Gloucester Nails Down $29M to Move Ahead with Late-Stage Cancer Drug

Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, the Cambridge, MA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has raised $29 million in a Series D venture round as it goes through the final dress rehearsals before making an argument for its lead drug in front of an expert review panel for the FDA. Gloucester raised the latest round from new … Continue reading “Gloucester Nails Down $29M to Move Ahead with Late-Stage Cancer Drug”

ProFibrix Closes $11M Series B

Netherlands-based ProFibrix, which has a Seattle subsidiary, announced today it has raised $11 million in Series B funding, led by new investor Gilde Healthcare Partners and including existing investor Index Ventures. ProFibrix was founded in 2004 and makes a dry powder topical tissue sealant that stops bleeding during or after surgery. The product, called Fibrocaps, … Continue reading “ProFibrix Closes $11M Series B”

Ligand Gets Neurogen for $11M

San Diego’s Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LGND]]) has agreed to acquire Branford, CT-based Neurogen, in a stock deal valued at $11 million. The transaction gives Neurogen shareholders a 3 percent ownership stake in the combined company, and a variety of contingent cash payments, such as net proceeds from the sale of Neurogen real estate. Ligand gains … Continue reading “Ligand Gets Neurogen for $11M”

Venrock Adds Nordan as VP

Matthew Nordan, the co-founder and former president of technology consulting firm Lux Research, has joined the Cambridge, MA, office of venture firm Venrock as a vice president, the firm announced today. Nordan will focus on energy, environmental and materials technologies for Venrock, which originated as the venture investing arm of the Rockefeller family. (We profiled … Continue reading “Venrock Adds Nordan as VP”

Seattle Genetics Trial Fills Up

Seattle Genetics, the Bothell, WA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today that it has completed enrollment in the pivotal clinical trial of its lead product candidate, brentuxmab vedotin (SGN-35). The trial recruited 100 patients with relapsed forms of Hodgkin’s disease. The enrollment period was about six months faster than the company expected, so Seattle Genetics … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics Trial Fills Up”

Rothstein Joins Clean Energy Council

Peter Rothstein, a former entrepreneur in residence at Flagship Ventures in Cambridge, MA, has joined the New England Clean Energy Council as full-time senior vice president, the Cambridge-based organization announced today. At the council, Rothstein will focus on the Clean Energy Innovation Consortia, a project he launched to push for the creation of the “clean … Continue reading “Rothstein Joins Clean Energy Council”

FDA Agrees to Review CTI App

Cell Therapeutics, the Seattle-based developer of cancer drugs, said today that the FDA has agreed to review the company’s application to market pixantrone for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the U.S. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]) is seeking an expedited six-month review for the drug, which is sometimes granted for treatments with life-saving potential. The FDA will decide … Continue reading “FDA Agrees to Review CTI App”

Silverlink Raises $5M for Outreach to Healthcare Consumers

[Updated 11:00 a.m. August 24, 2009 with quotes from Silverlink CEO Stan Nowak] Silverlink Communications, the Burlington, MA-based startup whose healthcare communications services we profiled last month, has raised $5 million in series D venture funding, according to regulatory forms filed last week. Existing investors Sigma Partners, HLM Ventures, and Kaiser Permanente Ventures participated in … Continue reading “Silverlink Raises $5M for Outreach to Healthcare Consumers”

Chipmaker Sequoia Communications Out of Business, DivX Settles Yahoo Lawsuit, Connect Proposes Venture Initiative, & Other San Diego BizTech News

San Diego wind turbine maker Helix Wind made some more acquisitions, and out-of-business chipmaker Sequoia Communications arranged to sell its equipment in an online auction tomorrow. So it was a good news, bad news week for technology here. —San Diego’s Sequoia Communications, which gained attention in the wireless chip industry when it introduced a multimode … Continue reading “Chipmaker Sequoia Communications Out of Business, DivX Settles Yahoo Lawsuit, Connect Proposes Venture Initiative, & Other San Diego BizTech News”

Resolvyx, Swinging for the Fence in First Human Study, Passes Test with Drug for Dry Eye

Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals, the company that develops derivatives from omega-3 fish oils into new drugs, is announcing today that the first therapy from this class passed its first clinical trial, helping alleviate symptoms for patients with chronic dry eye. This was a big hurdle for Bedford, MA-based Resolvyx to clear, partly because the company set the … Continue reading “Resolvyx, Swinging for the Fence in First Human Study, Passes Test with Drug for Dry Eye”

May The Schwartz Be With You: Eric’s Top Stories of the Summer

Thirteen weeks, 123 stories, and about a million cups of Starbucks’ finest later, my internship at Xconomy in Seattle is over. But as a parting gift, I am going to share some of my favorite articles from the summer here. I hope you enjoy reading them (and my other articles) as much as I enjoyed … Continue reading “May The Schwartz Be With You: Eric’s Top Stories of the Summer”

Venture Model Makeover & Diet Plan—Step One

A lot of people have been asking lately if the venture model is broken. But it seems to me that it’s just decrepit. Like an aging, rotund former football star, the venture industry is scratching its head and realizing that its glory days are long past. The industry collectively doesn’t really know how to handle … Continue reading “Venture Model Makeover & Diet Plan—Step One”

Extreme Reach Tries Video Ad Distribution Once More, With the Cloud

It’s not often in the startup world that you get to build the same company twice, with better technology the second time around. But that’s the basic story behind Extreme Reach, a Needham, MA, company that launched this January with a vision of helping video advertisers and their agencies distribute their ads to cable networks, … Continue reading “Extreme Reach Tries Video Ad Distribution Once More, With the Cloud”

Can The Genome Be Cracked for $5,000? OVP, Enterprise Partners Say Yes in $45M Round

Complete Genomics, the Mountain View, CA-based company that says it can sequence entire human genomes for as little as $5,000, has pinned down a $45 million venture round which includes support from two of its founding backers—Kirkland, WA-based OVP Venture Partners and San Diego-based Enterprise Partners Venture Capital. The rest of the capital is coming … Continue reading “Can The Genome Be Cracked for $5,000? OVP, Enterprise Partners Say Yes in $45M Round”

Silverlink Communications Lands $5,000,000 Series D Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4a203716-b6d2-4b06-925e-61f66dcfb4e8&Preview=1 Date 8/24/2009 Company Name Silverlink Communications Mailing Address 67 South Bedford Street Burlington, MA 01803 Company Description Silverlink Communications is revolutionizing outbound voice technology for the healthcare industry. Website http://www.silverlink.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $5,000,000 Transaction Round Series D Proceeds Purposes The funds will be used to build up … Continue reading “Silverlink Communications Lands $5,000,000 Series D Round”

Zumbox Receives $8,000,000 Series A Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=575afbd1-e3ad-4a25-ae1c-0a9919cf5f0c&Preview=1 Date 8/24/2009 Company Name Zumbox Mailing Address 31364 Via Colinas Westlake Village, CA 91362 Company Description Zumbox provides the first all-digital postal system that is free for qualified senders of regular mail, such as billers, governments and community organizations. Zumbox delivers mail electronically based on the same street addresses as traditional … Continue reading “Zumbox Receives $8,000,000 Series A Round”

AppFolio Garners $8,000,000 Series C Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a29fc42b-7d75-4a4a-a7ec-dcaa4c06ba06&Preview=1 Date 8/24/2009 Company Name AppFolio Mailing Address 55 Castilian Dr. Goleta, CA 93117 Company Description AppFolio, Inc. is dedicated to premier customer service and innovative applications that are custom-designed for property management organizations, whether small or growing businesses. We blend the latest in Web-based software technology with carefully researched user-friendly designs … Continue reading “AppFolio Garners $8,000,000 Series C Financing”

Complete Genomics Secures $45,000,000 Series D Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e73fd943-af84-4ffb-9deb-3e3c603d8ce9&Preview=1 Date 8/24/2009 Company Name Complete Genomics Mailing Address 2071 Stierlin Court Mountain View, CA 94043 Company Description Complete Genomics (CGI) is a high-performance DNA sequencing company whose mission is to dramatically reduce the cost of DNA sequencing for research, drug development, and diagnostic applications. Website http://www.completegenomics.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “Complete Genomics Secures $45,000,000 Series D Funding Round”

Fanbase Garners $5,000,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9a6b65f5-17c4-428e-ac69-83c6f30a0f54&Preview=1 Date 8/24/2009 Company Name Fanbase Mailing Address 667 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94105 Company Description Fanbase is the web’s largest almanac of pro and college athletes, built entirely by fans. The almanac today has dedicated pages for more than 1.7 million athletes and 20,000 teams across 23 diverse sports, including … Continue reading “Fanbase Garners $5,000,000 New Funding Round”

Live Gamer Acquires Twofish for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a426015d-266d-492e-b85d-bcee5c57d8c2&Preview=1 Date 8/24/2009 Company Name Twofish Mailing Address 580 College Ave. 2nd Floor Palo Alto, CA 94306 Company Description Twofish was founded in 2006 by Lee Crawford, a veteran of both the gaming and financial software markets. Lee foresaw the need to collapse his two areas of expertise and set out to … Continue reading “Live Gamer Acquires Twofish for Undisclosed Sum”

Zino Zillionaire Investment Forum 2009

The Zino Society, a network for angel investors, is hosting the fourth annual Zino Zillionaire Investment Forum on Sept. 17 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle. The event will feature 28 companies, representing a variety of business sectors, presenting to an audience of angel investors, venture capitalists and business leaders. For more information, click … Continue reading “Zino Zillionaire Investment Forum 2009”

AltheaDx Raising $6M

AltheaDx, a San Diego company previously known as Althea Diagnostics, has garnered $3.57 million in a recent venture round that aims to raise a total of $6 million, according to a recent regulatory filing. The company provides services and technologies to streamline drug development. The paperwork does not identify the investors, although AltheaDx identifies Telegraph … Continue reading “AltheaDx Raising $6M”

MacLean Takes 38 Studios Helm

38 Studios, the Maynard, MA-based online gaming company founded by Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, said today that former CEO Brett Close has resigned, and that Jennifer MacLean, formerly the startup’s senior vice president of business development, has been appointed as his successor. Close has led development of 38 Studios’ massively multiplayer online fantasy game … Continue reading “MacLean Takes 38 Studios Helm”

Six Startup CEOs On Their Company Culture, Boiled Down to One Word

You can tell a lot about a company from its chief executive. They set the tone, the direction, the pace of operations. For a startup, it all starts with the CEO. A startup’s culture is what sets it apart from its peers. It is the essence of the operation. It directly affects the company’s strategy, … Continue reading “Six Startup CEOs On Their Company Culture, Boiled Down to One Word”

Bezos Expeditions Contributes to $7 Million Round for Heartland Robotics

Regulatory documents filed today show that Heartland Robotics, the Cambridge, MA, industrial robotics startup founded by MIT computer science legend Rod Brooks, has raised just over $7 million in an equity offering. The documents don’t reveal the identities of the funders, and Heartland has not announced the names, but Xconomy has learned that one of … Continue reading “Bezos Expeditions Contributes to $7 Million Round for Heartland Robotics”

Amazon, Microsoft Join Against Google Books Deal

Northwest tech giants Amazon and Microsoft have joined a coalition of companies, nonprofit groups, and individuals to work against a proposed settlement by Google regarding its thousands of scanned books according to an article in yesterday’s New York Times. The group, which includes new Microsoft ally Yahoo, will work to derail the settlement between Google … Continue reading “Amazon, Microsoft Join Against Google Books Deal”

San Diego’s Connect Takes Offensive, Sets Agenda for Stoking the Region’s Innovation Economy

Lots of people have been saying the VC model for funding technology innovation is broken. Now San Diego’s Duane Roth has some ideas for ways the regional technology community can try to do things differently. Roth, who is chief executive of Connect, the non-profit organization that helped create San Diego’s innovation economy, laid out some … Continue reading “San Diego’s Connect Takes Offensive, Sets Agenda for Stoking the Region’s Innovation Economy”

TipJoy Shuts Down

TipJoy, an Arlington, MA-based startup that created a micropayment system designed to allow Web users to reward content providers with small tips, announced on its blog yesterday that it is shutting down. Launched through the Y Combinator startup incubator program, TipJoy collected a Series A venture investment of nearly $1 million less than a year … Continue reading “TipJoy Shuts Down”

Why It’s Crazy for Authors to Keep Their Books Off the Kindle

In June, I wrote a column about the problem of “On Demand Disorder“—my name for the narrowing of vision that can occur when people get addicted to the instant experiences available over the Internet and other digital media. If you only listen to the music you can find on iTunes or Pandora or Last.fm, if … Continue reading “Why It’s Crazy for Authors to Keep Their Books Off the Kindle”

$14M for Novomer, $7.3M for Innocentive, $6M for Zendesk, & More Boston-Area Deals News

In what I think is a first for the deals roundup, it was all venture all the time for New England’s tech and life sciences companies this past week. —Greentech Media, the Cambridge, MA-based media, market research, and events company, collected $825,000 of a planned $1.25 extension of its Series B round, which previously totaled … Continue reading “$14M for Novomer, $7.3M for Innocentive, $6M for Zendesk, & More Boston-Area Deals News”

NanoSteel Company Garners $8,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=595f31ad-fa99-49b4-ae05-fe781fc65f93&Preview=1 Date 8/21/2009 Company Name NanoSteel Company Mailing Address 67 Cedar Street Providence, RI 02903 Company Description The NanoSteel Company is an advanced materials company which has created a unique and proprietary portfolio of nanotechnology based and environmentally friendly steel alloys that greatly increase the value of steel in most of today’s … Continue reading “NanoSteel Company Garners $8,000,000 New Financing Round”

[x+1] Secures $2,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=aeb07ae7-6c25-464e-a9a6-60d1f4ff82cc&Preview=1 Date 8/21/2009 Company Name [x+1] Mailing Address 130 W. Union St Pasadena, CA 91103 Company Description [x+1] has helped marketers achieve greater return on their online marketing investment by driving conversion through improved visitor engagement and ad relevance. Website http://www.x1.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $2,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds … Continue reading “[x+1] Secures $2,000,000 New Financing”

BaroSense Obtains $27,000,000 Series D Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b9175bba-21f5-4e6e-8a05-d5a66086e94a&Preview=1 Date 8/21/2009 Company Name BaroSense Mailing Address 3698-C Haven Avenue Redwood City, CA 94063 Company Description BaroSense Inc., a medical device company headquartered in Menlo Park, CA, focuses on the research and development of innovative, minimally invasive medical devices for the treatment of obesity – the largest global chronic disease in … Continue reading “BaroSense Obtains $27,000,000 Series D Round”

Amyris Biotechnologies Receives $24,750,000 Series C Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d6b5f672-e62b-46d9-8693-ed0bd0bbd750&Preview=1 Date 8/21/2009 Company Name Amyris Biotechnologies Mailing Address 5885 Hollis Street Emeryville, CA 94608 Company Description Amyris Biotechnologies is leveraging breakthroughs in synthetic biology to provide a consistent, cost-effective supply of high-value natural compounds for large and diverse markets, including pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, nutraceuticals, vitamins, and flavors. Applying advances in molecular … Continue reading “Amyris Biotechnologies Receives $24,750,000 Series C Financing”

Domesticating Global Health

The Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association is hosting an event on “Domesticating Global Health” on Nov. 18. The discussion will be about how to tap the experience of the global health community in Seattle ot build a stronger life sciences commercial sector. For more information, click here.

Five Unsung Heroes of the Seattle Tech Scene

The Seattle area is known for its technology giants like Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing, and RealNetworks. It’s also known for its popular tech startups like Zillow, Wetpaint, Pet Holdings (I Can Has Cheezburger), iLike, and Big Fish Games. But there are dozens of other sizable tech companies operating behind the scenes, quietly executing on their vision … Continue reading “Five Unsung Heroes of the Seattle Tech Scene”

Mobile TV Gets Audience Tracker

FLO TV, San Diego-based Qualcomm’s (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) satellite-based mobile TV service and Portland, OR-based Rentrak Corp. (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RENT]]) say they are collaborating on a system that will provide comprehensive data on mobile TV viewership and advertising. Using Rentrak’s TV Essentials media measurement system, the partners plan to deliver reports to provide a basis for setting … Continue reading “Mobile TV Gets Audience Tracker”

San Diego’s Platformic Adds Mobile Blogging Capability to Web Development and Management Tools

Platformic, a San Diego web development startup, is introducing a new mobile blogging tool, which, according to the company, simplifies the process of adding video, photos, and text to websites based on Platformic’s technology and content management system. Platformic says new content can be added to a website using an iPhone, Blackberry, or other mobile … Continue reading “San Diego’s Platformic Adds Mobile Blogging Capability to Web Development and Management Tools”

ZymoGenetics, Citing Two Patient Deaths, Builds Up Ammunition for Case Against Rival

Before it asked the FDA to yank a drug made by its chief competitor, King Pharmaceuticals, off the U.S. market, ZymoGenetics learned that physicians had attributed the deaths of two patients to bad reactions to the drug, says ZymoGenetics CEO Doug Williams. I spoke with Williams this morning shortly after the Seattle biotech issued a … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics, Citing Two Patient Deaths, Builds Up Ammunition for Case Against Rival”

AVI Nails Down $30M

AVI Biopharma, the Bothell, WA-based developer of RNA therapies, said today it has raised another $30 million through a stock offering. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVII]]) said it sold 21 million new shares of common stock, in addition to 8.5 million warrants to buy shares, in an offering underwritten by Jefferies & Company. AVI, which recently … Continue reading “AVI Nails Down $30M”

Wireless Chipmaker Sequoia Communications Shuttered; Auctioneers Move in

San Diego’s Sequoia Communications, a venture-backed semiconductor company founded in 2001, has shut down—ending the startup’s effort to develop an innovative microchip for cellular phones. The company’s demise was reported yesterday by the website SoCalTech.com, which noted that Sequoia has raised more than $50 million from BlueRun Ventures, Cadence Design Systems, Gabriel Venture Partners, Huntington … Continue reading “Wireless Chipmaker Sequoia Communications Shuttered; Auctioneers Move in”

ZymoGenetics Plays Hardball, Asks FDA to Pull Competing Drug Off Market Because of Safety

ZymoGenetics isn’t giving up on its sole marketed product, and it’s playing some hardball to fight for it. The Seattle biotech company said today it is asking the FDA to yank its top competitor’s drug off the market because, it contends, it’s not safe enough. Thrombin-JMI, made by Bristol, TN-based King Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: [[ticker:KG]]), is … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics Plays Hardball, Asks FDA to Pull Competing Drug Off Market Because of Safety”

North Bridge Adds General Partner

Technology veteran Jim Moran has joined North Bridge Venture Partners, of Waltham, MA, as a general partner, the venture firm announced today. Moran was previously CEO of Covergence, a Maynard, MA, provider of telecommunications software, which was acquired by Burlington, MA-based software firm Acme Packet (NASDAQ:[[ticker:APKT]]) in May for a reported $22.8 million. North Bridge, … Continue reading “North Bridge Adds General Partner”

Anadys Moves Hepatitis C Drug Ahead on its Own, Intellikine Casts a Broad Net, Sequel Pharma Raising $8.4M, & Other San Diego Life Sciences News

It’s been relatively slow for San Diego life sciences news, except for a flurry of funding deals for local drug development companies. Get the scoop on who’s getting money, along with some biotech profiles and more. —CEO Steve Worland of San Diego’s Anadys Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ANDS]]) says the company has stabilized following some mercurial advances … Continue reading “Anadys Moves Hepatitis C Drug Ahead on its Own, Intellikine Casts a Broad Net, Sequel Pharma Raising $8.4M, & Other San Diego Life Sciences News”

Three Innovators with Seattle Roots Make Waves in Video, Internet, and Smart Sensors

This week, the Seattle area has lived up to its reputation as home to the future of technology, with three local (or formerly local) innovators making the national media rounds in Technology Review, the New York Times, and Time Magazine. And not in just one field or sector either—the three span academia (smart sensors), a … Continue reading “Three Innovators with Seattle Roots Make Waves in Video, Internet, and Smart Sensors”