Latest Posts

• Q&A: New Rady Dean Ordóñez on School’s Growth, Startups, Ethics & More

  Under Bob Sullivan, the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego matured into its teenage years. Sullivan became Rady’s founding dean in 2003, ahead of the fall 2004 enrollment of the school’s charter MBA class.

  Rady School is marking its... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo9/20/19

• Bio Roundup: Pelosi’s Reveal, Alder’s Deal, Biogen’s Fails & More

  Boston, San Francisco, and a few other metro areas might dominate the US life sciences, but some weeks, all bio-related eyes are on the nation’s capital. Health concerns about vaping continue to mount, and the feds could get involved. Meanwhile, try... Read more »

  Alex Lash9/20/19

• Boston Tech Watch: DataRobot, IBM-MIT, Firefly, Aliro, Embr & More

  More money is flowing into AI research at MIT, thanks to an expansion of the Institute’s partnership with computing giant IBM; DataRobot announces its $200 million-plus funding round; a tech startup aims to democratize access to quantum computers: these items and... Read more »

  Brian Dowling9/20/19

• Amazon Sets Electric Vehicle, Carbon Footprint Goals Amid Criticism

  Amazon unveiled a new series of ambitious, long-term sustainability goals on Thursday that would continue the company’s efforts to make its operations more environmentally friendly.

  Under what Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has dubbed “The Climate Pledge,” the tech giant said it... Read more »

  Jeff Buchanan9/19/19

• Pelosi, Dems Unveil Price Plan: Are 25 Drugs Enough for Negotiation?

  With the 2020 election just over a year away, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has unveiled the Democratic Party’s answer to public discontent over high prescription drug prices.

  A preview of the plan was leaked last week. Today’s announcement doesn’t... Read more »

  Alex Lash9/19/19

• New Deals May Double $240M Funding For MIT-IBM AI Lab, Director Says

  When MIT and IBM launched a joint research lab in 2017, the New York-headquartered company pledged $240 million over a decade to chip away at the fundamental obstacles keeping artificial intelligence from transforming industries like healthcare and cybersecurity.

  Now, the Cambridge,... Read more »

  Brian Dowling9/19/19

• High-Flying Ginkgo Nets Another $290M to Program Cells Like Computers

  Ginkgo Bioworks, a synthetic biology specialist that has become worth billions, has raised another $290 million to expand the breadth of a technology that tinkers with a cell’s genetic code and reprograms it—like programming a computer.

  Boston-based Ginkgo uses a combination... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan9/19/19

• Eying “Extra” DNA As Cancer Driver, Boundless Bio Debuts With $46M

  In the nucleus of human cells sit our chromosomes, comprised mainly of tightly wound DNA. In some cells, however, some pieces of genetic material that exist within the nucleus are not attached to a chromosome—and a new company, Boundless Bio, believes... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo9/19/19

• WI Watchlist: MSI Data, Cellular Dynamics, WARF, Redox, & More

  It’s time to catch up on recent news in Wisconsin’s innovation community. Read on for details.

  —MSI Data, a Milwaukee-based business that develops software for organizations in the equipment distribution and service contractor industries, said it received an investment... Read more »

  Jeff Buchanan9/18/19

• Aliro Technologies Lands $2.7M to Help Developers Go Quantum

  It’s still a ways off before visions of all-powerful encryption-breaking quantum computers come to pass. But the new quantum technologies here today are already beginning to make a dent in the world of high-performance computing.

  Imperfect as these computers may be—now... Read more »

  Brian Dowling9/18/19

• Gilliland to Step Down as Head of Fred Hutch in 2020

  Gary Gilliland, who has led Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as president and director for the past four-plus years, plans to step down in 2020, the nonprofit organization announced Tuesday.

  He joined the research center, which is often... Read more »

  Jeff Buchanan9/17/19

• HMS’s $36M Deal to Buy VitreosHealth Combines Complementary Firms

  One Texas-based healthcare software business has acquired another in an all-cash deal worth $36.5 million, the companies announced late Monday.

  Irving, TX-based HMS Holdings (NASDAQ: HMSY) acquired VitreosHealth, which is located in neighboring Plano, TX. Both cities are suburbs of... Read more »

  Jeff Buchanan9/17/19

• Automated Trucking Company TuSimple Adds $120M More From Investors

  UPS, the global package delivery giant, took a minority stake this summer in TuSimple, a self-driving trucking company, but didn’t reveal financial details.

  On Tuesday, the San Diego startup revealed that investment was part of an extended Series D financing round... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo9/17/19

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• Amplyx Inks Novartis Deal for Another Compromised-Immune System Drug

  Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, which is testing a new type of drug against life-threatening infections acquired by patients with compromised immune systems, has acquired the rights to another drug that could also be of use in treating those with limited ability to fight... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo9/17/19

• Lundbeck Paying Nearly $2B for Alder to Follow Migraine Rivals to Market

  Denmark’s neuroscience-focused pharma firm Lundbeck has agreed to pay $1.95 billion to acquire Seattle-based Alder BioPharmaceuticals to boost its late-stage pipeline and biologics capabilities.

  Barely a year at the helm, Lundbeck CEO Deborah Dunsire (pictured) is making her second major acquisition... Read more »

  Mike Ward9/16/19

• Why Menlo Ventures Backed Construction Tech Firm Fieldwire

  [Corrected 9/17/2019, 8:58 a.m, and 9/18/19, 4:53 p.m. See below.] Fieldwire, whose mobile app helps builders and construction crews coordinate their work, announced today it has lined up a total of $33.5 million across two newly disclosed fundraising... Read more »

  Bernadette Tansey9/16/19

• Advisory Body Backs Aimmune Peanut Allergy Drug, Next Up: the FDA

  A panel of independent advisors to the FDA voted on Friday to recommend approval of an experimental peanut allergy drug from Aimmune Therapeutics. But concern about the risks of an allergic reaction to the therapy led the committee of mostly... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan9/13/19

• BACEless: Eisai, Biogen Pull Plug on Alzheimer’s Drug in Final Stage

  Add another once-promising Alzheimer’s disease drug to the scrap heap.

  Eisai and Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) are halting a Phase 3 test after an independent safety review concluded the risks of experimental Alzheimer’s drug elenbecestat outweigh the benefits. The companies did... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan9/13/19

• Cloudflare’s $525M IPO Emboldens Already-Confident Internet Booster

  [Updated 9/13/19, 11:40 am ET. See below.] Cloudflare has had its share of controversy, and is in a market with a wide range of more established competitors, from Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud to Cisco Systems and Palo... Read more »

  David Holley9/13/19

• Boston Tech Watch: Neural Galaxy, Link Ventures, & More Epstein Fallout

  The funding deals ramped up this week in Boston, and the drip, drip, drip of details about the MIT Media Lab and Jeffrey Epstein continued to form an unwelcome puddle for university administrators. Read on for all the details.

  —Joi Ito,... Read more »

  Brian Dowling9/13/19

• Bio Roundup: Award Winners, Lung Data, Dems on Drug Pricing & More

  For decades, advanced lung cancer was a quick death sentence. That’s no longer a given, thanks in part to the arrival of immunotherapy. If a medical meeting in Barcelona this week was any indication, more help could be on the... Read more »

  Ben Fidler9/13/19

• Booming CS Demand Brings Ex-Acquia CEO Back to His UW Roots

  Tom Erickson was ready to retire to Australia. But then the Wisconsin native and veteran technology executive got an offer from his alma mater that he decided he couldn’t pass up.

  This month, the University of Wisconsin-Madison named Erickson founding director... Read more »

  Jeff Bauter Engel9/13/19

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• SpringWorks and Satsuma Boost This Week’s Biotech IPO Haul to $595M

  Wall Street welcomed three life science companies to the public markets this week. 10x Genomics led the way Wednesday, followed by SpringWorks Therapeutics and Satsuma Pharmaceuticals on Thursday. Combined, the three companies raised more than $595 million from their IPOs.

  According... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan9/12/19

• The Winners of the 2019 Xconomy Awards Boston Are…

  Even after three years, it doesn’t get any easier to choose the winners of the Xconomy Awards in Boston. There were multiple deserving winners in each category this year. But after much discussion and debate among our judges and... Read more »

  Jeff Bauter Engel9/12/19

• Tocagen Stock Tanks After Gene Therapy Drug for Brain Cancer Fails

  Tocagen’s experimental gene therapy for brain cancer therapy has failed a late-stage test, sinking the biotech’s stock price below $1.

  San Diego’s Tocagen (NASDAQ: TOCA), has been testing its drug in recurrent high-grade glioma, the most common and deadly type... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo9/12/19

• John Halamka, Livongo Health & AI Progress at X·CON on Oct. 22

  The consumerization of healthcare is accelerating. Within five years, a “significant percentage” of healthcare services will be run through mobile apps and other digital tools, predicts John Halamka, a Boston-based doctor and prominent digital health expert.

  Halamka shared his prognostication in... Read more »

  Jeff Bauter Engel9/12/19

• As More Grocers Embrace Tech, Swiftly Snags $15M to Launch in Seattle

  [Updated 9/12/19 1:10 p.m. See below.] Swiftly, a Seattle-based startup developing software to provide discounts and rewards for buying goods at grocery stores, exited stealth mode this week with an announcement it has raised more than $15 million... Read more »

  Jeff Buchanan9/11/19

• FDA Doesn’t Shell Peanut Allergy Drug Pre-Hearing, Aimmune Shares Climb

  Peanut allergy sufferers know they need to stay away from certain foods that can put them in danger. But what about accidental exposure? Even trace amounts of peanut protein in their food or someone else’s can trigger an allergic reaction that... Read more »

  Frank Vinluan9/11/19

• After Investing, GSK to Buy Out Celiac Drug Developer Sitari Pharma

  GlaxoSmithKline is acquiring a startup it helped launch in 2013 as part of an alliance with life sciences venture capital firm Avalon Ventures.

  Avalon said Tuesday that GSK (NYSE: GSK) has agreed to buy the company, Sitari Pharmaceuticals, which has... Read more »

  Sarah de Crescenzo9/11/19

• Phil Sharp, CRISPR’ing the Heart & the Duchenne Data Gap on Oct. 17

  Phil Sharp is one of the godfathers of biotech. He’s an MIT biologist, Nobel laureate and, as a Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) co-founder, one of the people responsible for turning Kendall Square into the biopharma epicenter it is today.

  Next month,... Read more »

  Ben Fidler9/11/19

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