Vojislav Vukovic has joined Aileron Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALRN]]) to serve as the Watertown, MA, company’s chief medical officer. He succeeds Manual Aivado, who was promoted to CEO in September. Vukovic was most recently chief medical officer of Taiho Oncology. Aileron is testing its lead drug candidate, ALRN-6924, in multiple clinical trials as a treatment for … Continue reading “Aileron Therapeutics Names Vojislav Vukovic Chief Medical Officer”
Mitek Systems Rejects ASG’s $380M Takeover Bid
Mitek Systems, which is being targeted for takeover by a subsidiary of Elliott, billionaire Paul Singer’s activist hedge fund, has unanimously rejected its $380 million offer. The Oct. 31 offer—rejected Monday—was made by ASG Technologies Group, a Florida-based software company that last year sold a controlling stake to Evergreen Coast Capital, Elliott’s Menlo Park, CA, … Continue reading “Mitek Systems Rejects ASG’s $380M Takeover Bid”
Amazon Reportedly Picks HQ2 City—and, in Surprise, Another for HQ3
Amazon is reportedly choosing two cities, not one, for its second headquarters, according to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Amazon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMZN]]) is working on a deal to move into both the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in New York City and the Crystal City neighborhood of … Continue reading “Amazon Reportedly Picks HQ2 City—and, in Surprise, Another for HQ3”
ResMed to Add to Software Offerings with $750M MatrixCare Acquisition
Medical device maker ResMed has agreed to acquire Minnesota-based MatrixCare, which makes software for long-term care providers, for $750 million. San Diego’s ResMed (NYSE: [[ticker:RMD]]) announced its intention to buy the privately held tech company on Monday. The purchase price is 25 times MatrixCare’s pro forma 2018 earnings of about $30 million (without taking into … Continue reading “ResMed to Add to Software Offerings with $750M MatrixCare Acquisition”
Esperanto Reaps $58M to Speed Development of Its AI Chip
Esperanto Technologies, a startup AI chip developer that has operated mostly below the radar since its founding in 2014, announced this week that it raised $58 million in a Series B fundraising round. Mountain View, CA-based Esperanto is vying with a host of competitors to create new processors for high-order tasks like machine learning and … Continue reading “Esperanto Reaps $58M to Speed Development of Its AI Chip”
Eli Lilly Commits $40M to NextCure in Hunt for New Cancer Drugs
Eli Lilly hasn’t been shy about making deals to build up its cancer immunotherapy pipeline, and its latest one is with NextCure, a biotech with technology that finds molecular targets to drive an immune response to tumors. The Indianapolis pharmaceutical giant is paying privately held NextCure $25 million up front in the alliance, which was … Continue reading “Eli Lilly Commits $40M to NextCure in Hunt for New Cancer Drugs”
Amgen’s Gabriel Vargas Joins CuraSen as Chief Medical Officer
Gabriel Vargas has been appointed chief medical officer of San Mateo, CA-based CuraSen Therapeutics. Vargas was most recently executive medical director, digital health and neuroscience therapeutic area head for early development at Amgen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMGN]]). Last month, CuraSen closed a $54 million Series A round of financing to support its development of small molecule drugs … Continue reading “Amgen’s Gabriel Vargas Joins CuraSen as Chief Medical Officer”
PhageNova Bio Appoints Renata Pasqualini Chief Scientific Officer
Renata Pasqualini has been named chief scientific officer of New York-based PhageNova Bio. Pasqualini is a founder of the company, which recently changed its name from AAVP Biosystems. She is a professor and the chief of the division of cancer biology in the department of radiation oncology at the Rutgers Cancer Institute. Preclinical-stage PhageBio is … Continue reading “PhageNova Bio Appoints Renata Pasqualini Chief Scientific Officer”
DriverReach Hopes to Move Trucking Industry Forward with Hiring App
Artificial intelligence and automation are helping legacy industries across the country become more innovative and efficient. An Indianapolis startup called DriverReach is doing just that for the trucking industry, where driver shortages have been plaguing logistics operations, says founder and CEO Jeremy Reymer. He started the company in 2016 to help trucking companies conquer the … Continue reading “DriverReach Hopes to Move Trucking Industry Forward with Hiring App”
Amgen Picks Provention to Continue Development of Celiac Disease Drug
For the second time in three years, Amgen is turning to a smaller biotech to continue clinical development of an experimental celiac disease drug that was developed in its labs. Under a deal announced Monday, Provention Bio (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PRVB]]) will license the Amgen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AMGN]]) drug, AMG714, and test it in a mid-stage study. Amgen … Continue reading “Amgen Picks Provention to Continue Development of Celiac Disease Drug”
Broadcom to Sell Veracode for $950M After $19B CA Technologies Deal
Broadcom is selling application security testing business Veracode for $950 million to private equity firm Thoma Bravo. Broadcom gained Veracode as a part of its blockbuster acquisition of CA Technologies. Broadcom (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AVGO]]) announced in June it would acquire CA Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CA]]) for $18.9 billion, and announced today it has completed that deal. New … Continue reading “Broadcom to Sell Veracode for $950M After $19B CA Technologies Deal”
MEI Pharma Inks Cancer Drug Deal with Japan’s Kyowa Hakko Kirin
The second-most advanced investigational drug in MEI Pharma’s four-asset portfolio is drawing attention from overseas as a potential treatment for several leukemias and lymphomas. Japanese life sciences company Kyowa Hakko Kirin has agreed to pay the San Diego company $10 million upfront for rights to develop and commercialize ME-401 in Japan. The Japanese company will … Continue reading “MEI Pharma Inks Cancer Drug Deal with Japan’s Kyowa Hakko Kirin”
“Don’t Go Nuts With This”: Tech CEOs on What $100M Can Buy
So, your long-scrappy tech startup cashed a nine-figure check from a gaggle of venture capital types. What now? Launch a hiring spree? Land a beachhead in Europe? Squirrel some away for a rainy day? Build all the features into your gizmo that you always wanted (and promised to customers)? By our count, at least 14 … Continue reading ““Don’t Go Nuts With This”: Tech CEOs on What $100M Can Buy”
Win $2 Million to Solve Alzheimer’s: New Prize Will Reward Fresh Ideas
San Antonio — A Texas billionaire is funding a new competition that will give $4 million to seven individuals who present promising ideas about the cause of Alzheimer’s disease and say they’ll work to prove it. Called the Oskar Fischer Project, the program will give the grand prize winner $2 million of the total, while two … Continue reading “Win $2 Million to Solve Alzheimer’s: New Prize Will Reward Fresh Ideas”
HPE Gives $10M to UH for Joint Data Science Research Projects
The University of Houston and Hewlett Packard Enterprise on Friday announced a collaboration designed to enable advances in data science. The announcement includes a $10 million donation from the computing company to the university’s year-old Data Science Institute, which has been renamed to the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute. The donation will be used … Continue reading “HPE Gives $10M to UH for Joint Data Science Research Projects”
With FDA Panel’s Nod, First Postpartum Depression Drug Nears Approval
A panel of experts on Friday voted in favor of bringing what could be the first-ever drug approved specifically for postpartum depression to market. But should it get the expected green light from the FDA next month, how widely will the treatment, which requires a continuous, 60-hour intravenous infusion that a professional will have to … Continue reading “With FDA Panel’s Nod, First Postpartum Depression Drug Nears Approval”
Cloudbeds, a Hospitality Software Firm, Debuts New San Diego Office
Software startup Cloudbeds recently relocated its 20-odd local employees from a small space in downtown San Diego to an office nearly three times the size in the same neighborhood. The company unveiled the new digs Thursday, about a month after moving in, with a ceremonial ribbon cutting. The office in San Diego’s Bankers Hill area … Continue reading “Cloudbeds, a Hospitality Software Firm, Debuts New San Diego Office”
WI Watchlist: EatStreet, Exact Sciences, Northwestern Mutual & More
Time to catch up on some recent headlines from Wisconsin’s innovation community: —EatStreet, the Madison-based online food ordering and delivery startup, plans to expand its service to several additional Wisconsin cities and hire around 300 people in the Badger State, mostly delivery drivers, according to reports by the Wisconsin State Journal and other media outlets. … Continue reading “WI Watchlist: EatStreet, Exact Sciences, Northwestern Mutual & More”
Scale Computing Snags $34.8M to Advance “Alternative” IT Platform
Scale Computing, an Indianapolis IT startup serving smaller businesses, distributed enterprises, and retailers around the world, has raised $34.8 million in a Series F funding round. Co-founder and CEO Jeff Ready says technology hardware giant Lenovo was the largest contributor to the round, which included participation from Allos Ventures and unspecified “existing investors.” Since the … Continue reading “Scale Computing Snags $34.8M to Advance “Alternative” IT Platform”
Boston Tech Watch: CIC, Zylotech, Freebird, Mavrck, Sheprd
Venture funding rounds, a co-working center opening, and a shuttered ride-sharing service marked the Boston-area technology news this week. Read on for more. —Freebird, a Cambridge, MA-based flight re-booking service, brought in $8 million in new funds to accelerate growth in its main corporate travel market. The Series A investment was led by American Express … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: CIC, Zylotech, Freebird, Mavrck, Sheprd”
Bio Roundup: Depression Drug Dashed, Peek at ASH, CRISPR Worry & More
The gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 is opening up new research avenues all the time, such as giving drug developers a cheaper, faster way to knock out genes in tumor cells. Studies of CRISPR-Cas9 to treat human disease are about to start, too. But will our immune systems, already on alert for common infections by the bacteria … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Depression Drug Dashed, Peek at ASH, CRISPR Worry & More”
Scaleworks Sells Source Code Manager Assembla to Houston’s Idera
San Antonio—Scaleworks business Assembla has sold for an undisclosed price to Houston-based Idera, a company that owns various business-to-business, developer-focused software companies. San Antonio-based Assembla sells a service that helps developers access the code they use to build software, which is often stored in repository managers, such as Git, Perforce, and NextGen SVN. Assembla was … Continue reading “Scaleworks Sells Source Code Manager Assembla to Houston’s Idera”
Illumina Set to Acquire “Long-Read” DNA Sequencer PacBio for $1.2B
[Updated, 11/2/18, 11:09 a.m. ET. See below.] DNA sequencing giant Illumina is shoring up its position in genetic research through a cash deal to acquire Pacific Biosciences for approximately $1.2 billion. Under the agreement, Illumina (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ILMN]]) will pay $8 per Pacific Biosciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PACB]]) share, a 79 percent premium to the Wednesday closing stock … Continue reading “Illumina Set to Acquire “Long-Read” DNA Sequencer PacBio for $1.2B”
Cloud Leaders Shrug at IBM’s $34B Red Hat Deal
In some ways, the biggest software acquisition of all time could be a yawner. IBM’s planned $34 billion deal to acquire open-source software maker Red Hat is a hefty price to pay to give its cloud computing business a shot in the arm. But even if the purchase ultimately boosts IBM’s bottom line, some cloud … Continue reading “Cloud Leaders Shrug at IBM’s $34B Red Hat Deal”
Alkermes Depression Drug Faces Long Odds After FDA Advisors Say No
An FDA advisory panel Thursday panned a new experimental drug for depression from Alkermes, meaning the agency is likely to reject the treatment by early next year. By a 21 to 2 vote, the 23 experts decided that the data accrued by Alkermes (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALKS]]) don’t support approval of the drug, currently known as ALKS-5461. … Continue reading “Alkermes Depression Drug Faces Long Odds After FDA Advisors Say No”
No Excuses: Austin Startup Leaders Pledge to Support Voter Turnout
As Election Day nears, a group of Austin startup leaders have formed a group to encourage tech employees to vote. The ATX Startup Pledge’s mission is to “remove obstacles” that might exist, like feeling that you can’t take time away from work, that could prevent employees from going to the polls on Tuesday. But, more … Continue reading “No Excuses: Austin Startup Leaders Pledge to Support Voter Turnout”
Intellia’s Adel Nada Joins Casebia as Chief Medical Officer
Casebia Therapeutics has appointed Adel Nada to serve as its chief medical officer. He comes to Cambridge, MA-based Casebia from Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NTLA]]), where he was vice president and head of clinical development. Formed in 2016, Casebia is a joint venture between Bayer and CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CRSP]]) that is using CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing to … Continue reading “Intellia’s Adel Nada Joins Casebia as Chief Medical Officer”
Intersect ENT Appoints Christine Kowalski Chief Operations Officer
Christine Kowalski has joined Intersect ENT (NASDAQ: [[ticker:XENT]]) as chief operations officer. Kowalski most recently served as vice president of supply chain strategy at Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: [[ticker:JNJ]]). Menlo Park, CA-based Intersect had previously disclosed that chief operating officer Rich Kaufman will retire in early 2019. The company said he will work with Kowalski … Continue reading “Intersect ENT Appoints Christine Kowalski Chief Operations Officer”
Sanofi Pledges $125M to Denali in Pact for Neuro, Inflammation Drugs
Sanofi sees potential in two early-stage Denali Therapeutics drugs as a way to reduce inflammation in the brain and throughout the body, and the two companies are teaming up to develop the compounds for tough-to-treat diseases including Alzheimer’s. Under the deal, Sanofi (NYSE: [[ticker:SNY]]) will pay Denali (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNLI]]) $125 million up front. South San … Continue reading “Sanofi Pledges $125M to Denali in Pact for Neuro, Inflammation Drugs”
Small Businesses Need Digital Support, Not More Bureaucracy
It is well-known that Massachusetts is home to some of the most innovative technology firms in the country. Our state’s pro-innovation, pro-entrepreneur environment has been carefully crafted and protected through public policy, enviable access to private investment, and arguably the strongest tech talent pipeline in the country. Though proposals for stricter oversight of technology firms … Continue reading “Small Businesses Need Digital Support, Not More Bureaucracy”
Nurse Staffing Startup Gets $10.8M as Personnel Ratios Hit MA Ballot
IntelyCare, a Massachusetts-based nurse-staffing platform for long-term care, assisted living, and rehabilitation facilities, has raised $10.8 million from venture investors, less than a week before voters weigh in on a new state mandate hospital for patient-to-nurse ratios. San Francisco firm Leerink Revelation Partners led the Series A funding round and was joined by Longmeadow Capital, … Continue reading “Nurse Staffing Startup Gets $10.8M as Personnel Ratios Hit MA Ballot”
IRobot’s Roombas to Map Households for Google Smart Homes
Autonomous vehicle developers rely heavily on navigational technology that maps the complex terrain of roads, curbs, signs, and people that their cars have to thread through. Google, as it develops its smart home systems, is turning to a company that already knows how to navigate the terrain of a household—corridors, kitchens, cat beds, cast-off shoes, … Continue reading “IRobot’s Roombas to Map Households for Google Smart Homes”
To Boost Cancer Pipeline, Gilead Bets at Least $50M on Startup Tango
Gilead Sciences is paying tiny Tango Therapeutics $50 million to tap into the startup’s cancer drug program, adding to what has been so far an expensive, but not yet lucrative, foray into cancer immunotherapy for Gilead. Cambridge, MA-based Tango is still in the early phases of looking for cancer drugs by exploiting a well-known tumor … Continue reading “To Boost Cancer Pipeline, Gilead Bets at Least $50M on Startup Tango”
Twist Bioscience IPO Hauls In $70M for DNA Synthesis Technology
Synthetic biology company Twist Bioscience has joined the long list of life science firms going public this year, raising $70 million in its stock market debut. The San Francisco company sold 5 million shares at $14 apiece, which was within the $14 to $16 per share range it had targeted. After those shares started trading … Continue reading “Twist Bioscience IPO Hauls In $70M for DNA Synthesis Technology”
Teraki Using Edge Processing to Meet Exploding Data Demands of AVs
Teraki, a Berlin-based data processing and artificial intelligence company working in the mobility sector, has had a busy fall. In late September, Teraki raised a $3 million seed round from investors including Paladin Capital Group, GPS Ventures GmbH, and Deutsche Telekom’s hub:raum incubator. Earlier this month, the company announced its software would get its first commercial deployment in microcontrollers … Continue reading “Teraki Using Edge Processing to Meet Exploding Data Demands of AVs”
Sam’s Club Goes Digital, BNSF’s Electric Locomotive, & More TX Tech
Let’s get caught up with the latest innovation news from Texas. —The Texas Medical Center’s TMCx accelerator has been included in a list of best programs for the first time. With platinum status, AngelPad, StartX, and Y Combinator topped the list released by the Seed Accelerator Rankings Project. The rankings, which are in part compiled by … Continue reading “Sam’s Club Goes Digital, BNSF’s Electric Locomotive, & More TX Tech”
Moonshots, Tough Tech, and Not Falling in Love With Your Robot
Before researchers at Google’s skunkworks labs embark on a new project, they decide when to kill it. The technical and business teams set parameters for when to walk away from the “moonshot” idea to avoid being so seduced by the technology that they forget about the underlying problem it aimed to solve. “It becomes less … Continue reading “Moonshots, Tough Tech, and Not Falling in Love With Your Robot”
Orchard, Fueled by GSK’s Ex-Gene Therapy Biz, Nets $200M in IPO
GlaxoSmithKline’s former gene therapy portfolio is at the center of a $200 million IPO, among the larger biopharma offerings on Wall Street over the last several years. Orchard Therapeutics, a London, Boston, and San Francisco-based biotech, sold 14,285,715 shares in its IPO late Tuesday at $14 apiece, raising just over $200 million before discounts due … Continue reading “Orchard, Fueled by GSK’s Ex-Gene Therapy Biz, Nets $200M in IPO”
Facebook’s 3Q Growth Suffices to Stave Off Another Stock Dive
Facebook (NASDAQ: [[ticker:FB]]) shares gained nearly 3 percent Tuesday, and ticked up further in after-hours trading following the release of a third quarter earnings report that showed some strengths as well as shortfalls. Investors have been concerned about the social media giant’s slowing growth rate in a year when it has been under scrutiny for … Continue reading “Facebook’s 3Q Growth Suffices to Stave Off Another Stock Dive”
CFO Todd Young Leaving Acadia Pharmaceuticals
Acadia Pharmaceuticals on Monday announced the imminent department of Todd Young, its executive vice president and chief financial officer, after roughly two years with the biopharma company. Young’s last day is Wednesday, said Acadia (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ACAD]]), a San Diego-based company that is developing and commercializing treatments for neurological disorders. Its drug pimavanserin (Nuplazid) was the … Continue reading “CFO Todd Young Leaving Acadia Pharmaceuticals”
MR3 Health Takes Aim at Foot Ulcers as San Antonio Tackles Diabetes
San Antonio — Researchers, advocates, and residents in San Antonio have been seeking out ways to handle the growing problem of diabetes in San Antonio and the surrounding Bexar County, which saw the rate of adults with the condition increase to 14.2 percent in 2014 from 11.4 percent two years earlier. Both are higher than the … Continue reading “MR3 Health Takes Aim at Foot Ulcers as San Antonio Tackles Diabetes”
Fundraising Startup Classy Surpasses $1B Raised on Its Platform
It took six years for Classy, a software-as-a-service company that targets nonprofit organizations looking to fundraise online, to facilitate $500 million in donations. But the next $500 million took just 14 months. The San Diego-based startup announced the $1 billion milestone on Tuesday, citing the addition to its platform of ever-larger nonprofits—including the Salvation Army—as … Continue reading “Fundraising Startup Classy Surpasses $1B Raised on Its Platform”
Harpoon Therapeutics Adds Holger Wesche, Georgia Erbez to C-Suite
Harpoon Therapeutics has promoted Holger Wesche to chief scientific officer. Wesche had been senior vice president, research, of the South San Francisco, CA-based cancer immunotherapy developer. Harpoon also named Georgia Erbez its chief financial officer. Erbez was most recently chief business officer and CFO of Zosano Pharma (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZSAN]]). The executive moves follow Harpoon’s appointment … Continue reading “Harpoon Therapeutics Adds Holger Wesche, Georgia Erbez to C-Suite”
Former Celgene Exec Goncalves Joins Cara as Chief Medical Officer
Joana Goncalves has been named chief medical officer of Cara Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CARA]]). She comes to the Stamford, CT, company from Celgene (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CELG]]), where she was vice president, medical affairs for dermatology and neurology. Cara’s lead drug candidate, difelikefalin (Korsuva), is in late-stage testing as a treatment for chronic itching associated with chronic kidney … Continue reading “Former Celgene Exec Goncalves Joins Cara as Chief Medical Officer”
A.I., Cybersecurity & the Changing Face of VC at X·CON Next Week
Bob Brennan has some pretty interesting lessons from his time working with Veracode and CloudHealth Technologies. Those are two of the bigger Boston tech exits in the past few years—the companies were acquired by CA Technologies and VMware, respectively. Brennan, the former CEO of Veracode and Iron Mountain, and former board member of CloudHealth, will … Continue reading “A.I., Cybersecurity & the Changing Face of VC at X·CON Next Week”
FDA Blasts Data, Trial Design For Alkermes Depression Drug
The FDA this morning has issued a scathing review of an experimental drug that could be, if the agency ends up approving it next year, a new option for the millions of Americans who struggle with depression and don’t respond to typical treatment. The drug is known as ALKS-5461, from Dublin and Waltham, MA-based Alkermes … Continue reading “FDA Blasts Data, Trial Design For Alkermes Depression Drug”
Stantt CEO Thinks Its Approach to Selling Men’s Wear Fits Just Right
Stantt wants to make standard sizing anything but. “Traditional sizing only fits 15 percent of guys,” says Matt Hornbuckle, the startup’s founder and co-CEO. “Twins come in and get different sizes.” To connect guys with a shirt that fits well, the men’s wear startup created a database of “tens of thousands” of body scans. That … Continue reading “Stantt CEO Thinks Its Approach to Selling Men’s Wear Fits Just Right”
As Midterms Approach, Notarize Lends a Hand to Absentee Voters in SD
The idea started with online complaints from voters in South Dakota, where applications for absentee ballots require the certification of a notary public. The response from Pat Kinsel, founder and CEO of a Boston-based online notary startup aptly named Notarize, was to offer its services for free—the same deal it made last year to hurricane-battered … Continue reading “As Midterms Approach, Notarize Lends a Hand to Absentee Voters in SD”
Pre-Existing Immunity to CRISPR Found in 96% of People in Study
[Updated October 30, 12:15pm ET with further comment, see below.] The immune systems of a large majority of people could already be primed to attack and possibly even disable a key component of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing therapeutics (which are quickly moving towards their first human tests), suggests new research published today. If this finding sounds … Continue reading “Pre-Existing Immunity to CRISPR Found in 96% of People in Study”
No Pipeline Problem: Backstage Capital’s Detroit Plans Spark Excitement
In September, Backstage Capital, a venture investment firm seeding early-stage startups led by women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community, launched a $36 million fund to help support black women founders. At the same time, managing partner Arlan Hamilton said the Los Angeles-based firm would run accelerators in four cities: London, Philadelphia, … Continue reading “No Pipeline Problem: Backstage Capital’s Detroit Plans Spark Excitement”