BladeLogic Scores Big, EMC Gets Another Crack at Iomega, Luminus Closes a Large Round, & More Deals News

The word of the week for Boston-area deal-making was acquisition. You’ll see what I mean. —Data-center-automation firm BladeLogic (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BLOG]]) of Lexington, MA, scored an impressive $800 million in a buy-out deal with Houston, TX-based BMC Software (NYSE: [[ticker:BMC]]). —Beverley, MA-based Axcelis Technologies, a maker of specialized semiconductor manufacturing equipment, once again rejected a takeover … Continue reading “BladeLogic Scores Big, EMC Gets Another Crack at Iomega, Luminus Closes a Large Round, & More Deals News”

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”

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”

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”

Exact’s Colon Cancer Test Included in Medical Organization Recommendations

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EXAS]]) got some long-awaited good news yesterday afternoon when the American Cancer Society unveiled new colorectal cancer screening guidelines that recommend, among other things, the use of the Marlborough, MA firm’s noninvasive DNA-based test for the disease. Developed by the ACS in conjunction with the American College of Radiology and the U.S. … Continue reading “Exact’s Colon Cancer Test Included in Medical Organization Recommendations”

FDA Letter Warns Exact “That’s a Medical Device You’re Selling”

Ouch. After years of waiting for the good news that would push its test into the mainstream, Exact Sciences instead just got a warning letter from the FDA. It could just be a temporary setback, but it means Marlborough, MA-based Exact (NASDAQ: EXAS) needs to have its ducks in a row to negotiate this critical … Continue reading “FDA Letter Warns Exact “That’s a Medical Device You’re Selling””