Latest Posts

• New BC Biotech Chinook Reels in $65M to Tackle Kidney Disease

  About 15 percent of adults in the US, or around 37 million people, are estimated to have chronic kidney disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control. There are very few therapeutic options for them, which means they often progress to... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo8/22/19

• VMware Dropping $4.8B to Buy Carbon Black, Pivotal Software

  VMware is shelling out big bucks for two companies to fill out its technology stack: developer platform Pivotal Software for $2.7 billion and cybersecurity firm Carbon Black for $2.1 billion.

  “These acquisitions address two critical technology priorities of all businesses today—building... Read more »

  Brian Dowling8/22/19

• Retrophin Sinks as Drug “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli Co-Invented Fails

  Retrophin, the drug developer founded by jailed former biotech executive Martin Shkreli, has failed its first big test.

  The San Diego-based company’s experimental drug fosmetpantotenate failed a Phase 3 trial, FORT, in patients with a rare and deadly neurological disorder called... Read more »

  Ben Fidler8/22/19

• Healthcare’s Future is Telemedicine & AI, But Will Everyone Benefit?

  John Halamka thinks the digital health industry is still “emerging.” But it has come a long way and is starting to deliver after years of hype.

  Halamka, a Boston-based physician and healthcare technology expert, says that’s thanks to several coalescing factors:... Read more »

  Jeff Bauter Engel8/22/19

• Splunk To Pay $1B For SaaS App Monitoring Firm SignalFx

  Splunk, an IT operations management and information security company, announced today it has clinched a deal to buy cloud software application monitoring company SignalFx for $1.05 billion.

  San Francisco-based Splunk (NASDAQ: SPLK) says the acquisition will enable it to... Read more »

  Bernadette Tansey8/21/19

• Ford’s Autonomic Connects EV Maker Ayro to Its Mobility Cloud

  Ford subsidiary Autonomic today announced a step forward in its drive to expand the online mobility hub it built to manage digital interactions among cars, drivers, fleets, service providers, and auto manufacturers—including Ford’s rivals.

  Palo Alto, CA-based Autonomic signed up Ayro... Read more »

  Bernadette Tansey8/21/19

• Xcelerate at Biotech Week Boston Discount Ticket Sale Ends Friday

  If you care about life science and the people and issues driving the future, you will want an Xcelerate pass to this year’s Biotech Week Boston. Hurry, our Super Saver sale ends Friday!

  The Xcelerate program package provides access to four... Read more »

  Editors8/21/19

• Oncorus Adds $79.5M to Steer Cancer-Fighting Virus to Human Testing

  Nearly four years ago, the FDA approved a therapy that uses a virus to infect tumor cells and break them down—the first such viral therapy for treating cancer. Oncorus CEO Ted Ashburn says there’s room to improve on these oncolytic viruses... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan8/21/19

• Elanco’s $7.6B Deal With Bayer Bolsters Pets, Farm Animals Footprint

  Elanco Animal Health, the veterinary sector’s fourth-largest company measured by revenue, is poised to leap to number two through a $7.6 billion cash and stock deal for Bayer’s animal health unit.

  The acquisition will help Elanco boost its business selling products... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan8/20/19

• Startup Blooma Launches With $2.75M to Digitize Commercial Lending

  Many facets of the finance industry, a highly regulated sector of the economy, are still reworking the tools used to move around money so that they fit a digital world.

  Digital mortgage lenders, for example, are having a field day, pulling... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo8/20/19

• FDA Rejects Sarepta’s Second Duchenne Drug, Citing Safety Concerns

  [Updated, 8/20/19, see below] Sarepta Therapeutics won one of the most dramatic and controversial drug approvals in the history of the FDA a few years ago. It didn’t have the same luck the second time around.

  The FDA late... Read more »

  Ben Fidler8/19/19

• Enterprise Software Startup Ally Nabs $8M to Support Global Growth

  Ally, a startup developing software to help businesses chart strategies and track progress toward meeting goals, announced Monday it has raised $8 million from investors to support the Bellevue, WA-based company’s growth.

  Palo Alto, CA-based Accel led the Series A... Read more »

  Jeff Buchanan8/19/19

• Pfizer Spinout SpringWorks, Migraine Drug Firm Satsuma Prep IPOs

  The dog days of summer are here and IPO activity has slowed, but that hasn’t stopped some biotech companies from securing a place in the line leading to Wall Street. Late Friday, SpringWorks Therapeutics and Satsuma Pharmaceuticals filed paperwork to go... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan8/16/19

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• AbbVie’s Successor to Humira Wins FDA OK for Rheumatoid Arthritis

  An anti-inflammatory drug that AbbVie has been developing as a successor to adalimumab (Humira), the world’s top-selling drug, won the regulatory OK Friday as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

  The FDA approved upadacitinib (Rinvoq) for adults with RA whose disease... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo8/16/19

• Bio Roundup: Zolgensma Fallout, Duchenne Redux, Ebola Boost & More

  We learned last week that the FDA was investigating Novartis for manipulating animal data related to its $2 million-a-dose gene therapy Zolgensma. The activity took place at AveXis, the firm Novartis bought for $8.7 billion in 2018, and Novartis reportedly... Read more »

  Alex Lash8/16/19

• Will Porsche Fans Ever Live in a Driverless World? Porsche Says No.

  Imagine the transportation future 20 years from now. Here’s one way things could roll on a weekday: Many of us get picked up at home by a sturdy, standardized, driverless car that will also scoop up a few of our neighbors... Read more »

  Bernadette Tansey8/16/19

• Boston Tech Watch: Buoy Health, Cambridge Crops, Polarity & More

  This week, we’re tracking venture capital deals in digital health, augmented reality for the enterprise, wellness, and food tech. Read on for details.

  —Buoy Health said it snagged $15 million in a Series B funding round led by Hambrecht Ducera Growth... Read more »

  Jeff Bauter Engel8/16/19

• UPS Takes Minority Stake in Self-Driving Truck Startup TuSimple

  TuSimple, an autonomous trucking company, has been conducting test drives for UPS between the Arizona cities of Phoenix and Tucson since May.

  Now the corporate venture arm of the global package delivery giant says it has taken a minority stake in... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo8/15/19

• Motif Unveils New Name and $27.5M to Build Food Ingredients Pipeline

  Plant-based meats and milks still use proteins, just not proteins that come from animals. Motif Ingredients has raised $27.5 million to build a pipeline of these animal-free protein ingredients.

  In addition to the new cash, Motif on Thursday also unveiled a... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan8/15/19

• Four New Drugs Are Around the Corner. Here’s What You Need to Know.

  [Updated, 3:40 pm ET, see below] The Food and Drug Administration approved 59 new drugs last year, a record for the agency which over the years has swung back and forth between tight control and leniency. We are in... Read more »

  Ben Fidler8/15/19

• Qualcomm Taps Former Palo Alto Networks CEO as Board Chairman

  Wireless giant Qualcomm has appointed Mark McLaughlin, the former CEO of network security company Palo Alto Networks, as chairman of its board of directors.

  McLaughlin joined Silicon Valley-based Palo Alto Networks (NYSE: PANW) as president and CEO in 2011,... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo8/14/19

• After Drought, Digital Health’s Summer of IPOs Brings Validation

  After a nearly three-year period in which not a single digital health company held an initial public stock offering, the dry spell has ended.

  In recent weeks, four healthcare software and technology businesses—Change Healthcare, Health Catalyst, Livongo Health, and Phreesia—held IPOs.... Read more »

  Jeff Buchanan8/14/19

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• Genomics Experts Preview Xconomy’s Aug. 27 Bay Area Biotech Forum

  Study of the human genome has yielded new insights into the origins of diseases and the pathways to potentially cure them. Join Xconomy and Biocom the evening of Aug. 27 to hear from leaders in the field for “Turning Genomics... Read more »

  Editors8/14/19

• Mason Raises $25M to Help Software Firms Deploy, Manage Applications

  Amazon Web Services and other businesses that charge customers to host their software applications have become a popular option for tech startups. Part of the reason for the popularity of using AWS and other cloud computing services is because it allows... Read more »

  Jeff Buchanan8/14/19

• WI Watchlist: AmFam, Venture Investors, Understory, Gener8tor & More

  It’s time to catch up on some recent headlines from Wisconsin’s innovation clusters:

  —Venture Investors and American Family Ventures are making progress on raising new venture funds. Madison-based Venture Investors has closed on $73.1 million for its latest fund, and... Read more »

  Jeff Bauter Engel8/14/19

• Chasing Blueprint, Deciphera Plans FDA Filing for GI Cancer Drug

  [Updated, 11:04 am ET, see below] Deciphera Pharmaceuticals this morning announced plans to seek FDA approval of a cancer medicine that treats a deadly type of tumor that forms in the gastrointestinal tract.

  The Deciphera (NASDASQ: DCPH) drug,... Read more »

  Ben Fidler8/13/19

• San Diego Tech Roundup: Ezoic, Trust & Will, Oska Wellness & More

  Summer can be a slow time in San Diego, but its startups have stayed busy. Read on for news of recent financings, plus upcoming opportunities to connect with the local tech community.

  —Ezoic, a startup that developed software for web publishers... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo8/9/19

• Bio Roundup: Surprise News, a Gene Therapy Mess & a CAR-T Step

  Gene therapy has become one of the hottest fields in biomedicine, with two treatments approved in the US already and several more on the way. But surprise news this week regarding Zolgensma, the recently approved spinal muscular atrophy treatment, cast... Read more »

  Ben Fidler8/9/19

• Boston Tech Watch: Nike, Cybereason, Care.com, LaunchByte & More

  Nike goes shopping in Boston. Cybereason tracks down another big investment. Care.com makes a change at the top. A purported venture capitalist gets arrested for alleged fraud. Read on for these stories and more of the biggest developments in Boston tech... Read more »

  Jeff Bauter Engel8/9/19

• Glow Snags $2.3M to Help Podcasters Connect to Listeners, Make Money

  Amira Valliani decided to launch a podcast-focused startup after listening to a podcast that is, fittingly enough, named StartUp.

  Valliani is the co-founder and CEO of Glow.fm, an early-stage company based in Seattle that recently raised $2.3 million in seed... Read more »

  Jeff Buchanan8/8/19

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