Company Stories M

M3 Biotechnology (Seattle WA)

M3 Biotechnology (Seatle, WA; no SBIR) has changed its name to Athira Pharma, derived from the Arabic word meaning “a force” or “an energy,” which the company says aligns with its focus on developing regenerative therapies for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis. plans to launch a phase 2 proof-of-concept study before the end of 2019 [Conor Hale, Fierce Biotech, Apr 11, 19]

As the first investor in M3 Biotechnology (Seattle, WA; no SBIR), the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) helped validate the therapeutic potential of M3’s drug candidate for Alzheimer’s disease. With a second investment of $1.4 million, the ADDF is now providing key funds to support the launch of human trials this year. ... Total financing of $14M to-date  [company press release, Apr 13, 17]  has raised $12 million from investors to start clinical trials for a drug that seeks to reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s disease.  [Rachel Lerman, Seattle Times, Apr 14, 17]

Fresh off a $10 million [Series A] funding round, M3 Biotechnology (Seattle, WA; no SBIR) is preparing for clinical trials for its Alzheimer’s drug. ... plans to begin conducting human safety trials for the treatment by the end of this year.  ... Tests of M3’s drug in rats have indicated that it can regrow the connection between neurons, suggesting it can rebuild connections destroyed by Alzheimer’s and other progressive neurological diseases, Kawas said.   [Rachel Nielsen, Puget Sound Business Journal, Feb 17, 16]

M3 Biotechnology (Seattle, WA; no SBIR, founded 2011)  biotech company is raising funds to push forward its work on developing brain disease treatments. ...  founded at Washington State University and now based at the University of Washington's CoMotion commercialization center, just raised $3.5 million in equity investments. ...  develops treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.  [Annie Zak, Puget Sound Business Journal, Nov 23, 15]

Three companies in Washington will receive Proof of Concept grants to accelerate maturation of promising health-related technologies from ideas into commercial products, the  Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF) announced:   Zwitter Technology  (Seattle, WA; no SBIR), $250,000 to conduct preclinical testing of a new leukemia treatment anticipated to have greater efficacy than current drugs;  M3 Biotechnology  (Seattle WA; no SBIR), $250,000 to validate the effectiveness and safety of a novel treatment for Parkinson’s disease in preparation for clinical testing; LumiThera  (Poulsbo, WA; no SBIR), $250,000 to build and test a device that may delay progression of the dry form of age-related macular degeneration.  [press release, Life Sciences Discovery Fund, Apr 21, 14]

MacAulay-Brown (Beavercreek, OH)

Future Army contracts. The Army revealed a new roster of industry partners under a potential $37.4B contract that covers knowledge-based professional engineering support services to command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance programs. SBIR companies: Artel (now big, $300K); Dynetics (now big, 31 awards); Macaulay-Brown (now big, 23 awards); NetCentric (now big, $900K); Scientific Research (Now big, $16M); Array Information Technology (one SBIR); Bennett Aerospace (21 SBIR awards); Envistacom (one SBIR); Fibertek (127 SBIRs); Future Technologies ($1M); Fulcrum ($1.2M); LinQuest ($1M); Manufacturing Techniques (One SBIR); Navmar Applied Sciences (68 awards); Peerless Technologies ($2.6M); Research Innovations (one SBIR); Sonalysts (128 awards); SURVICE Engineering (50 awards); Truestone (one SBIR).[GovConWire, Oct 19, 18]

KeyW (Hanover, MD; $200K  SBIR)  and MacAulay-Brown (Beavercreek, OH; $5M SBIR)  were awarded spots on a potential 10-year, $500 million contract to eight companies and one nonprofit organization to support missions of DIA’s science and technology directorate.  [Peter Grahm, GovConWire, Sep 17, 18]

MacAulay-Brown (Beavercreek, OH; $5M SBIR) was one of three organizations that won a spot on a $24 million deal for a radio frequency [R&D]. AFRL named MacAulay-Brown, Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. and Georgia Tech Research Institute to the contract.   [Joe Cogliano, Dayton Business Journal, Oct 1, 15]

MacAulay-Brown (Beavercreek, OH; $4.8M SBIR) continues to rack up contracts. .... was one of eight companies recently named to a $75 million, five-year deal to support the U.S. Air Force.  ...  continues to maintain national relevance because of wins on contracts like this. The company has about 1,500 employees, including 450 in the Dayton region. [Joe Cogliano, Dayton Business Journal, Jan 12, 15]  Another small firm grows to replace other firms for standard service contracts. No economic growth, no net job growth.

Machina Labs (Chatsworth, CA)

Lockheed Martin‘s venture capital arm has invested in Machina Labs (Chatsworth, CA; $1.8M SBIR), a manufacturing company that uses artificial intelligence and robotics to make advanced sheet metal products. Machina Labs said the money will support research and development and business growth efforts as well as advance the production of its Roboforming platform for defense applications. The investment brings the company’s total funds raised to $21.8 million. [Naomi Cooper, govconwire.com, January 30, 2023]

Macrochem (Woburn, MA)

MacroChem (Wellesley Hills MA; three SBIRs) reports it has closed on a private placement of $3.5M targeted at moving the company's EcoNail nail fungus treatment through its Phase 2 clinical program and developing its newly acquired product, pexiganan. [Mass High Tech, Oct 10]

MacroChem (Wellesley Hills, MA; three SBIRs) has purchased the license to a treatment for diabetic foot infection. MacroChem executives report the company has exercised an option to acquire exclusive worldwide license rights for pexiganan, a novel, small peptide anti-infective, from New York City-based Genaera Corp (three SBIRs). [Mass High Tech, Oct 4, 07]

Micro-HHS-SBIR user Macrochem  (Woburn, MA) is closing the door and auctioning off the assets. [Mass High Tech, Sep 2]

MacroFab (Houston, TX)

 a $2 million seed-stage investment in startup MacroFab (Houston, TX; no SBIR), which is creating an on-demand rapid prototyping and small-batch manufacturing service for hardware startups. ... building a cloud-based service through which customers upload their designs, get a price quote and can order prototypes or production runs through the online cloud-based platform.  [Greg Avery, Denver Business Journal, Jul 29, 15]

Macrogenics (Rockville, MD)

Macrogenics (Rockville, MD; $2.6M SBIR) up 26% [Feb 17, 2023] announced preliminary safety and anti-tumor activity data from the dose expansion phase of the Company’s ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of lorigerlimab, a bispecific, tetravalent PD-1 × CTLA-4 DART® molecule [company press release, Feb 13, 2023]

MacroGenics up 22% [Nov 4, 22] reported quarterly finances

Gilead Sciences and MacroGenics (Rockville, MD; $2.5M SBIR) announced an exclusive option and collaboration agreement to develop MGD024, an investigational, bispecific antibody that binds CD123 and CD3 using MacroGenics’ DART® platform, and two additional bispecific research programs. The collaboration agreement grants Gilead the option to license MGD024, a potential treatment for certain blood cancers, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). .... Gilead will pay MacroGenics an upfront payment of $60 million and MacroGenics will be eligible to receive up to $1.7 billion in target nomination, option fees, and development, regulatory and commercial milestones. MacroGenics will also be eligible to receive tiered, double-digit royalties on worldwide net sales of MGD024 and a flat royalty on worldwide net sales of products under the two research programs. [joint companies press relesase, Oct 17, 22]

MacroGenics (ROCKVILLE, MD; $2.6M SBIR) closes solid tumor clinical trial after 7 people die [Nick Paul Taylor, Fierce Biotech, Jul 11, 2022]

Macrogenics (Rockville, MD; $2.6M SBIR) down 24% [Sep 16, 21] announced results from Cohort A Part 1 of the Phase 2/3 MAHOGANY clinical trial of margetuximab. MARGENZA(R) (margetuximab-cmkb) is approved in HER2+ metastatic breast cancer and is being investigated as a potential first-line treatment for patients with HER2+ gastric cancer (GC) or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor, with or without chemotherapy. [company press release, Sep 16, 21]

Zai Lab (China) will pay MacroGenics (Rockville, MD; $2.6M SBIR) $25 million upfront and make an equity investment of $30 million in common stock. Those are small numbers compared to the up to $1.4 billion that MacroGenics could receive in biobucks for [four CD3- or CD47-based bispecific antibodies for immuno-oncology] as well as additional royalties on annual net sales if the products make it to market. [Kyle LaHucik, Fierce Biotech, Jun 16, 2021[

MacroGenics (Rockville, MD; $2.7M SBIR) announced a research collaboration and global license agreement to develop a preclinical bispecific molecule with Janssen Biotech, Inc. The collaboration will incorporate MacroGenics' proprietary DART® platform to enable simultaneous targeting of two undisclosed targets in a therapeutic area outside oncology. [company press release, Dec 18, 20]

MacroGenics will be taking its first product to market. ... said [FDA] has approved Margenza as a treatment for patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer in combination with chemotherapy. The company said it expects the therapeutic to be available in March 2021. [DCInno, Dec 17, 20]

MacroGenics (Rockville, MD; $2.6M SBIR) is weeks away from a potential regulatory approval for its first product — and preparing to hit the ground running on a launch. The clinical-stage biotech has teamed up with Milwaukee life sciences firm Eversana to commercialize its breast cancer therapy candidate in the U.S. if it receives approval from the[FDA]. That decision is expected to drop Dec. 18 [Sara Gilgore, DCInno, Dec 4, 20]

Macrogenics down 16% [May 29, 20]

Macrogenics up 29% [May 11, 20]

Macrogenics down 18% [May 7, 20]

Macrogenics up 231% [May 6,20] the biotech company's management said it remains on track to report final overall survival (OS) data for the phase 3 SOPHIA study of margetuximab in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer this year. If the data is solid, MacroGenics believes it could get a Food and Drug Administration decision as soon as December 2020. [Motley Fool, May 6, 20]

Macrogenics up 24% [Apr 17, 20]

Macrogenics down 16% [Feb 27, 20]

Pfizer has dumped a bispecific antibody developed through its collaboration with MacroGenics (Rockville, MD; $2.5M SBIR). The solid tumor drug was the first partner-developed program based on MacroGenics' bispecific platform to enter the clinic, but it has fallen before clearing phase 1. In 2010, MacroGenics granted Pfizer the rights to candidates based on its bispecific antibody platform against two cancer targets. [Nick Paul Taylor, Fierce Biotech, Oct 29, 19]

Macrogenics (Rockville, MD; $2.5M SBIR) down 38% [Oct 23, 19] announced topline results from the second pre-specified interim overall survival (OS) analysis for the Phase 3 SOPHIA study of margetuximab in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who have previously been treated with anti-HER2-targeted therapies. [company press release, Oct 22, 19]

Macrogenics down 17% [Jun 4, 19]

MacroGenics up 130% [Feb 6, 19] on positive results from Sophia, its late-stage clinical study of the efficacy of margetuximab in patents with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.  ... said its breast cancer treatment outperformed Roche's (RHHBY) blockbuster Herceptin in a late-stage test.   [yahoofinance.com, Feb 6, 19]

MacroGenics (Rockville, MD; $2.6M SBIR), focused on discovering and developing innovative monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, announced that on December 6, it received a [FDA] letter indicating that a partial clinical hold has been placed on its Phase 1 monotherapy study of MGD009, a B7-H3 × CD3 bispecific DART® molecule, as well as on a combination study of MGD009 and MGA012 (anti-PD-1). Under the partial clinical hold, no new patients will be enrolled in either study until the partial hold is lifted by the FDA.  [company press release, Dec 9, 18]

Macrogenics down 10%  [May 8, 18]

Macrogenics down 18% [Mar 27, 18]

Macrogenics (Rockville, MD; $2.5M SBIR) up 15% [Jan 24,18] Based on results from the futility analysis, an independent data safety monitoring committee (DSMC) has recommended that the SOPHIA study continue as planned without modification. [company pres release, Jan 23, 28]

Macrogenics (Rockville, MD; $2.3M SBIR, 318 employees) up 17% [Oct 25, 17] Incyte and MacroGenics announced that the companies have entered into an exclusive global collaboration and license agreement for MacroGenics' MGA012, an investigational monoclonal antibody that inhibits programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1). Incyte has obtained exclusive worldwide rights for the development and commercialization of MGA012 in all indications, while MacroGenics retains the right to develop its pipeline assets in combination with MGA012. [joint compamies press release, Oct 25, 17]

Macrogenics (Rockville, MD; $2.6M SBIR, market cap $800M) down 15% [Dec 14, 16]

MacroGenics (Rockville, MD; $2.6M SBIR) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, as well as autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases, and Takeda Pharmaceutical (Japan) announced the conclusion of their License and Option Agreement for MGD010. MacroGenics has regained the worldwide rights to MGD010, a bispecific molecule targeting CD32B and CD79B. Takeda's decision comes earlier than the predefined expiration of its option exercise period and follows Takeda's recently announced therapeutic area re-prioritization. [Macrogenics press release, Sep 12, 16]

Macrogenics  up 12% [Jun 28, 16]

MacroGenics (Rockville, MD; $2.6M SBIR) recently signed an agreement to develop its MGD015 cancer immunotherapy drug for (JNJ subsidiary) Janssen Biotech Inc. .... will pay MacroGenic a $75 million, upfront licensing fee for the drug. MacroGenic's future payments from Janssen could balloon by an additional $665 million after the clinical, regulatory and commercialization stages for the drug. (Tina Reed, Washington Business Journal, May 19, 16)

biotech Macrogenics (Rockville, MD; $2.6M SBIR) is raising $130 million [IPO] as it gets ready to expand its pipeline and manufacturing capability. ...  focuses on antibody-based therapies for cancer treatment and other diseases ...  announced a collaboration with Takeda in October, is perhaps the region's biggest beneficiary of big pharma's push to partner with little bio, an effort to boost pipelines amid a wave of patent expirations  [Jennifer Nycz-Conner, Washington Business Journal, Jul 15, 15]

Macrogenics (Rockville, MD; $2.7M SBIR)  down 10% [Apr 30,15]

Macrogenics (Rockville,MD; $2.6M SBIR) down 15% [Dec 23, 14]

Macrogenics up 16% [Dec 18, 14]

Macrogenics  (Rockville, MD; $2.6M SBIR, market cap $660M) up 10% [Nov 20, 14]

Macrogenics  (Rockville, MD; $3.5M SBIR) up 12% [Nov 12, 14]

Macrogenics (Rockville, MD; $2.6M SBIR)  up 10% [Jul 23, 14]

Macrogenics down 11% [Nov 19, 13]

Presage Biosciences (Seattle, WA; no SBIR) has been named one of FierceBiotech ’s “Fierce 15” of 2013.  ... a spinoff company of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center  .... patented a novel method for simultaneously analyzing multiple cancer drug candidates and drug combinations within a single tumor while that tumor is still in a patient.  .... FierceBiotech evaluates hundreds of private companies from around the world each year before selecting the 15 it considers the most innovative, creative and promising.   The other Fierce 14 are:   Acetylon Pharmaceuticals;   AnaptysBio;  CytomX  (Santa Barbara, CA; $500K SBIR); FibroGen  (South San Francisco, CA; $1.3M SBIR);  Immunocore; Jounce Therapeutics;  Kala Pharmaceuticals;  MacroGenics  (Rockville, MD; $2.6M SBIR) ; Moderna Therapeutics; Nimbus Discovery; Scioderm; Ultragenyx;  UniQure; and Visterra.  [Valerie Bauman,  Puget Sound Business Journal , Sep 24] 

Macrogenics (Rockville. MD; $2.6M SBIR)  up 56% [ Oct 10, 13] top NASDAQ riser

MacroGenics (Rockville, MD; $2.7M SBIR) plans to announce today that it has raised $25 million in financing [Washington Post, Sep 25, 08]

Charities Investing. Fed up with breakthroughs that fill journals rather than medicine chests, private foundations and charities that have traditionally funded academic scientists have started doing the once-unthinkable: writing checks for millions of dollars to for-profit companies. ...  Earlier this month, JDRF announced that it was giving $2 million to MacroGenics Inc., a Rockville, Md., biotech, for a phase-2/3 clinical trial of an antibody that might slow progression of type-1 diabetes. [Sharon Begley, Wall Street Journal, Jan 26]  MacroGenics has had $2+M in SBIR. JDRF has also funded Sangamo BioSciences (Richmond, CA) $3M,  Transition Therapeutics (Toronto) , and TolerRx (Cambridge, MA). Sangamo has also had $2+M SBIR.

Madison Vaccines (Madison, WI)

Madison Vaccines (Madison, WI; no SBIR), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing innovative therapies for prostate cancer, announced an initial close of an $8 million Series A financing. .... will support ongoing development of MVI’s pipeline, including completion of an expanded Phase 2 clinical trial for MVI-816 in non-metastatic prostate cancer patients with rapidly rising PSA, before the need for surgical or chemical castration (androgen deprivation therapy or ADT).  [company press release, Jan 13, 14]

MagBioSense (St. Louis, MO)

medical device maker MagBioSense (St. Louis, MO; ?? SBIR) received a [$1M] portion of a $7.5 million grant from Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation.    [Brian Feldt,cSt. Louis Business Journal, Dec 30, 15]  ]   developing a diagnostic device & assay for heart attack, offering laboratory-quality sensitivity and the rapid results and ease of use of a point-of-care (POC) system.  [company website]

Magic Leap (Dania Beach, FL)

Augmented-reality startup Magic Leap  (Dania Beach, FL; above SBIR's pay grade) could raise up to $827 million in a new funding round, as it seeks to distinguish itself in the rapidly growing industries of virtual reality and augmented reality.glasses ... raised $542 million last year in a round led by Google parent Alphabet that valued the firm at $2 billion. Earlier in 2014, Facebook  bought virtual-reality-headset maker Oculus VR for $2 billion. ... Unlike Oculus and other headset makers, Magic Leap’s glasses project computer-generated images over a real-life setting. Recent footage from the Magic Leap device, which the company said was unaltered, show a miniature solar system floating in an office, with the planets reflecting off the surface of a nearby desk.   [Jack Nicas and Rolfe Winkler, Wall Street Journal, Dec 9, 15]

MagneMotion (Sudbury, MA)

Magnemotion(Sudbury, MA; $700K SBIR) is building a new headquarters in Devens and hopes to add 100 new jobs.... The state Economic Assistance Coordinating Council approved state and local tax incentives for 10 companies that have pledged to add jobs in the state. [Boston Globe, Nov 25, 08]

MagneMotion (Sudbury, MA; one Phase 2 SBIR)  landed $6.3M from the U.S. Federal Transit Administration to develop a magnetic levitation (maglev) transportation system for use in cities, according to officials. ... received a patent for its maglev technology in July 2006. The following September, it closed $3M from Massachusetts Capital Resource Co. [Mass High Tech, Jan 15]

Magnesium Development (Holland, MI and Missoula, MT)

medical device startup Magnesium Development (Holland, MI and Missoula, MT; no SBIR) announced earlier this month that it has raised a $1 million seed round. ...  to embark on the next phase of pre-clinical testing for its lead product, BioMg 250. The company describes BioMg 250 as a breakthrough magnesium alloy used in orthopedic fixation devices. ... expects to start human clinical trials by 2017  [Sarah Schmid, xconomy,com, Mar 21, 16]

Magnetek (Menomonee Falls, WI)

Magnetek (Menomonee Falls, WI; no SBIR) got orders for fuel cell power inverters worth $1.3M from United Technologies. The 380-employee firm with a market cap of $144M makes and sells digital power control systems. [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Sep 27, 07] Unfortunately, for the last three years it has lost a total of about $80M.

Magnolia Medical Technologies (Seattle, WA)

Magnolia Medical Technologies (Seattle, WA; no SBIR) announced additional investment funding of $7.25 million, bringing total company financing to date to $30 million. ... developer of SteriPath®, the only blood collection system clinically proven to virtually eliminate “false positive” blood culture test results from patients with suspected sepsis.  [company press release, Apr 4, 17]

Magnolia Medical Technologies (Seattle, WA; no SBIR) raised $13.8 million to continue developing a product that aims to provide accurate blood tests.  Magnolia makes the SteriPath blood-collection system, which is meant to decrease the number of false positives for sepsis, a complication of a bloodstream infection that is often treated with antibiotics and can be life-threatening. SteriPath is commercially available, and the company will use the investment to expand the product into hospitals.  [Rachel Lerman, Seattle Times, Jul 15, 16]

Magnolia Optical Technologies (Woburn, MA)

DARPA has partnered [by SBIR] with Magnolia Optical Technologies to develop a photovoltaic system [to] build power generator for military and commercial applications ...  A PV device can help power unmanned aircraft, remote sensors and equipment of dismounted troops.  ... to develop high-efficiency GaAs-based solar cells that maintain their performance over changing environmental conditions,” said Roger Welser, chief technical officer of Magnolia. [Nicholas Martin, executivebiz.com, Mar 27, 18]

Magnolia Optical Technologies (Woburn, MA; $3M SBIR) announced that it is collaborating with Kopin in developing indium nitride-based, or InN-based, quantum dot solar cells for NASA and defense applications.   [Boston Globe, Jul 11, 08]

Magnolia Optical Technologies (Woburn, MA; $3M SBIR) reports it is working with Kopin on a solar cell development [STTR] contract Kopin won from NASA. [Mass High Tech, May 9, 08]

Magnolia Solar (Woburn, MA and Albany, NY)

Magnolia Solar (Woburn, MA, R&D in Albany NY; two SBIRs) got another USAF Phase 2 STTR of $750K to develop solar energy technology for use in outer space. ... seeking efficiency of 50 percent for un-concentrated sunlight, an improvement over current state-of-the-art cells which have efficiencies of 30 percent. ... founded in 2008 to develop and commercialize thin-film solar cell technologies using nanostructured materials and designs   [Don Seiffert, Mass High Tech, Oct 9, 12]

Magnolia Solar (Woburn, MA and Albany, NY; $200K SBIR), landed a $750,000 Phase 2 award from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to make light, flexible, high-efficiency multi-junction solar cells for space power use.  [Michelle Lang, Mass High Tech, Dec 1, 11]

Mainstay Medical International

Followed the money. Med-tech startup Mainstay Medical International (no SBIR) has filed to raise up to $42 million through an initial public offering in Europe.   The company, which is developing an implantable device for treating back pain, was co-founded by Twin Cities serial entrepreneur Danny Sachs and counts Medtronic as invetor  ....  moved its headquarters to Dublin after raising $20 million in financing led by an Irish venture capital firm. It still has a small Twin Cities office.  [Katharine Grayson, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, Apr 21, 14]

Mainstream Engineering (Rockledge, FL)

Robert Scaringe, founder of Mainstream Engineering (Rockledge, FL; $40M  SBIR)  is working on a new technology project that could bring worldwide recognition as well as millions of dollars in research funding and world-class scientists   ..... called the Electron Beam Enabled Advanced Manufacturing Facility, is scheduled to open in June. The facility will house electron beam technology — a giant ray gun-looking device that can be used to create solid substances, which are both durable and flexible.  [Ilana Kowarski, FLORIDA TODAY  Feb 16, 14]

A QwikBoost(TM), claims the AF, of an allegedly SBIR product from Mainstream Engineering (Rockledge, FL) for refrigeration systems. The DOD database says Mainstream has had 35 Phase 1 SBIRs and 9 Phase 2s. CEO Bob Scaringe two years ago in an SBIR conference boasted 150 SBIRs. It has 30 employees, up from 6 in 1987. If the ratio of four Phase 1s for every Phase 2 had held over those years for the other SBIR agencies, Mainstream would have collected about $33M which is about enough to explain all the employee compensation for 13 years.

Major Pharmaceuticals

Major Pharmaceuticals LLC (no SBIR)  start-up company formed by the founder of a Milwaukee-area drug ingredient maker is proposing to build a pharmaceutical research-and-development facility in Mequon, creating 50 jobs.  ....will produce injectable serums    [Tom Daykin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Mar 11, 13]

Mako Surgical

Dr. Frederic H. Moll, 56, is a soft-spoken man who can look uncomfortable on stage. Yet his role in founding Intuitive Surgical ($2.5M SBIR), the company that now dominates the field, and his current involvement with three other robotics companies, has kept him in the sights of investors, health care providers and fellow entrepreneurs.  ... He took the idea to his employer, Guidant, a medical device company. Guidant decided that robotic surgery was too futuristic and too risky, so Dr. Moll rounded up backers, resigned, and in 1995, founded Intuitive Surgical. [which] earned $144M last year on sales of $600M .... He’s now best known as chief executive of Hansen Medical  (no SBIR) , a publicly traded robotics company focused on minimally invasive cardiac care. But he’s also an investor in and a board member of Mako Surgical (no SBIR) , an orthopedics robotics company that recently went public, and he is a co-founder and chairman of Restoration Robotics (no SBIR) , a start-up company focused on cosmetic surgery. [Barnaby Feder, New York Times, May 4] 

Mammoth Biosciences (South San Francisco, CA)

Mammoth Biosciences (South San Francisco, CA; no SBIR), is leveraging its CRISPR-based DETECTR platform with GSK Consumer Healthcare’s global reach and commercialization expertise to develop an accurate, easy-to-use, fully disposable, rapid and handheld test that consumers and health care providers in clinics can use to detect active SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. [Christine Hall, crunchbase news, May 20, 2020] What happens to test results is unclear.

Manhattan Scientifics

Manhattan Scientifics has completed a $2 million fundraising round that will allow the company to fund and demonstrate its MRX cancer diagnostic technology. ... The company's MRX technology, under development by its subsidiary Senior Scientific ($5.4M SBIR), uses a special kind of nanoparticle to detect cancer early.  recently delivered a device to the MD Anderson Cancer Center for testing.  ... publicly traded over-the-counter, and has been working on a variety of technologies for the last two decades. [Dan Mayfield, Albuquerque Business First, Nov 24, 14]  

Manifold Bio (Boston,MA)

Manifold Bio (Boston,MA; no SBIR) startup out of George Church's lab that is developing novel experiment platforms that generate pharmacological measurements on therapeutic protein variants, raised $5.4M in equity, according to an SEC filing. [BostInno, Aug 14, 20]

Mantra Bio

Genomics startups are increasing in number and quality, so much so that three-year-old Illumina Accelerator has expanded with its latest class to accommodate five of them.  ... provides genomics-focused startups with capital, lab space at Illumina Accelerator’s offices in San Francisco, access to Illumina’s sequencing equipment and expertise, and advice on developing a business from legal experts, recruiting professionals, and Illumina executives and scientists, says Amanda Cashin, co-founder and head of the accelerator.  ..... takes an 8 percent equity stake ..   Checkerspot: designing advanced physical materials that can be used in industrial applications; Chimera Bioengineering:  aims to improve the efficacy and reduce the side effects of engineered cell therapies for oncology;  Encompass Bioscience:  wants to integrate genetic information into the healthcare system; Mantra Bio: studies exosomes, small lipid vesicles that are excreted from cells and deliver information, aiming to discover new drug targets and therapies;  Solarea Bio: The only company not from the Bay Area, Boston-based Solarea is developing probiotic treatments that are derived from natural sources   ....   Of the previous 13 startups that have completed the program since 2014, a few have already made some funding splashes.  Xcell Biosciences (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) develops a type of cell culture that can be used in certain types of cell propagation and gene editing, raised a $12 million Series A round of funding in February.  EpiBiome (South San Francisco, Ca) raised a $6 million seed Series A round of funding for its process of engineering microbiomes that might be used against drug-resistant bacteria in early 2016.  Trace Genomics (New York) raised a $4 million seed round in mid-2016 for its work sequencing and analyzing the genomes of soil.     [David Holley, xconomy.com, Jul 26, 17]  

MapInfo (Troy, NY)

Prosperity can be done. Our vision is to enable every business and government - worldwide - to harness the power of location. MapInfo is the leading provider of location intelligence solutions.[company website] In the face of higher slaes and lower profits for the latest quarter, the company is hopeful about the future with the hiring of former Microsoft Corp. executive John O'Hara as its new executive vice president of international operations  [Albany Times-Union, Nov 3] Headquarters: One Global View, Troy NY. 900 employees, no SBIRs since 1986 founding. Acquired ten businesses in the US, UK, and Australia. Another measure of the coming of the modern age of the Capital District after being stuck by the Great Depression and the collapse of its 19th century industries by the end of World War II. Its 19th century starter was being the eastern terminus of the Erie Canal.  The technological intellectual stimulus came from the growth and re-vitalization of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute after I graduated. It can be done.

Manufcturing Techniques

Future Army contracts. The Army revealed a new roster of industry partners under a potential $37.4B contract that covers knowledge-based professional engineering support services to command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance programs. SBIR companies: Artel (now big, $300K); Dynetics (now big, 31 awards); Macaulay-Brown (now big, 23 awards); NetCentric (now big, $900K); Scientific Research (Now big, $16M); Array Information Technology (one SBIR); Bennett Aerospace (21 SBIR awards); Envistacom (one SBIR); Fibertek (127 SBIRs); Future Technologies ($1M); Fulcrum ($1.2M); LinQuest ($1M); Manufacturing Techniques (One SBIR); Navmar Applied Sciences (68 awards); Peerless Technologies ($2.6M); Research Innovations (one SBIR); Sonalysts (128 awards); SURVICE Engineering (50 awards); Truestone (one SBIR).[GovConWire, Oct 19, 18]

Marathon Pharmaceuticals (Northbrook, IL)

Akashi Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR, founded 2011 as Dart Therapeutics) has been cleared by the FDA to resume testing an experimental Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug roughly a year after a patient taking the treatment died in a clinical trial.  ...  Eteplirsen, from Sarepta Therapeutics, is meant to slow the progression of the disease, but for just a 13 percent genetic subset of Duchenne patients. The steroid deflazacort—which has been available for years in other countries—was approved in the U.S. in February for all Duchenne patients, but also only helps temporarily delay the disease’s grim march. (Deflazacort hasn’t launched yet; Marathon Pharmaceuticals(Northbrook, IL; no SBIR) sold the drug’s rights to PTC Therapeutics last week).  [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Mar 22, 17]

Marcadia Biotech (Carmel, IN)

Marcadia Biotech (Carmel IN) got a $15M infusion is developing an innovative and novel solution for hypoglycemia: glucagon that is stable in solution, enabling delivery via an injector pen. Founded in 2005 by Richard DiMarchi chair and professor of IU Bloomington department of chemistry, and former executives from Eli Lilly focuses its research on the discovery and development of synthetic peptide-based drugs with a license  from IU. Marcadia was a recent recipient of a $2M 21st Century Research and Technology Award from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. [facts from company website] No known SBIR.

Marina Biotech (Bothell, WA)

Marina Biotech (Bothell, WA; no SBIR) that was concentrating on developing RNA-based therapies for cancer, including bladder cancer, is shutting down most of its operations. [Puget Sound Business Journal, Jun 1, 12]

Marina Biotech (Bothell, WA; no SBIR) said it's raising $5.1 million in a public offering. The news caused the stock to nosedive  ....  toward the clinical development of CEQ508, which is currently in a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for the treatment of Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP)."  [Puget Sound Business Journal, Feb 10, 11]

Maritime Applied Physics (Baltimore, MD)

The Navy is joining DARPA on a project that could ultimately result in military drones taking flight from smaller Navy ships.   ...  The first two phases of the program focus on preliminary design and risk reduction for the TERN system. Five companies were awarded contracts last fall for the first phase of the program, which focuses on development of a preliminary design:     Northrop Grumman ;  Aurora Flight Sciences (Manassas, VA; $24M SBIR);  AeroVironment (Monrovia, CA; $15M SBIR);  Maritime Applied Physics (Baltimore, MD; $7M SBIR);   Carter Aviation Technologies (Wichita Falls, TX; one SBIR)   [Jill R. Aitoro, Washington Business Journal, Jun 13, 14]

MarqMetrix

In 2004, [MarqMetrix CEO Brian] Marquardt created the Raman BallProbe, a device that when coupled with an optical sensor allows a user to touch a product — say, coffee, pharmaceuticals, oil or a diamond — and identify it.  ...   uses light and vibration to measure the chemical composition of a sample. That process historically involved equipment that costs more than $100,000 and required highly trained experts. But, as Marquardt explains it, the touch interface he created takes the “scientist out of the science,” ... The three founders together own 100 percent of the company, which they say is profitable.   [Coral Garnick, Seattle Times, Jan 12, 16]

Marrone Bio Innovations (Davis, CA)

Financially troubled biotech Marrone Bio Innovations [Davis, CA; $600K SBIR a decade ago) has never made a profit in its nearly 16-years of operations. Now, the company has moved its corporate headquarters from Davis to Raleigh, North Carolina in what officials say is a plan to be closer to international agricultural markets and finally get into the black. [Randy Diamond, Sacramento Bee, Dec 7, 21]

Marrone Bio Innovations, maker of biologically based products to replace farm chemicals, has filed a $90 million [SEC] shelf registration statement to be able to quickly move to sell securities over the next three years. [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Feb 8, 21]

Marrone Bio Innovations announced that it recently received approval for Grandevo WDG Bioinsecticide for use in New Zealand and Chile. Grandevo WDG and Grandevo CG have also been approved for use on hemp by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). [company ress release, Jan 14, 21]

Marrone Bio Innovations a leading provider of effective and environmentally responsible pest management and plant health products, announced today the signing of a commercial agreement with Anasac Chile S.A. to develop and distribute GRANDEVO® Bioinsecticide and VENERATE® Bioinsecticide in Chile. Anasac is a leading Chilean agricultural inputs provider, committed to agricultural productivity and its people. [company press release, Mar 10, 20]

Marrone Bio Innovations (Davis, CA; $500K SBIR) announced that it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Pro Farm Technologies OY [Finland], which will increase Marrone Bio’s market share and global platform in the $4.6 billion seed- and soil-treatment market. ... for $32M cash and shares [company press release, Aug 8, 19]

Marrone Bio Innovations (Davis, CA) maker of biologically based pest control products, said it's partnering with Compass Minerals International (Overland Park, KS) to develop new sustainable plant nutrition products. [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, May 16, 19]

Marrone Bio Innovations and Lidorr Chemicals Ltd.(Israel) announced their partnership to distribute a range of novel biopesticides for sustainable farming in Israel. ... also announced raising $13M in stock offering. [company press release, Apr 26, 18]

Marrone BioInnovations raises $12 million in secondary stock offering to improve its balance sheet. [Sacramento Business Journal, Apr 19, 18]

Marrone BioInnovations down 19% [Apr 9, 18]

Marrone BioInnovations up 22% [Apr 6, 18]

Marrone Bio (Davis, CA; founded 2006) announced that it has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Solenis, a global expert in water treatment and process chemistries, to provide Zequanox® molluscicide treatment programs for enclosed and semi-enclosed water systems in the United States and Canada. Zequanox molluscicide is a patented, naturally derived aquatic biopesticide that effectively controls all life stages of invasive zebra and quagga (dreissenid) mussels.  (company press release, Mar 15, 18]

biological pesticide developer Marrone Bio Innovations (Davis, CA; $500K SBIR) said it completed a $30 million private placement of stock and also converted $45 million of debt into equity. [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Feb 6, 18]

Debt conversion. Marrone Bio Innovations (Davis, CA; $500K SBIR) announced an exclusive agreement to distribute and market its biofungicide, REGALIA® Maxx with DISAGRO, an international corporation of Guatemalan origin and the leading supplier of agricultural inputs in Central America. [company press release, Dec 20, 17] also  announced that it has entered into a securities agreement for purchase of aggregate of $30.0 million of units, inclusive of funds being advanced by an affiliate of Ospraie as bridge financing under a convertible promissory note.  [company press release, Dec 18, 17]

Marrone Bio Innovations, a leading provider of bio-based pest management and plant health products for agriculture, turf and ornamental and water treatment markets, has received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on its newest biological fungicide, Stargus. This product is the sixth product commercialized by MBI in only 11 years. [company press release, Oct 30, 17]

Marrone Bio Innovations (Davis, CA; $500K SBIR) is expanding beyond biopesticides and crop protection and into the biostimulant market by commercially launching Haven Anti-transpirant for use in a broad range of fruit, nut and vegetable crops, in addition to corn, wheat and turf.  ...Anti-transpirants are compounds applied to the leaves of plants to reduce transpiration, the evaporation of water from plant leaves to cool plants. In stressful environments, such as intense sunlight or drought, excess transpiration causes significant damage to crops.  [company press release, Mar 23, 17]

Marrone Bio Innovations  (Davis, CA; no SBIR) developer of biologically based pesticides, and Nufarm Australia Ltd. announced an agreement to make Marrone’s Grandevo bioinsecticide available in Australia and New Zealand. Those markets are potentially worth a combined $300 million annually. Nufarm, the largest maker of crop-protection products in Australia, will be the exclusive distributor of Grandevo in Australia and New Zealand, the companies said.  [company press release,  Jan 30, 17]

Marrone Bio Innovations announced that the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) has approved its bionematicide, MAJESTENE®, a broad spectrum, high performance natural bionematicide to manage nematode (roundworm) populations and increase yields in a wide range of agricultural crops.  ...  an important, new tool for California growers, as DPR recently announced new restrictions, to start January 1, 2017, further restricting the use of the chemical fumigant nematicide/pesticide 1,3-Dichloropropene, known commercially as Telone®. In California, this fumigant is used most often on the Central Coast and in the San Joaquin Valley.     [company press release, Nov 16, 16]

Marrone Bio Innovations no longer appears to be in danger of having its shares delisted from the Nasdaq [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Oct 5, 16]

Marrone Bio Innovations announced that Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency has approved REGALIA Rx Biofungicide for use on wheat and soybean in Canada. [company press release, Jul 14, 16]

Marrone Bio Innovations developer of biologically-based pesticides, is collaborating with Israel-based Groundwork BioAg Ltd. to develop what the two companies say will be the world's first "all-biologicial, comprehensive seed treatment."  [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Jun 28, 16]

Koch Agronomic Services, LLC (Koch), with support from its affiliate, Koch Biological Solutions, LLC, has secured exclusive rights to sell REGALIA® Rx in the U.S. and REGALIA® Maxx in Canada. Koch will market and sell the products for broad-acre agriculture applications. REGALIA® Rx and REGALIA® Maxx are manufactured by Marrone Bio Innovations (Davis, CA; $500K SBIR ) and improve crop performance by providing defense against fungal pests. Both products also offer significant plant health benefits. [Marrone press release, Jun 1, 16]  Marrone also recently announced it has agreed to settle private securities class actions suits for $12 million related to a financial scandal. [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, May 26, 16]

Marrone Bio Innovations reported lower losses in 2015 as the company worked through the effects of a major financial setback. But the firm also revealed costs from that setback have reached $13 million. [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Mar 30, 16]

Two months after promising to develop products more quickly, Marrone Bio Innovations released an organic-friendly pesticide. [as it] developed a product called Majestene, which targets roundworms in a range of food crops.  [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Jan 29, 16]

Cytokinetics and its development partner Amgen said that their experimental heart failure drug omecamtiv mecarbil demonstrated positive Phase 2 results, but they did not say whether they would move the drug into a larger Phase 3 trial, according to Reuters.   [Bruce Bigelow, xconomy.com, Nov 13, 15]

Marrone BioInnovations down 22% [Oct 19,15]

Marrone BioInnovations up 20% [Oct 8,15] announced its newest crop protection product has been approved by the U.S. EPA. The biological pest control company’s new product, Majestene, is a naturally derived control for roundworms on many crops. [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Oct 8, 15]

Marrone BioInnovations up 23% [Oct 7,15]

vTv Thera up 19% [Oct 7,15]

Marrone BioInnovations down 12% [May 20,15]

Marrone BioInnovation down 20% [May 19, 15] on NASDAQ warning of potential delisting

Marrone Bio Innovations  announced it won approval for new uses in Canadian food crops for its Regalia Maxx biofungicide.   [Mark Anderson,  Sacramento Business Journal, Jan 22, 15]

Marrone BioInnovations up 10% [Jan 5, 15]

Marrone Bio Innovations announced that its Regalia biofungicide won product registration from Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture. ...  The addition of Brazil gives Marrone Bio the ability to sell Regalia to all of the major agricultural producers in Central and South America. The biopesticide has been approved for use in Mexico, Peru, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Columbia and the Dominican Republic.   [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Dec 17, 14]

Marrone BioInnovations up 16% [Dec 17, 14]

Marrone BioInnovations  up 15% [Dec 9, 14] 

Marrone Bio Innovations told the [SEC] its third-quarter earnings report will be late — and that it cannot predict when it will catch up.  ...   is in the midst of restating financial reports from last year and earlier this year.   [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Nov 17, 14]  A touch too much innovation in its accounting.

Marrone BioInnovations  up 11% [Nov 11, 14]

Marrone BioInnovations  up 11% [Nov 7, 14]

Marrone BioInnovations up 17% [Oct 21, 14]

Marrone BioInnovations up 15% [Oct 20, 14]

Marrone Bio Innovations announced that it has cut staff by 23 percent. ... went public last year, netting $56.4 million. A followup stock offering in June raised $40 million. But in August, the company posted disappointing earnings  ... Then on Sept. 4, the company announced it was beginning an internal audit of its financial statements going back to last year. Company share values plummeted [from $19 to $2]  and a lawsuit parade started to the courthouses.  [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Oct 8, 14] 

Marrone BioInnovations down 13% [Oct 10, 14]

The war on invasive mussels may have been won on a Minnesota lake.  Marrone Bio Innovations said this week that Zequanox, a treatment to eradicate invasive mussels, has proven 100 percent effective in its first commercial application in open water.  ...  got [EPA] approval in July to use the product in open water to combat invasive zebra and quagga mussels in lakes, rivers and other open bodies of water. Previously, it was approved for enclosed systems, such as intake pipes. [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Oct 1, 14]

Four class action suits have been filed so far against Marrone Bio Innovations over its financial statements.  ...  News of the audit sent company shares plummeting, and that drew the attention of law firms from across the country.   At least 22 law firms have announced they are investigating issues in Marrones finances.   ....  Marrone Bio also said financial statements for the 2013 fiscal year, as well as the quarterly reports through March and June this year, “should no longer be relied upon as being in compliance with generally accepted accounting principles.    [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Sep 16, 14]

Marrone Bio Innovations has been issued a patent for a naturally occurring bacteria that can kill insects and mites.  [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Sep 11, 14]

Marrone Bio Innovations has been approved to sell its biological pest management product Venerate in California.   [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Aug 28, 14] 

Marrone BioInnovations up 11% [Sep 8, 14]

Marrone BioInnovation down 44% [Sep 3, 14] after the company announced its audit committee had begun an internal investigation after questions about the company's revenue recognition.  [Andrew Meola, Marketwatch]

Marrone BioInnovations  down 42% [Aug 8, 14]  after soggy earnings report

Marrone Bio Innovations signed a collaboration agreement with Evogene Ltd., a plant genomics company in Israel.... Evogene will develop biotechnology insect-resistant seeds and Marrone will develop biologically-based insecticides to combat two pests that cause many millions of dollars annually in crop losses. [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Jul 23,14]

Marrone Bio Innovations received [EPA] approval to use Zequanox in open water to combat invasive zebra and quagga mussels in lakes, rivers and other open bodies of water. [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Jul 8,14] 

Marrone BioInnovations up 11% [Jun 30, 14]

Sacramento’s Five Star Bank made a $10 million government guaranteed loan for Marrone Bio Innovations, which was only possible because the project was in rural Michigan  (in Bangor, MI, population under 2,000). The USDA Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan program, popularly know as B&I loans, only can be made in communities of fewer than 50,000. ....  will help the company finance the expansion and conversion of a former biodiesel plant into a production facility for Marrone’s biological pesticides.  [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Jun 18, 14]    The politics of small places overrides the efficiency of natural capital investment.

Marrone Bio Innovations announced it raised about $40 million with its offering of common stock.  ...  to grow, expand its product lines, develop new products and for general corporate purposes.....  One of the largest owners of Marrone shares, Syngenta Ventures LTD, the corporate venture capital part of Swiss agricultural giant Syngenta AG, sold 600,000 shares of the 1.9 million shares it has owned since before Marrone’s initial public offering last summer. Syngenta's sale netted the Swiss company $5.7 million from its [VC investment]   [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Jun 11, 14]

Marrone Bio Innovations (Davis, CA) is getting a $10 million federal loan to help expand its product line at its plant in southwestern Michigan.  ....   The Herald-Palladium of St. Joseph reports the company began production late last year, and the loan will allow it to move ahead with its planned $32 million expansion. The loan is funded through the [USDA] Rural Development Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan program.   [AP, Jun 5, 14]  Sounds like political pork that a small California company gets a federal loan to expand business in Michigan. Where's the "market failure" that justifies federal intervention?

Marrone BioInnovations down 10% [Jun 2,14] 

Marrone Bio Innovations (founded 2006, public 2013) will collaborate with Italian biostimulant company Valagro SpA (founded in 1980) on development of agricultural products. Marrone develops, manufactures and markets biopesticides.  [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, May 28, 14]

Marrone BioInnovations up 11% [May 27, 14]

A $50 million venture capital fund is being organized in Davis (CA) to invest in early-stage agriculture and life science technology companies.  The AgTech Innovation Fund, structured as a limited partnership, likely would invest $250,000 to $500,000 in initial seed rounds of funding into promising companies  .....  AgraQuest (Davis, CA; $1M SBIR) was a biotechnology company founded by Pam Marrone. It was bought by Bayer CropScience for $425 million in 2012. Marrone’s next company, Marrone Bio, last August closed the Sacramento region’s first successful initial public offering in nearly a decade, when it netted $56.4 million for expansion. In April, Davis-based agricultural biotechnology company BioConsortia  raised a $15 million round of funding from Khosla Ventures and Otter Capital LLC.  [Mark Anderson,  Sacramento Business Journal, May 5, 14]

Marrone Bio Innovations is launching its third product to the market just in time for this year’s growing season. The product is Venerate, a bioinsecticide that helps growers control insect pests that damage crops of fruits and vegetables. It is a broad-spectrum product, and it is approved for use in organic and conventional growing. ....  2006. It has more than 150 employees.  [Mark Anderson,  Sacramento Business Journal, Apr 29, 14]

Marrone BioInnovations up  10%  [May 1, 14]

Marrone Bio Innovations (Davis, CA; no SBIR, founded 2006) submitted a new product to the [EPA] for registration.  ....   a biofumigant, suppresses plant parasitic organisms, insects and soil-borne plant diseases in soil. In field trials, the product, MBI-601, has shown increased yields in treated strawberries, lettuce and other crops  .... the seventh product submitted to the EPA by Marrone, which has commercialized and is selling two other products -- Regalia and Grandevo. [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Apr 11, 14]

Marrone Bio Innovations (Davis, CA; $500K SBIR) said its Venerate bioinsecticide received federal registration from the [EPA]  [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Mar 3, 14]

New York State has awarded a license to Marrone Bio Innovations (Davis, CA; no SBIR) to develop a commercial formulation of the bacterium. The product, Zequanox, has been undergoing tests for several years, with promising results. ....  Zequanox killed more than 90 percent of the [zebra and quagga] mussels in a test using tanks of water from Lake Carlos in Minnesota ... By 1991 they appeared in the Hudson River, and within a year there were 500 billion between Troy and West Point, said David L. Strayer, an ecologist with the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies  [Robert Boyle, New York Times, Feb 24, 14]

Marrone BioInnovations down 11% [Jan 29, 14]

Marrone Bio Innovations (Davis, CA; $500K SBIR) was issued a patent for thaxtomin, an active ingredient in a new bioherbicide.  ... protects the use of thaxtim as an active ingredient against most common weeds in cereal and grasses [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Aug 20, 13]

Marrone Bio Innovations (Davis, CA; $500K SBIR, founded 2006) up 13% [Sep 13, 13]  IPO Aug 2013

The U.S. Geological Survey this summer will test a product of Marrone Bio Innovations (Davis, CA; no SBIR) for its ability to kill invasive species of mussels in open water in Minnesota’s Lake Minnetonka. ...  developed Zequanox to kill tiny zebra and quagga mussels, which multiply extremely quickly and can take over waterways and clog pipes. [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Jun 21, 13]

Martek Biosciences

Dutch life and materials-sciences group Royal DSM NV said it will offer $1.09 billion in cash for U.S. nutrition company Martek Biosciences (Columbia, MD; $1.5M SBIR) as it seeks to expand its product offering in the infant nutrition, food and beverage and dietary supplements markets. The bid is a 35% premium to Martek's closing share price.  [M Korn and R VanDaalen, Wall Street Journal, Dec 22, 10]

Martek Biosciences  down 11% [Dec 9, 10]

Martek Biosciences up 16% [Jun 4, 10]

Martek Biosciences  up 13% [Mar 26, 09]

Martek Biosciences down 12% [Mar 5, 09]

Martek Biosciences up 10% [Nov 13, 08]

Martek Bioscience up 21% [Oct 13, 08]

Martek Biosciences (Columbia, MD; $7M SBIR 1985-2001) has touted the progress of its vegetarian form of a good-for-the-brain food additive, announcing scores of deals with food companies over the past few years. But some industry watchers say the product's growth does not seem to be keeping pace with the steady flow of announcements. [Kejai Vijas, Dow Jones Newswires, Jul 27]  After trading in a downtrend for three years, the stock broke out in mid-2007 and has been moving higher ever since. What the company does also differentiates it from other biotech companies. It develops nutritional oils from microalgae and fungi that are then used in everything from vitamins to baby formula. In June, the company reported an 89% increase in second-quarter profit, but also warned the third quarter will see a slowdown. [Matthew McCall, Investopedia, Jul 11, 08] Current market cap $1.2B, fifteen years public. If the government had taken a proportional equity share for its SBIR capital, SBIR would have something quantitative to offer as a rationale for funding, at least the Martek kind of company. But if it did such accounting for Martek, it would have to apply the method to all the other SBIR investments which would almost certainly show what a capital losing proposition SBIR is. Which, in turn, is why the almost all government disdains such accounting. Only MDA did it, and only for about five years in the 1990s.

Martek Biosciences up 14% [Jan 7, 08]

Martek Biosciences up 20% agreed to supply infant-formula supplements to South Korea's IlDong Pharmaceutical Co. [AP, Dec 13, 07]

MMarvelBiome [Woburn, MA;

startup MarvelBiome [Woburn, MA; SBIR) raised $2.3M in equity, according to an SEC filing. [Rowan Walrath, BostInno, Jun 25, 20] with a vision of harnessing the power of microbes for treating various human diseases. We are focused on isolating, identifying, and characterizing microbial populations for novel therapeutic applications. [company website]

Mascoma (Cambridge MA)

"The [energy startups] that are breaking out are the ones able to craft meaningful partnerships with larger companies," says Jim Matheson, a general partner at Flagship Ventures. Matheson is a director of Mascoma (Waltham, MA; no SBIR), a company that struggled for years to find the funding for a commercial-­scale plant that would make cellulosic biofuels based on its novel process for turning biomass into ethanol. Late last year it signed an agreement with Valero Energy; the large oil refiner and ethanol producer will provide the majority of the financing for a $232 million cellulosic-ethanol facility in Kinross, Michigan, and will help operate the plant.  [David Rotman, Technology Review, M/J12]

Mascoma (Lebanon, NH, no SBIR) said it plans to raise up to $100 million in an [IPO] ...  has developed a technology that employs genetically modified yeast and other microorganisms to cut costs and improve production of renewable fuels and chemicals. It plans to begin selling this technology for the first time next year, focusing on corn ethanol producers.  [AP, Sep 19, 11]

Mascoma  (Lebanon, NH; no SBIR) a cellulosic biofuels company, reports significant advances in its goal of simplifying the cellulosic ethanol process by skipping the use of costly enzymes, which could potentially reduce cellulosic ethanol's production costs by 20 to 30 percent.  [Jennifer Chew, MIT Tech Review, May 12] But none of the process efficiency improvements can fill the hole in food production displaced for the fuel biomass.

biofuels developer Mascoma (Cambridge MA; no SBIR) says it has acquired Celsys BioFuels (Indianapolis IN; no SBIR) a maker of cellulosic ethanol production technology that was spun out of Purdue University last year. ... Mascoma was founded in 2005 by [two] Dartmouth professors ... [it] emerged from stealth mode in 2006 and has since raised two rounds of private financing totaling $34M. [Mass High Tech, Nov 7, 07]

Mashery

Ten Startups to Watch:  Instant Voicing by Pinger Founded 2005, Funding $11 million;  Sharing, Privately by Pownce  founded 2007 funding undisclosed; Cell-phone Streaming by Qik founded 2006 funding $4M;   Traffic Master by Dash Navigation founded 2003 $71M; Crisis Sourcing by Ushahidi founded 2008 funding undisclosed;  Partial Recall by QTech founded 2004 $5M; Are You ... Influential? by 33Across founded 2007, $1M;  Semantic Ads by Peer 39, 2006, $11M;  Mashups Made Easy by Mashery, 2006, $5M; Video Packet-Switching by Anagran, 2004, $40M. [MIT Tech Review, J/A08]

Mason Box (North Attleboro,MA)

Mason Box (North Attleboro, MA) is among several local companies that have been selected to participate in the "Next Generation Manufacturing Initiative, or NGMI, an effort to foster best-in-class manufacturing processes. Other participants in the initiative include Hoppe Tool (Chicopee, MA), Matouk Textiles (Fall River, MA),  Munksjo Paper (Fitchburg, MA), and Spectro Coating (Leominster, MA).  The initiative is a partnership of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, a nonprofit group representing Bay State employers; MassDevelopment, the commonwealth's finance and development authority; and the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a group dedicated to helping local manufacturers remain competitive in a global marketplace.  [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Jun 19]  No SBIR.

Masten Space Systems (Mojave, CA)

Small eyes in the sky.  Planet Labs (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR, 40 employees) founded in 2010 by three scientists who worked at NASA. Mr. Boshuizen is Australian, while Mr. Marshall is British. The third, Robbie Schingler, is an American  ...  has already put dozens of small satellites in space. Once they are connected, they will be able to provide near-constant images of what is going on back on Earth.  .....   Several young companies with roots in Silicon Valley are trying to elbow their way into a business long dominated by national governments and aeronautics giants like Boeing.  ....  The company has so far booked contracts worth more than the $65 million in private equity it has raised, according to Will Marshall, the company’s co-founder and chief executive.  ....  but potential customers who have seen the products think the satellites are approximately 95 percent cheaper than most satellites, a figure Mr. Marshall would neither confirm nor dispute.   ...  Another start-up, Masten Space Systems (Mojave, CA; one SBIR) is developing rockets designed for unmanned research flights. Skybox Imaging  (Mountain View, CA; no SBIR) makes satellites similar to those of Planet Labs, though they are significantly larger.  [QUENTIN HARDY and NICK BILTON, New York Times, Mar 16, 14]

coondoggie writes "NASA said it will this week award $1.65 million in prize money to a pair of aerospace companies that successfully simulated landing a spacecraft on the moon and lifting off again. NASA's Centennial Challenges program, which was managed by the X Prize Foundation, will give a $1 million first prize to Masten Space Systems (Mojave, CA; no SBIR) and a $500,000 second prize to Armadillo Aerospace (Mesquite, TX; one SBIR) for successfully completing the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge." [slashdot.org, Nov 3, 09]

Masterson Industries (Albuquerque, NM)

During the first quarter of 2014, four venture capital deals with a combined value of $4.8 million closed in New Mexico, according to the new MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association:  XF Technologies (Albuquerque, NM; no SBIR) $2 million, formerly known as Incitor, working to develop a new type of biofuel; Masterson Industries (Albuquerque, NM; no SBIR) $1.5 million, developing new specialty materials; Trilumina  (Albuquerque, NM; no SBIR), $250,000, developing and manufacturing high-speed lasers.

Material Technologies (LA, CA

Material Technologies (Los Angeles, CA; no SBIR) whose stock trades around six cents has a full page add in USA Today (Mar 21) touting $8.3M in already completed government contracts and a new $286B law [the regular roads pork bill] allocating  funds to states for [some unspecified share] nondestructive inspection of bridges. The company message: To own shares, call your broker, or DOWNLOAD a FREE Investor Packet.  Note: such full page ads are not cheap for a company with three full-time employees, one of whom is  Chairman, Chief Exec. Officer, Pres, Chief Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer [Yahoo Finance].  Note that by the same logic, if you have DOD SBIRs you can tout the $500B defense budget as a rich source of business for you. Just don't expect the DOD SBIR reviewers to be impressed by such a claim in your Commercialization section.

Hear the Bridge Talk. Companies such as Material Technologies (LA, CA; no SBIR) and Physical Acoustics (Princeton NJ; $5M SBIR) are commercializing wireless sensors an inspector can slap on a bridge to diagnose cracks and stresses long before they become dangerous. ... For fees starting at about $35,000, [Physical Acoustics] will install a sensor to listen to creaks from fissures or the popping of steel-cable fibers, sounds that could be heard months before any flaws are visible to the man with the binoculars. [Business Week, Aug 20] 

Material Sciences Corp

A few miles west of Chicago stands a brand new steel-processing plant. It cost $30M and is squeaky clean. There are almost no people. The only real sound comes from Robert Mataya, [of Material Sciences Corp] who is keen to show visitors that the wallet-sized piece of steel in his hand does not "ding" when someone flicks it. This is "quiet steel" [sold] to Singapore to make housings for computer disk-drives. America's once-rusty manufacturing heartland has restructured, retooled, and reinvented itself as the country's economic powerhouse. The Economist Apr 19, 1997. The biggest problem in the mid-West? Finding enough new workers to maintain the growth rate.

MathStar (Minnetonka, MN)

MathStar (Minnetonka, MN) will try an IPO to raise more development money for its new class of semiconductor integrated circuits called "field programmable object arrays" (FPOAs). MathStar is betting that its FPOA chips will meet the holy trinity of chip design: smaller, faster, and easier to build. But, the company noted in its filing, there is no commercial market for the company's technology yet. [Patrick Kennedy, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Aug 4]  No apparent SBIRs.

Matouk Textiles (Fall River, MA)

Mason Box (North Attleboro, MA) is among several local companies that have been selected to participate in the "Next Generation Manufacturing Initiative, or NGMI, an effort to foster best-in-class manufacturing processes. Other participants in the initiative include Hoppe Tool (Chicopee, MA), Matouk Textiles (Fall River, MA),  Munksjo Paper (Fitchburg, MA), and Spectro Coating (Leominster, MA).  The initiative is a partnership of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, a nonprofit group representing Bay State employers; MassDevelopment, the commonwealth's finance and development authority; and the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a group dedicated to helping local manufacturers remain competitive in a global marketplace.  [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Jun 19]  No SBIR.

Matritech (Newton, MA)

MZT Holdings Inc., formerly known as Matritech (Newton, MA; $5500K SBIR) ., reports that the former maker of bladder cancer tests has filed papers with state and federal regulators to dissolve its business and discontinue trading of its common stock  [Mass High Tech, Jan 21]

Matritech(Newton, MA; 5 SBIR Phase 1s), maker of tests for bladder cancer, reports it plans to sell its assets to a Massachusetts diagnostics firm [Inverness Medical Innovations for $36M] and wind down its operations [Mass High Tech, Aug 28]

Matritech (Newton, MA) raised $4.36M in a private placement. [Jan 22, 07]. Five Phase 1 SBIRs in the mid 1990s.  The stock p rice is down more than 90% from its highs of the last decade.

Matrix Product Development (Sun Prairie, WI)

General Dynamics, DRS Technologies and others will discuss their needs this week at the Resource Rendezvous, an event organized to help state companies increase their chances of winning federal grants and research agreements with defense contractors. Seventeen companies from the Upper Midwest also have been selected to pitch their science and technology-based products at the event  .... Presenting companies include Ingeneus (Milwaukee, WI) formed in August that is developing a tool for DNA analysis of hypertension; Isomark (Madison, WI; no SBIR)  with a technology for detecting infection as soon as two hours after onset; and Matrix Product Development  (Sun Prairie, WI;  SBIR) with a technology using battery-operated tags for hazardous waste material tracking. ....  To register or get more information, visit www.wisecurity.org or call Joy Sawatzki at (608) 442-7557.   [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sep 16, 13]

Matrix Research (Dayton, OH)

Matrix Research (Beavercreek, OH; $1.9M SBIR, founded 2007) has landed a $36 million [seven-year sensor research] contract from the U.S. Air Force, marking its second significant military deal in less than two months. .... In March won a $45 million contract to boost stealth technology for AFRL.  [Joe Cogliano, Dayton Business Journal, May 15, 14]

Seeking cheaper stealth. Matrix Research (Dayton, OH; $1.9M SBIR, founded 2007) was awarded a $45 million contract to boost stealth technology for the U.S. Air Force.  ....  the president of Matrix Research, said the 46-person company is looking to hire several additional employees this year. Its primary customer is AFRL but it frequently supports other large companies as a subcontractor.   [Joe Cogliano, Dayton Business Journal, Mar 31, 14]  How does a six-rear old firm win $45M contracts in a highly classified technology with only $2M SBIR (that doesn't allow classified work)?   I guess it's made up of guys who worked on stealth back in the days before it was unveiled.

Matrix Sensors (Los Angeles, CA)

Matrix Sensors (Los Angeles, CA; no SBIR) UCLA has opened its new technology incubation space within the California NanoSystems Institute to Matrix Sensors (Los Angeles, CA; no SBIR)  a startup company in the process of developing multichannel gas and biological sensor systems based on technology developed jointly by UCLA and Stanford University researchers. ... a seed-stage company founded in March 2006 by UCLA chemistry and biochemistry professor James Gimzewski and Stanford electrical engineering professors Butrus (Pierre) T. Khuri-Yakub and Calvin F. Quate, the key researchers and inventors in the area of developing CMUT (capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer) technology for chemical and biological sensors.  ...  As part of this arrangement, Matrix Sensors has obtained an exclusive license for this technology that will provide the University of California with an equity position in the company. [UCLA press release, May 7, 09]  Miramar Venture Partners of San Diego, which has put in $1 million.  [James Flanigan, New York Times, Jul 16, 09]

MaxCyte (Gaithersburg, MD)

Maryland Technology Development Corp approved awards of $8.5 million to 29 new stem cell research projects. The for-profit firms each receiving over $1M are:  TissueGene (Rockville, MD; $100K SBIR), Longeveron LLC (Miami, FL; no SBIR), MaxCyte (Gaithersburg, MD; $1M SBIR), Propagenix (Rockville, MD; no SBIR),  Seraxis (Germantown, MD; no SBIR), and 3Dnamics (Germantown, MD; no SBIR).   [Morgan Eichensehr, Baltimore Business Journal, May 16, 17]

cell modification technology firm MaxCyte (Gaithersburg, MD; $1M SBIR)  is expected to go public on the London Stock Exchange Apr 5 to raise $10-15M.  [Tina Reed, Washington Business Journal, Mar 29, 16]  the pioneer in cell therapies using scalable, high-performance cell transfection systems [company website]

Maxdem (San Dimas, CA)

Another $6M for the world's stiffest, hardest, strongest polymer. Mississippi Polymer Technology got a $6M DOD Title III production contract for Parmax, its signature polymer than derives from an SBIR contract to a SoCal company. MPT is a production spin-off company of MaxDem which was nurtured by SDIO/BMDO first for polyquinilines and then for the self-reinforced thermoplastic polymer that became Parmax. Founder Bob Gagne took advantage of a BMDO offer to extend his Phase 2 SBIR if he found co-investment money to help move the material to the next stage of maturity. Gagne says he had never heard of government's making such offers but it was the time when BMDO was regularly moving the best new technology along a growth path. No, there's no sign that MDA will ever do that again with its present management attitude. 

Hello, Mississippi!
(Apr 25). extraordinary support from US Senators Lott and Cochran led Maxdem home of the world's strongest and hardest polymers to open a new company in Port Bienville, MS. Who's supporting it? Maxdem in San Dimas, CA - far from the Mississippi mud - has been getting a steady feed of $1.5M a year in SBIR, enough to keep the 20 people regularly employed. The military, which does not usually compare notes on SBIR awards, has funded various applications of the rigid-rod concept - body armor, optical components, rocket components. What there is no sign of, even for a private company, is any commercial takers that would make the long government investment pay off. The company website touts properties but has no press releases nor other signs of economic life. A Wiley Technical Insight alert in 1998 said the elastic modulus of Poly-X materials range from 1 to 2.5 million psi which compares favorably to the elastic modulus of conventional resin materials, which reach a maximum value at roughly 600,000-psi. Maxdem said it is using the BMDO SBIR to scale up production from the current 22-pound batches and expects that the materials will cost between $10 and $12 per pound when annual production reaches 5M pounds. A Air Force Dec 1999 tech transfer report said that Maxdem achieved major success in a Phase 1 SBIR How much longer will the government support an uneconomic technology? Could be along time as SBIR is being re-authorized with no teeth to apply economic discipline to funded projects. The otherwise inexplicable move to Mississippi smells of a political deal whereby the Ole Miss delegation will steer STTR money to Maxdem and the partner University of Southern Mississippi.We shall watch the STTR awards.

Maxpower (Harleysville, PA)

ARPA-E Awards. The administration announced $106M in ARPA-E stimulus awards. Small biz winners:  Ginkgo BioWorks (Boston, MA; one SBIR) $6M primary;  OPX Biotech (no SBIR) $6M primary; Logos Tech (Arlington, VA; $2M SBIR) secondary; Sion Power (Tucson, AZ; $250K SBIR) $5M primary; ReVolt Tech (no SBIR) $5M primary; PolyPlus Battery (Berkeley, CA; one SBIR) $5M; Pellion Tech (no SBIR) $3.2M primary; A123 Systems  secondary, twice;  Planar Energy Devices (no SBIR) $4M; Maxpower (Harleysville, PA; $9M SBIR) secondary; NanoLab (Newton, MA; $5M SBIR) secondary; Codexis (no SBIR) $4.6M; Nexant (no SBIR) secondary.

Maxygen

Cleantech business Codexis (Redwood City, CA; no SBIR) bought some intellectual property from Maxygen  for $20 million. ..  won’t have to make royalty payments to Maxygen anymore ... Codexis licensed this technology from Maxygen when it was spun out of that company. Now Codexis can freely pursue biofuels and biocatalysts based on this technology, called “MolecularBreeding” by Maxygen. [SEF Brown, San Francisco Business Times, Oct 28, 10]

Maxygen up 10% [Mar 29, 10]

Maxygen ($2.8M SBIR) plans to buy back 6.6 million shares for something above $30M. [Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, Nov 13] I hope that the SBIR agencies use a rule that any company that pays a dividend or buys back shares does not need government support for its R&D investment.

Maxygen up 15% [Nov 13, 09]

Maxygen  down 10% [Oct 20, 09]

Maxygen  up 12% [May 12, 09]

Maxygen   down 10% [May 6, 09]

Maxygen up 12% [Dec 8, 08]

Maxygen up 11% [Dec 5, 08]

Maxygen  down 15% [Dec 1, 08]  On a stock bloodbath day

Maxygen down 10% [Nov 14, 08]

Maxygen up 10% [Nov 13, 08]

Maxygen  up 10% [Oct 23, 08]

Maxygen down 10% [Oct 22, 08]

Maxygen down 11% [Oct 15, 08]

Maxygen up 13% [Oct 14, 08]

Maxygen  up 15% [Oct 10, 08]

The Wall Street Journal's Patent Scorecard in Biotechnology ranks Invitrogen and Maxygen #2 and 3 in Science Strength (13-week rolling average). Sequenom was #6; Affymetrix #11 of 28 listed. Only Sequenom had an impressive stock price record, up 170% over 52 weeks.

Maxygen up 14% [Sep 25, 08]

Maxygen down 14% [Sep 22, 08]

Maxygen up 13% [Sep 16, 08]

Maxygen up 12% [Aug 8, 08]

Maxygen up 12% [Aug 1, 08]

Maxygen up 28% ...it is selling its hemophilia treatment program to Bayer's health care division for $90 million, plus up to $30 million in future milestone payments.  [AP, Jul 2, 08]

Maxygen down 28% [Jun 13, 08] after the company said it may be open to patent infringement litigation from rival Amgen.

Maxygen  up 11%  [Nov 6, 07]

MaxyGen down 12% on soggy earnings [Nov 1, 07]

Maxygen up 10% [Oct 1, 07]

Maxygen up 12% [Nov 16, 06]

MBio Diagnostics (Boulder, CO)

Biotech company MBio Diagnostics (Boulder, CO; no SBIR, 30 employees) won a $1.4 million [SBIR] to build a device capable of early HIV diagnosis without waits for laboratory results.    ..... has raised more than $20 million from investors or from research grants to fund its research, the company said.  ..... founded in 2009, spun off from Precision Photonics  (Boulder, CO; $7.4M SBIR)  [Greg Avery, Denver Business Journal, Jul 22, 13]

MC10 (Cambridge, MA)

MC10 (Cambridge, MA;  one SBIR), a developer of electronics that stretch and bend with the body's movements, disclosed it's raised $19.8 million in new equity funding. ... first product is a thin mesh skullcap that fits under the helmet, and identifies impacts on the head during play.   [Kyle Alspach, Boston Business Journal , Dec 27, 13]

MC10 (Cambridge, MA;  one SBIR) a developer of electronics that stretch and bend with the body's movements, said Monday it has raised a $10 million Series C round led by Medtronic  ... brings MC10 to more than $30 million raised since its founding in 2008  [Kyle Alspach, Boston Business Journal, Dec 17, 12]

MC10  (Cambridge, MA; one SBIR) is getting ready to commercialize high-­performance electronics that can stretch. The technology could lead to such products as skin patches that monitor whether the wearer is sufficiently hydrated, or inflatable balloon catheters equipped with sensors that measure electrical misfiring caused by cardiac arrhythmias.  ... first product, expected to launch in late fall, will be a wearable device developed in a partnership with Reebok>[David Talbott and Kyanna Sutton, Technology Review, S/O12]Surgical sutures are mindless threads no more. [MC10] Researchers have now coated them with sensors that could monitor wounds and speed up healing. .... could keep tabs on infections and provide therapy. [Prachi Patel, Technology Review, Aug 24, 12]  Tech Review has been regularly reporting on the commercialization of MC10' stretchables.

MC10 (Cambridge, MA; one SBIR) which specializes in thin, flexible electronics, has received a contract with the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) to develop solar cells that would be integrated into the fabric cover of combat helmets and rucksacks.  [company website, Aug 2, 12]

MC10 (Cambridge, MA; one SBIR) which is developing a form of silicon for circuity that can be stretched, bent and twisted, has bumped up its Series A funding from $5.7 million to $6 million, according to new federal documents. [Mass High Tech, Jul 7, 10]

MCube (San Jose, CA)

MCube (San Jose, CA; no SBIR, founded 2009), a semiconductor company that makes tiny motion sensors for devices like wearables and smart clothing, added $37 million to its coffers to fund growth and broaden its line of sensors. .... created motion sensors comparable to the size of a grain of sand that can measure, monitor and analyze the movement of everyday objects and devices from wearables and packages being shipped to farm animal tags that can monitor their behavior. .....  said it has shipped more than 60 million of its sensors since 2012.   [Sarah Drake, Silicon Valley Business Journal, Jun 27, 14]

M Cubed Technologies (Monroe, CT and Newark, DE)

II-VI said it acquired all outstanding shares of M Cubed Technologies (Monroe, CT and Newark, DE; $3M SBIR) in a $71.4 million cash deal. [Malia Spencer, Pittsburgh Business Times, Nov 2, 12]

MD Biosciences (St Paul, MN )

MD Biosciences  (St Paul, MN; no SBIR) Clinical and Diagnostics Services Laboratory announces the release of its rapid assay to detect the [Zika] virus in human blood and urine samples. The nucleic acid test can be performed in a few hours in blood, plasma, serum or urine samples.  [company press release, Mar 8, 16]

MDSolarSciences (Norwalk, CT)

MDSolarSciences(Norwalk, CT; no SBIR) that is working on primary skin cancer prevention and protection, today reported a $4 million Series A funding round  [Mass High Tech, Apr 20, 10]

Mebias Discovery (Philadelphia, PA)

BioAdvance, the operator of a $50 million early stage life sciences fund that work with health-care entrepreneurs in the mid-Atlantic region, invested $2.9 million in companies and technologies targeting human health during fiscal 2016. Among the winners were:   

• Genome Profiling (Newark, DE; no SBIR)  $100,000 to discover novel epigenetic biomarkers based on its proprietary, genome-wide methylation profiling platform to improve how to treat, diagnose, and predict chronic and life-threatening disease;
• Mebias Discovery (Philadelphia, PA; no SBIR) $800,000 to launch its platform for identifying biased ligands for next generation GPCR drugs;
• Enzium (Philadelphia,PA; no SBIR)  $140,000 to develop its proprietary protease assay technology for use in measuring drug levels of the new direct oral anticoagulants in patients;
• Hsiri Therapeutics (King of Prussia, PA; no SBIR) $70,000 to develop novel siderophore-based antibiotics for hard-to-treat bacteria;
• RiboNova (Wynnewood, PA;  no SBIR) $175,000 to develop small molecules against novel defective transfer RNA anti-cancer targets and to pursue a clinical trial in mitochondrial diseases.  

[John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, Aug 5, 2016]

Mechanical Technology

Precision BioSciences (Durham, NC; $500K SBIR, 130 employees) files plans for $100 million IPO. [Raleigh News & Observer, Mar 4, 19]

Mechanical Technology (Latham, NY; $200K SBIR) declared a cash dividend of $0.37 per share, .. the first dividend in the Company’s 58 year history. [company press release, Feb 26, 19]

Hiring experience.  Mechanical Technology (Latham, NY; $200K SBIR) has discovered that weight matters when it comes to the fuel-cell power systems the Albany, NY, company has tried to develop for years.   .....  has tapped Walter Robb--the entrepreneur with arguably the heaviest business resume in the Capital Region--to run its fuel-cell business.   Robb, who turns 86 next month, blazed a four-decade-long career through General Electric ...  MTI stopped the fuel-cell business at the end of 2011--after devoting 10 years, and $60 million, unsuccessfully commercializing a cordless battery to recharge smartphones and other mobile electronics.   [Adam Sichko, Albany Business Review, Mar 18, 14]

Mechanical Technology>  turned its first annual profit in at least 15 years in 2011  [The Business Review (Albany)]

Mechanical technology (Latham, NY; 3 SBIRs) reported earnings of $2.4 million in 2011, marking its first annual profit in at least 15 years and a return to the company’s flagship products. [Pam Allen, The Business Review (Albany), Mar 30, 12]

Mechanical Technology  (Colonie, NY) got a five-year $6.5 million contract to repair and service vibration and balancing systems for the USAF.  [The Business Review (Albany), Sep 30, 09]

Mechanical Tech up 71% [Sep 19, 08] after its third generation Mobion® Chip has improved power performance by approximately 25% [pres release]

Fuel cell developer MTI MicroFuel Cells  received a $2.2 million bridge loan from its parent company and other investors to remain on track for commercialization.  [Albany Times-Union, Sep 19]

Mechanical Technology is eliminating 29 positions (third of the work force) -- including its CFO -- as a way to cut expenses and hold on to its cash.  [Albany Times-Union, Sep 5]

Mechanical Tech down 23% [Jul 23, 08]

Mechanical Technology up 63% [Jul 22, 08], doubled in two days, after recent press release that it has achieved 2,700 hours of continuous operation with a Mobion laboratory cell the building block of the Company’s Mobion chip and systems.

Mechanical Technology up 28% [Jul 21, 08]

Mechanical Technology  is hoping to raise $12 million to market its newest Mobion portable fuel cell. [Albany Business Journal, Jul 8, 08]

MTI MicroFuel Cells, developer of Mobion portable power technology, announced today it will open an office in China. Parent  Mechanical Technology said it has regained compliance with the Nasdaq's listing requirements (after an one for eight reverse split).[The Business Review (Albany), Jun 5, 08]

MTI MicroFuel Cells is unveiling a new methanol-powered fuel cell for GPS navigation systems. ... Although GPS devices, or global positioning systems, are popular in cars, MTI Micro's fuel cell is embedded in a hand-held GPS used by hikers and campers.  The prototype is the latest fuel-cell product MTI Micro has shown to the public. [Larry Rulison, Albany Times-Union, May 2, 08]

Mechanical Technology got a NASDAQ warning of potential delisting for being under a buck. [Jan 08]

MTI MicroFuel Cells (Colonie, NY; one SBIR) developing a small fuel cell designed to power consumer electronics, has set up a pilot manufacturing line. [Albany Times-Union, Jan 9, 08] a subsidiary of Mechanical Technology (Latham, NY; three SBIRs)Mechanical Technology has decided to exit the military market for fuel cells and will lay off roughly 25 people as it focuses exclusively on consumer electronics.  One reason is Army budget cuts, especially cancellation of the Army's billion-dollar Land Warrior program.   [Larry Rulison, Albany Times-Union, Mar 15]

Foreign Interest.  Mechanical Technology sold $11M worth of stock to three investors, one of which is investment fund registered to the Cayman Islands The company says it will use the money to fund its fuel-cell subsidiary, MTI MicroFuel Cells, which is developing fuel cells for the military and consumer electronics markets. [Albany Times-Union, Dec 22]  Four Phase 1 SBIRs over a decade.

Development Costs.  the parent company of MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc. [Mechanical Technology] must raise additional capital to keep funding development of its Mobion fuel cell device, Wall Street analysts say, to fuel the company's cash burn is about $3M per quarter [Albany Times-Union, Nov 11] And it lost $3.7M in the most recent quarter.

Mechanology (Attleboro, MA)

Mechanology (Attleboro, MA; no SBIR)  landed $5.7 million in equity funding, according to federal documents. The company plans mainly to use the new funds to pay back loans made to Mechanology by company officers. Mechanology was founded in 1989 by researcher Stephen Chomyszak to take advantage of patented technology he developed while at Stanford University that improves on the compressors and expanders found in engines and industrial systems. [Mass High Tech, Sep 28, 10]

Medafor (Brooklyn Center, MN)

;Growing biotech firm Medafor (Brooklyn, MN; no SBIR, founded in 1999) reached a deal to be sold to med-tech giant C. R. Bard Inc. for $200 million.  ....  plus an additional $80 million for Medafor if the company meets revenue goals. ... makes a plant-based material that can quickly control bleeding.   [Katherine Grayson,  Minneapolis / St Paul Business Journal, Aug 19, 13]

Medafor (Brooklyn Center, MN; no SBIR)  says a shareholder’s startup is infringing on its patent for a blood-clotting powder that it sells.  In a federal lawsuit filed last week,  Inc. accused  Hemostasis (White Bear Lake, MN; no SBIR) of marketing a similar product that stops bleeding.  ....   Medafor acquired the patent from HemArrest (Edina, MN; no SBIR) in 2011, which joined Medafor in the lawsuit because it still has a security interest in the patent.  [Jim Hammerand, Minneapolis / St Paul Business Journal, Sep 27, 12]

CryoLife (Kennesaw, GA; $2.5M SBIR) may engage in a proxy fight to take over medtech Medafor (Brooklyn Center, MN; no SBIR) after Medafor  rejected CryoLife’s initial $40 million offer for company. [Minneapolis/St Paul Business Journal, Feb 18, 10]

Medarex (Princeton, NJ)

Medarex up 89% [Jul 23, 09] and Investors bid up shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (no SBIR) and Seattle Genetics ($1.3M SBIR) after Medarex agreed to be acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb  [Reuters, Jul 23, 09]

Bristol-Myers Squibb said it will pay $2.4 billion to acquire Medarex ... that has been helping it develop a promising treatment for melanoma since 2005.  [Reuters, Jul 23, 09]

Medarex up 13% [Jun 22, 09]  after the Mayo Clinic said three patients taking the company's prostate cancer treatment are now cancer-free [Wall St Journal, Jun 23]

Medarex  up 10% [Apr 22, 09]

Medarex up 17% [Mar 12, 09]

Medarex up 10% [Mar 10, 09]

Medarex  down 11% [Mar 5, 09]

Medarex down 13% [Mar 2, 09]

Medarex  down 13% [Dec 1, 08]  On a stock bloodbath day

Medarex down 12% [Nov 14, 08]

Medarex down 10% [Nov 12, 08]

Medarex up 10% [Nov 3, 08]  and the Massachusetts Biologics Laboratories said today that their two drug candidates reduced diarrhea in a clinical trial compared with a placebo. [Boston Globe, Nov 4, 08]

Medarex up 11% [Oct 30, 08]

Medarex up 10% [Oct 28, 08]

Medarex up 10% [Oct 16, 08]

Medarex up 31% [Oct 13, 08]

Medarex (Princeton, NJ; $2M SBIR) plunged 18% after Pfizer's melanoma drug failed a clinical trial. The , biotechnology company was a partner with Pfizer on the development program and has a similar drug in late-stage trials with Bristol-Myers Squibb. [Wall Street Journal, Apr 3, 08]

Medgenics (Wayne, PA)

Medgenics (Wayne, PA; no SBIR, 40 employees) is teaming up with a Japanese biopharmaceutical company and a physician from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to advance a potential new treatment for severe pediatric-onset inflammatory bowel disease [IBD].  Severe pediatric onset IBD is a rare disease characterized by chronic relapsing inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. It often leads to malnutrition, growth failure, bowel obstruction, and the need for intravenous feeding and surgeries.  [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, Jun 6, 16]

Medgenics (Wayne, PA; no SBIR) [gene therapy company] completed its previously announced$46 million stock sale. ... focused on developing therapies for rare and difficult-to-treat disease.   [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, Oct 12, 15]

Medgenics (Wayne, PA; no SBIR) gene therapy company expects to raise $21 million through a public stock offering ... Earlier this month, the company entered into a $5 million research collaboration with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.   ...  developing what it calls transduced autologous restorative gene therapy, a proprietary gene therapy technology used to target rare diseases.  [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, Nov 25, 14] 

MediBeacon (St Louis, MO)

Medibeacon (St Louis, MO; one SBIR, founded 2012) raised $1.25 million in a debt offering [St Louis Business Journl, Dec 17, 18] ... formed in 2012 specifically to acquire the optical diagnostic program from Mallinckrodt, the Pharmaceuticals business of Covidien. MediBeacon’s mission is to commercialize biocompatible optical diagnostic agents for physiological monitoring, surgical guidance, and imaging of pathological disease in the human population. [company website]

[FDA] granted breakthrough device designation to MediBeacon (St. Louis, MO' one SBIR, founded 2011)’s transdermal GFR measurement system to aid in the fight against kidney disease. [Vince Brennan, St Louis Business Journal, Oct 22, 18] total funding $45M [crunchbase.com]

MediBeacon (St Louis, MO;  no SBIR, founded 2012) completed the acquisition of Mannheim Pharma & Diagnostics, a life science company based in Mannheim, Germany  [Brian Feldt, St. Louis Business Journal, Jun 12, 16]... [Medibeacon] formed specifically to acquire the optical diagnostic program from Mallinckrodt, the Pharmaceuticals business of Covidien. ... to commercialize biocompatible optical diagnostic agents for physiological monitoring, surgical guidance, and imaging of pathological disease in the human population. [company website]

MediBeacon (Creve Coeur, MO; no SBIR), a medical device startup. raised another $22.4 million ... a developer of real-time kidney monitoring technology, an area of need in intensive care units. ... to bring the technology to market   [Brian Feldt,St. Louis Business Journal, Aug 26, 15]

Medibeacon  (St. Louis, MO; no SBIR, founded 2012), a medical device startup closed its most recent funding round at more than $5 million. ....  acquired 22 patents from Mallinckrodt’s optical diagnostic agent development program in 2012 with the goal of commercializing the technology.   [Brian Feldt, St. Louis Business Journal, Jun 15, 15]

When Steve Hanley launched medical device maker MediBeacon LLC (St Louis, MO; no SBIR) last summer, one of his earliest investments was $100,000 from the BioGenerator nonprofit investment fund and bioscience accelerator.  Since then, MediBeacon has secured another $3.5 million from investors.  [EB Solomon, St. Louis Business Journal, Aug 30, 13]

MediBeacon is one of 40 companies to receive funding from BioGenerator, which has invested $5 million in startups since 2004. Collectively, the 40 have secured an additional $132 million in follow-on funding, according to Donn Rubin, president and CEO of BioSTL, a local organization [EB Solomon, St. Louis Business Journal, Aug 30, 13]

Medical21 (Plymouth, MN)

Medical 21  (Plymouth, MN; no SBIR), the latest project from medtech pioneer and St. Jude Medical founder Manny Villafaña, kicked off a new, $15 million funding round last Friday. .... had a successful first funding round last year when it raised roughly $2 million. That capital, according to Villafaña, was exclusively used on animal tests for Medical 21’s flagship product, an artificial blood vessel that for decades been a pipe dream among medical professionals.... In 2000, he founded CABG Medical which raised $30 million [IPO] in 2004, developed a polymer-based tube that transferred blood from one side of the heart to the other. Clinical test results, however, weren’t favorable and CABG Medical ultimately shut down in 2006. ....  After that, in 2007, Villafaña established Kips Bay Medical. The startup made a mesh product out of nitinol wire that provided support to a patient’s saphenous vein graft in their leg during coronary artery bypass surgery. Kips Bay went on to raise $16 million during its 2011 IPO before shutting its doors four years later.  [Sam Schaust, Twin Cities Business, Sep 6, 17]

Medical Cyberworlds Verona, WI)

Seven [Wisconsin] companies each will receive a $75,000 grant under a new program aimed at helping them commercialize their products. The first-ever grants are being distributed by a program called SBIR Advance. ... with $1 million from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. and administered by the UW-Extension Center for Technology Commercialization.   All of the companies have already received [SBIR or STTR]. But they aren't able to use those funds for activities like patent work and customer development and validation. receiving the grants are: C-Motive Technologies (Madison, WI; one SBIR)  Isthmus Biosciences (Madison, WI; one SBIR); Nutrient Recovery and Upcycling LLC (Madison, WI; one SBIR);  Pan Genome Systems (Madison, WI; one SBIR);  V-Glass LLC  (Milwaukee, WI; one SBIR); Fiberstar Bio-Ingredient Technologies (Eau Claire,WI; one SBIR);  Medical Cyberworlds (Verona, WI; $600K SBIR).  [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Sep 25, 14]

Medicago USA (North Carolina)

The DARPA effort, called Blue Angel, has been working since May 2009 to develop a surge capacity for flu viruses ....      Four companies are working to transform protein-producing tobacco plants from a proof of concept to a demonstration of the capability. The next step will be to develop full industrial processes for producing the proteins. The companies are Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology in Delaware, Kentucky BioProcessing (Owensboro, KY; no SBIR, bought by Reynolds Tobacco Jan 2014), a consortium called Project GreenVax, whose partners are the Texas A&M University system and a Texas company called G-Con, and Medicago USA in North Carolina. [Cheryl Pellerin, American Forces Press Service]   In 2009  DARPA, launched Blue Angel, a program that challenged three tobacco pharming facilities—among them,  and Caliber Biotherapeutics (Bryan, TX; no SBIR) —to produce 10 million doses of flu vaccine in one month. The reward? Tens of millions in funding. [Erika Fry, Fortune, Sep 22, 2014]

Medical Device Logistics (Stonington, CT)

Connecticut Innovations announced today that it has committed $450,000 from its Pre-Seed Fund to three startups in the life sciences sector.  The quasi-public agency, which is focused on technology and innovation, said the funds are going to Arcantatura (Groton, CT; no SBIR),  C8 Sciences (New Haven, CT; no SBIR), and Medical Device Logistics (Stonington, CT; no SBIR). According to Connecticut Innovations, each of the companies has secured matching funds from private investors.   [James Connolly, Mass High Tech, Aug 25, 11]

MedicaMetrix (Wayland, MA)

Startup MedicaMetrix (Wayland, MA; no SBIR) is looking to raise $3 million to get its urology technology to market. The company has invented a special sensor-equipped glove that can be used to examine a patient’s prostate gland and get an accurate recording of the gland’s size. [Mass High Tech, Dec 12, 08]

The Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center  reported providing “fast-lane” funding last week to two early-stage companies, MedicaMetrix (Wayland, MA; no SBIR) and VeinAid LLC (Fairfield, CT; no SBIR). MedicaMatrix, founded by Christopher LaFarge, makes the “ProstaGlove,” a disposable glove, with an embedded sensor, used to measure quantitative prostate volume. In addition to funding, the company received clinical trial help and materials development from M2D2. VeinAid, launched by Thomas Kottler, helps relieve varicose vein-associated pain and circulatory issues with its medical device applied externally. The M2D2 funds will aid marketing efforts of the device and assist with venture capital access and mold development.  [Mass High Tech, Nov 26, 08]

MediciNova (LaJolla, CA)

MediciNova down 22% [Sep 24, 20] announced positive clinical findings published in Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology regarding MN-166 (ibudilast) as a treatment for prevention of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). [company press relese, Sep 24, 20]

MediciNova (LaJolla, CA; no SBIR) down 33% [Jul 28, 20]

MediciNova (LaJolla, CA; no SBIR) up 95% [Jul 27, 20] biopharmaceutical announced an agreement with BioComo (Japan) for joint development of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine using BC-PIV, a human parainfluenza virus type 2 vector developed by BioComo and Tetsuya Nosaka, M.D., Ph.D., professor of  Mie University. MediciNova has been granted exclusive worldwide development rights to use BC-PIV for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development. BC-PIV, an innovative non-transmissible viral vector  is derived from the recombinant human parainfluenza virus type 2 (hPIV2). [company press release, Jul 27, 20]

MediciNova (LaJolla, CA; no SBIR) up 38% [Apr 8, 20], a biopharmaceutical company announced that it will initiate a clinical trial of MN-166 (ibudilast) for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019). The study will be conducted by Yale's Advanced Therapies Group. [company press release, Apr 8, 20]

MediciNova (LaJolla, CA; no SBIR, founded 2000 with $10 million from Tanabe Seiyaku (Japan)) announced the underwritten [secondary] offering [raised] $40.0 million [to] continue to fund the development of its MN-166 (ibudilast) and MN-001 (tipelukast) programs [company press release, Feb 12, 18] licensed its first development candidates in 2002. MN-001 was licensed from Kyorin Pharmaceutical (Japan) and MN-029 from Angiogene Pharmaceuticals (UK) ... In 2004, $70.2M Series B and C rounds and licensed four more development candidates [from Japan]... In February 2005 became the first U.S. company to be publicly traded in Japan, raising $113.2 million .... In December 2006 listed on the NASDAQ Global Market .... In January 2007, raised $11.2 million ... In March 2011 raised $7.9 million [company website]

Medicool Technologies (Rochester, MN)

NSF announced that Medicool Technologies (Rochester, MN; no prior SBIR) [won] Phase II [$670K ] SBIR  .... led by a team of former Boston Scientific business pros and and Mayo [Clinic] cardiologists, is working on a completely novel kind of implantable device that uses cooling technology to painlessly halt atrial fibrillations (AF), or irregular beating in the heart’s upper chambers caused by misfiring electrical signals. [Don Jacobson, Twin Cities Business, Apr 26, 18]

MedImmune (Gaithersburg, MD)

MedImmune, AstraZeneca’s biologics division, is no more. The pharmaceutical giant announced last year that the name would be retired as part of a research and development restructuring. [xconomy.com, Jan 23. 20]

AstraZeneca (UK) is starting to look at cutting some of the fat from its external pacts, and Inovio Pharmaceuticals is in the crosshairs. AstraZeneca's biologics arm MedImmune and Inovio have a long history, penning a deal back in 2015 worth $27.5 million upfront and up to $700 million in milestones for work on Inovio's cancer vaccines. [Ben Adams, Fierce Biotech, May 29, 19]

year-old MedImmune spinoff Viela Bio, created to focus on autoimmune disease, is raising $75M and could hit the 100-employee target by yearend. The funding would add to a $282M Series A round led by three Chinese investment groups when it launched in February 2018. [May 28, 19]

AstraZeneca retires MedImmune (Gaithersburg, MD; $3.5M SBIR, acquired 2013) brand [Washington Business Journal, Feb 20, 19]

AstraZeneca spun six of the experimental drugs from its Gaithersburg, MD, R&D hub MedImmune into a new startup, Viela Bio, backed by $250 million in funding from a group of Chinese private equity funds. [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Mar 2, 18]

Inovio Pharmaceuticals (Plymouth Meeting, PA; no SBIR) announced it has received a milestone payment from MedImmune as MEDI0457 (formerly called INO-3112 which MedImmune in-licensed from Inovio) in combination with durvalumab (MEDI4736) satisfactorily completed the phase 1 safety review portion of the study and has advanced to the phase 2 efficacy stage of the trial. As part of a $700 million 2015 license and collaboration agreement, MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, is evaluating MEDI0457 in combination with durvalumab, its PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor, in patients with recurrent/metastatic HPV-associated head and neck squamous cancer (HNSCC) in a clinical trial with an estimated enrollment of 50 patients.  [company press release, Jan 8, 18]

PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals (Malvern, PA; no SBIR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for the treatment of orphan diseases, announced that the Company has entered an exclusive, worldwide license agreement with MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, for PB2452 (formerly MEDI2452), a Phase 1-ready reversal agent for ticagrelor.  [company press release, Nov 28, 17] 

 MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, and Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, today announced an agreement to develop and commercialise MEDI8897 jointly. MEDI8897 is a monoclonal antibody (mAb) for the prevention of lower respiratory tract illness (LRTI) caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the most prevalent cause of LRTI among infants and young children. ... Sanofi Pasteur will make an upfront payment of €120 million and pay up to €495 million upon achievement of certain development and sales-related milestones  [Medimmune press release, Mar 3, 17]

MedImmune is expanding its footprint in China's drug market after receiving a permit to begin clinical trials there on a biologic therapy for rheumatoid arthritis.  [Tina Reed, Washington Business Journal, Jan 19, 17]

MedImmune is expanding its footprint in China's drug market after receiving a permit to begin clinical trials there on a biologic therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. MedImmune, which is the R&D arm for London-based drug giant AstraZeneca, produced the biologic in a joint venture with leading Chinese biologics manufacturer WuXi AppTech. This is the first collaboration of its kind between a multinational pharmaceutical corporation and a Chinese company. (Washington Business Journal)

Pharmaceutical power AstraZeneca will sell its small molecule antibiotics division to Pfizer for $1.6 billion, but that won't interfere with MedImmune (Gaithersburg, MD; $3.5M SBIR in the 1990s)'s research and development. For AstraZeneca, MedImmune exclusively produces infectious disease drugs like FluMist and Synasis. AstraZeneca purchased MedImmune in 2007 for $15.6 billion. [Washington Business Journal, Aug 25, 16]

The flu vaccine FluMist, which is made by MedImmune, is at the center of a new debate over vaccinations for the upcoming flu season. In June, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee recommended health providers not use the “nasal spray” flu vaccine.  [Tina Reed, Washington Business Journal, Aug 17, 16]

Lion Biotechnologies (New York, NY; no SBIR, IPO 2015, market cap $290M) up 43% [Jun 3, 16] after the biotechnology company said it raised $100 million in a private placement of stock  [Wall Street Journal, Jun 3, 16]    is focused on the development and commercialization of novel cancer immunotherapies based on tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). This approach, also known as adoptive T-cell therapy, was developed by Dr. Steven A. Rosenberg at the National Cancer Institute and is currently in use at leading cancer centers in the US. ....  Our lead product candidate is an autologous, ready-to-infuse cell therapy that has demonstrated distinctive efficacy in the treatment of Stage 4 metastatic melanoma.     [company website]     announced that it has entered into a collaboration to conduct clinical and preclinical research in immuno-oncology with MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca.   [company press release, Dec 2015]

The Johns Hopkins University and MedImmune, the global biologics R&D arm of AstraZeneca, announced a first-of-its-kind Ph.D. training program between a major university and a biopharmaceutical company in the United States. Known as the Johns Hopkins-MedImmune Scholars Program  ..  will prepare JHU graduate students for careers in the biopharma industry .... students will be introduced to the process and challenges of drug discovery and development through coursework co-taught with scientists from the company, as well as a yearlong internship at MedImmune.     [Medimmune press release, Mar 2, 16]  Less science, more biz.

A cancer immunotherapy drug under development at MedImmune [R&D arm for AstraZeneca] received "breakthrough" status from [FDA] for its use in patients with metastatic bladder cancer. ....  has multiple clinical trials in its pipeline for the drug candidate durvalumab, or MEDI4736, to treat non-small cell lung cancer, as well as head and neck, bladder, gastric, pancreatic, liver and blood cancers.  [Tina Reed, Washington Business Journal, Feb 24, 16]

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and its global biologics research and development arm MedImmune plan to invest upward of $150 million to expand their presence in the Chinese biologic drugs market. [Tina Reed,Washington Business Journal, Dec 16, 15]

biotech WellStat Therapeutics (Gaithersburg, MD; no SBIR) received [FDA] approval for Vistogard, an emergency treatment for an overdose of certain chemotherapy drugs, it was announced.  ... the second FDA approval the company has received for one of its drugs this fall.   ...  WellStat received a highly valuable priority review voucher, part of an FDA incentive program designed to encourage drug development for rare pediatric diseases. WellStat immediately sold its voucher to AstraZeneca, parent company of MedImmune, as part of a deal made back in September 2014.  [Tina Reed, Washington Business Journal, Dec 14, 15]

MedImmune and a division of 3M unveiled plans to work together on a next-generation cancer immunotherapy drug.
Under the agreement, MedImmune — [now] the biologics research and development arm of U.K. pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca  – licensed an agent called MEDI9197 from 3M Drug Delivery Systems. 3M said it developed the molecule as an injectable treatment for head and neck cancer that stimulates the body's immune system to attack and destroy tumors. [Tina Reed, Washington Business Journal, Sep 25, 15]

MedImmune  ($3.5M SBIR in the 1990s), [now] the research arm of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, announced that it is buying a not-yet-approved cancer treatment in a deal that could be worth $727 million. The drug, named INO-3112, fights cancer by bolstering the body’s immune response to tumors. [Aaron Gregg, Washington Post, Aug 11, 15]

MedImmune and Joslin Diabetes Center announced plans to work together on new drug candidates that could someday regenerate insulin cells, increase calorie-burning"brown fat" or even replicate the effects of bariatric surgery. MedImmune, [now] the biologics research and development arm of U.K. pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, and Joslin, a nonprofit diabetes organization affiliated with Harvard Medical School, said they formed a three-year collaboration to target diabetes, obesity and related metabolic disorders.   [Tina Reed, Washington Business Journal, Mar 11, 15]

MedImmune [$3.4M SBIR, now the biologics research and development arm of U.K. pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca] and the National Institute of Standards and Technology  unveiled a five-year joint agreement to research tools to develop new drugs or therapies, or make existing therapies more effective.  ...  MedImmune will provide the first-year funding for seven NIST postdoctoral scientists focused on projects such as developing a new, sensitive form of Raman spectroscopy  .... the latest in a number of partnerships MedImmune began in the last year. In October, MedImmune joined a project with Inovio Pharmaceuticals (no SBIR) and the University of Pennsylvania on monoclonal antibody-based infectious disease treatments under a $12.2 million DARPA award. In June, MedImmune, AstraZeneca and a handful of other pharma companies and health groups announced a broad lung cancer trial, looking to use patients' genomic profiles to match them with therapies.    [Tina Reed, Washington Business Journal, Feb 20, 15] 

Omnis Pharmaceuticals (Rochester, MN; no SBIR, founded by several researchers from Mayo Clinic) biotech start-up with ties to the Mayo Clinic has signed a licensing deal with an international drugmaker to study how to improve genetically engineered viruses that kill cancer cells. ... signed an agreement to allow biologics maker MedImmune to study and potentially commercialize the cancer-killing virus that Omnis has been designing. MedImmune plans to pair Omnis’ vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) with its own “immunotherapeutic” drugs that use the body’s immune system to attack tumor cells.  ....  Its founders include Shruthi Naik, a Mayo scientist who has designed and developed VSV technologies in clinical development, and Russell, who is Mayo’s former dean of discovery and experimental research.   ...  This week AstraZeneca said it would speed up development of the VSV virus, with the goal of pairing it with MedImmune investigational drugs that stimulate the body’s immune response to cancer.   [Joe Carlson, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jan 13, 15]

“Our job”, says Jan Kemper, “is to make cells happy.” Ms Kemper works at MedImmune  (Gaithersburg, MD), [now] a subsidiary of AstraZeneca. Her laboratory contains 40 bioreactors—fluid-filled tanks of about three litres’ capacity. ... Barack Obama directed federal agencies to take action against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. A task-force, ordered to report in February, has been appointed. And the Department of Health and Human Services is putting up a $20m prize for a rapid, diagnostic test for such bacteria. ... MedImmune’s antibodies are aimed respectively at Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus and bind, in the former case, to bugs themselves and in the latter to human cells, shielding them from bacterial toxins.  ... As Steve Projan, who oversees MedImmune’s antibody project, eloquently puts it, “I’ve been working on staph for 34 years. I’m ready to beat the bastard.”  [The Economist, Nov 12, 14]   founded 1988 as Molecular Vaccines, $3.5M NIH SBIR 1989-1998, became MedImmune in 1990, raised $24M in 1991 IPO, FDA approval for pediatric use of RespiGam, acquired US Bioscience (no SBIR) in 1999, acquired Aviron (Mountain View, CA; $3M SBIR 1995-2002) in 2002, formed a VC subsidiary in 2003, FDA approved FluMist in 2003, won $170M HHS award for cell-based flu vaccine in 2006, acquired by AstraZenica 2007,  joint Chinese venture 2012. [company website]

Inovio Pharmaceuticals  (Plymouth Meeting, PA; no SBIR), the University of Pennsylvania, and MedImmune (Gaithersburg, MD; $3.7M SBIR in the 1990s) are set to collaborate on monoclonal antibody-based infectious disease treatments under a $12.2 million DARPA award, Inovio announced  ...  the latest in MedImmune's recent partnering frenzy ...  MedImmune is [now] owned by U.K. pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca  [Bill Flook, Washington Business Journal, Oct 21, 14]

MedImmune [now owned by U.K.-pharma giant AstraZeneca] won a fast-track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an antibody-based pneumonia drug. [Bill Flook, Washington Business Journal, Sep 23, 14]

MedImmune (Gaithersbueg, MD; $3.5M SBIR), its [now] parent company AstraZeneca and a handful of other pharma companies and health groups announced a broad lung cancer trial, looking to use patients' genomic profiles to match them with therapies. ... The Lung Cancer Master Protocol, or Lung-MAP, trial will explore five product candidates as treatments for advanced squamous cell lung cancer. That includes MedImmune's MEDI4736 [Bill Flook, Washington Business Journal, Jun 16, 14]  

MedImmune (Gaithersburg, MD; $3.6M SBIR) and the University System of Maryland are expanding their research collaboration to multiple campuses.  ...  announced a five-year, $6 million combined research program ...  Initial research projects will include those focused on respiratory, cardiovascular and infectious diseases.  [Jeff Clabaugh, Washington Business Journal, Apr 29, 14]

MedImmune (Gaithersburg, MD;  $3.5M SBIR through 1998) announced a $6.5 million research partnership with Johns Hopkins University, marking the second academic collaboration in recent months. .... new role as an early-stage R&D shop supplying promising biologics candidates to parent company AstraZeneca  (UK).  [Bill Flook, Baltimore Business Journal, Dec 11, 13]

 MedImmune (Gaithersburg, MD; $3.6M SBIR) said it has snapped up London-based Spirogen in a deal that could be worth as much as $440 million.  .... the second in recent months aimed at strengthening MedImmune's oncology portfolio.  .... Spirogen is focused on antibody-drug conjugates, which a news release describes as "clinically-validated cancer drug technology that offers both high potency and selective targeting of cancer cells."    [Bill Flook, Baltimore Business Journal, Oct 15, 13]

University of Maryland, Baltimore and MedImmune are pairing up for a five-year, $6 million collaboration on bioscience research. ...  will both put money and scientists toward joint research projects. The projects will focus on medical conditions and diseases in MedImmune’s wheelhouse, such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems and inflammation.  MedImmune is expected to spend $5 million on the initiative over the next five years and the university will contribute $1 million. [Sarah Gantz, Baltimore Business Journal, Sep 25, 13]

MedImmune (Gaithersburg, MD; $3.5M SBIR) announced the acquisition of Amplimmune (Gaithersburg, MD, no SBIR), the Johns Hopkins University spinout [focused on immune-based biologics] .... will pay an initial $225 million for Amplimmune, and possibly another $275 million if certain development milestones are reached. ... buyout is designed to strengthen MedImmune's early-stage oncology pipeline  ....  The move fits into parent company AstraZeneca's new vision for MedImmune as a center for biologics research  [Bill Flook, Washington Business Journal, Aug 26, 13]

MedImmune (Gaithersburg, MD; $2.7M SBIR)  announced an agreement with NGM Biopharmaceuticals (South San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) to jointly develop treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes based off a type of specialized cell found in the gastrointestinal tract.  ..... MedImmune will fund NGM's research, and will have the option to license promising candidates and bring them through development and commercialization. The collaboration centers on enteroendocrine cells (EEC), which are responsible for the production of gastrointestinal hormones. ....   MedImmune turns its focus to early-stage research, part of a broader set of changes by British pharma parent AstraZeneca [acquired in 2007]   [Bill Flook, Baltimore Business Journal, Jun 17, 13]  Medimmune sales have been in the $1B range [Wikipedia]

MedImmune said it is willing to consider takeover offers, reversing its stand against a sale because of interest from big pharmaceutical companies and investor unhappiness with the company's performance. The company has a market capitalization of nearly $9B and posted $1.28B revenue last year, mostly from its childhood respiratory drug Synagis. MedImmune also makes the inhaled influenza vaccine FluMist.[AP, Apr 13]  $4M SBIR in the 1990s.

Medina Medical (Menlo Park, CA)

Medtronic PLC paid $150 million plus future performance goals to acquire Medina Medical (Menlo Park, CA; no SBIR) that makes a self-expanding mesh device to treat weakened blood vessels in the brain.....  so far only has European approval to sell its Medina Embolization Device to treat brain aneurysms.  [Joe Carlson, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Sep 1, 15]

Mediomics (St. Louis,MO)

Mediomics (St. Louis, MO; $2M SBIR, founded 2001) biotech received a $970,000 [NIH SBIR] ... creates testing applications for academic laboratories, pharmaceutical applications and medical and environmental research markets ...
The grant will be used to further develop Mediomics’ Pincer platform, which is a screening technology that can analyze the quality of antibodies. ...  was one of the companies involved in a $200 million trade agreement Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon signed with Chinese provincial officials in 2011.   [Brian Feldt, St. Louis Business Journal, Sep 9, 14] 

Medis (New York NY)

Medis Technologies, a small firm based in New York, plans to distribute hundreds of its new Power Pack portable fuel cells to a select group of business people, politicians and opinion formers. Each fuel cell is about the size of a cigarette packet, weighs 150 grams, and generates electricity by combining oxygen from the air with an internal fuel. It can be plugged into a hand-held device (such as a mobile phone, music player or portable games console) to power or recharge it, and has sufficient capacity to provide around 30 hours of talk-time on a mobile phone, or 60-80 hours of playback time for an iPod music-player.  [The Economist, Jun 10] No SBIRs of record.

MEDITE Group (Orlando, FL)

CytoCore (formerly Molecular Diagnostics, Chicago. IL; no SBIR) announced that MEDITE Group (Orlando, FL; no SBIR) , a leading developer of innovative, high-quality equipment and supplies for the cancer diagnostic segments of histology, pathology and cytology announced that it has signed a definitive purchase agreement to be acquired by CytoCore a late development stage bio molecular diagnostics company [company press release, Jan 13, 14]

Medivation (San Francisco, CA)

A cancer-fighting drug that BioMarin Pharmaceutical (Novato, CA; $300K SBIR) picked up in a $97 million acquisition five years ago is at the center of a potential $570 million deal with fellow Bay Area drug developer Medivation (San Francisco CA; no SBIR).  The late-stage drug — dubbed talazoparib, or BMN-673 — is a so-called PARP inhibitor, a class of drugs that block enzymes, which cancer cells use to repair themselves after chemotherapy or other stresses.  ... BioMarin landed talazoparib with its 2010 acquisition of LEAD Therapeutics  (San Bruno, CA; no SBIR). The San Rafael company has since taken the drug into a Phase III trial against advanced breast cancer, but it also has investigated the drug across multiple tumor types, including ovarian cancer. [Ron Leuty,San Francisco Business Times, Aug 25, 15]

Medivation sank 67% after reporting that its experimental Alzheimer's disease treatment Dimebon, in development with large-cap Pfizer, failed to show effectiveness in late-stage trials. [Wall Street Journal, Mar 4, 10]

Medivation(San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) will net about $54 million by selling 2.75 million shares ... The 76-employee San Francisco drug developer will use the cash to fund research, development and commercialization of Alzheimer’s Disease and Huntington’s Disease treatment Dimebon and its late-stage prostate cancer drug, MDV-3100. [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, May 28, 09]

Mednology Solutions (Excelsior, MN)

LifeScience Alley, the regional trade association that represents life science and health technology companies, announced that 10 organizations will be exhibiting cutting-edge products as part of the association’s New Technology Showcase at the 2013 LifeScience Alley Conference, Nov. 20 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.   Featured will be:  (Rochester, MN;  no SBIR), developing a cancer-selective virus particularly suited to destroy relapsed or metastatic cancer cells; Omnis PharmaRebiotix (Roseville, MN; no SBIR), which will present something called Microbiota Restoration Therapy, which delivers live, human-derived microbes to patients’ intestinal tracts to restore balance and treat certain diseases; and (Naperville, IL; no SBIR) will demonstrate its remote patient monitoring and predictive analytics system, which converts patient vital signs into information to aid in care.    VGBioCogCubed (Minneapolis, MN;  no SBIR) will exhibit an approach to diagnosing and treating cognitive health by analyzing game play data; Datuit (Roseville, MN; no SBIR) will display a platform allowing patients, family and clinicians to confidentially share medical information; Imanis Life Sciences   (Rochester, MN; no SBIR) will show a gene-based platform for promoting non-invasive, long-term imaging technologies in living beings; Mednology Solutions (Excelsior, MN;  no SBIR) will exhibit a system designed to improve efficiency in the management of medical emergencies; NanoVault Medical (St. Paul, MN; no SBIR) will show a cellular and biotherapeutic delivery technology to treat autoimmune diseases. ReMind Technologies of Houston, Tex., will exhibit a smartphone-based medication dispensing device and Skyline Medical, Inc. of Eagan will show an automated surgical fluid disposal device with unlimited capacity and real-time fluid volume data. For more information.  [James Walsh, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Sep 25]

Medrobotics Raynham, MA)

Medrobotics  (Raynham, MA; no SBIR) announced that it would begin marketing its Flex System robot in Europe.  ...  based on research completed by Howie Choset, a robotics professor at Carnegie Mellon University. ... will help surgeons complete more operations in a minimally invasive way, which allows for shorter hospital stays and shorter recovery times. ... to complete head and neck operations in anatomical locations difficult to reach with more traditional surgical techniques, according to a release from CMU.  [Stephanie Novak,  Pittsburgh Business Times, Apr 2, 14]

Medrobotics  (Raynham, MA; no SBIR) which is developing robots for assisting with surgical procedures, said  it has closed on $10 million in debt financing to support the company's commercial launch. ...  developed the Flex Robotic System, a robotic-assist platform that enables surgeons to gain access and better visualization for difficult-to-access anatomical locations.  [Kyle Alspach, Boston Business Journal, Mar 22, 13]

Medrobotics (Raynham, MA; no SBIR) developer of robotic snake technology, has taken in $6.48 million of a total $10 million offering of debt and option, warrant, or other right. ... a spinout of Carnegie Mellon University that was previously known as Cardiorobotics ... developing robotic technologies for surgical and interventional applications, including minimally invasive cardiac surgery. Its main product is the cardioARM, a snake-like robotic probe controlled remotely. It is designed to enable surgeries with minimal or no incisions.  [Lori Valigra, Mass High Tech, Dec 28, 11]

MedShape (Atlanta, GA)

Medshape (Atlanta, GA; $3.7M SBIR), the industry leader in innovative NiTiNOL and other advanced material technologies, announced  it has received a Technology/Therapeutic Development Award funded by DOD Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) to assist in the research and development of a dynamic compression fusion device using superelastic nickel titanium (NiTiNOL) for use in diabetic foot limb salvage surgery. The funding award from PRMRP includes $2.6M to complete the research milestones over the next 3 years. [company press release, Aug 18, 20]

orthopedic device company MedShape (Atlanta, GA; $1.8M SBIR)  closed on $11 million in new financing.  ...   on further product development and commercialization, including the full market release of the Eclipse Soft Tissue Anchor, a new shape memory fixation device for soft tissue repair. [Jacques Couret, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Oct 8, 13]

MedSocket (formerly 1CDS, Columbia, MO)

MedSocket (formerly 1CDS, Columbia, MO; $140K SBIR, founded 2012)  health care startup that’s developed a search engine that integrates into the electronic health record system, has received a $930K [NIH SBIR] grant ....  will help MedSocket, a portfolio company of St. Louis tech accelerator Capital Innovators that’s based in Columbia, Missouri, continue developing its patented search engine that helps pharmaceutical clinicians during workflow. ...also raised $300,000 in late 2015 from investors    [Brian Feldt, St. Louis Business Journal, Sep 2, 16]  patented search engine so revolutionary and technically uncertain that it deserves government succor?  Google and a dozen other search engine companies were probably not tech reviewers.  Note: government is not supposed to compete with private capital investment, but most civil servants operating government programs try to maximize their program "successs." Ah well, NIH once awarded an SBIR for a smoke-enders video.

Medsphere Systems (Carlsbad, CA)

Venture Capital investments in San Diego 3Q2016.    Ostendo Technologies (Carlsbad, CA; one SBIR)  $42 million;  Tealium ( San Diego; no SBIR)  $35 million ; Singlera Genomics   (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) $20 million;  Avelas Biosciences     (San Diego, CA; no SBIR)  $20 million ;  Fortis Therapeutics     (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) $18 million ; Histogen   (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) $16 million ; Medsphere Systems  (Carlsbad, CA; no SBIR) $15 million;  CellSavers  (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) $15 million;  Progenity  (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) $12 million; AristaMD  (San Diego, CA; no SBIR)  $11 million.   [Bruce Bigelow, xconomy.com, Oct 11, 16] 

MedTel (Boca Raton, FL)

Following a three-year legal battle, BioTelemetry (formerly known as CardioNet, Malvern, PA; no SBIR) won a key verdict in a patent infringement lawsuit it filed against a competing medical-device company MedTel (Boca Raton, FL; no SBIR). ... BioTelemetry said it has invested more than $100 million in developing and commercializing its patented technology. ...  has also filed patent infringement against several other medical-device makers in recent years.  [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, Oct 12, 15]

Meissa Vaccines (San Mateo, CA)

Meissa Vaccines (South San Francisco, CA; $1.5M SBIR, founded 2014) raised $30 million to advance a pipeline of vaccines to prevent viral respiratory infections. The series A equips Meissa to run phase 1 and 2 trials of a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine while moving other candidates based on its synthetic biology technology toward the clinic. [Nick Paul Taylor, Fierce Biotech, Sep 26, 19] prior funding $33M [crunchbase.com]

Common Cold Vaccine (again).  [Martin Moore, a paediatrician at Emory University]’s start-up, Meissa Vaccines  (San Mateo, CA; $225K SBIR), received [NIH SBIR] grant for work on rhinovirus. He is taking leave from academia to work on the vaccines.  ...  Moore [previously] secured funding from NIH and applied for samples of the different serotypes from the Centers for Disease Control and the American Type Culture Collection, a biological material repository.  ....  Successes have been rare, and there have been spectacular flops. Last year, shares in Novavax (Rockville, MD; $225K SBIR) fell by 83% after its vaccine for RSV, one of the virus families responsible for colds, failed in a late-stage clinical trial.   [Nicola Davison, The Guardian (UK), Oct 6, 17]

Meka (San Francisco, CA)

Over the last half-year, Google has quietly acquired seven technology companies in an effort to create a new generation of robots. ....  not something aimed at consumers. Instead, the company’s expected targets are in manufacturing ....  Among the companies are Schaft, a small team of Japanese roboticists who recently left Tokyo University to develop a humanoid robot, and Industrial Perception  (Palo Alto, CA; no SBIR), a start-up here that has developed computer vision systems and robot arms for loading and unloading trucks. Also acquired were Meka (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) and Redwood Robotics  (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR), makers of humanoid robots and robot arms, and Bot & Dolly  (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR), a maker of robotic camera systems that were recently used to create special effects in the movie “Gravity.” A related firm, Autofuss  (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR), which focuses on advertising and design, and Holomni  (Mountain View, CA, no SBIR) a small design firm that makes high-tech wheels. The seven companies are capable of creating technologies needed to build a mobile, dexterous robot. Mr. Rubin said he was pursuing additional acquisitions.  [John Markoff, New York Times, Dec 4, 13]  Note that all the US companies live around San Francisco Bay with the hotbed of innovative venture capital. And none needed SBIR to attract major investment. 

MEKanistic Therapeutics (Ypsilanti, MI)

MEKanistic Therapeutics (Ypsilanti, MI; $2.4M SBIR) was launched by as a biotechnology company developing oncology treatments. In preclinical studies, the therapy shrinks tumors with less toxicity associated with current drugs on the market. [Carter Jones, MinneInno, Jun 14, 2022]

MELA Sciences (formerly Electro-Optical Sciences)

medical-device developer MELA Sciences (Irvington, NY; $3M SBIR as Electro-optical Sciences) that recently acquired a local company’s laser skin care technology is planning to relocate its headquarters to Montgomery County [PA].  The move is a result of an agreement to purchase PhotoMedex (Horsham, PA; no SBIR)’s Xtrac and Vtrac laser devices used to treat psoriasis and other skin disorders, for $42.5 million. [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, Jul 15, 15]  PhotoMedex is a global skin health company providing aesthetic solutions to dermatologists, professional aestheticians and consumers. [company website]

MELA Sciences down 11% [Apr 14,15]

MELA Sciences up 17% [Mar 16, 15]  

MELA Sciences  up 60% [Mar 11, 15] in response to its disclosure in a regulatory filing that the CPT Editorial Panel accepted the addition of two Category III reimbursement codes, 039XX1T and 039XX2T, to report multi-spectral digital skin lesion analysis of atypical cutaneous lesions, which applies to its MelaFind system. The establishment of the codes is the first step in securing Medicare reimbursement.    [seekingalpha.com, Mar 11, 15]

MELA Sciences 1:10 reverse split [Jul 7,14]

Dissent Over a Device. MelaFind, a new computer vision system for imaging skin lesions  ... Developed by Mela Sciences (formerly Electro-Optical Sciences, Irvington, NY;  $2.7M SBIR in the 1990s) ... is polarizing the field of skin-cancer detection ...  “Until now, you trusted the doctor to make the decision,” Dr.  Tsao said. “Now you’ve got a three-way interaction. It’s a brand new paradigm.”  [Natasha Singer, New York Times, Jul 20, 13]  Doctor v. artificial intelligence.

MELA Sciences up 11% [Jan 11, 12]

MELA Sciences up 12% [Dec 21, 11]

MELA Sciences  down 12% [Dec 16, 11]

MELA Sciences  up 14% [Nov 7, 11]

MELA Sciences down 13% [Nov 4, 11]

[FDA] approved a first-of-its-kind [Mela Sciences]  device, called MelaFind, that makes detailed, digital images of and uses a computer to analyze them for signs of cancer, offering a sort of second opinion to doctors. ...  underwent a contentious, years-long review by the Food and Drug Administration, which initially rejected the device and concluded it could "potentially cause more harm than good."Regulators worried that the device could give physicians a false sense of certainty, ...  company plans a limited rollout next year of just 200 dermatologists on the East coast, all of whom must undergo company training before they can begin using the device. Doctors will pay a one-time fee of $7,500 to lease and receive training on the device. Patients will pay $150 out of pocket ...  originally developed the technology to guide military weapons systems. But the company changed course in the mid-90s after consulting with dermatologists, adapting its technology for melanoma detection[Matthew Perrone, AP, Nov 2,11]

Mela Sciences up 28% [Oct 4, 11]

the [FDA] reversed its earlier decision and said the MelaFind device was "approvable," pending some final negotiations.  in a letter it sent to Mela Sciences. ....  A special camera captures an image of a lesion, and a computer then analyzes it using an algorithm developed on thousands of patients. [Thomas Burton, , Wall Street Journal, Sep 24, 11]

MELA Sciences up 15% [Sep 16, 11]

Mela Sciences up 56% [Sep 7, 11]

Mela Sciences up 20% [Mar 2, 11]

Mela Sciences says the FDA recently raised new concerns about the patients included in a trial for its early-stage melanoma-detection device, even though the agency had signed an agreement on the trial's design. "FDA is telling the market that the rules can change for any reason and at any time," says Mela Chief Executive Joseph Gulfo. The FDA says the trial wasn't conducted according to the terms of the protocol and didn't provide data needed to assess the device's accuracy, points that the company disputes. [Jonathan Rockoff, Wall Street Journal, Feb 18, 11]

MELA Sciences  doubled [Nov 19, 10]

More Harm than Good.  The FDA advisory panel convening Thursday to assess MELA Sciences skin cancer detection device will be a disaster for the company and its dwindling number of shareholders. ...  because the FDA has already made it very clear that the noninvasive computerized imaging device, as studied, doesn't work and may actually harm patients ...  MELA shares fell more than 50% Tuesday but were up 2% Wednesday to $3 as analysts who have long backed company tried to reassure investors that MELAFind still had a chance for a positive vote Thursday.  [Adam Feuerstein, thestreet.com, Nov 17]

MELA Sciences  up 14% [Nov 15, 10]

MELA Sciences  down 13% [Nov 11, 10]

MELA Sciences down 11% [Nov 1, 10]

MELA Sciences up 10% [Aug 20, 10]

MELA Sciences  down 10% [Jun 30, 10]

MELA Sciences (formerly Electro-Optical Sciences) up 15% [Jun 21, 10]  said the FDA's General and Plastic Surgery Devices Panel will review its MelaFind device, aimed at detecting melanoma, on Aug. 26  [AP, May 26, 10]

Melior Discovery

Melior Discovery (founded 2005) said it has completed the formation of its second therapeutic area-focused pharmaceutical company.  The company, Melior Pharmaceuticals II (Exton, PA; no SBIR) will focus on developing a new therapy for Parkinson’s disease. ... previously established Melior Pharmaceuticals I, to developing a new candidate for type 2 diabetes. The product, MLR-1023, is in midstage clinical testing.  [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, May 10, 16]

Membrion (Seattle, WA)

Membrion (Seattle, WA; $2.8M SBIR) added $5.5 million to its Series B round, bringing the total to $12.5 million. [Rick Morgan, Seattle Inno, Aug 10, 2023]

Memjet

HP will be forced to pay attention, says Steve Hoffenberg, director of consumer imaging research for Lyra Research, which monitors the digital imaging industry.  "What Memjet is offering blows away anything else out there," Hoffenberg said. [Ken Dey, Seattle Times, May 21]  No SBIR, market-driven innovators don't need SBIR and its robotic procedures. SBIR is for firms and technologies where time does not matter.  CEO Bill McGlynn spent twenty years in HP's printing world.

Memry (Bethel, CT)

Memry (Bethel, CT; $1.7M SBIR as Memry Techmologies 20 years ago) that produces medical implants and surgical instruments from super alloys (mainly Nitinol), recently completed a major expansion that increased its capacity by a third.  ... The $8 million project was funded in part by a $2.7 million incentive package from the state Department of Economic and Community Development, which was announced in 2014. Up to $1.3 million of the loan is forgivable if the company retains its 153 employees while adding another 76 workers to its ranks by November 2017.   ....  was listed on the American Stock Exchange until 2008, when it was acquired by SAES Getters Group (Milan, Italy), for $78.4 million in cash.  [DIRK PERREFORT, The News-Times (Danbury) via Associated Press, Sep 21, 15]

Memry (Bethel, CT; $1.6M SBIR) up 65% reports it will be acquired by Italian firm SAES Getters SpA, Italian Group in a deal worth about $77.7 million. [Mass High Tech, Jun 24]

Memsic (Andover, MA)

Memsic (Andover, MA; no SBIR, IPO 2007) maker of micro-electromechanical (MEMS) devices, has acquired certain assets of smart sensor developer Crossbow Technology (San Jose, CA; no SBIR) for $18 million in cash.  [Mass High Tech, Jan 22, 10]

Memsic (Andover, MA; no SBIR) raised $60M by IPO. Its website says it designs, manufactures and markets CMOS Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) IC products that have on-chip mixed signal processing. One director, Paul Zavracky, was once COO of Kopin. The founder CEO Yang Zhao is also Vice Chairman of the Board of Beijing University, School of Engineering. It has a wholly owned subsidiary, MEMSIC Semiconductor (Wuxi), LTD., in Wuxi, China to effectively manage the product quality, engineering, manufacturing yield, as well as the critical relationship with our foundries. 

MEMS Optical (Huntsville, AL)

SBIR company advertises price competition. Unlike almost all advertisers in journals like Laser Focus World who tout technology gee-whiz. MEMS Optical a walled-off subsidiary of SY Technology (Huntsville, AL) advertises 50 assorted diffusers and splitters for under $5 each.

Mirror, Mirror On the Wall (Apr 10), Who Is the Fairest One of All? Whoever has adaptive optics. Snow White's author knew only fixed mirrors. Rodney Clark could have prevented the witch's desperation by at least making the answer relative. Clark's Photonics Spectra (Apr 97) article waves a wand for his company MEMS Optical (Huntsville, AL) specialty: rubber mirrors. MEMS Optical is a recent spinoff from a Huntsville defense contractor SY Technology that got a BMDO SBIR for the rubber mirror and decided that the opticians would do better at commercializing if they had a separate home. Clark credits BMDO with a nudge in that direction at a Business Focus Workshop for new Phase 1 winners. The judgment seemed confirmed when Clark partnered with Coherent at the big Photonics West show in San Jose.

Mendel Health (San Jose, CA)

A San Jose startup that's using AI to pore through rapidly mounting research on COVID-19 said it uncovered a surprise that prompted it to fast forward the unveiling of its work. Mendel Health (no SBIR), DBA Mendel.ai, found papers from 2006 and 2020 that showed that Diltiazem, a drug used for hypertension, could be effective in halting replication of the virus. "We contacted Pfizer, which makes the drug, and they said they weren't [aware]," Dr. Karim Galil, CEO of Mendel [said]. [Cromwell Schubarth, SV Business Journal, Apr 2, 20]

Menogenix (Aurora, CO)

A smart drug delivery system and an all-electric, self-driving lawnmower company were among 37 startups that received funding as part of the latest Colorado Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant Program. A total of $7,657,811 was approved for Proof-of-Concept and Early Stage Capital and Retention Grants to fuel the growth of Colorado’s advanced industries, which include things like advanced manufacturing, aerospace, bioscience and electronics. [Nick Greenhalgh, Colorado Inno November 30, 2020] included Agile RF Systems (Bertoud, CO; $3.2M SBIR, $250K; ClearSight (Aurora, CO; $1.8M SBIR, $250K; Menogenix (Aurora, CO; $900K SBIR, $108K

MER (Tucson, AZ)

Last year The Red Herring (June 15, 01) reported that MER (Tucson, AZ) owned a third of a enterprise to mass produce fullerienes and that they were cutting prices fast. (if the government won't put in SBIR money, you need some market move like price cutting to move product.) MER says the big customer is Toyota. MER has had about $1.2M of DOD SBIR for fullerene, all but one in Phase 1 contracts. The one Phase 2 was in the mid-90s.

Mercury Computer Systems (Chelmsford, MA)

Mercury Computer Systems(Chelmsford, MA; no SBIR, market cap $400M) will pay $70 million to acquire a pair of companies that make electronic warfare and intelligence-gathering systems. Mercury is buying KOR Electronics (Cypress, CA; $6.8M SBIR mostly USAF) which makes digital radio and radar test gear, as well as Paragon Dynamics (Aurora, CO; no SBIR), which provides intelligence analysis and exploitation services.  [Hiawatha Bray, Boston Globe, Dec 23, 11]

Merganser Biotech (Newtown Square, PA

Merganser Biotech (King of Prussia, PA; no SBIR) secured a U.S. patent for its lead drug candidate, which it describes as a "potentially transformative therapy" for a number of rare hematologist and iron overload diseases. .... experimental therapy, M012, is classified as a hepcidin mimetic peptide. Hepcidin is the master regulator of iron absorption, storage and distribution in the human body. The therapy is designed to control the production of red blood cells, a process known as erythropoiesis. ....  last year raised $28 million in its initial round of venture capital financing.  [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, May 10, 16]

Merganser Biotech (Newtown Square, PA; no SBIR) a venture-backed, clinical-stage company announced that dosing has been initiated in the first clinical trial of M012, the company’s lead development compound. M012 is being developed as a potentially transformative therapy for rare hematological and iron overload diseases, including beta thalassemia and certain subtypes of myelodysplasia (MDS). ....  raised $28 million in a Series A [company press releases, Feb 24 and 19, 16]

Merganser Biotech (Newtown Square, PA; no SBIR) announced today that the company has raised $28 million in a Series A financing round. ...  to develop hepcidin mimetic peptides as therapeutics for the treatment of rare hematological and iron overload diseases. ...  In 2013 the company obtained an exclusive worldwide license to patent rights for this technology from the Regents of the University of California.   [Business Wire, Feb 19, 15]

BioAdvance, operator of the Biotechnology Greenhouse Corp. of Southeastern Pennsylvania, said it made commitments of $2.4 million to seven new life science companies:  RMH Sciences  (Philadelphia, PA; no SBIR) which is developing antibacterial agents for the treatment of resistant gram negative and gram positive infections; Ossianix  (no SBIR), which is developing single domain antibodies based on the shark VNAR structure to treat immunological, inflammatory, musculoskeletal, neurologic, and other disorders; Merganser Biotech (Newtown Square, PA; no SBIR) which is developing hepcidin peptides for the treatment of hemoglobinopathies such as sickle cell anemia and diseases of iron overload; Anakim Biologics (Exton, PA; no SBIR) which is developing efficiencies and improvements in biologics manufacturing; Enzium (Philadelphia, PA; no SBIR) which is developing highly sensitive biosensor methodologies for the testing of proteases and other enzymes; Imiplex (Newtown, PA; two SBIRs) which is developing the TriPol platform, engineered from proteins, designed to provide a flexible system for constructing diverse nanostructures; Cool-Bio (Wayne, PA; no SBIR) which is developing platelet-inhibiting technology geared specifically to activation during the cooling process of cardiac bypass.  [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, Jun 20, 12]

MeriaGTx (New York, NY)

MeriaGTx (New York, NY; no SBIR) filed for an IPO to continue early-stage clinical testing of its gene therapies for rare eye diseases. [Alex Lash, xconomy.com, May 18, 18]

Merkatum

The Texas Emerging Technology Fund is pumping more money into Central Texas technology startups.  Six more Austin companies have won grants totaling $5.3 million.  Among the six new grant winners is year-old NanoMedical Systems (no SBIR) which will use its $3.5 million to develop a tiny implantable capsule that delivers drugs a few molecules at a time, with the dosage controlled precisely for each patient. The company is completing a prototype using $4 million from a private investor, said co-founder and chief executive Randy Goodall. The grant will help fund it through the complex and time-consuming process of seeking Food and Drug Administration approval, Goodall said. ...... Farodox Energy Storage  (no SBIR), which has developed a new fabrication process for high-performance electrical capacitors, $250,000; ...  Ironbridge Technologies (no SBIR), which is developing self-heating food packaging technology, $250,000;  ... Merkatum (no SBIR), which is developing fingerprint and facial recognition identity technologies, $250,000;   .....  Stellarray (no SBIR), which is commercializing flat-panel radiation source technology, $750,000; ...  Sunrise Ridge Algae (no SBIR), which is commercializing technology to turn algae into a renewable energy source. [Lori Hawkins, Austin  American-Statesman, Nov 17, 08]

Merge Technologies (Milwaukee, WI)

Merge Technologies's (Milwaukee, WI; no SBIR) woes have reached the point where the company is letting go workers in India hired to replace workers let go in West Allis and elsewhere in North America. The company (dba Merge Healthcare} , which develops software for medical imaging, said Thursday it plans to eliminate 160 jobs, including those of 115 people in Pune, a city in west-central India. [Guy Boulton, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Feb 15,08]

Meridian Bioscience   (Cincinnati, OH)

Meridian Bioscience (Cincinnati, OH; $600K SBIR) down 23% [Jul 13, 21] provided preliminary revenue results for its third quarter

Meridian Bioscience (formerly Meridian Diagnostics and Meridian Life Science, Cincinnati, OH; $3M SBIR, founded 1998) up 16% [Nov 8, 18] reported quarterly results

Meridian Bioscience (Cincinnati, OH; one SBIR, market cap $690M) down 22% [Jan 25, 17] reported quarterly profit down 29% and cut dividend [company press release, Jan 25, 17]

medical diagnostic testing company Meridian Bioscience  (Newtown, OH; one SBIR)’s stock plunged 9 percent in the past week through Monday after its fiscal second-quarter earnings fell short of expectations.  [Steve Watkins, Cincinnati Business Courier, Apr 29, 14]

Meridian Science up 10% [Oct 4, 11]

Meridian Bioscience down 17% [Jul 20, 11]

Forbes's 2009 list of best 200 small companies includes Aerovironment, American Science and Engineering (paying a dividend and with nearly $600M market cap), Argon ST, Hittite Microwave, II-IV, Meridian Bioscience, Neogen, NVE, and Synaptics.

Meridian BioScience  down 15% [Apr 27, 09]

Meridian BioScience  down 11% [Apr 16, 09]  after the Cincinnati maker of medical diagnostic kits reported fiscal second-quarter earnings below analysts' estimates and cut its 2009 earnings and revenue guidance. [Wall Street Journal, Apr 17]

Meridian Bioscience down 10% [Oct 15, 08]

Meridian Bioscience up 10% [Oct 13, 08]

Meridian Bioscience down 16% [Jul 17, 08] on a hint of softer sales.

Meridian Bioscience (Newton, OH; one SBIR) isonce again one of the nation's fastest-growing small public companies, according to Fortune Small Business magazine.  The Newtown-based maker of diagnostic test kits and biotechnology products was No. 65 on the list this year. The companies were ranked based on percentage growth in earnings, revenue and stock performance over the past three years, according to a news release.  [Business Courier of Cincinnati, Jun 27, 08]

Meridian Bioscience (Cincinnati, OH; one SBIR) down 19%, after posting fiscal-second-quarter net income and sales that were less than Wall Street's guidance. [Wall Street Journal, Apr 18]

Meryx (Chapel Hill,NC)

Meryx (Chapel Hill, N.C.; no SBIR, sevem employees), a UNC-Chapel Hill spinout with backing from Fred Eshelman, raised another $2.5 million to continue development of experimental cancer treatments.  ... founded to target leukemia treatments, but have since expanded their targets to a broader range of cancers – leukemia included.   [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Jul 2, 15]

Meryx (Chapel Hill, NC; no SBIR) a UNC-Chapel Hill spinout developing a treatment for leukemia, has raised $1.5 million.  ...  Affiliated with the company is Fred Eshelman, the UNC graduate and millionaire founder of pharmaceutical research organization PPD and drug developer Furiex (Morrisville, NC; no SBIR), both of which have been sold at a hefty profit. The Eshelman School of Pharmacy bears his name and he recently committed $100 million to advance drug discovery at the university.  ...  Earlier in 2014, Meryx raised $3.1 million  [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Jan 1, 15]

Mesa Phiotonics

The rest of DOE,'s Phase II list also shows a preference for SBIR experience: Euclid Labs (Solon, OH; $18M SBIR since 2004, all DOE including one $10M award), four new Phase IIs;  Radiabeam Technologies (Santa Monica, CA, $10M SBIR since 2005  SBIR) three awards; Tech-x (Boulder, CO; something over $50M SBIR since 1994) three new awards Muons (Batavia, IL;  $13M since 2002 SBIR, all DOE) three awards; Far-Tech (San Diego, CA;$9+M SBIR since 2003) two awards; Ridgetop Group (Tucson, AZ; $10M SBIR since 2002) two awards;  Calabazas Creek Research (San Mateo, CA; $26M since 1994) two awards; Niowave (Lansing, MI;  $5M since 2007 SBIR) two awards;  Mesa Photonics  (Santa Fe, NM;  $0.8M since 2008 SBIR) two awards; Green Mountain Radio Research (Colchester, VT;  $5.7M SBIR)  two awards.  Of 104 awards, 33 went to multiple winners who already had collected $378M SBIR from the federal government.  Is DOE over-emphasizing contractor competence at the expense of companies and technologies with brighter futures?  No one knows because Congress shows little interest in the question, and the agency has a bias toward making itself smarter.  

Mesocopic Devices (Broomfield, CO)

Protonex Technology (Southborough, MA; $1M SBIR) which makes high-performance proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells will pay $12M for Mesoscopic Devices (Broomfield, CO; $5M+ SBIR) which makes a range of fuel cells.

Metabolex

Gout drug developer CymaBay Therapeutics (Hayward, CA; no SBIR, 12 employees) lined up $5 million in venture debt   ... The fundraising by the former Metabolex  comes on the heels of CymaBay selling more than 6 million shares of common stock and warrants to buy another 1.2 million shares that the company said raised more than $33 million in September and October.  [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, Dec 11, 13]

Metabiota (San Francisco, CA)

Health analytics startup Metabiota (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR, founded 2008) raised $30 million in Series A funding to build out its modeling system aimed at predicting and preventing disease outbreaks. [Gina Hall, Silicon Valley Business Journal, May 21, 15]  It's more technically challenging (if done well) than mere software because disease spreading mechanisms have a lot of unk-unks.

Metabolic Solutions Development (Kalamzoo, MI)

Metabolic Solutions Development (Kalamzoo, MI; $300K SBIR) a developer of drugs to treat Type 2 diabetes, raised another $6.8 million in equity-based financing, according to [SEC filing] [Sarah Schmid, xconomy.com, Aug 15, 11]

Metabolix

Metabolix up 22% [Oct 20,15]

Metabolix down 11% [Oct 16,15]

Metabolix up 30% [Oct 12,15]

Metabolix down 12% [Aug 21, 15]

Metabolix down 11% [Aug 11, 15]

Metabolix up 12% [Jun 23, 15]

Metabolix up 18% [Jun 16, 15]

Metabolix down 13% [Jun 11, 15]

Metabolix down 15% [Jun 10, 15]

Metabolix, a developer of plastics and chemicals technologies, saw its shares nearly double today after announcing a partnership with Honeywell to replace the "microbeads" found in some cosmetics and skin care products with a more environmentally-friendly alternative.  ...  Metabolix has been fairly quient since a previous partnership with Archer Daniels Midland Co. ended in 2012, causing the company's shares to plunge.  [Don Seiffert, Boston Business Journal, Mar 3, 15]

Metabolix said it has entered into a distribution agreement with Tianjin GreenBio Materials Co. Ltd., a biomaterials company based in China. ....  Metabolix said it will distribute GreenBio’s SoGreen heat shrink film in Europe, and it will also be the exclusive distributor in the Americas  [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Mar 29, 13]

Metabolix announced the opening of its first office in Europe. [Boston Globe, Apr 18, 12]

Metabolix down 58% [Jan 13, 12] after the company announced that Archer Daniels Midland decided to end the two firm’s biodegradable plastics joint venture [Theresa Rivas, Barron's, Jan 13]

Metabolix  down 11% [Dec 8, 11]

Metabolix  up 19% [Nov 30, 11]

Metabolix down 12% [Nov 11, 11]

Metabolix up 13% [Nov 10, 11]

Metabolix up 10% [Oct 18, 11]

Metabolix up 12% [Oct 12, 11]

Metabolix up 18% [Oct 4, 11]

Metabolix  down 19% [Oct 3, 11]

Metabolix up 15% [Jul 28, 11]

Metabolix up 10% [May 20, 11]

Metabolix priced a public offering of common stock that could bring the company about $45 million in gross proceeds [Mass High Tech, May 19, 11]

Metabolix will receive a $6 million federal grant for a research and development project on producing bio-based products and fuels from switchgrass. [Mass High Tech, May 6, 11]

Metabolix down 10% [Jan 4, 11]

Metabolix  down 20% [Nov 9, 10]

Metabolix  up 13% [Sep 30, 10]

Metabolix  down 13% [Jul 29, 10]

Metabolix has set up a $300m facility in Iowa with Archer Daniels Midland, an agribusiness giant.  .... Industrial biotech seems to have been relatively unscathed by the financial crisis. ...  Another reason industrial biotech is taking off, after several false starts, is that the technologies involved are now mature enough to be scaled up from laboratory curiosities to full commercialisation.   [The Economist, Jul 3]

Metabolix down 11% [Jun 4, 10]

Metabolix up 28% [May 12, 10]

Metabolix up 11% [Apr 22, 10]

Metabolix up 14% [Mar 11, 10]

Metabolix up 11% [Dec 14, 09]

Metabolix has announced a public offering that could bring in about $27 million for the company. Expected to close Nov. 16 [Mass High Tech, Nov 12, 09]

Metabolix down 16% [Oct 30, 09]

Metabolix up 11% [Oct 29, 09]

Metabolix has been awarded a $350,000 grant for research into how to make biobased and biodegradable resins suitable for the plastic beverage bottles and other containers. [Mass High Tech, Oct 8, 09]

Metabolix  up 13% [Aug 3, 09]

Metabolix up 15% [Jul 23, 09]

Metabolix up 14% [Jun 25, 09]

Metabolix  up 10% [Apr 29, 09]

Metabolix  down 10% [Apr 20, 09]

Metabolix up 13% [Mar 17, 09]

Metabolix down 12% [Mar 16, 09]

Metabolix up 17% [Mar 10, 09]

Metabolix  down 13% [Mar 9, 09]

Metabolix down 12% [Feb 9, 09]

Metabolix down 14% [Jan 20, 09]

Metabolix down 10% [Jan 9, 09]

Metabolix up 16% [Dec 23, 08]

Metabolix up 10% [Dec 17, 08]

Metabolix up 14% [Dec 16, 08]

Metabolix up 10% [Dec 12, 08]

Metabolix up 15% [Dec 8, 08]

Metabolix up 14% [Dec 3, 08]

Metabolix  down 14% [Dec 1, 08] On a stock bloodbath day

Metabolix up 15% [Nov 13, 08]

Metabolix down 15% [Nov 12, 08]

Metabolix up 11% [Oct 30, 08]

Metabolix up 10% [Oct 28, 08]

Metabolix down 15% [Oct 24, 08]

Metabolix  up 10% [Oct 13, 08]

Metabolix  up 24% [Oct 10, 08]

Metabolix down 12% [Oct 9, 08]

Metabolix down 12% [Oct 7, 08]

Metabolix down 11% [Oct 6, 08]

Metabolix down 10% [Sep 29, 08]

Metabolix up 16% [Sep 19, 08]

Metabolix up 12% [Sep 18, 08]

Metabolix down 10% [Jul 25, 08]

Metabolix up 11% [Jul 10, 08]

Metabolix up 18% [Jul 8, 08]

Metabolix down 11% [Jul 7, 08]

Bioplastics. Metabolix has harnessed the complex genetics of plant-cell metabolism and collected hundreds of patents on a process for manufacturing "bioplastics" in large vats of microbes. A $200 M factory is under construction and could start producing Metabolix's bioplastic, called Mirel, early next year. .... while rival bioplastics must be incinerated or composted at high temperatures, Mirel will decompose if it is simply tossed in a home compost heap or dumped at sea   [Mara Del Hovanesian, Business Week, Jun 30] Unfortunately, it now relies on food crops such as corn for which it must compete with a lot of other organic dreamers. Of course, he's trying to  bioengineer switchgrass and other plants to produce the plastic in their leaves. If he can pull it off, Metabolix could grow bioplastics without corn. But that's the same purely wishful If that Washington politicians keep mouthing for the magic of ethanol.

Metabolix  up 15%  [Jun 5, 08]

Metabolix down 18% [Mar 17, 08]

Metabolix down 13% [Mar 10, 08]

Metabolix up 14% [Feb 13, 08]

Metabolix initiated a program to develop an advanced industrial oilseed crop to produce bioplastics.[Boston Globe, Feb 8, 08]

Metabolix down 10% [Jan 4, 08]

Metabolix up 21% after announcing another way to use corn as its joint venture with Archer Daniels Midland released the findings of an independent life cycle assessment (LCA) for Mirel(TM) bioplastic resin. ... production of Mirel reduces the use of nonrenewable energy by more than 95% and provides a 200% reduction in greenhouse gases (GHG) compared to production of conventional petroleum-based plastics. [press release Oct 12, 07] Another log on the fire under food prices. It also biodegrades in a wide range of environments: soil, home compost, industrial compost and both fresh and salt water. 

Metabolix got a $2M ATP award to develop a commercially viable process for producing bio-based chemicals from renewable agricultural products, rather than the typical from fossil hydrocarbons such as oil or coal. [Mass High Tech, Sep 28]

Metabolix Up12% [Aug 7, 07]

Metabolix up 10%  after the company said discount chain Target is using its Mirel biobased plastic in gift cards.  [Aug 6, 07]

genetically engineered bacteria that consume corn sugar and produce a polyester that can be used to make biodegradable plastics, including the types used in shopping bags. ... almost ready for use on the commercial scale. In a joint venture with ­Metabolix of Cambridge, MA, which makes the microbes, Archer Daniels Midland is building a plant adjacent to its corn mill in Clinton, IA, that will use them to generate 110 million pounds of PHA annually. [Peter Fairley, MIT Tech Review, J/A07]

Metabolix, a little-known company that uses bioengineered microorganisms to ferment sugar in the making of biodegradable plastic and chemicals, streaked from 17 on Apr. 20, to 24.92 on Apr. 25. ... On Apr. 23, Archer Daniels Midland, which owns about 6%, announced a joint venture with Metabolix to produce high-performance, all-natural plastics. "It is the only bioplastic that can be biodegraded at sea, soil, or sewer without industrial composting or incineration," says [Pamela] Bassett [of Cantor Fitzgerald]. [Gene Marcial, Business Week, May 7]

Metabolix up 11% after naming new CEO. [May 4, 07]

Recent IPO Metabolix up 14%. [Nov 16, 06]

Metabolix, which had six Phase 1 SBIRs in the mid-1990s, will get $95M from its IPO. Its forte is developing and commercializing Natural Plastic as an alternative to petroleum-based plastics. In addition, the company is working on platform technology for producing with nonfood plant crops such as switchgrass its Natural Plastic and biomass for biofuels such as ethanol and for chemical products. [Mass High-Tech, Nov 10]  Closed first day trading up 10%

Metabolon (Durham, NC)

Metabolon (Morrisville NC; $200K SBIR) announced that it has closed on $25 million of additional equity funding. The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, helping Metabolon further accelerate commercialization activities and continue advancing its well-defined R&D roadmap. [company press release, Jan 24, 2023]

Metabolon  (RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C; $250K SBIR, founded Y2K), the global leader in metabolomics, announced the acquisition of Metabolomic Discoveries GmbH (Germany), a leading metabolomics services and diagnostics company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. [company press release, Sep 5, 17]

Metabolon (Research Triangle Park, NC; $250K SBIR), the global leader in metabolomics, announced it raised $15 million from new investor ....  will use the proceeds to further develop and commercialize its pipeline of precision medicine products employing its proprietary metabolomics technology.   [company press release, Aug 11, 16]

Metabolon  (Research Triangle Park, NC; $250K SBIR) the global leader in metabolomics, announced that it has entered into an agreement with Johns Hopkins University and Tufts Medical Center to develop accuGFR™ as an improved diagnostic test for determining glomerular filtration rate (GFR) to aid in diagnosing chronic kidney disease (CKD). Experts at the three organizations will work together with the goal to produce accuGFR as a more accurate and precise test for the assessment of kidney function. The test will require only a single, fasted blood draw, making it easier for doctors to provide better care for their patients and give patients more confidence in their level of kidney function. ....  Today, 10 percent of the worldwide population has some form of CKD, and millions die each year from its complications.   [company press release, Jun 2, 16]

Metabolon (Durham, NC; two SBIRs) that helps test medicines and other products for pharmaceutical companies, universities and other customers has raised $13.1 million in venture financing. ...  will use the money to hire additional workers and to expand its business. The company is developing its own tests, including one to detect insulin resistance, which can lead to type 2 diabetes. Founded in 2000, Metabolon expects 2011 revenue to rise to about $20 million. [Raleigh News & Observer, Aug 30, 11]

Companies to Watch in personalized medicine. Affymetrix,Life Tech, Illumina, Helicos Biosciences, Metabolon.  Among the fifty most innovative:  A123 Systems, American Superconductor, Alnylam, Illumina, iRobot, Novomer, BIND Biosciences.  [MIT Tech Review, M/A10]

Metabolon closed on $6 million in equity financing, ending its series C round ....  developing technology that identifies biochemical reactions called biomarkers in the field of metabolomics.  [Triangle Business Journal, Oct 27, 09]

Metabolon has raised another $1 million in equity financing toward an $11 million fundraising target, according to documents filed with the SEC  [Triangle Business Journal, Jul 3, 09]

Biotechnology company Metabolon (Durham, NC; $400K SBIR) plans to use a new round of funding to complete the development of its first product.  ... announced that it recently raised $5.3 million. In addition, it expects to bring in $5.7 million more before closing the books on this round of funding within 90 days. ...   expects to have its first product -- a diagnostic tool for prostate cancer -- on the market within 12 months, CEO John Ryals said.  ... has raised $25.3 million in venture capital to date. [David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, May 9, 09]

Now, instead of seeking government grants, Metabolon gives grants of its own, in Apr 09 it announced the launch of the Metabolomics Research Grant program. one of the first Metabolon grant recipients, Bhanu Chandra Mulukutla, with the University of Minnesota  [company website]  How many DOD and NASA SBIR companies with over, say, $25M of SBIR would have accumulated enough capital to give grants?

Metabolon (Durham, NC; $250K SBIR) is a step closer to bringing to market a test that identifies how aggressive a prostate cancer is, which would help doctors decide how to treat the disease.  ]Raleigh News & Observer, Feb 25, 09]

MetaCarta (Cambridge, MA)

The world's leading cell phone company is buying a small CIA-funded company. Nokia of Finland will acquire MetaCarta (Cambridge, MA; one SBIR) for an undisclosed amount. .... makes software that can analyze and map the geographical information embedded in text files, such as newspaper articles and government documents.  ...founded in 2001 by John Frank, a graduate student at [MIT]. The company received some of its early funding from In-Q-Tel, a venture capital arm of the US Central Intelligence Agency.  [Mass High Tech, Apr 9, 10]  Stand by for politics of nationalism.

Metacrine (San Diego, CA)

Metacrine (San Diego, CA: no SBIR, founded 2015), focused on drug development, announced it has closed a $22M Series B financing ... has raised approximately $60M since it began operations in early 2015 .... First-in-human studies of MET409 are planned to be initiated in the first half of 2018 and completed by year end [company press release, Dec 7, 17]

Metacrine (San Diego, CA; no SBIR, founded 2014, 14 employees) biotech said it raised $36 million [VC].  ... working on drugs for diabetes, liver disorders and other metabolic diseases.... founded by a team including two well-known figures in San Diego biotech: investor/entrepreneur Richard Heyman and Salk Institute researcher Ron Evans. ... Evans has founded many companies, including Ligand Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA; one SBIR) He's noted for the discovery of nuclear hormone receptors, molecules that respond to steroid hormones, Vitamin A and thyroid hormones. His lab also discovered that a modified form of vitamin D appears to inhibit pancreatic cancer.  ...  Heyman is most noted for two enormous financial successes. He was behind Aragon Pharmaceuticals (no SBIR), sold in 2013 for up to $1 billion, including $650 million cash upfront, to Johnson & Johnson. From assets of Aragon that he didn't sell, Heyman founded Seragon Pharmaceuticals (no SBIR), sold in 2014 to Roche subsidiary Genentech for up to $1.7 billion, including $725 million upfront in cash.  [Bradley Fikes, utsandiego.com, Aug 5, 15]

Metactive Medical (Olathe, KS)

Metactive Medical (Olathe, KS; no SBIR, founded 2011) developing innovative products for the treatment of neurovascular, peripheral vascular and structural heart diseases, announced an additional $1.2 million in Series A financing, bringing the total funding raised to date more than $10 million.  [company press release, Mar 8, 18] total funding $6M [crunchbase.com]

Metal Oxygen Separation Technologies (Natick, MA)

Metal Oxygen Separation Technologies (Natick, MA; one SBIR) working on cheap, environmentally-friendly ways of producing lightweight metals to be used in cars, has raised $2.5 million from 12 investors.  .... co-founded in 2008 and developed a technology it calls MagGen1000 to make magnesium metal from magnesium oxide, which is readily-available.   [Don Seiffert, Mass High Tech, Sep 12, 12]

Metal Oxygen Separation Technologies (Natick, MA; one SBIR, founded 2008) working to produce a light magnesium metal that can be used to replace heavier metals in automobiles. If the project succeeds, an improvement of 1.5 miles per gallon to 2 mpg will be achievable in vehicles through the company’s technology, he said. ...  has received $1.1 million in DOE grants this year  [Kyle Alspach, Mass High Tech, May 13, 10]

Metamark Genetics (Cambridge, MA)

Metamark Genetics(Cambridge, MA; no SBIR, founded 2007) and Janssen Biotech (Horsham, PA; no SBIR), a  therapeutics developer, have formed a research, collaboration and licensing deal that could bring [Metamark] molecular diagnostics company up to $365 million in milestone payments. [Michelle Lang, Mass High Tech, Dec 20, 11]

Metamark Genetics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR, founded 2007), a molecular diagnostics firm, has taken in a $22 million Series B round of financing, which it intends to direct toward research, development and clinical testing, as well as its commercial establishment.  [Michelle Lang, Mass High Tech, Jul 14, 10]

MetaModix (Plymouth, MN)

MetaModix (Plymouth, MN; no SBIR) raised $1.2 million in new equity financing. ... developing a device to treat obesity in diabetes…the funds are going to be used primarily for clinical trials,” Kedar Belhe, MetaModix founder and CEO, told TCB.   The company says that its product offers a “drug-free, nonsurgical device therapy” to treat obesity related to Type 2 Diabetes   [Burl Gilyard, Twin Cities Business, Mar 29, 17]

med-tech startup Metamodix (Plymouth MN; no SBIR, founded 2009) developing an intestinal liner to treat diabetes raised $1.75 million to start its first human clinical trials. [Katharine Grayson, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, Jul 3, 15] developing a drug-free, nonsurgical therapy with the goal of eliminating symptoms and reducing weight in obese and overweight sufferers of Type 2 Diabetes – more than 10 million patients in the United States alone  [company website]

Metamodix  (Plymouth, MN; no SBIR, founded 2009) med-tech startup developing an intestinal liner to treat diabetes has raised $1.75 million to start its first human clinical trials. ... [in] the most recent round of financing, the company raised a total of $ 2.86 million from angel investors, [said] CEO Kedar Belhe formerly at St. Jude Medical ’s atrial fibrillation and cardiovascular divisions before starting Metamodix. ...  aims to treat type 2 diabetes by reducing how much food is absorbed into the small intestine.    [Katharine Grayson, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, Jun 26, 15]

tart-up MetaModix (Plymouth, MN; no SBIR) raised about $1 million earlier in 2012, and its investors got about $254,000 in [state angel tax] credits. ...  [CEO] Belhe needs to raise more money, as MetaModix is developing a device to treat metabolic disease and Type II diabetes that's still in the preclinical stage. He has a long and expensive way to go before obtaining regulatory clearance to sell his device.  Belhe said that "our financial needs are such that we really can't wait until next year." So he is planning to broaden his fundraising targets from just individuals to include small institutional investors. [Lee Shafer, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jul 21, 12] The story is that Minnesota's limit for the angel tax credits is about to reach its annual limit, and is such a limit a good idea. Like most states, Minnesota cannot tell whether its subsidy programs deliver what they say they promise because accounting for ROI is too long term and too fuzzy, and legislators have too short a time horizon to manage a long term program like tech investment. The US Congress handles that problem by giving up on SBIR evaluation and focusing on the politics of small biz.

MetaVC Partners (San Francisco, CA)

San Francisco-based MetaVC Partners is raising $100 million for its first fund, and has already received capital from Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft Corp. and an anchor investor in the fund, and Nathan Myhrvold, formerly chief technology officer at Microsoft who runs intellectual-property firm Intellectual Ventures. .... to invest in startups commercializing metamaterials, a budding area of materials science that could improve the performance and reduce the size and weight of devices such as lenses and sensors ... Messrs. Alliegro and Burke estimate that about $1 billion has been invested in metamaterials startups to date. [Yuliya Chernova, Wall Street Journal, Jun 3, 21] An innovation enterprise unlikely to get bogged down in predictable incremental improvements for the mission of a government agency.

Metavention (Eden Prairie, MN)

Metavention (Eden Prairie, MN; no SBIR, founded 2012) announced the closure of its [$65M] Series C financing [to] optimize its novel transcatheter based Metabolic Neuromodulation Therapy (MNT) for glucose control in patients with Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and commence preparations for a Phase 2 study in the United States. [company press release, Jan 8, 18]

Metavention (Eden Prairie, MN; no SBIR, founded 2012) announced the completion of $65 million in Series C financing [to] optimize its novel transcatheter based Metabolic Neuromodulation Therapy (MNT) for glucose control in patients with Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and commence preparations for a Phase 2 study in the United States. [company press release, Jan 8, 18]

Metompkin Seafood (Crisfield, MD)

Fifteen university research teams from Maryland will receive a total of $4.1 million to work with local companies to turn their research into products that could one day be sold on the commercial market.  .... MIPS will contribute $1.8 million and private companies will contribute $2.8 million. The companies:  A&G Pharmaceutical (Columbia, MD; no SBIR),  Rehabtics LLC (Baltimore, MD; no SBIR)  High Impact Environmental (Church Hill, MD; no SBIR),  Birich Technologies (Towson, MD; no SBIR), Earth Networks (Germantown, MD; no SBIR), Fiberight (Halethorpe, MD; no SBIR), CoolCAD Electronics (College Park,MD $1.6M SBIR), XChanger Companies (Annapolis, MD; no SBIR), Remedium Technologies (College Park, MD; no SBIR), Pothole Pros LLC (Waldorf, MD; no SBIR), Hoopers Island Oyster Aquaculture (Fishers Creek, MD; no SBIR),  Metompkin Seafood (Crisfield, MD; no SBIR) GreatGrow Maryland LLC (Rock Hall, MD; no  SBIR), vCalc (Hagerstown, MD;  SBIR), Shore Thing Shellfish (Tall Timbers, MD; no SBIR). ($114,094)  [Sarah Gantz,  Baltimore Business Journal, Feb 26, 14] 

MetroLaser (Irvine, CA)

After gallons of kerosene, smoke. MetroLaser (Irvine, CA) showed the viability of a moving hologram that can broadcast moving 3D images. NASA's SHIVA, the Spaceflight Holography Investigation in a Virtual Apparatus, started in 1999 for research in space. MetroLaser's founder, James Trolinger,  [The Economist, Nov 13]  have been pounding away at holographs for 30 years. For the last 15 years it has had over 100 SBIR projects with half going to Phase 2 which sums to over $30 from mostly DOD and NASA. Before '89 he got various funding from DOD R&D agencies to explore holographic applications as lasers began to be noticed as a research tool.  The SBIR problem is that SBIR was not invented to be just the small business portion of what the agency would do otherwise. Although the SBIR political advocates have not complained about the diversion as long as they get an assured share of the money pie. If an agency wants to work long term on holography with its mainstream funds, go ahead. But the main effect of SBIR has been to simply shunt small firms from the mainstream funding into SBIR with no change in approach.

MGC Diagnostics (Vadnais Heights, MN)

Angeion  (Vadnais Heights, MN; one SBIR) said it is changing its name to MGC Diagnostics ...  makes diagnostic systems that monitor a person's breathing and heart rate, ... "Our new corporate identity better communicates to our customers and our other stakeholders what we bring to the market – the leading-edge cardio-respiratory diagnostic technology that our MedGraphics brand is known for throughout medical institutions worldwide," company CEO Gregg Lehman said [Ed Stych, Minneapolis St Paul Business Journal, Aug 16, 12]

mHUB

Chicago tech hub mHUB is expanding its accelerator program offerings with a new initiative focused on med-tech. mHUB announced it's launching an accelerator program for medical device startups that have "the potential to transform health care." The program expects to launch in the fourth quarter of this year, with applications opening this summer. [Jim Dallke, Chicago Inno, Jun 4, 21]

MIACH Orthopaedics (Boston, MA)

MIACH Orthopaedics (Boston, MA; no SBIR) dedicated to developing bio-engineered surgical implants for connective tissue repair, announced it completed $22.5 million in financing (with some from National Football League) [company press release, Sep 27, 18],

Miasole (Silicon Valley, CA)

Nanosolar (Silicon Valley, CA; $1.9M SBIR) [ambitious CIGS solar startup] laid off part of its staff and is now in a “quiet period,” according to a company representative. Two reports suggest the cuts were significant, as much as 75 percent of the staff. ...  raised more than $450 million from venture investors  ....Another Silicon Valley CIGS startup, Miasole  (no SBIR), last year was acquired at a great loss to investors to Chinese energy project developer, Hanergy Holdings, which also acquired CIGS startup Solibro from QCells in Germany.  Heliovolt (Austin, TX; one SBIR) attracted funding from SK Innovations in Korea to fund its initial production and Stion has also forged deals with Asian manufacturers. These deals suggest that the CIGS technology is still viable, even if the company ownership has changed.    [Martin LaMonica, MIT Technology Review.com, Feb 19, 13]  Difficult technoology losing out to falling solar market prices.

Micell Technologies (Raleigh, NC)

Micell Technologies (Durham, NC; $300K SBIR)  stent-maker has raised about $25.8 million of a $30 million equity and debt offering according to [SEC] document  ...   lead product is MiStent SES, available for sale outside the U.S., but has not yet received FDA approval, according to the company. [Charlotte Star, Nov 19, 16]

Micell Technologies, (Raleigh, NC; $300K SBIR) in the early stages of developing a new type of drug-coated stent to treat heart disease, has raised $5 million in financing.  Founded in 1996, Micell originally focused on environmentally friendly dry-cleaning technology developed by Joseph DeSimone, a chemistry professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University. The company built the Hangers dry-cleaning chain and then sold it in 2002. Micell then shifted to semiconductor technology and began developing new coatings for medical products in 2006  [Alan Wolf, Raleigh News & Observer, Aug 8, 09]

Michelman (Cincinnati, OH)

manufacturer Michelman (Cincinnati, OH; no SBIR) showed off its new high-tech R&D lab at its grand opening in Blue Ash. The new Advanced Materials Collaboration Center was built with the help of a $2.5 million Ohio Third Frontier grant.  The center works to develop and commercialize new technologies, including waterborne coatings for paper and flexible packaging, fiberglass and composite materials, polymers and industrial chemicals, and other specialty products.   [Andy Brownfield, Cincinnati Business Courier, Oct 3, 14]  a global developer of water-based barrier and functional coatings for flexible film packaging, paperboard, and corrugated cartons; and water-based surface modifiers, additives and polymers for numerous industries  [company website]

Micracor (Acton, MA)

The Coherent View of Micracor (Mar 6). What did Coherent think it was doing when it acquired Micracor (Acton, MA) with 15 worldwide patents? Coherent's CEO told Photonics Spectra (Feb97) that Micracor's "diode-pumped microchip laser will address the low power market up to 100 mW and should lend itself to high-volume, low-cost manufacturing. The high power optically pumped semiconductor tech would help would help [Coherent's unstated strategic goal] in telecommunications and scientific applications.

The Story of a Sale As soon as the technology worked, the major investors had an internal strategic squabble about whether they really wanted to be so deeply in that business when the next round of financing beckoned for production. They decided not and exited the business by selling Micracor (Acton, MA) to Coherent. The founder paid the price that capitalism demands for investment - who has the gold makes the rules. Both founder Aram Mooradian and Coherent expect considerable profitable sales. SBIR (at least BMDO's) intended companies to attract investors with all the attendant risks to the founders' dreams. If and when Coherent profits from it, the founder will reap his financial reward and SBIR can claim a smart investment that generated the new economic activity that Congress intended. But before that comes true, someone will have to invest in production, which is beyond the role of government, even SBIR.

Coherent Buys Micracor Laser vendor Coherent says it has bought the assets of Micracor (Acton, MA), an SBIR-supported spinoff of Lincoln Labs. Price not announced. The press release does say Coherent expects the diode-pumped microchip lasers and optically pumped semiconductor lasers to feed a $60M market in inspection, printing, data storage, and bio-instrumentation. Micracor founder Aram Mooradian says he will find something useful to do in the technology. BMDO SBIR provided a nice piece of the development capital with a contribution that required increasing private capital match as the SBIR amount rose.

Semiconductor Laser"500 mW of circularly symmetric, diffraction limited output directly from a semiconductor laser in wavelengths 980 nm to 1010 nm with over 20% electrical to optical conversion efficiency. The low divergence (10 mradian) output needed only a simple, small focusing lens to couple the output into a single mode fiber with 90% efficiency. Such power levels could be used to pump fiber optical amplifiers to boost long-distance signals. This concept could also make high power, tunable devices in the wavelength range from 450 nm to over 2000 nm. Micracor Inc. (Acton, MA), a venture backed spin-off from MIT Lincoln Lab, plans production for several markets. The BMDO SBIR supplemented founder Aram Mooradian's starting capital with some cost-matching from prospective customers for a commercially convincing demo. When, like many early R&D projects, it overran its cost estimates, BMDO put in more money subject to even more free-market matching. Otherwise, it would be just internal government competition among market-free technologists and an incentive for company narrative. Money talks.

Micrel

Micrel  down 11% [Dec 1, 08] On a stock bloodbath day

Micrel up 11% [Oct 16, 08]

Micrel up 11% [Oct 13, 08]

Micrel dives 20% [Jan 4, 08] after cutting its outlook for the fourth quarter due to lower-than-expected orders mainly from China and Korea

Micrel up 12% [Nov 19, 07] on a multimillion-dollar, long-term contract with a solar company to supply commercial solar cells. [thestreet.com, Nov 19]

Forbes's annual list of the best 200 small companies had several SBIR awardees: Ceradyne #12, Flir Systems 37, II-IV 58, ATMI 69, ViaSat 90, Surmodics 105, Micrel 149, OPNET Tech 167.

Micrel down  22% after reporting soggy second-quarter profits. [Jul 26, 07]

Jennifer Dooley (Forbes, Aug 21) sees Micrel as a cheap stock as judged by its PE-Growth ratio of 1.0 even though it is down 40% from its high a few months ago.  Of course that estimate depends on a 20% profit growth which is usually easier to pronounce than to achieve.

Microbe Detectives (Madison, WI)

Four water technology startups were named for an inaugural "seed accelerator program" at the soon-to-open Global Water Center business incubator facility in Milwaukee: Microbe Detectives (Madison, WI; no SBIR);  H2O Score (Milwaukee, WI; no SBIR),  Noah Technologies (Milwaukee, WI; no SBIR); and one with a parent company in France, called Vegetal i.D. Each company will receive a $50,000 WEDC grant to cover startup costs, and space in the Global Water Center, a seven-story warehouse that has been converted at a cost of $22 million.   [John Schmid, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jul 17, 13]  A good deal for the warehouse converting business; value for the state economy TBD (don't expect to recover the cost of the warehouse conversion for perhaps decades).

Microfluidics International (fomerly Microbia) (Cambridge MA)

Microfluidics International (Newton, MA; no SBIR; founded in 1999 as Microbia) is a micro-cap equipment company that is running out of money, but it hopes pandemic flu will help turn that around. As demand for seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccine skyrockets, the company is aiming to cash in as one of a relatively few companies experienced in mixing vaccines with adjuvants — substances that may be added to the vaccines to make them work better. “Microfluidics was founded 26 years ago, and it’s never really grown or made money,” said CEO Mike Ferrara.  [Mass High Tech, Sep 4, 09]

Microbia (no SBIR), a 10-year-old Cambridge MA biotech company has changed its name to Ironwood Pharmaceuticals. The privately held company has raised $231 M in private equity financing and is developing several drugs, including linaclotide to treat irritable bowel syndrome and other gastrointestinal disorders.  [Todd Wallack, Boston Globe, Apr 8]

Microbia (Cambridge MA; no SBIR) reports a new partnership with a multibillion-dollar drug company (Forest Laboratories) will yield up to $330M in fees and milestone payment for the right to market Microbia's experimental drug for gastrointestinal disorders, called linaclotide, in the United States, according to the companies. ... Microbia has raised a total of $231M in private capital [Mass High Tech, Sep 17] 

Microbiotix (Worcester, MA)

CARB-X is awarding Microbiotix $60M SBIR) up to $2.86million in non-dilutive funding to develop a new oral antibiotic to treat multidrug-resistant gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease caused by bacteria that have developed resistanceto all but one existing antibiotic. If the project successfully achieves certain development milestones, Microbiotix will be eligible for an additional $16 millionin funding from CARB-X [company press release, Mar 17, 20]

Microbot Medical (Hingham, MA)

Microbot Medical (Hingham, MA; no SBIR) up 26% [Aug 17, 20] announced the successful conclusion of its feasibility animal study using the Company's LIBERTY(TM) Robotic System, the world's first fully disposable surgical robotic system. The study met all of its end points with no intraoperative adverse events, which supports the Company's objectives to allow physicians to conduct a catheter-based procedure from outside the catheterization laboratory (cath-lab), avoiding radiation exposure, physical strain and the risk of cross contamination. [company press release, Aug 17, 20]

MicrobotMedical up 48% [Apr 24, 20]

Microbot Medical down 21% [Dec 27, 29] announced that it has entered into definitive agreements with certain institutional investors for the purchase in a registered direct offering [to raise $10M] [compant press release, Dec 27, 19]

Microbot Medical up 61% [Dec 24, 29]

Microbot Medical (Hingham, MA; no SBIR) up 77% [Dec 23, 29] announced the revealing of LIBERTY(TM) , the world's first fully disposable robotic system for use in neurovascular, cardiovascular and peripheral vascular procedures. [company press release, Dec 23, 19]

Microbot Medical up 17% [Dec 10, 19]

Microbot Medical up 26% [Oct 3, 19]

Microbot Medical (Hingham MA; no SBIR) up 44% [Sep 6, 19] will demonstrate a working prototype of the Company's Self-Cleaning Shunt (SCS(TM)). [company press release, Sep 5, 19]

Microbot Medical (Hingham, MA; no SBIR) up 21% [Jan 23, 19] announced $2.5M new funding ... [recently] demonstrated an activated Self-Cleaning Shunt (SCS(TM) ) The Company's SCS(TM) was activated from a working prototype of its customized headset that is intended to be used periodically by either the patient or the healthcare provider for the operation of the SCS(TM). [press release, Jan 17, 19]

Microbot Medical (Hingham, MA; no SBIR, founded 2010, 74 employees)  up 46% [Feb 22, 17], a medical device company specializing in the design and development of transformational micro-robotic medical technologies, announced the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance for a key technology patent.  ...  patent covers systems and methods for reducing venous stenosis associated with the use of hemodialysis shunts.    [company press release, Feb 22, 17]

MicroCoating (Chamblee,GA)

Valued at $223M. Since 1994, beginning with initial funding from SBIR, MicroCoating Technologies has grown from two to more than 100 employees, and now occupies some 100,000 square feet. Revenues have climbed at least 50% every year since 1994. And the concern, backed by an initial $4M from Atlanta-based Noro-Moseley Partners and additional capital from individuals, in May 2001 received a $7M equity infusion from Ballard Power Systems Inc. that valued the company at $233M. Ballard's investment is part of an exclusive agreement to develop MCT's proprietary Combustion Chemical Vapor Deposition process (CCVD) for use in making BALLARD® fuel cells. ... CCVD technology - an innovative open atmosphere technique for depositing high quality thin films of advanced materials such as ceramics, metals and composites on base material, either metal, ceramic, glass, or plastic. CCVD thin films provide the base material with such desired surface properties as corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance and catalytic properties. Hunt developed the technology, which dramatically reduces costs and enhances product applications, while a materials science and engineering graduate student at Georgia Tech. He then obtained an exclusive worldwide license from the Georgia Tech Research Corp. to commercialize this process and launched his company in 1993, concurrent with setting up shop in the institution's Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC). [ATDC Companies]

Pssst! Coatings!, says Phyllis Berman in Forbes (online Mar21) about Andrew Hunt's Atlanta company Microcoating. Andrew got his start in the back yard as a Ga Tech grad student on a credit card, came to the SBIR National Conference where he looked to me like the perfect case for an SBIR. He talked the right talk of innovation and investment. His smile didn't hurt either. Berman speculates a $200M valuation of what is still a private company. Andrew's first VC money (he wangled customer finance for much of his business with companies like Rohm&Haas and International Paper) brought in $4M for 4% of the company. He got some business help from another SBIR entrepreneur from the San Diego area, Al Capote, founder of SBIR users Toranaga Technologies and Aguila when Al needed some coatings for an advanced process Toranaga was working on.

Better than Chrome. A test coupon by MicroCoating Technologies (Chamblee, GA) withstood the dreaded salt-fog test and let no corrosion onto an aluminum coated steel panel in 1344 hours. MCT uses a new flame-assisted film deposition CCVD, which was the company's first name by Andrew Hunt alone with a 1994 BMDO SBIR (and only Phase 2 so far) and a license from Georgia Tech (where he invented the process for his PhD). Even though the MCT press release cited the usual technology niceties and focusing on commercialization of the novel technology that would deep-six chromium as a protective coating, rumors have it that big fish are being fried in MCT as those 18 people must be doing something profitable with the $1.7M revenue from customers like GM Delphi, Engelhard, 3M, Pilkington, Alcoa, Allied Signal, and Caterpillar. Another company for which SBIR was invented.

MicroGreen Polymers (Seattle, WA)

MicroGreen Polymers(Arlington, WA; one SBIR) got $2M venture round to give the plastics industry and the world environmentally sound plastics technologies with substantial economic advantages.[xconomy.com, Jan 18, 13]

MicroGreen Polymers (Seattle, WA; one SBIR)  a plastics company that adds air to plastics to reduce weight and costs, said it’s raised $6.9 million in funding. [Puget Sound Business Journal, May 19, 10]

MicroIslet (San Diego, CA)

Biotechnology companies in the United States are raising less cash than they have in a decade, in part because of the global economic crisis. The reductions have led to bankruptcies and threaten development of drugs based on biomedical breakthroughs. ... Twenty-five percent of the 370 public U.S. biotechnology companies have less than six months of cash, according to data compiled by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, a trade group in Washington. .... Among others,Peptimmune (Cambridge, MA; one SBIR), a 6-year-old firm, said it is struggling to pay for clinical trials of its multiple sclerosis drug. ... cut its staff more than half, to 22 people; moved to smaller offices to conserve the $6.5 million it has on hand; and is delaying research on drugs for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, chief executive Thomas Mathers said. ....  On Nov. 10, MicroIslet (San Diego, CA;  $1.8M SBIR) developer of diabetes treatments, and Accentia BioPharmaceuticals (Tampa, FL; no SBIR) sought bankruptcy protection to reorganize, each citing an inability to raise money.   [David Olmos and Rob Waters, Bloomberg News, Dec 1, 08]

Microlin Bio (New York, NY)

The IPO window is still open, sort of, but life sciences companies are not getting through unscathed.  Tobira Therapeutics (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) and Microlin Bio (New York, NY; no SBIR) postponed their offerings after T2 Biosystems (Lexington, MA; no SBIR) and Switzerland’s Auris Medical slashed the terms of their Nasdaq IPOs this week.  [Bruce Bigelow, xconomy.com, Aug 7, 14]

MicroMask(Sunnyvale,CA)

Micro-Mask Dissed. A decade ago, struggling Micro Mask Inc. of Sunnyvale combed the country for money. It was turned away at 68 doorsteps. So President Joe Ross did what many other makers of essential chip-making equipment and supplies did in the latter half of the 1980s -- he sold the company to a cash-rich corporation from Japan.... the two largest Japanese photomask makers, dwarfed any U.S. makers. Their 1988 mask revenues, representing just a small piece of the multibillion-dollar corporations' total sales, were an estimated $170 million and $150 million, respectively. Even the largest U.S. mask maker's revenue was less than $50 million. Robert Noyce, Intel Corp. co-founder and co-inventor of the integrated circuit, said of America's industrial competitiveness: ``We're into a death spiral now.'' ........ ...... Today, Micro Mask is back in U.S. hands. U.S. semiconductor companies are back at the forefront. The turnabout in one critical slice of the business -- making ``photomasks'' -- is among the most dramatic. Japanese firms not only retreated from manufacturing photomasks in the U.S. but also saw their worldwide leadership neutralized by fast-moving American mask makers..... The biggest changes in the U.S. market were sparked by two U.S. mask makers - Photronics and a unit of DuPont. [who} in the mid-1980s embarked on a shopping spree. One by one, the two aggressors snapped up in-house mask shops and small independents. DuPont bought 17 smaller mask makers. Photronics, started 27 years ago in a Danbury, Conn. garage, picked up about 10 shops. The purchases gave the two U.S. firms an instant advantage -- presence around the country near key chip-making customers, especially those producing complex or custom-designed chips.

Evelyn Richards, San Jose Mercury News Jan 11, 97

Micronics (Redmond, WA)

Micronics (Redmond, WA; $1M SBIR) said it’s completed its third round of financing, which, when coupled with a second round completed earlier this year, totals $9 million.  [Puget Sound Business Journal, Oct 16, 08]

Micronic Technologies (Bristol, VA)

Micronic Technologies (Bristol, VA, $800K SBIR, founded 2008) announced $3 million seed round investment to develop a breakthrough Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) water purification technology that reduces wastewater volume by 95% and removes over 99% of contaminants in a sustainable and cost-effective way that hasn’t been achievable until now. [Virginia CIT press release, Oct 21, 20]

MicroOptical (Westwood, MA, NM)

Video and text on the back of your eyelids, or more practically in or on a pair of glasses. MicroOptical (Westwood, MA) claims to have developed a wearable computing technology and has attracted $8M funding plus a DARPA SBIR. MicroOptical's founder, Mark Spitzer, was once chief scientist at Kopin which is also marketing a tiny display, but not that tiny. The company claims four products after six years of R&D. The showcase products are a monocular viewer that attaches to the temple of the user’s eyeglasses, a binocular viewer that is similar to a pair eyeglasses and a set of eyeglasses that has the display integrated into them. To market the products, no they don't market themselves, MicroOptical made a strategic deal with Essilor, a multibillion-dollar French business in France, one of the world’s largest providers of ophthalmic optical products.  [facts from Patricia Resende, Mass High Tech, Sep 16]

MicroOptical (Albuquerque, NM)

EMCORE (Somerset, NJ; $6.5M SBIR) announced that it has sold its Space Photovoltaics (Albuquerque, NM) business [its most profitable division] to private equity firm Veritas Capital.  ...  for $150 million in cash, pending shareholder approval. The sale is expected to close in December of 2014 or in early 2015.  ... Revenue for the Space Photovoltaics business in 2013 was $70.5 million, the company said.  ... In 1984, a group of former Sandia National Labs engineers — including the city’s now head of economic development, Gary Oppedahl — formed MicroOptical Devices, or MODE, to develop new laser technology. EMCORE, at the time, was a New Jersey firm that had worked with Sandia since the early 1990s.  In 1997, however, EMCORE acquired MODE and the new firm became the first to move into the Sandia Science & Technology Park in 1998.  ....  In 2012, EMCORE sold its fiber optics business to Sumitomo for $17 million.  [Dan Mayfield, Albuquerque Business First, Sep 18, 14]

Micro-Optical-Emcore Merger (Dec 9) MicroOptical Devices (Albuquerque, NM) has been acquired by EMCORE (Somerset, NJ) in a $30M deal. The acquisition will enable MicroOptical to nearly triple its employees, said Robert Bryan, president. "We will have close to 50 people by the end of 1998," said Bryan who founded the company in late 1995. EMCORE is a 13-year-old company and a leading provider of integrated semiconductor solutions. MicroOptical is a leading producer of Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser components, arrays and optical sub-assemblies. For the past two years, MicroOptical Devices has been the poster child for laboratory spinoffs and high-tech start-ups. Two years ago, the company employed one person. Last year the company had six employees. It now has about 18. It was the star of Technology Ventures Corp.'s 1996 venture-capital symposium, receiving more offers to fund its product than it needed. The firm also stirred the interests of potential suitors and investors in the fall when it began looking for financing to fund another expansion. "We have achieved many of the milestones we set for ourselves when we first had equity financing in July," said Bryan. "We saw we were on a fast track to rapidly grow the company and we needed additional capital." Their financing efforts resulted in inquiries from many corporations interested in combining MicroOptical's operations with their own. EMCORE's offer was the best fit, said Bryan. [Sherri Chunn, Albuquerque Journal, Dec 8]

Some background. Co-founder Rob Bryan was a 1991 co-founder of Vixel Corp, with Greg Olbright and Jack Jewell. A BMDO SBIR got them started in VCSEL development. With two more Phase 2s and $20M of private money, Vixel's capitalization kept growing as the technology matured to production grade. As Vixel shifted to a more vertically integrated approach, Jewell and Bryan split to form new companies in Boulder and Albuquerque. Vixel started in Albuquerque (as Photonics Research) from where it soon moved to Colorado and has since moved to Washington (state). Emcore went public in 1996 after years of developing a commercially viable MOCVD business with the help of about $5.5M of DOD SBIR 1988-95 (it looked for a while like Emcore would never get rolling and would be just another nice materials house whose product was too expensive for real people).

MicroOptx (Maple Grove, MN)

MicroOptx (Maple Grove, MN;  SBIR) raised another $1.4M for a tiny implant that aims to treat glaucoma  [Katherine Grayson, Minneapolis / St Paul Business Journal, Nov 7, 17]

MicroOptx (Maple Grove, MN; no SBIR, founded 2014) received regulatory approval to begin its first U.S. human eye test with its breakthrough Brown Glaucoma Implant, which has stopped vision loss in animals. The  company was named the grand-prize winner of this year’s Minnesota Cup awards  ...  The implant can halt the progression of glaucoma, a disease of the optic nerve and the world’s leading cause of irreversible blindness. [Neal St. Anthony, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Oct 9, 17]  snagged $2.4M spring 2015 [Minneapolis / St Paul Business Journal]

MicroOptx  (Maple Grove, MN; no SBIR) startup developing a tiny implantable device to treat glaucoma has closed on $2.4 million [to]wrap up a licensing deal for the intellectual property behind its technology, which aims to relieve pressure in the eyes of glaucoma patients. ...  Glaukos [Laguna Hills, CA; $200K SBIR) as MicroOptx's most direct competitor  which makes the tiniest device ever approved by t[FDA]— recently filed for a $75 million initial public offering.   [Katharine Grayson, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, Jun 18, 15]

MicroPower Technologies (San Diego, CA)

MicroPower Technologies (no SBIR), a two-year-old startup incubating in San Diego’s EvoNexus program, says it has raised $2.2 million from a variety of investors that completes its Series B round of venture funding. The company is developing power-efficient wireless video surveillance cameras for use by public safety, government, commercial, and small-to-medium business customers. [Bruce Bigelow, signonsandiego.com, Dec 2, 10]

San Diego’s free high-tech incubator, announced that it has enrolled three more startup companies: TetraVue is developing a high-resolution 3D camera and video recording system; MicroPower Technologies is developing ultra-low-power wireless video surveillance camera technologies;  EcoATM plans to install self-serve kiosks for recycling mobile phones and other consumer electronics.  None has SBIR.

MICROrganic Technologies (Troy, NY)

A Rochester, NY venture capital fund made its first investment in an Albany-area tech company, ... Excell Partners provided $150,000 to MICROrganic Technologies  (near Troy, NY; no SBIR, founded 2010) that works to convert chemical energy from wastewater treatment systems into electrical energy.  Brent Solina, a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute , founded the company. ... set up shop in the basement of Schodack middle school earlier this year. ...  Excell has invested in more than 40 companies, with an average investment of $200,000.    [Haley Viccaro, Albany Business Review, Oct 24, 13] 

MicroSat Systems (Littleton, CA)

Air Force (USAF) selected Sierra Nevada (Sparks, NV; $1M SBIR, founded 1963, 2500 employees) and its partner Embraer (Brazil) Defense and Security for its Light Air Support (LAS) program.  ...   deemed the A-29 Super Tucano aircraft, and the overall solution offered by SNC, to be the superior choice for this critical mission. The initial $427.5 million delivery order is to supply the USAF with 20 A-29 Super Tucano aircraft.    ...  for. light air support, reconnaissance and training capabilities to the Afghanistan military. As such, it is a vital element of the United States’ Afghan withdrawal strategy   .. work will be in Jacksonville, FL  [company press release Feb 27, 13] over the years it has gathered up companies:  Space Dev (Poway, CA; $5M SBIR) ;MicroSat Systems (Littleton, CA; $11M SBIR) ; Straight Flight  (Denver, CO; no SBIR) ; Waveband (Torrance, CA; $17M SBIR); Aviation Resources Delaware (no SBIR); Inter-4 (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR); Turtle Mountain Communications (no SBIR) ;  Plano Microwave (Plano, TX; no SBIR) ; Spectral Systems (Beavercreek, OH; no SBIR) ;Advanced Countermeasure Systems (Sacramento, CA; no SBIR) . 

Microscopy Innovations (Marshfield, WI)

Microscopy Innovations (Marshfield, WI;  prior SBIR, founded 2007) was awarded a $150,000 Phase 1 [SBIR] from the U.S. Army  ....  to develop an integrated system for preparing biological specimens for examination in different environments, including laboratories, clinical settings, and the field. [company website, Jun 26, 17]

Microscopy Innovations LLC (Marshfield, WI; no SBIR) that makes a system for preparing microscope specimens, has landed a new customer, a U.S. Army research center that will use its equipment to handle the deadly ebola virus. .... patented, capsule-based system allows researchers to prepare and keep specimens in one container throughout their experiment. ... has raised about $1.2 million from investors in the last 15 months, according to FormDs.com.   [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nov 27, 15]

Microscopy Innovations (Marshfield, WI; no SBIR) that makes a system for preparing microscope specimens, has raised $410,000 of a proposed $750,000 funding round, according to [SEC] documents filed ... counts among its customers three leading pharmaceutical firms, the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and labs at major research universities ... makes a capsule-based system that allows researchers to prepare and keep specimens in one container throughout their experiment.   [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Aug 19, 14]

Eight Wisconsin biotech companies have been selected as winners of the BioForward 2013 Emerging Company Showcase:  ABL Technologies LLC   (Greenfield, WI; no SBIR); Co-D Therapeutics (Madison, WI; no SBIR); Imbed Biosciences (Madison, WI; no SBIR)  medical device company developing novel and patent-pending technologies for imbedding bioactive molecules in wound dressings and surgical implants [company website]; Insert MRI  (no SBIR) developing a platform technology for encapsulating workflow 'apps' to interactively guide magnetic resonance (MR) image-guided surgical procedures [company website]; Microscopy Innovations  (Marshfield, WI; no SBIR) New Capsule-based System for  preparing Microscopy Specimens  [company website]; Regenerative Medical Solutions (Chicago/Madison; no SBIR) develop a protocol to grow healthy and resilient pancreatic stem cells [company website]; Stealth Therapeutics (Madison, WI; no SBIR) less invasive medical devices [company website]; and XenoGen Biosystems ( Madison, WI; no SBIR)  Mathematical Modeling and Computing for the Life Sciences [company website]. ... represent "a cross section of emerging companies in our industry sector that we feel are going to make an impact down the road," said Bryan Renk, BioForward's executive director.  [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sep 4, 13]

Microstaq   (Austin, TX)

Austin-based Microstaq which develops high-tech control valves for air-conditioning systems and other equipment, has secured another $12.5 million in venture backing, the company plans to announce today. [Austin American-Statesman, Sep 22, 08]

environmentally focused young tech companies some of the hottest properties around. ... Microstaq (Austin, TX; no SBIR) says the silicon-based fluid control chips that it unveiled at a tech conference this week can save 20 to 30 percent in electricity costs over traditional metal valves found in air conditioners and other equipment. ... has attracted more than $22 million in venture capital  [Bob Keefe, Austin American-Statesman, Sep 13, 08]  Why take slow and rigid and free and disinterested SBIR when real money will have a vested interest in your success and a path to more money when you need it?  Would you prefer 100% ownership in a company that will go nowhere?

MicroTransponder (Austin, TX)

A year after landing FDA approval for its Vivistim system, MicroTransponder (Austin, TX; $8M SBIR) has raked in an oversubscribed funding round to support the device. [Andrea Park, Fierce Biotech,Sep 22, 2022]

MicroTransponder (Austin, TX; $2.5M SBIR, founded 2007) medical device company, secured $3.8 million in new capital as part of a $5.5 million funding round ...  developing a device that can be used to treat tinnitus and other neurological conditions — possibly including damage from strokes — through a program of stimulating the Vagus nerve.  [Chad Swiatecki, Austin Business Journal, Oct 1, 15]

Microvision

MicroVision (Redmond, WA; $3.4M SBIR) down 28% [Jun 14, 2023] announced that, due to market volatility, it has withdrawn its proposed public offering of shares of its common stock. [company press release, Jun 14, 2023]

MicroVision (Redmond, WA; $3.7M SBIR) up 30% [Jun 6, 2023]

Sony said it will use the Microvision's technology in a new pocket-size projector.  .... will incorporate PicoP technology developed by MicroVision in its new pico projector module that uses laser beam scanning.  [Ben Miller, Puget Sound Business Journal, Feb 21, 14]

Microvision down 15%  [Feb 25, 14]   

Microvision down 14% [Feb 24, 14]

Microvision (Redmond, WA; $2.5M SBIR)  said it received a delisting notice from the NASDAQ stock exchange regarding not meeting the exchange's minimum $50 million market value.  [Ben Miller, Puget Sound Business Journal, Dec 23, 13]

Microvision  said it's received a letter from the NASDAQ stock exchange, saying its shares were in danger of being delisted from the exchange  [Puget Sound Business Journal, May 23, 12]

MicroVision said private investors have invested $5 million in the company  [Puget Sound Business Journal, May 10, 12]

Microvision  up 10% [Mar 14, 12]

Microvision  up 39% [Mar 8, 12] as it regained NASDAQ compliance

Microvision down 15% [Feb 27, 12]

Microvision  down 12% [Feb 22, 12]

MicroVision said it’s signed a deal with Pioneer [Japan] to put MicroVision’s head-up display technology into Pioneer’s consumer, after-market and automotive products. [Puget Sound Business Journal, Dec 8, 10]

Microvision down 10% [May 6, 10]

Microvision up 19% [Apr 5, 10

Microvision down 14% [Jan 12, 10]

Microvision down 12% [Jan 7, 10]

Microvision said it would sell 3.3 million shares to an existing institutional investor for $3 apiece. The company expects to net $9.3 million from the offering ... On Wednesday, Microvision said it closed on an earlier public offer of 7.7 million shares for net proceeds of about $21.5 million.  [AP, Nov 28, 09]

Microvision  down 20% [Nov 19, 09] said it will sell 6.7 million shares of stock at $3 each [Puget Sound Business Journal, Nov 19, 09]

Microvision up 13% [Sep 21, 09]

Microvision up 16% [Sep 18, 09]

Microvision  said it’s been awarded a $1 million contract by Lockheed Martin Corp. to develop a wearable eyewear display system for soldiers. ... The deal comes two weeks after Walsin Lihwa Corp. of China agreed to invest approximately $15 million in Microvision. [Puget Sound Business Journal, Jul 7, 09]

Microvision  (Redmond, WA; $2.5M SBIR) , a display and scanner technology company, is getting a $15 million investment from Walsin Lihwa, a wire and cable manufacturer based in Taiwan. [Sharon Pian Chan, Seattle Times, Jun 26, 09]

Microvision (Redmond, WA; $2.5M SBIR) which makes display technology, announced its fourth-quarter loss grew to $9.9 million,  from a loss of $6 million a year earlier. [Puget Sound Business Journal, Mar 5, 09]

FORGET MONITORS--NOMAD PUTS TEXT AND GRAPHICS RIGHT ONTO THE RETINA Matt Nichols, of Microvision, has just arrived from his crosstown walk. He's hurried from New York City's upcoming Museum of Sex, where he showed off the same equipment that he wants to demonstrate now. No, please--it's called Nomad, a retinal scanning device that can beam words and graphics directly into the viewer's eye. The Army is also interested in Nomad, for a less titillating function: equipping its helicopter pilots. When coupled with the proper software, the headset can display altitude, heading, speed, course and weapons status, all presented in a nice monochrome light beam that doesn't hamper the pilot's view at optical infinity,... could replace head-up displays on windscreens and virtual-reality helmets--a goal of the U.S. Air Force for decades. ...In late June the company conducted Nomad's first flight tests; eventually, ... Microvision intends to sell a commercial version as early as this fall for between $8,000 and $10,000. ... The heart of the Nomad technology lies in a MEMS light-beam scanner, which has a tiny mirror 1.5mm wide. A red laser diode bounces a pulsed beam off the MEMS mirror, which uses an electromagnetic system to move in two directions, creating a scanning pattern similar to those on television screens. An optical combiner modifies the beam to create an image 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels long. [Phil Scott,Scientific American, Sep 01]

Microvision and Cree Win. (Jun 13)Microvision, claiming to be the leader in retinal scanning display technology, said it has demonstrated a breakthrough miniature display that uses just three microminiature LEDs to create a full-color high-resolution video image. General Electric Pension Trust and Cree recently invested $25 million in Microvision to accelerate development of low-cost versions of the company's Retinal-Scanning Display technology to target a potentially huge market for wireless Internet devices. Microvision will immediately begin demonstrations of the micro display prototype to potential customers and partners. [facts from Microvision press release] Microvision shot up 20% on the news; Cree is already riding atop the waves at a 200 PE although down 25% from its high. Microvision had $2M fron the AF in SBIR in 1998. It went puiblic in 1996 at $5 and shot up to $60 in this year's spring bubble. Today's rise gives it a $400M market cap.

Microvision (Bothell, WA) got an investment of $25M from Cree and the GE Pension Trust to speed development of its head mounted display. Cree laready had a deal with Microvision to integrate blue and green LEDs in the displays. Earlier Microvision had invested $10M in Cree's LEDs. Microvision had three Air Force SBIRs recently basically all the same thing - Head Mounted Display - from three different AF agencies (who may or may not have collaborated in the funding). Such oddities as three separate SBIR happen becasue bureaus like the AF set themselves limits on SBIR awards and then have to finagle to invest the right amount in any company. By contrast, BMDO would have funded the whole $2M in 2-3 increments depending on technical maturation and co-investment criteria. BMDO probably woiulkd not have funded this work anyway because the abstracts show it to be quite mature by BMDO standards.

Midori Renewables (Cambridge, MA)

Midori Renewables (no SBIR) launched last week as the latest sustainable-minded businesses Flagship supports, joining LS9 (no SBIR), Oasys Water (no SBIR) and Joule Unlimited (no SBIR). Brian Baynes, founder and chairman of Midori, [said] that the company is just now starting to market their technology: a solid material that can be heated up to break down the tough cellulose in plant matter, turning it into a simple sugar.  [Don Seiffert, Boston Business Journal, Sep 9, 12]

Mid Valley Industries (Kaukauna, WI

machine shop Mid Valley Industries (Kaukauna,WI; no SBIR) will receive $437,000 in enterprise development zone tax credits from the state Department of Commerce. Founded in 1996 by Kevin Schmid and Doug Pribyl, Mid Valley Industries focuses on precision specialty custom manufacturing, general job shop machining and complete machine assembly, according to the department. Its $4 million expansion is expected to create 75 jobs. The company now has 82 full-time employees. [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Jul 11]

Miller Scientific (Flagstaff, AZ)

Six companies have received seven contracts [worth $270M] from NASA to build inflatable aerodynamic decelerator systems for spacecraft entry, descent and landing operations and aerocapture missions. Five of the six have previously won SBIR awards: Anasphere (Manhattan, MT; $5M SBIR); CFD Research (Huntsville, AL ; $250M SBIR); Miller Scientific (Flagstaff, AZ; one SBIR); Ryzing Technologies (Staunton, VA; $1.6M SBIR); Jackson Bond Enterprises (Dover NH; $1M SBIR) [Jane Edwards, govconwire.com, Sep 30, 2022]

Million Concepts (Lemont, PA)

NASA iTech is an innovation incubator that brings together the right people to the right place and time, giving entrepreneurs an opportunity to present their technologies as a future commercial market product solution for both Earth and NASA,” said Kira Blackwell, program executive for the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.  Blackwell, also said the top 18 companies that have previously participated in NASA iTech have reported raising more than $50 million in private investments over the last 12 months. The top ten competitors for the grand prize:  BioVirtua (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR)  Humanizing Telehealth in Four Dimensions;  FGC Plasma Solutions (Argonne, IL; no SBIR) Novel Fuel Injectors to Enable Clean, Compact Propulsion ; Germfalcon (Los Angeles, CA; no SBIR)  Germicidal UVC Emitting Robot for Commercial Aircraft; H2 Energy Now(Boalsburg,PA; no SBIR)  New Technology for H2 Generation from Water in Space by Use of Electromagnetic Waves;  Hyperloop Tansportation Technologies (Los Angeles, CA; no SBIR, 500-1000 employees) Augmented Voyage; First Medical Technologies (Honolulu, HI; no SBIR, founded 2016) The iFirst Analyzer: Handheld Laboratory-grade Diagnostics Platform for Extreme Environments; 

Million Concepts (Lemont, PA; no SBIR) The Arisian Lens: A Novel Solution for Low-cost, Lightweight Microscopy;  New Frontier Aerospace</span> (Livermore, CA; no SBIR, founded 2015) Affordable, Powered​ ​Recovery​ ​for​ ​Small​ ​Launch​ ​Vehicles;  Rice Technology (Milwaukee, WI; no SBIR) Smart Real-Time Multipurpose Sensor - Dissolved and Suspended Solids, Bacteria, Phosphorus and Viruses;  Somatic Labs&(Phoenix, AZ; no SBIR, founded 2015) Tactile Interfaces for Augmented Reality to Enhance Communication.Milte (Huntsville, AL)

General Atomics announced that it has signed a purchase agreement to acquire Miltec (Huntsville, AL; no SBIR, 100 employees) Ducommun; Miltec is a leading provider of military defense and aerospace systems design, development, integration and test services.  Miltec will be a part of the Electromagnetic Systems (EMS) group of GA [which works on electromagnetic railguns].[company press release, Feb 25, 16] for $14.6 million in cash, says Ducommun press release.

Million Concepts (Lemont, PA)

NASA iTech is an innovation incubator that brings together the right people to the right place and time, giving entrepreneurs an opportunity to present their technologies as a future commercial market product solution for both Earth and NASA,” said Kira Blackwell, program executive for the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.  Blackwell, also said the top 18 companies that have previously participated in NASA iTech have reported raising more than $50 million in private investments over the last 12 months. The top ten competitors for the grand prize:  BioVirtua (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR)  Humanizing Telehealth in Four Dimensions;  FGC Plasma Solutions (Argonne, IL; no SBIR) Novel Fuel Injectors to Enable Clean, Compact Propulsion ; Germfalcon (Los Angeles, CA; no SBIR)  Germicidal UVC Emitting Robot for Commercial Aircraft; H2 Energy Now(Boalsburg,PA; no SBIR)  New Technology for H2 Generation from Water in Space by Use of Electromagnetic Waves;  Hyperloop Tansportation Technologies</span> (Los Angeles, CA; no SBIR, 500-1000 employees) Augmented Voyage; First Medical Technologies (Honolulu, HI; no SBIR, founded 2016) The iFirst Analyzer: Handheld Laboratory-grade Diagnostics Platform for Extreme Environments;  Million Concepts;(Lemont, PA; no SBIR) The Arisian Lens: A Novel Solution for Low-cost, Lightweight Microscopy;  New Frontier Aerospace (Livermore, CA; no SBIR, founded 2015) Affordable, Powered​ ​Recovery​ ​for​ ​Small​ ​Launch​ ​Vehicles;  Rice Technology (Milwaukee, WI; no SBIR) Smart Real-Time Multipurpose Sensor - Dissolved and Suspended Solids, Bacteria, Phosphorus and Viruses;  Somatic Labs&(Phoenix, AZ; no SBIR, founded 2015) Tactile Interfaces for Augmented Reality to Enhance Communication.Milte (Huntsville, AL)

MiMedx Group (Marietta, GA)

MiMedx (Marietta, GA; no SBIR, founded 2008, total funding $36M), a leading developer and marketer of regenerative and therapeutic biologics, announced its plans to implement a broad-based organizational realignment, [company press release, Dec 5, 18] WSJ: Georgia politicians intervened on behalf of now-troubled [Atlanta Business Chronicle, Dec 5, 18]

MiMedx Group(Marietta, GA; no SBIR) ;raised $34 million in a follow-on offering of public shareholders. .... develops and manufactures regenerative biomaterials and bioimplants processed from human amniotic membrane, for use in wound care, burn healing, surgical and sports medicine, and other areas.  ... will be invested in expanding the sales force, CEO Pete Petit said. MiMedx expects to add up to 100 jobs next year, bringing its workforce to 300. [Urvaksh Karkaria, Atlanta Business Journal, Dec 18, 13]

MimiVax (Buffalo, NY)

[FDA] notifiedMimiVax LL (Buffalo, NY; no SBIR, founded 2012) a Roswell Park Cancer Institute spinoff company,  that its application for orphan status for SurVaxM [a promising immunotherapy vaccine] as treatment for glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer, had been approved. [company press release, Aug 7, 17] Tactiva Therapeutics LLC&a new biotech company spun off from Roswell Park Cancer Institute, will create jobs as it develops some of the most promising concepts in the burgeoning field of cancer immunotherapy and accelerates the timeline for getting beneficial therapies to patients. ...  Its lead platform involves using a patient’s own immune cells to fight their cancer. ...   With annual revenue of about $800 million, the 133-bed cancer hospital in downtown Buffalo has launched more than half a dozen companies over the past decade. [press release, Feb 7, 17]

MimiVax (Buffalo, NY; no SBIR, founded 2012) Roswell Park Cancer Institute spin-off company has raised $1.55 million in venture capital to continue developing its cancer vaccine. ...  had already won about $2 million in government grants by March when it closed the Series A round  [Dan Miner, Buffalo Business First, Aug 25, 15] commercializing intellectual property developed at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) through bench to bedside clinical translation [company website]

Minerva Biotechnologies (Newton, MA)

p>Minerva Biotechnologies(Waltham, MA; $1.6M SBIR, 20 employees), developer of stem cell technologies, will begin selling what it calls breakthrough stem cells to researchers and biotechnology companies thanks to two recent licensing agreements with Japanese companies. The deal opens up the possibility for researchers to grow human organs in animals that can then be transplanted.  ... technology was built on the work of Nobel Prize winner Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, the first scientist in the world to figure out how to create stem cells without using embryos. Minerva subsequently licensed Yamanaka’s technology from Academia Japan, and additionally licensed a type of virus from another Japanese firm DNAVEC that is involved in the process of transforming into stem cells   [Jessica Bartlett,  Boston Business Journal, Aug 26, 15]

Minerva Biotechnologies (Waltham, MA; $2M SBIR) has raised about $4.6 million of planned $5.9 million equity offering, ...  focuses on both nanotechnology and stem cell therapeutics. In 2008, the company, alongside the University of California at Santa Barbara, announced they may have found a “pivotal switch” in stem cell differrentiation.  [Mass High Tech, Nov 17, 10]

Nanotechnology-focused biotech firm Minerva Biotechnologies (Newton, MA; $1.4M SBIR) has fired its CEO and brought suit against him in Massachusetts Superior Court, according to company officials. [Mass High Tech, Feb 1]

Minerva Neurosciences (Cambridge, MA)

Minerva Neurosciences down 72% [May 29, 20] announced  that the Phase 3 trial of roluperidone to treat negative symptoms in schizophrenia did not meet its primary (reduction in PANSS Marder Negative Symptoms Factor Score or NSFS) and key secondary (improvement in the Personal and Social Performance Scale Total Score or PSP) endpoints. [company press release, May 29, 20]

Shares of Minerva Neurosciences fell 28 percent after the company disclosed that a “cyberattack” at one of its contractors delayed enrollment in a Phase 3 trial of its schizophrenia drug roluperidone. Xconomy has more on that drug and its prospects here. [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Oct 3. 19]

Minerva Neurosciences (Waltham MA; no SBIR) up 40% [Jun 24, 19] focused on the development of therapies to treat central nervous system (CNS) disorders, announced results of a clinical trial (ISM2005) of seltorexant (MIN-202) in patients with insomnia disorder that demonstrated highly statistically significant (p <=0.001) and clinically meaningful improvement on LPS at Night 1, the primary endpoint of the study. The mean decrease from baseline at Night 1 in LPS was 15 minutes for placebo, 30 minutes for seltorexant 5 mg, 50 minutes for seltorexant 10 mg, and 48 minutes for seltorexant 20 mg. [company press release, Jun 24, 19]

Minerva Neurosciences (Waltham, MA; no SBIR, founded 2007) up 14%  [May 17, 18] announced that The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry has published online results demonstrating cognitive improvements in patients with schizophrenia treated with roluperidone (MIN-101). The results also demonstrated that cognitive improvements correlate with previously reported improvements in negative symptoms. [company press release, May 16, 18] total funding $51M [crunchbase.com]

Minerva Neurosciences up 21% [Jun 1,17] announced that Minerva and Johnson & Johnson entered into a binding term sheet to amend that certain Co-Development and License Agreement between Minerva and [JNJ sub] Janssen Pharmaceutica NV,  related to the Company's MIN-202 product candidate. Minerva has also agreed to repurchase all Minerva stock held by J&J at a per share price of $0.0001.  .... JNJ to make an upfront payment to Minerva of $30 million  [company press release, Jun 1, 17]

Minerva Neurosciences up 11% [May 15,17]

Minerva Neuro 16% [Nov 11, 16]

Minerva Neuro down 14% [Nov 3, 16]

Minerva Neuro up 13% [Aug 16, 16]

Minerva Neuro down 13% [Jun 8, 16]

Minerva Neurosciences  up 13% [Jun 1, 16]

Minerva Neurosciences (Waltham, MA; no SBIR, nine employees) up 233% [May 26, 16]  a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapies to treat central nervous system (CNS) disorders, today announced positive top line results from a Phase IIa clinical trial in major depressive disorder (MDD) with MIN-117, an antidepressant drug candidate with a differentiated mechanism of action targeting adrenergic alpha 1a, alpha 1b, 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A receptors, serotonin and the dopamine transporter. [press release [May 26, 16]  IPO 2014

Minerva Neurosciences (Waltham, MA; no SBIR) has been infused with new capital through a private placement offering, raising $31 million through the sale of stock and warrants to seven different companies, according to federal filings  ... we are now well-positioned to continue our efforts to advance our pipeline of promising treatments for a range of central nervous system disorders," said Dr. Remy Luthringer, president and CEO  ... most recently completed Phase 1 clinical studies with its drug MIN-202, which saw an improvement in sleep onset and sleep duration in patients with insomnia related to a major depressive disorder.  [Jessica Bartlett, Boston Business Journal, Mar 26, 15]

Johnson & Johnson Innovation said it has formed alliances with six Massachusetts-based life science and research companies to further innovation in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and diagnostic and consumer healthcare. .... • Minerva Neurosciences (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR)– Partnering with Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., Johnson & Johnson Innovation and the Janssen neuroscience therapeutic area, Minerva has begun a program that will focus on the treatment of patients with primary and secondary insomnia and potentially treating other related neuropsychiatric disorders. • Rodin Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR)- With initial investment from Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Rodin’s will work in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation in studying the inheritable changes in gene activity for the treatment of cognitive disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease. • Energesis Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) - Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Johnson & Johnson Innovation have established a collaboration with biotechnology company Energesis to identify biological compounds that stimulate the formation of brown fat for use in treating metabolic diseases. The company’s approach is a novel strategy, leveraging recent scientific insights in BAT biology to increase the body’s ability to burn stored fat and lower insulin resistance. • Navitor Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) - Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation has made an equity investment in Navitor, which will work in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation to develop highly-specific modulators to regulate a cell’s response to nutrient availability, including cell growth and function. • Ascelegen Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR)– With an equity investment from Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, and in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Ascelegen is working on developing novel therapies for cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure. Ascelegen’s work builds on research conducted at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital. • Padlock Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) – With an investment from Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, and in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Padlock is developing new therapies targeting a protein that mediates how protein conversions lead to rheumatoid arthritis and how it drives inflammation and immune complex formation in active autoimmune disease.  [Boston Business Journal, Jun 19, 14]

Minerva Surgical (Redwood City, CA)

Minerva Surgical  (Redwood City, CA; no SBIR) which is developing a device that treats abnormally heavy mentrual bleeding, said that it has raised more than $25 million in new funding. ...  Minerva's device, known as the Aurora Endometrial Ablation System, uses a balloon and an electrode array in a treatment that the company says takes four minutes. The condition it treats affects about one in five women, the company said, and the treatment is meant for women who don't want to have children afterwards.   ...  has raised about $80 million, according to its regulatory filings.   [Cromwell Schubarth, Silicon Valley Business Journal, Sep 23, 14] 

Minimally Invasive Devices (Columbus, OH)

Minimally Invasive Devices (Columbus, OH; no SBIR) closed an $11.7 million Series C round of financing as it launches a lower-cost version of its device that keeps the camera lens clear during laparoscopic surgery.  ...  [after] $11.5 million Series B two years ago. ...  has launched $50 FloShield Air with fewer features, that competes on price with products that lack the lens clearing system. ...  for adding to the U.S. sales force as well as an overseas expansion ... graduate of the TechColumbus incubator landed a distributor in Japan last summer.    [Carrie Ghose, Columbus Business First, Mar 6, 15]

Minimally Invasive Devices (Columbus, OH; no SBIR) is increasing its sales staff, starting scientific studies on the worth of its surgical product and increasing its manufacturing space tenfold with the proceeds of a funding round that raised $11.5 million. ....   launching the third-generation technology in its FloShield system that keeps camera lenses clear during laparoscopic surgery. [Carrie Ghose, Columbus Business First, Jun 28, 13] ... 

Minnesota Thermal Science (Plymouth, MN)

Minnesota Thermal Science  (Plymouth, MN; no SBIR; founded 2004), which once won the U.S. Army's Greatest Inventions Award for its gear that keeps blood fresh and usable, has been bought by storage-products company Pelican Products (Torrance, CA; no SBIR) ....  Datamonitor Financial Deals Tracker valued the deal at $26 million.  [Mark Reilly, Minneapolis / St Paul Business Journal, Jan 9, 13]

Minnetronix (St Paul, MN)

Minnetronix Medical (St Paul, MN; $15M SBIR) reports first product — conceptualized, developed, FDA-cleared, and manufactured internally — is now fully commercialized and available to the neurosurgery market. The only expandable brain access port on the market [company press release, Aug 11, 2022]

Minnetronix  (St. Paul, MN; no SBIR) contract manufacturer of electromechanical components and devices for other medical technology companies, has raised a $20 million stake from a big health care investor to help bring to market its first proprietary product. ... an employee-owned company with 200-plus workers ... working on its Cerebrospinal Fluid Treatment Platform, a device used to filter red blood cells and other foreign bodies out of cerebrospinal fluid around the brain and spinal cord after a ruptured aneurysm.  [Neal St. Anthony, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jan 26, 16]

Medical-device company Minnetronix (St Paul, MN; no  SBIR) has acquired Neurofluidics (Menlo Park, CA; no SBIR) developing technologies for treating neurological diseases. [Katherine Grayson, Minneapolis / St Paul Business Journal, Jul 10, 13]

MIOX (Albuquerque, NM)

MIOX (Albuquerque, NM; $1M SBIR) received a new investment from TEL Venture Capital Inc., the corporate investment arm of Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Tokyo Electron Ltd. .... will help the company develop its latest water treatment devices. MIOX designs and manufactures technology for on-demand water disinfection systems.  [Dan Mayfield, Albuquerque Business First, Jun 4, 13]

Mirador Biomedical (Seattle, WA)

Mirador Biomedical(Seattle, WA; no SBIR) has won FDA clearance to market its medical device for a new set of uses, which doctors have been asking about for months. Mirador said today that its digital pressure sensor technology, which it calls its Compass platform, is now cleared by the FDA for a half dozen different medical uses. ...Mirador got its first FDA approval after less than two years of work, and little more than $1 million of investment. Last April, Mirador pulled in another $1.5 million in financing for its commercial plans.   [Luke Timmerman, xconomy.com, Jan 5, 12]

Mirador Biomedical (Seattle, WA; no SBIR) was able to win FDA approval of its first medical device on a shoestring budget of a shade over $1 million, and now investors are rewarding it with some more cash to see what it can do in the marketplace.   ... pulled in another $1.5 million in its Series B financing round ... FDA clearance in October for a couple different product iterations of its digital pressure sensor. ... founders include CEO Karl Schmidt and chief science officer Justin Hulvershorn, who worked together at Northstar Neurscience  (no SBIR) [Luke Timmerman, xconomy.com, Apr 13, 11]

Mira Dx (New Haven, CT)

Mira Dx (New Haven, CT; no SBIR) startup that is making gene-based lab tests for disease susceptibility and response to various therapies, has taken in $1 million from Connecticut Innovations, as part of a $4 million Series A round.  ... using discoveries licensed from Yale University in the field of microRNA (miRNA) to develop their tests, which will provide individualized information on the likelihood of disease occurrence and response to certain types of therapy.  [Rodney Brown, Mass High Tech, Jul 2, 10]

Miramar Labs (Sunnyvale, CA)

Miramar Labs (Sunnyvale, CA; no SBIR) has raised $10 million in a Series D funding   ....  makes a device focused on eliminating excessive underarm sweat by eliminating a person’s sweat glands, will use the investment to expand globally and support the research and development of new technology.  ... employs 87 people, has raised $70 million since its founding in 2006  [Sarah Drake, Silicon Valley Business Journal, Feb 19, 14]

miRecule (Gaithersburg, MD)

miRecule (Rockville, MD; $1.7M SBIR) raised $5.7M in fresh funding investments to take its RNA therapies for drug-resistant cancers to the clinic, CEO Anthony Saleh [said] positioning the company to start human testing for its lead candidate to treat head and neck cancer. [DCInno. May 27, 21]

miRecule (Gaithersburg, MD; $300K SBIR, founded 2016) raising $1M to stop cancer tumors , using microRNA therapeutics to treat cancers [Sara Gilgore, Washington Business Journal, Jul 3, 2018]

Mirimus

Long Island seeks a new future.  Long Island's laboratories have recently amped up efforts to encourage scientists to launch their own startups rather than license their discoveries to big corporations. In 2010, for instance, scientists based at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory started a company, Mirimus (no SBIR), that genetically engineers mice for scientific research.  ....  Canon U.S.A. would consider locating a research and development facility on Long Island, because the division's headquarters are already there and the company could draw on a growing base of science and engineering talent. ... Stony Brook University, located on Long Island's North Shore and considered the flagship of the State University of New York system, houses sprawling incubators for information-technology and life-sciences companies. ... Liabilities include a lack of the venture capital  [Will James, Wall Street Journal, Aug 5, 13]

Mirina (Seattle, WA)

things are looking better: the research-oriented startups seem poised to survive the downturn, and long-awaited clinical results could propel larger companies like Dendreon to stardom. ...  despite the financial crisis, the Accelerator, a local incubator based in Seattle's Eastlake neighborhood, created three firms last year - Recodagen, GPC-Rx and Mirina (none had SBIR) ... "Seattle is really a town of development-stage biotechs," Miller said. ... Light Sciences Oncology (no SBIR), a firm that canceled its initial public offering last February, managed to raise $10 million from venture capitalists in July. Private investors provided Redmond-based Healionics (no SBIR) — which manufactures material for implants — with a $2.6 million boost in December.  In a deal that could yield big results, Bothell-based Acucela (no SBIR), which is developing therapies to treat blindness, signed a partnership deal in September with Japanese firm Otsuka Pharmaceutical that could potentially bring it $258 million.   [Angel Gonzalez, Seattle Times, Jan 25]

Miromatrix Medical (Eden Prairie, MN)

United Therapeutics buys Miromatrix (Eden Prairie, MN; $2.5M SBIR) in $91M xenotransplant deal [Conor Hale, Fierce Biotech, Oct 30, 2023]

Miromatrix Medical (Eden Prairie, MN; $2.5M SBIR) down 30% [Dec 15, 22] announced that it was informed by [FDA] that the miroliverELAPtm Investigational New Drug (IND) application for the treatment of acute liver failure has been placed on clinical hold. [company press release, Dec 14, 2022]

Miromatrix Medical down 16% [Jun 25, 21]

Miromatrix Medical (Eden Prairie, MN; $2.6M SBIR) up 69% [Jun 24, 21] announced the pricing of its upsized [IPO] to raise $43M ... pioneering a novel technology for bioengineering fully transplantable human organs to help save and improve patients' lives. The Company has developed a proprietary perfusion technology platform for bioengineering organs that it believes will efficiently scale to address the shortage of available human organs. [company press release, Jun 24, 21]

Miromatrix Medical (Eden Prairie, MN; $600K prior SBIR, founded 2008) was awarded a $1,97M [NIH] Direct to Phase II SBIR to advance the development of a bioengineered transplantable liver to address the chronic shortage of transplantable livers. [company presss release, Oct 21, 19] prior funding $57M. [crunchbase.com]

Miromatrix Medical (Eden Prairie, MN; $600K SBIR), whose long-term goal is to grow human organs using a patient’s own cells, has spun off a portion of its business to create a new startup. ... transferred to Reprise Biomedical, the new business, two existing, FDA-cleared medical devices – Miromesh and Miroderm. Miromesh reinforces soft tissue and is used during plastic and reconstructive surgery, while Miroderm is used for managing wounds. [Maddy Kennedy, MinneInno, Jul 1, 19]

A pair of biotech start-ups spun off from University of Minnesota research and the state’s first “public benefit corporation” each have landed key taxpayer-funded grants ... The awards to MNPHARM SBC (no SBIR), Miromatrix Medical (Eden Prairie, MN, $600K SBIR) and Superior Organoid Technologies LLC (St. Paul, MN; no SBIR) —each of roughly $100,000—came from Regenerative Medicine Minnesota (RMM), a publicly-funded initiative established in 2014 with a $43.6 million allocation over a 10-year span. [Don Jacobson, Twin Cities Business, Jul 12, 18] Miromatrix raised $6M in July.

Miromatrix (Eden Prairie, MN; no SBIR) to announce this month that it has successfully created livers....  So far, the team at Miromatrix has only created new whole livers with pig cells rather than human cells. But this first step means the livers can be tested as transplant organs in pigs without the risk of them being rejected by the animals’ immune systems.  [Clare Wilson, New Scientist, Oct 30, 17]  ]  Our close collaboration with the Mayo Clinic continues to be a key ingredient in our advancing efforts towards a bio-engineered liver.  Miromatrix’ mastery of liver decellularization and recellularization combined with the world renowned Mayo Clinic’s liver transplant and hepatocyte expertise enables us to progress towards addressing the world’s transplantable liver shortage.  [company website]

Biotech startup Miromatrix Medical (Eden Prairie, MN; no SBIR) closed on $5 million in financing, according to a regulatory filing.  ....  technology could eventually allow scientists to grow human organs using patients’ own cells, potentially eliminating the need for matching organ donors.  The company is seeking a total of $20 million .....  technology is based on research by Doris Taylor, who made headlines in 2008 when she and her research team grew a beating rat heart in a jar. (See a video of Taylor and other researchers from that year below.)  The company has raised more than $12 million in funding since 2011 [Katharine Grayson, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal , Oct 21, 13]

Biotech startup Miromatrix Medical (no SBIR) has lined up a $250,000 loan from the state of Minnesota. ...  commercializing technology developed at the University of Minnesota by Dr. Doris Taylor. Two years ago, Taylor successfully grew a beating rat heart in a jar [Katharine Grayson, Minneapolis/St Paul Business Journal, Jun 3, 10]

Mirus Bio (Madison, WI)

Mirus Bio (Madison, WI; $500K SBIR) said  it has developed a technique to switch off liver cells' ability to produce "bad" cholesterol. [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Jul 28]

Mission Bio (South San Francisco, CA

Mission Bio (South San Francisco, CA; $4.7M SBIR), the pioneer in high-throughput single-cell DNA and multi-omics analysis, announced $70 million in its Series C financing,bringing the company’s total funding to more than $120 million [to] scale its single-cell multi-omics technology, the Tapestri® Platform, to expand the company’s reach in more effective clinical trials for novel cancer treatments, as well as characterization for cell and gene therapy. [company press release, Aug 13, 20]

Mission Bio (South San Francisco, CA; $3.8M SBIR, founded 2013), pioneer in single-cell DNA analysis and precision genomics, announced it raised $30 million in Series B funding from Agilent Technologies [and others] [to] scale its unique single-cell DNA technology, the Tapestri® Platform, by expanding the market for blood cancer research, while at the same time broadening its scope to CRISPR applications and extending into global markets. [company press release, Dec 13, 18] prior funding $60M [crunchbase.com]

Mission Research

Mission Research will exit SBIR into the maw of Alliant Techsystems which will pay $230M for the ownership. Mission is a $180M a year business in things government loves - surveillance and remote targeting involving specialized sensors, antennas, composite materials and various imaging hardware and software. In 2002 it claimed 415 employees in the latest of its 269 DOD SBIRs. Back in 1986 when SBIR was still young, it had 400 employees. Do you think SBIR was a seed program for explosive growth or just another route for government contracts?

Mithridion (Madison, WI)

Mithridion (Madison, WI;  $300K SBIR) drug developer will announce Tuesday it has secured $1.25 million of funding that it will use to explore additional uses for its lead drug candidate.... developing drugs to improve brain function in patients with Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia, and perhaps even halting the progression of Alzheimer's. The company's lead drug candidate, which it calls MCD-386, has completed the first phase of clinical trials that included 55 volunteers, said Trevor M. Twose, Mithridion's chief executive. [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan 10, 11]

Mithridion (Madison, WI; $300K SBIR) said that results of an initial Phase I clinical trial has shown its lead Alzheimer's disease drug candidate has "first-in-class" potential for improving memory and cognition symptoms. [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Apr 8, 09]

Mithridion (Madison, WI; $300K SBIR) that is developing a drug aimed at improving brain function, and maybe even halting the progression of Alzheimer's disease, will announce today that it has raised another $2.9 million of funding.  [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Jan 12, 09]

Mithridion (Madison, WI; $300K SBIR)  that last month raised $2.3 million and acquired an Ohio drug development company is starting a clinical trial for a drug aimed at improving brain function and maybe even halting the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.It probably won’t be clear for three or more years [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Jul 10, 08]

Mobile Robots (Amherst, NH)

MobileRobots (Amherst, NH, one SBIR) has been acquired by California industrial robotics firm Adept Technology (no SBIR) for an undisclosed amount. ...  annual revenue of approximately $5 million ... MobileRobots specializes in making core robotics systems that can be used in an unstructured environment by having the robots learn their environments and respond to obstacles in their path. ... company had for years after its founding in 1995 been selling mainly to research institutions that would use its core technology as the basis for their own research robots.   [Rodney Brown, Mass High Tech, Jun 15, 10]

A Luxury Robot. Visit the offices of Mobile Robots (Amherst, NH; no SBIR) and you're met at the door by a robot toting two champagne glasses and a bottle of bubbly. "My name is Jeeves," it says. "Forgive my lack of a British accent. I haven't downloaded it yet." ...  [CEO Jeanne] Ditch has little use for [main competitor] robot's cheap and simple technology. "They're doing it at a hundredth of the price, and you're getting a hundredth of the quality," . ... the camera on her company's robots is of far higher quality and capable of a greater range of motion.  [Hiawatha Bray, Boston Globe (re-designed business page), Nov 12]

Mobius Therapeutics (St Louis,MO)

Cultivation Capital has invested just short of $11 million of the $20 million tech fund it created in 2012.   ...  started out as a tech fund, created its life sciences fund in 2013 with plans to invest some $30 million over five years.  ....  its portfolio: Immunophotonics (Columbia, MO; no SBIR) developed a cancer vaccine;  Molecular Sensing  (Nashville, TN; no SBIR) commercializing a label-free molecular interaction assay system based on Back-Scattering Interferometry;  Adarza BioSystems (WEST HENRIETTA, NY; $1.8M SBIR) early stage medical diagnostics;  Cardialen (Minneapolis, MN; no SBIR) developed a treatment to keep the heart in a normal rhythm for people suffering from atrial fibrillation (AF);  Euclises Pharmaceuticals (St Louis, MO; no SBIR) developing pain and cancer medications; Mobius Therapeutics (St Louis, MO; no SBIR) commercial stage venture focused on ophthalmic surgery solutions; Pulse Therapeutics (St. Louis, MO; no SBIR) developed a new approach to accelerate the concentration and delivery of physician-selected agents within the vasculature; Galera Therapeutics (Malvern, PA; no SBIR) focused on the development of breakthrough drugs targeting the oxygen metabolic pathways.  [Brian Feldt, St. Louis Business Journal, Oct 27, 14]   

Modern Meadow (Brooklyn, NY)

Lab-made leather replacements will soon join vegetable-based meat replacements on store shelves thanks to startups like Bolt Threads, which today announced that it would join companies like Modern Meadow (Brooklyn, NY; two SBIRs) in the quest to bring to market vegetable-based replacements for animal hides. ... Earlier this year, Bolt Threads raised a $123 million financing to expand its business beyond the manufacture of spider silk ... Working with established partner Stella McCartney and using technology licensed from the biomaterials company Ecovative Design, Bolt is bringing Mylo’s mushroom-based leather replacement to the world in a debut of one of McCartney’s Falabella bag designs made from the mushroom material. [Jonathan Shieber, TechCrunch, Apr 16, 18]

Modern Meadow  (Nutley, NJ; no SBIR, 60 staff) quietly developing [factory-made leather] ...  will begin production trials. ... raised more than $50m from investors and is collaborating with a number of as-yet-unnamed other firms in the clothing, shoe, furniture and automotive industries, hopes to bring the new material to market within two years.  [The Economist, Aug 26, 17]

Modern Technology Solutions (Alexandria, VA)

Modern Technology Solutions (Alexandria, VA; $1.6M SBIR for computer modeling) won a one-year, $88.7 million contract from the Missile Defense Agency to provide specialty engineering advisory and assistance services for the Ballistic Missile Defense System [Scott Nicholas, GovConWire, Oct 31, 17]

Modern Technology Solutions (Alexandria, VA) (Alexandria, VA; $1.6M SBIR) is kicking in $10,000 toward the expansion project at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.... has an office and 55 employees in the Dayton area. [Joe Cogliano, Dayton Bussines Journal, Jul 18, 13]

Moduline Systems (Grass Valley, CA)

Calbiotech (San Diego, CA; $200K SBIR, 30 employees, founded 1997) announced it bought Moduline Systems (Grass Valley, CA; four emoloyees, no SBIR, founded 1994)  .... Moduline manufactures equipment which other manufacturers use to build end use products for medical testing.  Calbiotech develops, manufactures and sells test kits and test products which are used by researchers and labs around the world in laboratory automation systems.   [Mark Anderson, Sacramento Business Journal, Dec 11, 13]

Modumetal (Seattle,WA)

Modumetal (Seattle, WA; $1.4M SBIR, founded 2007) raised a $33.5 million financing round to manufacture a metal that can last longer than steel and aluminum.  ... has deep connections to the oil and gas industry because of its core product — a process that creates a metal designed to be more corrosion-resistant, stronger and longer lasting than traditional metals, such as steel and aluminum. ....  uses “nano-layering” to create metal products built from extremely thin layers of material. Lomasney compares it to making plywood; the resulting sheet of layered materials is stronger than the original wood.  [Rachel Lerman, Seattle Times, Aug 24, 15]

Modumetal  (Seattle, WA;  $1.3M SBIR) with its sights set on developing a new material that’s stronger and lighter than steel, has raised $26.6 million, according to an SEC filing. ...  developing is one-third the weight of steel and could last 500 years without corroding. ... costs about the same amount as traditional metals.   The fast-growing company has developed a way to layer different metals together, creating a metal sandwich of thousands of leaves that is far stronger than any of those metals alone.  [Jacob Demmitt, Puget Sound Business Journal, Jun 8, 15]

MOgene Green Chemicals (St Louis,MO)

MOgene Green Chemicals LLC, a subsidiary of genomics services provider MOgene (St Louis, MO; no SBIR, founded 2004, 10 employees), startup has received $1.5 million from the Department of Energy to engineer a bacteria that can convert methane into a liquid fuel. ....    was one of 15 companies nationwide to get funding for projects to convert natural gases to fuel for transportation.   [E.B. Solomont, St Louis Business Journal, Sep 30, 13]

Mohawk Innovative Technology (Albany, NY)

Mohawk Innovative Technology (Albany, NY; at least $36M previous SBIR, founded 1994) won $1.5M SBIR [Liz Young, Albany Business Review, Apr 6, 18] total private raise $2.4M [crunchbase.com]

DOEnergy awarded $1.5M to Mohawk Innovative Technology (Albany, NY; 100 SBIRs) for a High Temperature Anode Recycle Blower for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells – to develop modular, low-cost, oil-free anode recycle blower (ARCB) technology to increase efficiency and support a reliable balance of plant subsystems. The approach will build on a prototype developed during Phase I and implement production optimizations and simplifications to reduce blower unit costs. The project will culminate in a 1,500-hour test of Mohawk’s ARCB in a 200-kilowatt SOFC prototype system.  [DOE press release, Mar 14, 18]   Such a program  is designed to reduce business risk of a technology that has been shown to work, not something that government should be doing to compete with private capital. Republican administrations used to object to such handouts, even firing the head of DARPA in the 1980s for advocating "dual use".  Note also: SBA has again made it more difficult for the public to discover SBIR payout data in convenient form. Perhaps the huge accumulation of SBIR in several "SBIR mills" has caught the eye of Congresscritters from the flyover states. Note also: the present Secretary of Energy had a track record of handing out tech R&D money to politically favored entities when governor of Texas. 

Molecular Assemblies (San Diego, CA)

Molecular Assemblies (San Diego, CA; $600K SBIR, founded 2013) announced it has raised a $12.2 million Series A financing [to]to advance the company’s proprietary enzymatic DNA synthesis technology to power DNA-based products in synthetic biology. [company press release, Oct 1, 19] total funding $19M [crunchbase.com]

Molecular Biometrics (Chester, NJ)

Molecular Biometrics (Norwood, MA; no SBIR)  diagnostic tool developer, has completed a $12.5 million Series B round of funding [Mass High Tech, Jan 12, 10]

a $12 million, first-round venture-capital financing of Molecular Biometrics (Chester, NJ; no SBIR) ... to support research and development on ViaMetrics-E, which it plans to launch in Europe, Japan and Australia next year. ViaMetrics-E is a diagnostic procedure designed to help identify the most viable embryos with the greatest reproductive potential for in vitro fertilization.  [Philadelphia Business Journal, Nov 10, 08]

Hoping for a short infancy, Molecular Biometrics  (Chester, NJ; no SBIR), an in vitro fertilization diagnostics company, is working on a $12 million Series A financing ... has developed a technique, using near-infrared spectroscopy, to detect biomarkers that can determine the viability of fertilized eggs within minutes, before reimplantation. The process increases the chances of successful implantation by 10 percent per cycle, the company said. Treatments run an average of three cycles at a cost of about $15,000 each.  [Mass High Tech, Aug 22]

Molecular Detection (Wayne, PA)

Molecular Detection (Wayne, PA; no SBIR)  has raised $3.5 million in a private stock sale, according to [SEC] documents ....  founded in 2007, develops molecular diagnostic tests used to detect infectious diseases.   [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal Apr 13, 12]

Molecular Detection (Wayne, PA; no SBIR) said that it has completed a $3.3 million Series C venture financing and that it has hired a CEO.  ... also said it is about to launch Detect-Ready, a test for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). [Philadelphia Business Journal, Oct 1, 09]

Molecular Diagnostics (Chicago, IL)

CytoCore (formerly Molecular Diagnostics, Chicago. IL; no SBIR) announced that MEDITE Group (Orlando, FL; no SBIR) , a leading developer of innovative, high-quality equipment and supplies for the cancer diagnostic segments of histology, pathology and cytology announced that it has signed a definitive purchase agreement to be acquired by CytoCore a late development stage bio molecular diagnostics company [company press release, Jan 13, 14]

Molecular Imprints (Austin, TX)

Canon (Japan) said  it would take over Molecular Imprints (Austin, TX; $200K SBIR) which develops nanoimprint lithography systems, in a bid to strengthen its chipmaking equipment business.  .... did not disclose a price    [Chang-Ran Kim, Reuters, Feb 14, 14] spun out of the University of Texas and a was recipient of a $3 million state technology grant in 2006 Laylan Copelin, Austin American Statesman, Feb 13]

Molecular Templates (Georgetown, TX; no SBIR) announced that it has secured $8.5 million from investors to fund clinical trials for a new treatment for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.  ... on top of a $10.6 million grant the company received in 2011 from the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas. The new treatment is expected to expand receptive cellular targets for cancer drugs, overcome resistance mechanisms and deliver precise payloads of targeted cell types.   [Chad Swiatecki, Austin Business Journal, Oct 8, 13]

Molecular Imprints (Austin TX; one Phase 1 SBIR), a nanotechnology company that makes advanced equipment used in producing computer chips, disk drives and other products, has raised $8.5M, bringing its investment backing to $80.5 M.  It's a loan from a unit of a British hedge fund. [Austin Statesman-American, Apr 4]

MolecularMD (Portland OR)

MolecularMD (Portland OR; no SBIR) Lands $6,000,000 Series B Funding  ...   Founded in 2006, MolecularMD is a molecular diagnostics company specializing in clinical development and commercialization of state-of-the-art genomic assays to measure patient response and resistance to targeted cancer therapies.  [xconomy.com, Apr 2, 12]

Molecular Sensing (Nashville,TN)

Cultivation Capital has invested just short of $11 million of the $20 million tech fund it created in 2012.   ...  started out as a tech fund, created its life sciences fund in 2013 with plans to invest some $30 million over five years.  ....  its portfolio: Immunophotonics (Columbia, MO; no SBIR) developed a cancer vaccine;  Molecular Sensing  (Nashville, TN; no SBIR) commercializing a label-free molecular interaction assay system based on Back-Scattering Interferometry;  Adarza BioSystems (WEST HENRIETTA, NY; $1.8M SBIR) early stage medical diagnostics;  Cardialen (Minneapolis, MN; no SBIR) developed a treatment to keep the heart in a normal rhythm for people suffering from atrial fibrillation (AF);  Euclises Pharmaceuticals (St Louis, MO; no SBIR) developing pain and cancer medications; Mobius Therapeutics (St Louis, MO; no SBIR) commercial stage venture focused on ophthalmic surgery solutions; Pulse Therapeutics (St. Louis, MO; no SBIR) developed a new approach to accelerate the concentration and delivery of physician-selected agents within the vasculature; Galera Therapeutics (Malvern, PA; no SBIR) focused on the development of breakthrough drugs targeting the oxygen metabolic pathways.  [Brian Feldt, St. Louis Business Journal, Oct 27, 14]   

Cultivation Capital, the St. Louis-based venture capital firm, has invested $500,000 into Molecular Sensing  (Nashville, TN; no SBIR) The biotech startup provides backscattering interferometry (BSI), which identifies molecular binding between a new drug candidate and its “target” molecule.  [Brian Feldt,  St. Louis Business Journal, Aug 18, 14]

Molecular Templates (Georgetown, TX)

Molecular Templates (Austin, TX; one SBIR) announced that it has entered into a restructuring agreement with K2 HealthVentures to satisfy and discharge MTEM’s outstanding secured debt obligations and terminate all other obligations under the existing debt financing facility between Molecular Templates and K2HV. [company press release, Jun 16, 2023]

Molecular Templates (Austin, TX; one SBIR) down 23% [Apr 5, 21] announced that, following discussion with its co-development partner Takeda, MTEM will assume full rights to TAK-169 including taking control of clinical development from Takeda. In addition, MTEM announced the decision to discontinue development of MT-3724, MTEM's only first-generation ETB. [company press release, Apr 5, 21]

Bristol Myers Squibb is putting down up to $1.3 billion on a next-gen engineered toxin body cancer platform from Molecular Templates (Georgetown, TX; one SBIR). [Ben Adams, Fierce Biotech, Feb 12, 21]

Molecular Templates down 21% [Nov 6, 20] reported quarterly financial results

Molecular Templates up 16% [Dec 19, 19]

Molecular Templates up 17% [Nov 29, 19]

Molecular Templates up 22% [Nov 21, 19] Announces Pricing of $50.0 Million Public Equity Offering [company press release, Nov 21, 19]

Molecular Templates (Austin TX; one SBIR in 2010) down 18% [Nov 13, 19] reported financial results

Molecular Templates up 52% [Sep 19, 18] after the developer of cancer treatments announced a joint-development partnership with Takeda Pharmaceutical  [Market Watch, Sep 18, 18]

Molecular Templates down 11%  [May 17, 18]

Molecular Templates up 11% [Jan 5, 18]

Molecular Templates up 16% [Oct 27, 17]

Molecular Templatesdown 17% [Oct 26, 17]

Molecular Templates down 20% [Oct 13, 17]

Molecular Templates  (Austin, TX; no SBIR) up 16% [Oct 6, 17]

Takeda Pharmaceutical (Japan) and Molecular Templates  (Austin, TX; no SBIR) announced a collaboration agreement for oncology drug discovery programs. The collaboration will apply Molecular Templates’ engineered toxin bodies (ETB) technology platform to potential therapeutic targets provided by Takeda through a joint scientific committee of both companies.  [joint companies press release, Aug 3, 17]  ...   Molecular Templates announced the completion of its previously announced merger with Threshold Pharmaceuticals (South San Francisco, CA; no SBIR, founded 2001) [Threshold press release, Aug 2, 17]  ... Molecular Templates raised $60 million on the day its [reverse-merger] purchase of Threshold Pharmaceuticals closed, according to two securities filings.  [Lilly Rockwell, Austin American-Statesman, Aug 15, 17]

Molecular Templates, (Georgetown, TX; no SBIR) received $15.2 million from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas for its treatment for multiple myeloma. The company is developing antibodies that use the immune system to find and kill cancer cells that express a glycoprotein called CD38. [Angela Shah, xconomy.com, Nov 30, 16]

The state of Texas’s canser fund  [Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (“CPRIT”)]  granted $32M to two companies: Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (Houston, TX; no SBIR) a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel cellular immunotherapies for cancers and orphan inherited blood disorders, announced an award totaling approximately $16.9 million to support clinical studies of its lead product candidate BPX-501 [conpany press releaase, Nov 18, 16]. and Molecular Templates, (Georgetown, TX; no SBIR) $15.2 million for its treatment for multiple myeloma [David Holley, xconomy.com, Nov 17, 16]

Molecular Templates (Georgetown, TX; no SBIR, founded 2009) a biopharmaceutical startup, has expanded its series C financing with an additional $3.5 million investment.  ... has secured more than $20 million of capital to date — focuses on the development of biologic therapies and disclosed Monday that the newest capital was supplied by Korea-based AJU IB Investment Co. Ltd  ...   it reported raising $7 million of the planned $8.5 million Series C round of funding it announced in late 2013 ... also collected $10.6 million from the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas, the $3 billion state agency which funds research, prevention and commercial therapies to combat cancer.  [Christopher Calnan, Austin Business Journal, Sep 15, 14]  

biotechnology company Molecular Templates (Georgetown, TX; no SBIR, 20 employees) completed a $7 million funding.[Christopher Calnan,  Austin Business Journal, Jul 7, 14] ....  originally founded by researchers at the University of Toronto and the Ontario Cancer Institute, but the company recently relocated to Austin in conjunction with the financing [in 2009]  [company website]

Molecular Templates (Georgetown, TX; no SBIR) has signed a deal with ImClone Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Eli Lilly & Co., to collaborate on researching and developing cancer drugs. .. received $2.5 million in venture funding last year in a round led by Sante Ventures in Austin. The company was founded in Canada but moved its headquarters last year to the Texas Life-Sciences Collaboration Center in Georgetown, which provides wet-lab space for biotech startups  [Austin American Statesman, Jul 7, 10]

Moleculin Biotech (NYC,NY and Houston, TX)

Moleculin Biotech down 47% [Apr 23, 19] announced a public offereng to raise $15M

Moleculin Biotech down 26% [Feb 16, 18]

Moleculin Biotech (Houston, TX; no SBIR, founded 2007, IPO Jun 2016, market cap $38M) is the first company listed on the Nasdaq composite to secure almost all its initial investors via Facebook. Starting with only 12 Facebook followers, Moleculin used a tactful, thoughtful and aggressive Facebook campaign to build its page followers to almost 77,000. [Jason Mudd, Washington Business Journal, Nov 6, 17]

Moleculin Biotech up 28% [Jan 10, 17]

Moleculin Bio  up 14% [Oct 31, 16]

Moleculin Bio  up 19% [Oct 26, 16]

Muleculin Biotechdown 14% [Oct 24, 16]

Moleculin Biotech  down 18% [Oct 21, 16]

Moleculin Biotech up 61% [Oct 20, 16] announced a reminder that it will host a conference call to discuss important positive developments regarding Annamycin, its drug candidate for the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia  [company press release]

Moleculin Biotech down 21% [Oct 14, 16]

Moleculin Biotech down 10% [Oct 10, 16]

Moleculin Biotech down 12% [Oct 6, 16]

Moleculin Biotech  down 13% [Jun 13, 16]

Moleculin Biotech up 11% [Jun 3, 16]

Moleculin Biotech  (NYC, NY and Houston, TX; no SBIR) up 33% [Jun 2, 16] after a $9M IPO to commence a further Phase II clinical trial for Annamycin, an anthracycline for the treatment of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia, more commonly referred to as AML.  [company press release, Jun 2]

Molten Metal

Molten Metal Leads the Plunge (Jan 5) The biggest NASDAQ of 1997 was Molten Metal (Waltham, MA) which lost 99.2% of its value to $.09 per share. Forbes Jan 12, Politics)also carries a unflattering story on Maurice Strong, a MM founder and board member, who has been involved in some other enterprises that didn't do well. MM exemplifies a big government bet on a new technology, unlike the little bets placed with SBIR. Government's track record is a lot better with the little bets. Big bets get entangled in politics because so much money and so many reputations and careers are at stake.

Molten Metal Finds $7M (Dec 24) Molten Metal (Waltham, MA) found $7M secured by all its assets, with an interest in another $20M (secured by more than its assets?). The lender must be an optimist.

Molten Metal Melts (Dec 5) In contrast, Molten Metal (Waltham, MA) melted when it declared bankruptcy on Dec 3. The stock which had traded as high as $28 in 1996 melted to 25 cents. Molten Metal has a big idea with a large social payoff, which would survive only in the ideal world of zero-pollution environmentalists. Still, the idea could be widely adopted if it could be economic. But only government would put in the big money required to develop it since it soon looked too expensive for today's environmental economics. When government stopped pouring in the money, the company's prospects collapsed. Whether government should have continued to prop up the technology is, of course, a political question as are many of DOE's better things for better living through subsidy. 

Haney Quits, SBIR Writ Large (Nov 19) Haney Quits. The resignation of founder Bill Haney highlights the problems at Molten Metal coming from an innovative technology that is too expensive and too dependent on government support. Yesterday's Boston Globe said that MM which was dogged by financial woes and a Congressional investigation into its political activities, appeared headed for a meltdown yesterday as its top executive resigned and the company acknowledged it was running out of cash .. and ... may have to cease ''normal operations'' after this month. ... John Preston, a founding director of was named chairman. Two directors also resigned. It is SBIR writ large, with all the trauma that comes from large government involvement, even though Molten Metal is not an SBIR dependent (the $33M was beyond SBIR's scope.) It is now proved to be a technology that can exist only on subsidy, like solar power, from subsidy-wonks in the Energy Department and politicians likely to claim local jobs wherever a "demonstration" plant operates. US Steel which declined to exploit the technology when it was invented in its own labs, no doubt feels like it dodged a bullet.

Converting Trash and Skeptics Converting Trash and Skeptics (Aug 13) Molten Metal has several problems, or rather like the welfare recipient - one big problem which is finding enough to eat. The stock has been hit 50% this year atop 64% last year (the magic of percentages keeps 50+64 < 100) because the magic process isnt converting skeptics as well as it converts trash. Why not? The same problem all the SBIR beneficiaries have in commercializing their magic technology - cost. While most government technical experts care little about cost, the private market focuses on the cost-effectiveness margin. But MM having burned $33M of government subsidy now expects that well to have dried up before the market accepts the results. Perhaps most critical, Molten Metal is scheduled to begin operations in the fall at a Texas plant that will recycle hazardous waste generated by Celanese Corp. into resalable synthetic gas and acid products. Celanese will buy the gas and other companies will purchase the acid.[story Boston Globe, Aug 12]

Molten Metal Fires R&D
(May 16) Molten Metal, the dream machine that US Steel didn't want, fired 77 R&D people to cut its staff to under 100 and said that its earnings will be less than the Street expects. Lots of action in the stock recently.

Molten Metal Hit by Strike Suit
(Feb 14) Shareholders sued because they were hurt by Molten Metal's failure to tell them that the federal funding was in jeopardy and misrepresented its commercial viability. What do they want? Guaranteed weather prediction, too. All federal funding is always in jeopardy as are commercial prospects always mere speculation. Ask any SBIR company. At least California's Prop 211 lost which if enacted would have made all corporate predictions a thing of history.

Molten Metal Meltdown
Lost $800M, half its market value, in a day did Molten Metal when it reported that the government wouldn't bless it with so much money and that two insiders had sold 85,000 shares. Once again, energy companies show how dependent they are on DOE funding since energy programs came to life in the 1970s. The politicians and the Energy-crats forever blather the commercial potential of what they subsidize as though they expect the market to believe that what's good for re-election in New Mexico and Tennessee is good enough for stocks. Until the music stops or even misses a beat. Someone once noted that not a kilowatt of solar energy was ever generated in the US without a subsidy. And Bob Dole thinks he can shut the Energy Department!

MoMelan Technologies

Medical device company MoMelan Technologies (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) got more money in its previously reported funding round, almost reaching the planned top end of $5 million, federal documents show. ...  making a device designed to stretch skin to improve the cost, time and patient experience of skin graft procedures   [Rodney Brown, Mass High Tech, Jul 20, 11]

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, a quasi-public agency, awarded $3.75 million in loans to five early-stage life sciences companies. AesRX (Newton, MA; no SBIR)  biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of sickle cell disease and other orphan drugs; MoMelan Technologies (MA; no SBIR) medical device company; Myomo (Cambridge,MA; one SBIR) focused on helping people move again after a neuro-muscular impairment; ECI Biotech (Worcester, MA $1.6M SBIR) developer and manufacturer of affordable diagnostic sensors that can be incorporated into any consumer product or medical device; and Grove Instruments (Worcester, MA; $400K SBIR) developing a painless, noninvasive technology that accurately measures blood sugar.  [Boston Globe, Mar 23, 11]

Momentus (Los Angeles CA)

Momentus (Los Angeles CA; one SBIR) up 48% [Apr 6, 22]

Monebo (Austin, TX)

From the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, Image Trends (Austin, TX; no SBIR) which develops image correction and enhancement products for commercial and amateur photographers will receive $1 million, and RFMicron (Austin, TX; no SBIR) $250,000 to speed development of its microchip technology  [Lori Hawkins, Austin American-Statesman, Jul 14, 08]  Og ten central TX companies fed from the fund, only one has failed so far: Nanocoolers (no SBIR) Tried to create a thermoelectric cooling system that would help cool semiconductors. Closed in 2007. The others: Molecular Imprints Inc. Nanotechnology company that makes advanced equipment used in producing computer chips, disk  drives and other products. Monebo Technologies (no SBIR) Heart monitoring device called CardioBelt that enables users to obtain their own electrocardiogram while at home.  Quantum Logic Devices  ($1+M SBIR, moved from NC) Developing a system that uses single-electron devices to analyze  DNA, protein and other molecular interactions. Receptor Logic Ltd. (no SBIR) Developing antibodies to improve understanding of the immune system and lead to better drugs and vaccines. Xitronix (no SBIR) Developing advanced semiconductor testing technology. XTreme Power (no SBIR) Developing electrical storage systems that are used to cut energy bills for commercial and industrial plants.

Monebo Technologies (Austin) got $500K for a heart monitoring device called CardioBelt, and Hanson Robotics (Dallas) $1.5M to commercialize its robotics technologies. The Texas Emerging Technology Fund has now passed out $44M toward its legislated goal of $200M. [Austin American-Statesman, and Dallas Morning News, Oct 25]  Neither company shows any SBIR.

Monogram Biosciences (South San Francisco, CA)

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings will acquire Monogram Biosciences (South San Francisco, CA; $10M SBIR in only five projects)  for about $155 million, the companies said [The Business Review (Albany), Jun 23, 09]

Monteris Medical (Plymouth, MN and Winnipeg)

Monteris Medical (Plymouth, MN; no SBIR, founded 1999) which makes tumor-destroying laser technology, has secured $10.7 million of the $17 million of [planned] equity financing [Alex Wittenberg, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, Jan 28, 19] prior funding $132M [crunchbase.com]

Monteris Medical (Plymouth, MN and Winnipeg, Manitoba; no SBIR) announced the recent completion of a Series C financing, raising $26.6M in new equity.  ... leader in the market for minimally invasive, MRI-guided laser ablation systems for treating brain lesions.  ...  currently markets the NeuroBlate® System in the United States and Canada as a surgical tool that provides neurosurgeons an alternative to traditional craniotomies.  [company press release, Jun 1, 17]

Monteris Medical (Plymouth, MN; no SBIR, founded in Canada in 1999, 75 employees)  raised $6.8 million in new financing through a combination of debt and options according to [SEC] filing .... indicates that Monteris ultimately hopes to raise $10 million.  The company’s NeuroBlate System gives surgeons a tool to tactically remove brain lesions and tumors with robotic laser technology.  [Burl Gilyard, Twin Cities Business, Nov 23, 16]

Monteris Medical (Plymouth, MN; no SBIR, founded 1999 in Canada) which makes a laser system for destroying brain tumors, raised $30 million in equity financing.  ... to expand sales of its NeuroBlate System and fund clinical studies. ... product was commercialized in a limited U.S. launch in late 2010   [Katharine Grayson, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, Nov 21, 14]

Monteris Medical (Plymouth, MN and Winnipeg; no SBIR) closed on $13.3 million in financing that will go toward ramping up sales and marketing of its laser technology  ...to burn and coagulate hard-to-reach brain tumors that are considered inoperable.  [Katharine Grayson, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal , Oct 23, 13]

Morphormics (Chapel Hill, NC)

Morphormics (Chapel Hill, NC; no SBIR), spun out of UNC-Chapel Hill received a $2 M NIH grant to commercialize its 3-D mapping technology that improves radiation treatment of prostate cancer. ....  will get its technology, which creates anatomical road maps of patients, ready for use in people  [Raleigh News & Observer, Sep 6, 08]

Morphotek (Exton, PA)

life sciences company Morphotek (Exton, PA; one SBIR plus multiple other USG funding, founded 2000) trimmed its workforce by 27 positions. [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, Mar 18, 16]    has several monoclonal antibodies in clinical development for cancer and inflammatory disease. ... In 2007, was acquired by Eisai, a global health care pharmaceutical company [having already raised abiout $80M] ....  In 2015 Announces a License Agreement With Blaze Bioscience (Seattle WA; $1.7M SBIR)  For The Development of Novel Oncology Imaging Technology   [company website]

Morphotek (Exton, PA; one SBIR) is opening its 60,000-square-foot biologics manufacturing plant in Exton, Pa. The $80 million facility was built by Morphotek to give the company the capability to make its proprietary biologic therapeutic products for use in early-stage clinical trials. [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, Aug 13, 12]

Morphotek (Exton, PA, a subsidiary of Eisai Woodcliff Lake, N.J; one SBIR) biopharmaceutical company, said that it has been awarded a $2.5 million government contract to continue to develop defenses against potential bioweapons. [Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct 21, 10]

Morris Innovative Research (Bloomington IN)

Morris Innovative Research (Bloomington IN; no SBIR) received the highest classification of approval from the Food and Drug Administration for a device that helps stanch the flow of blood after catheterization. ...12 full-time employees, held successful clinical trials in 2004 for the device, which includes a sheath to help catheters and a plug of pig intestine used to stop the increased flow of blood and encourage clotting. A pilot launch is planned in a few weeks in the Indianapolis area. [Indianapolis Star, Sep 11]

Mortara Instrument   (Milwaukee,WI)

Mortara Instrument (Milwaukee, WI; no SBIR)'s wireless heart-monitoring device scored a significant victory in Italy. Local government officials in Milan said they will put device in all 100 ambulances that serve the Milan area's 3.5 million people.  [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dec 11, 09]

Physicist David Mortara built his company Mortara Instrument (Milwaukee,WI; no SBIR) around a vision for practical, simple and affordable heart monitoring equipment systems. ...  formed in 1982, tied for 75th on Deloitte's 2009 Wisconsin 75 list of the state's largest privately held companies. ... in 2004 beat out the big players for a contract to store the Food and Drug Administration's heart safety data from trials and provide tools for evaluating it, he said.  [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Oct 2, 09]

Morta Security

In the last year, former DOD and intelligence agency operatives have headed to Silicon Valley to create technology start-ups specializing in tools aimed at thwarting online threats. ...  In 2012, more than $1 billion in venture financing poured into security start-ups, more than double the amount in 2010, according to the NVCA. ... One of the start-ups is Synack, which promises to vet an army of hackers to hunt for security vulnerabilities in the computer systems of government agencies and private companies. The company’s co-founders, Jay Kaplan and Mark Kuhr, met in Fort Meade, Md., in the counterterrorism division of NSA ...  Morta Security, another of the start-ups, was founded by Raj Shah, a former F-16 fighter pilot for the Air Force in Iraq. He described himself as “a policy adviser” to the N.S.A. before moving to Silicon Valley .... Last year, Sumit Agarwal left his post as a deputy assistant secretary of defense to join Shape Security, a Mountain View company that offers what it calls “military grade” security solutions against botnets  [Somini Sengupta, New York Times, Aug 22, 13]  SBIR isn't a source since intelligence agencies don't do it, but any agency is free to invent its own version of SBIR.

Motif

Motif, a startup that's a subsidiary of biotechnology major Ginkgo Bioworks, launched today with $90M Series A in its pocket to make alternative proteins. [DCInno, Feb 25, 19]

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Motricity

Move and layoffs repeat a Motricity pattern.  Until last week, Motricity was a symbol for entrepreneurial possibility and a shining corporate headquarters for the city of Durham. Then executives announced a restructuring last week at the behest of shareholders. They called for cutting hundreds of jobs and moving the headquarters to the West Coast. ... Venture capitalists, who have sunk more than $380 million into Motricity since 2001 and wield strong influence, backed the InfoSpace deal for its potential to more than double sales, slash overhead and drive up the value of their asset. [Frank Norton, Raleigh News&Observer, Mar 14]

Software company Motricity, one of the Triangle's most lauded technology companies [says]t it will slash 250 local workers and relocate its headquarters to the West Coast. [Raleigh News&Observer, Mar 5]

Motricity (Durham, NC; no SBIR)  raised more venture capital than any other private company based in the [NC] Triangle -- about $200M since being founded in 2001. ... Now it wants to raise as much as $170 M to pay for an acquisition that could boost its chances of a Wall Street debut ... would expand its position in mobile infrastructure with a business whose revenue has been growing at about 50 percent annually [Frank Norton, Raleigh News&Observer, Sep 25]

Billionaire financier Carl Icahn has invested $50M in Motricity (Durham, NC; no SBIR) ... which boosts total investments in Motricity to a Triangle record of $216M and will allow the company to pursue acquisitions .. .provides technology that helps people buy and receive games, graphics, ring tones and music on their mobile phones, is one of the region's fastest-growing technology companies [Anne Krishnan, Raleigh News & Observer, Feb 27]

Mound Laser & Photonics Center (Miamisburg, OH)

Dayton celebrates NASA Phase II SBIR awards:   Spectral Energies (Dayton, OH; $8M SBIR) two awards;  Cornerstone Research Group (Beavercreek OH; $35M SBIR) two awards;   Nu Waves (Middletown, OH; no SBIR);  Applied Optimization (Dayton, OH; $4M SBIR); Mound Laser & Photonics Center  (Miamisburg, OH; $4.6M SBIR). [Joe Cogliano, Dayton Business Journal, Apr 20, 15]  So NASA handed $5M to a group of firms that have already had $50M of the nursery money.   Dayton and the Dayton CODEL love it, but the American economy will see no growth spurt.   

Movia Robotics (Hartford, CT)

Last year, [Movia Robotics (Hartford, CT; no SBIR)] had about $50,000 in revenue, and this year, [CEO] Gifford expects it will be $200,000. But most of that money does not come from the robots themselves. Roughly half the revenue was a government grant to help develop Hartford HealthWorks, a medical-device themed incubator planned for Hartford's North End.  That spur of the business started after Movia won the MetroHartford Alliance's prize for best startup firm in 2011  [Mara Lee, Hartford Courant, Sep 26, 15]

Moximed (Hayward, CA)

Moximed (Hayward, CA; no SBIR, founded 2008) raised $33 million in private equity to help patients suffering from knee pain. ... makes a joint-unloading knee implant for pre-arthroplasty patients who lead an active lifestyle.    [Gina Hall, Silicon Valley Business Journal, May 7, 15]

mPower Technology (Albuquerque, NM)

MPower Technology (Albuquerque, NM; one SBIR) solar startup announced it has closed an additional $1.85 million in Series A funding, bringing the company’s total Series A round to $4.35 million [for] A revolutionary new technology called DragonSCALES™, a completely flexible, interconnected mesh of miniature solar cells [company press release, Mar 24, 20]

mPower Technology (Albuquerque, NM; one SBIR) innovative solar cell technology startup, raised $2.5m in Series A funding [to] commercialize mPower’s solar cell technology, DragonSCALEsTM, in the aerospace market. [finsmes.com, Oct 28, 19]

MPP Group (Wauwatosa, WI)

start-ups in the drug field within the Milwaukee 7 economic development region suggests another strategic direction for the regional economy. Those new ventures come as Concordia University of Wisconsin mounts an impressive campaign to build a new pharmacy school in southeastern Wisconsin, possibly in downtown Milwaukee. ... New ventures  in the emerging drug-making concentration:  MPP Group  (no SBIR), a venture headed by serial entrepreneur Frank Langley that is building drugs aimed at alcoholism. James Cook, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee researcher, developed the compounds.  Neuro Amp (no SBIR), a spin-off from PhysioGenix (Wauwatosa, WI; $3M SBIR) that is aiming at diseases of the central nervous system and Alzheimer's.  Promentis (no SBIR), a collaboration between Marquette University's David Baker and UWM researchers and former Schwarz Pharma managers who are targeting schizophrenia and central nervous system disorders.  Cytometix (no SBIR) , a 2004 start-up headed by Lane Brostrom that is developing drugs for the treatment of pain and asthma. Endece  (no SBIR), a 2006 Mequon start-up headed by James Yarger that is developing compounds for treating cancer, sepsis, learning and memory. [John Torinus, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan 31, 09]

MPP Group LLC (Wauwatosa, WI; no SBIR)  pharmaceutical development company landed a $630,000 package from the state Department of Commerce  .... a $250,000 low-interest loan and $380,000 in grants. ...  Word must get out that the state is eager to help high-tech entrepreneurs, said Torinus and others who participated in the meeting sponsored by the Wisconsin Biotechnology and Medical Device Association.   [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Aug 28]

MPSP (Milwaukee, WI)

[Wisconsin]EDC certified four other companies to receive the tax credits They were: MPSP LLC, Milwaukee; HuTerra LLC, De Pere; and HealthMyne Inc., Madison. Pegasus Sustainability Solutions Inc., Fitchburg, was approved to receive the certification and a $125,000 loan.  WEDC also said Tuesday that it has approved low-interest loans for two other emerging companies. Xolve Inc., Middleton, will receive a $330,000 loan; and Shamrock Energy Corp., Neenah, will get a $150,000 loan.[Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jul 2, 13]  None had SBIR. 

MSNW (Redmond,WA)

Helion Energy  (Redmond, WA;  no SBIR) working on the illusive challenge of fusion energy, announced a $1.5 million investment from Mithril, the investment firm. The company is working on what it says is a technology capable of producing cheap, clean electricity by using electromagets to compress deuterium to ridiculously high temperatures and pressures. The deuterium “fuses and the expanding particle energy is directly converted to electricity, pulsing once per second,” the company says in a news release.   ....  has previously attracted a $5 million Department of Energy grant to prove its technology at a small scale.  [Benjamin Romano, xconomy.com, Aug 15,  14]    has licensed the IPA fusion technology from MSNW LLC (Redmond, WA; no SBIR) which has the same executives as Helion [MSNW website]

Mudawar Thermal Systems (West Lafayette, IN)

Mudawar Thermal Systems, (West Lafayette, IN; at least $1M SBIR) that focuses on creating cooling technologies for applications ranging from the space shuttle to nuclear reactors, has been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the Navy. The three-person company, founded by professor Issam Mudawar in 1992 at Purdue Research Park, is creating software to remove performance-robbing heat from electronics in devices such as avionics, X-ray machines and hybrid vehicle propulsion systems. [Indianapolis Star, Dec 5, 08]

Munksjo Paper (Fitchburg, MA)

Mason Box (North Attleboro, MA) is among several local companies that have been selected to participate in the "Next Generation Manufacturing Initiative, or NGMI, an effort to foster best-in-class manufacturing processes. Other participants in the initiative include Hoppe Tool (Chicopee, MA), Matouk Textiles (Fall River, MA),  Munksjo Paper (Fitchburg, MA), and Spectro Coating (Leominster, MA).  The initiative is a partnership of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, a nonprofit group representing Bay State employers; MassDevelopment, the commonwealth's finance and development authority; and the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a group dedicated to helping local manufacturers remain competitive in a global marketplace.  [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Jun 19]  No SBIR.

Muons (Batavia, IL)

The rest of DOE,'s Phase II list also shows a preference for SBIR experience: Euclid Labs (Solon, OH; $18M SBIR since 2004, all DOE including one $10M award), four new Phase IIs;  Radiabeam Technologies (Santa Monica, CA, $10M SBIR since 2005  SBIR) three awards; Tech-x (Boulder, CO; something over $50M SBIR since 1994) three new awards Muons (Batavia, IL;  $13M since 2002 SBIR, all DOE) three awards; Far-Tech (San Diego, CA;$9+M SBIR since 2003) two awards; Ridgetop Group (Tucson, AZ; $10M SBIR since 2002) two awards;  Calabazas Creek Research (San Mateo, CA; $26M since 1994) two awards; Niowave (Lansing, MI;  $5M since 2007 SBIR) two awards; Mesa Photonics  (Santa Fe, NM;  $0.8M since 2008 SBIR) two awards; Green Mountain Radio Research ( Colchester, VT;  $5.7M SBIR)  two awards.  Of 104 awards, 33 went to multiple winners who already had collected $378M SBIR from the federal government.  Is DOE over-emphasizing contractor competence at the expense of companies and technologies with brighter futures?  No one knows becasue Congress shows little interest in the question, and the agency has a bias toward making itself smarter.

Muse bio (Boulder, CO)

Muse bio (Boulder, CO; no SBIR), leading the development of next-generation genome engineering capabilities, announced the completion of a $23 million Series B financing. ... to advance development of its gene editing and single-cell writing technology    [company press release, Feb 28, 17]

Mx Orthopedics

Mx Orthopedics( no SBIR) has taken in $1 million in a seed round of funding, according to federal documents.  ....  founded in early 2008 ...  patent issued to Mx Orthopedics in May for a self-locking bone prosthetic structure that uses a shape memory material to make for a better fit for the part of replacement hips that are driven into the open channel into the center of the femur.   [Rodney Brown, Mass High Tech, Nov 1, 11]

Mycogen (San Diego, CA)

Pfenex  (San Diego, CA; no SBIR, founded 2009), a Dow Chemical spinoff developing a drug for retinal diseases, filed with the SEC Thursday to raise $74.8 million in  [IPO]  ....  Pfenex's technology was originally developed at Mycogen (San Diego, CA; no SBIR), biotech later purchased by Dow.  [Bradley Fikes, utsandiego.com, Jun 5, 14]

Myco Technology (Aurora, CO)

Interstate bribery competition.  Colorado Economic Development Commission members offered four companies $11.6 million to bring more than 650 jobs to the state, including two worldwide firms ... Commissioners agreed to offer $6.03 million to an unnamed information technology company with employees across the United States that wants to expand its operations and create 262 jobs at an average salary of $108,504 — a pay grade 56 percent higher than the average salary of any Front Range county.  ...  the commission offered $5.02 million in incentives to a company that offers audit, tax and advisory services in 156 countries worldwide to open a facility to design, implement and engineer technology solutions for its clients.  ... also voted unanimously to offer $361,741 in incentives to Myco Technology (Aurora, CO; no SBIR), a year-old food and agriculture technology company that is looking to create 43 new jobs either in Aurora or the Albuquerque area. The company is negotiating with top-tier venture capital firms and hopes to secure a major funding round by November.     [Ed Sealover,  Denver Business Journal, Oct 9, 14]  [Myco Technology] focused on unlocking new opportunities in the food and beverage industry. We use a proprietary 100% natural non-GMO bio-process to transform agricultural products to enhance their value.  We are pioneers in the field of myceliated agriculture. By fermenting agricultural products with strains of our unique gourmet mushrooms, our patent-pending process greatly enhances the taste, aromas, nutritional value and other characteristics of foods and beverages. [company website]

Myocor (Maple Grove, MN)

Myocor (Maple Grove, MN, founded 1996; no SBIR) announced that its percutaneous iCoapsys device was successfully implanted by Dr. Wes Pedersen, an interventional cardiologist with the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation  .... a clinical stage medical device company dedicated to developing less invasive therapeutic options for the treatment of mitral regurgitation and heart failure.  [Minneapolis Star-Tribune, May 14,08]

MyoKardia (South San Francisco, CA)

MyoKardia (Brisbane, CA; no SBIR) up 59% [May 11, 20] announced positive topline data from the company's Phase 3 pivotal EXPLORER-HCM clinical trial of mavacamten for the treatment of patients with symptomatic, obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) (clinicaltrials.gov NCT03470545). [company press release, May 11, 20]

MyoKardia down 14% [Jan 2, 19] French Big Pharma Sanofi is walking away from a heart drug disease pact with MyoKardia ahead of data readouts coming later this year. ... Sanofi wanted out of the pact that it initially signed with the California-based biotech back in 2014. The deal included a $230 million funding boost [Ben Adams, Fierce Biotech, Jan 2, 19]

MyoKardia’s mavacamten hit its primary and secondary endpoints in a phase 2 trial testing it in patients with symptomatic, obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM). [Amirah Al Idrus, Fierce Biotech, Mar 8, 18]

MyoKardia up up 15% [Jan 9, 18]

Myokardia up 12% [Dec 7, 17]

MyoKardia announced that its experimental drug mavacamten improved heart function in patients with an inherited cardiac condition.  [Phil Taylor, Fierce Biotech, Aug 7, 17]

MyoKardia up 15% [Aug 8, 17]

MyoKardia  (South San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) up 82% [Aug 7, 17] announced positive topline data from the first patient cohort of its Phase 2 PIONEER-HCM study of mavacamten in symptomatic, obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM) patients. This cohort met the primary endpoint of change in post-exercise peak left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) gradient from baseline to week 12 as well as key secondary endpoints, including peak oxygen consumption (peak VO(2) ).  ....  also  announced that it has commenced a proposed underwritten public offering of 3,500,000 shares of its common stock    [company press releases, Aug 7, 17]

Myokardia up 20% [Nov 9, 16]

Myokardia up 10% [Nov 4, 16]

Myokardia down 10% [Sep 9, 16]

MyoKardia up 32% [Jul 12, 16]

MyoKardia up 10% [Jun 7, 16]

MyoKardia up 11% [Mar 11,16]

Myokardia up 11% [Dec 17, 15]

Myokardia  down 10% [Dec 14, 15]

Myokardia up 10%  [Nov 11, 15]

heart drug developer MyoKardia (South San Francisc, CA; no SBIR, founded 2012) priced its IPO well below targets, raising $54 million ... targets hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM, a condition that has been implicated in sudden cardiac arrest and death of young athletes. ... raised about $98 million from private investors before going public  [Cromwell Schubarth, Silicon Valley Business Journal. Oct 29, 15]

Early-stage heart drug developer MyoKardia (South San Francisco, CA; no SBIR, founded 2012) wants to raise $86.25 million in an [IPO], the company announced. ...  targeting hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM implicated in the sudden deaths of young athletes]. The condition causes a thickening of the heart muscle, making the heart less efficient and leading to sudden cardiac arrest.  [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, Sep 28, 15]

MyoKardia (South San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) which started human clinical trials this year on a drug aimed at genetic heart disease, landed $46 million in Series B funding, the company said  ...  with a drug, called MYK-461, that targets hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM. The condition causes a thickening of the heart muscle, making the heart less efficient and leading to sudden cardiac arrest.  [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times Apr 30, 15]

Startup MyoKardia (South San Francisco, CA; no SBIR)  focus on treatments for deadly genetic heart diseases has landed a potential $200 million collaboration with French drug maker Sanofi.  ...  has zeroed in on hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathies, conditions that can lead to heart failure. Its focus is on the genes of the proteins in a heart muscle, called the sarcomere, that cause either a thickening of the heart that makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood to other parts of the body, or a thinning of the muscle.  [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, Sep 16, 14] 

Third Rock Ventures is backing an all-star lineup of cardiovascular researchers with a $38 million Series A round to discover and develop drugs aimed at key genetic heart mutations. MyoKardia (South San Francisco, CA; no SBIR)., which will operate lab space next to fellow Third Rock startup Global Blood Therapeutics(no SBIR), is aimed at a putting together a pipeline of small-molecule drugs that initially will treat hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathy. Those conditions can lead to heart failure.  [San Francisco Business Times, Sep 20, 12]

Myomo (Boston, MA)

Myomo up 23% [Nov 23, 20]

Myomo up 19% [Nov 11, 20]

Myomo up 43% [Feb 19, 20]

Myomo down 46% [Feb 11, 20]

Myomo down 26% [Feb 10, 20]

Myomo down 35% [Feb 7, 20]

Myomo up 89% [Feb 5, 20]

Myomo (Charlestown, MA; one SBIR) up 115% [Feb 4, 20] a wearable medical robotics company that offers increased functionality for those suffering from neurological disorders and upper limb paralysis, announced that Statutory Health Insurance in Germany has approved MyoPro for patients on a case by case basis. [company press release, Feb 3, 20]

Myomo down 10%  [May 15, 18]

Myomo up 23%  [May 14, 18] up 19%  [May 14, 18] Three additional analyses conducted on the results of the NASH-CX trial since we published initial, top-line trial results further support our belief that GR-MD-02 is the first compound to demonstrate clinically meaningful positive effects in patients with NASH cirrhosis without esophageal varices. [company press release, May 11, 18]

Myomo down 14%  [May 10, 18]

Myomo down 10% [Apr 23, 18]

Myomo up 11% [Apr 20, 18]

Myomo  up 21% [Apr 3, 18] 

Myomo up 10% [Mar 5, 18]

Myomo up 20% [Feb 28, 18]

Myomo up 10% [Jan 25,18]

Myomo up 13% [Jan 22,18]

Myomo up 18% [Dec 22, 17]

Myomo up 11% [Dec 19, 17]

Myomo up 14% [Dec 7, 17]

Myomo up 16% [Dec 6,17]

Myomo down 24% [Nov 30, 17]

Myomo down 11% [Nov 27, 17]

Myomo down 12%[Nov 14, 17]

Myomo down 29% [Nov 8, 17]

Myomo up 109% [Nov 7, 17]

Myomo up 45% [Nov 3, 17] announced that its Application for a Canadian Medical Device License has been approved by Health Canada. With the license, Myomo and its distribution partner, Ottobock, are now entering the Canadian market for commercial sale of the MyoPro myolelectric arm orthosis (powered brace).  [company press release, Nov 3, 17]  

Myomo down 12% [Nov 2, 17]

Myomo up 13% [Oct 31, 17]

Myomo up 15% [Oct 27, 17]

Myomo down 10% [Oct 12, 17]

Myomo down 13% [Sep 15,17]

Myomo up 12% [Aug 24, 17]

Myomo down 13% [Aug 8, 17]

Myomo up 13% [Jul 31, 17]

Myomo down 11% [Jul 27, 17]

Myomo down 10% [Jul 13, 17]

Myomo up 11% [Jul 12, 17]

Myomo down 12% [Jul 6, 17]

Myomo down 10% [Jun 26,17]

Myomo  down 23% [Jun 21,17]

Myomo up 34% [Jun 19,17]

Myomo up 61% [Jun 16,17]

Myomo up 33% [Jun 15,17]

Medical-robotics maker Myomo (Cambridge,MA; one SBIR) completed its [$8M IPO] and is now set to become the first company to list on a major U.S. exchange through a little-used provision of federal law known as Reg A+.  ....  makes orthotic devices for people with upper-body paralysis.   [Corrie Driebusch, Wall Street Jounral, Jun 11, 17]

Medical-robotics maker Myomo (Cambridge, MA; one SBIR in 2007) is taking a shortcut to go public for $15M. ... is tapping Reg A+, a provision of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, a 2012 law designed to help fund small-business growth and increase employment by removing some hurdles for companies trying to go public.  Reg A+ allows companies to raise up to $50 million by pitching their IPOs to all investors—not just those with a certain net worth or income—in fast-tracked deals.  [Corrie Driebusch, Wall Street Journal, Jun 1, 17]

Myomo (Cambridge, MA; $150K SBIR, spun out of MIT in 2006) medical device company spun out of MIT, launched an unusually structured public offering of stock aimed at raising up to $15 million and getting the company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.  -based Myomo is taking advantage of a change in federal securities law enacted through the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act passed under the Obama administration. ...  has raised $20 million from private investors. [Jeff Engel, xcconomy.com, Mar 15, 17]

Myomo  (Cambridge, MA; one SBIR), a medical-device startup whose robotic braces act like “power steering for your arm,” ...   newest round of financing—$2 million is the final piece of a $7 million investment the company started collecting last year.  ....  will help bid to sell its motor-assisted arm braces in more of the 3,000 medical orthotics and prosthetics shops around the U.S. [Curt Woodward, xconomy.com, Oct 9, 13]

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, a quasi-public agency, awarded $3.75 million in loans to five early-stage life sciences companies. AesRX (Newton, MA; no SBIR)  biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of sickle cell disease and other orphan drugs; MoMelan Technologies (MA; no SBIR) medical device company; Myomo (Cambridge, MA; one SBIR) focused on helping people move again after a neuro-muscular impairment; ECI Biotech (Worcester, MA $1.6M SBIR) developer and manufacturer of affordable diagnostic sensors that can be incorporated into any consumer product or medical device; and Grove Instruments (Worcester, MA; $400K SBIR)developing a painless, noninvasive technology that accurately measures blood sugar.  [Boston Globe, Mar 23, 11]

Myomo (Cambridge, MA; one SBIR) is making an expensive stroke therapy available directly to patients, an effort to encourage use of the novel device.  The Myomo arm, based on technology developed at [MIT], is in many ways a natural extension of research that has shown repetitive-exercise therapy can help stroke patients regain movement. The lightweight prosthesis straps onto the arm and reads signals from the muscles to give a patient an assist when he or she moves the limb.  [Boston Globe, Aug 9, 10]

Myomo (Boston, MA; no SBIR) raised $3.1M in a private financing to fund work needed to expand the use of its lead stroke-rehabilitation device ... founded in 2004, licensed its technology from MIT. The firm has raised a total of $4.2 million in private capital [Mass High Tech, Jan 31]

Myovant Sciences (Brisbane, CA)

Myovant Sciences up 12% [Mar 27, 18]

Myovant Sciences up 14% [Mar 13, 18]

Myovant Sciences up 20% [Sep 26, 17]

Myovant Sciences up 15% [Dec 29, 16]

Myovant Sciences up 20% [Nov 25, 16]

Myovant Sciences up 16% [Nov 10, 16]

Myovant Sciences (Brisbane, CA and Bermuda; no SBIR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced the pricing of its initial public offering of [$217M].    [company press release, Oct 27, 16

Myovant Sciences (Brisbane, CA; no SBIR) filed for $170M IPO.   Assembled by a 31-year-old former hedge fund manager, the company has licensed women's health and cancer-fighting drugs from Takeda Pharmaceuticals that it hopes to roll into clinical trials next year.  [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, Oct 3, 16]

Myriad Genetics (Salt Lake City, UT)

Myriad Genetics up 25% [Apr 6, 20]

Myriad Genetics down 17% [Mar 16, 20]

Myriad Genetics down 28% [Feb 7, 20] announced Revenue in the fiscal second quarter fell short of expectations largely due to the prenatal business and CEO's resignation. [company press release, Feb 6, 20]

Myriad Genetics down 40% [Nov 5, 19] announced large quarterly loss

Myriad Genetics down 43% [Aug 13, 19] revenue in the fourth quarter was two percent below expectations largely due to lower reimbursement for our expanded carrier screening test,” said [CEO] Capone. [company press release, Aug 13, 19]

Myriad Genetics (SALT LAKE CITY, UT; one SBIR in Y2K) up 54% [Aug 1,19] after the company published a filing with the [SEC] disclosing that UnitedHealthcare will begin covering the GeneSight Psychotropic test on the first day of October. The $2,000 genetic test is used to guide the treatment of individuals with major depressive disorder or anxiety disorders, by providing insight into which drugs they're most likely to respond to. [Yahoo Finance, Aug 1, 19]

Myriad Genetics up 17% [Jun 26, 19]

Myriad Geneticsa down 21% [May 8, 19]

Myriad Genetics signed on to a commercialization plan with Pfizer, expanding and cementing their companion diagnostic agreement for the company’s BRACAnalysis CDx test. Myriad’s BRACAnalysis in vitro test is currently under FDA review alongside the Big Pharma’s PARP inhibitor talazoparib, for patients with HER2-negative locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer with inherited BRCA mutations. [Conor Hale, Fierce Biotech, Oct 10, 18]

Myriad Genetics up 13% [Aug 22, 18]

Myriad Genetics up 13% [Jul 11, 18]

Myriad Genetics up 16%  [May 8, 18]

Myriad Genetics down 12% [Mar 13, 18]

Myriad Genetics down 16% [Nov 2, 17]  Assurex Health, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Myriad Genetics announced positive results from a double-blind, multi-center, randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of the GeneSight(R) Psychotropic test (GeneSight) on psychiatric treatment response in 1,200 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). GeneSight is the leading pharmacogenomic test to help guide medication selection for mental health disorders. [company press release, Nov 2, 17]

Myriad Genetics up 10% [Aug 9, 17]

Myriad Genetics up 20% [May 3, 17] "We were very encouraged to see sequential growth in hereditary cancer testing volumes for the second consecutive quarter," said [CEO] Mark C. Capone  [company press release, May 2, 17]

Myriad Genetics down 12% [Oct 10, 16]

Venture capital backers of the Mayo Clinic-related biotech startup, Assurex Health (Mason, OH; no SBIR), were afforded a return on investment this month with its purchase by Myriad Genetics for $225 million in upfront cash and potentially $185 million more in performance-based milestones.   One of those early investors was the Mayo Clinic itself   [Don Jacobson, Twin Cities Business, Aug 17, 16]

Myriad Genetics down 33% [Aug 10, 16] released dour guidance for its current quarter and fiscal year as the diagnostic-testing company posted lackluster results for its fourth quarter.  [Dow Jones Newswire, Aug 10, 16]

Myriad Genetics will pay $225 million upfront to acquire Assurex Health  (Mason, OH; no SBIR) maker of genetic tests to evaluate a patient’s suitability for psychiatric medicines. Myriad could pay $185 million more in milestones.  [Ben Fidler, xcomomy.com, Aug 5. 16]

The DNA Jungle Roars.  Myriad Genetics used a patent-protected monopoly to become one of the most successful and controversial DNA testing companies in the world. Now, nearly two years after the Supreme Court struck down its gene patents, Myriad is fighting to sustain its business model amid growing threats from rivals.  ... Analysts say Myriad’s BRCA position is unsustainable in the face of competition, and predict the company’s market share will gradually erode. ...  Last year, Myriad paid $270 million to acquire Crescendo Bioscience Inc., maker of a blood test to help treat rheumatoid arthritis.  [Joseph Walker, Wall Street Journal, May 3, 15]

RainDance Technologies (Billerica, MA; $1.2M SBIR) said that it doesn’t expect to be profitable until 2017, the company disclosed in federal filings ...  sells genetic sequencing machines intended for research purposes, expects to raise $60 million through its [IPO] ... While sales have been promising, much of RainDance’s financial success is based on a small number of customers. Myriad Genetics (Salt Lake City, UT; $200K SBIR)  molecular diagnostic company, represented 51 percent of the company’s total revenue in 2014. [Jessica Bartlett, Boston Business Journal, Mar 31, 15]

Myriad Genetics (one SBIR in Y2K) has put an end to a long battle to defend its controversial patents on genetic tests for cancer risk. Several of the companies Myriad was suing for patent infringement announced settlements last week, and the company said that it plans to settle the remaining suits. The Supreme Court in 2013 invalidated many of the company's key patents by declaring human genes unpatentable.  [Science, Feb 6, 15]

Myriad Genetics (one SBIRin Y2K) has essentially given up trying to stop other companies from offering tests for increased risk of breast cancer, ending a dispute that was the subject of a landmark Supreme Court ruling that human genes cannot be patented.  (ANDREW POLLACK, New York Times,  Jan 27, 15]

Myriad Genetics  down 10% [May 7, 14]

Myriad Genetics up 11% [Apr 2, 14]

Myriad Genetics up 11% [Feb 18, 14]

Crescendo Bioscience (South San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) just enjoyed a big success, being acquired by Myriad Genetics for $270 million.  .... Without going through an FDA clearance process, Crescendo had a pretty easy path to the market. But it took Crescendo three years on the market before it could get Medicare reimbursement at $575 per test. After a decade of work and $100 million in venture capital  [Luke Timmerman, xconomy.com, Feb 14, 14]

Genetic diagnostics company Invitae (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) raised $40 million in a Series E round .... Invitae is in the middle of a legal tussle with Myriad Genetics over its breast cancer test  [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, Dec 10, 13] 

Following the Supreme Court’s rejection of gene patents, the U.S. proposes steep cuts to reimbursements for breast cancer-gene tests..... Hours after that decision was announced, other molecular-diagnostics companies announced that they would offer similar tests at a lower cost than Myriad Genetics’s test.  And now, the federal government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, is proposing to lower the amount of money it pays for the tests. The new rate is approximately half of what the agency has previously reimbursed, according to GenomeWeb.  [Susan Young, technologyreview.com, Dec 31]

Myriad Genetics (Salt Lake City, UT; one SBIR) is interested in buying molecular diagnostics test developer Crescendo Bioscience (South San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) in an all-cash deal triggered by Crescendo hitting a minimum sales target for its Vectra DA rheumatoid arthritis test. ..... a September 2011 agreement in which Myriad invested $25 million in Crescendo in return for an exclusive three-year option to buy the company.    [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, Nov 27, 13]

BioMarin Pharmaceutical (San Rafael, CA: $300K SBIR)  and Myriad Genetics will work together to identify tumor types that could respond to BioMarin's experimental cancer drug.  .... BioMarin whose rare disease drug Vimizim won a positive recommendation Tuesday from a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel, will use Myriad's homologous recombination deficiency test with the BioMarin drug BMN-673. [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, Nov 20, 13]    

Picked in Forbes's top 100 small companies: Synaptics $340K SBIR ; Myriad Genetics one SBIR; iRobot  $7.5M SBIR; Landec  $1.6M SBIR.

Myriad Genetics is suing competitors [Ambry (Viejo, CA; no SBIR) and Gene by Gene (Houston, TX; no SBIR)] that have begun to offer genetic testing for breast cancer risk after the Supreme Court’s ruling last month that human genes cannot be patented.  ....  saying their tests infringed some of the more than 500 other patent claims that were not invalidated by the Supreme Court  [Andrew Pollack, New York Times, Jul 10, 13]

Myriad Genetics down 14% [Jun 14, 13]

The Supreme Court ruled [unanimously] that companies cannot patent parts of naturally-occurring human genes, a decision with the potential to profoundly affect the emerging and lucrative medical and biotechnology industries. ... reverses three decades of patent awards by government officials. .... but synthetically-created DNA could be patented.  ....  throws out patents held by Myriad Genetics (Salt Lake City, UT; one SBIR)   [Jesse Holland, AP, Jun 13]  Myriad’s shares soared after the court’s ruling.  ...  Myriad also has patent claims on artificial genes, known as cDNA.  [Wall Street Journal, Jun 13] “Apart from the 15 claims being challenged in this lawsuit, there are over 500 separate claims under 24 patents which also cover the intellectual property utilized in, or related to, our BRACAnalysis predictive medicine test,” the company said in its 2012 annual report. “  [company annual report for 2012]

Myriad Genetics up 14% [Nov 6, 12]

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered an appeals court to take a new look at a lawsuit challenging Myriad Genetics's (Salt Lake City, UT; one 2000 SBIR) patents on human genes. [Wall Street Journal, Mar 26, 12]

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that an isolated human gene may be patented, setting the stage for a possible Supreme Court review on the line between natural elements and artificial creations.  ..... the Federal Circuit sided with

(Salt Lake City, UT; one SBIR), which holds patents for two genes whose mutations can indicate a heightened risk of breast or ovarian cancers.   [ Wall Street Journal, Jul 28, 11]

Myriad Genetics down 14%  [Jan 28, 11]

Myriad Genetics down 10% [Jun 16, 10]

Myriad Genetics down 23% [May 5, 10]

Myriad Genetics reported that its first quarter net income was $30.4 million, or more than double the net income of a year earlier  [Steve Oberbeck, Salt Lake Tribune, Nov 5, 09]

Myriad Genetics up 19% [Aug 26, 09]  reported adjusted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings ahead of analysts' estimates.  [Wall Street Journal, Aug 27]

Myriad Genetics  down 27% [Jul 1, 09]  said that fiscal 2009 revenue from its molecular diagnostics division, which accounts for most of the company's top-line, would come in around $326 million. The company previously forecast $330 million. [MarketWatch, Jul 1]

Patent and Civil Liberties. A decision by the government more than 10 years ago allowed a single company, Myriad Genetics (Salt Lake City, UT; one SBIR) to own the patent on two genes that are closely associated with increased risk for breast cancer and ovarian cancer, and on the testing that measures that risk. On Tuesday, [Texas patient] Girard, 39 filed a lawsuit against Myriad, the University of Utah Research Foundation and the U.S. Patent Office, challenging the decision to grant a patent on a gene to Myriad and companies like it. She was joined by four other cancer patients, by professional organizations of pathologists with more than 100,000 members and by several individual pathologists and genetic researchers. The lawsuit, believed to be the first of its kind, was organized by the American Civil Liberties Union and filed in federal court in New York. It blends patent law, medical science, breast cancer activism and an unusual civil liberties argument in ways that could make it a landmark case. [New York Times News Service (via Salt Lake Tribune), May 13]

Myriad Genetics   down 11% [May 5, 09]

Myriad Genetics  up 17% [Feb 3, 09]

Myriad Genetics up 13% [Nov 4, 08]

Myriad Genetics up 13% [Jul 1, 08]

Myriant Technologies (Quincy, MA)

Myriant Technologies (Quincy, MA; no SBIR) has pulled in a $60 million financing from Thailand-based petrochemical producer PTT Chemical Group. ... the two companies will form a joint venture for the sake of deploying Myriant technology in Southeast Asia. ...  will support commercialization of Myriant’s succinic acid platform, building of its succinic acid plant in Louisiana and development of its bio-related chemicals technology. The plant, to be built in Lake Providence, La., is expected to be the world’s largest bio-based succinic acid production plant, at 30 million pounds, according to a news release from Myriant. ... company was spun out of BioEnergy International LLC, also of Quincy, in June of 2009.  [Michelle Lang, Mass High Tech, Jan 24, 11]

Bio-based chemicals developer Myriant Technologies (Quincy, MA; no SBIR) has raised $5 million in new funding according to federal documents. ... ways to produce various acids from biomass ... In December, Myriant received an award of up to $50 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to help finance a renewable biochemicals facility in Louisiana   [Mass High tech, Feb 24, 10]