Recent posts and comments

• Dyax and Vertex Drugs Move Toward Market, Taligen Moves to MA, Covidien Moves Into Venture Territory, & More Life Sciences News

  Two Boston-area drug developers—Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Dyax—saw their lead drug candidates take important steps toward the market this week. And that’s not all that happened…

  —Luke took a peak at four-year-old... Read more »

• Segway Scooting Toward $14M, Follica Fixes on $11M, HP Hooks Up with Colubris, & More Deals News

  Last week was a quiet one for New England tech and life sciences firms, but there was a steady stream of small deals nonetheless.

  —Boston-based Follica, which is developing a treatment... Read more »

• Commenting on: Accelerator Bankrolls New Company, Mirina, To Develop MicroRNA-Blocking Drugs

  Rebecca said: Bob, Luke actually filed this story before heading out on vacation, and so was out of town when the Nanogen/Elitech deal... Read more »

• Lockheed Martin Nabs Nantero Unit

  The government business unit of Nantero—a Woburn, MA-based startup developing a carbon-nanotube-based form of computer memory it calls NRAM—has been acquired by Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) for an... Read more »

• Follica’s Fortunes Growing, Icahn’s Biogen Holdings Mounting, Genzyme’s Mipomersen Work Progressing, & More Life Sciences News

  I haven’t done a careful analysis, but I have the impression that there were a few more life sciences venture financings last week than has been typical as of late. Or... Read more »

• Stromedix Drug Gets Orphan Status

  Cambridge, MA-based Stromedix, a startup formed around technology licensed from Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB), announced today that its lead candidate—a treatment for chronic allograft nephropathy, a leading cause of kidney-transplant... Read more »

• A123 Files For “Lucky” IPO, BP Shells out $90M for Verenium’s Biofuel Tech, Alnylam Ventures into New RNA Realm, & More Deals News

  New England tech firms ended last week right where the Beijing Olympics began—with a much-anticipated event timed to the lucky number eight. That, and the rest of the week’s biz-tech dealings... Read more »

• Bain Leads $10M TokBox Deal

  Boston’s Bain Capital Ventures led a $10 million Series B financing for San Francisco-based TokBox, a provider of free online video calling services. Joining the round was Sequoia Capital, which led... Read more »

• $15M for Tetraphase

  Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals of Watertown, MA, announced today that it has raised a $15 million second tranche of its $25 million Series A financing. The cash comes from Mediphase Venture Partners, CMEA... Read more »

• Vertex Cystic Fibrosis Program on the Rise, Biogen and Partner Fall on Tysabri News, Alnylam Stakes RNAa IP Claim, & More Life Sciences News

  Last week was a mixed one for Boston-area life sciences firms—Biogen Idec got the news the market’s been dreading, while several of its neighbors announced pipeline progress.

  —Shares of Cambridge, MA-based... Read more »

• Commenting on: Navilyst Medical, Boston Scientific Spin-Off, Aiming to Tap Veins Without Causing Infections

  Rebecca said: In fact what Luke wrote was that C Diff is “another” bacterium–ie, a different one–from MRSA. I’ve added an... Read more »

• Two Cleantech Firms Plan IPOs, In-Q-Tel Backs Software Security Firm, Forrester Lands JupiterResearch, & More Deals News

  A pair of New England tech firms sparked up an otherwise slow summer week by announcing their intentions to go public in a market that’s scared off virtually everybody else.

  —Not... Read more »

• Icahn’s Nominee to Yahoo’s Board Winds up on Biogen Idec’s, Epix CEO Steps Down, Caliper Comes to Drugs’ Rescue, & More Life Sciences News

  The theme of the week in New England life sciences news was tools and diagnostics.

  —Fresh off a proxy-battle win against activist investor Carl Icahn, Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB... Read more »

• GT Solar Pulls Off IPO, Esther Dyson and Tim O’Reilly Back Good Data, BioEnergy Bonds with OmniGene, & More Deals News

  On the up side, the IPO drought was broken by a New England company. On the down side, the stock took a bit of a tumble. That and the rest of... Read more »

• GT Solar Sees Partly Sunny Stock-Market Debut

  Shares of GT Solar headed south after their debut this morning on the NASDAQ exchange (SOLR). Of course, making it to the public market at all is an accomplishment... Read more »

• Genzyme Pursues Multiple Sclerosis Market, Biogen Reports Progress in Same, BG Medicine Swallows $40 Million Cash Bolus, & More Life Sciences News

  Lots of news from the bigger players (think Genzyme and Biogen Idec) in the Boston-area life sciences arena last week, plus a peep here and there from the startups.

  —Alnylam Pharmaceuticals... Read more »

• Yet Another $1 Billion for Evergreen Solar, Alnylam and Novartis Extend Alliance, & More Deals

  I’m running out of “green” jokes to use in headlines describing the steady march of cash toward Evergreen Solar’s coffers. The latest example of that, plus a surprising number and variety... Read more »

• Peptimmune Picks Up $8.9M

  Peptimmune has finished an $8.9 million second close of its Series D financing, the Cambridge, MA-based firm announced today. The funding, led by New Enterprise Associates, MPM Capital, Hunt Ventures, Boston... Read more »

• BG Medicine Raises $40M

  BG Medicine, a molecular diagnostics firm in Waltham, MA, announced today that it has closed a Series D financing round worth $40 million. Legg Mason Capital Management, GE Asset Management, and... Read more »

• Vericept Closes New Financing

  Waltham, MA-based Vericept, a provider of so-called data leakage prevention (DLP) products, announced it has closed a financing of up to $8 million. The deal was led by Sigma Partners, according... Read more »