People from all over the world are gathering in Boston today to talk about biotech dreams. Like most years at the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s international convention, at least 15,000 people are expected to come together to pursue those dreams in a variety of ways. You can count on lots of selling, schmoozing, cheerleading, prognosticating, attention-seeking, … Continue reading “Three Good Things About BIO 2012, and Four Not-so-Good”
Category: Seattle
StartupCity Connects Seattle Entrepreneurs, Looks to Keep Growing
In a city the size of Seattle, there’s still some room to spread out. And for startup companies, that can be a problem. As entrepreneurs who move on to bigger cities often lament, there’s just not as much action crackling all around town. In Seattle, you still have to spend a little more time hunting … Continue reading “StartupCity Connects Seattle Entrepreneurs, Looks to Keep Growing”
Join Us for BIO Tweetchat at 12:30 pm ET with John Maraganore
[Updated: 7:07 am ET 6/18] One year ago, I felt the need to say that Twitter was no fad, that it was truly here to stay in biotech. Now it has become such a mainstream tool for information sharing in biotech that I’ve decided to do some of my bigger interviews next week on the … Continue reading “Join Us for BIO Tweetchat at 12:30 pm ET with John Maraganore”
Can Your Friends Bribe You to Get Healthy? Neuroscience Says Yes
HealthRally is a company that Paul McCartney would understand well. It’s all about getting a little help from your friends. A little help making health-related changes, that is—like quitting smoking, losing weight, or adhering to an exercise program. There’s plenty of science to suggest that these goals are easier to achieve when a person has … Continue reading “Can Your Friends Bribe You to Get Healthy? Neuroscience Says Yes”
VLST Obtains $5,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e0b46fcf-55b1-40fd-87b8-43691d76b0c7&Preview=1 Date 6/15/2012 Company Name VLST Mailing Address 307 Westlake Avenue North Seattle, WA 98109 Company Description VLST Corporation is a privately held biotechnology company that has developed a novel and streamlined approach to speed the development of effective therapeutics for the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Website http://www.vlstcorp.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “VLST Obtains $5,000,000 New Funding”
VLST Raises $5M To Carry on With Autoimmune R&D
VLST CEO Marty Simonetti likes to joke that his company’s name stands for “very large secret technology.” It’s only half in jest, because VLST hasn’t said much publicly about its progress the past couple years. But the Seattle biotech company has made enough progress to raise another $5 million in venture capital in a deal … Continue reading “VLST Raises $5M To Carry on With Autoimmune R&D”
Theraclone Takes 2nd Antibody into the Clinic Against Common Virus
Theraclone Sciences just got the results a few weeks ago from the clinical trial of its first antibody drug candidate, and today it’s moving ahead with program No. 2. The Seattle-based biotech company said today it has started the first clinical trial of an antibody it calls TCN-202, which is designed to fight human cytomegalovirus … Continue reading “Theraclone Takes 2nd Antibody into the Clinic Against Common Virus”
SURF Incubator Sees Tenant Base Double in 2 Months
In the first stages of creating a new company, timing can be everything. The folks behind SURF Incubator know that principle all too well. As they were trying to build a new group office for technology startups, a few of the key pieces started falling into place. An entire floor of office space in downtown … Continue reading “SURF Incubator Sees Tenant Base Double in 2 Months”
Dendreon Shareholders Vent at Annual Meeting
Dendreon has had some triumphant annual meetings, where investors celebrated its work in creating the first FDA-approved drug that actively stimulates the immune system to fight cancer. This wasn’t one of them. At today’s annual meeting at the Seattle Art Museum, there was a whole lot of disappointment, frustration, and scorn in the room. Even … Continue reading “Dendreon Shareholders Vent at Annual Meeting”
Amazon, Microsoft join Donuts in Web Name Race: .book, .xbox, .shop
Seattle-area domain-name company Donuts Inc., which raised more than $100 million to amass new Internet domains, faces some heavy competition in the race for fresh digital territory. But it also stands to own some valuable chunks of new Web real estate without a bidding war, including .email and .games. That became clear Wednesday morning when the … Continue reading “Amazon, Microsoft join Donuts in Web Name Race: .book, .xbox, .shop”
InDi Unit Looks to Take PET Imaging ‘From Black & White to Technicolor’
Integrated Diagnostics is best known as the Seattle startup looking to carry out Lee Hood’s vision of spotting cancer in a drop of blood. But the company is moving ahead on another bold vision, in which it is seeking to disrupt the world of molecular imaging. InDi is announcing today it has set up a … Continue reading “InDi Unit Looks to Take PET Imaging ‘From Black & White to Technicolor’”
Carena Receives $3,804,594 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=348afb5b-7917-4036-9447-934b0c5cb21d&Preview=1 Date 6/13/2012 Company Name Carena Mailing Address 1525 4th Avenue Seattle, WA 98101 Company Description Carena provides a new model of health care delivery for innovative, self-insured companies of all sizes. Through our care programs, our physicians provide in-person medical care and education 24 hours a day, seven days a week, … Continue reading “Carena Receives $3,804,594 New Round”
ValueAppeal Obtains $1,200,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d34a9b2e-b39f-47ca-954d-d0463274fe3b&Preview=1 Date 6/13/2012 Company Name ValueAppeal Mailing Address 501 Dexter Ave N Seattle, WA 98109 Company Description Our services help overassesed homeowners lower their property taxes. Find out for FREE if you are overassessed. Use our simple process that takes as little as 10 minutes to appeal your property tax assessment and … Continue reading “ValueAppeal Obtains $1,200,000 New Financing Round”
Acucela, Turning 10, Gears Up for Pivotal Test With Eye Drug
Any one of a thousand little decisions can trip up an experimental drug on its long journey to the marketplace. Now, after 10 years in business, Seattle-based Acucela will be making a lot of important decisions that will determine whether it someday sells a drug that could help many people from going blind. Acucela, along … Continue reading “Acucela, Turning 10, Gears Up for Pivotal Test With Eye Drug”
JOBS Act: Important Benefits for Startups Not on the IPO On-Ramp
The JOBS Act is probably best-known for creating an “IPO on ramp” intended to reduce the cost and complexity of going public, but the act also contains important benefits for startups that are years away from an IPO, or never plan to go public. By loosening decades-old restrictions on private fundraising, permitting a new financing … Continue reading “JOBS Act: Important Benefits for Startups Not on the IPO On-Ramp”
Fundraising Notes: Xenon Arc, Concurix, Red Loop
Xenon Arc, a semi-stealthy provider of software services for materials manufacturers, has filled out its Series A fundraising to a total of $22 million, CEO Chad Steigers says. The Bellevue, WA-based company had previously reported a $15 million commitment from private equity firm Weston Presidio. Steigers says new cash came in the form of options that … Continue reading “Fundraising Notes: Xenon Arc, Concurix, Red Loop”
Ready or Not, Genomics is Coming to a Hospital Near You
First came genomics for scientists. Then came genomics for Big Pharma. But this year, at a faster pace than many industry insiders anticipated, we’re seeing genomics enter the world of real-life care for patients. This idea would have sounded like science fiction a couple years ago. It took researchers 13 years and about $3 billion … Continue reading “Ready or Not, Genomics is Coming to a Hospital Near You”
Blaze Bioscience Garners $5,000,000 Series A Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c84f48c9-eaaa-4fa8-8f71-0f97d2494e0d&Preview=1 Date 6/11/2012 Company Name Blaze Bioscience Mailing Address P.O. Box 61323 Seattle, WA 98141 Company Description For years, surgeons have been searching for better intraoperative tools to more effectively treat cancer. When removing tumors, the ability to precisely identify them is of paramount importance. If too little tissue is removed, cancer … Continue reading “Blaze Bioscience Garners $5,000,000 Series A Funding”
Fred Hutch Spinoff Blaze Bioscience Pulls in $5M For ‘Tumor Paint’
Surgeons in the business of cutting out tumors have to wonder whether they are getting rid of the whole malignancy, or whether some of the cancer is being left behind to relapse someday. Now a Seattle-based biotech startup, Blaze Bioscience, has raised some significant money to develop technology that helps doctors see during surgery, in … Continue reading “Fred Hutch Spinoff Blaze Bioscience Pulls in $5M For ‘Tumor Paint’”
The TV Revolution Will Be in Slow-Mo, Says Flingo CEO
Henry Blodget, the CEO and editor-in-chief of Business Insider, argued in a column this week that the television industry could suffer a sudden revenue collapse as consumers shift their TV viewing to on-demand, Internet-mediated services like Netflix and iTunes. Blodget thinks network and cable executives are in denial about the danger—just as newspaper publishers were … Continue reading “The TV Revolution Will Be in Slow-Mo, Says Flingo CEO”
Tango Card Garners $1,800,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=50841732-87a1-4d84-8782-0254ffa0050f&Preview=1 Date 6/8/2012 Company Name Tango Card Mailing Address 601 Union Street Seattle, WA 98101 Company Description Tango Card is the perfect way to give the right gift card every time. You can redeem it for gift cards from premier stores and donate any balance to one of our non-profit partners. And … Continue reading “Tango Card Garners $1,800,000 New Financing”
AT&T Exec: No `Jihad’ Between Carriers & Over-the-Top Apps
Among startups and app developers, it’s pretty close to gospel that major wireless carriers are slow to adapt and hard to work with. One high-ranking AT&T executive says that’s changing, even if the pace may seem slow from the outside. “We know what’s going on. We embrace what’s going on,” says Abhi Ingle, AT&T’s vice … Continue reading “AT&T Exec: No `Jihad’ Between Carriers & Over-the-Top Apps”
Emerging Challenges of Prostate Cancer Drug Development
The world’s largest cancer meeting of scientists, physicians and industry has just ended in Chicago. The annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) attracted over 30,000 attendees to hear leading experts on the latest in cancer drug development. From what I heard at ASCO, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies with new prostate cancer … Continue reading “Emerging Challenges of Prostate Cancer Drug Development”
Kineta, Playing for Bunt Singles, Builds a Biotech Company Without VC Bucks
One of the best-financed biotech startups in Seattle of the last five years hasn’t raised a dime of traditional venture capital. If Kineta can show it delivers returns without such VC backing, then it could provide an interesting alternative example of how to build a biotech company on a series of bunt singles, instead of … Continue reading “Kineta, Playing for Bunt Singles, Builds a Biotech Company Without VC Bucks”
Donuts Secures $100,000,000 Series A Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c5c5ba5f-4feb-48a2-a835-69d3cf4fda5e&Preview=1 Date 6/6/2012 Company Name Donuts Mailing Address Undisclosed Sammamish, WA 98074 Company Description It’s getting very hard to find a good identity in the namespace limited to .COM, .NET, .INFO and other “top-level domains,” or TLDs. However, thanks to TLD expansion, Donuts is bringing hundreds of new TLD options to market … Continue reading “Donuts Secures $100,000,000 Series A Funding”
Limeade Secures $527,500 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9f029600-adf1-463e-8b28-7a7bb0b0abd8&Preview=1 Date 6/6/2012 Company Name Limeade Mailing Address 10777 Main St. Bellevue, WA 98004 Company Description Limeade provides health and wellness information services to employers and employees. Website http://www.limeade.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $527,500 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC regulatory filing. M&A Terms Venture Investor … Continue reading “Limeade Secures $527,500 New Financing”
Bigger Isn’t Better: Why Madrona Capped its New Fund at $300M
Madrona Venture Group could have gone bigger than $300 million for its already oversubscribed fifth venture fund. Much bigger, managing director Matt McIlwain says. So why stop raising money? Well, the few-hundred-million range has worked out pretty well for the Seattle venture firm, which focuses mostly on early stage deals for local technology entrepreneurs. Every … Continue reading “Bigger Isn’t Better: Why Madrona Capped its New Fund at $300M”
Madrona Raises $300M New Fund, Focus Stays on NW
Madrona Venture Group, one of the top VC firms in the Seattle area, has raised a new $300 million fund that will continue the firm’s focus on early stage investments in the Pacific Northwest. It’s the fifth fund for Madrona, whose previous, $250 million fund dates to 2008. In a statement, Madrona says its new fund … Continue reading “Madrona Raises $300M New Fund, Focus Stays on NW”
Donuts Chases New Crop of Internet Addresses with $100M
The rush for Internet real estate is on once again, and a new Seattle-area company says it’s raised more than $100 million in a bid for hundreds of new domain names. Donuts Inc., a startup founded by veterans in the Internet domain industry, says it has applied for the rights to 307 top-level domains in … Continue reading “Donuts Chases New Crop of Internet Addresses with $100M”
New UW Spinout Zplasma Aims to Keep Moore’s Law Humming
For years, the people who make semiconductors have been trying to unlock their industry’s next big technological leap. A fledgling company in Seattle thinks it may have an answer—and right now, it’s crammed into the basement of a University of Washington research lab. The startup, called Zplasma, has a patented method for producing the high-powered … Continue reading “New UW Spinout Zplasma Aims to Keep Moore’s Law Humming”
ASCO Wrap-Up: A Summary of This Week’s Cancer R&D Headlines
There’s so much going on in the world of cancer drug R&D that it’s hard to keep up with all the news about drugs that are changing the standards of care. And quite a few of those standards are changing, based on a quick rundown of what was new at this year’s American Society of … Continue reading “ASCO Wrap-Up: A Summary of This Week’s Cancer R&D Headlines”
Building Bridges in a New Global Health Landscape
[Editor’s note: This article is adapted from a speech given at PATH’s annual Breakfast for Global Health on May 22, 2012.] Today I begin a new chapter in my life as president and CEO of the global health organization PATH. Why has this business and social entrepreneur, IP attorney, and human rights activist made this … Continue reading “Building Bridges in a New Global Health Landscape”
Why Would a Biotech Company Go the Trouble of Changing Its Name?
[Updated 1:26 pm PT with survey results] If you’re trying to figure out what the heck a certain biotech company does, the last place to look is usually the company name. Names often don’t mean much, or at least it isn’t obvious. But sometimes you actually can learn a lot about what makes a company … Continue reading “Why Would a Biotech Company Go the Trouble of Changing Its Name?”
Allozyne Lands $2,002,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=91237d40-a9f6-4a3f-bec6-25fa6fa5a7c0&Preview=1 Date 6/4/2012 Company Name Allozyne Mailing Address 1600 Fairview Ave E Seattle, WA 98102 Company Description Allozyne, Inc., is a privately held biotechnology company focused on the development and manufacture of protein therapeutics. These technologies will enable the company to improve the efficacy of protein-based therapeutics. Website http://www.allozyne.com Transaction Type Debt … Continue reading “Allozyne Lands $2,002,000 New Financing Round”
Acylin Therapeutics Receives $2,000,000 Series A Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=51fe9757-8b1c-4c44-ba70-98aa456cab01&Preview=1 Date 6/4/2012 Company Name Acylin Therapeutics Mailing Address 1616 Eastlake Ave Seattle, WA 98102 Company Description The company develops cancer, metabolic and disease therapies. Website Undisclosed Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $2,000,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC regulatory filing. M&A Terms Venture Investor … Continue reading “Acylin Therapeutics Receives $2,000,000 Series A Financing”
J&J Prostate Cancer Trial Shouldn’t Have Been Stopped Early
One of the more anticipated clinical trials at this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting was for Johnson & Johnson’s abiraterone (Zytiga) in prostate cancer patients. This study, known as COU-AA-302, was stopped early because independent monitors said the drug was clearly effective. But that decision to stop the trial early is questionable, … Continue reading “J&J Prostate Cancer Trial Shouldn’t Have Been Stopped Early”
Marina Biotech Runs Out of Cash, Axes 90% of Staff
Bothell, WA-based Marina Biotech ran dangerously low on cash several times over the past few years, but now it appears to have finally run out of gas. The company (OTCQX: [[ticker:MRNA]]), a developer of RNA interference-based medicines, said today it has laid off 90 percent of its remaining workers to preserve the cash it still … Continue reading “Marina Biotech Runs Out of Cash, Axes 90% of Staff”
The Pace of Re-Imagination: We All Live in Dog Years Now
My dog Rhody, an Australian Shepherd, turned 15 a few weeks ago. He’s a living refutation of the old myth that dogs age as much in one year as humans do in seven. By that formula he’d be acting like a doddering 105-year-old, but if you met him you’d agree that he doesn’t seem a … Continue reading “The Pace of Re-Imagination: We All Live in Dog Years Now”
IDRI Makes Move From Old First Hill Digs to Shiny New SLU
The Infectious Disease Research Institute is probably the least-visible global health organization in Seattle, but now it’s moving its growing staff to a place where all the cool kids in global health can’t miss it—South Lake Union. IDRI, the nonprofit global health R&D center, said this week it is moving from its long-term home on … Continue reading “IDRI Makes Move From Old First Hill Digs to Shiny New SLU”
Accelerator Looks to Expand, With an Eye on the Big Apple
Accelerator, the venture-backed biotech startup machine, has made its name over the past decade as a hotspot for financing life sciences companies in Seattle with big dreams and potential. Now it’s considering expanding its model for starting biotech companies in other life science clusters around the world, including New York. Plans are still in the … Continue reading “Accelerator Looks to Expand, With an Eye on the Big Apple”
Safety Light Startup Illumagear Wins Seattle Angel Conference
Illumagear, a Seattle startup that has developed a hardhat-mounted “halo” light to improve safety on construction sites, won a $100,000 investment at the inaugural Seattle Angel Conference. And not a moment too soon—founder Max Baker says the infusion will help him get to work on a new prototype of his product, tackle intellectual property protection, … Continue reading “Safety Light Startup Illumagear Wins Seattle Angel Conference”
Buddy Platform Lands $1,000,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b42d8b60-5a61-400c-a20d-7b668df2f501&Preview=1 Date 5/31/2012 Company Name Buddy Platform Mailing Address P.O. Box 2934 Kirkland, WA 98083 Company Description Buddy was started by David McLauchlan and Jeff MacDuff. Dave & Jeff met when they both worked at Microsoft, and a decade later launched Buddy to the public in September, 2011. Website http://www.buddy.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “Buddy Platform Lands $1,000,000 New Funding Round”
Buddy Platform Open for Business, Raises $1M for App Backend Service
Buddy Platform, a Kirkland, WA-based startup that sells back-end services for mobile apps, is now open for business and says it has raised $1 million from investors. The company was founded by two former Microsofties, David McLauchlan and Jeff MacDuff. Their investors include Transmedia Capital and Crestlight Venture Productions, along with angel investors. The startup … Continue reading “Buddy Platform Open for Business, Raises $1M for App Backend Service”
Kona Medical Gets $30M To Zap High Blood Pressure With Ultrasound
Ultrasound waves can be engineered to do all kinds of nifty things, from creating high-resolution images of developing fetuses to non-invasive ways of busting up kidney stones. Now a Seattle-area startup called Kona Medical has raised a load of venture capital to pursue a big dream—ultrasound that could treat millions of people with high blood … Continue reading “Kona Medical Gets $30M To Zap High Blood Pressure With Ultrasound”
Basic Biology: The Complex Core of Drug Discovery
The hardest task in major league sports is hitting a baseball. Those who can successfully do this even three out of every ten times over the course of a career are likely to find themselves enshrined in Cooperstown at the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, scientists who strive to discover new medicines can only fantasize about … Continue reading “Basic Biology: The Complex Core of Drug Discovery”
Khosla Ventures Bets on Liquid Metal Battery’s Energy Storage Tech
“Cost-effective, reliable, grid-scale storage is one of the holy grails in cleantech,” says Khosla Ventures partner Andrew Chung. But now, Chung thinks there may be an answer—and the path runs through Cambridge, MA, startup Liquid Metal Battery. That’s why Chung and Menlo Park, CA-based Khosla Ventures led the $15 million Series B investment in Liquid … Continue reading “Khosla Ventures Bets on Liquid Metal Battery’s Energy Storage Tech”
NanoString Nabs Ex-Seattle Genetics Exec to Lead Diagnostic Push
Seattle-based NanoString Technologies sees itself growing from a research tool company into a more diversified player with diagnostic tests that enable more personalized cancer medicine. Now it has hired its first sales and marketing leader to take the fruit of NanoString R&D, and turn it into this potentially large new line of business. Bruce Seeley, the … Continue reading “NanoString Nabs Ex-Seattle Genetics Exec to Lead Diagnostic Push”
With Orders Piling Up, Zulily Built a Shipping Arm—in 8 Weeks
When you build a fast-growing business, there are bound to be a few “oh shit” moments. Darrell Cavens, the CEO of moms-and-kids retailer Zulily, knows that feeling well. Cavens runs one of the fastest growing startups in the Seattle area, a private-sales site that has amassed more than 5 million daily e-mail subscribers since launching … Continue reading “With Orders Piling Up, Zulily Built a Shipping Arm—in 8 Weeks”
Rooftop Farming Startup UrbanHarvest Wins UW Student Competition
Why pay for produce to be trucked up from California when you’ve got rooftops that could be converted to greenhouses? That’s the question posed by UrbanHarvest, a startup company founded by two University of Washington students. And as of today, they’ve got a few thousand more bucks in their pockets to help make the dream … Continue reading “Rooftop Farming Startup UrbanHarvest Wins UW Student Competition”
Xconomist of the Week: Evan Snyder—Stem Cell Reality Check
San Diego Xconomist Evan Snyder has been called a “stem cell revolutionary” and is regarded as a father in the field of stem cell research. When we talked in his office at San Diego’s Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, he told me he isolated the first neural stem cell in the mid-1980s, as well as the … Continue reading “Xconomist of the Week: Evan Snyder—Stem Cell Reality Check”