile
San Diego’s Qualcomm Ventures is showing its confidence in Visage Mobile‘s back-from-the-dead strategy by leading a new investment round in the San Francisco-based company. Tim Weingarten, who stepped in as Visage CEO in 2008, tells me the company has secured $4.5 million in its second round venture funding since 2008, when the company sold most … Continue reading “Qualcomm Ventures Leads New Investment Round in Revived Visage Mobile”
Celldex CEO Treks From NJ to Massachusetts in Pursuit of Antibody Drugs for Cancer
Every other week, Celldex Therapeutics CEO Anthony Marucci drives four hours and 15 minutes from home in northern New Jersey to his company’s headquarters in Needham, MA. He’s racked up 60,000 miles on his Mercedes-Benz E-class going back and forth. It sounds like the sort of extreme measure an executive might take on a temporary … Continue reading “Celldex CEO Treks From NJ to Massachusetts in Pursuit of Antibody Drugs for Cancer”
Maine Startup mCaddie Raises Angel Funds for Golf App
Quick: Name a consumer passion that generates twice as much revenue as Hollywood movies; in which virtually all of the participants, by definition, have disposable income and an ambition to improve their performance; and which counts among its devotees millions of business executives who carry around gadgets like smartphones. If you named golf, you were … Continue reading “Maine Startup mCaddie Raises Angel Funds for Golf App”
Pivotal Investments Seeks to Build Regional Network of Future Cleantech Leaders
There has been a lot of talk in the past year (and the past month) about the need to build a critical mass of cleantech and alternative energy companies in the Northwest. Now one venture firm in Portland, OR, is doing something about it, by assembling a talent pool of people with the ability to … Continue reading “Pivotal Investments Seeks to Build Regional Network of Future Cleantech Leaders”
Gilead Sciences Gets FDA Green Light To Sell Cystic Fibrosis Drug
Gilead Sciences paid $365 million to acquire Seattle-based Corus Pharma in 2006, and now it finally can see a way of getting a return on that investment in the U.S. The world’s leading marketer of HIV medicines said late Monday that the FDA has given it clearance to start selling an inhalable antibiotic to U.S. … Continue reading “Gilead Sciences Gets FDA Green Light To Sell Cystic Fibrosis Drug”
LifeImage and EMC Planning New Cloud Storage Service for Medical Data
When I went to visit LifeImage CEO Hamid Tabatabaie at his firm’s headquarters in Newton, MA, last week, one of my main goals was to learn more about the breadth and depth of the health IT startup’s ties with storage giant EMC (NYSE:[[ticker:EMC]]). That question was quickly answered when EMC senior VP Joel Schwartz walked … Continue reading “LifeImage and EMC Planning New Cloud Storage Service for Medical Data”
Arzeda CEO Resigns; Company Looks to Prove Technology, Conserve Cash
Arzeda CEO Michael Martino is out. Martino, the former CEO of Bothell, WA-based Sonus Pharmaceuticals, has resigned his job as CEO of the Seattle designer-enzyme startup, and plans to take a new position with a biotech company in San Diego, according to an e-mail he sent today to friends and colleagues. Martino’s resignation is effective … Continue reading “Arzeda CEO Resigns; Company Looks to Prove Technology, Conserve Cash”