As frustrating as it is to call a customer-support line, navigate the automated voice-response system, then wait on hold for 15 minutes to speak with an actual human, the call-center experience can be even harder for the people on the other end of the line. A number of trends are making life more harried for … Continue reading “Ex-Sony Workers’ Software Smooths Call Center Woes”
EyeGate Pharma Sees a New Way of Delivering Drugs to the Eye
I have had doctors stick needles in my eyes, so trust me when I tell you this: Not Fun. Eyeball injections are sometimes necessary to get drugs into hard-to-reach parts of the eye, but things can go wrong. Touch an eyelash on the way in, for instance, and you could inject bacteria as well; point … Continue reading “EyeGate Pharma Sees a New Way of Delivering Drugs to the Eye”
SplashCast Lands $4,000,000 Series A Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=84488e1f-fd60-4094-bcd2-11989e2386a5&Preview=1 Date 3/20/2008 Company Name SplashCast Mailing Address 2828 SW Corbett Ave Portland, OR 97201 Company Description SplashCast Corp is a leader in marketing solutions for brands and media companies seeking to reach teens and young adults. SplashCast is the first in a new category of marketing tools called social advertisements – … Continue reading “SplashCast Lands $4,000,000 Series A Funding”
Accessing Cleantech R&D in Europe
The British Consulate General of Boston and U.K. Trade & Investment sponsor a half-day seminar with thought leaders from the cleantech industry in the U.S. and U.K. to discuss R&D market opportunities waiting to be explored. The seminar will focus on global investment trends, access to funding, research programs and institutions, IP security, and an … Continue reading “Accessing Cleantech R&D in Europe”
Aspect, Microsoft in Alliance
Chelmsford, MA-based Aspect Software will adapt its Internet-based call center software to operate with Microsoft’s Office Communications Server, the company announced today at the VoiceCon conference in Orlando, FL. Aspect says that its system, once integrated into Office Communications Server, will allow call-center agents to “seamlessly escalate customer interactions to different channels — phone, instant … Continue reading “Aspect, Microsoft in Alliance”
Alkermes Cuts Jobs After Lilly Deal Ends
A week and a half after learning that Eli Lilly was ending a joint project to develop inhaled insulin, Alkermes (NASDAQ: ALKS) is cutting some 150 jobs and closing a manufacturing plant, the Cambridge, MA-based firm announced today. The job cuts represent a reduction of about 18 percent in the firm’s staff.
RXi’s Debut, Sirtris’ Surprising Deal, Hydra’s Big Financing Round, & More of the Last Week in Life Sciences
The past week finally saw a life sciences firm debut on the stock market (although it was a spin-off rather than an IPO). That and more news below. —RXi Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RXII]]), the Worcester, MA-based spin-off of Los Angeles’s CytRx, made its debut on the NASDAQ Capital Market last week. Shares of the firm, which … Continue reading “RXi’s Debut, Sirtris’ Surprising Deal, Hydra’s Big Financing Round, & More of the Last Week in Life Sciences”
MIT Deshpande Center Announces $500,000 in Grants to Speed Innovations to Market
MIT’s Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation announced today that it has awarded $500,000 in grants to help seven institute research teams move their technologies closer to market. The funded projects address a wide array of areas that include improving hearing aids, better wireless broadband transmitters, bioassays for bedside diagnostics, a new approach to semiconductor fabrication, … Continue reading “MIT Deshpande Center Announces $500,000 in Grants to Speed Innovations to Market”
Sirtris Awarded Patent
Sirtris Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SIRT]]) of Cambridge, MA, said today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued to Sirtris the first patent ever granted for a class of compounds that activate SIRT1, a human enzyme that is the focus of much of the company’s research. In lab animals, Sirtris has found, activating SIRT1 lowers … Continue reading “Sirtris Awarded Patent”
Febit Aims to Automate Genomics Research
A German company that has come to the Boston area looking for capital and genomics expertise is hoping its technology will help speed up discoveries based on DNA science—leading to new disease treatments and perhaps one day to personalized medicine, in which doctors tailor therapies to a patient’s genetic makeup. Febit, of Heidelberg and Medford, … Continue reading “Febit Aims to Automate Genomics Research”
Web 2.0 Investments Up in 2007 But Likely Close to Peak—New England Second to Silicon Valley
Turn your attention for a moment from the Bear Stearns debacle to the Web 2.0 world, where the news isn’t quite as depressing, but where investment may be peaking, according to a new report by Dow Jones VentureSource. The company bases this assessment on the fact that there was only a 25 percent increase in … Continue reading “Web 2.0 Investments Up in 2007 But Likely Close to Peak—New England Second to Silicon Valley”
Aspect Software Secures New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=33d1ef83-a3b0-4358-be45-8c271314693e&Preview=1 Date 3/19/2008 Company Name Aspect Software Mailing Address 300 Apollo Drive Chelmsford, MA 01824 Company Description Aspect Software delivers all-in-one, IT-ready solutions that reduce complexity, lower costs and increase business agility by consolidating all contact center functionality into standards-based software that is easy to deploy, manage and propagate throughout the enterprise … Continue reading “Aspect Software Secures New Round”
Groove Mobile Acquired by NMS for 45 Cents on the Dollar; Company Never Found Its Groove
One of the Boston area’s oldest mobile content companies has unexpectedly exited the scene. After raising $6 million in new venture funding as recently as last August, Bedford, MA-based mobile music distributor Groove Mobile will be acquired by Framingham, MA-based NMS Communications (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NMSS]]) for a reported $14.5 million. That’s a yield of about 45 … Continue reading “Groove Mobile Acquired by NMS for 45 Cents on the Dollar; Company Never Found Its Groove”
Bristol-Myers Squibb Unit Now Independent
The diagnostics business unit formerly known as Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging is now an independent firm called Lantheus Medical Imaging, the N. Billerica, MA–based company announced today. The news follows the sale of the unit to private equity firm Avista Capital Partners, which was announced in December. Lantheus makes a suite of diagnostic products including … Continue reading “Bristol-Myers Squibb Unit Now Independent”
Exact Sciences Puts Itself on the Block After Investor’s Prodding
Looks like Carl Icahn isn’t the only activist investor yanking local life sciences firms’ chains these days. Just a few weeks after a California fund manager called for a sale of cancer-diagnostics firm Exact Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EXAS]]), the Marlborough, MA-based firm announced that it’s putting itself on the block. (Seriously, what is it with all … Continue reading “Exact Sciences Puts Itself on the Block After Investor’s Prodding”
IPO Market in Tailspin—Pogo Jet Latest to Pull Offering
Just four weeks ago, we wrote about Pogo Jet setting its IPO terms—noting that while other firms were taking flight from their initial public offering plans as the economy went into a nosedive, the Chicopee, MA-based jet charter service led by former American Airlines CEO Robert Crandall was “letting its IPO ambitions soar.” Indeed, even … Continue reading “IPO Market in Tailspin—Pogo Jet Latest to Pull Offering”
IT Acquisitions All Around: BladeLogic, Teragram, and Maybe Even Iomega?
Looks like somebody misread the memo about Evacuation Day and decided yesterday was Acquisition Day here in the greater Boston area. (Although Axcelis Technologies made no such mistake.) First, there was the whopping $800 million that Lexington, MA’s BladeLogic (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BLOG]]) announced it will make in a buy-out by Houston, TX-based BMC Software (NYSE: [[ticker:BMC]]). … Continue reading “IT Acquisitions All Around: BladeLogic, Teragram, and Maybe Even Iomega?”
Environmental Operating Solutions Garners $2,500,000 New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c9d56b7b-373a-412b-99c7-69dc15257675&Preview=1 Date 3/18/2008 Company Name Environmental Operating Solutions Mailing Address 4A Colonel Drive Bourne, MA 02532 Company Description Environmental Operating Solutions, Inc. (EOS) creates agriculturally-derived products to remove the pollutant nitrogen from wastewater. Our proprietary MicroC™ technology was designed to safely and cost effectively reduce nitrogen by converting it to water and … Continue reading “Environmental Operating Solutions Garners $2,500,000 New Funding”
LiveWire Mobile, Inc. Acquires Groove Mobile for $14,500,000
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=34901ed7-b5b5-47d7-8e58-9c3089f647e0&Preview=1 Date 3/18/2008 Company Name Groove Mobile Mailing Address 24 Crosby Drive Bedford, MA 01730 Company Description Groove Mobile is the world’s leading mobile music service. Groove Mobile’s Complete Music Gateway includes Full Track Mobile Downloads, Peer-to-Peer Sharing and Personalized Music Recommendations, in addition to providing Personalized and Programmed Streaming Radio, Music … Continue reading “LiveWire Mobile, Inc. Acquires Groove Mobile for $14,500,000”
Amnis Corporation Obtains $3,500,000 New Financing Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2f0a0155-518b-4a4c-9cf7-413948e85b5a&Preview=1 Date 3/18/2008 Company Name Amnis Corporation Mailing Address 2505 Third Avenue Seattle, WA 98121 Company Description Amnis Corporation has created the ImageStream® Cell Analysis System, a breakthrough technology for high speed imaging and analysis of cells in flow. The system is a next generation instrument that combines the power of microscopy … Continue reading “Amnis Corporation Obtains $3,500,000 New Financing Round”
DiMasi Proposes $50 Million Program to Jumpstart Clean Energy Startups in Massachusetts; Renewable Energy Fund Would Be Slashed
On Tuesday, Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi will announce a proposal for a five-year, $50 million spending program designed to boost the state’s clean energy sector, mainly by providing seed grants for early-stage technologies, retraining experienced entrepreneurs from other industries to navigate the energy business, and overhauling vocational-ed programs. Investors and executives are greeting the … Continue reading “DiMasi Proposes $50 Million Program to Jumpstart Clean Energy Startups in Massachusetts; Renewable Energy Fund Would Be Slashed”
Axcelis Again Spurns Sumitomo
The board of Axcelis Technologies, the Beverly, MA-based maker of specialized semiconductor manufacturing equipment, continued evasive maneuvers today in its struggle to avoid a takeover by Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Heavy Industries. The board unanimously rejected Sumitomo’s increased bid of $6.00 per share—up from $5.20 per share in its original, unsolicited bid in early February—as insufficient. … Continue reading “Axcelis Again Spurns Sumitomo”
Luminus Devices Aglow With $72 Million in New Financing
When these guys say they’re looking to expand they ain’t kidding. Luminus Devices of Billerica, MA, said a few months ago that it was working to build its LED business beyond TV and display applications and into the general illumination market; a deal with Arizona’s Avnet Electronics Marketing, inked a few weeks ago, marked an … Continue reading “Luminus Devices Aglow With $72 Million in New Financing”
GreenFuel Strikes A Deal, Sirtris Teams with Bayer on Crops, Salient Files for an IPO, & More Deals News
A new IPO filing, a few solid venture financings, and a decent assortment of new partnerships… Dare we call it an uptick it dealmaking? You be the judge. —GreenFuel Technologies, a Cambridge, MA firm developing algae-based fuel-production systems, struck a deal worth up to $92 million to build a plant in Europe. It’s an important … Continue reading “GreenFuel Strikes A Deal, Sirtris Teams with Bayer on Crops, Salient Files for an IPO, & More Deals News”
What’s the Big Idea?
The other day a friend of mine asked, “What technology do you think will have the greatest impact on our lives over the next 10 years?” I thought this was a great question. I’m in the habit of thinking about technology evolution in terms of four or five years, so ten years allows for two … Continue reading “What’s the Big Idea?”
IDG Ventures Boston is Now Flybridge Capital Partners; Clearing Up “Brand Confusion”
Update, 4/18/08: Boston Globe columnist Scott Kirsner spoke with Greeley and with IDG’s Pat McGovern and got more background information about the name change and Flybridge’s new direction. — Local early stage venture capital firm IDG Ventures Boston has a new name and twice as much money to put behind it. The company announced today … Continue reading “IDG Ventures Boston is Now Flybridge Capital Partners; Clearing Up “Brand Confusion””
Luminus Devices, Inc. Receives $25,000,000 Series E Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3807bd32-4d9f-4d6e-8bd5-8e56006400f5&Preview=1 Date 3/17/2008 Company Name Luminus Devices, Inc. Mailing Address 1100 Technology Park Drive, Unit 2 Billerica, MA 01821 Company Description Luminus Devices develops and manufactures innovative, high-power, solid state lighting solutions for high-definition televisions and other display products. Its patented PhlatLight™ (Photonic Lattice) technology and manufacturing processes deliver a new level … Continue reading “Luminus Devices, Inc. Receives $25,000,000 Series E Funding”
Endeca Technologies Inc. Obtains $25,000,000 Series F Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=079ba91f-29e5-47c0-be68-cd1dd073c991&Preview=1 Date 3/17/2008 Company Name Endeca Technologies Inc. Mailing Address 101 Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142 Company Description The Endeca Information Access Platform aids information-based problem solving across a wide variety of business processes, including eCommerce, marketing campaign analysis, product design and parts reuse, knowledge management, customer service, and more. To meet … Continue reading “Endeca Technologies Inc. Obtains $25,000,000 Series F Financing”
BMC Software, Inc. Acquires BladeLogic Inc. for $800,000,000
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c8814c78-8f71-427f-b10f-b6aff7de8419&Preview=1 Date 3/17/2008 Company Name BladeLogic Inc. Mailing Address 10 Maguire Road Lexington, MA 02421 Company Description BladeLogic was founded by industry veterans who understood these problems first-hand given their experience in directly managing highly complex, globally-distributed computing environments, including eleven data centers on four different continents. Website http://www.bladelogic.com/ Transaction Type M&A … Continue reading “BMC Software, Inc. Acquires BladeLogic Inc. for $800,000,000”
Recodagen Secures New Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d23b0ea4-0af9-4fb7-8b32-ce01c0b119f4&Preview=1 Date 3/17/2008 Company Name Recodagen Mailing Address 1616 Eastlake Ave. E. Seattle, WA 98102 Company Description The company is developing treatments for cancerous solid tumors. Website Undisclosed Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. M&A Terms Venture Investor Undisclosed
Aprigo, Inc. Garners $3,000,000 Series A Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e59e0add-ef61-4e2d-8ba7-bade1d8719b9&Preview=1 Date 3/16/2008 Company Name Aprigo, Inc. Mailing Address 460 Totten Pond Road Waltham, MA 02451 Company Description Aprigo is all about solving data management issues with a different kind of thinking. We’re exploring SaaS and data management from a new perspective, with a fresh approach, not bound by conventional thinking. Website … Continue reading “Aprigo, Inc. Garners $3,000,000 Series A Funding”
Surrge Travels from Boston to Austin to Launch New Music Referral Service; Taste Makers Can Earn Serious Money
I must be the only Web journalist who did not go to Austin, TX, for South by Southwest, the music, film, and interactive-technology festival that dominated the Twittersphere this week. But as fate would have it, I got my SXSW story anyway. It’s about a Boston startup that’s renting out the Dirty Dog Bar in … Continue reading “Surrge Travels from Boston to Austin to Launch New Music Referral Service; Taste Makers Can Earn Serious Money”
GreenFuel Snags $92 Million Deal To Build European Algae Fuel Plant
GreenFuel Technologies seems to be continuing its rebound under interim CEO Bob Metcalfe. The Cambridge, MA, alternative energy company has reached an agreement—worth up to some $92 million—to build an algae-based fuel plant in Europe, according to sources close to the firm. What makes the deal even more interesting is that it was reportedly negotiated … Continue reading “GreenFuel Snags $92 Million Deal To Build European Algae Fuel Plant”
Diomed Files for Bankruptcy, Plans Sale
Minimally invasive medicine firm Diomed (AMEX: [[ticker:DIO]]) of Andover, MA, has filed for bankruptcy, the company announced today. The firm intends to sell some of its operating assets for between $6 million and $7 million to a German medical laser manufacturer, Biolitec, which would continue to operate Diomed’s business in the United States. Diomed expects … Continue reading “Diomed Files for Bankruptcy, Plans Sale”
Nantero’s Carbon-Nanotube-Based Chips Could Outdo Other Types of Computer Memory
Instant-on computers. Laptops that eat up less battery power. Cell phones that store a selection of movies. Those are the benefits Nantero hopes to bring to consumers by creating a new type of computer memory that combines the speed and density of SRAM and DRAM chips with the permanent storage capacity of flash memory. The … Continue reading “Nantero’s Carbon-Nanotube-Based Chips Could Outdo Other Types of Computer Memory”
Harvard Says Computers Were Breached
Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, announced this week that hackers infiltrated computers containing student admissions and housing data for the university’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The extent of the data loss, which was discovered in mid-February, has not been determined, but the intruders may have gained access to names, Social Security numbers, dates … Continue reading “Harvard Says Computers Were Breached”
Bain Leads $8.6 Million Investment in Internet Radio Advertising System
Boston’s Bain Capital Ventures is the lead investor in n $8.6 million Series B funding round announced today for New York, NY-based TargetSpot, which helps advertisers create and place ads on streaming Internet radio stations. The company, launched less than a year ago, gives advertisers access to over 500 Internet radio channels, including many owned … Continue reading “Bain Leads $8.6 Million Investment in Internet Radio Advertising System”
WorldWinner Helps Keep Boston in the Game of Casual Games
Poor Flo. She’s the only hostess at the diner. So she has to seat the people coming in the door, serve them coffee, take their orders, seat more people, serve the first table’s order, pour more coffee, take more orders, seat more people before they get impatient, take dessert orders, clear tables…and, if she’s lucky, … Continue reading “WorldWinner Helps Keep Boston in the Game of Casual Games”
Hydra Biosciences Feeling No Pain, Thanks to $34 Million From Advanced Technology Ventures And Others
Cambridge, MA-based Hydra Biosciences has closed a $34 million Series C funding round, the company said today. The round, led by Advanced Technology Ventures and joined by Polaris Venture Partners, BioVentures Investors, Abingworth, Lilly Ventures, and New Enterprise Associates, brings the firm’s total raised to date to over $63 million. Hydra was founded in 2001 … Continue reading “Hydra Biosciences Feeling No Pain, Thanks to $34 Million From Advanced Technology Ventures And Others”
Surgical Equipment Maker Salient Files for IPO
A Dover, NH, company with a new way to seal blood vessels during surgery has filed for an initial public offering. Salient Surgical Technologies submitted the paperwork for an IPO to the Securities and Exchange Commission today, but didn’t disclose details of how many shares it plans to offer or how much money it hopes … Continue reading “Surgical Equipment Maker Salient Files for IPO”
What Recession? Region’s IT Economy is Booming
The U.S. economy’s seeming slide toward recession hasn’t affected high-tech hiring in the Massachusetts region, the Boston Globe‘s Robert Weisman is reporting this morning. That parallels what we learned back in December, when we wrote about the out-and-out talent crunch many local high-tech firms are confronting, especially when it comes to hiring experienced software engineers. … Continue reading “What Recession? Region’s IT Economy is Booming”
How Much Buzz Do You Generate? Traackr Can Tell
What makes YouTube and other sites that aggregate user-generated content such a brilliant business proposition? It’s that users upload millions of videos, photos, and other content every week, creating mountains of inventory that the sites can sell to advertisers—and the sites don’t have to pay a rupee for any of it. But there’s a company … Continue reading “How Much Buzz Do You Generate? Traackr Can Tell”
Hydra Biosciences Obtains $17,016,100 Series C Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=eef20686-50dd-4de8-abe3-8efe6e58aeba&Preview=1 Date 3/13/2008 Company Name Hydra Biosciences Mailing Address 790 Memorial Drive Cambridge, MA 02139 Company Description Hydra Biosciences is a biopharmaceutical company developing molecular regeneration medicines, novel cardiovascular therapies and drugs targeting novel ion channels. Website http://www.hydrabiosciences.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $17,016,100 Transaction Round Series C Proceeds Purposes Proceeds … Continue reading “Hydra Biosciences Obtains $17,016,100 Series C Round”
Straitshot Communications, Inc. Receives $3,000,000 Series C Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f556f2d8-5185-4919-9725-a37c8fa5a59a&Preview=1 Date 3/13/2008 Company Name Straitshot Communications, Inc. Mailing Address 330 112th Ave NE Bellevue, WA 98004-5800 Company Description Straitshot was founded by industry veterans who saw the compromises their customers were forced to make: choose between the high cost of legacy private networks or sacrifice performance and security in order to … Continue reading “Straitshot Communications, Inc. Receives $3,000,000 Series C Round”
Highland Buys City Sports
Highland Capital Partners’ Consumer Fund, which Xconomy profiled here, has acquired—and made a strategic growth equity investment in—Boston-born athletic retailer City Sports, which currently operates 14 stores along the east coast. No financial terms were disclosed, but City Sports founder and CEO Mike Kennedy said in a statement today that Highland “will be instrumental as … Continue reading “Highland Buys City Sports”
Helium Marketplace Officially Afloat
Andover, MA-based citizen journalism site Helium officially launched a crowdsourcing service called Helium Marketplace today. Using the marketplace, publishers who need articles written can list subjects, deadlines, and prices, and writers can respond by uploading drafts. The user community rates the articles, and publishers select the ones they want from a rank-ordered list, with Helium … Continue reading “Helium Marketplace Officially Afloat”
Sirtris Returns to Its “Roots” in Crop Deal with Bayer
News arriving in my inbox from Cambridge, MA-based Sirtris Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SIRT]]) this morning caused a double-take: the company known for researching drugs that may treat diabetes and cancer by mimicking the effects of calorie restriction is licensing a portion of its technology to Bayer CropScience AG, the German agricultural biotech giant. For a moment, … Continue reading “Sirtris Returns to Its “Roots” in Crop Deal with Bayer”
Mello RNAi Firm RXi Pharmaceuticals Has Wild Ride on First Day of Trading
Shares of Worcester, MA-based RXi Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RXII]]) hopped on a bit of a roller coaster this morning when the company—which was spun out of Los Angeles’ CytRx to develop RNAi-based treatments for human diseases—made its debut on the NASDAQ Capital Market. After being distributed to CytRx shareholders last night, the stock began trading at … Continue reading “Mello RNAi Firm RXi Pharmaceuticals Has Wild Ride on First Day of Trading”
Afferent’s Approach to Stroke Rehab Is a Noisy One
You’ve just had a stroke. Your left arm is mostly useless. The doctors tell you to go get some physical therapy, so every day you head off to the local physical therapy office for 3 hours of strength training and stretching designed to put you back on top.Realistic story—so far. But if the 8 employees … Continue reading “Afferent’s Approach to Stroke Rehab Is a Noisy One”
Exact Sciences Makes the List, Curis and Alkermes Get Dropped, Patent Reform Sparks Debate, & More Life Sciences News
Well, it’s our second installment of Life Sciences Wednesday, and once again the week has seen a relative dearth of financings and stock offerings. Still plenty of news to report from the sector, though. —Curis (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CRIS]]) and Alkermes (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALKS]]), both of Cambridge, MA, both had pharma partners pull out of large drug-development agreements. … Continue reading “Exact Sciences Makes the List, Curis and Alkermes Get Dropped, Patent Reform Sparks Debate, & More Life Sciences News”