Latest Posts

• Nebula Genomics Touts Free DNA Sequencing to Coax Health Data Sharing

  A growing number of startups are trying to encourage people to share genomic and other health data for research purposes by offering them some form of compensation. Now, as competition in this young sector ramps up, one of the big questions... Read more »

  Jeff Engel11/15/18

• Data Starts Stretch Run for UniQure’s Upgraded Hemophilia Gene Therapy

  The race to treat hemophilia with gene therapy, a one-time, long-lasting infusion, is entering its final stages. And with new data released this morning, Dutch and Lexington, MA, firm UniQure has finalized its plans to be among the top finishers.

  UniQure... Read more »

  Ben Fidler11/15/18

• Cadent Pulls In $40M for Phase 2 Tests of Movement Disorder Drug

  The shaking, tremors, and loss of muscle control in some movement disorders can be traced to misfiring neurons. Cadent Therapeutics has developed a drug intended to help those neurons send signals properly. The Cambridge, MA-based company now $40 million in Series... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan11/15/18

• Synthorx Files for IPO to Advance Enhanced Cytokine Drugs

  Synthetic biology company Synthorx is laying plans for an initial public offering to raise money to advance its suite of enhanced cytokine drugs.

  The San Diego-based company says it wants to use the proceeds to put its lead product candidate, an... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo11/14/18

• Celgene Doubles Down on Dragonfly, Pays $50M to Expand Cancer Pact

  Celgene’s collaboration with Dragonfly Therapeutics is less than 18 months old, but the pharmaceutical company is already expanding the alliance.

  Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) is paying Waltham, MA-based Dragonfly $50 million upfront to add four more drug targets to the four... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan11/14/18

• Bain Capital Ventures Nets $1B Funding to Fuel New Round of Tech Bets

  Bain Capital Ventures has raised $1 billion to pour into technology companies large and small across a swath of industries, the largest single round of fundraising in the firm’s history.

  The cash includes a $650 million core fund—that’ll be aimed half... Read more »

  Brian Dowling11/14/18

• Amazon Ends “HQ” Search, Pledges to Spend $5B on New Sites in NY, VA

  The wait is finally over.

  Amazon said Tuesday it plans to significantly expand its presence in the New York City and Washington, DC, metropolitan areas beginning next year. The announcement was widely expected following news reports identifying the locales as likely... Read more »

  Jeff Buchanan11/13/18

• JCI Simplifies Focus with $13.2B Sale of Car Battery Business

  The transformation of Johnson Controls International continues.

  On Tuesday, the company said it reached a deal to sell its power solutions business, which makes a variety of vehicle batteries, in a cash transaction valued at $13.2 billion. The buyers are investment... Read more »

  Jeff Engel11/13/18

• ClearSky Data Raises Another $20M Amid Cloud Arms Race

  [Updated 11/13/18, 12:05 pm, with executive comments throughout.] The data storage wars rage on.

  Boston-based primary data storage and backup provider ClearSky Data has raised $20 million in new funding to bring more customers aboard its “on-demand” hybrid cloud... Read more »

  Brian Dowling11/13/18

• Kymera Adds $65M in New Funding and Eyes First Clinical Test

  Cells have a built-in way of breaking down damaged or unneeded proteins. Kymera Therapeutics is trying to harness this process as a therapy—using it to get rid of disease-causing proteins. As the biotech prepares to test its technology in humans, it... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan11/13/18

• Ribometrix Takes Aim at “Undruggable” RNA with $30M Series A Funding

  Most drugs target proteins in the cell, but the world of RNA has remained largely untapped by companies making chemical-based, or small-molecule drugs. That’s changing though—just in the last couple of years, there’s been a mini-boom in biotechs trying to overturn... Read more »

  Corie Lok11/13/18

• Universal Robots Hires Former Rethink Robotics Workers After Closure

  A little more than a month after Rethink Robotics shut down, a competitor has hired more than 20 of the Boston-based firm’s former employees.

  Universal Robots, a Denmark-based maker of collaborative industrial robots, announced Tuesday it has brought on key... Read more »

  Jeff Engel11/13/18

• Apptio Sells to PE Firm Vista Equity for $1.94B Two Years After IPO

  Apptio is being taken private by investment firm Vista Equity Partners in a $1.94 billion acquisition.

  Founded in Bellevue, WA, in 2007, Apptio (NASDAQ: APTI) helps corporate leaders track and manage IT spending. The company went public in 2016 with... Read more »

  David Holley11/12/18

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• Nuance Goes All-in on Speech Tech, Sells Document Business to Kofax

  Nuance Communications is selling its document imaging division to Kofax for $400 million in cash, as Nuance’s new CEO narrows the company’s focus on its conversational artificial intelligence products and cloud-related technologies.

  Nuance’s (NASDAQ: NUAN) document imaging business provides enterprise... Read more »

  Jeff Engel11/12/18

• Veritas, Elliott Strike $5.7B Deal for Athenahealth

  [Updated 11/12/18, 10:31 am, with deal terms.] Athenahealth has reached an agreement to be bought for approximately $5.7 billion in cash by private equity firms Veritas Capital and Evergreen Coast Capital, an affiliate of activist hedge fund Elliott Management.... Read more »

  Brian Dowling11/12/18

• After Accident, Sector67 Ramps Up Operations in Rehabbed Warehouse

  When Chris Meyer was enveloped by a ball of fire in a construction accident and rushed to a Madison, WI, hospital 14 months ago, his loved ones and friends feared for his life. They also worried about the future of Sector67,... Read more »

  Brian E. Clark11/12/18

• Eyeing $500M, Moderna Outlines Plans for Biotech’s Biggest IPO Ever

  One of the biggest gambles in biotech history is about to be tested on Wall Street.

  Moderna, the high-flying yet secretive developer of messenger RNA therapeutics, filed papers on Friday afternoon outlining its long-awaited IPO. In its prospectus, Moderna set an... Read more »

  Ben Fidler11/9/18

• Boston Tech Watch: Neurala A.I., GE, MaxQ, Threat Stack, Bluefyre

  Acquisitions, partnerships, and an FDA approval mark this week’s roundup in Boston technology news. Read on for more:

  —Boston University is adding artificial intelligence education to its electrical and computer engineering courses through a partnership with Boston A.I. company Neurala, to... Read more »

  Brian Dowling11/9/18

• Bio Roundup: Midterm Fallout, Alzheimer’s Search, Postpartum Panel

  There was plenty at stake in this week’s midterm elections, and not just in terms of political wins and losses. With congress now divided—Democrats took back control of the House and Republicans extended their majority in the Senate—the implications are significant... Read more »

  Ben Fidler11/9/18

• Google’s Schmidt: 5 Years Before A.I. Is More Than Advisory Tool

  Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt says the next five years of artificial intelligence and machine learning will be more like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa than a self-driving sedan or a robo-surgeon taking out your appendix.

  “There are still significant errors,... Read more »

  Brian Dowling11/8/18

• In Search of Names, Tech Startups Look to Galaxies Far, Far Away

  All-seeing orbs, a distant planet and source of a life-giving drug, interstellar faster-than-light space travel, a carbon-freezing technique used to lock away enemies.

  The science fiction and fantasy creations—carbonite, palantir, Arrakis, warp drive—evoke the sort of futuristic vision that many startups... Read more »

  Brian Dowling11/8/18

• Hold Your Horsepower: For Mobility Industry, “Reality Is Sinking In”

  Earlier this month, GM CEO Mary Barra told the crowd at a financial conference that her company was on track to unveil a ridesharing service in 2019 that would be powered by autonomous vehicles. It sounded like pretty big news, but... Read more »

  Sarah Schmid Stevenson11/8/18

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• Boston’s Salsify Buys Austin Maker of E-Commerce Chat Tools

  Salsify, a maker of e-commerce software, has acquired Welcome Commerce, an Austin-based developer of chat technology.

  Boston-based Salsify sells technology that helps retail brands like Michelin and Anheuser-Busch manage their products across e-commerce platforms such as Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN),... Read more »

  Angela Shah11/8/18

• Rainwater Foundation Deploys Millions Toward Rare Brain Disease, PSP

  Dallas — A foundation started by a Texas billionaire announced Tuesday it will offer millions of dollars in awards to scientists who research neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and progressive supranuclear palsy.

  The Rainwater Charitable Foundation, which was founded in the... Read more »

  David Holley11/7/18

• 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: AMZN) is working on a deal to move into both the... Read more »

  David Holley11/5/18

• 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... Read more »

  Bernadette Tansey11/5/18

• 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: AVGO) announced in June it would acquire CA... Read more »

  David Holley11/5/18

• 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... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo11/5/18

• “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... Read more »

  Brian Dowling11/5/18

• 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,... Read more »

  David Holley11/5/18

• 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... Read more »

  Ben Fidler11/2/18

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