AltspaceVR, one of the forerunners of shared social experiences in virtual reality spaces, has been saved from extinction by Microsoft, which announced Tuesday that it is acquiring the four-year-old company. The Redwood City, CA-based startup had sounded its own death knell on July 28, announcing that it planned to shut down Aug. 3 due to the … Continue reading “AltspaceVR Finds New Home in Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Ecosystem”
Category: New York
After Buyout, Grommet CEO Pieri Says: “Ace Wants Us to Be Ourselves”
For Jules Pieri, the purchase of a majority stake in her company, The Grommet, by Ace Hardware was perhaps preordained. “How fitting is it that our company is named after a humble piece of hardware?” she asks. “There is some destiny at work here.” Also at work was a year-long partnership with the national cooperative … Continue reading “After Buyout, Grommet CEO Pieri Says: “Ace Wants Us to Be Ourselves””
Celebrating Boston Life Sciences: Xconomy Awards Gala Slideshow
We at Xconomy were thrilled to see such a great turnout at our first-ever Awards Gala—350 people from the Boston life sciences community filled a Hynes Convention Center ballroom. As Bob Buderi, our founder and editor-in-chief, said in his opening remarks on September 26 before a sold-out crowd: We clearly struck a chord. Top scientists, … Continue reading “Celebrating Boston Life Sciences: Xconomy Awards Gala Slideshow”
Genomics Startup Sema4 Appoints Jamie Coffin President and COO
Jamie Coffin has been appointed president and chief operating officer of Stamford, CT-based health IT startup Sema4. Before joining Sema4, Coffin was the CEO of Birmingham, AL-based Source Medical Solutions. His experience also includes senior management posts at Dell and IBM (NYSE: [[ticker:IBM]]). Sema4 spun out of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai … Continue reading “Genomics Startup Sema4 Appoints Jamie Coffin President and COO”
Arvinas Promotes John Houston to President and CEO
John Houston has been named president and CEO of Arvinas. He will also join the board of directors of the New Haven, CT, drug developer. Houston initially joined Arvinas in January as president of research and development and chief scientific officer. Before Arvinas, Houston spent 18 years in various roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: [[ticker:BMY]]). … Continue reading “Arvinas Promotes John Houston to President and CEO”
KSQ Bets on CRISPR-Juiced Drug Discovery With $76M & Ex-Genzyme CEO
CRISPR-Cas9 makes headlines as a gene editing tool for potential therapies, but pharma and biotech are also using it to as a tool to discover new drugs. A high-powered startup, KSQ Therapeutics, is the latest firm to join their ranks. Flagship Pioneering and Polaris Partners have been incubating the Cambridge, MA, company since 2015. KSQ … Continue reading “KSQ Bets on CRISPR-Juiced Drug Discovery With $76M & Ex-Genzyme CEO”
Twitter Joins Facebook in Political Hot Seat Over Election Hacking
Ordinarily, Twitter’s announcement that some of its users can now send tweets twice as long as its signature 140-character limit, and that this freedom could be broadened to others, would have been the company’s top news of the week. But instead, Twitter, like Facebook before it, is under the national microscope as government investigations of … Continue reading “Twitter Joins Facebook in Political Hot Seat Over Election Hacking”
Health IT Startup Aetion Names Carolyn Magill CEO
Aetion has named Carolyn Magill CEO of the New York-based company. Magill most recently served as CEO of Darien, CT-based Remedy Partners. Aetion, a health IT startup, has developed software that analyzes clinical and financial activity to find evidence supporting the efficacy and value of treatments. In March, Aetion raised $11 million in a Series … Continue reading “Health IT Startup Aetion Names Carolyn Magill CEO”
FDA Panel Pans PTC’s Audacious Plan to Force Vote on Duchenne Drug
A panel of experts has voted against a Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug from PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PTCT]]). The vote is a critical blow to the company’s unusual attempt to force the review of a drug the FDA has rejected twice already. The 11 member committee, one of many that help the FDA evaluate drugs for … Continue reading “FDA Panel Pans PTC’s Audacious Plan to Force Vote on Duchenne Drug”
Sumeru Leads $45M Growth Equity Round in Treasury Fintech Kyriba
The venture rounds are over for Kyriba, a cloud-based provider of corporate treasury and financial management software that is based in New York and San Diego. After raising $23 million in a Series D funding round last September, Kyriba says today it has raised $45 million in a growth equity round led by Sumeru Equity … Continue reading “Sumeru Leads $45M Growth Equity Round in Treasury Fintech Kyriba”
Google, Apple Offer Salvation from the Horrors of Autoplay
Tech giants are under a lot of pressure these days to make the world a better place—to ferret out Russian hackers trying to fix elections; to combat gender bias in hiring; to stamp out sexual harassment; and to lend their voices to the protests over President Trump’s immigration policies. Despite efforts they’ve made on these … Continue reading “Google, Apple Offer Salvation from the Horrors of Autoplay”
The Winners of the 2017 Xconomy Awards Are…
We are excited to announce the recipients of the first-ever Xconomy Awards. Big Idea Bridge Project The Bridge Project was hatched by MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research in Cambridge and the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in Boston to fund collaborative research between cancer researchers from MIT and Harvard-affiliated hospitals and schools. Its aim is … Continue reading “The Winners of the 2017 Xconomy Awards Are…”
No Effect: Axovant Drug Is Latest Casualty in Alzheimer’s Battle
Another high-profile attempt to produce an Alzheimer’s treatment has failed. An unusual biotech company called Axovant Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AXON]]) reported today that its drug intepirdine did not show a meaningful difference between the patients taking a combination of intepirdine and donepezil (Aricept) and the patients taking only donepezil, which is one of just a handful … Continue reading “No Effect: Axovant Drug Is Latest Casualty in Alzheimer’s Battle”
Trump Orders Up $200M a Year for STEM, Coding Education
President Donald Trump, who has had a rocky relationship with tech companies during his short administration so far, announced an education initiative Monday that apparently met with their approval. In a White House ceremony, Trump directed his education secretary to allocate at least $200 million a year to fund student access to coursework in science, … Continue reading “Trump Orders Up $200M a Year for STEM, Coding Education”
Xconomy Q&A: Todd Schulte of Tech Immigration Advocacy Org FWD.us
[Updated 9/25/17, 1:55 p.m. Clarified 9/27/17, 10:01 a.m. See below.] Immigration policy has always been important to the tech industry, but this year is different. Under a steady barrage of nationalist, anti-immigrant policies promulgated by the Trump administration, the tech industry has been forced to respond like never before, in the halls of Congress, the … Continue reading “Xconomy Q&A: Todd Schulte of Tech Immigration Advocacy Org FWD.us”
Low-Hanging Fruit Gone, Ag & Food Tech Investors Pay More for Deals
[Updated 9/25/17, 5:18 pm. See below.] Food delivery startups are catching on with more consumers, and that demand is whetting investor appetites. The $400 million that grocery delivery startup Instacart raised in March marked the largest deal for a U.S. food technology company in the first half of the year, according to new data from … Continue reading “Low-Hanging Fruit Gone, Ag & Food Tech Investors Pay More for Deals”
SpringWorks Spins Out of Pfizer With $103M to Give Shelved Drugs New Life
Pfizer is testing out a new biotech experiment this morning. It has taken four drug compounds gathering dust on its shelves, and funneled them into a new startup, SpringWorks Therapeutics, that will try to develop them for diseases that don’t fit the hulking New York pharma giant’s core strategy. This isn’t a small experiment. SpringWorks, … Continue reading “SpringWorks Spins Out of Pfizer With $103M to Give Shelved Drugs New Life”
Bio Roundup: RNAi’s Big Day, CAR-T For Kids, Drugs From Fungi & More
It’s been a year of biomedical milestones in the U.S., including the first approval of a CAR-T cellular immunotherapy, the first smartphone app to treat substance abuse, and the first approval of a cancer drug based on genetic signature instead of the tumor’s organ of origin. Add to the list the first successful Phase 3 … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: RNAi’s Big Day, CAR-T For Kids, Drugs From Fungi & More”
Nathan Myhrvold: The Full Xconomy Voices Interview
Episode 3 of our new podcast, Xconomy Voices, features a conversation about nuclear power with Nathan Myhrvold, the founder and CEO of Intellectual Ventures. The former Microsoft chief technology officer is now vice chairman of TerraPower, a Bellevue, WA-based spinout of Intellectual Ventures that aims to revive commercial nuclear energy. The company is researching next-generation … Continue reading “Nathan Myhrvold: The Full Xconomy Voices Interview”
Xconomy Voices, Episode 3: Nathan Myhrvold and TerraPower
We’re pleased to bring you the third episode of Xconomy Voices, our new podcast featuring conversations with entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors from Xconomy’s home cities and regions. This week our guest is Nathan Myhrvold, the former Microsoft chief technology officer who, since 2000, has headed Intellectual Ventures, a Bellevue, WA-based firm that buys, develops, and … Continue reading “Xconomy Voices, Episode 3: Nathan Myhrvold and TerraPower”
Landos Joins Garabedian’s Bio Startup Accelerator Xontogeny, Gets $10M
Xontogeny, the Boston-based biotech startup accelerator formed by one-time Sarepta Therapeutics CEO Chris Garabedian, has taken on its first company. The firm has helped secure a $10 million investment for a Blacksburg, VA, startup, Landos Biopharma, that is developing drugs for inflammatory bowel disease. New York life sciences investment firm Perceptive Advisors is the sole … Continue reading “Landos Joins Garabedian’s Bio Startup Accelerator Xontogeny, Gets $10M”
NVCA Sues Trump Administration for Delaying “Startup Visa” Program
Add another item to the list of tech industry beefs with the new crew in the White House. An organization representing venture capital firms filed a federal suit in Washington, DC, on Tuesday accusing Trump Administration officials of unlawfully delaying a program that would have allowed international entrepreneurs to work at companies they founded within … Continue reading “NVCA Sues Trump Administration for Delaying “Startup Visa” Program”
On CAR-T’s Edge, Seattle Researchers Plot to Bypass Novartis Therapy
[Corrected, 10/10/17, 2 p.m. ET. See below.] It’s not a stretch to say that Greta Oberhofer is alive thanks to the genetically modified cell therapy called CAR-T. At three and a half months old, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, an aggressive blood cancer. At 10 months old, she had a bone … Continue reading “On CAR-T’s Edge, Seattle Researchers Plot to Bypass Novartis Therapy”
Ex-Cubist CEO Bonney Emerges at Kaleido, Flagship’s Latest Microbiome Startup
Flagship Pioneering has been as active as any venture firm at funneling its investment dollars into microbiome drug developers. It’s putting some more of that cash to work as of this morning, unveiling a startup, Kaleido Biosciences, that has been incubated within its walls for two years and is run by a prominent former Boston-area … Continue reading “Ex-Cubist CEO Bonney Emerges at Kaleido, Flagship’s Latest Microbiome Startup”
Akili, Emulate, Ginkgo & More: The Innovation at the Intersection Award Finalists
Research that happens at the intersection of different fields can lead to new innovations that tackle pressing problems in the life sciences. This year’s finalists in the Innovation at the Intersection category show the value of bringing different disciplines—engineering and biology, IT and medicine—together. Here are brief introductions to the finalists. The winners of this … Continue reading “Akili, Emulate, Ginkgo & More: The Innovation at the Intersection Award Finalists”
Dealmaker, Thought Leader & More: The X of the Year Xconomy Award Finalists
Given the size and diversity of the life sciences community in the Boston area, we at Xconomy knew that many candidates would be so unique that they wouldn’t fit neatly into a category. So we gave them a category of their own. These finalists represent the wide range of talent—from investors to entrepreneurs and thought-leaders—that … Continue reading “Dealmaker, Thought Leader & More: The X of the Year Xconomy Award Finalists”
Bio Roundup: Phase 3 Fails, Shkreli Jailed, Moderna Flip-Flops & More
It was a week of realignments. President Trump, who used to be known as “The Donald” but now goes by “Amnesty Don,” kept up the parlay-voo with his new friends Chuck and Nancy. Martin Shkreli, who was once known—and still is!—as the “pharma bro,” will have a new perspective for a while, through the bars … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Phase 3 Fails, Shkreli Jailed, Moderna Flip-Flops & More”
Online Portals Challenge WebMD as Patients’ Source for Health Info
Suppose you wake up with a mysterious rash. Or you’ve got back pain, or have come down with a cough unlike any you’ve experienced previously. What’s your first move? Maybe you run a Google search. Maybe you text a doctor or nurse you know. Or maybe you attempt to get through your normal morning routine, … Continue reading “Online Portals Challenge WebMD as Patients’ Source for Health Info”
Going Big or Against the Tide: Meet the Big Idea & Contrarian Award Finalists
[Corrected, 1:25pm ET, see below] All innovation and companies start off as an idea. Some will gain more traction than others over time, but we at Xconomy think that big ideas—and the people and companies in Boston’s life sciences community bold enough to try to implement them—are worth celebrating. Some of those ideas even go … Continue reading “Going Big or Against the Tide: Meet the Big Idea & Contrarian Award Finalists”
Halozyme Inks $105M Bristol-Myers Partnership, Expands Roche Deal
Halozyme Therapeutics has turned a method of delivering a drug more conveniently into partnerships with several large pharmaceutical companies that want to see their infusible drugs delivered via injections instead. The San Diego biotech company’s list of alliances is now getting longer. Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: [[ticker:BMY]]) announced Thursday that it will pay $105 million up … Continue reading “Halozyme Inks $105M Bristol-Myers Partnership, Expands Roche Deal”
GM, Ford, BAE Systems Up the Self-Driving Ante with New Advances
Things are moving quickly in the mobility sector as the race to develop autonomous vehicle technologies revs up. This week brought a spate of mobility news from GM and Cruise, Ford, BAE, and even the federal government. Read on for details. —The Detroit News published a detailed report this week regarding Ford’s Silicon Valley lab, … Continue reading “GM, Ford, BAE Systems Up the Self-Driving Ante with New Advances”
Education Is Unbundling—Three Key Trends to Watch
Technology in the classroom has come a long way since its advent in the 1920s, when teachers would air radio broadcasts about topics relevant to their lesson plans. Ten years later, in the 1930s, the overhead projector debuted to display material for the whole class to see all at once, followed by the launch of … Continue reading “Education Is Unbundling—Three Key Trends to Watch”
Xconomy Award Finalists in the Eye of the National Drug Price Debate
[Corrected 12:20pm ET; see below.] The national debate over the high cost of healthcare, with prescription drugs at the center, resonates from the chambers of Congress to every American’s pocketbook. And it’s growing fiercer by the day. Last week, the first genetically modified cell therapy came to market with a price tag of $475,000. This … Continue reading “Xconomy Award Finalists in the Eye of the National Drug Price Debate”
Amicus’s Scioderm Deal Flops as Skin Drug Fails in Phase 3
Epidermolysis bullosa is a rare, debilitating skin disease with no approved treatments, and unfortunately, that isn’t going to change anytime soon. Amicus Therapeutics reports this morning that an experimental drug it has been developing for the condition failed a Phase 3 trial. The Cranbury, NJ, company won’t invest in future studies. Amicus (NASDAQ: [[ticker:FOLD]]) said … Continue reading “Amicus’s Scioderm Deal Flops as Skin Drug Fails in Phase 3”
Stealthy NY Startup Rocket Pharma Merges With Inotek, Heads to Nasdaq
Rocket Pharmaceuticals, a stealthy gene therapy startup in New York City, has made its first splash. Through a merger with struggling Inotek Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ITEK]]), Rocket, a company developing treatments for a variety of rare blood diseases, has taken itself public. Rocket shareholders are expected to own 81 percent of the combined company, with Inotek … Continue reading “Stealthy NY Startup Rocket Pharma Merges With Inotek, Heads to Nasdaq”
The Winners of the Xconomy Lifetime Achievement Award Are…
The editors at Xconomy have been working hard the last few weeks putting together the program for the Xconomy Awards Gala. We are really excited to announce the two winners of the Xconomy Lifetime Achievement Award. Lita Nelsen, MIT (retired) Lita Nelsen (pictured left) played a pivotal role in transforming Kendall Square and Boston into … Continue reading “The Winners of the Xconomy Lifetime Achievement Award Are…”
Goldman Sachs Leads $38M Investment in Cloud Storage Firm Nasuni
Cloud data storage company Nasuni has padded its war chest with a $38 million growth equity investment led by a Goldman Sachs fund. The new funding brings the Boston-based company’s total venture capital haul to about $120 million since it was founded in 2009. Nasuni last raised money in December 2016, a $25 million combination … Continue reading “Goldman Sachs Leads $38M Investment in Cloud Storage Firm Nasuni”
Rackspace Continues Acquisition Strategy, Buying Competitor Datapipe
San Antonio—Rackspace is continuing to pick up its competitors a year after becoming a private company. The cloud-computing firm has acquired Datapipe, a privately held company that manages servers and public and private cloud-computing systems for customers globally, much like Rackspace. Rackspace isn’t revealing terms of the deal, other than that it is the San … Continue reading “Rackspace Continues Acquisition Strategy, Buying Competitor Datapipe”
Balter Launches Cryptocurrency Investment Service, Flipside Crypto
The promise of cryptocurrencies has a lot of investors excited, but many don’t know how to go about putting money into the emerging, complex currencies. That’s part of the idea behind Flipside Crypto, a new Boston-based venture that helps a select group of wealthy individuals invest in digital currencies. Flipside is not a financial advisor. … Continue reading “Balter Launches Cryptocurrency Investment Service, Flipside Crypto”
Regeneron Touts Success in Big Asthma Drug Study, Plans FDA Filing
A new drug for patients who have a hard time controlling their asthma could be nearing an FDA review. Tarrytown, NY-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:REGN]]) and partner Sanofi this morning are touting results this morning from a 1,902-patient Phase 3 study called Liberty Asthma Quest. In it, their injectable antibody drug dupilumab (Dupixent), already approved … Continue reading “Regeneron Touts Success in Big Asthma Drug Study, Plans FDA Filing”
To Win Amazon’s HQ2, Incentives Are Nice, But Talent Is Required
Amazon lists one requirement in the stunning request for proposals it issued Thursday, which invites cities across North America to compete to host a second corporate headquarters for the tech and commerce giant. Economic development officials are justifiably salivating at the once-in-a-generation opportunity to attract what is arguably the 21st century’s most important company, and … Continue reading “To Win Amazon’s HQ2, Incentives Are Nice, But Talent Is Required”
Harvey Techies Pass Baton, And APIs, To Florida Peers as Irma Nears
Houston—As Tropical Storm Harvey made landfall in Houston, Florida resident Leah Halbina messaged friends in the city asking how she could help. That was how she found out about Sketch City and the various civic tech projects the group and others were developing to aid rescue efforts, help people find shelter, and tend to other … Continue reading “Harvey Techies Pass Baton, And APIs, To Florida Peers as Irma Nears”
Bio Roundup: RNAi Drama, Immunotherapy Data, Lasker Winners & More
The summer doldrums are over. Biotech news came at a breakneck pace this week both before and after Labor Day, starting with the surprise resignation of Novartis’s top executive just days after the Swiss company notched an historic FDA approval. From there, the week featured big headlines, both good and bad, from several trials in … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: RNAi Drama, Immunotherapy Data, Lasker Winners & More”
Five Regions That Could Draw Amazon’s Next Headquarters
[Updated 4:26 p.m. See below.] Amazon sent cities across North America into a frenzy Thursday after announcing plans to build a second headquarters outside of Seattle, bringing with it tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic development benefits. The tech and commerce giant says it wants cities and states to apply … Continue reading “Five Regions That Could Draw Amazon’s Next Headquarters”
Levin, Holtzman, 183 Other Bio Leaders Urge White House to Preserve DACA
Biotech CEOs Jeremy Levin and Steve Holtzman are continuing their recent push to spur the life sciences industry to speak out against government policies it doesn’t agree with. Levin, CEO of Ovid Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OVID]]) and Holtzman, the head of Decibel Therapeutics, co-authored a letter to the Trump administration and congressional leaders asking them to … Continue reading “Levin, Holtzman, 183 Other Bio Leaders Urge White House to Preserve DACA”
Immunotherapy Safety Worries Halt Celgene Myeloma Study, Slow 5 Others
Amid growing concerns about the safety of a new class of cancer immunotherapy drugs when combined with other therapies to treat blood cancers, the FDA has put the brakes on another batch of clinical studies, this time run by the publicly traded biotech Celgene (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CELG]]). Celgene said this morning that the nation’s drug regulator … Continue reading “Immunotherapy Safety Worries Halt Celgene Myeloma Study, Slow 5 Others”
IBM Puts $240M Into Joint A.I. Research Lab With MIT
IBM has bet much of its future on the promise of artificial intelligence. It’s still unclear whether that strategy will pay off, but the company continues to make significant investments in the technology area. The latest move: IBM will pour $240 million over 10 years into a joint A.I. research lab in partnership with MIT. … Continue reading “IBM Puts $240M Into Joint A.I. Research Lab With MIT”
Lasker Award Goes to HPV Vaccine Developers Lowy, Schiller
A top prize in American biomedical science was awarded today to two scientists for their discoveries that led to the development of a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which prevents cervical cancer caused by the sexually transmitted virus. Douglas Lowy (pictured right), acting director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and John Schiller (left), also at … Continue reading “Lasker Award Goes to HPV Vaccine Developers Lowy, Schiller”
As Key Data Loom, Nobel Winner Mello Reflects on RNAi “Sci-Fi” Story
The story feels like a Hollywood flick, not reality—at least to University of Massachusetts Medical School molecular medicine professor and Nobel Prize winner Craig Mello. Nearly 20 years ago, Mello, Stanford University pathologist Andrew Fire, and their colleagues co-discovered RNA interference, a method of switching off or “silencing” genes before they can make potentially damaging … Continue reading “As Key Data Loom, Nobel Winner Mello Reflects on RNAi “Sci-Fi” Story”
Catch Dragonfly, IFM, Tesaro at “Disruptors” on Sept. 28
How do you succeed not once, but twice in biotech? How do you push a scientific idea forward without any venture capital? And how does one even begin trying to scour the globe for a diamond–in-the-rough cancer drug that has slipped through the cracks? These questions underlie the three stories Xconomy has lined up for … Continue reading “Catch Dragonfly, IFM, Tesaro at “Disruptors” on Sept. 28″