Biogen Idec had some encouraging word for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease this morning. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) said its experimental drug for the disease reached its goal of demonstrating effectiveness in a pair of mid-stage clinical trials, although it didn’t go into detail about how good the data really was. The … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Parkinson’s Drug Hits Goal in Pair of Mid-Stage Trials”
Category: San Diego
For All They Do, Sempra’s Utilities Need Innovation Too
Perhaps because they operate in heavily regulated industries, electric and gas utility companies are not usually regarded as centers of innovation. And to some critics, the utilities operated by San Diego’s Sempra Energy seem to operate in stodgy defiance to anything shiny and newfangled. But it’s a bad rap to Hal Snyder, who oversees strategy … Continue reading “For All They Do, Sempra’s Utilities Need Innovation Too”
Burnham Cuts Deal With Johnson & Johnson In First Sweeping Big Pharma Partnership
The San Diego-based Burnham Institute for Medical Research has cut its first institution-wide partnership with a Big Pharma company. Burnham has agreed to a multi-year agreement to let Johnson & Johnson’s Pharmaceutical Research and Development unit have access to its highly-efficient screening technologies to help develop new drugs against inflammatory diseases. Financial terms of the … Continue reading “Burnham Cuts Deal With Johnson & Johnson In First Sweeping Big Pharma Partnership”
Archetype Media Inc Obtains $8,000,000 Series B Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=cc152f3e-3c0a-4348-86bb-676af68c150b&Preview=1 Date 1/13/2009 Company Name Archetype Media Inc Mailing Address 9000 W. Sunset Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90069 Company Description Archetype Media is Madison Avenue’s access to social media’s influence. At Archetype Media we’re dedicated to helping advertisers build brands, and social media publishers monetize content. Our partners know that only solutions … Continue reading “Archetype Media Inc Obtains $8,000,000 Series B Financing”
Exact Sciences to Sequenom: No Deal
Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:[[ticker:EXAS]]), a Marlborough, MA-based maker of cancer diagnostics, is searching for a better deal than the one it was offered last week by San Diego-based diagnostics firm Sequenom (NASDAQ:[[ticker:SQNM]]). This afternoon, Exact said its board of directors unanimously rejected Sequenom’s bid to acquire the company for $1.50 per share worth of Sequenom common … Continue reading “Exact Sciences to Sequenom: No Deal”
Using Analytics to Generate Extra Revenue
The San Diego Software Industry Council has organized an evening panel discussion to explain how some local software companies are using analytics in new ways to solve their customers’ problems and turn data into dollars. Registration begins at 5:30 p.m. or you can register here.
Medtronic To Pick Up Ablation Frontiers for $225 Million Upfront
Medtronic (NYSE: [[ticker:MDT]]) says it has inked a deal to acquire Carlsbad, CA’s Ablation Frontiers, which has been developing a medical device for treating heart arrhythmias. Medtronic will make pay an initial $225 million for the firm, and may make additional payments if certain milestones are met. Medtronic, the Minneapolis medical equipment maker, plans to … Continue reading “Medtronic To Pick Up Ablation Frontiers for $225 Million Upfront”
Illumina Allied with UK Sequencing Firm
Illumina (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ILMN]]), a San Diego-based provider of genetic and biological research tools, says it has formed an commercial alliance with Oxford Nanopore Technologies, an Oxford, England, developer of a single-molecule DNA sequencing system. Illumina will invest $18 million in Oxford as part of the deal, under which Illumina will exclusively sell and distribute Oxford’s experimental … Continue reading “Illumina Allied with UK Sequencing Firm”
Cleantech Funds Lead $25.4 Million Investment in Fallbrook Technologies
One good turn deserves another, and San Diego alternative transmission maker Fallbrook Technologies is ready to shift to the next level. After working more than 10 years to develop a radical new transmission design that helps motors operate more efficiently, Fallbrook announced today it has secured $25.4 million in its first round of venture funding. NGEN … Continue reading “Cleantech Funds Lead $25.4 Million Investment in Fallbrook Technologies”
Sequenom Makes Buyout Offer, Anadys Zooms on Promising Results, Michael Robertson Gives iPod Last Rights, Forward Ventures Going Virtual, & More San Diego BizTech News
The best part about last week’s deals and biztech news was that so much of it amounted to the first act in a continuing drama. Will the deal go through? Will that drug get approved? Stay tuned… Who needs TV soaps when a corporate buyout drama is unfolding before your very eyes? Will San Diego’s … Continue reading “Sequenom Makes Buyout Offer, Anadys Zooms on Promising Results, Michael Robertson Gives iPod Last Rights, Forward Ventures Going Virtual, & More San Diego BizTech News”
SocialVibe Lands $8,000,000 Series B Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=85204b48-b072-46e2-8419-390e34af2dcb&Preview=1 Date 1/12/2009 Company Name SocialVibe Mailing Address 9000 Sunset Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90069 Company Description The company develops advertising solutions within social networks. Website http://www.socialvibe.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $8,000,000 Transaction Round Series B Proceeds Purposes The additional funds will help the company aggressively grow its consumer and … Continue reading “SocialVibe Lands $8,000,000 Series B Funding”
Fallbrook Technologies Inc Obtains $25,400,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fef0cfa8-c693-46de-8652-a5ce7ce9ad15&Preview=1 Date 1/12/2009 Company Name Fallbrook Technologies Inc Mailing Address 9444 Waples St San Diego, CA 92121 Company Description Fallbrook Technologies Inc. (Fallbrook) is a research and development company manufacturing advanced transmission systems. Fallbrook’s core technology is its traction-based, NuVinci® transmission – a continuously variable planetary (CVP) drive ideally suited for applications … Continue reading “Fallbrook Technologies Inc Obtains $25,400,000 New Funding Round”
Medtronic, Inc. Acquires Ablation Frontiers, Inc. for $225,000,000
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ca5160f1-9ac7-4458-b22f-0f0c44645a5f&Preview=1 Date 1/12/2009 Company Name Ablation Frontiers, Inc. Mailing Address 6354 Corte Del Abeto Carlsbad, CA 92011 Company Description Ablation Frontiers is a medical device company committed to expanding the possibilities to Atrial Fibrillation treatment. Website http://www.ablationfrontiers.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount $225,000,000 Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes M&A Terms Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: … Continue reading “Medtronic, Inc. Acquires Ablation Frontiers, Inc. for $225,000,000”
DECA Receives $10,000,000 Series B Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=50226dbf-a537-4c92-92ce-2f17fdeeab27&Preview=1 Date 1/12/2009 Company Name DECA Mailing Address 525 Broadway Santa Monica, CA 90401 Company Description DECA is committed to creating unique, high-quality digital entertainment properties that combine premium video, social media applications and community. Our goal is to consistently provide new and exciting digital brands to consumers, marketers, distributors and creative … Continue reading “DECA Receives $10,000,000 Series B Financing Round”
Sequenom Makes Takeover Bid for MA-Based Exact Sciences, Targets Test for Colorectal Cancer
San Diego-based Sequenom is flexing some of its newfound muscle, by making a takeover bid for Marlborough, MA-based Exact Sciences while it is on the ropes. Sequenom (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SQNM]]) said today after markets closed it is offering $1.50 worth of its own stock in exchange for each share in Exact Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EXAS]]). That values … Continue reading “Sequenom Makes Takeover Bid for MA-Based Exact Sciences, Targets Test for Colorectal Cancer”
CalciMedica Finds a New Pathway to Fight Autoimmune Disorders
In 2005, Gonul Velicelebi was the vice president of research and drug discovery at TorreyPines Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TPTX]]) when scientists there determined that a molecule dubbed STIM1 played a crucial role in activating immune cells. To Velicelebi, STIM1 was like a key that helped open a hidden pathway that scientists had been seeking for 20 … Continue reading “CalciMedica Finds a New Pathway to Fight Autoimmune Disorders”
Ditch That USB Cable: The Coolest Apps for Sending Your Photos Around Wirelessly
For average consumers, the big complaint about digital photography has always been that it’s too hard to extract the pictures you’ve taken from your camera or phone so you can show them to the rest of the world. But the truth is there are so many ways to move, share, and display digital photos today … Continue reading “Ditch That USB Cable: The Coolest Apps for Sending Your Photos Around Wirelessly”
Breast Cancer’s Hidden Side Effect: ImpediMed Aims to Spot Slow-Emerging Lymph Disorder
One of the ugly side effects of breast cancer treatment is lymphedema. This condition can happen when surgeons cut out a tumor in the breast, then move on to the nearby lymph node in the armpit which is the first place tumors usually spread. If the surgeon carves out too much healthy tissue, then it’s … Continue reading “Breast Cancer’s Hidden Side Effect: ImpediMed Aims to Spot Slow-Emerging Lymph Disorder”
Obesity Drug From Orexigen Helps Patients Lose Weight in Pivotal Study, Shares Fall Anyway
Updated: Jan. 8, 2:40 pm Pacific–see below: San Diego-based Orexigen Therapeutics said today that a final-stage clinical trial of its experimental obesity drug reached its main goal of helping patients lose weight. The problem is that meeting the goal may not be good enough. The study, the first of four trials examining the effects of … Continue reading “Obesity Drug From Orexigen Helps Patients Lose Weight in Pivotal Study, Shares Fall Anyway”
Near Record Pace of Private Equity Fund-Raising Hit Wall in September
Fund-raising by private equity firms slowed dramatically during the last three months of 2008, so much so, in fact, that an analysis shows an 18 percent overall decline among fund-raising by U.S. firms compared to 2007—all of it due to the Q4 meltdown. An analysis published today in the Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst newsletter … Continue reading “Near Record Pace of Private Equity Fund-Raising Hit Wall in September”
Anadys Shares Boom on Hepatitis C Finding
Anadys Pharmaceuticals is skyrocketing today. Shares in the San Diego-based biotech shot up more than 80 percent after it reported its experimental hepatitis C drug was able to wipe out more than 99 percent of the virus from the blood in the first 72 hours. As we described today in an interview with CEO Steve … Continue reading “Anadys Shares Boom on Hepatitis C Finding”
Auspex Recruits Former SGX CEO
Former SGX Pharmaceuticals CEO Michael Grey was named as President and CEO of Auspex Pharmaceuticals, a Vista, CA, biotech founded in 2001 to develop next-generation medicines with improved performance. Auspex says it is pioneering the targeted application of deuterium, a safe and stable hydrogen isotope, to clinically validate drugs.
Not Everyone is Shrinking: Business Analytics Technology Fuels Expansion at ParAccel
At a time when many tech companies are reducing their payrolls, San Diego’s ParAccel just announced it’s moving into a new headquarters to accommodate its rapid growth. The venture-backed company, which develops business analytics technologies that accelerate database queries, says its workforce has doubled to 60 people over the past year. “It’s great to be … Continue reading “Not Everyone is Shrinking: Business Analytics Technology Fuels Expansion at ParAccel”
Huya Bioscience Taps Into China For Novel Drug Candidates
If there was an “ah-ha!” moment for Huya Bioscience International, it occurred in 2004, when founder Mireille Gingras was working as a consultant for mid-size biotech companies. “I was looking for opportunities for in-licensing compounds in China when I found a very interesting drug for Alzheimer’s,” Gingras recalls. The potential for the Chinese drug in … Continue reading “Huya Bioscience Taps Into China For Novel Drug Candidates”
Hepatitis C Drug From Anadys Shows Quick Virus-Killing Punch
An early peek at data from Anadys Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ANDS]]) suggests the company may have a promising new drug in the works for hepatitis C. The San Diego-based biotech is announcing results today from the first eight patients with the chronic liver infection, which shows its drug has more viral killing pop in the first … Continue reading “Hepatitis C Drug From Anadys Shows Quick Virus-Killing Punch”
Anaphore Raises $25 Million in Venture Funding
Anaphore, a La Jolla biotech near our Xconomy San Diego office, says it has raised $25 million in a Series A round led by 5AM Ventures, Versant Ventures, and Apposite Capital. Headed by founder and CEO Katherine Bowdish, Anaphore is developing a new class of protein therapeutics the company calls Atrimers. Anaphore says it’s novel drug … Continue reading “Anaphore Raises $25 Million in Venture Funding”
Anaphore, Inc. Secures $25,000,000 Series A Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=aaa8b988-5145-429c-b58f-06da897af447&Preview=1 Date 1/8/2009 Company Name Anaphore, Inc. Mailing Address Undisclosed San Diego, CA 92120 Company Description Anaphore was created through the acquisition of Borean Pharma ApS, a Danish biotechnology company with both a product portfolio and technology platforms for creating improved protein therapeutics. The Danish firm spent six years establishing the technologies … Continue reading “Anaphore, Inc. Secures $25,000,000 Series A Funding”
CFX Battery Lands $11,000,000 Series A Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=41cb81f3-0104-482b-bd57-0db19f41a34a&Preview=1 Date 1/8/2009 Company Name CFX Battery Mailing Address 1300 W. Optical Drive Azusa, CA 91702 Company Description CFX Battery’s objective is to provide unique, cost-effective, and state-of-the-art energy storage solutions for a wide variety of applications. Website http://www.cfxbattery.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $11,000,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “CFX Battery Lands $11,000,000 Series A Funding Round”
JibJab Media Inc. Secures $7,500,000 Series C Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=584107e6-d02e-4907-968b-2051587cccf1&Preview=1 Date 1/8/2009 Company Name JibJab Media Inc. Mailing Address P.O. BOX 5356 Santa Monica, CA 90404 Company Description JibJab Media Inc. is an online comedy network that has been pioneering digital entertainment production and distribution since 1999. Website http://www.jibjab.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $7,500,000 Transaction Round Series C Proceeds … Continue reading “JibJab Media Inc. Secures $7,500,000 Series C Round”
Superprotonic Garners $8,000,000 Series C Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a81b2bca-cba0-4aac-b9c3-62344b0d0908&Preview=1 Date 1/8/2009 Company Name Superprotonic Mailing Address 530 S. Lake Ave. Pasadena, CA 91101 Company Description Superprotonic is an energy technology company established to market and commercialize the innovative solid acid fuel cell (SAFC) technology developed and patented by the company’s founders at the California Institute of Technology. Solid acid fuel … Continue reading “Superprotonic Garners $8,000,000 Series C Round”
Digital Entertainment Corporation of America Garners $10,000,000 Series B Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8a8d582d-bb23-4e25-9388-d16bb0b321da&Preview=1 Date 1/8/2009 Company Name Digital Entertainment Corporation of America Mailing Address Undisclosed Santa Monica, CA 90401 Company Description The company operates a digital entertainment studio. Website Undisclosed Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $10,000,000 Transaction Round Series B Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Rustic Canyon … Continue reading “Digital Entertainment Corporation of America Garners $10,000,000 Series B Funding Round”
OrthAlign Raises $7.2M
OrthAlign, a medical device company in Laguna Beach, CA, said today it has raised $7.2 million in a Series A financing. The round was led by Research Corporation Technologies and Okapi Venture Capital, and included some of the company’s seed investors, Ronald Yagoda, Ned Scheetz, and CEO Pieter Wolters. The company is developing computer-assisted surgical … Continue reading “OrthAlign Raises $7.2M”
Accelrys CEO Resigns
Mark Emkjer has resigned as CEO and director at San Diego’s Accelrys (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ACCL]]), which develops software for computer-aided design and modeling. The company says its board has named Todd Johnson as interim CEO.
La Jolla Pharma Inks BioMarin Deal
La Jolla Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LJPC]]) has formed a partnership to co-develop its experimental drug for lupus of the kidneys, Riquent, with Novato, CA-based BioMarin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BMRN]]). La Jolla will receive a $15 million upfront payment, and could stand to get $289 million in cash and equity from BioMarin if the drug reaches certain development … Continue reading “La Jolla Pharma Inks BioMarin Deal”
San Diego’s Forward Ventures Moves Toward a Lean and Virtual Future
Speculation has been rampant in recent months about the future of San Diego’s Forward Ventures, which has been one of the region’s leading life sciences VC firms for more than 15 years. Partner Joel Martin, who joined Forward in 2001, left the firm in October and another partner, Stuart Collinson, is said to be leaving … Continue reading “San Diego’s Forward Ventures Moves Toward a Lean and Virtual Future”
Supersized Ambitions: VentiRx Aims to be Extra-Large Player in Cancer, Allergy Medicines
They love their coffee at VentiRx. They love it so much that they named their San Diego- and Seattle-based biotech company after the extra-large size of beverage containers that Starbucks shrewdly branded for its menu. The name also happens to symbolize VentiRx’s supersize ambitions for creating new drugs against cancer and inflammatory diseases. Naturally, I … Continue reading “Supersized Ambitions: VentiRx Aims to be Extra-Large Player in Cancer, Allergy Medicines”
Xconomy Forum: Physics for Future Presidents
An eye-opening discussion about energy, terrorism, and the future of technology that all citizens should hear Think you have a good read on the promise of clean energy and other core technological issues of the day? MacArthur “genius” award-winning physicist Richard A. Muller, one of the world’s most original thinkers on science and technology and … Continue reading “Xconomy Forum: Physics for Future Presidents”
Adventrx Cuts Deeper
Adventrx, the San Diego-based cancer drug developer, said it has laid off another group of employees, meaning it has cut 55 percent of its workforce since the beginning of October. The company now has 14 employees left. The company had $15 million in cash at the end of September, and a net loss of $6.7 … Continue reading “Adventrx Cuts Deeper”
Proclaiming the iPod is Dying, MP3.com’s Founder Launches A Web Site for Downloading Music to Your Cell Phone
San Diego’s MP3.com founder Michael Robertson says the iPod is dying and in a few years, “it will be just a footnote in history.” Robertson recently predicted the passing of the enormously successful Apple music player in a provocative blog entry that argues mobile phones are destined to become the next-generation music player. He also … Continue reading “Proclaiming the iPod is Dying, MP3.com’s Founder Launches A Web Site for Downloading Music to Your Cell Phone”
Hard Times and the Venture Outlook for Software Startups
Mike Krenn of Venture Pipeline, DLA Piper’s advisory service for entrepreneurs, moderates a discussion on the software venture landscape in 2009. Panelists are VC managing directors Prashant Shah of Hummer Winblad, William Quigley of Clearstone Venture Partners and Brian Garrett of Crosscut Ventures . You can register here.
Quidel CEO Announces Retirement
San Diego’s Quidel (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QDEL]]), which specializes in rapid medical diagnostic tests, said in a filing today that CEO Caren Mason plans to retire on June 1. Quidel says the company’s board has initiated a search for her replacement. A statement released by Quidel chairman Mark Pulido hailed Mason for “double digit organic revenue growth,” … Continue reading “Quidel CEO Announces Retirement”
Survey Shows VC-Backed IPOs Hit 31-Year Low In ’08
Venture-backed companies are no doubt ready to put 2008 in the past. Year-end reports show a dismal number of initial public offerings and M&A deals last year, after a flurry of tech companies canceled plans to go public and buyout activity slowed to its lowest level in five years. Thomson Reuters and the National Venture … Continue reading “Survey Shows VC-Backed IPOs Hit 31-Year Low In ’08”
Qualcomm Strikes Deal With China’s Largest Cell Phone Maker, Volcano Moves to Buy Axsun, Life Technologies Buys Visigen, & More San Diego BizTech News
Innovation never sleeps, but the pace of San Diego business and technology news yawned a little over the Christmas and New Year holidays. Still, there were plenty of noteworthy developments to round up for the first Monday of 2009. Oh, and by the way, Happy New Year!The end of December brought news from faraway China … Continue reading “Qualcomm Strikes Deal With China’s Largest Cell Phone Maker, Volcano Moves to Buy Axsun, Life Technologies Buys Visigen, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Biogen Idec Takes Aim at New Parkinson’s Paradigm
Biogen Idec will get an early glimpse next week into whether it has created an important new innovation for Parkinson’s disease. If the company’s drug candidate lives up to its promise, it could be one of the early movers in a new class of medicines that minimize the secondary symptoms and keep standard therapy from … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Takes Aim at New Parkinson’s Paradigm”
What Will Change Everything?
What game-changing scientific ideas and developments do you expect to live to see? The Internet, television, antibiotics, automobiles, electricity, nuclear power, space travel, and cloning—these inventions were born out of dreams, persistence, and imagination. What game-changing ideas can we expect to see in OUR lifetimes? As each year winds to a close, John Brockman, a … Continue reading “What Will Change Everything?”
Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You: The Untold Story of How a San Diego VC Backed Broadway’s Jersey Boys
Among San Diego’s venture capitalists, I’d say that Kevin Kinsella ranks among the foremost riskophiles. Since the formation of his first Avalon Ventures fund some 25 years ago, he has shown a willingness to take chances where even angels fear to tread—and an uncanny knack for making the right bet. Kinsella’s success in backing—and often … Continue reading “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You: The Untold Story of How a San Diego VC Backed Broadway’s Jersey Boys”
A Mini-Cluster of Algae-to-Biofuels Technology Blooms in San Diego
When I sat down recently with Mario Larach, he was still excited about a U.S. Department of Energy workshop he had attended on algae biofuels earlier this month at the University of Maryland. As the co-founder of a local biofuel startup called Kai BioEnergy, Larach has been tracking a nationwide surge of interest in algae-to-biofuel … Continue reading “A Mini-Cluster of Algae-to-Biofuels Technology Blooms in San Diego”
Ring In The New Digital Standard for Broadcast Television
What began in 1941 as the first black-and-white broadcast standard for television is coming to a historic end on Feb. 17. San Diego’s CommNexus has organized a panel of industry experts to discuss the transition to all-digital transmission and new applications for the vacated analog spectrum. Get more information here.
Biocom Hosts Update on Capital Markets at Its January Breakfast Meeting
We’re tempted to ask how much can there be to say? But the credit crunch has made this topic more important than ever. San Diego’s Biocom industry group plans to focus on the state of capital markets at its regular monthly breakfast meeting. Get more info here.
Trends and Alternatives to Financing Medical Device Companies
With conventional financing curtailed, San Diego’s Biocom has organized this event in Newport Beach for an in-depth look at the market trend and creative financing alternatives. You must RSVP by Feb. 17. Get more information here.