FDA Panel Gives Nod to Genzyme Osteoarthritis Treatment

An FDA advisory panel has voted 5-0 in favor of recommending approval of Cambridge, MA-based Genzyme’s (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) osteoarthritis treatment hylan GF 20 (Synvisc-One) in single injections, the company announced Tuesday. Christopher Raymond, an analyst for Robert W. Baird, reiterated his “outperform” rating on Genzyme’s stock with the following note: “Although FDA does not necessarily have … Continue reading “FDA Panel Gives Nod to Genzyme Osteoarthritis Treatment”

Zillow Still Tops Seattle Startup Rankings

Seattle 2.0’s monthly rankings of local tech-startup websites is out for November. Based on traffic estimates compiled by Marcelo Calbucci, Zillow remained #1, though its lead over Pet Holdings (#2) is nominal. Picnik, BigOven, and WidgetBucks continued to climb upward within the top 10, and Athleon, Visible.net, CultureMob, GoGoMo, and Jackson Fish Market also made … Continue reading “Zillow Still Tops Seattle Startup Rankings”

Arena Insomnia Pill Fails in Clinical Trial, Halts Development of Drug

Arena Pharmaceuticals is scrapping development of its experimental insomnia medicine, after it failed to reach its primary and secondary goals in a clinical trial of more than 700 patients. The San Diego-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARNA]]) didn’t have much more to say than that, other than it’s in a hurry to turn the page and … Continue reading “Arena Insomnia Pill Fails in Clinical Trial, Halts Development of Drug”

Enterprise Partners Re-Ups Funding for Fitness Equipment Venture

San Diego-based Enterprise Partners Venture Capital was among three venture firms that participated in $14 million raised in a secondary round by Expresso Fitness of Sunnyvale, CA. Expresso makes cardio fitness equipment, such as stationary bikes with interactive display screens with online access that allow you to compare your times and training with those of others.  The … Continue reading “Enterprise Partners Re-Ups Funding for Fitness Equipment Venture”

Novocell Teams with Japanese Stem Cell Star

San Diego-based Novocell, a developer of embryonic stem cell therapies for diabetes, said today it has formed a partnership with one of the world leaders in stem cell biology, Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University. Yamanaka dominated headlines a year ago when his team, along with James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin, showed they could … Continue reading “Novocell Teams with Japanese Stem Cell Star”

Seattle-based Kineta, New Biotech Startup, Unveils Plan to Trigger Innate Immunity

Two veterans of Illumigen Biosciences, the Seattle-based company that was acquired a year ago by Lexington, MA-based Cubist Pharmaceuticals, have resurfaced in a new biotech venture in Seattle called Kineta. Shawn Iadonato and Charles Magness co-founded the company to develop new classes of therapies to enhance the innate immune system to fight viral infections and … Continue reading “Seattle-based Kineta, New Biotech Startup, Unveils Plan to Trigger Innate Immunity”

Ontier Lands Investment, Board Members

Portland, OR-based Ontier, a stealthy software startup, announced it has landed new board members and investors Les Fahey, of Fahey Ventures, and Paul Gulick, co-founder of InFocus. The amount of investment was not disclosed. Ontier was founded in early 2008 and is developing software for business communication that tries to fill the gap between e-mail … Continue reading “Ontier Lands Investment, Board Members”

New Biotechs and Other Tidbits from Mass Biotech Council Pitch Event

Last week I wrote that the current financial crisis would likely flavor the goings on here at today’s Massachusetts Biotechnology Council’s (MBC) 10th annual investors forum, and my conversations from biotech executives and the early comments of industry officials on event panels confirmed this repeatedly. Bob Coughlin, president of the MBC, stressed that “creativity” was … Continue reading “New Biotechs and Other Tidbits from Mass Biotech Council Pitch Event”

Dot Hill Systems Enacting Cutbacks to Save Cash

Dot Hill Systems (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HILL]]) said today it plans to shut down about 40 percent of its Carlsbad facility as part of a restructuring plan intended to save as much as $1.75 million. The company, which makes network-based data storage systems, did not disclose how many employees would be affected, but estimated its severance costs … Continue reading “Dot Hill Systems Enacting Cutbacks to Save Cash”

Venrock Leads $10M Aria B Round

Cambridge, MA-based venture firm Venrock is the lead investor in a $10 million Series B funding round just completed by Aria Systems, a Media, PA-based provider of Web-based billing services, the startup announced yesterday. Existing investors Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and Dave Labuda joined the round, and Venrock managing general partner Ray Rothrock will join … Continue reading “Venrock Leads $10M Aria B Round”

Calistoga Drug Shrinks Tumors in Lab Studies

Seattle-based Calistoga Pharmaceuticals said that its lead experimental drug, CAL-101, killed cancer cells in lab studies of multiple blood malignancies. The drug is designed to block a marker inside cells called the PI3 kinase pathway, that is thought to play a key role in tumor cell growth, survival, and migration. The findings were delivered in … Continue reading “Calistoga Drug Shrinks Tumors in Lab Studies”

Microsoft’s BizSpark Program, In First 30 Days, Reaches Thousands of Startups, Developers

It’s been a whirlwind month for Cliff Reeves. The Microsoft general manager just got back from Eastern Europe and China, where he was promoting the debut of BizSpark, Microsoft’s new outreach program for startups. The program offers free software, development tools, and technical support to early-stage startups worldwide, with the goal of helping local software … Continue reading “Microsoft’s BizSpark Program, In First 30 Days, Reaches Thousands of Startups, Developers”

FDA Declines Approval of Targanta Antibiotic

Targanta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:[[ticker:TARG]]), a Cambridge, MA-based developer of antibiotics, says that the FDA has declined to approve the company’s application for approval of antibiotic oritavancin as a treatment for complicated skin and skin structure infections, telling the biotech firm that it needs to conduct additional clinical studies to demonstrate safety and effectiveness of the drug. … Continue reading “FDA Declines Approval of Targanta Antibiotic”

A Noble Mission to Turn Parking Lots into “Solar Groves”

Architect Bob Noble was the CEO of San Diego’s Tucker Sadler firm when Kyocera America asked if he would consider designing a “solar carport” for its San Diego headquarters, using photovoltaic solar panels made by Kyocera. The request might have been a non-starter at any other venerable, 50-year-old firm. Solar carports, after all, have been … Continue reading “A Noble Mission to Turn Parking Lots into “Solar Groves””

Blood News: A Quick Rundown of Headlines From the American Society of Hematology

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) is one of those scientific meetings that usually flies below the radar of the wire services and big newspapers. Still, this year’s event in San Francisco has drawn more than 21,000 physicians, scientists, and intensely interested folks from biotech companies and Wall Street. They are all scouting new treatments … Continue reading “Blood News: A Quick Rundown of Headlines From the American Society of Hematology”

The Quest for a Malaria Vaccine: SBRI’s Stefan Kappe Stares Down a Leading Candidate

If everything breaks right for Stefan Kappe‘s research, he’ll be able to tell the grandkids he played a leading role in wiping out malaria. It will probably take 10 years, if not longer. But this guy is clearly undaunted. On a Friday afternoon at his office at the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (SBRI), the German … Continue reading “The Quest for a Malaria Vaccine: SBRI’s Stefan Kappe Stares Down a Leading Candidate”

Microsoft and EMC Get Secure, PATH Puts $3M Into Bird Flu, Amazon Closes Book on Abe, & More Seattle-Area Deals News

It was a very slow week for deals in the Northwest, with layoffs and other bad news dominating the headlines. But there were still a few deals in biotech, software, and e-commerce. —The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle raised more than $2.2 million in donations for its research programs at its annual holiday … Continue reading “Microsoft and EMC Get Secure, PATH Puts $3M Into Bird Flu, Amazon Closes Book on Abe, & More Seattle-Area Deals News”

City Trash Cans Go Solar—and Wireless—to Save Big Bucks on Garbage Trucks

The only solar-powered trash compactor that most people could name is Wall-E, the fictional lovestruck robot from this summer’s Pixar movie. But in Boston, San Diego, Seattle, and more than a dozen other major cities, you can meet the real thing: the BigBelly Cordless Compaction System, a 200-gallon robotic trash container manufactured by Needham, MA-based … Continue reading “City Trash Cans Go Solar—and Wireless—to Save Big Bucks on Garbage Trucks”

Lucid Imagination Inc Garners $6,000,000 Series A Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=513e861b-22e6-4027-8590-a346c5c50a46&Preview=1 Date 12/9/2008 Company Name Lucid Imagination Inc Mailing Address 32 Duncklee Inc Newton Highlands, MA 02461 Company Description Lucid ImaginationTM delivers support and services for the open source Apache Lucene search library and Apache Solr search server. We provide support contracts, training, consulting and value-add software. Website http://www.lucidimagination.com Transaction Type Venture … Continue reading “Lucid Imagination Inc Garners $6,000,000 Series A Funding Round”

Ontier Obtains New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=852ac08b-fab0-46a4-9545-907864d053d7&Preview=1 Date 12/9/2008 Company Name Ontier Mailing Address 818 SW 3rd Ave Portland, OR 97204 Company Description Ontier, Inc. was founded in early 2008 in Portland, Oregon by industry veteran Sebastian Rapport. The company is comprised of a global team of experienced managers and product developers brought together to enable a leap … Continue reading “Ontier Obtains New Round”

RiseSmart Receives $3,000,000 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=938b6a41-0243-43a3-8786-2b275d71696d&Preview=1 Date 12/9/2008 Company Name RiseSmart Mailing Address 2055 Gateway Place San Jose, CA 95110 Company Description Based in Dallas, RiseSmart is a human-powered job search service that prescreens online search results for time-starved managers and executives. The RiseSmart team matches opportunities with jobseekers based on each member’s unique profile, freeing senior-level … Continue reading “RiseSmart Receives $3,000,000 New Round”

Appcelerator Secures $4,100,000 Series A Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=03221208-1264-4912-9db6-6ecdb975d1e1&Preview=1 Date 12/9/2008 Company Name Appcelerator Mailing Address 444 Castro Street Mountain View, CA 94041 Company Description Appcelerator is an open source platform for building rich web applications. Appcelerator, Inc. is a silicon valley venture funded company located in Mountain View, California. Appcelerator was started in 2006 by software veterans Jeff Haynie … Continue reading “Appcelerator Secures $4,100,000 Series A Funding Round”

Roost Receives $8,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=fc583a44-9f98-4076-9cf6-9bb0bed1f3e5&Preview=1 Date 12/9/2008 Company Name Roost Mailing Address One Post Street San Francisco, CA 94104 Company Description Roost offers two services in parallel – a consumer search engine for places to live and a technology platform for REALTORS®. Website http://www.roost.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $8,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “Roost Receives $8,000,000 New Financing”

Kosmix Corporation Lands $20,000,000 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=00dfac55-03b2-405a-a3b5-b6efef27c06c&Preview=1 Date 12/9/2008 Company Name Kosmix Corporation Mailing Address 444 Castro Street Mountain View, CA 94041 Company Description At Kosmix, we’re passionate about building a world class search engine that lets people search less, and discover more great stuff. There are billions of pages on the web that are useful, but never … Continue reading “Kosmix Corporation Lands $20,000,000 New Financing Round”

Millennium’s Velcade, As Time Wears On, Shows Durable Ability to Prolong Lives

Millennium Pharmaceuticals may not be the breakout performer at this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting like it was a year ago, but another 12 months of follow-up data is strengthening the case that its cancer drug is no fluke. Cambridge, MA-based Millennium, now a unit of Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceuticals, presented follow-up data today … Continue reading “Millennium’s Velcade, As Time Wears On, Shows Durable Ability to Prolong Lives”

Rib-X Reveals “Positive” Antibiotic Data

Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, a New Haven, CT-based developer of antibiotics, announced that its antibiotic delafloxacin in both 300 mg and 450 mg doses was as effective as an FDA-approved antibiotic in treating patients with complicated skin and skin structure infections in a mid-stage clinical trial. In October I wrote a feature profile about Rib-X and its … Continue reading “Rib-X Reveals “Positive” Antibiotic Data”

ZymoGenetics Drug For Surgical Bleeding Demonstrates Safety in Trial

Seattle-based ZymoGenetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZGEN]]) said today that its sole marketed product was able to be safely given to patients with excess surgical bleeding, without provoking an immune system reaction. The study was of 205 patients who were at increased risk for having reactions against the standard product derived from cow blood, marketed by King Pharmaceuticals … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics Drug For Surgical Bleeding Demonstrates Safety in Trial”

Cypress Bioscience Drug Succeeds in Fibromyalgia Study

San Diego-based Cypress Bioscience and its partner, New York-based Forest Laboratories, said today they got positive results from a final-stage study of 1,025 patients with fibromyalgia. The patients took either milnacipran or a placebo, and a greater proportion of patients on the drug experienced at least a 30 percent reduction in pain from when they … Continue reading “Cypress Bioscience Drug Succeeds in Fibromyalgia Study”

ExtraHop Jumps Out of Stealth

Seattle-based ExtraHop Networks announced it has released its software product to help companies manage their network operations and applications support. The startup says its software helps info-tech organizations monitor their software applications environments by examining tens of thousands of network transactions at any given time. ExtraHop was founded in early 2007 by veterans of Seattle’s … Continue reading “ExtraHop Jumps Out of Stealth”

‘Hutch’ Raises $2.2M at Holiday Gala

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center raised more than $2.2 million in donations for its research programs at its annual Hutch Holiday Gala on Saturday night at the Seattle Sheraton. More than half of the money, $1.2 million, was directed toward immunotherapy research, in which scientists try to “teach” the immune system to fight cancer … Continue reading “‘Hutch’ Raises $2.2M at Holiday Gala”

Nasdaq Halts Trading in Artes Medical

The Nasdaq market halted trading in Artes Medical this morning, with the last price of the company’s stock at 3 cents a share. In a short statement, Nasdaq said trading will remain halted until Artes has fully satisfied the electronic market’s request for additional information. Nasdaq did not describe the information it’s requested. As Ryan … Continue reading “Nasdaq Halts Trading in Artes Medical”

McAfee Integrates Liquid Machines Security Technologies

Waltham, MA-based Liquid Machines, a document protection company we profiled in February, announced today that its software will be incorporated into various products from Santa Clara, CA-based McAfee, including McAfee Data Loss Prevention. The company says the software will enable users of McAfee software to locate sensitive documents on corporate networks and prevent them from … Continue reading “McAfee Integrates Liquid Machines Security Technologies”

Brightcove Launches Developer Network, Competes with thePlatform

Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Cambridge, MA-based Brightcove, told Xconomy back in October that the company had designed its new Brightcove 3 online video management platform to be extensible, using plug-ins from an envisioned “extended ecosystem” of third-party developers. Today the company formally launched such a network, the Brightcove Alliance, that gives outside developer partners access … Continue reading “Brightcove Launches Developer Network, Competes with thePlatform”

Gloucester Drug Shrinks Tumors in Lymphoma Study

Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held biotech company in Cambridge, MA, said today that its experimental drug romidepsin reached its goal in a Phase II clinical trial of patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Researchers at Stanford Cancer Center found 30 of 72 patients (42 percent) had their tumors completely or partially go away, according to research presented … Continue reading “Gloucester Drug Shrinks Tumors in Lymphoma Study”

RealNetworks Goes Mobile, Releases Games for iPhone

Seattle-based RealNetworks is introducing games for the iPhone and other mobile devices, according to a report in VentureBeat today. Six games are coming out on the iPhone this quarter, including Tiki Towers, a survival-adventure game released last week on some mobile phones. It will be out on the iPhone and iPod Touch on December 15, … Continue reading “RealNetworks Goes Mobile, Releases Games for iPhone”

Alnylam Buys More RNAi Patents From Nucleonics

Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) said today it has acquired a load of intellectual property that includes more than 100 active patent applications and 16 issued patents worldwide from Langhorne, PA-based Nucleonics. The intellectual property is meant to strengthen Alnylam’s grip on its right to develop drugs using RNA Interference technology, or gene silencing. … Continue reading “Alnylam Buys More RNAi Patents From Nucleonics”

Spire Shines with $54.9M Solar Contract

Bedford, MA-based Spire Corp (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SPIR]]), a leading supplier of equipment for manufacturing solar photovoltaic power modules, announced today that it has won a $54.9 million contract to supply solar cells for a photovoltaic factory at the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, NY. The contract was awarded by Federal Prison Industries.

Cautious Cohu Buys German Rival

Warren Buffet is buying, and so is Cohu (NASDAQ: [[ticker:COHU]]). The San Diego maker of test handling equipment used by semiconductor manufacturers says it is paying $80 million in cash to buy Rasco GmbH of Munich, Germany, from Dover Corp. The company’s statement quotes Cohu CEO James Donahue as saying, “The transaction significantly expands Cohu’s … Continue reading “Cautious Cohu Buys German Rival”

Zevalin Causes Long-Lasting Remissions, Researchers Say

Follow-up data from a trial of 409 patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma shows that treatment with Zevalin is long lasting, said the drug’s marketer, Seattle-based Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]). Researchers found that patients who had their tumors completely wiped out after taking Zevalin remained in remission for at least 67 months, compared with 31 months for … Continue reading “Zevalin Causes Long-Lasting Remissions, Researchers Say”

Ariad CEO Fires Back at Resigning Directors and Their “False and Misleading” Attacks

Ariad Pharmaceuticals Chairman and CEO Harvey Berger defended himself this morning in a conference call with investors, after a nasty boardroom dispute spilled out into plain view and four directors accused him of “grossly inappropriate” conduct. The controversy emerged late Friday when Ariad disclosed in a regulatory filing that four of its nine directors resigned … Continue reading “Ariad CEO Fires Back at Resigning Directors and Their “False and Misleading” Attacks”

Pure Bioscience Partners With Ciba; Overland Storage Gets Financing; ConfirmNet Buyout Closes; & More San Diego-Area Deals News

The rainy season is upon us here in San Diego, but the deal landscape remains a bit parched—especially when it comes to funding new companies. But a deal’s a deal, right? So here’s our rundown on deals and other news. —San Diego’s Pure Bioscience (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PURE]]) struck a global marketing agreement with Ciba, the Swiss … Continue reading “Pure Bioscience Partners With Ciba; Overland Storage Gets Financing; ConfirmNet Buyout Closes; & More San Diego-Area Deals News”

Curis Gets $3M From Genentech For Ovarian Cancer Trial Initiation

Cambridge, MA-based Curis (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CRIS]]) said today it will receive a $3 million cash payment from its partner, Genentech (NYSE: [[ticker:DNA]]). The payment is due because Genentech is starting a clinical trial among patients with ovarian cancer. Researchers will look at 100 patients with the disease, taking either a placebo or GDC-0449, an oral pill … Continue reading “Curis Gets $3M From Genentech For Ovarian Cancer Trial Initiation”

Finding Another Saudi Arabia Under Detroit: Amory Lovins on the Economic Logic of Energy Efficiency and the Overthrow of Bad Engineering

Xconomy had the great privilege last week of hosting energy guru Amory Lovins, the cofounder, chairman, and chief scientist of the famous Rocky Mountain Institute resource think tank in Colorado, for a “fireside chat” with local venture community leader Paul Maeder of Highland Capital Partners. There was no real fire or other unwarranted carbon emissions, … Continue reading “Finding Another Saudi Arabia Under Detroit: Amory Lovins on the Economic Logic of Energy Efficiency and the Overthrow of Bad Engineering”

Alder Gets Early Christmas Present: FDA Slaps Down Its Rival, Roche

Alder Biopharmaceuticals caught a lucky break last week. The Bothell, WA-based biotech company saw its biggest competitor, Swiss drug giant Roche, get kneecapped by the FDA. The U.S. drug regulator delayed Roche’s application to sell a new rheumatoid arthritis drug, asking it to do more animal studies, which will probably keep the drug off the … Continue reading “Alder Gets Early Christmas Present: FDA Slaps Down Its Rival, Roche”

Avila Comes Out of Stealth to Talk Bonds, Covalent Bonds

Remember that 10th grade chemistry lesson on the difference between covalent and ionic bonds? Me neither. But I got a refresher on the topic last week from Avila Therapeutics, a Waltham, MA-based startup that thinks this chemistry is crucial to creating a new class of more effective drugs. Avila has kept a pretty low profile … Continue reading “Avila Comes Out of Stealth to Talk Bonds, Covalent Bonds”

Ambrx Aims to Create New Breed of Custom-Built Biotech Drugs

One thing I love about our new Xconomy San Diego office: I could practically shout out the window and get the attention of one of the fastest-growing private biotech companies in the region, Ambrx. (Although I bet the landlord, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, wouldn’t take too kindly.) I actually scheduled a meeting with Ambrx CEO … Continue reading “Ambrx Aims to Create New Breed of Custom-Built Biotech Drugs”

Big Fish Swims Against Current, Looks To Make New Hires—and Not Only for Games

“We’re not just a gaming company,” says Glenn Walcott. The chief financial officer of Seattle-based Big Fish Games is telling me about his company’s focus on new hires, and this comes as a bit of surprise. People tend to think of Big Fish as a game producer, but Walcott stresses that most of its engineers … Continue reading “Big Fish Swims Against Current, Looks To Make New Hires—and Not Only for Games”

India’s Innovation Front Lines, Part 2: Of Industry-Targeted Degrees, Water, and Spinoffs

Chandigarh, Sunday, December 7—I drove straight north from Delhi to Chandigarh about 300 km, on a much improved four-lane highway. Chandigarh is a planned city that was designed by the French architect Le Corbusier in the late 1950s. It remains a delightfully livable city that the rest of India has failed to emulate. I am … Continue reading “India’s Innovation Front Lines, Part 2: Of Industry-Targeted Degrees, Water, and Spinoffs”