Pico Pharmaceuticals, In Its Early Days, Aims to Make More Potent Cancer Drugs, Anti-Bacterials

One out of three biotech companies in the U.S. are running down to their last six months of cash, but biotech entrepreneurs are continuing to start new companies. The latest one to cross my desk is San Diego-based Pico Pharmaceuticals, which emerged last week on the local biotech scene in style, with a scientific paper … Continue reading “Pico Pharmaceuticals, In Its Early Days, Aims to Make More Potent Cancer Drugs, Anti-Bacterials”

Weaving Words with Wordle: A Talk with IBM’s Jonathan Feinberg

Xconomy chose to set up shop in Kendall Square because we wanted to be at the epicenter of investment and innovation in the Boston area. But it was just luck that we ended up right across the street from IBM’s Cambridge research facility at 1 Rogers Street, which is home to both the Collaborative User … Continue reading “Weaving Words with Wordle: A Talk with IBM’s Jonathan Feinberg”

NKT Therapeutics, Inc. Obtains $8,000,000 Series A Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c0bc1a17-bf9a-4d08-b128-b8934889e783&Preview=1 Date 3/16/2009 Company Name NKT Therapeutics, Inc. Mailing Address 233 Needham Street Newton, MA 02464 Company Description NKT Therapeutics, Inc. (the Company) is a biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutics based on unique immune cells called natural killer T (NKT) cells. NKT cells are a rare but central component of the … Continue reading “NKT Therapeutics, Inc. Obtains $8,000,000 Series A Financing Round”

Skytap Lands $7,000,000 Series B Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=252e08aa-648f-48a9-8018-40d7fa45b31c&Preview=1 Date 3/16/2009 Company Name Skytap Mailing Address 614 1st Ave Seattle, WA 98104 Company Description Skytap is the leading provider of cloud-based virtualization solutions available as on-demand services over the Web. Virtualization is poised to become the defining technology of the 21st century and Skytap’s goal is to make serving up … Continue reading “Skytap Lands $7,000,000 Series B Financing”

Pubmatic Receives Series B Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=dc868621-755c-49b6-8ab1-2ef7024b5a5c&Preview=1 Date 3/16/2009 Company Name Pubmatic Mailing Address 444 High St 4th Floor Palo Alto, CA 94301 Company Description PubMatic is the world’s first service that increases Web publishers’ revenue by automating and optimizing ad serving decisions. Publishers use PubMatic to significantly increase their ad sales revenue by optimizing across leading ad … Continue reading “Pubmatic Receives Series B Funding”

Cloudera Secures $5,000,000 Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d325c6c9-639f-4ab1-b4de-355516797bc8&Preview=1 Date 3/16/2009 Company Name Cloudera Mailing Address 1409 Chapin Avenue Third Floor Burlingame, CA 94010 Company Description Cloudera was founded to provide enterprise-level support to users of Apache Hadoop. Our founding team has deep expertise in commercial use of open source software and Hadoop. Website http://www.cloudera.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “Cloudera Secures $5,000,000 Series A Financing”

SFJ Pharmaceuticals Garners $45,000,000 Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f8f157fa-5461-4b9c-83b7-c7d9a48eb2d7&Preview=1 Date 3/16/2009 Company Name SFJ Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 3618 Pontina Ct. Pleasanton, CA 94566 Company Description SFJ Pharmaceuticals Inc is a platform for bringing U.S. and European drugs to Japan. Website http://www.sfj-pharma.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $45,000,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A … Continue reading “SFJ Pharmaceuticals Garners $45,000,000 Series A Financing”

Full Disclosure: Financial Relationships Between Life Sciences Companies and Medical Doctors

Biocom has invited Bill Huron, the chief compliance officer at Sorin, and Carol Clove, UCLA’s chief compliance officer, to discuss increasing public scrutiny of payments by life sciences companies to doctors. The experts will discuss the rules governing financial relationships, revisions to the AdvaMed Code, recent government enforcement actions and pending legislation. Partner Mike Scarano … Continue reading “Full Disclosure: Financial Relationships Between Life Sciences Companies and Medical Doctors”

Biotechnology for Non-Science Business Professionals

San Diego Biocom has organized this all-day seminar to provide a concise overview of the key concepts of modern biology and an introduction to the technology and terminology used in the biotech and medical device industries. Classes are specifically geared toward the non-science professional who needs to better understand industry terminology, techniques and issues. Register … Continue reading “Biotechnology for Non-Science Business Professionals”

The CIO in a Downturn Economy

Gartner managing vice president Barbara Gomoloski and local CIOs, or Chief Information Officers, discuss their insights and strategies for success amid the economic crisis. Find out what San Diego IT executive are doing to get ahead. Registration begins at 7 a.m., or register online here.

What Went Wrong With the Math? The Financial Crisis and Analytic Models

University of San Diego Law School Professor Frank Partnoy discusses the erroneous assumptions underlying financial models used by Wall Street’s power houses before the fall. Portnoy also plans to discuss historical parallels to the market meltdown of 2008 and new opportunities for software analytics in the financial industry. Registration begins at 5:30 pm, or register … Continue reading “What Went Wrong With the Math? The Financial Crisis and Analytic Models”

California Clean Innovation Conference

This all-day conference on clean technology provides an opportunity to network with industry leaders. The focus will be on energy, transportation and water technologies. Panels will cover energy storage, thermal waste conversion technologies, and alternative vehicle technologies. Registration opens at 8 am, or register online here.

Frontiers in Science and Technology

Frank Gordon of SPAWAR, the Navy’s San Diego-based Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, will discuss the latest innovations in the field. Gordon heads the navigation and applied sciences department at SPAWAR Systems Center on Point Loma.

Solar Power Finance and Investment Summit

This all-day seminar on solar power company financing brings together solar companies, venture capitalists, private equity, investment bankers, lenders and other financial players. Topics include the financial crisis and its impact on solar power, the impact on new policies and incentives, as well as perspectives from venture capital and private equity. Register here

Leveraging High-Tech Assets For Your Company’s Growth

Who owns the products and technology resulting from high-tech strategic alliances and joint ventures? To answer that question, San Diego Connect and the Foley and Lardner law firm have organized this panel on ways to protect intellectual assets like software, hardware and know-how. Online registration is here.

How to Succeed at a Web Startup Without Quitting Your Day Job

In their spare time, two friends designed and launched Manvite.com, a free alternative to Evite geared to men. The talk will describe their journey, including how they built the application, created the business structure, and used free and low-cost tools to make their vision a reality on a shoestring budget. Register online through the San … Continue reading “How to Succeed at a Web Startup Without Quitting Your Day Job”

Good Data Raises Round, Leaves Cambridge

Good Data, a startup developing user-friendly, Web-based tools for analyzing business intelligence data, has raised an undisclosed amount of venture financing from Cambridge, MA-based Generaly Catalyst and Boston-area technology investor John Landry (an Xconomist), according to a March 12 report by Scott Kirsner. The company formerly had an office at the Cambridge Innovation Center, but … Continue reading “Good Data Raises Round, Leaves Cambridge”

Good Data Corporation Garners New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a419b099-1619-4290-9500-6de735933d1b&Preview=1 Date 3/15/2009 Company Name Good Data Corporation Mailing Address One Broadway, 14th Floor Cambridge, MA 02142 Company Description Good Data Corporation was founded with the mission to provide a platform for collaborative analytics. We believe that sharing and teamwork allows our users to move past isolated reports and arrive at the … Continue reading “Good Data Corporation Garners New Financing Round”

Fisker Automotive, Inc. Secures $3,500,000 Series C Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e6197f84-f70e-4b7a-bad4-5ad2739730c8&Preview=1 Date 3/15/2009 Company Name Fisker Automotive, Inc. Mailing Address 2811 McGaw Ave Irvine, CA 92614 Company Description The concept was created between two independent companies who clearly wanted to make a difference in not only the automotive industry, but to the environment as well. Fisker Coachbuild, LLC and Quantum Technologies announced … Continue reading “Fisker Automotive, Inc. Secures $3,500,000 Series C Financing”

Jajah Receives $2,750,000 Series D Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c932851c-cf1b-49c5-a6e7-286b445c4055&Preview=1 Date 3/15/2009 Company Name Jajah Mailing Address 2513 Charleston Road Mountain View, CA 94043 Company Description JAJAH is a new type of phone company. We are dedicated to providing our customers with better phone service at a better price. It’s that simple. Website http://www.jajah.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $2,750,000 … Continue reading “Jajah Receives $2,750,000 Series D Funding”

Real Time Genomics Lands $3,000,000 Series A Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=eb408c3b-07e7-42b9-9333-304eebf2410e&Preview=1 Date 3/15/2009 Company Name Real Time Genomics Mailing Address 576 Folsom Street 2nd Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 Company Description Real Time Genomics Inc.’s software is SLIM SearchTM. This software, developed by NetValue Ltd, is seeing significant market interest – based on its ability to rapidly assemble and query genomic datasets. … Continue reading “Real Time Genomics Lands $3,000,000 Series A Funding Round”

Good Data Secures New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a419b099-1619-4290-9500-6de735933d1b&Preview=1 Date 3/15/2009 Company Name Good Data Mailing Address 989 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Company Description Good Data Corporation was founded with the mission to provide a platform for collaborative analytics. We believe that sharing and teamwork allows our users to move past isolated reports and arrive at the true … Continue reading “Good Data Secures New Funding Round”

Columb Technologies Secures $3,750,000 Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ada1b1e2-0fef-47dd-b2e5-84d3053ece83&Preview=1 Date 3/15/2009 Company Name Columb Technologies Mailing Address Undisclosed Campbell, CA 94000 Company Description Coulomb Technologies, Inc offers a family of products and services that provide a plug-in vehicle charging infrastructure, which includes Smartlet Networked Charging Stations ranging in capability from 120V 15A to 240V 80A AC charging to 120kW DC … Continue reading “Columb Technologies Secures $3,750,000 Series A Financing”

Amazon Cloud Takes Reservations

Amazon’s chief technology officer Werner Vogels said yesterday that Amazon Web Services is now letting customers reserve cloud-computing capacity on its Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) service. Companies can reserve computing power for a fee, and receive a discount on the hourly rate (they still pay for just what they use). The move is viewed as … Continue reading “Amazon Cloud Takes Reservations”

Sangart Raises $50 Million For Blood Substitute

San Diego-based Sangart, a biopharmaceutical company developing artificial blood products based on human hemoglobin, says it has raised $50 million in funding that completes its Series F round. Sangart says the $50 million was raised when its investors exercised warrants the company had issued in 2007 as part of its Series F round, and bring … Continue reading “Sangart Raises $50 Million For Blood Substitute”

Google’s Brian Bershad on the Search Giant’s “Second Act,” and Building More Trust

Google owns the world’s most popular Internet search engine, but to hear the leader of the company’s Seattle site talk, building that was “the easy part.” All the information on the Internet was free and available for indexing with its clever algorithms, but that’s just a tiny fraction of the world’s information, when you start … Continue reading “Google’s Brian Bershad on the Search Giant’s “Second Act,” and Building More Trust”

Hologic Gets FDA Nod for HPV Tests

Hologic (NASDAQ:[[ticker:HOLX]]), a Bedford, MA-based provider of women’s healthcare products, says that the FDA has approved two of its “Cervista” tests for detecting human papillomavirus (HPV), a major cause of cervical cancer. One of the tests is intended to identify 14 “high-risk” strains of HPV, according to the firm, and the other test is designed … Continue reading “Hologic Gets FDA Nod for HPV Tests”

Brigham Docs Share Medical Scans Remotely Using IBM Web Browser Technology

For hundreds of years, students and spectators could gather in operating theaters like the Ether Dome at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital to watch doctors perform surgery. Now IBM and researchers at another famous Boston hospital, Brigham and Women’s, have developed a tool that lets many physicians gather virutally to get a good look at a … Continue reading “Brigham Docs Share Medical Scans Remotely Using IBM Web Browser Technology”

The First Lady of Wireless Built Mobile Startup to Send Message of Simplicity

When Arlene Harris co-founded GreatCall Inc. in Del Mar, CA, she had a clear idea about the type of mobile phone service she wanted to provide. “The mobile phone is made to serve us, not to enslave us,” she told me recently. “I don’t want my phone to tell me what to do! We are … Continue reading “The First Lady of Wireless Built Mobile Startup to Send Message of Simplicity”

Top 9 Tech Updates: Photosynth, Geocaching, Google Earth, and More

I’ve been writing World Wide Wade for almost a year now; this is the 44th installment. A year is a long time in the technology world—long enough for many of the gadgets, services, and websites I’ve covered in the past to evolve cool new features. So I thought I’d revisit a few of my previous … Continue reading “Top 9 Tech Updates: Photosynth, Geocaching, Google Earth, and More”

Born a Creationist, Merck’s Schadt Leads Open Source Effort to Unravel Genome

One of the world’s brightest minds at analyzing human DNA was born into a family of creationists. When he was 17 and graduating from high school in a rural area of southwestern Michigan, Eric Schadt couldn’t even imagine going to college. “My parents were very religious,” Schadt told me on a visit to his office … Continue reading “Born a Creationist, Merck’s Schadt Leads Open Source Effort to Unravel Genome”

$20M for Surface Logix, $5M for Veracode, $14M for Stemgent, and More Boston-Area Deals News

It’s all about smallish venture deals and acquisitions of indeterminate size this week. Maybe next week New England’s tech and life sciences companies will only announce partnerships? —Vitalize Consulting Services, a Reading, MA-based manager of IT implementation projects for big healthcare companies, acquired Santa Ana, CA-based r3 Health Partners for an undisclosed sum. —Surface Logix … Continue reading “$20M for Surface Logix, $5M for Veracode, $14M for Stemgent, and More Boston-Area Deals News”

Seattle Layoff Update: Imperium, Daptiv, General Dynamics, Cell Therapeutics, Trubion Cut Staff

At least five area companies that we watch at Xconomy have had significant layoffs in the past two weeks. They span the fields of energy, biotech, hardware, and software. The sad part is that none of these cases is particularly surprising. You can check our updated list of tech and life sciences layoffs in the … Continue reading “Seattle Layoff Update: Imperium, Daptiv, General Dynamics, Cell Therapeutics, Trubion Cut Staff”

Fate Therapeutics Adds Scientific Muscle, Advancing Stem Cell Technology into First Clinical Trial

Fate Therapeutics has wowed people with its big plans to make drugs that activate adult stem cells in the body to treat diseases and regenerate tissues. And now the biotech startup has brought on new scientific talent to help put its first treatment to the test in clinical trials. Fate said yesterday it has recruited … Continue reading “Fate Therapeutics Adds Scientific Muscle, Advancing Stem Cell Technology into First Clinical Trial”

Cornerstone OnDemand Secures $12,000,000 Series B Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=eef2aa79-86b8-4cee-a358-d29b1120eb32&Preview=1 Date 3/13/2009 Company Name Cornerstone OnDemand Mailing Address 1601 Cloverfield Blvd Santa Monica, CA 90404 Company Description Cornerstone has worked in conjunction with HR, talent and learning executives to build the leading talent management platform for learning and development, performance management, succession planning, compliance and compensation management, in addition to over … Continue reading “Cornerstone OnDemand Secures $12,000,000 Series B Round”

Sangart Lands $50,000,000 Series F Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=63200277-bca4-4ae8-839f-dc68011941df&Preview=1 Date 3/13/2009 Company Name Sangart Mailing Address 6175 Lusk Blvd San Diego, CA 92121 Company Description Sangart, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of oxygen transport agents. Website http://www.sangart.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $50,000,000 Transaction Round Series F Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were … Continue reading “Sangart Lands $50,000,000 Series F Financing”

SpaceClaim Corporation Receives $7,000,000 Series C Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f54ab1f1-0def-4523-b339-480e899f6838&Preview=1 Date 3/13/2009 Company Name SpaceClaim Corporation Mailing Address 150 Baker Ave. Ext Concord, MA 01742 Company Description SpaceClaim Corporation provides breakthrough mechanical design technology that enhances engineers’ productivity by empowering them to contribute to, consume, and share mechanical designs in 3D digital format. SpaceClaim’s innovative and intuitive 3D tools extend the … Continue reading “SpaceClaim Corporation Receives $7,000,000 Series C Funding Round”

Stem Cell Board Elects Roth Vice-Chair

Duane Roth, CEO of San Diego’s Connect (and an Xconomist), was elected today as vice-chair of the governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state’s stem cell agency. He was nominated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who cited Roth’s 30-year experience in San Diego’s biotech industry and at Connect, which promotes innovative technologies by … Continue reading “Stem Cell Board Elects Roth Vice-Chair”

First Look Forum

The Northwest Entrepreneur Network (NWEN) is hosting an investment forum and reception targeted at early stage entrepreneurs who haven’t previously presented and are in the pre-funding stage of their trajectory. Twelve companies will be selected to give their three-minute pitches. The audience will then vote to determine the top five companies. These five companies will … Continue reading “First Look Forum”

Dendreon Ends Year With $109M

Dendreon, the Seattle biotech company developing an immune-boosting treatment for cancer, said today it finished ended 2008 with $108.5 million in cash and investments. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) didn’t provide a financial forecast for how much of that it plans to spend in 2009. Dendreon is awaiting final results next month from a trial of … Continue reading “Dendreon Ends Year With $109M”

The Smart Grid: Powerful ideas for keeping us cool, connected, and competitive

Washington State University and the Washington Clean Technology Alliance are hosting a lunch event and panel discussion on the smart grid. We expect electricity at the flip of a switch. But the electric power grid—marvel of the early 1900s—limped into the twenty-first century overworked, underdeveloped, and headed for a meltdown. What is a “smart grid,” … Continue reading “The Smart Grid: Powerful ideas for keeping us cool, connected, and competitive”

Cadence Drug Fails to Prevent Hospital Infections; Company Scraps Program

Cadence Pharmaceuticals has taken a couple steps forward in the past few months, and now it took one step back. The San Diego-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CADX]]) said today the second drug candidate in its pipeline failed in a final-stage clinical trial to help prevent infections from developing in hospitalized patients. Cadence said it is … Continue reading “Cadence Drug Fails to Prevent Hospital Infections; Company Scraps Program”

Biogen Idec R&D Boss Retires

Biogen Idec said today that its president of R&D, Cecil Pickett, is retiring. Pickett, 62, will stay in the job until a replacement is filled, and he will keep his seat on the board of directors after retirement, the company said in a regulatory filing. Pickett joined the Cambridge, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) in … Continue reading “Biogen Idec R&D Boss Retires”

OVP Taps Elder Weissman as Adviser

OVP Venture Partners, the Kirkland, WA-based venture investor in IT, cleantech, and digital biology, said today it has recruited Irv Weissman to join its technical advisory group. Weissman, a professor at Stanford University, co-discovered stem cells that form blood in humans, and is a co-founder of three stem cell companies—SyStemix, StemCells, and Cellerant. He is … Continue reading “OVP Taps Elder Weissman as Adviser”

Seattle-Area Company Closures: Sotto, TeachFirst, and Ultreo Shut Down

It’s rough out there, as everyone knows. Yesterday, Dow Jones VentureWire ran a story about venture-backed companies that have shut down this year. Their list includes three Seattle-area firms. Before we see too many more of these reports, Xconomy would like to start gathering lessons learned from startups, investors, and observers. Many people still seem … Continue reading “Seattle-Area Company Closures: Sotto, TeachFirst, and Ultreo Shut Down”