The days when any one person could be a credible expert on all the world’s scientific knowledge, capable of distilling complex data and concepts into a clear, understandable answer, are said to have ended with Aristotle. Now Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, is pursuing a vision of a computer program that harnesses scientific … Continue reading “Vulcan’s “Digital Aristotle” Moves Toward Vision of Computers that Answer Scientific Questions”
Category: National
The Roots of Power: How Voltree is Tapping Tree Energy to Save Forests
Stella Karavas, CEO of Voltree Power, sounded a little tired of talking about trees when I reached her last week. Seems the Canton, MA, company has been inundated by press inquiries since CNN ran a spot on its tree-powered forest fire monitors last year—a flood that started all over again after MIT’s official news site … Continue reading “The Roots of Power: How Voltree is Tapping Tree Energy to Save Forests”
Plunging Oil Prices Require Alternative Fuel Startups to Take a Long View
Historic high prices for petroleum over the past decade have stoked a surge of interest in alternative fuels and renewable energy, and dozens of startups have been formed to develop new technologies in the field.Now this year’s extraordinary spike in crude oil prices is being matched by an equally spectacular swoon. Crude oil prices fell to … Continue reading “Plunging Oil Prices Require Alternative Fuel Startups to Take a Long View”
Resolvyx Closes in on Clinical Trials, Radius Health Reels in $15M, Luke Zeros in on Public Biotechs’ Bottom Line, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
All was far from quiet on the Boston-area life sciences front this past week. Behold… —Luke did a massive analysis of the finances of public Boston-area life sciences firms, looking at how much money each one has in the bank—and how fast that cash is going up the chimney. Bottom line: Boston companies are overall … Continue reading “Resolvyx Closes in on Clinical Trials, Radius Health Reels in $15M, Luke Zeros in on Public Biotechs’ Bottom Line, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Cozi Surpasses 1 Million Members, Looks to Replace Pen and Paper for Managing Family Life
Want to simplify your holiday shopping lists this year? What about keeping track of who’s picking up the kids from the airport, or who’s going to watch the bird in the oven while you entertain guests? A Seattle startup appears to be gaining traction in helping people manage these kinds of tasks. Cozi, a software … Continue reading “Cozi Surpasses 1 Million Members, Looks to Replace Pen and Paper for Managing Family Life”
Microsoft Cuts Staff at FAST Search Division
Xconomy received a report last week that the Oslo, Norway-based FAST Search division of Microsoft, which has a 180-person outpost in Needham, MA, and a smaller office in New York, had laid off 25 people in its U.S. offices. We have now confirmed that report, and have learned that 10 of the affected staff members … Continue reading “Microsoft Cuts Staff at FAST Search Division”
Pocket Communications May Pose Challenge to Leap Wireless’ Low-Cost Service
A startup flat-rate wireless provider out of Texas may have San Diego’s Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:[[ticker:LEAP]]) in its sites. Pocket Communications, a no-frills wireless service provider in San Antonio, announced today it has raised $100 million in venture funding to establish a broad footprint for its unlimited wireless service in the Northeast. Xconomy’s Wade Roush provides … Continue reading “Pocket Communications May Pose Challenge to Leap Wireless’ Low-Cost Service”
Twitter Acquires Portland-based Values of N, Gets New Talent
Values of n, a collaborative-software startup in Portland, OR, has been acquired by San Francisco-based Twitter for an undisclosed amount. The startup’s existing products will be shut down on December 8, but “the technology behind the scenes will live on and potentially re-emerge as part of Twitter’s systems, services, user experience, or open source libraries,” … Continue reading “Twitter Acquires Portland-based Values of N, Gets New Talent”
Battery, Charles River Fund Flat-Rate Wireless Network for Northeast
Battery Ventures of Menlo Park, CA, and Waltham, MA, said today that it is the lead investor in a $100 million venture round for Pocket Communications Northeast, a new cellular network that will offer flat-rate, unlimited-use calling plans to wireless subscribers in parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. Charles River Ventures, which also has … Continue reading “Battery, Charles River Fund Flat-Rate Wireless Network for Northeast”
Datacastle Gets $5.3M, Geospiza Goes Gene-Sifting, Bsquare Buys TechQuest, & More Seattle-Area Deals News
Heading into the holiday season, it was a fairly slow week in the Northwest for deals. But there was still some substantial activity in software and biotech—and some activity about the activity (see immediately below). —Bellevue, WA-based software and services firm Bsquare (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BSQR]]) acquired TechQuest, a test-automation software maker in Minneapolis, MN, for $2.2 … Continue reading “Datacastle Gets $5.3M, Geospiza Goes Gene-Sifting, Bsquare Buys TechQuest, & More Seattle-Area Deals News”
Sky Cowboys: Cambridge’s Aurora Studies Ways to Lasso Robot Planes In Flight
Here’s an idea worthy of Tom Swift: Send a big, long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) such as Northrup Grumman’s Global Hawk into a battle area with a flock of smaller, bird-sized robot planes in its belly. Jettison the baby planes for short-range, low-altitude, low-speed reconnaissance missions, then lower a cable to recapture them, one by … Continue reading “Sky Cowboys: Cambridge’s Aurora Studies Ways to Lasso Robot Planes In Flight”
Xconomy Closes Second Financing Round
Xconomy has closed the first tranche of its second financing round, we are extremely pleased to announce. Return investor CommonAngels, the premier angel group in New England, led the round. New investor LaunchCapital—a small (and very astute) early-stage venture fund with offices in Cambridge, MA; New Haven, CT; and Palo Alto—also participated. And they were … Continue reading “Xconomy Closes Second Financing Round”
Human Tissue Startup ‘Putting the Band Together Again’
San Diego’s Advanced Tissue Sciences tried for 14 years to develop living-tissue patches for healing burns, wounds and chronic sores. But the business went into bankruptcy liquidation in late 2002, a victim of regulatory delays and more than $300 million in debt. Since then, former CEO Gail Naughton says she’s been invited to speak many times … Continue reading “Human Tissue Startup ‘Putting the Band Together Again’”
Hold on Tight: Biotech Execs Predict Hard Times for Industry as Cash Dwindles
Most biotech companies live and die based on how much cash they have in the bank to fuel drug development. So we’ve combed through the cash statements of more than 70 publicly traded life sciences companies in Xconomy’s home cities of Boston, San Diego, and Seattle, to see just how well-positioned the local clusters are … Continue reading “Hold on Tight: Biotech Execs Predict Hard Times for Industry as Cash Dwindles”
Biotech Survival Index: Boston Life Sciences Companies Brace for Long, Hard Winter
Boston is the biggest center of life sciences in the Xconomy network, and by our analysis, the Bay State’s biotech sector is also the best equipped to survive the economic crisis. I reached this conclusion by combing through public company filings of more than 70 life sciences companies in Boston, Seattle, and San Diego. For … Continue reading “Biotech Survival Index: Boston Life Sciences Companies Brace for Long, Hard Winter”
Layoffs and New Lives: Hubspan, CarDomain, and Jobster Join the Seattle Layoff Litany
Two weeks ago, Xconomy published our first iteration of what we call the Seattle Layoff Litany. It’s a document that tracks tech and life sciences job cuts in the Northwest. Here is a quick update about three local companies that have gone through layoffs since then (one is unconfirmed). I thought it was especially interesting … Continue reading “Layoffs and New Lives: Hubspan, CarDomain, and Jobster Join the Seattle Layoff Litany”
Kratos Adds Another Defense Company in Growth-by-Acquistion Strategy
Eric DeMarco, the CEO of San Diego’s Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, (NASDAQ:[[ticker:KTOS]]) is showing he learned the lessons of rapid growth during his years at former San Diego defense contractor Titan Corp. Today Kratos announced it’s merging its Kratos Government Solutions division with Digital Fusion, a small defense contractor in Huntsville, AL, that trades over … Continue reading “Kratos Adds Another Defense Company in Growth-by-Acquistion Strategy”
Sequenom May Spot Single-Gene Birth Defects, like Cystic Fibrosis, in a Sample of Mother’s Blood
Sequenom has its sights on developing more than just the first non-invasive prenatal test for Down syndrome. Today, scientists affiliated with the San Diego-based biotech company are reporting how their methods of analyzing genes in a sample of blood from the mother can be used to detect whether a developing fetus has a single-gene defect, … Continue reading “Sequenom May Spot Single-Gene Birth Defects, like Cystic Fibrosis, in a Sample of Mother’s Blood”
The Bourne Innovation: UC Researchers Launch a YouTube for Scientists
As an editor at a growing online resource called the Public Library of Science, UC San Diego Professor Philip Bourne is in an ideal position to see the disruptive changes that are remaking the $11 billion scientific publishing industry. As it has with other types of traditional publishing, the Internet is turning the staid-but-highly lucrative … Continue reading “The Bourne Innovation: UC Researchers Launch a YouTube for Scientists”
Casual Games May Be Recession-Proof; Companies Report Record Revenues, and Some Surprising Trends
“Countercyclical” is a word you’re probably going to hear a lot in the coming months—from entrepreneurs professing that their businesses are not only recession-proof, but will actually fare better during lean times. It’s a word that the leaders of the casual games industry, which has a strong presence in both Seattle and Boston, have been … Continue reading “Casual Games May Be Recession-Proof; Companies Report Record Revenues, and Some Surprising Trends”
Agios Pharmaceuticals Forges Ahead With Lab to Starve Cancer Cells
Agios Pharmaceuticals is moving full steam ahead. The company has moved into a new 21,000-square-foot space in Cambridge, MA, that it says is the world’s largest lab devoted to studying how to throw a wrench into the overactive metabolism of cancer cells that normally allows them to grow and thrive. It has also recruited five … Continue reading “Agios Pharmaceuticals Forges Ahead With Lab to Starve Cancer Cells”
Antigenics Cancer Vaccine, In Small Study, Helps Brain Tumor Patients Live Longer
(Update: Antigenics stock surged 13 percent today after this news appeared.) Antigenics is offering a glimmer of hope for patients with terminal brain tumors. The Lexington, MA-based biotech company said its experimental treatment, designed to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer, helped a small group of patients live about four months longer than their … Continue reading “Antigenics Cancer Vaccine, In Small Study, Helps Brain Tumor Patients Live Longer”
Surviving the Downturn: Advice from Seattle-Area Firms Atlas Accelerator, Geospiza, and Mercent
Updated Nov. 24 with corrections from Mike Crill: Last Thursday, the Seattle-based Alliance of Angels hosted a panel discussion on “managing through an economic downturn,” otherwise known as “Downturnapalooza.” The panelists were Eric Best of Seattle-based e-commerce firm Mercent, Mike Crill of Bellevue, WA-based consulting company Atlas Accelerator, and Rob Arnold of Seattle-based bio-software firm … Continue reading “Surviving the Downturn: Advice from Seattle-Area Firms Atlas Accelerator, Geospiza, and Mercent”
San Diego Snags Annual Conference on All Things Medical and Healthcare-Related
San Diego, which ranks among the premier regions in the country for innovations in the life sciences, has landed a conference to match. After a five-year hiatus, TEDMED is making a comeback, and the exclusive three-day conference on big ideas in healthcare and medicine, may be settling here permanently. The revived TEDMED conference will be held at The … Continue reading “San Diego Snags Annual Conference on All Things Medical and Healthcare-Related”
In Praise of Senator Ted Kennedy For His Contributions to Biomedical Science
Earlier this month, I had the tremendous honor of being asked to discuss Senator Ted Kennedy’s remarkable contributions to biomedical science at an event celebrating The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate that was organized by The Massachusetts healthcare and life sciences communities. Following are my comments: As I studied the record … Continue reading “In Praise of Senator Ted Kennedy For His Contributions to Biomedical Science”
SunEthanol Picks Up $25M, New Name; Infinity Pharma Pairs with Purdue Pharma; In-Q-Tel Taps Two Local Firms, & More Boston-Area Deals News
Half a dozen Boston-area tech and life sciences startups have something to be thankful for heading into this week’s holiday, all of them having managed to close venture deals in a very tricky environment. A few public companies cut some interesting deals as well. —ReGen Power Systems, a Salem, MA-based firm developing a power-producing external … Continue reading “SunEthanol Picks Up $25M, New Name; Infinity Pharma Pairs with Purdue Pharma; In-Q-Tel Taps Two Local Firms, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Reported Job Cuts at NameMedia, WSI Add to Week’s Total
Our apologies to all Xconomy readers for ending the week on a downer, but it’s time for a roundup of the week’s tech layoff news around Boston. On Wednesday, Cambridge, MA-based Akamai said it would cut 110 jobs, or about 7 percent of its workforce. On Thursday Luke reported news of 30 more layoffs at … Continue reading “Reported Job Cuts at NameMedia, WSI Add to Week’s Total”
Where Innovators Meet Up: The Greater Seattle Coffee Cluster, Part Two
A week ago, Xconomy Seattle published a list and an interactive map of the coffee hotspots around town where entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators like to gather. It generated a fair bit of attention and a really great response from our readers. So I thought we should post an updated list here with a bunch of … Continue reading “Where Innovators Meet Up: The Greater Seattle Coffee Cluster, Part Two”
ZymoGenetics CEO Bruce Carter Retires, Promotes Doug Williams, Says Sad Goodbyes to Biotech “Family”
It’s a sad day for Seattle biotech. One of the charismatic pioneers of the local life sciences cluster, Bruce Carter, is retiring from his job as CEO of ZymoGenetics. “I’m quite sad,” Carter says. “I’ve been here a long time, and it’s sort of like my family.” The news is really no surprise. Carter, 65, … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics CEO Bruce Carter Retires, Promotes Doug Williams, Says Sad Goodbyes to Biotech “Family””
Ironwood, Flush With Cash, Anticipates Big Year with Constipation Drug
Ask Ironwood Pharmaceuticals CEO Peter Hecht what he’s trying to accomplish in the next six to 12 months, and he doesn’t tiptoe around. “We’re trying to build the next great pharmaceutical company,” Hecht says. “I know that sounds ludicrous, but I thought I’d just start out with our ambition first.” It’s an open question whether … Continue reading “Ironwood, Flush With Cash, Anticipates Big Year with Constipation Drug”
Accelerator Startup, GPC-Rx, Uses Computers to Make Drugs Without Side Effects
Accelerator’s newest startup could, if it wanted to, make a version of marijuana that wouldn’t give people the munchies. Seattle-based GPC-Rx isn’t going to do that, but it is using sophisticated 3-D computer modeling to help researchers design other drugs to specifically do their main job, without the usual side effects. This company has its … Continue reading “Accelerator Startup, GPC-Rx, Uses Computers to Make Drugs Without Side Effects”
Springpad Wants to Be Your Online Home for the Holidays, And After
If you’re like me, you go through life with the vague hope that someday, technology will help you become a more efficient person. How often I’ve driven to the grocery store or the library to pick up one thing, knowing full well that there’s some other item I needed, but that I’ll never be able … Continue reading “Springpad Wants to Be Your Online Home for the Holidays, And After”
Bsquare CEO Brian Crowley: TestQuest Acquisition “Really Important”
Today’s news that Bellevue, WA-based software firm Bsquare (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BSQR]]) is buying Minneapolis, MN-based TestQuest for $2.2 million has sparked some lively discussion. Bsquare founder and former CEO Bill Baxter, who left the company in 2004, wrote in to say “the investment is not a huge thing for the company” and that “they might benefit … Continue reading “Bsquare CEO Brian Crowley: TestQuest Acquisition “Really Important””
Infinity Snags $75 Million Through Alliance with Purdue Pharma and Mundipharma
Infinity Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, MA-based developer of cancer drugs, got a significant boost today. It signed a partnership worth $75 million upfront from Stamford, CT-based Purdue Pharma, the maker of the pain reliever oxycodone (OxyContin), and Mundipharma, an affiliated company with operations outside the U.S. Under the deal, Purdue Pharma has agreed to pay $45 … Continue reading “Infinity Snags $75 Million Through Alliance with Purdue Pharma and Mundipharma”
A Forum on Failure Stirs One-Liners and Personal Anguish Among CEOs
It was billed as “an evening of candor and compassion,” but with onetime M*A*S*H screenwriter Neil Senturia serving as impresario, a San Diego forum on business failure became an extended tragic-comic riff, abounding with one-liners. Entrepreneurs are rarely willing to publicly discuss their failures after they shut a company down, perhaps with the exception of … Continue reading “A Forum on Failure Stirs One-Liners and Personal Anguish Among CEOs”
Massachusetts, Washington Top Kauffman Foundation’s List of “New Economy” States
In a report released Tuesday, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation named Massachusetts the nation’s leading state when it comes to the structural economic factors that make the state’s businesses competitive in the “New Economy”—defined as global, entrepreneurial, knowledge-based, rooted in information technologies, and innovation-driven. Massachusetts hung onto … Continue reading “Massachusetts, Washington Top Kauffman Foundation’s List of “New Economy” States”
Bsquare Founder Bill Baxter Comments on TestQuest Acquisition—Sees Marginal Benefit
This morning, there was news about Bellevue, WA-based Bsquare buying the assets of TestQuest, a Minneapolis, MN-based mobile software firm, for $2.2 million. It made me think about the strategy behind the deal, and whether it signifies a shift in Bsquare’s business. So I pinged Bill Baxter, who founded Bsquare as CEO in 1994 and … Continue reading “Bsquare Founder Bill Baxter Comments on TestQuest Acquisition—Sees Marginal Benefit”
From Virtual Threads to Polar Bear Cubs: MITX Honors Region’s Top Web Marketing Campaigns
The Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX), the industry association for Boston-area digital media and marketing companies, handed out its 13th annual “Interactive Awards” last night in a ceremony at the Boston Marriott Copley Place hotel. A kind of multimedia version of the national Clio awards, but recognizing the years’ most creative advertising campaigns by … Continue reading “From Virtual Threads to Polar Bear Cubs: MITX Honors Region’s Top Web Marketing Campaigns”
Staccato Marries Artimi, Gets $20M Burst
Will it be a match made in ultra wideband heaven? San Diego-based Staccato Communications says it has merged with another ultra wideband semiconductor developer, Artimi, and raised $20 million in equity financing from previous investors in both companies. The company, which will keep the Staccato name, says the combination of Staccato’s wireless semiconductors and Mountain … Continue reading “Staccato Marries Artimi, Gets $20M Burst”
Got Dry Eye? Take Fish Oil. Resolvyx Moves First Compound Into Human Test
Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals is eying the ophthalmic market. The Bedford, MA-based biotech firm plans to announce today that the first human clinical tests of its resolvins—compounds with anti-inflammatory properties that occur naturally in fish oil—will be in patients with dry eye syndrome. Mind you, many initial clinical trials are done with small pools of 40 or … Continue reading “Got Dry Eye? Take Fish Oil. Resolvyx Moves First Compound Into Human Test”
Shire HGT Adds 150 Mass. Workers, Genetic Therapy Sales Soar, President Says
We in Massachusetts don’t read as much about Shire Human Genetic Therapies (HGT) as other large biotech organizations headquartered here like Genzyme (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) and Biogen Idec (NASDAQ:[[ticker:BIIB]]). Why? Well, for one thing, Shire HGT is a unit of Irish specialty drug company Shire. (The division was formed through Shire’s $1.6 billion acquisition of Cambridge, MA-based … Continue reading “Shire HGT Adds 150 Mass. Workers, Genetic Therapy Sales Soar, President Says”
Mayonnaise Wrestling, Flavor Fanaticism, and Social Media on Steroids: The Bacon Salt Story
Sometimes the best stories are the hardest to tell. This isn’t one of them. I’m not quite sure where to begin, but here goes. There is a startup in South Seattle called Bacon Salt. Maybe you’ve heard of it, maybe you haven’t. But the name says it all: Bacon Salt is a zero-calorie, vegetarian, kosher … Continue reading “Mayonnaise Wrestling, Flavor Fanaticism, and Social Media on Steroids: The Bacon Salt Story”
Wireless Industry’s CDMA True Believers Chart CDMA’s Future for CDMA crowd
The phrase “preaching to the choir” came to mind as I listened to the speakers today at the 3G CDMA North America Regional Conference, which is being held this year in downtown San Diego at the U.S. Grant Hotel. Seated in the audience around me were representatives of wireless carriers, equipment makers and device venders … Continue reading “Wireless Industry’s CDMA True Believers Chart CDMA’s Future for CDMA crowd”
Seattle’s Pharma Godfather, Vaccine Impresario Re-Emerges, Accelerator Gets New Investor & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
We scored exclusive interviews with a couple of biotech industry leaders this week, and heard their views on some of the most intriguing technologies they see emerging in Seattle and around the world. —Former Merck research leader Bennett Shapiro, who lives in a waterfront home in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood, explained why he thinks life sciences … Continue reading “Seattle’s Pharma Godfather, Vaccine Impresario Re-Emerges, Accelerator Gets New Investor & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
RXi Tackles RNAi Delivery, Pfizer Launches A Two-Cambridge Stem Cell Effort, Archemix Plows An Alternative Path to the Public Market, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
The news was mostly good for Boston-area life sciences firms this past week, with some money raised, some deals done, and some intriguing new technologies unveiled. —Luke talked to Tod Woolf, CEO of RXi Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RXII]]), about the tremendous challenge of delivering RNAi-based drugs—and how the Worcester, MA-based firm plans to overcome it. Its … Continue reading “RXi Tackles RNAi Delivery, Pfizer Launches A Two-Cambridge Stem Cell Effort, Archemix Plows An Alternative Path to the Public Market, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Datacastle Closes $5.3M Series A Financing, Gets New Leadership
It’s been a busy week for data-protection companies around here. Two days after Decho was formed out of Seattle-based Pi and Utah-based Mozy, information security firm Datacastle of Seattle has announced a $5.3 million Series A financing round. The investment was led by the Australian venture firm CM Capital Investments. No other investors were disclosed. … Continue reading “Datacastle Closes $5.3M Series A Financing, Gets New Leadership”
Akamai to Cut 110 Workers Worldwide
Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:[[ticker:AKAM]]) is contributing to our growing list of local tech firms laying off workers recently, saying it will cut about 110 employees or 7 percent of its total staff this quarter to reduce operating costs. But the Cambridge, MA-based company, which operates a worldwide network of servers that speed delivery of its clients’ … Continue reading “Akamai to Cut 110 Workers Worldwide”
Targanta Antibiotic Shot Down By FDA Panel
(Update: The fourth paragraph includes a statement from Targanta about the panel’s vote.) Targanta Therapeutics was dealt a blow late this afternoon. A panel of expert advisers to the FDA voted by a 10-8 margin that the Cambridge, MA-based company’s experimental antibiotic for complex skin infections hasn’t yet shown enough evidence that it’s safe and … Continue reading “Targanta Antibiotic Shot Down By FDA Panel”
Carlsbad’s Aptera to Compete for $10 Million Automotive X Prize
Twenty-two teams of aspiring automakers, including Carlsbad-based Aptera, have registered so far to compete for $10 million in prizes offered as part of a “Great Race” to develop super fuel-efficient vehicles, the Progressive Automotive X Prize said today. Aptera, which began development of a futuristic-looking three-wheel passenger car five years ago, is among the teams … Continue reading “Carlsbad’s Aptera to Compete for $10 Million Automotive X Prize”
Avion, Kinetic Vehicles, and Western Washington University Compete for $10M Automotive X Prize
The Automotive X Prize in Los Angeles announced today it has chosen its first 22 teams to compete for $10 million in prizes that will be awarded for developing super fuel-efficient vehicles (100 miles per gallon or equivalent is the nominal goal). Among this first wave of contenders are three Northwest teams: Bellingham, WA-based Avion; … Continue reading “Avion, Kinetic Vehicles, and Western Washington University Compete for $10M Automotive X Prize”