Oncothyreon, the Seattle-based developer of cancer drugs, said today that its partner, Germany-based Merck KGaA, has started a pivotal clinical trial of the Stimuvax immunotherapy for breast cancer. The study will seek to enroll 900 patients in 30 countries, who are randomly assigned to get Stimuvax or a placebo. Oncothyreon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ONTY]]) has shifted most … Continue reading “Oncothyreon Drug Enters Pivotal Trial”
AVI Developing Swine Flu Drugs
AVI Biopharma, a Portland, OR-based developer of RNA-based drugs, said today it has secured a contract with the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency to develop drugs for H1N1, or swine flu. Under the contract, worth as much as $5.1 million, AVI will analyze the H1N1 sequence, determine appropriate targets and identify lead and back-up candidate … Continue reading “AVI Developing Swine Flu Drugs”
Targeted Genetics Cuts Workforce in Half in Bid to Survive Into August
Targeted Genetics, the Seattle-based developer of gene therapies, said today it is cutting more than half of its workforce in a bid to make its dwindling cash reserves last into August. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TGEN]]) said it will cut its staff down to just 10 to 15 employees by the end of the July, compared … Continue reading “Targeted Genetics Cuts Workforce in Half in Bid to Survive Into August”
Waitaminnit—San Diego is the Headquarters of America’s Latest Green Auto Startup?
When Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced that a startup automaker based in San Diego will build a new line of fuel-efficient cars in Monroe, LA, nobody was more surprised than some folks at Cleantech San Diego. The V-Vehicle Company, founded in 2006 by former Oracle executive Frank Varasano, says it “will produce a high-quality, environmentally … Continue reading “Waitaminnit—San Diego is the Headquarters of America’s Latest Green Auto Startup?”
San Diego’s Wireless Incubator Hatches, Geospatial Software Gains Ground, EcoDog Gets an Angel, & More San Diego BizTech News
As the unemployment rate climbed to 11.5 percent statewide in California, and 9.4 percent in San Diego County, two local industry groups announced major initiatives to encourage and support innovation in the region. Read up on that and the rest of San Diego’s business and technology news: —San Diego’s software industry, which already hosts a … Continue reading “San Diego’s Wireless Incubator Hatches, Geospatial Software Gains Ground, EcoDog Gets an Angel, & More San Diego BizTech News”
Should You Sign Up for Google Voice? Xconomy Readers Share Their Beta Experiences
Back in March, I wrote a column about Google Voice, the reincarnated version of a voicemail unification service that Google acquired from Grand Central back in 2007. The free service gives you a single phone number for life that isn’t tied to any particular land line or cellular device—instead, calls ring through to whichever phones … Continue reading “Should You Sign Up for Google Voice? Xconomy Readers Share Their Beta Experiences”
Mirabilis Medica Aims to Help Women Avoid the Dreaded Hysterectomy
It only takes about 30 minutes from downtown Seattle to get to what some people like to call the “Silicon Valley of Ultrasound,” in Bothell, WA. So when I heard about another ultrasound startup company, one with a name that comes from the Latin word for “miraculous,” I figured it was worth checking out. There’s … Continue reading “Mirabilis Medica Aims to Help Women Avoid the Dreaded Hysterectomy”
Data Domain Fight Continues, Adimab Adds Merck and Roche as Partners, BigBelly Solar Gets Dirty With Waste Management, & More Boston-Area Deals News
[Corrected 4:40pm ET, June 22; see first item] Deals last week involved everything from cancer screening to trash compacting, but the analysts were kept on their toes by the dramatic events unfolding between EMC and Data Domain. —Reuters reported that data storage giant EMC (NYSE [[ticker:EMC]]), of Hopkinton, MA, was prepared to raise its bid—from … Continue reading “Data Domain Fight Continues, Adimab Adds Merck and Roche as Partners, BigBelly Solar Gets Dirty With Waste Management, & More Boston-Area Deals News”
Are Government and Utilities the New Sexy Destinations for MBAs?
I’m sure some of you have heard a version of this quote before: “In the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, large families in the U.S. sent their fifth or sixth child to work for the government or a utility company under the assumption that the later the child was born the less intelligent he/she was.” Even … Continue reading “Are Government and Utilities the New Sexy Destinations for MBAs?”
Auriga Measurement Systems Obtains $2,750,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=70af12fa-6b2e-44d9-99a2-7f023bb7aa13&Preview=1 Date 6/22/2009 Company Name Auriga Measurement Systems Mailing Address 650 Suffolk Street Lowell, MA 01854 Company Description Auriga is a company built around engineers with more than 150-years combined experience in providing cutting-edge solutions for the high-frequency, high-powered RF microwave market. The Auriga team of engineers continually “push the envelope” to … Continue reading “Auriga Measurement Systems Obtains $2,750,000 New Financing”
Tumri Garners $15,000,000 Series C Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7e372e62-3da7-435b-b176-71ecc22caec2&Preview=1 Date 6/22/2009 Company Name Tumri Mailing Address 1975 W. El Camino Real Mountain View, CA 94040 Company Description Tumri’s fully-automated merchandising network provides an intelligent and efficient way to deliver relevant retail offers to interested online consumers. Our solution generates great clickthrough and conversion rates for merchants, additional revenue for publishers … Continue reading “Tumri Garners $15,000,000 Series C Round”
Doyenz Lands $5,000,000 Series A Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fcc45a57-95af-48d0-8aae-6df26d9716ca&Preview=1 Date 6/21/2009 Company Name Doyenz Mailing Address 15395 SE 30th Place Bellevue, WA 98007 Company Description Doyenz is the first to deliver Automated Virtual IT Out-of-the-box, a ground-breaking end-to-end virtual appliance lifecycle management solution, for the SMB market. Automated Virtual IT empowers VARs and IT consultants to deliver high quality and … Continue reading “Doyenz Lands $5,000,000 Series A Funding”
Norman Steps in at Supercomputer Center
The San Diego Supercomputer Center at U.C. San Diego today named UCSD astrophysicist Michael L. Norman as interim director. Norman replaces Fran Berman, a specialist in grid computing (and San Diego Xconomist), who has served as the center’s director since 2001. Berman plans to join the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as vice president of research, effective … Continue reading “Norman Steps in at Supercomputer Center”
$1M Angel Funding for LiquidPlanner
Bellevue, WA-based LiquidPlanner, a collaborative software and project management startup, has raised $1 million from angel investors. The money includes the first investment from Seattle-based Alliance of Angels’ new seed fund it announced last month. The news was first reported by TechFlash, and was confirmed by Greg Huey from Alliance of Angels and investor Geoff … Continue reading “$1M Angel Funding for LiquidPlanner”
Cell Therapeutics Dumps $52.9M Debt
Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]), the Seattle-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has gotten rid of $52.9 million worth of debt, or about 44 percent of its total debtload. The company had sought to unload all of its $118.9 million in debt, but ended up paying out $7.1 million in cash and 24.2 million … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Dumps $52.9M Debt”
I-Therapeutix Raises $15M in Round Led by Polaris
I-Therapeutix is reaping the rewards of its swift development of a hydrogel bandage to seal surgical wounds on the eye. Hatched in 2006, the Waltham, MA-based startup has already garnered European market clearance for the product and plans to reveal today it has landed $15 million in a Series C round of venture capital. Polaris … Continue reading “I-Therapeutix Raises $15M in Round Led by Polaris”
Innovation Insights, and How Microsoft Enabled the Internet, From Technologist Dan Rosen
Ask Dan Rosen to define innovation, and he’ll say it’s “a breakthrough in technology that leads to a business breakthrough.” It’s a concept that Rosen is well acquainted with, having been a founding partner of Seattle-based Frazier Technology Ventures, a prominent venture capital firm, and the CEO and president of his own investment and advisory … Continue reading “Innovation Insights, and How Microsoft Enabled the Internet, From Technologist Dan Rosen”
New Twitter Search Engine: CrowdEye
CrowdEye, a new Twitter search engine, launched yesterday, according to a press release from the company. The Seattle-based startup was founded by Ken Moss and his wife, Becca, last fall. Both Mosses were long-time employees of Microsoft, where Ken was head of the search engineering group, the creators of Bing.com, for the last five years. … Continue reading “New Twitter Search Engine: CrowdEye”
Smartly Leveraging Social Media for Your Business
The Washington Technology Industry Association is hosting an event where people can hear experts discuss how social media relates to business. According to the event website: “Social media is rapidly changing the way companies do business. Companies that have social media strategies are finding them to be a valuable tool for driving customer engagement and … Continue reading “Smartly Leveraging Social Media for Your Business”
Axis Semiconductor Snags $1M
Marlborough, MA-based signaling company Axis Semiconductor has completed half of a proposed $2,050,000 equity financing round, according to an SEC filing. No details on the investors were provided, par for the course for the company, which has been in stealth mode since its incorporation in 2007. Three members of Axis’ board of directors, including the … Continue reading “Axis Semiconductor Snags $1M”
Sorrento Therapeutics Raises $2.3 Million
San Diego-based Sorrento Therapeutics has raised $2.3 million in a one-time equity investment, according to a filing yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The biotech, which specializes in new methods for developing 100-percent human monoclonal antibodies, was founded in 2006 and lists Steve Zaniboni, Antonius Schuh, and Henry Ji as executives and directors. Zaniboni … Continue reading “Sorrento Therapeutics Raises $2.3 Million”
MDRNA Gains Full Rights to Drug Technology
MDRNA, the Bothell, WA-based developer of RNA interference drug technology, said today it has renegotiated a key technology license so that it has full control and no longer needs to make future payments for it. MDRNA (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MRNA]]) bought the rights in October to unlocked nucleobase analog technology from Denmark-based RiboTask, which has been studying … Continue reading “MDRNA Gains Full Rights to Drug Technology”
Living Proof Lathers $9M in Fresh Capital into Beauty Products Operation
[Updated at 11:15 am] Living Proof, a Cambridge, MA-based startup applying advances in material science from institutions such as MIT to the beauty industry, has raised $9 million in a new round of equity financing, according to a regulatory filing. Polaris Venture Partners, which founded Living Proof with MIT inventor Bob Langer and others, provided … Continue reading “Living Proof Lathers $9M in Fresh Capital into Beauty Products Operation”
SolarCasters, a One-Man Startup, Seeks Funding for Solar Power Forecasts
Steve Ihnen knows to the minute when the clouds will arrive. From the Redmond, WA, office of his company, SolarCasters, he keeps an eye on weather conditions around the world with satellite data. Then, using complex mathematical modeling software, he collates cloud-cover, humidity, and other factors to calculate how much sunlight will reach the ground … Continue reading “SolarCasters, a One-Man Startup, Seeks Funding for Solar Power Forecasts”
Accumetrics Gunning To Be the Medical Diagnostics Standard for Managing Cardiovascular Disease
Doctors often prescribe a drug like clopidogrel (Plavix) or aspirin to help prevent their patients from suffering a heart attack, stroke, or even waxy plaque buildup along the inside of blood vessels. But how do they know if the dosage is correct, and that the drug prescribed is actually working as intended to prevent blood … Continue reading “Accumetrics Gunning To Be the Medical Diagnostics Standard for Managing Cardiovascular Disease”
Sanofi CEO Bets Outside U.S., Gears Up for Flu Pandemic, and Seeks To Learn From Biotech
Not long ago, drug companies would break out quarterly income streams from the U.S., Europe, Japan, and something called ROW, as in rest-of-world. Investors usually didn’t care about the last numbers, because they were little more than a rounding error. That’s not the case anymore, as these countries are often called “emerging markets.” They’ve grown … Continue reading “Sanofi CEO Bets Outside U.S., Gears Up for Flu Pandemic, and Seeks To Learn From Biotech”
The Transformative Twelve: Presenting the XSITE Xpo Showcase
June 2009 is a month of firsts for Xconomy. It’s the first anniversary of our Seattle site. It’s the first time we’ve organized a full-day innovation conference, the Xconomy Summit on Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, coming up on June 24. And, as part of XSITE, it’s the first time we’ve assembled local startups for a … Continue reading “The Transformative Twelve: Presenting the XSITE Xpo Showcase”
Employee Ownership and Lessons Learned from the Collapse
In the aftermath of last year’s market collapse, learn what works and doesn’t work for entrepreneurs who are willing to re-envision the company as a shared resource of capitalism. San Diego is home to more than 100 companies that have significant employee ownership and broad-based stock options and profit sharing. Explore the benefits of employee … Continue reading “Employee Ownership and Lessons Learned from the Collapse”
Inside the Startup Circle: Barbara Bry and Melanie Bivens
StartupCircle hosts San Diego serial entrepreneur Barbara Bry as the main attraction in a double feature with Soul Shine co-founder and president Melanie Bivens. StartupCircle is a new San Diego organization created to support entrepreneurs at their proof-of-concept stage. StartupCircle helps by providing access to business mentors, networks, and resources. Register online here.
Boston’s Digital Entertainment Economy Begins to Sense Its Own Strength
Let’s say you live in Boston and you’ve just hit on a great concept for a cross-media property, with all the attendant merchandising tie-ins: a special-effects-laden movie, a console video game, a comic, a kids’ cartoon, action figures, a novelization, a persistent online world—in other words, the next Matrix or Transformers or Harry Potter. To … Continue reading “Boston’s Digital Entertainment Economy Begins to Sense Its Own Strength”
Living Proof Inc. Receives $9,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=80e9e087-3482-4b0c-887e-03eba217cfaa&Preview=1 Date 6/19/2009 Company Name Living Proof Inc. Mailing Address 63 Rogers Street Cambridge, ME 02142 Company Description The company is a biomaterials company. Website http://livingproof.com/ Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $9,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Fresh Capital Venture Investor Polaris … Continue reading “Living Proof Inc. Receives $9,000,000 New Funding”
I-Therapeutix, Inc. Receives $15,000,000 Series C Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=5d8db442-a827-429f-b08c-644eff76e46a&Preview=1 Date 6/19/2009 Company Name I-Therapeutix, Inc. Mailing Address 204 Second Avenue Waltham, MA 02451 Company Description I-Therapeutix™, Inc. is a privately held medical device company that is currently engaged in development of in situ formed hydrogel therapeutic products specifically for ophthalmology. I-Therapeutix, Inc.’s first product, I-Zip™ is expected to be the … Continue reading “I-Therapeutix, Inc. Receives $15,000,000 Series C Funding Round”
Axis Semiconductor, Inc. Obtains $1,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=79e2ef5d-bbfa-49f9-9919-b17a288cfa08&Preview=1 Date 6/19/2009 Company Name Axis Semiconductor, Inc. Mailing Address 225 Cedar Hill St Marlborough, MA 01752 Company Description Axis Semiconductor, Inc. is developing an innovative solution for signal and data processing. Website http://www.axissemi.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A … Continue reading “Axis Semiconductor, Inc. Obtains $1,000,000 New Funding”
LiquidPlanner, Inc. Garners $1,000,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=88b16f0f-5ef2-49eb-9bd3-a5c9b7a60be2&Preview=1 Date 6/19/2009 Company Name LiquidPlanner, Inc. Mailing Address 13162 SE 32nd Street Bellevue, WA 98005 Company Description LiquidPlanner is online project management software built on an innovative probabilistic scheduling system (patents pending). It takes a new approach to frictionless collaboration and is designed to be flexible, intuitive, and smart enough to … Continue reading “LiquidPlanner, Inc. Garners $1,000,000 New Funding”
23andMe Garners $2,600,000 Series B Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=811a60fc-457f-43a6-af01-eacf588221bd&Preview=1 Date 6/19/2009 Company Name 23andMe Mailing Address 1390 Shorebird Way Mountain View, CA 94043 Company Description 23andMe is focused on empowering individuals to access, explore, and better understand their genetic information, making use of recent advances in DNA analysis technologies and proprietary web-based software tools. Website http://www.23andme.com Transaction Type Venture Equity … Continue reading “23andMe Garners $2,600,000 Series B Funding”
Amazon.com Acquires SnapTell for Undisclosed Sum
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e44fe915-2990-48e4-be44-ff56cfdfa1cb&Preview=1 Date 6/19/2009 Company Name SnapTell Mailing Address 2741 Middlefield Road Palo Alto, CA 94306 Company Description SnapTell is developing innovative, patent-pending computer vision technologies that are applied to search, mobile shopping, and advertising. We make accessing information via your cell phone as easy as snapping a picture. Website http://www.snaptell.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “Amazon.com Acquires SnapTell for Undisclosed Sum”
Exact Sciences Moving to Wisconsin
Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:[[ticker:EXAS]]), a Marlborough, MA-based provider and developer of DNA tests for colorectal cancer, has garnered a $1 million loan from the state of Wisconsin and plans to relocate its headquarters from Massachusetts to Wisconsin, according to reports. News of the relocation comes three months after Exact announced that it had named a new … Continue reading “Exact Sciences Moving to Wisconsin”
Stealthy 5to1 Receives $4.5M
Seattle-based stealth startup 5to1.com received all of a $4.5 million offering, according to a regulatory filing yesterday. The investors were not disclosed, but included on the form as directors were Jim Heckman, the former CEO of Rivals.com, and Michael Barrett, former chief revenue officer of Fox Interactive. According to a story published in TechFlash, 5to1 … Continue reading “Stealthy 5to1 Receives $4.5M”
TB Isn’t Going Away, and Pharma Isn’t Ignoring It
Many people thought tuberculosis had gone away. Unfortunately, it has not. Indeed, it is coming back strongly, and in a multidrug resistant form. This has occurred at a time of a vacuum in drug discovery and development for tuberculosis. Fortunately, government institutions like the National Institutes of Health, non-governmental agencies like the Seattle Biomedical Research … Continue reading “TB Isn’t Going Away, and Pharma Isn’t Ignoring It”
Global Health Funding Booms, But Not Just From Gates, UW-Harvard Study Finds
[Updated: 7:05 pm Eastern] Wealthy donors like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have helped spark a movement that has almost quadrupled financial support for global health in the past two decades, yet much of the world’s financial support is being spread unevenly, and isn’t always getting to the poorest people in the neediest countries, … Continue reading “Global Health Funding Booms, But Not Just From Gates, UW-Harvard Study Finds”
Todd Dean of Keiretsu Forum on Northwest Angel Investing Strategy
The Keiretsu Forum is the world’s largest angel community, with 750-plus accredited members across 18 chapters from Barcelona to Bellevue. Since 2000, its members have invested more than $180 million in 200 companies spanning technology, healthcare, consumer products, real estate, and other sectors. So it’s high time I caught up with Todd Dean, the president … Continue reading “Todd Dean of Keiretsu Forum on Northwest Angel Investing Strategy”
Xconomy Survey Finds Cautious Economic XSITE-ment
Ladies and gentlemen, Xconomy readers have spoken, and the view is optimistic. We posed several questions about what the coming year will bring for the economy as people registered for our June 24 Xconomy Summit on Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (XSITE). The recovery, they think, will start soon: 24 percent of the first 130 respondents … Continue reading “Xconomy Survey Finds Cautious Economic XSITE-ment”
Qualcomm’s Don Jones and the Year of Inflection for Wireless Health
At the Wireless-Life Sciences Convergence Summit in San Diego a few weeks ago, healthcare industry veteran Rob McCray told me, “We may well look back and say 2009 was the year of inflection for wireless health.” By wireless health, he means healthcare information and services delivered via wireless networks and devices. The emerging industry certainly got off to … Continue reading “Qualcomm’s Don Jones and the Year of Inflection for Wireless Health”
ImmunoGen Grabs $33M in Stock Sale
ImmunoGen, the Waltham, MA-based developer of technology to make antibody drugs more potent, said today it has raised $33 million through a stock offering, after expenses. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IMGN]]) sold 5 million shares at $7 apiece. Demand for ImmunoGen shares has climbed this year, after researchers presented promising clinical trial results of trastuzumab DM1, … Continue reading “ImmunoGen Grabs $33M in Stock Sale”
Seattle Genetics Starts New Trial
Seattle Genetics, the Bothell, WA-based developer of targeted antibody drugs, said today it has started a mid-stage clinical trial of SGN-35 as a treatment for relapsed forms of anaplastic large cell lymphoma. The trial will enroll 55 patients, who will the same dose every three weeks as the one being used in an ongoing pivotal … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics Starts New Trial”
STEM Business Leaders Breakfast
This breakfast forum, sponsored by a coalition of Massachusetts business and technology groups, will feature a discussion on the importance of making Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) education a top priority for Massachusetts. The coalition will also release a new report that makes public policy recommendations to improve the Bay State’s global standing in science … Continue reading “STEM Business Leaders Breakfast”
HIV’s “Tireless Warrior,” Anthony Fauci, Calls for Transformation of TB Research
Anthony Fauci is known around the world as a leading scientist and advocate, starting in the early 1980s, for research to fight HIV. The Voice of America once called him a “tireless warrior” for the cause. Now, Fauci says, biologists need to channel their creative energy to fight another deadly bug that has been around … Continue reading “HIV’s “Tireless Warrior,” Anthony Fauci, Calls for Transformation of TB Research”
UW Stem Cell Startup is Born, Global Health’s “Davos” Arrives, MDRNA Unloads Debt, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News
Center stage in Seattle life sciences moved to the waterfront this week, as 250 global movers and shakers in science, global health, and the pharmaceutical business gathered for the Pacific Health Summit. —The Pacific Health Summit, an invitation-only event of global health stars, in its fifth year, focused this year on multidrug resistant tuberculosis, as … Continue reading “UW Stem Cell Startup is Born, Global Health’s “Davos” Arrives, MDRNA Unloads Debt, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”
A Hunky-Dory Week at Hunch—Questions and Answers with Caterina Fake, the Only “West Coasty” in a Roomful of MIT and Harvard Grads
It was a huge week for Hunch, the New York-based startup that’s experimenting with a new approach to answering life’s big and little questions—from “Which savings account should I use?” to “Which science fiction author would I like?” After more than two months in invitation-only preview mode, the site threw open its doors to the … Continue reading “A Hunky-Dory Week at Hunch—Questions and Answers with Caterina Fake, the Only “West Coasty” in a Roomful of MIT and Harvard Grads”
Trius Approaches Next Stage in Drug Development, China Partnerships a Hot Topic at CalAsia, Lpath Headed to Critical Juncture, & More San Diego Life Sciences News
We all look for milestones in life, but several San Diego biotechs are approaching important junctures where they’re expected to report positive results from their drug development studies. Read on to find out which ones, and to catch up on the rest of San Diego’s life sciences news. —San Diego’s Ardea Biosciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RDEA]]) reported … Continue reading “Trius Approaches Next Stage in Drug Development, China Partnerships a Hot Topic at CalAsia, Lpath Headed to Critical Juncture, & More San Diego Life Sciences News”