Solyndra Obtains $175,000,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=78024ac6-f162-4f2b-be40-52ab8f54e55d&Preview=1 Date 11/4/2010 Company Name Solyndra Mailing Address 47700 Kato Road Fremont, CA 94538 Company Description The company is developing high efficiency photovoltaics for the generation of solar power. Website http://www.solyndra.com Transaction Type Debt Transaction Amount $175,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes The company will use the convertible debt for operating needs. … Continue reading “Solyndra Obtains $175,000,000 New Funding Round”

Samplify Systems Secures $200,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=cc8cf8c8-9bbd-4795-bfe2-b202792e1968&Preview=1 Date 11/4/2010 Company Name Samplify Systems Mailing Address 160 Saratoga Avenue Santa Clara, CA 95051 Company Description Samplify Systems is a venture-funded Silicon Valley startup that delivers simply the bits that matter in real-world signal processing applications. By bridging the ever-widening gap between faster data converters and the fixed-bandwidth infrastructure that … Continue reading “Samplify Systems Secures $200,000 New Funding Round”

Rocket Ninja Lands $3,500,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4ce2020c-3f3e-4b27-ab31-412179ea9be3&Preview=1 Date 11/4/2010 Company Name Rocket Ninja Mailing Address 490 2nd St. San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description Rocket Ninja is a social games and apps company that creates high quality entertainment apps emphasizing self expression and personalization. Website http://www.rocketninja.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount $3,500,000 Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes M&A Terms … Continue reading “Rocket Ninja Lands $3,500,000 New Funding Round”

Go Try It On Receives New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=f2ff6d00-e0c5-4718-8020-210476ea3ece&Preview=1 Date 11/4/2010 Company Name Go Try It On Mailing Address Undisclosed New York, NY 10001 Company Description GO TRY IT ON is an easy and fun way to share your look with a community or even just your friends. Website http://www.gotryiton.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Undisclosed … Continue reading “Go Try It On Receives New Financing”

HowAboutWe Receives $3,100,000 Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d002a4e6-426d-402a-b8b6-7986242a520e&Preview=1 Date 11/4/2010 Company Name HowAboutWe Mailing Address 27 Ludlow St. Third Floor New York, NY 10002 Company Description The company operates an online dating service. Website http://www.howaboutwe.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $3,100,000 Transaction Round Series A Proceeds Purposes The company will use the funding to grow the 8-person team … Continue reading “HowAboutWe Receives $3,100,000 Series A Financing”

H.BLOOM Secures $2,100,000 Series A Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=1259f548-66ef-4e23-a24d-9a80a4918faf&Preview=1 Date 11/4/2010 Company Name H.BLOOM Mailing Address 20 W. 22nd St. New York, NY 10010 Company Description H.BLOOM (www.hbloom.com) launched in February 2010 to provide luxurious flowers at affordable prices. Delivering directly to the home or business, H.BLOOM makes it convenient and easy to regularly enjoy extraordinary flowers. Website http://www.hbloom.com Transaction … Continue reading “H.BLOOM Secures $2,100,000 Series A Financing Round”

Facebook Pushes Further Into Mobile

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg this morning announced plans to extend Facebook’s influence in the mobile world, making it the center of a social ecosystem in which users would use their Facebook credentials to sign on to various services, reveal their locations, see where their friends are located, and find and claim deals from nearby businesses … Continue reading “Facebook Pushes Further Into Mobile”

Dendreon, Hemmed in By Tight Supply, Sees $350M to $400M in 2011 Sales Plan

Dendreon can’t reap the full potential of its pioneering treatment for prostate cancer until it gets more manufacturing capacity built up, but it’s making enough progress to project how this supply-constraint story will play out over the coming year. The Seattle-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) said today that it generated $20.2 million in the most … Continue reading “Dendreon, Hemmed in By Tight Supply, Sees $350M to $400M in 2011 Sales Plan”

Acceleron Pharma Cuts 40 Percent of Workforce

[Updated: 3:57 pm Eastern] One of the hot privately-held biotech companies in the Boston area, Acceleron Pharma, has made some significant job cuts. The Cambridge, MA-based company eliminated 57 jobs, or about 40 percent of its workforce, late last month, according to a story first reported today in the Boston Globe. Acceleron’s vice president of … Continue reading “Acceleron Pharma Cuts 40 Percent of Workforce”

Motricity Breaks Profitability Barrier, Strikes New Mobile Deal With Indonesia’s Fastest-Growing Carrier

Bellevue, WA-based mobile Internet service provider Motricity (Nasdaq: [[ticker:MOTR]]), passed the profitability mark yesterday, when it posted its 2010 third quarter financial results. The company, which struggled through a disappointingly low $50 million IPO in June, is reporting its first ever positive net income, in the amount of $3.3 million for the three-month period that … Continue reading “Motricity Breaks Profitability Barrier, Strikes New Mobile Deal With Indonesia’s Fastest-Growing Carrier”

Adventrx Submits NDA

San Diego’s Adventrx Pharmaceuticals (NYSE Amex: [[ticker:ANX]]) says it has submitted a new drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its reformulated anti-cancer drug vinorelbine injectable emulsion, (Exelbine). The FDA refused to accept the biotech’s first application after Adventrx sprang back to life in January. In a statement this morning, Adventrx CEO … Continue reading “Adventrx Submits NDA”

Practically Green Gets $750K from CommonAngels and Others, Feedback from Consumers and Partners

Boston-based Practically Green, an Internet startup that has been called “Foursquare for green living,” has raised $750,000 in its first round of financing. Lexington, MA-based CommonAngels led the seed round, and about 25 individual investors participated, including John Landry of Lead Dog Ventures, Stephen McDonnell of Applegate Farms, Tom Matlack of The Good Men Project, … Continue reading “Practically Green Gets $750K from CommonAngels and Others, Feedback from Consumers and Partners”

Biogen Idec Offering Jobs to Quarter of San Diego Workers, While Most Get Layoff Notices

Weston, MA-based Biogen Idec (NASDAQ:[[ticker:BIIB]]) plans to lay off most of the 300 to 350 employees at the company’s San Diego research center as part of the restructuring plan announced this morning, Biogen spokeswoman Christina Chan said. The drug development company, which was created in the 2003 merger of Massachusetts’ based Biogen and San Diego’s … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Offering Jobs to Quarter of San Diego Workers, While Most Get Layoff Notices”

$20M Series A For Karyopharm to Fight Cancer

Karyopharm Therapeutics, a Newton, MA-based biotech focused on nuclear transport technology for applications in the treatment of cancer, autoimmune disease, and HIV, announced today that it has wrapped up a $20 million Series A financing from an an undisclosed group of investors.The startup is developing selective inhibitors of nuclear export (SINEs) designed to flag major … Continue reading “$20M Series A For Karyopharm to Fight Cancer”

No Surgical Sponge Left Behind: RF Surgical Seeks to Lead Market for High-Tech Gauze

The lowly surgical sponge is one of the basic commodities all hospital operating rooms need, and which most just buy in bulk from the cheapest suppliers they can find. But to RF Surgical Systems, a Bellevue, WA-based company with an engineering center in San Diego, there’s a lot more going on in surgical sponges. The … Continue reading “No Surgical Sponge Left Behind: RF Surgical Seeks to Lead Market for High-Tech Gauze”

Electrolytic Ozone Closes Series A

Wilmington, MA-based Electrolytic Ozone, a developer of novel ozone generator technology as a safe alternative to chemical and thermal sanitizers, announced today that it has completed its Series A financing. The company, which is a spinout of the global supermaterials company Element Six, did not reveal the financial details of the first-round funding, but an SEC … Continue reading “Electrolytic Ozone Closes Series A”

The Winners of the IRS Biotech Grant Program Are…

[Updated: 11:30 am, 11/4/10] The biotech industry was a key beneficiary last spring of the new health care law. $1 billion worth of Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project Credits were dangled in front of the small to mid sized biotechs that met the designated criteria. The Treasury Department and IRS were put in charge of this … Continue reading “The Winners of the IRS Biotech Grant Program Are…”

Biogen Idec Axes 650 Jobs, Closes San Diego Site, Bets Future on Neurology

Biogen Idec CEO George Scangos is putting his stamp on the direction of the company, by making some bold moves to cut jobs, facilities, and drug development programs. It’s all part of a bid to make a bigger impact in one area—neurology. Weston, MA-based Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]), the world’s largest maker of multiple sclerosis … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Axes 650 Jobs, Closes San Diego Site, Bets Future on Neurology”

Craig Venter to NASA: Think About Engineering Your Astronauts

What is the right genetic profile for an astronaut—someone who’s going to spend months living on the moon, or years traveling to an asteroid or Mars? Craig Venter has an answer. The biologist told a group of scientists at NASA Ames on Saturday that NASA already does genetic selection when it picks astronauts. He just … Continue reading “Craig Venter to NASA: Think About Engineering Your Astronauts”

Hyperion Hits Goal in Trial for Rare-Disease Drug, Prepping FDA Application

Hyperion Therapeutics raised $60 million in venture capital a year ago, and it should be in a position fairly soon to generate some return on that investment. The South San Francisco-based biotech company said yesterday its experimental drug met its primary goal in a pivotal study including 46 patients with a rare phenomenon known as … Continue reading “Hyperion Hits Goal in Trial for Rare-Disease Drug, Prepping FDA Application”

Why Rich Levandov Invested Early in Zynga, and Why It Took Off—Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Consider

On the last day of September, San Diego-based Avalon Ventures announced a closing of $161 million for its new fund—Avalon IX—on its way toward an upper target of $200 million. Avalon is an 18-year-old firm—storied in San Diego but not fantastically well known nationally—still led by founder Kevin Kinsella. Avalon made its name in biotech. … Continue reading “Why Rich Levandov Invested Early in Zynga, and Why It Took Off—Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Consider”

Ideo Spinoff ShopWell Says Better Health Starts at the Supermarket; Part 3: Food as Data

These days, the simple act of going to the grocery store is a fraught and anxious affair. Americans are being told that what they choose to eat isn’t just a personal decision, but has major economic, political, and moral implications. For one thing, there’s the spiraling cost to society of food-related health conditions, from obesity … Continue reading “Ideo Spinoff ShopWell Says Better Health Starts at the Supermarket; Part 3: Food as Data”

Urban Airship Nabs $5.4M from Foundry Group, Moving Full Throttle in Mobile Software Space

Anyone who says software startups don’t bring in big investment dollars anymore, clearly hasn’t been paying attention to Urban Airship. Beyond being one of a new and interesting class of startups that are part software, part mobile, the Portland, OR-based company is bringing in some major financing, including its $5.4 million Series B round led … Continue reading “Urban Airship Nabs $5.4M from Foundry Group, Moving Full Throttle in Mobile Software Space”

Dendreon’s Provenge Launch Story Enters Second Chapter, With Today’s Earnings Call

Dendreon, the Seattle-based cancer drug developer that people either love or love to hate, is going to provide a lot more grist for debate later today. The company is preparing to release its third quarter financial report today at the close of markets, and will host a webcast conference call at 4:30 pm Eastern/1:30 pm … Continue reading “Dendreon’s Provenge Launch Story Enters Second Chapter, With Today’s Earnings Call”

Energesis Pharmaceuticals, Co-Founded by Sirtris Vet, Seeks to Tap Power of “Good Fat” in Fighting Obesity and Diabetes

It’s a case of good fat versus bad fat. Scientists have discovered recently that so-called brown fat, long known to be present in animals and human infants, might also play an important role in the metabolic functions of adult humans. Now Energesis Pharmaceuticals, a Boston-area startup, wants to use its founders’ knowledge of this phenomenon … Continue reading “Energesis Pharmaceuticals, Co-Founded by Sirtris Vet, Seeks to Tap Power of “Good Fat” in Fighting Obesity and Diabetes”

Karyopharm Therapeutics Garners $20,000,000 Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=d9344d3d-2f44-4e24-9f9a-9a299c4d09ba&Preview=1 Date 11/3/2010 Company Name Karyopharm Therapeutics Mailing Address Undisclosed Newton, MA 02456 Company Description Karyopharm Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of novel drugs for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and diseases related to cell proliferation. Website http://www.karyopharm.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $20,000,000 Transaction Round Series … Continue reading “Karyopharm Therapeutics Garners $20,000,000 Series A Financing”

Urban Airship Obtains $5,400,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b6007d1a-9cf7-4bc8-83d9-b6244bcfc1a0&Preview=1 Date 11/3/2010 Company Name Urban Airship Mailing Address 1227 NW Davis St Portland, OR 97209 Company Description Urban Airship provides an easy, affordable way to deliver real-time push notifications and in-app purchase content for mobile developers. Website http://www.urbanairship.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $5,400,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Urban … Continue reading “Urban Airship Obtains $5,400,000 New Funding Round”

Nanothera Secures $1,300,062 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=7bea2af6-ea77-4ae6-94a0-0eee2e17419d&Preview=1 Date 11/3/2010 Company Name Nanothera Mailing Address 12481 High Bluff Drive San Diego, CA 92130 Company Description The company is developing unspecified nanotechnology therapeutics. Website Undisclosed Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,300,062 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC regulatory filing. M&A Terms Venture Investor Undisclosed

InterRad Medical Lands $1,900,000 New Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a78785d6-420d-45b5-a2a1-8fed1210cbc5&Preview=1 Date 11/3/2010 Company Name InterRad Medical Mailing Address 181 Cheshire Ln. Plymouth, MN 55441 Company Description The company’s mission is the development and commercialization of innovative medical devices for use in minimally invasive interventional and surgical procedures. Website http://www.interradmedical.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $1,900,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes … Continue reading “InterRad Medical Lands $1,900,000 New Financing”

Flex Biomedical Receives New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=cef9700c-b99c-46d9-b55c-d06276ee3d91&Preview=1 Date 11/3/2010 Company Name Flex Biomedical Mailing Address 505 S. Rosa Road Madison, WI 53719 Company Description Flex Biomedical’s lead product is a synthetic polymer, the Flex Polymer, designed to treat osteoarthritis, an incurable joint disease that affects millions around the world. Website http://www.flexbio.com/ Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount Undisclosed … Continue reading “Flex Biomedical Receives New Funding Round”

BringIt Obtains $1,500,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e31b4a6f-4988-4349-8fe1-5f6521fd0c1d&Preview=1 Date 11/3/2010 Company Name BringIt Mailing Address 611 Mission St., Second Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 Company Description The BringIt platform lets users play their friends and bet the game’s virtual currency, or Zoo World Wildlife Points, without having to leave the game to do so. Website http://www.bringit.com Transaction Type Venture … Continue reading “BringIt Obtains $1,500,000 New Funding Round”

Nexant Secures $7,000,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=774d6d55-6412-438b-998e-96ae53dfe105&Preview=1 Date 11/3/2010 Company Name Nexant Mailing Address 101 2nd St. San Francisco, CA 94105 Company Description Nexant is a provider of intelligent grid software and clean energy solutions—pioneering, developing, and advancing electric power grid and alternative energy technologies and services. Website http://www.Nexant.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $7,000,000 Transaction Round … Continue reading “Nexant Secures $7,000,000 New Funding Round”

Curse.com Obtains $12,401,221 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=bb244db4-d699-4e99-b905-b25f2720ccc4&Preview=1 Date 11/3/2010 Company Name Curse.com Mailing Address 351 California St. San Francisco, CA 94104 Company Description Curse is a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) portal and community web site. Website http://www.curse.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $12,401,221 Transaction Round Undisclosed Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC regulatory filing. … Continue reading “Curse.com Obtains $12,401,221 New Financing Round”

SurveyMonkey Garners $100,000,000 New Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=2ccceb6d-0ca9-40ea-9ec2-c4f7e9f79ff6&Preview=1 Date 11/3/2010 Company Name SurveyMonkey Mailing Address 285 Hamilton Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94301 Company Description Founded in 1999, SurveyMonkey is the world’s leading provider of web-based survey solutions. Powerful, yet easy-to-use, SurveyMonkey helps millions of people gain the insights they need to make more informed decisions. Customers include 100% of … Continue reading “SurveyMonkey Garners $100,000,000 New Funding”

SpiderCloud Wireless Obtains $14,100,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=57418ef2-7b9a-419e-b66f-cd228be528f4&Preview=1 Date 11/3/2010 Company Name SpiderCloud Wireless Mailing Address 2500 Augustine Drive Santa Clara, CA 95054 Company Description SpiderCloud Wireless, Inc. is a privately funded company comprised of executives with proven successes at companies such as Cisco Systems (Aironet Wireless), Flarion Technologies, Juniper Networks, Qualcomm, Shasta Networks, Stoke, and Trapeze Networks. This … Continue reading “SpiderCloud Wireless Obtains $14,100,000 New Funding Round”

Federated Media Publishing Acquires BigTent for Undisclosed Sum

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=de42ecf6-8aa9-4ddd-974c-ef7cbce0e7d8&Preview=1 Date 11/3/2010 Company Name BigTent Mailing Address 350 Brannan St., third floor San Francisco, CA 94107 Company Description At BigTent, we believe that volunteer-powered groups are the backbone of strong, real life-communities. Website http://www.bigtent.com Transaction Type M&A Transaction Amount Undisclosed Transaction Round Proceeds Purposes M&A Terms Financial terms of the transaction … Continue reading “Federated Media Publishing Acquires BigTent for Undisclosed Sum”

Neato Robotics Garners $13,941,618 Series C Funding

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=04f1cf21-1f32-43bd-bcac-100ee5e1fc35&Preview=1 Date 11/3/2010 Company Name Neato Robotics Mailing Address 1916 Old Middlefield Way Mountain View, CA 94043 Company Description The company develops home convenience robots. Website http://www.neatorobotics.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $13,941,618 Transaction Round Series C Proceeds Purposes Proceeds purposes were not disclosed. SEC regulatory filing. M&A Terms Venture Investor … Continue reading “Neato Robotics Garners $13,941,618 Series C Funding”

Why Do Biotechs Love the IRS Today? Washington Companies Just Got $34M in Grants

Biotechies around the country are feeling a lot of love toward the Internal Revenue Service today. And the impact is being felt in Washington state’s biotech cluster, as 83 local biotech companies were awarded grants worth a combined $34 million, in one of the little-known postscripts to the new healthcare reform law that was enacted … Continue reading “Why Do Biotechs Love the IRS Today? Washington Companies Just Got $34M in Grants”

Cadence Wins FDA Green Light for Hospital-Based Pain Reliever

Cadence Pharmaceuticals had to wait a little longer than it wanted, but today it got its wish. The San Diego-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CADX]]) said today it won FDA clearance to start selling an intravenous form of the pain reliever acetaminophen (Ofirmev) for use in hospitals. The drug, known in its over-the-counter form as Tylenol … Continue reading “Cadence Wins FDA Green Light for Hospital-Based Pain Reliever”

In Cleantech, Who’s Looking for Money, Who’s Hiring, and What’s the Role of Government Financing? Find Out at Clean Energy Conference

It’s “Clean Energy Week” here in Massachusetts—that entails a bunch of events in and around Boston on the theme of alternative energy and cleantech. I’m particularly looking forward to the biggest one, the Sixth Conference on Clean Energy, which is happening tomorrow and Thursday at the Hynes Convention Center. The conference, co-produced by the Massachusetts … Continue reading “In Cleantech, Who’s Looking for Money, Who’s Hiring, and What’s the Role of Government Financing? Find Out at Clean Energy Conference”

Arboretum Invests in Pathology Company

Arboretum Ventures, based in Ann Arbor, MI, is a co-leader in a $10-million Series B financing round for Irvine, Calif.-based PathCentral, an anatomic pathology services company, according to a report today in peHUB. PathCentral says the money will be used to enhance its web-based laboratory information system, among other things. Joining Arboretum in the round … Continue reading “Arboretum Invests in Pathology Company”

A Bumper Crop of Financings For Bay Area Startups

It has been a busy day for Bay Area fundraising news. IT companies are dominating, with an online payments company, a data integration company, two wireless services companies, and a massively multiplayer online game company raising over $66 million in funding combined. Two medical device companies raised money too, though. Here are the IT companies… … Continue reading “A Bumper Crop of Financings For Bay Area Startups”

Japan Approves Ligand Drug

San Diego’s Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LGND]]) says Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare gave its approval to Ligand partner GlaxoSmithKline’s (NYSE: [[ticker:GSK]]) application for eltrombopag (Revolade), a drug developed to treat a blood disorder called chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Ligand says eltrombopag is the first oral treatment that stimulates the production of blood … Continue reading “Japan Approves Ligand Drug”

Big Opportunity for an “Enterprise Town” in Detroit, Says E-mail Pioneer Nathaniel Borenstein

This could be huge for Michigan’s economic future. No, I’m not talking about today’s gubernatorial election (though that’s important too). I’m talking about something Nathaniel Borenstein told me last week. Borenstein, for those who don’t know, is one of the fathers of modern e-mail (an original designer of MIME, Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions), and currently … Continue reading “Big Opportunity for an “Enterprise Town” in Detroit, Says E-mail Pioneer Nathaniel Borenstein”

CareFusion’s Schlotterbeck Retiring as Chairman & CEO

San Diego-based CareFusion (NYSE: [[ticker:CFN]]) says today that David Schlotterbeck, the chairman and CEO who led the company’s spinoff last year from Ohio-based Cardinal Health, plans to retire on Feb. 28, 2011. Schlotterbeck previously worked at Cardinal, and had led San Diego’s Alaris Medical Systems, a leading maker of intravenous drug pumps, when Cardinal acquired … Continue reading “CareFusion’s Schlotterbeck Retiring as Chairman & CEO”

Pfenex Launches Reagent Proteins Business

San Diego’s Pfenex said today it has launched a new business division called Reagent Proteins, which is targeting research biomedical laboratories that need complex reagent grade proteins. The new business will initially offer a product list with more than 2,300 proteins, including stem cell growth factors, cytokines, chemokines, and enzymes. Pfenex, which was spun out … Continue reading “Pfenex Launches Reagent Proteins Business”

Nektar Gets $50M Deal From Amgen

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NKTR]]), the San Carlos, CA-based biotech company, has struck a $50 million agreement to manufacture certain polymers for Amgen, according to a Reuters report. The polymers are a key ingredient in pegfilgrastim (Neulasta) a drug used to stimulate production of infection-fighting white blood cells in cancer patients suffering from the side effects … Continue reading “Nektar Gets $50M Deal From Amgen”

Oracle Buys Art Technology Group For $1B; ATG Founder Joe Chung Expresses Pride, Nostalgia

[Updated 11/2/10 2:00 pm ET. See below] Cambridge, MA-based Art Technology Group, which develops software platforms for e-commerce websites, announced today that it will be bought by Redwood Shores, CA-based database giant Oracle (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ORCL]]) for a total of $1 billion in cash, at $6 per share. ATG (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ARTG]]) saw its stock price climb more … Continue reading “Oracle Buys Art Technology Group For $1B; ATG Founder Joe Chung Expresses Pride, Nostalgia”

Some Assembly Required? San Diego’s ShowUhow Uses Web-Based Video to Displace Printed Instruction Guide

Kim Folsom tells me that she tried using video for education in the late 1990s at Seminar Source, a venture-backed, Web-based software company in San Diego that tried to take advantage of the fact that it’s easier for many people to learn visually. “You could do video over the Web, but it wasn’t the best,” … Continue reading “Some Assembly Required? San Diego’s ShowUhow Uses Web-Based Video to Displace Printed Instruction Guide”