Isis Subsidiary Receives Grants, Contracts Worth $8.4 Million

Isis Pharmaceuticals said today that its diagnostic subsidiary, Ibis Biosciences, was awarded federal grants and contracts worth as much as $8.4 million. The Carlsbad, CA-based company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ISIS]]) said its subsidiary got the grants and contracts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Justice, and other agencies. The company is being asked to … Continue reading “Isis Subsidiary Receives Grants, Contracts Worth $8.4 Million”

What Financial Crisis? Highland’s 20th Hearkens to Days of the Bubble

A basketball hoop in the Museum of Science lobby, teams of entrepreneurs playing 3 on 3. Boston Celtics cheerleaders rooting them on. A rockin’ band. Shots of blueberry martinis doled out in test tubes. A contortionist—yes, a female contortionist in a skin-tight body suit. Did I just go through a time warp, I wondered? This … Continue reading “What Financial Crisis? Highland’s 20th Hearkens to Days of the Bubble”

Acucela Cuts Staff, Shifting Focus to Development of Eye Disease Drugs

Acucela’s good news wasn’t so good for everybody. Less than a month after it struck a lucrative new partnership with Tokyo-based Otsuka Pharmaceutical to co-develop drugs for eye diseases, the Bothell, WA-based biotech company has cut almost a third of its staff. Acucela cut loose “fewer than 10 employees” from its payroll, out of a … Continue reading “Acucela Cuts Staff, Shifting Focus to Development of Eye Disease Drugs”

Nathan Myhrvold & Co. on Tour as Intellectual Ventures Opens Offices Across Asia

When I visited Nathan Myhrvold in the summertime, he lamented that he wasn’t able to attend the Olympics in Beijing (though he did provide some insight into the physics of ping-pong matches). But this week and next, Myhrvold is taking a grander tour of Asia, as his Bellevue, WA-based invention company, Intellectual Ventures, opens a … Continue reading “Nathan Myhrvold & Co. on Tour as Intellectual Ventures Opens Offices Across Asia”

Four Ways Amazon Could Make Kindle 2.0 a Best Seller

[Addendum, 10/4/08: Boy Genius Report has published pictures from a reader who obtained a Kindle 2. It’s unclear so far which, if any, of the features described in my article below, published 10/3, are included.] I wanted to love the Amazon Kindle. I’ve been a believer in the future of e-books ever since the late … Continue reading “Four Ways Amazon Could Make Kindle 2.0 a Best Seller”

Imperium Renewables Receives New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4ec1fc5c-b4b9-4ca1-b747-15adbb855dc9&Preview=1 Date 10/3/2008 Company Name Imperium Renewables Mailing Address 1741 First Avenue South., Third Floor Seattle, WA 98134 Company Description Imperium Renewables Inc. (IRI) is a national leader in next generation biodiesel refining and manufacturing technology. IRI is a technology driven producer and provider of biodiesel. Website http://www.imperiumrenewables.com Transaction Type Venture Equity … Continue reading “Imperium Renewables Receives New Financing”

Dexterra Inc. Receives $21,500,000 Series F Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=686f4c4d-1113-419f-b6d0-9696fcbd9659&Preview=1 Date 10/3/2008 Company Name Dexterra Inc. Mailing Address 21540 30th Dr SE Bothell, WA 98021 Company Description Dexterra offers the leading mobile platform available today, Dexterra ConcertTM, to enterprises across the globe in industries such as manufacturing, transportation, real estate, utilities, IT consulting, government, facilities management and consumer packaged goods. Website … Continue reading “Dexterra Inc. Receives $21,500,000 Series F Financing”

MyShape, Inc. Garners New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=019d862d-d66c-40e9-8289-2bb9464a0fe6&Preview=1 Date 10/3/2008 Company Name MyShape, Inc. Mailing Address 225 South Lake Ave Pasadena, CA 91101 Company Description The company operates an online apparel retail shop. Website http://www.myshape.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Lehman Brothers Venture … Continue reading “MyShape, Inc. Garners New Financing”

Savings.com Secures $4,000,000 Series B Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b7ded33e-6c78-43d9-b3d2-6d43de73e083&Preview=1 Date 10/3/2008 Company Name Savings.com Mailing Address 510 State St. Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Company Description Savings.com was founded in 2004. Designed out of frustration with the current state of shopping and discount retailers online, we have been determined from the outset to design and build a more comprehensive Internet destination … Continue reading “Savings.com Secures $4,000,000 Series B Funding”

Microsoft Opening Three-Headed Search Technology Center in Europe to Challenge Google

When corporate R&D rains, it pours. On the heels of Intel Research Seattle’s annual open house, an even bigger tech giant across Lake Washington is stirring up some serious action across the pond. Microsoft announced today it is opening a European Search Technology Center, with three main offices in the Paris, London, and Munich areas. … Continue reading “Microsoft Opening Three-Headed Search Technology Center in Europe to Challenge Google”

Digini Discloses Funding Round, Release Date

Issaquah, WA-based Digini, a maker of video-game development tools, announced it has closed an institutional investment from California Technology Ventures, a venture capital fund. The amount was not disclosed. Digini also announced it is releasing Blade3D, a tool for developing Windows and Xbox 360 games, on October 29.

Military Orders Audio Devices

San Diego’s American Technology Corp. said today that U.S. military forces have placed additional orders totaling $400,000 for its Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD, for use at security checkpoints in Iraq. Unlike an ordinary loudspeaker, the LRAD emits a focused sound beam, which can carry  warnings or instructions beyond 500 meters. 

Personal Robots, Home Sensing, Private Networks, and More from Intel Research Seattle’s Open House

Want wireless power? Better network privacy? Automated elder care? You’ve come to the right place. That place is the 2008 Intel Research Seattle open house, which I had the opportunity to attend yesterday afternoon. I had gotten a sneak preview the day before from lab director David Wetherall, and just before hitting the demos, I … Continue reading “Personal Robots, Home Sensing, Private Networks, and More from Intel Research Seattle’s Open House”

Daily TIPs: Tree Power, Special Delivery, Dead Zones, & More

Technique Predicts Wi-Fi Dead Zones A graduate student at Rice University has developed a technique to predict holes in a city’s Wi-Fi coverage. Ars Technica reports that Joshua Robinson found that dead zones could be as small as 10 meters in diameter. He also found that adding more access nodes doesn’t necessarily fill in all … Continue reading “Daily TIPs: Tree Power, Special Delivery, Dead Zones, & More”

Celldex Nabs $10M Milestone

Needham, MA-based Celldex Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CLDX]]) said it has received a $10 million milestone payment triggered by the U.S. launch of the oral rotavirus vaccine Rotarix, which is marketed by GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: [[ticker:GSK]]). Celldex was formed through the recent merger of Avant Immunotherapeutics of Needham and Phillipsburg, NJ-based Celldex Therapeutics.

Rib-X Pharma, and Its Lead Antibiotic, Gear Up for Prime Time

Rib-X Pharmaceuticals is gearing up to reveal mid-stage clinical results for its lead antibiotic that could advance the heavily backed biotech firm to a point at which larger drug companies often want a piece of the action. New Haven, CT-based Rib-X, which has raised $123 million in private capital since it was founded in 2001, … Continue reading “Rib-X Pharma, and Its Lead Antibiotic, Gear Up for Prime Time”

Cell Therapeutics Applies for FDA Approval of Zevalin as First-Line Therapy

Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CTIC]]) said today it has applied to the FDA for expanded usage of Zevalin. The drug is currently approved for relapsed forms of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and the new application, if approved, would allow sale for patients getting first-line treatment. Results from a 414-patient clinical trial of Zevalin in first-line patients showed it … Continue reading “Cell Therapeutics Applies for FDA Approval of Zevalin as First-Line Therapy”

iRobot Wins $3.75M Army Contract to Develop Warrior Robot

Bedford, MA-based iRobot (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRBT]]) said today that the U.S. Army’s Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) will pay the company $3.75 million to build and deliver two “Warrior 700” robots (pictured here.) The Warrior, which has been under development for more than two years, is designed to serve as the big brother of … Continue reading “iRobot Wins $3.75M Army Contract to Develop Warrior Robot”

Intel’s Global Research Head, Andrew Chien, Sizes Up the State of West Coast Innovation

My last memory of Andrew Chien might be wrestling with him on the living room floor circa 1981. Growing up in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, his family and mine were friends. Chien grew up to be a professor of computer science at his hometown University of Illinois, then a professor of computer science and engineering at the … Continue reading “Intel’s Global Research Head, Andrew Chien, Sizes Up the State of West Coast Innovation”

ZymoGenetics “Sleeper” Wakes Up, Leroy Hood Unveils New Company, CMC Icos Expands, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News

Quote of the week in Seattle life sciences goes to Xconomist Clay Siegall: “For biotechnology, it sometimes feels as if we are always in a financial crisis,” he says. While the world faced the possibility of economic catastrophe, the headlines from Seattle biotech suggest it wasn’t all that unusual of a week, as companies continued … Continue reading “ZymoGenetics “Sleeper” Wakes Up, Leroy Hood Unveils New Company, CMC Icos Expands, & More Seattle-Area Life Sciences News”

Locale App for Android Phones “Wouldn’t Even Be Possible on the iPhone,” Says Winner of $275K Developer Challenge

Last week’s unveiling of the first phone running the Android operating system—the T-Mobile G1, which will be available to consumers on October 22—suddenly made Google’s vision of an open source smart-phone platform to compete with Apple’s iPhone seem much more real. But developers writing applications for Android phones have been immersed in the new operating … Continue reading “Locale App for Android Phones “Wouldn’t Even Be Possible on the iPhone,” Says Winner of $275K Developer Challenge”

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. Receives $50,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d006ffba-4ecd-4ff1-a176-a4fb19bcd930&Preview=1 Date 10/2/2008 Company Name Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. Mailing Address 320 Bent Street Cambridge, MA 02141 Company Description We are committed to the development of successful human medicines. Drugmaking is not a statistical event, nor simply a high-throughput industrialized pursuit. Our team is forging a process for creating and developing novel drug … Continue reading “Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. Receives $50,000,000 New Financing”

Auraria Networks Inc. Lands $10,000,000 Series B Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b52142cc-f42c-467f-80bd-bebd221b8600&Preview=1 Date 10/2/2008 Company Name Auraria Networks Inc. Mailing Address 85 Swanson Road Boxborough, MA 01719 Company Description Auraria Networks, Inc. is a company dedicated to providing unique solutions to problems that businesses and other organizations have with content; particularly in an on-line or continuously connected world. We will make products that … Continue reading “Auraria Networks Inc. Lands $10,000,000 Series B Round”

Avaak, Inc. Garners $7,000,000 Series A Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=28ffec49-b2de-4d06-93e0-ea56b64de380&Preview=1 Date 10/2/2008 Company Name Avaak, Inc. Mailing Address 9645 Scranton Road San Diego, CA 92121 Company Description Our goal is to be the world leader in the market for intelligent ad-hoc video networks that are completely un-tethered to (or unconstrained by) existing power, network and carrier infrastructures. Website http://www.avaak.com Transaction Type … Continue reading “Avaak, Inc. Garners $7,000,000 Series A Round”

Ausra Receives $60,600,000 Series C Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=da4bdbb6-5307-4c6f-ade6-6a421291a3ed&Preview=1 Date 10/2/2008 Company Name Ausra Mailing Address 303 Ravendale Drive Mountain View, CA 94043 Company Description Ausra develops and deploys utility-scale solar technologies to serve global electricity needs in a dependable, market competitive, environmentally responsible manner. Website http://www.ausra.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $60,600,000 Transaction Round Series C Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “Ausra Receives $60,600,000 Series C Funding”

Redwood Systems Lands $4,000,000 Series A Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=48adad4c-2850-45c7-97df-6b4616303bb1&Preview=1 Date 10/2/2008 Company Name Redwood Systems Mailing Address 46665 Fremont Blvd. Fremont, CA 94538 Company Description Redwood System Inc. is a company focused on commercial building energy conservation. Website http://www.redwoodsys.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $4,000,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture … Continue reading “Redwood Systems Lands $4,000,000 Series A Financing Round”

ChemoCentryx Secures $50,000,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=bf49c5ca-258e-4554-9c3a-7c7fa3678210&Preview=1 Date 10/2/2008 Company Name ChemoCentryx Mailing Address 850 Maude Avenue Mountain View, CA 94043 Company Description ChemoCentryx, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing orally-administered therapeutics that target the chemokine and chemoattractant systems in order to treat autoimmune diseases, inflammatory disorders and cancer. Website http://www.chemocentryx.com Transaction … Continue reading “ChemoCentryx Secures $50,000,000 New Financing”

Gigya Obtains $11,000,000 Series C Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b3670be1-53a5-4444-8959-82705c0c1d2e&Preview=1 Date 10/2/2008 Company Name Gigya Mailing Address 855 El Camino Real Building 4 Palo Alto, CA 94301 Company Description Gigya is a social marketing solutions company delivering scale and results to publishers and advertisers. Gigya’s infrastructure connects brand advertisers, content publishers and an enormous audience of active social media users. Website … Continue reading “Gigya Obtains $11,000,000 Series C Funding Round”

RealNetworks Vs. Hollywood: Let the DVD Lawsuits Begin

Digital rights management, here we go again. First, it was the music industry. Now Seattle-based RealNetworks and Hollywood’s big movie studios are suing one another in California federal court, after yesterday’s release of RealDVD on RealNetworks’ site. The software, which costs $30, allows DVD users to make copies of their videos on their computer and … Continue reading “RealNetworks Vs. Hollywood: Let the DVD Lawsuits Begin”

$50M Pumped Into Ironwood Coffers

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has raised $50 million in a deal led by Morgan Stanley Investment Management and joined by many of its previous investors, the Cambridge, MA-based firm announced today. The company plans to use the cash to, among other things, help move its irritable bowel syndrome treatment linaclotide through Phase 3 clinical trials. Ironwood was … Continue reading “$50M Pumped Into Ironwood Coffers”

Daily TIPs: Greener Buildings, Faster Flu Tests, Deadly Voting, & More

DOE Plan Would Cut Emissions from Buildings The U.S. Department of Energy says that, with proper building techniques and renewable energy installations, a majority of commercial buildings could reach zero emissions of greenhouse gases within 20 years. Now the DOE is kicking in $15 million to give companies access to its scientists and engineers to … Continue reading “Daily TIPs: Greener Buildings, Faster Flu Tests, Deadly Voting, & More”

Bezos Expeditions Backs ZocDoc

New York-based ZocDoc, a healthcare startup that helps you find doctors and book appointments online, announced it has expanded its Series A investors to include Jeff Bezos from Amazon.com and Marc Benioff from SalesForce.com. Financial terms were not disclosed. Last month, ZocDoc announced it had raised $3.3 million, led by Khosla Ventures.

Idera Drug Falls Short in Phase 2

Idera Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:IDRA]]), a Cambridge, MA-based biotech firm, reports that results of the first portion of a phase 2 clinical trial of a drug called IMO-2055 in patients with a recurrent form of kidney cancer show the treatment failed to have a desired impact on tumor size. Still, investment firm Rodman & Renshaw analysts maintained … Continue reading “Idera Drug Falls Short in Phase 2”

Intersil Buys Kenet

Kenet, a six-year-old semiconductor design company based in Woburn, MA, will be acquired by Milpitas, CA-based semiconductor manufacturer Intersil (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ISIL]]), the larger company announced today. Kenet designs dies for low-power analog-to-digital data conversion for devices such as software-defined radios. Intersil, which did not disclose the amount it’s paying for Kenet, said the acquisition would … Continue reading “Intersil Buys Kenet”

Link Makes $40M Connection, Concert and Indevus Launch Clinicals, Genzyme’s Big Cholesterol Strategy, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News

Hats off to Link Medicine, whose $40 million financing was a nice reminder that the economy still has a pulse. That, and the rest of the week’s Boston-area life sciences news, below. —In case you missed our forum, How to Build a Life Sciences Company, Ryan did a great round up of the varied and … Continue reading “Link Makes $40M Connection, Concert and Indevus Launch Clinicals, Genzyme’s Big Cholesterol Strategy, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”

BSX to Pay J&J $703M in Stent Suit

Boston Scientific (NYSE:[[ticker:BSX]]), a Natick, MA-based medical devices maker, has been ordered to pay $703 million to the Cordis unit of medical products giant Johnson & Johnson for infringing on a Cordis patent on stents, according to J&J. The U.S. District Court of Delaware made a final judgment in the case that also involved Minneapolis-based … Continue reading “BSX to Pay J&J $703M in Stent Suit”

Stallman Blasts Cloud Computing

In an article Monday in the UK’s Guardian newspaper, Richard Stallman, president of Boston’s Free Software Foundation, criticized the trend toward utility-style “cloud computing” as a marketing strategy designed to lock users into proprietary computing platforms. Stallman included Web-based services such as Google’s Gmail in his critique. “One reason you should not use Web applications … Continue reading “Stallman Blasts Cloud Computing”

Alnylam Hires Chief Scientist, Jack Schmidt, To Help Build RNAi Pipeline

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has been getting by for years without a full-time chief scientific officer, but no more. The Cambridge, MA-based developer of drugs based on RNA interference (RNAi) technology said today it has hired Jack Schmidt, a former vice president at French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis and a member of the global discovery leadership team there, to … Continue reading “Alnylam Hires Chief Scientist, Jack Schmidt, To Help Build RNAi Pipeline”

Scripps, IAVI to Establish $30 Million AIDS Vaccine Research Center

The Scripps Research Institute, the La Jolla, CA-based nonprofit research center, said today it will establish, along with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, the world’s first research center devoted to studying neutralizing antibodies against HIV. The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative will invest $30 million over five years in the center at Scripps, to house teams … Continue reading “Scripps, IAVI to Establish $30 Million AIDS Vaccine Research Center”

UCSD Touts Its Economic Impact, Including 193 Companies and $37 Billion in Annual Spending and Personal Income

It’s a curious thing, when a major public research university commissions an independent study to assess its economic impact, especially when we’re talking about an individual school in the University of California system. In this case, the University of California, San Diego, hired a consulting firm in San Francisco to remind the public just how … Continue reading “UCSD Touts Its Economic Impact, Including 193 Companies and $37 Billion in Annual Spending and Personal Income”

Torrey Pines Therapeutics Permitted to Begin Phase III Trial of Migraine Drug

Torrey Pines Therapeutics said today that the FDA has agreed to let it conduct a final-stage clinical trial of tezempanel for acute migraine headaches. The pivotal trial will examine tezempanel at a 40 milligram and a lower dose, while also monitoring patients for any heart irregularities known as QT prolongation. The timing of the trial … Continue reading “Torrey Pines Therapeutics Permitted to Begin Phase III Trial of Migraine Drug”

Brain Cancer Breakthroughs Wanted: Swedish and ISB Pool Resources To Spot Disease Early

The Swedish Neuroscience Institute has pieces of brain tumors waiting to be analyzed. The Institute for Systems Biology has computing power and ambitious scientists. Now the two Seattle-based groups are pooling their efforts to see if they can make breakthroughs to detect deadly brain cancers at an earlier, and more treatable, stage. The collaboration is … Continue reading “Brain Cancer Breakthroughs Wanted: Swedish and ISB Pool Resources To Spot Disease Early”

Venture Exits Drop 66 Percent in Third Quarter: Sign of “Nuclear Winter?” To Come

When the tech boom of the 1990s began to evaporate at the end of the last millennium, a handful of VCs-turned-meteorologists predicted the climate was turning into a “nuclear winter” for many startup ventures. Well, it’s getting cold again. Exits by venture-backed companies nationwide declined 66 percent in the third quarter of 2008, according to … Continue reading “Venture Exits Drop 66 Percent in Third Quarter: Sign of “Nuclear Winter?” To Come”

Princeton Undergrad Brings Scavenger-Hunt Startup to Boston

At 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 18, 500 couples will fan out across Philadelphia in search of a $25,000 diamond ring hidden by a local jeweler. Equipped only with cell phones, the couples will receive text-message instructions directing them to an array of local landmarks, where they’ll have to complete puzzles and other challenges to … Continue reading “Princeton Undergrad Brings Scavenger-Hunt Startup to Boston”

Director of Intel Research Seattle Focuses on Game-Changing Technologies, Opening New Markets

On a clear day, David Wetherall can see Mount Rainier from his desk. On a clearer day, he can see the future of Intel. OK, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But Wetherall, the director of Intel Research Seattle, has certainly been charged with leading an exploratory research effort for the chip-making giant—blue-sky, “off-roadmap” … Continue reading “Director of Intel Research Seattle Focuses on Game-Changing Technologies, Opening New Markets”

Digini Lands New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a02dd90b-6990-4bdd-b3da-a4e4fa1e947c&Preview=1 Date 10/1/2008 Company Name Digini Mailing Address 5280 NW Village Park Drive Issaquah, WA 98027 Company Description Digini, a leading tools and technology company, Blade3D is the world’s first integrated 3D game development system designed for everyone from development studios, to independent developers, and hobbyist game developers to students. From its … Continue reading “Digini Lands New Funding”