San Diego-based Orexigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OREX]]) today named Michael Narachi as President and CEO. Narachi, 50, has spent the past 24 years in the biopharmaceutical business, and previously served as CEO of Ren Pharmaceuticals in South San Francisco, CA. The company is developing a treatment for obesity. Orexigen reported in January that a late-stage clinical trial of a drug met its goal of helping patients … Continue reading “Orexigen Names New CEO”
Category: San Diego
Sweden’s Innovation Bridge Sets Up “Soft Landing” in San Diego
A Swedish networking organization that promotes innovation and university startup companies said today it is establishing a beachhead in San Diego to serve as a “soft landing” for Swedish technology companies looking for U.S. partners. It is the first move overseas for Sweden’s Innovationsbro, or “Innovation Bridge,” which is affiliated with Linköping University and is … Continue reading “Sweden’s Innovation Bridge Sets Up “Soft Landing” in San Diego”
Quidel Lays Off 10 Percent
San Diego-based Quidel (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QDEL]]) today cut 31 employees, or approximately 10 percent of its workforce, as part of a corporate restructuring that includes cost-cutting measures. Quidel is a developer of rapid diagnostic tests of infectious and reproductive health. The company launched its first products, dipstick-based pregnancy tests, in 1984. In a statement released this morning, Quidel … Continue reading “Quidel Lays Off 10 Percent”
Healthcare Leaders Lay Groundwork for Wave of Innovation in Medical Information Technologies
While San Diego learned yesterday it is the new home of the nation’s first wireless health care research institute, a vision of the sweeping changes that such technologies pose was taking form in a UC San Diego conference room. The high-level meeting was organized by federal health officials in an effort to help guide the … Continue reading “Healthcare Leaders Lay Groundwork for Wave of Innovation in Medical Information Technologies”
Genzyme Gene Therapy Fails To Help People with Leg Disease Walk Longer
Score another one in the loss column for gene therapy. Cambridge, MA-based Genzyme said yesterday at a medical meeting that its gene therapy for people with peripheral artery disease failed in a clinical trial to help them regain some mobility. The trial—one of the largest in the field of gene therapy—enrolled 289 patients who were … Continue reading “Genzyme Gene Therapy Fails To Help People with Leg Disease Walk Longer”
Avaak Technology Lets Users Create Their Own Personal Video Networks
When San Diego-based Avaak made its debut earlier this month at the spring DEMO conference in Palm Desert, CA, chief executive Gioia Messinger offered a grand description of the company’s personal video technology.”It’s like your own personal Google Street View, except it’s live, expandable, sharable, and easy—very, very easy,” Messinger told the Demo audience. The … Continue reading “Avaak Technology Lets Users Create Their Own Personal Video Networks”
West Wireless Health Institute Established With $45M Donation
A family foundation established by telemarketing entrepreneurs Gary and Mary West today committed $45 million to help establish one of the world’s first medical research organizations to use wireless healthcare technologies. The San Diego-based West Wireless Health Institute also is supported by Scripps Health as a founding health care affiliate and Qualcomm as a founding … Continue reading “West Wireless Health Institute Established With $45M Donation”
Arena Obesity Drug Helps Patients Lose Weight, Without Heart Damage
[[Updated last paragraph: 9:38 am EDT]] Arena Pharmaceuticals has some good news this morning, although it will take some time to sort out how good. The San Diego-based biotech company said its experimental drug for obesity was able to reach its goals for helping people lose weight, without the side effect of damaging heart valves … Continue reading “Arena Obesity Drug Helps Patients Lose Weight, Without Heart Damage”
The Obama Bounce & San Diego’s Cleantech Innovators, Zeebo Steps Onto A Global Stage, Hollis-Eden Axes Its Namesake Founder, & More SD BizTech News
It was a busy week for San Diego’s innovation economy, with reports on new products, new deals, and some insights into how startup companies can survive virtually. So read on! —Zeebo, a new San Diego-based company, launched its game console, entering a multi-billion dollar industry dominated by the Wii, Xbox, and Playstation. Backed by Qualcomm, … Continue reading “The Obama Bounce & San Diego’s Cleantech Innovators, Zeebo Steps Onto A Global Stage, Hollis-Eden Axes Its Namesake Founder, & More SD BizTech News”
Venture Investors See A Few Opportunities Too Big To Ignore
A panel discussion about what’s happening on Wall Street sponsored yesterday morning by the San Diego Venture Group made it clear that venture investors are looking for pockets of light among the remains of last year’s market collapse. The general tenor of the conversation was that capital remains scarce and it’s going to take a … Continue reading “Venture Investors See A Few Opportunities Too Big To Ignore”
Tweets from the Edge: The Ins and Outs (and Ups and Downs) of Twitter
If you already know all about Twitter—if you spent mid-March in Austin tweeting away with your pals at South by Southwest, if you can explain the differences between Twhirl and Twitterrific and Tweetdeck, and if you’ve already mastered thinking in 140-character fragments—this week’s column is not for you. It’s for all the other people, the … Continue reading “Tweets from the Edge: The Ins and Outs (and Ups and Downs) of Twitter”
Biogen Idec, Extending Life of its Top-Selling Drug, Eyes Longer-Lasting Shot for MS
Biogen Idec is the world’s biggest maker of drugs for multiple sclerosis, and it wants to keep things that way. But every drug that’s born eventually dies, and the last remaining patents on Biogen’s biggest-selling drug, interferon-beta1a (Avonex), run out in 2011 and 2013. To protect this $2.2 billion-a-year MS franchise—which generates more than half … Continue reading “Biogen Idec, Extending Life of its Top-Selling Drug, Eyes Longer-Lasting Shot for MS”
Salk Forms Stem Cell Partnership With Sanofi-Aventis
The Salk Institute says it has formed a new stem cell research partnership with Sanofi-Aventis, the international pharmaceutical giant based in Paris. Financial terms of the five-year alliance were not disclosed, and some details of the deal remain to be worked out, Salk spokesman Mauricio Minotta told me this afternoon. The Sanofi-Aventis regenerative medicine program … Continue reading “Salk Forms Stem Cell Partnership With Sanofi-Aventis”
Somaxon Gets Delisting Notice
San Diego-based Somaxon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SOMX]]) says it has received a warning that its shares could be delisted by Nasdaq for failing to maintain a minimum total equity valuation of $10 million. Somaxon’s market valuation was less than $7 million today. In a statement, Somaxon says it has until April 13th to address the situation … Continue reading “Somaxon Gets Delisting Notice”
A Venture Investor’s Contrarian View on Nanotechnology
Lux Capital co-founder and managing partner Josh Wolfe separates the grain from the chaff in a presentation on nanotechnology, and what manufacturing at atomic-level precision means in a variety of industries. A reception and networking begins at 5:30 pm, and online registration is here.
Cleantech as an Upside Driver in an Economic Downturn
Does the cleantech sector represent the next big thing, or merely the next bubble to be inflated by venture capital and the federal government’s stimulus package? The San Diego Venture Group has organized a panel discussion on the subject. Registration begins at 7 a.m., or you can register online here.
Biotech CEOs Discuss the Virtues of Going Virtual
San Diego serial entrepreneur John Dobak got the best quip off right out of the starting gate yesterday when Biocom, the local life sciences trade association, held a panel discussion on the “virtual company” as a new model business model for startups. Dobak, a featured speaker who was late for the breakfast meeting, told the … Continue reading “Biotech CEOs Discuss the Virtues of Going Virtual”
New DriveCam CEO Is Focused on the Road Ahead
It’s been a little over six months since Brandon Nixon moved into the driver’s seat as CEO at San Diego-based DriveCam, a venture-backed company that uses a combination of technologies to help reduce risky driving behaviors. That seems like enough time for a new boss to get up to speed, so I stopped in recently to … Continue reading “New DriveCam CEO Is Focused on the Road Ahead”
Ripple Obtains $4,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=be537e22-512c-48bd-a390-d35defcb11e0&Preview=1 Date 3/26/2009 Company Name Ripple Mailing Address 2101 Rosecrans Avenue El Segundo, CA 90245 Company Description Ripple (formerly called ActiveMaps, Inc.) provides digital entertainment and news content in over 400 locations throughout California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii. Headquartered in El Segundo, CA, Ripple’s rapidly expanding network currently reaches nearly 10 million … Continue reading “Ripple Obtains $4,000,000 New Funding”
Carousel Acquires Daycom
Two private telecommunications providers that keep businesses talking and using the Internet are combining forces. Carousel Industries of Exeter, RI, said today it has acquired San Diego’s Daycom Systems. Daycom was founded 1992 by Richard Day, has approximately 50 employees, and annual revenue of approximately $20 million. “Through this acquisition, we are able to …offer … Continue reading “Carousel Acquires Daycom”
Entropic Exits Israel and France
San Diego-based home entertainment semiconductor manufacturer Entropic Communications (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ENTR]]) has cut approximately 55 employees, or 18 percent of its workforce. In a filing with the SEC today, Entropic says its board approved a restructuring plan that closes offices in Nice, France, and Kfar Saba, Israel, “to better position the Company to operate in current … Continue reading “Entropic Exits Israel and France”
Pure Bioscience Cuts Indian Distribution Deal
El Cajon, CA-based Pure Bioscience (NASDAQ:[[ticker:PURE]]) today said it has found an Indian distributor for its patented antimicrobial agent, silver dihydrogen citrate. Colorado-based Global Endeavor and its subsidiary Pure-Enviro Biotech in New Delhi have approval from Indian authorities to immediately begin marketing an SDC-based hard-surface disinfectant called Enviroguard in India. Pure CEO Michael Krall told … Continue reading “Pure Bioscience Cuts Indian Distribution Deal”
Overland Gets $5M Financing
Following on a $9 million financing of its domestic receivables in late November, San Diego’s Overland Storage said today it had reached a similar two-year deal to finance up to $5 million of the data protection company’s foreign accounts receivables. In a statement, Overland’s new CEO, Eric Kelly, said, “We believe that together these two … Continue reading “Overland Gets $5M Financing”
Sticking to its Guns with Gene Therapy, Genzyme To Present Key Findings Within Days
Dozens of companies have given up on gene therapy after the technology failed to live up to its early promise, but not Genzyme. The world’s largest maker of drugs for genetic diseases has stuck with this field through two decades of ups and downs, and it expects to see important results in coming days on … Continue reading “Sticking to its Guns with Gene Therapy, Genzyme To Present Key Findings Within Days”
Acadia Pharma, Japanese Firm, Strike Deal
Acadia Pharmaceutical has struck a collaboration deal with Tokyo-based firm Meiji Seika Kaisha to develop treatments for schizophrenia and separate neurological disorders for the Japanese market and other parts of Asia, according to a press release. San Diego-based Acadia (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ACAD]]), which has discovered a product candidate related to the deal, says it could receive up … Continue reading “Acadia Pharma, Japanese Firm, Strike Deal”
San Diego’s Cleantech Cluster: The A to Z List of Clean-Technology and Alternative-Energy Innovation
Who’s Who in San Diego cleantech innovation? At Xconomy San Diego, we wanted to answer that question as completely as possible, so we put together an accounting of all the local companies that are creating new ways to make biofuels, clean the environment, and improve the energy efficiency of our vehicles, homes, and businesses. In … Continue reading “San Diego’s Cleantech Cluster: The A to Z List of Clean-Technology and Alternative-Energy Innovation”
LeisureLink, Inc. Garners $6,200,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c65e96e1-5754-442b-84f5-840386a00897&Preview=1 Date 3/25/2009 Company Name LeisureLink, Inc. Mailing Address 2555 E. Colorado Blvd Pasadena, CA 91107 Company Description LeisureLink’s mission is to create a distributed electronic marketplace that connects travelers with vacation rental suppliers worldwide. Website http://www.leisurelink.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $6,200,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes We will use … Continue reading “LeisureLink, Inc. Garners $6,200,000 New Financing Round”
Overland Storage Obtains $5,000,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f3f82738-6391-4961-8994-ba042101d798&Preview=1 Date 3/25/2009 Company Name Overland Storage Mailing Address 4820 Overland Avenue San Diego, CA 92123 Company Description Overland Storage is a market leader and innovative provider of smart, affordable data protection appliances that help midrange and distributed enterprises ensure business-critical data is constantly protected, readily available and always there. Overland’s award-winning … Continue reading “Overland Storage Obtains $5,000,000 New Financing Round”
Overland Storage Garners $5,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f3f82738-6391-4961-8994-ba042101d798&Preview=1 Date 3/25/2009 Company Name Overland Storage Mailing Address 4820 Overland Avenue San Diego, CA 92123 Company Description Overland Storage is a market leader and innovative provider of smart, affordable data protection appliances that help midrange and distributed enterprises ensure business-critical data is constantly protected, readily available and always there. Overland’s award-winning … Continue reading “Overland Storage Garners $5,000,000 New Funding”
ViaSat Unveils Faster Satellite Broadband Technology
Satellite-based Internet service targeting rural communities and motorists is starting to get up to speed. Carlsbad, CA-based ViaSat (Nasdaq: [[ticker:VSAT]]) says it demonstrated its next-generation ViaSat-1 satellite net services at a conference today in Washington D.C. ViaSat, which specializes in satellite-based communications technologies, plans to have 2-10 Mbps download speeds available in 22 months. The … Continue reading “ViaSat Unveils Faster Satellite Broadband Technology”
New UCSD Program Trains Next Generation of Technology Leaders
A $2.5 million gift to UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering is intended to train the next generation of technology leaders. UCSD says the donation from Bernard and Sophia Gordon will enable 30 undergraduate and graduate engineering students to participate in leadership-focused classes and seminars.
San Diego Biotech Hollis-Eden Terminates CEO
Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HEPH]]) said in a government filing yesterday that a special committee of the biotech’s board of directors has fired Richard Hollis, the company’s namesake and founding CEO. In its notice, the San Diego company disclosed only that Hollis was terminated on March 18 pursuant to the section of his 1996 employment contract … Continue reading “San Diego Biotech Hollis-Eden Terminates CEO”
Arena Gets $50M Commitment
Arena Pharmaceuticals, the San Diego-based developer of an obesity drug, said it has received a $50 million equity financing commitment from Azimuth Opportunity. Under the commitment, Arena will decide over the next 18 months when to sell shares to Azimuth at an undisclosed discount to the market price. Arena (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARNA]]) is awaiting results of … Continue reading “Arena Gets $50M Commitment”
Calixa Passes Key Safety Test in Clinical Trial of New Antibiotic
MRSA is the headline-grabbing boogeyman of the day when it comes to the type of deadly infections that people can pick up in the hospital. But there are all sorts of other nasty bugs crawling around your healthcare facility, and San Diego-based Calixa Therapeutics says it is on its way to creating a new drug … Continue reading “Calixa Passes Key Safety Test in Clinical Trial of New Antibiotic”
Zeebo Debuts New Game Console for Emerging Market
Zeebo, a San Diego video-game company backed by Qualcomm, today launched the “world’s fourth console” for video games. The company’s strategy, outlined by Zeebo CEO John Rizzo at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, is focused on the video-game market in emerging countries. Zeebo is entering an industry dominated by the big three of game consoles: the … Continue reading “Zeebo Debuts New Game Console for Emerging Market”
Adventrx Pharma Shutting Down
San Diego’s Adventrx Pharmaceuticals, which had 32 employees a year ago, plans to reduce its full-time workforce to five executives and “substantially end” its drug development and business operations as of April 3. The biopharmaceutical company was developing drugs to treat cancer and infectious disease; its lead candidates were novel emulsion formulations of currently marketed … Continue reading “Adventrx Pharma Shutting Down”
SAIC Gets $41M Counter-IED Contract
Science Applications International Corporation (NYSE: [[ticker:SAI]]) said today it recently got a contract to help the U.S. Army counter booby traps known as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. Under the contract, which could be worth as much as $41 million, SAIC will provide information and analysis used to help counter IEDs in war zones.
Charting Startups in the Downturn, San Diego’s Biotech Survival Index (Part Deux), Court Dismisses Federal Patent Suit Against Qualcomm, & More SD BizTech News
If there’s a theme to be found in the innovation news for San Diego last week, it might be comings and goings. While some companies are making layoffs or even shuttering their doors, we also found a number of new startups taking root here (although not as many as a year ago). —In a report … Continue reading “Charting Startups in the Downturn, San Diego’s Biotech Survival Index (Part Deux), Court Dismisses Federal Patent Suit Against Qualcomm, & More SD BizTech News”
Pure Bioscience Sets A Silver Standard for Germ-Killing Products
Pure Bioscience founder and CEO Michael Krall smiled knowingly when he met me recently at the company’s El Cajon, CA, headquarters. “You chose a great time to write this story,” he told me. “We are now starting to enjoy the fruits of our labor. There’s gold in silver, oh yes.” Silver is the key ingredient … Continue reading “Pure Bioscience Sets A Silver Standard for Germ-Killing Products”
Overland Avoids Delisting
San Diego’s Overland Storage (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OVRL]]) reported some good news today, saying Nasdaq has withdrawn a delisting notice that was issued last year when the company’s stock slipped below Nasdaq’s minimum share price requirement of $1 a share. According to Overland, Nasdaq now says Overland now meets “alternative” standards. Shares of Overland, which specializes in … Continue reading “Overland Avoids Delisting”
The San Diego Biotech Survival Index 2: Clinging to Cash in the Downturn
Something like one-third of the public biotech companies are running with six months’ worth of cash or less, and it doesn’t look like San Diego companies are bucking this disturbing trend. When I last surveyed how much cash was available at San Diego’s public biotech companies in November, I found just 10 of 23 public … Continue reading “The San Diego Biotech Survival Index 2: Clinging to Cash in the Downturn”
Google Voice: It’s the End of the Phone As We Know It
[Update 12:00 pm 3/20/09: We were swamped with hundreds of e-mails in response to our offer of 100 free Google Voice beta accounts this morning. Thanks everyone! We’ll be in touch with the winners as soon as possible with details about their new accounts.] Brace for impact, again. Google is about to change the way … Continue reading “Google Voice: It’s the End of the Phone As We Know It”
March Madness on Mobile TV
March Madness is in the air, and beginning today Qualcomm’s MediaFLO plans to broadcast all 63 games of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament to AT&T—but AT&T customers must have a mobile TV-enabled cell phone to watch the games. This is the first time AT&T has carried every game from the college basketball tournament for its … Continue reading “March Madness on Mobile TV”
The Stimulus Bill and Funding Opportunities for Cleantech Startups
[Editor’s note: Scott Wolfe wrote this article with Edward W. Correia, counsel in Latham & Watkins’ Washington, D.C. office.] On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the largest funding bill in the history of the United States, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The law provides almost $800 billion in … Continue reading “The Stimulus Bill and Funding Opportunities for Cleantech Startups”
In Latest Expedition, J. Craig Venter Partners With Life Technologies
A 95-foot sailboat named the Sorcerer II will set sail today from San Diego’s Shelter Island Marina on what its owner, the J. Craig Venter Institute, bills as “a global ocean sampling voyage of genomic discovery.” Yesterday afternoon, the irrepressible Venter himself was barefoot as he hosted a dockside bon voyage party while an enormous … Continue reading “In Latest Expedition, J. Craig Venter Partners With Life Technologies”
After Fending Off Sequenom Takeover, Exact Sciences Replaces CEO and CFO with Diagnostics Vets
Exact Sciences, a Marlborough, MA, developer of a DNA-based stool test for detecting colorectal cancer, says that its board of directors has replaced the firm’s CEO and chief financial officer. The management changes follow the firm’s successful maneuvering to avoid a takeover by San Diego-based diagnostics firm Sequenom (NASDAQ:[[ticker:SQNM]]). The board of Marlborough, MA-based Exact … Continue reading “After Fending Off Sequenom Takeover, Exact Sciences Replaces CEO and CFO with Diagnostics Vets”
Buzznet, Inc. Lands $12,000,000 Series C Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=0d2a5af9-8486-45a9-89ae-8aa10774f3ba&Preview=1 Date 3/19/2009 Company Name Buzznet, Inc. Mailing Address 6464 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028 Company Description The company provides a social online community based on multimedia content. Website http://www.buzznet.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $12,000,000 Transaction Round Series C Proceeds Purposes Buzz Media will use the funds for the … Continue reading “Buzznet, Inc. Lands $12,000,000 Series C Financing Round”
UCSD Starts Digital Media Center
UC San Diego says it has established a center for next-generation digital media with a gift from IBM (NYSE: [[ticker:IBM]])—a high-performance IBM System z mainframe computer. In a statement, UCSD says IBM made the center possible through a shared university research award that includes the z mainframe, valued at about $2.2 million. The center, which … Continue reading “UCSD Starts Digital Media Center”
Former Infrasonics CEO Breathing New Life Into Cancer Detection Technology
Sometimes entrepreneurship isn’t the provenance of the young and the quick— and sometimes innovation just won’t go gentle into the night. Jim Hitchin, for example, is a 66-year-old San Diego entrepreneur who is working to revive biomedical technology acquired in 2004 from the bankruptcy of a Minneapolis, MN, medical device company. Hitchin previously served on … Continue reading “Former Infrasonics CEO Breathing New Life Into Cancer Detection Technology”
Amira’s Drug Discovery Team, Pioneers of Hit Asthma Treatment, Take Aim at Pulmonary Fibrosis
People with pulmonary fibrosis have a pretty raw deal. Scientists don’t really know what causes this lung-damaging disease, and there’s no really effective FDA-approved treatment. The disease makes it hard to breathe, and kills an estimated 40,000 people a year. That’s a bigger killer than some far better known culprits like prostate cancer. A few … Continue reading “Amira’s Drug Discovery Team, Pioneers of Hit Asthma Treatment, Take Aim at Pulmonary Fibrosis”