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Boston
Roundup, Life Sciences, acquisitions

PerkinElmer Sells Unit for $500M, Aveo Stock Climbs, Pfizer Buys FoldRx, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News

Erin Kutz 9/3/10

This week we saw news of acquisitions from drug giants, and got updates on several New England biotechs.

—The FDA alerted South San Francisco-based Genentech that it was not going to review its application for accelerated approval of its “empowered antibody” drug, developed with technology from Waltham, MA-based ImmunoGen. The FDA said that T-DM1, which combines an existing breast cancer drug from Genentech with a cancer-killing toxin from ImmunoGen (NASDAQ: IMGN), did not meet the requirements for accelerated approval because all other treatment options for the patient population had not been exhausted.

—I profiled Boston-based FitVirtual, a developer of Web-based platforms for corporate wellness programs and tailored exercise plans. The startup, which is part of the MassChallenge competition,... Read more »

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San Diego
Biotech, deals, obesity

Orexigen Nabs $1B Deal With Takeda to Market Obesity Drug, Shares Climb

Luke Timmerman 9/2/10

San Diego-based Orexigen Therapeutics has found a partner to help it compete in the growing market for drugs to combat obesity. It’s Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical.

Under the terms of the deal, Takeda has obtained an... Read more »

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San Diego
Roundup, Life Sciences, funding

Otonomy Gets $38.5M, Avalon Helps Restart Drug for Age-Related Blindness, Accumetrics Heads Toward Profitability, & More San Diego Life Sciences News

The life sciences news over the past week was almost all about deals. Money came out of INC Research, a contract research organization in North Carolina that was founded in San Diego. Money went into Otonomy,... Read more »

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Boston
Software, startups, Analytics

Buzzient Makes Social Media Analytics Software, Attracting Business Customers From Gaming to Financial Services

Erin Kutz 9/2/10

You’ve been sleeping under a rock if you haven’t realized yet that what’s being said on Twitter, Facebook, user forums, wikis, YouTube videos, and personal blogs has a big impact on what people think about a... Read more »

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Boston
energy, Life Sciences, startups

Mascoma Gets New Cellulosic Ethanol Technology Through $51M Deal With SunOpta

Ryan McBride 9/2/10

Mascoma has grabbed improved technology for breaking down the raw materials it uses for making biofuels. The Lebanon, NH-based firm has acquired the SunOpta BioProcess unit of the Canadian food and mineral company SunOpta (NASDAQ:STKL... Read more »

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San Diego
Life Sciences, Biomedical Diagnostics, Anti-Clotting

Accumetrics Adds $7 Million in Venture Funding, Plans to Reach Profitability

Bruce V. Bigelow 9/1/10

San Diego-based Accumetrics says today it has raised an additional $7 million as part of a Series E venture round that was announced last October, when the biomedical diagnostics company raised about $16.5 million. The company... Read more »

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National
IT, Life Sciences, energy

Innovators in Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, Northwest Top World Economic Forum’s List of Technology Pioneers

Wade Roush 9/1/10

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Boston
Life Sciences, deals, startups

Pfizer Gobbles FoldRx in Big Pharma’s Latest Rare Disease Play in Boston Area

Ryan McBride 9/1/10

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Boston
Life Sciences, startups, cancer

Mercator Therapeutics Embarks on Journey to Develop Targeted Cancer Drugs

Ryan McBride 9/1/10

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Boston
Roundup, deals, acquisitions

Cisco Acquires ExtendMedia, Genzyme Rejects Sanofi Bid, Yottaa Grabs $4M, & More Boston-Area Deals News

Erin Kutz 9/1/10

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San Diego
Life Sciences, Drug Development, Age-Related Blindness

San Diego’s ReVision Therapeutics, Founded in April, Takes on Development of Drug Candidate for Age-Related Blindness

Bruce V. Bigelow 8/31/10

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Boston
Life Sciences, Biotech, FDA

Aveo Pharma Stock Jumps 40 Percent in A Week, CEO Notes Progress in Pivotal Kidney Cancer Trial

Ryan McBride 8/31/10

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Xconomist Forum - Insight & Opinion

National
innovation, Competitiveness, Government

The Innovation Imperative: How Corporations and Nations Can Survive the Tsunami of Global Competition and Thrive

Ken Morse 9/3/10

Government leaders in Europe and North America are seeking to formulate enlightened, effective policies to create the necessary ecosystems and help their corporations respond to threats of loss of markets at... Read more »

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San Francisco
Biotech, startups, innovation

It’s Time for Universities to Get More Nimble

Regis Kelly 9/2/10

“Early to bed,

Early to rise,

Makes a man healthy,

Wealthy and wise.”

Attempting to motivate their children to go to bed at a reasonable time, parents have for generations invoked... Read more »

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Seattle
Biotech, Drugs, startups

The Feds Need to Start Supporting Early-Stage Drug Development

Shawn Iadonato 9/2/10

The U.S. Congress is on track to fund a pivotal element of healthcare reform, a $50 million dollar down payment on the $500 million dollar Cures Acceleration Network (CAN) initiative. This... Read more »

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San Francisco
Life Sciences, VC, Stem Cells

Will the Stem Cell Ruling Affect Venture Capital Investing?

Brad Webb 9/1/10

Last week’s federal district court ruling ordering an immediate halt in federal funding for stem cell research has thrown academic research circles into a state of confusion. This has caught the... Read more »

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San Francisco
Biotech, startups, innovation

How Bay Area Biotech Stacks Up With the Rest of the World

Gail Maderis 8/23/10

Recently, Newsweek columnist Fareed Zakaria told an audience of biotechnology executives that America’s foothold as the preeminent technology innovator may be slipping.

“Bill Gates is the Britney Spears of China,” Zakaria... Read more »

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San Francisco
Life Sciences, R&D, drug discovery

Nonprofits and the Valley of Death in Drug Discovery

Walter Moos 8/19/10

The research and development (R&D) process that ultimately leads to effective drugs is exceedingly difficult, and often the public does not understand the drug discovery pipeline. In a typical model, drug... Read more »

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