Xconomy – Page 1277 – Business, Life Sciences, and Technology News

Kiva’s Robots Bring New Meaning to Movable Shelves

News coming across the wire yesterday from Kiva Systems in Woburn caught my eye. Not so much for the news itself, which is about a routine corporate partnership, but because I had just learned about the company’s incredibly cool little robots the night before. Kiva is the best kind of startup: one built around soothing … Continue reading “Kiva’s Robots Bring New Meaning to Movable Shelves”

Xcellerex Raises $31 Million in a New Round of Venture Financing; Aims to Accelerate Biologics Production

Biomanufacturing of vaccines, protein-based drugs, and other biomolecules is a notoriously tricky endeavor—especially when it comes to scaling up production—so it would stand to reason that commercializing technology to simplify the process would be an attractive business model. That logic seems to be holding true for Marlborough, MA’s Xcellerex, which announced today that it has … Continue reading “Xcellerex Raises $31 Million in a New Round of Venture Financing; Aims to Accelerate Biologics Production”

STEM Summit IV: Accelerating Forward

No, this isn’t another stem-cell conference. It’s a forum for leaders of K-12 and higher education institutions, businesses, community groups, and state and local policy makers to discuss the state of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in Massachusetts. The state isn’t graduating enough students to fill the open STEM workforce positions, and the … Continue reading “STEM Summit IV: Accelerating Forward”

What Does It Take to Build a Billion-Dollar Company in New England?

It was only slightly colder in Vermont than in Boston. A small group of us had just flown in to Rutland, then taken a minivan to The Equinox, an historic resort in the picturesque town of Manchester Village. The group included well-known Boston area entrepreneur and Sycamore Networks co-founder Desh Deshpande; Jerry Fishman, CEO of … Continue reading “What Does It Take to Build a Billion-Dollar Company in New England?”

Xcellerex, Inc. Secures $31,000,000 Series C Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=6b79608f-e83c-48cb-942f-c2003e45e456&Preview=1 Date 10/11/2007 Company Name Xcellerex, Inc. Mailing Address 170 Locke Drive Marlborough, MA 01752 Company Description Xcellerex is revolutionizing the way biomolecules are developed, manufactured and commercialized. Xcellerex is built around a unique biomanufacturing platform that features the innovative application of single-use component technology. Website http://www.xcellerex.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “Xcellerex, Inc. Secures $31,000,000 Series C Funding Round”

Glaxo Grabs Synta Melanoma Drug in Deal Worth up to $1.1 Billion

Yes, that’s $1.1 billion. GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) leapt at STA-4783 just a couple of weeks after Lexington, MA-based Synta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SNTA) presented some promising news about the experimental drug at a European cancer meeting. Adding STA-4783 to standard chemotherapy more than doubled the survival time in a Phase 2b trial in patients with metastatic … Continue reading “Glaxo Grabs Synta Melanoma Drug in Deal Worth up to $1.1 Billion”

Targanta Stumbles As Stock Begins Trading

Cambridge biopharmaceutical company Targanta Therapeutics staggered out of the blocks as its stock made its public debut today. The company (NASDAQ: TARG), which is focused on developing antibiotics to combat serious infections, opened at $10 per share and at just before 2:30 p.m. was limping along at $9.51 (down about 5 percent), not too far … Continue reading “Targanta Stumbles As Stock Begins Trading”

Bionenvision-Genzyme Petition

Read our story on Bioenvision and Genzyme’s petition to reopen voting on their proposed merger.

Genzyme and Bioenvision Win Court’s Permission to Reopen Voting on Troubled Merger Agreement

Am I the only one here who’s having disturbing flashbacks to November 2000? Remember those long weeks when otherwise rational people were driven to distraction trying to find an answer to the once seemingly simple question of who won the vote? We’ve been following Genzyme’s troubled bid to acquire New York-based Bioenvision for months now … Continue reading “Genzyme and Bioenvision Win Court’s Permission to Reopen Voting on Troubled Merger Agreement”

MIT $100K Competition, Ignite Clean Energy Prize Will Combine Resources

The leaders of two major New England business competitions announced today they will join forces and create a new prize to encourage faster development of the region’s clean-energy sector. Clark Waterfall, chair of the three-year-old Ignite Clean Energy Business Presentation Competition (ICE), and Jeffrey Sabados, lead organizer this year for the 18-year-old MIT $100K Entrepreneurship … Continue reading “MIT $100K Competition, Ignite Clean Energy Prize Will Combine Resources”

Bug Labs: The Open-Source Hardware Store

“We want to replace consumer electronics with community electronics.” That’s the kind of cocktail conversation we tech bloggers can’t pass up. And when I heard it from one of the folks at the bar last night, I knew I had stumbled into the right place—the Bug Labs happy hour at the Middlesex Lounge just off … Continue reading “Bug Labs: The Open-Source Hardware Store”

IRobot-Robotic FX Backgrounder: As A Key Ruling Nears, An Attempt to Clear Up Some Questions About the Case

Heat knife. Hot-plate device. Welding tool. Welding fixture. What exactly was found in the dumpster? What exactly did Jameel Ahed admit to throwing out, and what does he say might be planted? What was the point of iRobot program manager Tom Frost’s testimony? What are the main issues before the judge? I spent part of … Continue reading “IRobot-Robotic FX Backgrounder: As A Key Ruling Nears, An Attempt to Clear Up Some Questions About the Case”

MIT $100K: Elevator Pitch Contest

MIT $100K entrepreneurship competition recognizes that great ideas need to be completed by great team for successful ventures. With the Elevator Pitch Contest, the brand-new addition to the $100K competition series, inventors can test their ideas with passion during a 60-second pitch and be rewarded by eight $1000 prizes, including the soon-to-be famous “crowd favorite,” … Continue reading “MIT $100K: Elevator Pitch Contest”

Clean Perspectives: Moving Towards a Solar Economy in MA

Clean Perspectives is a series of fireside chats / networking events bringing together politicians, investors, entrepreneurs, and policy experts to discuss their visions for the future and answer questions from the community at large on Cleantech. This month’s panel will discuss technology and policy innovations on the road to a solar economy in Massachusetts. www.cleanperspectives.com

Eye-Popping $37M Financing Fuels Great Start for Optherion

The market for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) treatments is expected to balloon over the next few years as the population gets older, and plenty of people think there’s room for some billion dollar drugs there. After all, the disease is one of the main causes of blindness in older adults. That fact helped New Haven-based … Continue reading “Eye-Popping $37M Financing Fuels Great Start for Optherion”

Akamai Rolls Out Service to Speed Internet-based Applications

Cambridge-based Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM) is famous for building a global network of Web servers that cache clients’ content closer to users, speeding delivery of popular videos and other information. In the last two years, Akamai has built on that network to help speed all kinds of Web traffic, including the information exchanged via Web-based software … Continue reading “Akamai Rolls Out Service to Speed Internet-based Applications”

The Integration of Engineering and Cancer Biology

This morning, MIT announced the creation of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. David Koch, a co-owner of Koch Industries with his brother Charles (both are graduates of MIT), made a very generous gift to the university to establish the new Institute. The word “Integrative” in the name of the Koch Institute … Continue reading “The Integration of Engineering and Cancer Biology”

A Visit to Boston’s Own Robot-Plane Skunk Works

Unbeknownst to the lunch crowds who fill the streets around the Cambridge Marriott every weekday, Kendall Square has its very own Area 51: a mini-aircraft hangar on the fourteenth floor of One Broadway. Part of the newly opened R&D outpost of Manassas, VA-based Aurora Flight Sciences, the space is used to test unpiloted machines such … Continue reading “A Visit to Boston’s Own Robot-Plane Skunk Works”

The Great Elevator Pitch Competition: You Have 60 Seconds to Convince Me to Give You a Million Dollars (or $10 Million)

It was a good crowd, probably close to 130 people, that piled into Kirsch Auditorium at MIT’s Stata Center on Monday night. Four brave students were there to stand in front of them, each with only 60 seconds to pitch their business idea. Talk about pressure. And to add to their angst, the students had … Continue reading “The Great Elevator Pitch Competition: You Have 60 Seconds to Convince Me to Give You a Million Dollars (or $10 Million)”

AT&T Goes Shopping in MA, Adobe Does Same, Memsic Files for an IPO, and More

What better way to spend a holiday Monday than catching up on last week’s news? Here are the highlights: —In acquisition news, AT&T announced it had reached an agreement to acquire Cambridge, MA-based Interwise for roughly $121 million in cash. Interwise offers voice, Web, and video conferencing services on a fixed price/unlimited usage basis. The … Continue reading “AT&T Goes Shopping in MA, Adobe Does Same, Memsic Files for an IPO, and More”

Still No Conclusion to Genzyme-Bioenvision Saga

A special meeting of Bioenvision shareholders, continued from yesterday, was adjourned once again this afternoon with no final word on whether or not the shareholders had approved Genzyme’s bid to acquire the New York-based biotech. The meeting was originally convened yesterday so that Bioenvision (NASDAQ: BIVN) shareholders could vote on Cambridge-based Genzyme’s (NASDAQ: GENZ) much-debated … Continue reading “Still No Conclusion to Genzyme-Bioenvision Saga”

MyPunchbowl, the Web 2.0 Route to Planning Your Next Party, Closes Seed Round

If you grew up on reruns of the Mary Tyler Moore show, as I did, you might remember the running joke about Mary’s parties, which always turned into disasters. Well, if Mary had had a tool like MyPunchbowl, she might have had better luck. This quintessential Web 2.0 service, launched in January by Natick, MA-based … Continue reading “MyPunchbowl, the Web 2.0 Route to Planning Your Next Party, Closes Seed Round”

TetraPhase Aims to Fill the Antibiotic Pipeline—and its Executive Office

TetraPhase Pharmaceuticals, spun out of Harvard in 2006 with $25 million to develop synthetic antibiotics, reached an important corporate milestone last week: the company had its first paintball outing. Though still a startup, with 14 people in its Watertown, MA, headquarters off Arsenal Street (just behind the AutoZone), the company went through the corporate team-building … Continue reading “TetraPhase Aims to Fill the Antibiotic Pipeline—and its Executive Office”

Genzyme Takeover Bid for Bioenvision Still Alive as Special Session Adjourns For the Day

With the vote on Genzyme’s takeover bid seemingly far closer than expected, shareholders of New York-based Bioenvision adjourned a special meeting today, the company announced this afternoon. The session will resume tomorrow with the outcome apparently too close to call. At issue is Cambridge-based Genzyme’s (NASDAQ: GENZ) $5.60-per-share offering price for Bioenvision (NASDAQ: BIVN). That … Continue reading “Genzyme Takeover Bid for Bioenvision Still Alive as Special Session Adjourns For the Day”

EMC Confirms Its Rumored Acquisition of Mozy, Will Keep Consumer Backup Service

EMC today confirmed the widely reported speculation that it had acquired privately held Utah-based Berkeley Data Systems, which operates the online-backup service Mozy. Terms of the deal were not announced. However, last month the tech blog TechCrunch broke the news of the impending acquisition and pegged the price at $76 million. Mozy is a nice … Continue reading “EMC Confirms Its Rumored Acquisition of Mozy, Will Keep Consumer Backup Service”

RNAi Firms Find a New Rival (and Partner) in an Old Technology

What? Can antisense possibly be hot again? Many people wondered if the decades-old RNA-targeting approach to drug development was even still alive. But look again. Recent events show antisense isn’t just hanging in there; its products might actually beat their much-ballyhooed RNAi-based rivals (from the likes of firms like Cambridge’s Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Worcester’s RXi … Continue reading “RNAi Firms Find a New Rival (and Partner) in an Old Technology”

Robots Drive Around Courtroom—But Still No Decision As Witness Testimony Ends in IRobot-Robotic FX Case

As 29-year-old Jameel Ahed steered from a remote control perched on the judge’s bench, the two-foot-long Negotiator robot careened across the olive-green carpet, swiveled its electronic eye around the courtroom, and reared up on its hind wheels. “This could get your exhibits for you,” Ahed remarked to the judge. “I’m sure it could,” Judge Nancy … Continue reading “Robots Drive Around Courtroom—But Still No Decision As Witness Testimony Ends in IRobot-Robotic FX Case”

Constant Contact Completes $107 Million IPO; Shares Up $10 Out of the Gate

Shares of Waltham, MA-based Constant Contact (NASDAQ: CTCT) jumped $10 out of the blocks, opening trading around 11:30 this morning at $26 per share. The e-mail marketing firm yesterday priced its 6.7 million-share offering (with some 870,000 of the shares coming from stockholders) at $16 per share, which itself was up from the $12 to … Continue reading “Constant Contact Completes $107 Million IPO; Shares Up $10 Out of the Gate”

State Ethics Group Pushes Investigation of Biotech Council Head

A formal investigation has been launched into the actions of recently named Massachusetts Biotechnology Council president Robert Coughlin, the Boston Globe reports today. The question at issue is whether Coughlin violated Massachusetts conflict-of-interest laws when he started discussing the council job while still working as the state’s undersecretary of economic development and playing a major … Continue reading “State Ethics Group Pushes Investigation of Biotech Council Head”

CoreStreet Smarts: How to Put a Smart Card Lock on Every Office Door

Many modern office buildings have smart-card-based electronic locking systems, where users wave their cards over an RFID sensor panel that checks the IDs on the cards against a central database. But this security layer usually stops at the front entrance. Installing the wiring for the access-control panels needed to make individual offices secure can cost … Continue reading “CoreStreet Smarts: How to Put a Smart Card Lock on Every Office Door”

ViaCell Shares Soar on News of $300 Million Acquisition Deal with PerkinElmer

Shares of Cambridge, MA-based ViaCell (NASDAQ: VIAC) jumped more than 50 percent from yesterday’s close on the late-afternoon news that the company has reached a $300 million agreement to be acquired by Waltham’s PerkinElmer (NYSE: PKI). For PerkinElmer, a $1.55 billion multinational company known as a major manufacturer of scientific and medical equipment, the deal … Continue reading “ViaCell Shares Soar on News of $300 Million Acquisition Deal with PerkinElmer”

Cars Gone Wild: Acton Company Looks Beyond Cable, Puts Automotive Video on Internet, Mobile Phones

Say you’ve developed hundreds of hours of video content for a new cable TV channel about Americans’ love affair with their automobiles. Then one day the cable network calls up to say “Oops, we’re out of bandwidth—it’s been eaten up by high-definition and video-on-demand and we can’t add any more TV channels.” What do you … Continue reading “Cars Gone Wild: Acton Company Looks Beyond Cable, Puts Automotive Video on Internet, Mobile Phones”

Sermo CEO Offers Answers to Xconomy Readers’ Questions About Privacy

I don’t know what you did this past weekend, but I spent a lot of mine watching the virtual fur fly in the comments section of my post from last week about Sermo, the password-protected social network for physicians run by the Kendall Square startup of the same name. That story had focused on Sermo … Continue reading “Sermo CEO Offers Answers to Xconomy Readers’ Questions About Privacy”

Punchbowl Software, Inc. Lands New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9749adff-0c86-4aa1-9247-857edf703581&Preview=1 Date 10/2/2007 Company Name Punchbowl Software, Inc. Mailing Address 873 Concord Street Framingham, MA 01701 Company Description At Punchbowl Software, we believe that planning an event or party should be enjoyable and easy. Website http://www.mypunchbowl.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes “Intel Capital, with its … Continue reading “Punchbowl Software, Inc. Lands New Financing”

Sipera Systems Secures $10,000,000 Series C Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=9d65e6bb-fc3b-4cc3-8eb2-e19d1db2d3da&Preview=1 Date 10/2/2007 Company Name Sipera Systems Mailing Address 1900 Firman Drive Richardson, TX 75081 Company Description Sipera is developing security software for Voice over Internet Protocol networks — VoIP for short — meaning data networks, including the Internet, that can carry phone calls. Website http://www.sipera.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount … Continue reading “Sipera Systems Secures $10,000,000 Series C Round”

Slow Progress But High Stakes in iRobot–Robotic FX Tangle

Hearings in iRobot‘s Massachusetts lawsuit against Illinois rival Robotic FX lurched forward a few steps today, with both sides scoring minor points. But key issues in the case—in which iRobot is accusing Robotic FX and its founder, Jameel Ahed, of misappropriation and misuse of confidential information related to iRobot’s Packbot military robot—remained undecided as Federal … Continue reading “Slow Progress But High Stakes in iRobot–Robotic FX Tangle”

Konarka Garners $45 Million in Financing—Prepares To Bring “Power Plastic” to Market

Konarka Technologies, a Lowell, MA, maker of nanotech-based solar materials, announced today that it had secured $45 million in private funding intended to accelerate development and commercialization of its organic photovoltaic products. Konarka’s materials, which convert light to electricity, are aimed at providing low-cost, renewable sources of power for everything from cell phone chargers to … Continue reading “Konarka Garners $45 Million in Financing—Prepares To Bring “Power Plastic” to Market”

Potentially Planted Evidence, Memory Lapses, and Unwanted Memorabilia: the Latest from the IRobot-Robotic FX Files

A feeling of being followed. A mysterious memory lapse. Beating U.S. Marshals to the scene of a search. Hints of a tampered-with car trunk and planted evidence. A company using a former employee (and potential competitor) as a consultant, perhaps without making him sign a confidentiality agreement. It just seems to get wilder and wilder. … Continue reading “Potentially Planted Evidence, Memory Lapses, and Unwanted Memorabilia: the Latest from the IRobot-Robotic FX Files”

Mixed Feelings About “The Funded”

Am interested to hear what people think about this website (www.thefunded.com) where entrepreneurs rank venture funds. I like the concept of shifting the power dynamic and keeping venture funds on their toes but I have a few issues with the execution. My biggest problem is that there doesn’t appear to be any objective quality-control mechanism. … Continue reading “Mixed Feelings About “The Funded””

Coalition of Boston Libraries Chooses the Un-Google Route to Digitization

If there’s one thing New England has in great supply, it’s books. And that makes the area one of the battlegrounds in the digital library wars—the competition between commercial entities such as Google and Microsoft and non-profit groups such as the Internet Archive to secure agreements to scan, digitize, and distribute the world’s print literature. … Continue reading “Coalition of Boston Libraries Chooses the Un-Google Route to Digitization”

Novartis-MIT Center Aims To Transform Drug-Manufacturing Process

Strengthening the ties to the world-class university science that spurred it to move its global research operations to Cambridge five years ago, pharmaceutical maker Novartis (NYSE: NVS) announced today that it has formed a 10-year, $65 million partnership with MIT. The funding will be used to create a new center aimed at transforming the way … Continue reading “Novartis-MIT Center Aims To Transform Drug-Manufacturing Process”

Can ToleRx Escape the Autoimmunity-Drug-Development Deathtrap?

“Like does not like like that is obnoxious.” Poet Marianne Moore wasn’t thinking of autoimmune diseases when she penned this line but it memorably captures the strife behind them—when our immune cells see their cellular kin as obnoxious, all hell breaks loose. Still, our immune systems are teachable. Early in life they learn to tolerate … Continue reading “Can ToleRx Escape the Autoimmunity-Drug-Development Deathtrap?”

Genzyme to Bioenvision Board: Acquisition Offer Price Will Not be Raised

With shareholders of New York-based Bioenvision (NASDAQ: BIVN) set to vote in one week on a controversial proposed merger with Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ), the Cambridge, MA-based biotech giant reiterated today that it would not raise its offer for shares of the New York firm. In a letter to the Bioenvision board, Genzyme President Mark J. … Continue reading “Genzyme to Bioenvision Board: Acquisition Offer Price Will Not be Raised”

Roomba With a View: iRobot Launches Webcam-Carrying Robot and $99 Gutter Cleaner

Recent headlines about Burlington, MA-based iRobot have all focused on the robot maker’s legal tangle with Robotic FX, which beat it out for a $279.9 million defense contract but is now in court defending against iRobot’s accusations of patent infringement and industrial espionage. Hearings in that case have been continued until Monday, when we’ll bring … Continue reading “Roomba With a View: iRobot Launches Webcam-Carrying Robot and $99 Gutter Cleaner”

U.S. Cleantech Venture Deals Soar; A123 Tops New England List

U.S. venture capital firms poured money into clean technology startups in the first half of 2007, investing $892.6 million in 71 deals, a 70 percent jump from the $525 million put into 46 deals a year earlier, according to a report released yesterday by Dow Jones VentureOne and Ernst & Young. The funding surge helped … Continue reading “U.S. Cleantech Venture Deals Soar; A123 Tops New England List”

As Facebook Becomes the New Face of the Web, Boston-Area Startups Pitch In

In three years, Facebook has grown from a project in a Harvard dorm room to the seventh-most-trafficked site on the Web. Three years from now, if the company succeeds with its strategy to cultivate Facebook versions of typical Internet applications from e-mail and photo-sharing to games and music playlists, Facebook will be the Web, or … Continue reading “As Facebook Becomes the New Face of the Web, Boston-Area Startups Pitch In”

Targanta Therapeutics Sets IPO Terms—Could Make for Nice Comeback for Firm’s CEO

Targanta Therapeutics, a Cambridge biopharmaceutical company focused on developing antibiotics to combat serious infections, today set the terms of its impending IPO, announcing plans to sell 5.75 million shares of common stock at between $12 and $14 a share. In the mid-range of the pricing, after commissions, discounts, and other expenses, the company said it … Continue reading “Targanta Therapeutics Sets IPO Terms—Could Make for Nice Comeback for Firm’s CEO”