We had another mixed bag of Seattle biotech news this week, as one of the region’s oldest biotech companies (Cell Therapeutics) ran dangerously low on cash, and one of the newer scientific institutions (Institute for Systems Biology) said its budget for the coming year is growing by $20 million. —Cell Therapeutics is skating closer than … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Nears Brink, ‘Hutch’ Dog Breed Test Hits Market, Lee Hood’s Institute Grows & More Seattle Area Life Sciences News”
Category: National
Verenium, BP Form Joint Venture to Build Biofuel Plant in Florida
Verenium (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRNM]]), a Cambridge, MA, startup whose proprietary microbes break down high-cellulose material like sugar cane into ethanol, said yesterday that it has established a joint venture with British Petroleum (NYSE: [[ticker:BP]]) to build commercial-scale biofuel plants in the United States. BP, which owns 50 percent of the new company, is contributing $22.5 million … Continue reading “Verenium, BP Form Joint Venture to Build Biofuel Plant in Florida”
To Survive and Thrive, Go Global Young Startup
While traveling the world over the past dozen years on behalf of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, I have spoken with hundreds of entrepreneurs in virtually all major business centers of the world, both developed and developing. I would like to see more of our regional entrepreneurs take a big leap by establishing early international relationships and recruiting operations with … Continue reading “To Survive and Thrive, Go Global Young Startup”
Defending the U.S. Cyber Castle: Core Security’s Tom Kellermann on Internet Attacks and Obama’s Strategy
Last week President Obama tapped Melissa Hathaway, a former Booz Allen Hamilton consultant and top aide to President Bush, to undertake a sweeping 60-day review of the country’s computer security posture. Once that review is complete, the 40-year-old Hathaway could be in line to be named the nation’s first assistant to the president for cyberspace—or, … Continue reading “Defending the U.S. Cyber Castle: Core Security’s Tom Kellermann on Internet Attacks and Obama’s Strategy”
San Diego Biotechs With Good News Step Forward at Roth Conference
Many investors are nursing their wounds in the recession, so some of the big technology investment conferences have been canceled—or the investment banks that sponsored them no longer exist. That’s why the turnout at Roth Capital Partners’ 21st annual growth stock conference has been a pleasant surprise for Aaron Gurewitz, a managing director at Roth’s … Continue reading “San Diego Biotechs With Good News Step Forward at Roth Conference”
What Breed is Your Dog? Geneticists From the “Hutch” Pioneered New Test to Provide Answer
Two scientists walked into Leroy Hood‘s office in Seattle a little more than five years ago with a burning question about the genomes of dogs. They had sequenced the entire string of DNA in the canine genome for biomedical researchers, and sought out the high-speed gene sequencing pioneer for business advice. They wondered what it … Continue reading “What Breed is Your Dog? Geneticists From the “Hutch” Pioneered New Test to Provide Answer”
Alnylam Looks to Spinoffs To Unleash RNAi Technologies for Stem Cells, Vaccines
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals is one of the fortunate few in biotech with more than $500 million in the bank, so money is the least of its worries. But prioritizing a dizzying array of opportunities, and finding the best way to rally teams of bright people around them, is another thing altogether. I got some insight into … Continue reading “Alnylam Looks to Spinoffs To Unleash RNAi Technologies for Stem Cells, Vaccines”
UW Computer Scientist Oren Etzioni on Startups, Venture Capital, and the Future of Web Search
Oren Etzioni, a computer science and engineering professor at the University of Washington, has certainly ventured out of the ivory tower since he first came to Seattle 18 years ago. The Israel-born computer scientist founded three startup companies out of UW: Netbot, a comparison shopping agent acquired by Excite in 1997, Clearforest, a text-miner acquired … Continue reading “UW Computer Scientist Oren Etzioni on Startups, Venture Capital, and the Future of Web Search”
Alkermes Aims for Big Time, Partners Launches Blood Pressure Tracker, Synta Gets GSK Payday, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
It seems like some of New England’s life sciences firms might have headed off for February vacation a little early this year, but a few of them still had news to report. —Ryan took the pulse of SmartBeat, a new Web-based blood-pressure-management system developed by Partners HealthCare’s Center for Connected Health. Partners plans to use … Continue reading “Alkermes Aims for Big Time, Partners Launches Blood Pressure Tracker, Synta Gets GSK Payday, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Announcing Xconomy’s Forum on March 26: The Rise of Cleantech in the Northwest
[Updated Feb. 18 with newly confirmed panelist Linden Rhoads of UW TechTransfer:] Cleantech and renewable energy are rare examples of fast-growing areas of investment and entrepreneurial activity—but the Northwest is behind the curve in these emerging arenas compared to Silicon Valley, New England, and some other parts of the country. The Northwest, however, is developing … Continue reading “Announcing Xconomy’s Forum on March 26: The Rise of Cleantech in the Northwest”
Cadence Raises $86.6M in Private Stock Offering
Cadence Pharmaceuticals just proved that you can raise a lot of money in biotech if you’ve already passed the test in a pivotal clinical trial. The San Diego-based biotech company has entered an agreement to raise $86.6 million mostly from a group of venture capitalists who are better known for investing in companies at earlier, … Continue reading “Cadence Raises $86.6M in Private Stock Offering”
TechStars “Entrepreneurship Boot Camp” Comes to Boston: An Interview with Co-founder David Cohen
You lose some, you win some. Less than four weeks after Paul Graham’s unceremonious announcement that his formerly bicoastal startup school Y Combinator would be taking up permanent residence in Mountain View, CA, ending a tradition of summer sessions in Cambridge, MA, a new startup program is coming to town: Boulder, CO-based TechStars. Founded in … Continue reading “TechStars “Entrepreneurship Boot Camp” Comes to Boston: An Interview with Co-founder David Cohen”
San Diego’s Stem Cell Startup Reports Hair-Regrowth Results
San Diego-based Histogen CEO Gail Naughton is presenting encouraging preliminary results today at a stem cell conference from the startup’s first human trial of its hair regrowth treatment, ReGenica. The company says it is in the midst of conducting a five-month clinical trial somewhere outside the United States to assess the safety of ReGenica. After … Continue reading “San Diego’s Stem Cell Startup Reports Hair-Regrowth Results”
MIT-Trained Entrepreneurs Create Businesses With $2 Trillion a Year in Sales, Kauffman Report Says
It’s no secret that the Massachusetts economy benefits from the presence of large, prestigious, star-studded universities and the companies started by their faculty and graduates. In fact, these universities take every opportunity to remind people of their importance: Just a few weeks ago, Harvard put out a report taking credit for nearly $5 billion in … Continue reading “MIT-Trained Entrepreneurs Create Businesses With $2 Trillion a Year in Sales, Kauffman Report Says”
PivotLink Lands $10M, Founder’s Funds Frugal, Earth Class Mail Signs Swiss Post, & More Seattle-Area Deals News
It was a relatively light week for deals in the Northwest, with modest activity in business software, Internet, and biotech. —PivotLink, a software firm specializing in business intelligence with offices in Bellevue, WA, and San Francisco, CA, closed a $10 million Series C round led by StarVest Partners. Other investors included Trident Capital and Emergence … Continue reading “PivotLink Lands $10M, Founder’s Funds Frugal, Earth Class Mail Signs Swiss Post, & More Seattle-Area Deals News”
Venture Lender Hercules Technology Pulls Out of San Diego
Hercules Technology Growth Capital (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HTGC]]), a specialty finance company based in Palo Alto, CA, has closed its San Diego office—roughly a year and a half after announcing its expansion into the San Diego venture market. The public company, which issues loans to startup technology companies and also makes venture investments, had three employees in … Continue reading “Venture Lender Hercules Technology Pulls Out of San Diego”
The Show Must Go On: Invest Northwest Forges Ahead Despite Grim Biotech Climate
There are easier things to do these days than trying to organize a biotech investing conference in Seattle. The local cluster has taken its share of body blows, the weather is usually pretty gray in late winter, and investors aren’t in the mood to bet on anything more risky than U.S. Treasury bills. It’s all … Continue reading “The Show Must Go On: Invest Northwest Forges Ahead Despite Grim Biotech Climate”
What Now, Medical Device Entrepreneurs?
Years ago, new medical device companies were often formed by a small group of people who came up with an idea for a new concept and started the company by working on it nights and weekends in someone’s garage. Often, this new company had little or no real financial backing other than the money that … Continue reading “What Now, Medical Device Entrepreneurs?”
Xconomy San Diego Hosts its Premiere Event, A Regional Algae Initiative Blooms, Mpex Pharmaceuticals Raises $27.5M, La Jolla Pharmaceuticals Fails Key Trial, & More San Diego BizTech News
The highlight last week for Xconomy San Diego was our premiere event, “Physics for Future Presidents,” which drew a big turnout (about 200 people registered), including at least two Ph.D. physicists—Lowell Burnett of Quasar Federal Systems and J. Robert Beyster, the founder and retired chairman and CEO of defense contractor SAIC. Yet it also was … Continue reading “Xconomy San Diego Hosts its Premiere Event, A Regional Algae Initiative Blooms, Mpex Pharmaceuticals Raises $27.5M, La Jolla Pharmaceuticals Fails Key Trial, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Dartmouth College: An Innovation Hub in Northern New England
It takes about two hours to drive to Dartmouth College from the Boston area—not nearly as convenient as the 15- or 20-minute trip that many of the area’s venture capitalists can make between their firms and Harvard or MIT. Nevertheless, some local VCs make the trek to Dartmouth’s Hanover, NH, campus on a regular basis. … Continue reading “Dartmouth College: An Innovation Hub in Northern New England”
Happy Birthdays Misters President
Xconomy will be off today in honor of the birthdays of George and Abe. (And while we’re at it we’ll probably lift a belated glass to Charles as well.) For those of you embarking on school-vacation-week adventures, bon voyage! To the rest, we’ll be back tomorrow with all the high-tech and life-sciences news you can … Continue reading “Happy Birthdays Misters President”
Leroy Hood’s Institute Gains Momentum, Nine Years After Starting with “Crazy” Idea
Leroy Hood says when he left the University of Washington in late 1999 to start an institute of multi-disciplinary team of scientists to study what he called “systems biology,” people snickered, saying “it was just a crazy way to raise money.” Almost a decade later, the work of the Seattle-based Institute for Systems Biology still … Continue reading “Leroy Hood’s Institute Gains Momentum, Nine Years After Starting with “Crazy” Idea”
Making Sense of Websense’s Acquisitions Strategy
When Websense (NASDAQ: [[ticker:WBSN]]) announced a couple of weeks ago it had acquired Defensio, a Canadian spam filtering Web service, I realized the San Diego software developer had morphed into something bigger and more robust than I remembered. “A lot has changed in the last three or four years,” David Meizlik, a Websense product marketing manager, … Continue reading “Making Sense of Websense’s Acquisitions Strategy”
With DOE Contract, SAIC Can Seek $5B in Energy Conservation Work
SAIC’s acquisition of an Oklahoma engineering company in 2007 could yield a substantial new revenue source for the San Diego-based government contractor. The company also known as Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: [[ticker:SAI]]) said earlier this week its Benham Companies subsidiary was recently awarded an Energy Savings Performance Contract by the U.S. Department of Energy. … Continue reading “With DOE Contract, SAIC Can Seek $5B in Energy Conservation Work”
Former Arthur D. Little CEO McNamara, Taking a Top Post at Cambridge Consultants, Says She’s Gone “Back to the Future”
Pamela McNamara says that her new post at Cambridge Consultants, a technology product design and development firm, is like going “back to the future.” That’s because she once oversaw the firm as CEO of then-fading consulting powerhouse Arthur D. Little, which owned Cambridge Consultants until 2002. Yet her new employer has evolved in the years … Continue reading “Former Arthur D. Little CEO McNamara, Taking a Top Post at Cambridge Consultants, Says She’s Gone “Back to the Future””
New Head of NWEN Looks to Revamp Entrepreneur Tools, Training, and Forums
“I haven’t stopped smiling for the past week,” says Rebecca Lovell. The new executive director of the Northwest Entrepreneur Network (NWEN) was telling me about her career transition to the Bellevue, WA-based nonprofit organization. Lovell has been at her new post since the beginning of February, succeeding outgoing NWEN head Peter Quinn. Previously, Lovell was … Continue reading “New Head of NWEN Looks to Revamp Entrepreneur Tools, Training, and Forums”
Public Radio for People Without Radios
I have a bunch of wireless devices at home, but none of them are radios. And if I’m at all typical, then the radio business has a big problem. For broadcasters, getting radio programming to people like me, who find most or all of their news, information, and entertainment on the Internet, is challenging enough. … Continue reading “Public Radio for People Without Radios”
Cell Therapeutics Teeters on the Brink as Cash Runs Out on Promising Cancer Drugs
Cell Therapeutics has gotten itself into some kind of jam. Just as the Seattle-based biotech company has gotten its hands on two cancer drugs proven to be effective in clinical trials, it may never be able to reap the rewards of bringing them to patients. The company has only enough cash to operate through the … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Teeters on the Brink as Cash Runs Out on Promising Cancer Drugs”
Backchannelmedia Opens Revenue Channel, GSK to Shell Out Up to $450M for Idenix Drug, GI Dynamics Packs On $15M, & More Boston-Area Deals News
Once again, New England’s tech and life sciences firms have managed to eek out a few notable deals despite the daunting climate. —Idenix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IDIX]]), a maker of infectious-disease treatments in Cambridge, MA, forged an alliance with GlaxoSmithKline potentially worth about $450 million. The deal, which will bring Idenix $34 million up front, as … Continue reading “Backchannelmedia Opens Revenue Channel, GSK to Shell Out Up to $450M for Idenix Drug, GI Dynamics Packs On $15M, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Electronomics: Why We Need Smart Grid Technology and Infrastructure Today
Here are seven key questions and answers about the electricity economy and smart-grid technology. 1. What is “electronomics” and where does it fit in today’s energy world? One of the best ways to understand the new electric smart grid of the 21st century is by applying electronomics, which helps you analyze the rapidly emerging electricity … Continue reading “Electronomics: Why We Need Smart Grid Technology and Infrastructure Today”
The Best $1 Billion We Can Spend: Investing in Innovations for the Disabled, Disadvantaged, and Dismissed
The battle is over and the final economic recovery and stimulus bill preserves $15 billion for basic science and over $50 billion for upgrading America’s technology infrastructure. These expenditures will put people to work immediately, provide a foundation for steady economic growth, and set the stage for discoveries that address longstanding human problems. As a … Continue reading “The Best $1 Billion We Can Spend: Investing in Innovations for the Disabled, Disadvantaged, and Dismissed”
Former San Diego Chipmaker Lays Off 16 Percent of Global Workforce
In Sunnyvale, CA, yesterday, Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMCC]]) announced it was making pay cuts and laying off 100 employees in its worldwide workforce. The company, which was founded in San Diego and based here until 2005, now has between 470 to 500 employees around the world, spokesman Gilles Garcia told me. Some of … Continue reading “Former San Diego Chipmaker Lays Off 16 Percent of Global Workforce”
La Jolla Pharmaceutical Stock Crashes After Drug Fails In Pivotal Clinical Trial
La Jolla Pharmaceutical said today that its lead drug candidate, Riquent, failed in a clinical trial of lupus of the kidneys. The news wiped out almost 90 percent of the San Diego-based company’s stock market value, driving shares down to 26 cents after the opening bell. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LJPC]]) issued a one-paragraph statement this … Continue reading “La Jolla Pharmaceutical Stock Crashes After Drug Fails In Pivotal Clinical Trial”
Virtual Initiative Cultivating Algae Industry Bloom in San Diego
One of the distinguishing characteristics about algae is that it grows fast, and it seems that may be true as well for the algae biomass industry in San Diego. After reporting last month about a push to establish a multimillion-dollar hub for algae-based biofuels research in San Diego, I learned of a related effort with … Continue reading “Virtual Initiative Cultivating Algae Industry Bloom in San Diego”
Alkermes Knocks on Door of Biotech Big Leagues, Aims to Make Drugs of its Own
People in the life sciences business throw around the term “Big Biotech” as a way to distinguish the industry’s elites from the money-losing masses in the product-development stage. The “Big Biotechs” are the industry’s select few profitable companies with multi-billion dollar stock valuations, like Amgen, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, Celgene, and a duo from Cambridge, MA—Genzyme … Continue reading “Alkermes Knocks on Door of Biotech Big Leagues, Aims to Make Drugs of its Own”
How to Get Funded in the Recession: The Frugal Mechanic Story
On Monday, Seattle-area startup Frugal Mechanic closed a round of seed funding from Founder’s Co-op, an early-stage investment fund for Internet companies. Frugal Mechanic is an online search engine for auto parts, so people can find the best price for an air filter or muffler, and get the right part to match their car quickly … Continue reading “How to Get Funded in the Recession: The Frugal Mechanic Story”
Huntington Capital Discloses Four Deals (So Far) From Its Second Fund
Huntington Capital, San Diego’s boutique private equity and venture lending firm, says it has made four investments so far from Huntington Capital Fund II, after raising $78 million in capital for the second fund it formed last May. Partner Tim Bubnack told me in October the privately-held firm was seeing a lot of prospects, as … Continue reading “Huntington Capital Discloses Four Deals (So Far) From Its Second Fund”
Seattle Genetics’ Financing Tale, Johnny Stine Sticks it to VCs, Puget Sound’s Biotech Universe, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
Not a lot of breaking news surfaced this week in Seattle biotech, but we still found some interesting feature stories that challenge all sorts of conventional wisdom. —Seattle Genetics CEO Clay Siegall told Xconomy the inside story of how his company’s $55.8 million financing came together. The moral of the story: Don’t do a bunch … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics’ Financing Tale, Johnny Stine Sticks it to VCs, Puget Sound’s Biotech Universe, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
Partners’ Center for Connected Health to Launch Disease-Monitoring System, Mulls Commercial Spinoff
A group within Boston’s largest health system is launching a Web-based service so employers can help their workers keep their high blood pressure in check. The service developed by the Center for Connected Health, which is part of Partners HealthCare, could help reduce thousands of fatal strokes and heart attacks in the U.S. caused by … Continue reading “Partners’ Center for Connected Health to Launch Disease-Monitoring System, Mulls Commercial Spinoff”
Earth Class Mail and Evri Go Postal, Apptio and Redfin Announce Partners—a Startup Roundup
It’s been a busy day for announcements. Here’s a quick snapshot of four Seattle-area tech startups, all in different fields, all trying to make their way in the world: —Apptio, the Bellevue, WA-based software firm focused on optimizing companies’ IT costs, announced major partnerships with Amazon Web Services, SkyTap, VMware, and Citrix, as well as … Continue reading “Earth Class Mail and Evri Go Postal, Apptio and Redfin Announce Partners—a Startup Roundup”
ZymoGenetics Clamps Down on Losses, Predicts Climbing Recothrom Sales
ZymoGenetics has taken action to slow down its financial bleeding. The Seattle biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZGEN]]) said today in its quarterly earnings report that it finished the fourth-quarter with a much narrower-than-usual net loss of $9.2 million, and entered the new year with $89.9 million left in the bank. ZymoGenetics, a company that has never … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics Clamps Down on Losses, Predicts Climbing Recothrom Sales”
Ex-Microsoft VP Will Poole Looks to Take a Few Good Companies Global
If you’re interested in creating technologies for developing countries, or involved with a Web-based software startup in the Northwest, you definitely want to know Will Poole. OK, that covers a lot of people, but it’s not an overstatement. Poole is one of the most prominent ex-Microsofties to leave the company in the past year. Until … Continue reading “Ex-Microsoft VP Will Poole Looks to Take a Few Good Companies Global”
Usama Fayyad on ChoiceStream’s Effort to Save Online Display Ads from Irrelevance
If you’re like me, you don’t pay much attention to display ads on the Web—the big “banner” and “skyscraper” ads that run along the top or the side of many media sites. The problem is that few of these ads are for products or companies that interest me, so I tune them all out. Well, … Continue reading “Usama Fayyad on ChoiceStream’s Effort to Save Online Display Ads from Irrelevance”
VC Firms, Led By Advanced Technology Ventures, Aim To Polish Image with Entrepreneurs
This we’ve known: The venture capital business model relies on having talented entrepreneurs to run their portfolio companies. Yet many entrepreneurs love to hate VCs, and new online forums such as TheFunded.com have made this reality more clear than ever (Bob wrote about how TheFunded.com has made its ratings of VC firms and partners available … Continue reading “VC Firms, Led By Advanced Technology Ventures, Aim To Polish Image with Entrepreneurs”
Q&A With Linden Rhoads: UW TechTransfer Leader Brings VC Revolution to Campus (Part 2)
Yesterday, we shared the first part of a conversation with Linden Rhoads, the University of Washington’s tech transfer boss. She talked about how she’s making the office hustle a lot more, in particular by brokering meetings between faculty and venture capitalists to brainstorm about the best research ideas with commercial potential. Today, in Part Two, … Continue reading “Q&A With Linden Rhoads: UW TechTransfer Leader Brings VC Revolution to Campus (Part 2)”
Arena Weight Loss Drug Approaches Critical Turning Point Next Month
Fen-phen was the wonder drug for weight loss in the 1990s, until it was found to damage heart valves and yanked off the market. Now the folks at San Diego-based Arena Pharmaceuticals are eagerly waiting clinical trial results that will show whether they have learned something profitable from that colossal failure. Arena is developing a … Continue reading “Arena Weight Loss Drug Approaches Critical Turning Point Next Month”
Advice on Physics for Future Presidents From the Debunker in Chief
The President of the United States is supposed to know the differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims. But somehow, as Richard Muller points out, nobody expects America’s commander in chief to know the differences between uranium and plutonium, or between gasoline and hydrogen. That’s why he teaches “Physics for Future Presidents” at UC Berkeley, a … Continue reading “Advice on Physics for Future Presidents From the Debunker in Chief”
U.S. Slow to Join Global Wave of Mobile TV Growth
A new study released yesterday says half a billion people around the world are expected to tune in to mobile TV by 2013—a market that is estimated at, oh, $50 billion or so. But the study’s author told me that in the United States, where Qualcomm’s MediaFlo is the leading technology, the growth of mobile … Continue reading “U.S. Slow to Join Global Wave of Mobile TV Growth”
Deux Deals for Dyax, Au Revoir for Vertex’s Boger, Grande Alliance for Idenix and GSK, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
This week’s life sciences news was dominated by New England’s public companies—starting with three developments from Dyax. —Last Wednesday, an FDA advisory committee voted by a margin of just 6-5 to recommend approval of ecallantide from Cambridge, MA-based Dyax (NASDAQ:[[ticker:DYAX]]). The drug, a treatment for the rare blood disease hereditary angioedema, is the lead drug … Continue reading “Deux Deals for Dyax, Au Revoir for Vertex’s Boger, Grande Alliance for Idenix and GSK, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Alexandria Wins Zoning Change in East Cambridge, Removing One Obstacle to Huge Biotech Park
An ambitious plan by Pasadena, CA-based Alexandria Real Estate Equities to create a 16-acre biotech park in East Cambridge, MA, moved one step closer to being realized last night. By an 8-1 vote, the Cambridge City Council approved a rezoning request from Alexandria that will allow it to build taller, denser buildings than those previously … Continue reading “Alexandria Wins Zoning Change in East Cambridge, Removing One Obstacle to Huge Biotech Park”