Oral Pill May Make Tough-to-Deliver RNAi Drugs Go Down Easy, RXi Says

Everywhere he goes in biotechnology circles, RXi Pharmaceuticals’ CEO Tod Woolf hears the same criticism of RNA interference drugs. What can be done to overcome the challenge with drug delivery? The answer is, nobody knows until it’s been proven with an effective drug. But Worcester, MA-based RXi (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RXII]]) says it has obtained the exclusive … Continue reading “Oral Pill May Make Tough-to-Deliver RNAi Drugs Go Down Easy, RXi Says”

Smartsheet Aims to Become the Google of Outsourced Team Management

Collaborative work management—it’s not the sexiest topic, but it’s a big business. Seattle-area entrepreneur Brent Frei estimates that his newest startup, Smartsheet, is the “301st company in the space.” The basic idea is to make software that companies can use to manage team-based projects and keep track of things like workflow, file storage, discussion threads, … Continue reading “Smartsheet Aims to Become the Google of Outsourced Team Management”

Biotech Survival Index: Cash Running Low at Seattle Life Sciences Companies

Two questions matter most to the financial survival of a biotech company: How much cash does it have in the bank, and how fast is it burning through it? That’s especially true in dark economic days, so I checked on just how well-prepared Seattle’s public biotech companies are to weather this particular storm. The findings … Continue reading “Biotech Survival Index: Cash Running Low at Seattle Life Sciences Companies”

Shire Settles TKT Suit, Roche and Ensemble Together Again, BSX Backs Neuromodulation Startup, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News

Will “stapled peptides” be the next RNAi? This and other highlights from the last week in Boston-area life sciences news below. —Former shareholders of Cambridge, MA-based Transkaryotic Therapies (TKT) reached a $567.5 million settlement with Irish drug maker Shire (LSE:[[ticker:SHP]]). The shareholders had originally objected to Shire’s 2005 takeover of TKT because they thought the … Continue reading “Shire Settles TKT Suit, Roche and Ensemble Together Again, BSX Backs Neuromodulation Startup, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”

Transpera Secures $8,250,000 Series B Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ca1e4bb1-5ff6-42d3-93aa-4ea625e688cc&Preview=1 Date 11/13/2008 Company Name Transpera Mailing Address 785 Market St. San Francisco, CA 94103 Company Description Truly personal mobile video is now a reality. With Transpera’s Bridge System, users program their own channels, enjoy deep integration with their favorite online video sites and share those experiences with friends and family. Website … Continue reading “Transpera Secures $8,250,000 Series B Financing”

The Active Network Actively Expanding

The first thing that popped into my brain when San Diego’s Active Network said it has acquired three more companies was kudzu—also known as “mile-a-minute vine” and “the vine that ate the South.” Just a year and a half ago, the online business officially known as The Active Network had 730 employees, including 265 at … Continue reading “The Active Network Actively Expanding”

Springpad Opened to Public

Boston’s Spring Partners, a venture-backed Web software startup founded by five former executives from mobile marketing firm Third Screen Media, announced today that it’s opening beta testing of its first product, Springpad, to the general public. Springpad is a Web-based personal information management system that helps users create annotated lists or “notebooks” around dozens of … Continue reading “Springpad Opened to Public”

Clean-Tech Firm C Change Launched

C Change Investments, a Cambridge, MA-based firm focused on investment in and development of clean technologies, has officially launched, according to a statement. The co-founders of the firm are John Preston, former director of technology development at MIT, and Russell Read, who previously served as chief investment officer of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System … Continue reading “Clean-Tech Firm C Change Launched”

MacTrak Posts Laptop Thieves’ Photos, Locations to Flickr

Woe to the hoodie-wearing miscreant who steals a Mac laptop equipped with MacTrak. He’s likely to find his photo plastered all over the Internet—and the police at his door. MacTrak is a beta application for Macs introduced today by Portland, OR-based GadgetTrak. It’s similar in conception to Absolute Software’s LoJack for Laptops and to Adeona, … Continue reading “MacTrak Posts Laptop Thieves’ Photos, Locations to Flickr”

Thermo Buys U.K. Company

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:[[ticker:TMO]]), a Waltham, MA-based provider of scientific research tools and materials, has acquired histology and anatomical pathology lab products maker Raymond A. Lamb, of Eastbourne, U.K., according to a company statement. Thermo Fisher, which did not disclose financial terms of the buyout, reports that Raymond had 2007 revenues of $9 million and … Continue reading “Thermo Buys U.K. Company”

Boston Scientific Invests in Intelect

Boston Scientific (NYSE:[[ticker:BSX]]), a Natick, MA-based medical devices firm, has led an equity round expected to total $11 milion to $13.5 million in Intelect Medical, a developer of an implantable neuromodulation system headquartered in Cleveland, Intelect reports in a statement. Intelect says, as part of the deal, it has granted Boston Scientific co-exclusive rights to … Continue reading “Boston Scientific Invests in Intelect”

Insurance Software Developer Ebix Buys ConfirmNet

Atlanta-based Ebix announced yesterday that it signed a deal to buy San Diego’s ConfirmNet, the latest in a series of acquisitions in the certificate of insurance tracking industry. Ebix, which develops software and e-commerce capabilities for the insurance industry, said it signed a deal to purchase ConfirmNet on Nov. 1. In a later filing with … Continue reading “Insurance Software Developer Ebix Buys ConfirmNet”

OpenCandy Bites into $3.5M

OpenCandy, a San Diego startup that inserts software advertisements into the series of screens consumers see when installing Windows software, said today that it has raised $3.5 million in Series A venture funding. Backers include Bessemer Venture Partners, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, and angels Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn and Jordan Greenhall, co-founder and former CEO of … Continue reading “OpenCandy Bites into $3.5M”

Long Live Microsoft, Farewell Yahoo, and Flat Is the New Up: A Panel of Predictions for 2009

Everyone loves a good prediction. Well, last night there were many of them. I attended the Washington Technology Industry Association’s “Predictions for 2009” dinner event at the Westin Hotel in Seattle. Before I get to the panel discussion, just a couple of tidbits overheard around the room: —Ben Elowitz, co-founder and CEO of Wetpaint, told … Continue reading “Long Live Microsoft, Farewell Yahoo, and Flat Is the New Up: A Panel of Predictions for 2009”

How Crimson Hexagon Translates the Blogosphere’s Babel Into Wisdom

File this under “Only in Cambridge.” Before my interview last week with the founders of Crimson Hexagon, a startup using statistical methods to comb the blogosphere for the latest opinion on brand-name products, I had assumed that the company’s name came from its affiliation with Harvard, where its technical founder, Gary King, is a professor … Continue reading “How Crimson Hexagon Translates the Blogosphere’s Babel Into Wisdom”

Higher Education, the Driver of Our State’s Economy, Must Avoid the Budget Axe

Even with the economic downturn, plenty of Seattle area technology companies are going to be hiring new, highly skilled workers in 2009. These are high-paying jobs; the average annual salary plus benefits per worker in Washington’s technology-based industries is more than twice the state average. Too bad more of those jobs won’t be going to … Continue reading “Higher Education, the Driver of Our State’s Economy, Must Avoid the Budget Axe”

Novocell Aims to Coax Stem Cells to Fight Diabetes, One Step at a Time

Ed Baetge’s dream is that his company, San Diego-based Novocell, will someday make human embryonic stem cells that will manage to produce all the insulin patients need to control their blood sugar. If things break right for Novocell, this treatment will navigate a thicket of animal tests over the next three to four years, demonstrate … Continue reading “Novocell Aims to Coax Stem Cells to Fight Diabetes, One Step at a Time”

Personalized Treatments for Cancer: Ensemble Moves Ahead with Roche on New Breed of Test

Some of the world’s biggest selling cancer drugs today work for only a small fraction of patients, and researchers have struggled to say for sure why that is. A Cambridge, MA-based biotech company, Ensemble Discovery, has developed a diagnostic test that its partner Roche, the world’s largest maker of cancer drugs, is advancing to clinical … Continue reading “Personalized Treatments for Cancer: Ensemble Moves Ahead with Roche on New Breed of Test”

San Diego’s “Predictive Analytics” Companies—The Map

Already you are probably asking yourself, “What the heck is predictive analytics?” It encompasses a variety of disciplines and technologies, typically using software that applies advanced mathematics or statistics to analyze pools of data and make forecasts about current or future events. Who would have predicted that San Diego would emerge as one of the … Continue reading “San Diego’s “Predictive Analytics” Companies—The Map”

Puget Sound Energy Buys Wind Turbines, Voyager Backs Video Ads, 10 Reasons Why Startups Fail, & More Seattle-Area Deals News

It was a pretty slow week for tech deals in the Northwest—chalk it up to the election and the Veteran’s Day holiday. Nevertheless, there was a trickle of activity in software, digital media, and energy. —Seattle-based Voyager Capital has led an investment in Keystream, a Mountain View, CA-based online video advertising startup. The deal closed … Continue reading “Puget Sound Energy Buys Wind Turbines, Voyager Backs Video Ads, 10 Reasons Why Startups Fail, & More Seattle-Area Deals News”

It’s Hard to Build Green Organizations When You’re Stuck Fighting Fires

[Editor’s Note: On September 19, Xconomist and MIT Sloan School Professor Rebecca Henderson gave a lecture to the MIT Sloan 2008 Convocation entitled “Getting Unstuck: How to Promote More Sustainable Practices in Our Organizations.” Henderson observed that while many businesses say they want to reengineer their products and processes to reduce their carbon footprint and … Continue reading “It’s Hard to Build Green Organizations When You’re Stuck Fighting Fires”

A Robot Store in Every Mall? IRobot CEO Discuss Firm’s Efforts to Boost Retail Sales

Who couldn’t use a robot or two to help with household chores? To make finding that robo-helper easier (and to boost holiday sales) Bedford, MA-based iRobot (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRBT]]) announced last week it was opening a kiosk in the Burlington Mall that will show off its Roomba robot vacuum cleaners and other bots for gutter cleaning, … Continue reading “A Robot Store in Every Mall? IRobot CEO Discuss Firm’s Efforts to Boost Retail Sales”

New Relic Obtains $6,000,000 Series B Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=71368eb6-c816-4607-92bd-f4a92a834501&Preview=1 Date 11/12/2008 Company Name New Relic Mailing Address 139 Townsend Street San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description New Relic, Inc. offers RPM(TM), a subscription-based Rails Performance Management solution that enables developers to quickly and cost effectively detect, diagnose and fix application performance problems in real time. Website http://www.newrelic.com Transaction Type Venture … Continue reading “New Relic Obtains $6,000,000 Series B Round”

Affymetrix Acquires Panomics for $73,000,000

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=80b96f94-5eb4-4f07-aed3-a67168b4bcdb&Preview=1 Date 11/12/2008 Company Name Panomics Mailing Address 6519 Dumbarton Circle Fremont, CA 94555 Company Description Panomics is focused on delivering innovative solutions for Parallel Quantitative Biology or PQB. Website http://www.panomics.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount $73,000,000 Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes M&A Terms All cash transaction.

Cell Therapeutics Lymphoma Drug Wipes Out Tumors in Pivotal Trial

Cell Therapeutics may just have one last chance to dig itself out of its hole. The Seattle-based biotech company said its experimental drug for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, pixantrone, was able to completely wipe out tumors for one-fifth of patients in a clinical trial, compared with about 6 percent who did that well on standard chemotherapy. The … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Lymphoma Drug Wipes Out Tumors in Pivotal Trial”

PeerApp Raises $8 Million

PeerApp, a Newton, MA-based maker of caching servers that Internet service providers use to speed delivery of frequently-downloaded peer-to-peer video and music files, said today that it has closed an $8 million Series B financing round. Investors Pilot House Ventures, Cedar Fund, and Evergreen Venture Partners, who ponied up $3 million in Series A funding … Continue reading “PeerApp Raises $8 Million”

PeerApp Receives $8,000,000 Series B Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=47cacd91-7fd0-4cee-b866-8cd253c822a7&Preview=1 Date 11/11/2008 Company Name PeerApp Mailing Address 375 Elliot Street Newton Upper Falls, MA 02464 Company Description PeerApp is a leading supplier of peer-to-peer infrastructure solutions for Internet service providers. PeerApp solutions reduce Peer-to-Peer (P2P) related bandwidth costs without impacting subscriber experience; support service provider network/subscriber growth and enable new revenue-generating … Continue reading “PeerApp Receives $8,000,000 Series B Financing”

IntelePeer Receives $18,000,000 Series C Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=59bd1356-e881-4806-9dca-5f5127f62d3f&Preview=1 Date 11/11/2008 Company Name IntelePeer Mailing Address 2855 Campus Drive San Mateo, CA 94403 Company Description IntelePeer, Inc. provides all the infrastructure and services needed to connect carriers, cable companies, wireless carriers and other voice service providers, and eCommunities – enabling them to dramatically reduce their communications costs, connect disparate networks … Continue reading “IntelePeer Receives $18,000,000 Series C Funding”

Puget Sound Energy Buys Vestas Wind Turbines

Bellevue, WA-based utility Puget Sound Energy, announced today it has purchased 22 wind turbine generators from turbine manufacturer Vestas, which has U.S. headquarters in Portland, OR. The order is for an expansion of the utility’s Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility in eastern Kittitas County, WA, and it accounts for most of the project’s $100 … Continue reading “Puget Sound Energy Buys Vestas Wind Turbines”

Backed by Voyager Capital, Keystream Takes on Video Advertising

Seattle-based Voyager Capital has been investing pretty aggressively in software and digital media startups up and down the West Coast, as we reported back in September. Today, one of its portfolio companies, Mountain View, CA-based Keystream, emerged from stealth mode to announce its new product, management team, and investors. Voyager Capital led a funding round … Continue reading “Backed by Voyager Capital, Keystream Takes on Video Advertising”

Torrey Pines Therapeutics Sells Alzheimer’s Program to Partner

TorreyPines Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TPTX) says it has agreed to sell its Alzheimer’s disease genetics research program for $1.5 million to partner Eisai Co. TorreyPines will record the payment from the Nov. 6 deal in its fourth quarter financial results, the company said today in a filng with government regulators. 

Amylin Cuts 340 Jobs, One Fourth of Staff, To Cope With Falling Diabetes Drug Demand

One of San Diego’s anchor biotech companies, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, has decided to cut one-fourth of its local staff, or about 340 jobs. The company said it had to make the move because it has been dealt a double-whammy of setbacks in the past couple months, with declining demand for its lead diabetes drug, combined with … Continue reading “Amylin Cuts 340 Jobs, One Fourth of Staff, To Cope With Falling Diabetes Drug Demand”

Livemocha Wins Startup Award, Wants to Teach You the International Language

“Language lessons,” says the Korean sportscaster in his Howard Cosell voice at the end of Better Off Dead. It’s what allowed Lane Meyer (played by John Cusack) to ski the K-12 on one ski, and 23 years later, it’s still the key to building relationships in global business. So when we heard on Friday that … Continue reading “Livemocha Wins Startup Award, Wants to Teach You the International Language”

Optimer Shares Skyrocket, as Drug Halts Deadly Bacterial Infection in Trial

Optimer Pharmaceuticals has good news today for people with a serious bacterial infection. The San Diego-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:OPTR]]) said its experimental drug was slightly better at curing patients than the standard antibiotic for C.Difficile bacterial infection, and was significantly better at preventing the nasty bug from coming back after treatment. Shares of the … Continue reading “Optimer Shares Skyrocket, as Drug Halts Deadly Bacterial Infection in Trial”

Molecular Biometrics Snags $12M For IVF Procedure

Molecular Biometrics has raised $12 million in a Series A round of venture capital from Boston-based Oxford Bioscience Partners and Safeguard Scientifics. The cash will be used to support development of ViaMetrics, a diagnostic tool to help doctors identify which embryos created through in vitro fertilization have the greatest chance to become viable embryos. The … Continue reading “Molecular Biometrics Snags $12M For IVF Procedure”

Entrance Controls Buys 1Pointe

Tukwila, WA-based Entrance Controls, a technology firm that manages electronic security for businesses, announced today it has acquired Portland, OR-based 1Pointe. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2005, 1Pointe delivers secure networking, wireless, and storage technologies to businesses in the Northwest.

MicroLogic Sold to Alanco

Lowell, MA-based MicroLogic, which developed the wireless technology behind the LoJack theft recovery system for vehicles and has recently focused on wireless tracking of heavy construction equipment, will be acquired by the StarTrak Systems division of Alanco Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALAN]]), the Scottsdale, AZ-based company announced today. StarTrak makes cellular- and satellite-based systems that track “cold … Continue reading “MicroLogic Sold to Alanco”

Conde Nast Picks Brightcove

Brightcove, the Cambridge, MA, Internet video hosting company, announced today that Conde Nast Publications has hired it to launch new advertising-supported video channels “across the company’s websites.” The magazine publishing company is already using the new Brightcove 3 platform to power video sections at Wired.com, Portfolio.com, Glamour.com, Parade.com, and Self.com, and plans to launch video … Continue reading “Conde Nast Picks Brightcove”

Stewart Parker Resigns from Targeted Genetics After Gene Therapy Setbacks

H. Stewart Parker’s long career at Targeted Genetics has come to an end. The Seattle biotech company said today that Parker, its founder and the only CEO since it started in 1989, along with her longtime partner, chief scientist Barrie Carter, have both resigned as of last Thursday. Parker will remain on the Targeted Genetics … Continue reading “Stewart Parker Resigns from Targeted Genetics After Gene Therapy Setbacks”

San Diego Makes Stem Cells a Rallying Cry for New Era in Life Sciences

It has been seven years since the Bush Administration restricted federal funding on human embryonic stem cells, and four years since California voters responded by passing Proposition 71. The initiative jump-started stem cell research here by providing $3 billion in state funding for “regenerative medicine” over the next decade. Since then, the term “stem cells” … Continue reading “San Diego Makes Stem Cells a Rallying Cry for New Era in Life Sciences”

Beyond Provenge: Dendreon Expands Cancer Drug Pipeline

Provenge, Provenge, Provenge. The drug for prostate cancer, which is attempting to be the first approved treatment of its kind in the U.S. to actively stimulate the immune system to fight tumors, is the one product candidate shareholders love to obsess about from Dendreon. But behind the scenes, Seattle-based Dendreon (NASDAQ:[[ticker:DNDN]]) is making headway on … Continue reading “Beyond Provenge: Dendreon Expands Cancer Drug Pipeline”

Three Boston Startups Finalists in Amazon’s $100K Web Services Challenge

Conditions today in Boston: increasing clouds. Cloud-computing startups, that is. Out of the seven companies named Friday as finalists in Amazon’s latest AWS Start-Up Challenge—designed to reward the most innovative companies using the cloud-based Amazon Web Services infrastructure to deliver their products or services—three are based right here in the Boston area. (Sorry, Seattle.) Each … Continue reading “Three Boston Startups Finalists in Amazon’s $100K Web Services Challenge”

Simple DNA Test Spots Deadly MRSA Bacteria; Adnavance Aims To Take It Mainstream

If San Diego-based Adnavance Technologies plays its cards right, it won’t be long before it’s selling a simple DNA test that will tell doctors within a couple hours whether their patients have a potentially deadly MRSA bacterial infection. There will be no more need to send samples to a highly-skilled technician running an expensive DNA … Continue reading “Simple DNA Test Spots Deadly MRSA Bacteria; Adnavance Aims To Take It Mainstream”

Second Rotation Gets $6 Million Second Round for Electronics Recycling

The flailing economy is already hurting consumer electronics sales—and no one thinks things will get better soon. But will a slowdown in purchases of new gizmos and gadgets spur sales of used electronics as people look for bargains? Or will it diminish the supply of previously owned electronics as people hold onto their goods longer? … Continue reading “Second Rotation Gets $6 Million Second Round for Electronics Recycling”

New Customers in Tow, Apptio Wants To Help Manage Your Skyrocketing IT Costs

Whether you’re a startup or a big company, your IT costs are probably going up these days. And what with all the laptops, desktops, mobile phones, servers, and data centers to keep track of—not to mention e-mail systems, software applications, and tech support—it’s getting harder to predict what those costs are going to be, or … Continue reading “New Customers in Tow, Apptio Wants To Help Manage Your Skyrocketing IT Costs”

Genzyme and Osiris Forge Stem-Cell Agreement, Xtalic Nabs $10M for Nano Alloys, Atlas Out for Half a Billion Bucks, & More Boston-Area Deals News

The biggest deals among Boston-area firms last week came from the life sciences sector. —Xtalic of Marlborough, MA—a developer of nanostructured alloys for a variety of applications—reportedly raised about $10 million in Series B financing. North Bridge Venture Partners and Matrix Partners participated in the deal. —Cambridge, MA-based Genzyme (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) forged a potentially massive partnership … Continue reading “Genzyme and Osiris Forge Stem-Cell Agreement, Xtalic Nabs $10M for Nano Alloys, Atlas Out for Half a Billion Bucks, & More Boston-Area Deals News”

Second Rotation Garners $6,000,000 Series B Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=228f848d-e0e5-4d1e-a29b-961ebf8916df&Preview=1 Date 11/10/2008 Company Name Second Rotation Mailing Address 61 North Beacon ST Boston, MA 02134 Company Description Second Rotation is the destination for simplified selling of consumer electronics and gadgets online. The process is easy: Second Rotation determines the value of the item online, arranges pickup and shipping, and pays the … Continue reading “Second Rotation Garners $6,000,000 Series B Financing”

IdeaPaint Lands $5,000,000 Series A Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6ec16145-072e-4ed8-980b-6520ba3dd142&Preview=1 Date 11/10/2008 Company Name IdeaPaint Mailing Address 19 Stanhope Street Boston, ME 02116 Company Description deaPaint is a patent-pending single-coat roller-applied paint that transforms any smooth surface into a high performance dry-erase writing surface. IdeaPaint is perfect for the conference room, creative spaces, classrooms, home offices, kids rooms, playrooms… or any … Continue reading “IdeaPaint Lands $5,000,000 Series A Funding Round”