S2 ... SAB Biotherapeutics ... SADAR 3D .... SafeLi .... SafeShot ..... Sage Electrochromics ... Sage Science ... Saffron Technology ... Sage Therapeutics ... Sakti3 ... Salarius Pharmaceuticals ..... Salient Surgical Technologies ... Salix Pharmaceuticals ... Salutaris Medical Devices .... SAM Medical .... Sand 9 .... Sancilio Pharmaceuticals .... Sandia Biotech .... Sandstone Diagnostics .... Sangamo Biosciences ... Sangart ... Santalis Pharmaceuticals ..... Santarus ... Sanuwave Health .... Sapheon ..... Sapphire Energy ... SARcode Bioscience .... Sarcos Technology and Robotics .... Sarda Technologies ... Sarepta Therapeutics ... SatCon Technology ... Satori Pharmaceuticals ... Satsuma Pharma .... Savara Pharmaceuticals ... Savi Technology ... SBH Sciences ... Scanadu ..... Scholar Rock ... Sciaderm ... SciClone Pharmaceuticals ... Sciencescape .... Scienss Biotechnology ... Scientific Conservation ... Scientific Research ... Scinovia ..... Scientific Solutions ... Scientific Systems SciFluor Life Sciences ... ... Scioderm .... Scion Plasma ..... SciQuest ... Scopic Software ... Scopus BioPharma .... Scorpion Therapeutics .... Scout Bio ..... scPharmaceuticals .... Scribe Therapeutics ..... Scynexis ...SD Catalyst Group ... SDL ... SeaChange ... Seacoast Science ... Seahawk Biosystems ... Seahorse Bioscience ... Seaside Therapeutics ... Seattle BioMed .... Seattle Genetics ... Seattle Medical Tech ... Sebacia ... Second Genome ..... Second Sight Medical Products ... Securboration ..... Secure Computing ... Securus Medical Group ..... Sedia Biosciences .... Seeo ... Segetis ... S.E.G-WAY Orthopaedics ... Seldon Labs ... Selecta Biosciences ... SELLAS Life Sciences Group ..... SeLux Diagnostics ..... Sema4 Natalis ..... Semba Biosciences ... Semiconductor Laser .. SemiProbe ...Semler Scientific .... Semma Therapeutics ..... Semnur Pharmaceuticals ... Semprius ... Semprus BioSciences ... Sencera International ... SenGenix ... SenesTech ...... Senior Scientific ..... Seno Medical Instruments .... Senomyx ... SensAble Technologies ... Sense ..... Sense Diagnostics .... Senseonics .... Sensintel .... Sensiotec .... Sensors Unlimited ... SensorTran ... Sentelligence ... SentiAR .... Senti Biosciences ..... Sentient Technologies ..... SentreHEART ..... Sepracor ... SeprOx .... SeQual Technologies ...Sequella ... Sequel Pharmaceuticals ... Sequenom ... Sequenta ... Sequent Medical ... SeraCare Life Sciences ... Seragon Pharmaceuticals ... Seraxis ..... SerenexSerenex ... Seres Therapeutics (formerly Seres Health) ... Serionix ..... Sermonix Pharmaceuticals ..... Servergy .... Sesen Bio .... SetPoint Medical .... Seurat Therapeutics ..... Seventh Sense Biosystems ... SEViTech
MDA reports that S2 Corp (Bozeman, MT) got a multimillion-dollar MDA SBIR Phase III contract for its radar signal processor plus development of the original optical memory materials developed with SBIR by Scientific Materials Corp. S2 is a spin-off of SMC after SMC was acquired by FLIR. S2's website makes the bodacious claim that Bozeman is quickly becoming one of the largest technology centers in the world even though it has posted no company news since Jan 05
SAB Biotherapeutics (Sioux Falls, SD; $3M SBIR) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a novel immunotherapy platform that produces specifically targeted, high-potency, fully-human polyclonal antibodies without the need for human donors, reported that due to low hospitalization and death rates in the trial, the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) ACTIV-2 Program is discontinuing enrollment in its Phase 3 COVID-19 trial. [company press release, Mar 2, 2022]
SAB Biotherapeutics down 17% [Oct 27, 21]
SAB Biotherapeutics (Sioux Falls, SD; $3M SBIR) up 34% [Oct 26, 21] a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a novel immunotherapy platform that produces specifically targeted, high-potency, fully-human polyclonal antibodies without the need for human donors, today announced the completion of its business combination with Big Cypress Acquisition Corp, a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) focused on innovative biopharmaceutical firms. [company press release, Oct 25, 21]
SAB Biotherapeutics (Sioux Falls, SD; $3M SBIR) snared another $60.5 million from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to fund an antibody program to treat COVID-19. This brings the total funding SAB's received from the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority and the DOD to $200 million to support development of treatments for the deadly respiratory disease, according to the company’s Wednesday press release. [Annalee Armstrong, Sep 22, 2021, Fierce Biotech]
SADAR 3D, (St. Louis, MO; no SBIR) startup developing “X-Ray vision” technology, raised $250,000 in debt financing according to [SEC] documents .... proprietary transparent imaging technology that can “see through” surfaces and identify utility lines and other infrastructure through a combination of 3D modeling and geospatial location data, according to its website. [Amir Kurtovic, St Louis Business Journal, Apr 16, 13]
Start-up Wisconsin. A start-up [NitricGen] with a patent pending on a portable device to treat chronic diabetic foot ulcers won first place in the Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest. .... founded in Madison in 2011 by Duncan Bathe, Frederick Montgomery and two others. Bathe and Montgomery previously created a Middleton medical device company called Sadasis LLC (no SBIR) that they sold to Ino Therapeutics (no SBIR), which was in turn bought by Ikaria (no SBIR), a critical-care company based in New Jersey. The pair has 19 patents and seven medical devices in use, Montgomery said. [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jun 5, 13]
SafeLi (Shorewood, WI; one Phase II SBIR, founded 2016) as a university-incubated startup, with co-founders who are also co-inventors of the foundational patent “Synthesis and Applications of Graphene-based Nanomaterials”, SafeLi has secured an exclusive royalty-bearing, worldwide license to develop and commercialize product(s) covered by the licensed patent in all fields of use, with initial focus on Lithium Ion Batteries. These materials are based on abundant, non-toxic starting materials that offer low-cost, safer and higher capacity alternatives to graphite-only anode batteries. Batteries with the patented materials demonstrate higher capacity and faster charge rates than graphite. [WiscInno, Dec 17, 19]
Safety syringe-maker startup SafeShot has raised $6 million in funding, according to an SEC filing. .... joined the Reprise Technologies incubator in Menlo Park. .... According to Medcitynews.com, previously, the company focused on a safety product that addressed needlesticks, re-used needles, downstream injuries and biohazardous waste. .... raised $3 million in an angel funding round last fall. [Vincent Lara-Cinisomo, Web contributor, Silicon Valley Business Journal, Sep 26, 13]
Saffron Technology (Cary, NC; one SBIR,founded in 1999 ), a homegrown big data analytics software company, plans to shift its headquarters from Cary to the Silicon Valley after raising $7 million in new funding. .... designed to help it recruit the “wealth of talent” on the West Coast. .... company’s $7 million in new funding, was led by Intel Capital . ... has raised a total of $13.8 million in funding to date, [Raleigh News & Observer, Mar 20, 14]
The atrium at the Mall of America’s new “front entrance” will be encased by a skylight of automatically tinting glass that’s become a signature product of Sage Electrochromics (Faribault, MN; $2.7M SBIR) .... which was purchased in 2012 by a French building-products firm, Saint-Gobain [ EVAN RAMSTAD, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jun 27, 14] How to succeed in new tech: develop a new economic tech, demonstrate it in a real app, sell it, and the company with it if necessary, to a global vendor of the end application for a pile of money. The idea that government should keep handing out subsidy to keep a small company small in a specific location is nothing but pure politics in a free-market country.
Sage Electrochromics (Fairbault, MN; $3M SBIR) just announced it raised another $20 million in venture financing. The company’s “smart glass” technology allows users to adjust the tint of windows depending on a building’s temperature and energy needs. [Thomas Lee, Minneapolis Star Tribune blog, Feb 24, 09]
Sage Electrochromics (Fairbeault, MN; $3M SBIR) has been ready for months to move on just the sort of project the Obama administration hopes will bolster the U.S. economy: a $65 million factory that would make energy-saving windows and generate 250 new jobs. So what's holding it up? The Energy Department, whose fledgling loan-guarantee office has yet to approve a single project, including the proposed Sage glass factory, since the loan program launched in early 2007. ... An obscure Commerce Department office with a $19 million budget and fewer than 20 grant officers could end up in charge of $7 billion in grants to expand Internet access in rural areas. [S Power and N King, Wall Street Journal, Feb 13] Agencies that have been "right-sized" by the smaller government crowd simply cannot spend double or triple their budgets in a few months while obeying the procurement rules that stand in the way of graft and fraud.
Medical devices start-ups powered Minnesota to the best quarterly VC performance in eight years just as a sagging economy curbed venture spending across the country. ... Seven medical device firms captured $130 million, led by CVRx (Brooklyn Park, MN; no SBIR) that makes a device that treats high blood pressure, raised $84 million on top of the $200 million investors have already poured into the company. Cardiac Concepts (no SBIR) first-round financing totaled a hefty $21 million. ... Other notable deals: Proto Labs (Maple Plain, MN; no SBIR) -based maker of injection molded products, attracted $67.2 million. Sage Electrochromics (Faribault, MN; $2M SBIR) raised $13.3 million, which makes glass that influences building temperatures, previously won $16 million in venture financing. [[Minneapolis Star Tribune, Oct 26, 08]
Sage Science (Beverly, MA; no SBIR), a developer of laboratory and research-related technologies, has taken in $2.02 million in an equity offering ... Founded in 2005, Sage Science signed a co-marketing deal with Illumina in October to promote sample preparation use of Sage Science’s Pippin Prep in conjunction with Illumina’s DNA sequencing platforms. ... last raised a $2 million round of venture capital funding, with 16 investors, in March [Michelle Lang, Mass High Tech, Dec 2, 10]
Sage Science (Beverly, MA; no SBIR, founded 2005), a developer of laboratory and research-related technologies, has raised a $2 million round of venture capital. [Mass High Tech, Mar 5, 10]
Sage Therapeutics (Cambridge, M; no SBIR) down 60% [Dec 5, 19] developing novel therapies for people with debilitating brain disorders, reported topline results from the pivotal Phase 3 MOUNTAIN Study evaluating the effect of SAGE-217 on depressive symptoms in adults with major depressive disorder (MDD). The MOUNTAIN Study did not meet its primary endpoint of a statistically significant reduction from baseline compared to placebo [company press release, Dec 4, 19]
Sage Thera down 14% [Sep 12,17] reported that its most advanced clinical prospect, a neurological drug known as brexanolone, failed its first big test. ... said the drug didn’t do much better than a placebo in a Phase 3 trial of patients with a rare, life-threatening form of epilepsy called super refractory status epilepticus (SRSE). [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Sep 12, 17]
Third Rock Ventures LLC, a Boston venture capital firm, announced the formation of Sage Therapeutics, a company that looks to develop new treatments for central nervous system disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, pain, and traumatic brain injury. The company is launching with a $35 million Series A financing [ChrisReidy, Boston Globe, Oct 18, 11]
A lithium-ion battery that stores twice as much energy is a step closer to commercialization thanks to a deal with the U.K. home appliance company Dyson. The startup Sakti3 (Ann Arbor, MI; no SBIR) announced it has signed a joint development agreement with Dyson, which makes vacuum cleaners and other appliances. ... Dyson also announced a $15 million investment ... Sakti3 uses new materials and manufacturing techniques to achieve higher energy density. The company’s battery does away with the flammable liquid electrolyte used in conventional lithium-ion batteries, which makes it feasible to use a different set of high-energy storage materials [Kevin Bullis, technologyreview.com, Mar 15, 15]
Imagine an electric car that could travel more than 300 miles on a single charge. A pipe dream? Yes, for now. But a Michigan startup called Sakti3 just might make it a reality. In August the company announced that it was close to achieving the holy grail of power storage: a battery with about double the energy density of today’s lithium-ion technology at one-fifth the cost. Such a battery could give us the first $25,000 mass-market electric car, with a driving range that would please most customers. [Fortune, Oct 6, 14]
Fifty Nifty
Techno-Innovators as
judged by Technology
Review
magazine [Apr 12]. In the company of investment magnets like Facebook
and Google are a few companies and ideas that would be fit for a
realistic SBIR program intent on seeding technically uncertain
innovation with a future if it can be shown to
work.
Alta Devices (no SBIR) high-efficiency
gallium arsenide–based
solar cells provide a way to lower the cost of solar power.
Can economically produce robust cells that use only small amounts of
the expensive semiconductor.
Integrated Diagnostics (Baltimore, MD; $1M
SBIR) By
reducing the cost of diagnostic tests,
it has allowed the monitoring of more disease markers.
Its synthetic antibodies replace more expensive antibodies widely used
in diagnostics.
Suntech (no
SBIR) Has developed a
low-cost way
of making better silicon solar cells.
Its new panels are more efficient because they reflect less light and
use thinner electrodes that block less
light.
Sakti3 (no
SBIR) Its
high-energy batteries,
which will first appear in consumer devices, could make electric cars
cheaper and improve their range.
Making batteries without the flammable liquid found in conventional
electric-car batteries means they can store more energy.
LanzaTech (no SBIR) Makes
fuel and chemicals from the carbon
monoxide produced by processes such as steelmaking.
Genetically engineered organisms turn the gas into ethanol and other
useful chemicals.
First Solar (Toledo,
OH; $750K SBIR) It is
reducing the cost of utility-scale
photovoltaic installations.
constrains costs with vertical integration of everything from plant
construction to the manufacture of high-efficiency cadmium telluride
cells.
Wildcat Discovery
(no SBIR) Has used
high-speed methods to find
materials that improve the performance of batteries. Identified
a pair of materials that could increase energy density by 25 percent in
batteries for cars and portable electronics.
Siluria
(no SBIR) Its catalytic
process is able to convert
cheap and abundant natural gas into ethylene, a commodity chemical used
to make plastic. Developed a family of catalysts that
selectively cause methane to react to form ethylene.
Organovo (San Diego, CA; $260K SBIR) Its three-dimensional artificial
tissue
structures can be used for drug testing and are likely to find
therapeutic applications. A printing process methodically deposits
layers of cells and gel material to build up new tissues.
Cellular Dynamics
International
(Madison, WI; $500K SBIR) Using
human iPS cells in drug screening
could accelerate the development of new therapies.
Its new product derived from iPS cells is meant for use in vascular
targeted drug discovery, tissue regeneration, and life science
research.
Foundation Medicine (no SBIR) Its new diagnostics exploit a
growing
understanding of the molecular basis of cancer.
It has developed a comprehensive cancer diagnostic test and is
partnering with pharmaceutical companies to use the test in drug
development.
Sakti3 (Ann Arbor, MI; no SBIR) is working on a
next-generation
technology for solid-state batteries<. The fabrication area in
the
back of the
offices is strictly off limits to visitors, as are cameras and
questions during a quick tour of the testing and design areas; CEO
Sastry will reveal few details about the technology except to say that
the battery has no liquid electrolytes and the company is using
manufacturing equipment that was once employed to make potato-chip
bags. But she is more forthcoming in explaining how the startup can
thrive in the highly competitive advanced-battery
sector.
[David Rotman, Technology Review, J/F12]
Salarius Pharma (Houston, TX; no SBIR) up 21% [Aug 26, 19] The Ivy Brain Tumor Center at the Barrow Neurological Institute and Salarius Pharmaceuticals announced a collaborative partnership to test Salarius' therapeutic candidate, Seclidemstat, for the treatment of glioblastoma. The organizations will launch what they believe is the most comprehensive pre-clinical study to date, evaluating the effect of targeting LSD1 (lysine-specific histone demethylase 1A), a key enzyme that has increased expression in tumors of brain cancer patients. [joint press release, Aug 26, 19]
Flex Pharma (Boston, MA; no SBIR) will merge with privately held, cancer drug developer Salarius Pharmaceuticals (Houston, TX; no SBIR) after a series of clinical setbacks and strategic restarts. [Frank Vinluan, xconomy.com, Jan 4. 19]
Moving to Texas. Salarius Pharmaceuticals LLC (Salt Lake City, UT; no SBIR) will relocate to Houston following an $18.69 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. CPRIT awarded Salarius and Pelican Therapeutics (formerly of Boca Raton, FL; no SBIR) two grants totaling nearly $34 million to recruit both of the companies to the Lone Star State. Pelican will be located in Austin; Salarius at Johnson & Johnson's JLABS @ TMC, Houston's new incubator program ... Separately, Ruga (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) also has plans to relocate following a CPRIT grant. [Joe Martin, Houston Business Journal, May 19, 16] CPRIT is a Texas state creature authorized by law to issue $3 billion in bonds to fund groundbreaking cancer research and prevention programs and services in Texas [CPRIT website]
Salient Surgical Technologies (Portsmouth, NH; no SBIR) has agreed to be bought by Medtronic for $525 million. ... co-founded as Tissuelink Medical Inc. in 1999 ... the company once toyed with an initial public offering, but in August of 2008 pulled its IPO. [Rodney Brown, Mass High Tevh, Jul 8,11]
Salient Surgical Technologies (Portsmouth, NH; no SBIR, founded as TissueLink in 1999) has landed $15 million in new funding, according to federal documents. The company makes devices to control bleeding during surgeries. [Mass High Tech, Jan 7, 10]
Salix Pharmaceuticals (Bridgewater, NJ, the largest gastroenterology-focused pharmaceutical company in the world, one NIH SBIR in 1994) has bagged the ex-Asia rights to Mitsubishi Tanabe’s late-phase autoimmune drug, amiselimod. The Bausch Health subsidiary plans to trial the S1P receptor functional antagonist in ulcerative colitis. [Nick Paul Taylor, Fierce Biotech, Apr 24, 19]
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International confirmed earlier this month that it was in talks to offload Salix Pharmaceuticals a year-and-a-half after acquiring it. On Wednesday, Wall Street Journal reported that talks with would-be buyer Takeda Pharmaceuticals of Japan have fallen apart after price and other disagreements. [Jennifer Henderson, Triangle Business Journal, Nov 30, 16]
After acquiring Salix Pharmaceuticals for $10 billion a year-and-a-half ago, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International is considering selling it off, the Wall Street Journal said, reporting that Takeda Pharma (Japan) is floating $8.5B . [Jennifer Henderson, Triangle Business Journal, Nov 1, 16]
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International will pay $47 million to settle a 2013 U.S. Department of Justice investigation into sales and promotional practices related to products that at the time were owned by Salix Pharmaceuticals. in addition, Valeant reached an $8 million settlement with states [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Jun 8, 16]
For efficiency's sake. Salix Pharmaceuticals is laying off 258 people at its headquarters ... [new parent] Valeant, which has built itself into a $68 billion company through a series of acquisitions, typically slashes research and development spending after acquiring a company. The company has become a favorite among Wall Street investors for its lean business model. [David Bracken, Raleigh News & Observer, Apr 2, 15] Should SBIR advocates bemoan the loss of those jobs after it celebrated the success of the SBIR contribution (however small) to Salix's economic success? It depends on what they, and you, think SBIR is for.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals raised the takeover price for Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. by about a billion dollars in a new deal that knocked out rival bidder Endo International PLC [which] had been seen as taking longer to close and facing more uncertainty as it required a vote of Endo’s shareholders. [Liz Hoffman, Wall Street Journal, Mar 16, 15]
Specialty drugmaker Endo International PLC is trying to lure Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. with an offer Endo said is worth 11 percent more than the $10 billion Salix has agreed to accept from serial acquirer Valeant Pharmaceuticals International [Linda Johnson, Reuters, Mar 11, 15]
Valeant Pharmaceuticals (Canada) and Salix Pharmaceuticals (one NIH SBIR in 1994) announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Valeant will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Salix for $158.00 per share in cash [$10B], or a total enterprise value of approximately $14.5 billion [with debt assumption][Valeant press release, Feb 22, 15] In 2013, Valeant acquired contact lens-maker Bausch + Lomb for $8.7 billion. In a statement, Valeant said the Salix acquisition will create a new, strong platform for growth [Raleigh News & Observer] Surely, the roosters in the SBIR advocates coop can claim credit for this sunrise.
Advaxis down 12% [Feb 4, 15]
Bloomberg News, citing people with knowledge of the matter, reported that Valeant Pharmaceuticals was exploring a takeover of [Salix Pharma]. Shire Plc is also interested in buying Salix, Bloomberg reported, again citing people familiar with the matter. Valeant, a Canadian drugmaker, and Shire are just the latest pharmaceutical companies to be linked to Salix, which last year drew interest from both Allergan and Actavis. ... Also Salix Pharmaceuticals reported that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Par Pharmaceuticals. [David Bracken, Raleigh News & Observer, Feb 3, 15]
Salix Pharmaceuticals is working with investment bank Centerview Partners to explore its options, including a possible sale, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the issue. ... it restated its drug inventory levels in November. That disclosure led the company to lose $3 billion of its market value in a single day [David Bracken, Raleigh News & Observer, Jan 20, 15]
Salix Pharma down 34% [Nov 7, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals announced a revision in its accounting that indicated sales of its drugs weren’t as strong as Wall Street had expected, sending shares down as much as 38% in after-hours trading. [Liz Hoffman and Jonathan D. Rockoff, Wall Street Journal, Nov 6, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals (one SBIR two decades ago, market cap $9B) reported that its new treatment for ulcerative colitis has received final [FDA] approval .... clears the way for the company to launch its drug Uceris before the end of the year. .... As many as 700,000 Americans suffer from ulcerative colitis, according to Salix. [Raleigh News & Observer, Oct 8, 14] Unfortunately, Salix was a private company at SBIR time which means that only the government has access to financial records from which to judge SBIR's contribution to the economic success. Nevertheless, the politicians and SBIR advocates will claim to be one of the hundred fathers that adopt any success.
Salix Pharmaceuticals [market capitalization about $10 billion] and the Italian parent company of drug maker Cosmo Technologies Ltd. said they had terminated their previously announced $2.7 billion merger agreement—a deal that had been structured as a so-called inversion. [Chip Cummins, Wall Street Journal, Oct 3, 14]
Federal regulators on Monday approved Salix Pharmaceuticals drug Relistor for treatment of constipation in patients taking pain medicines. [Raleigh News & Observer, Oct 1, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals reached a patent settlement with generic drug company Par Pharmaceutical in which the generic drug maker will pay $100 million. .... Salix inherited rights to ulcer medication Zegerid in its $2.7 billion acquisition of Santarus late last year. In 2007, Santarus filed lawsuits against Par claiming that Par infringed on its patents relating to Zegerid, but the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware ruled that those patents were invalid. Santarus filed an appeal, but Par launched its generic version of Zegerid in June 2010. [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Sep 22, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals acquired some patent rights from Cipla Limited and expanded a deal first reached in 2009. Under the expanded partnership, the rights already licensed to Salix in the United States, Canada and Mexico are expanded to include certain patent rights in the European Union, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. ... Separately, Salix filed a supplemental New Drug Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to also market Xifxan for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D). [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Sep 19, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals agreed to a deal in which Lupin Limited will sell certain Salix drugs in Canada. The deal includes immediate rights to distribute Zaxine for reduction in risk of overt hepatic encephalopathy (HE) recurrence in patients 18 years of age or older, and Relistor for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in certain patients. [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Sep 15, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals received tentative approval for its ulcerative colitis drug Uceris. ... Two Phase 3 studies found that nearly twice as many patients receiving Uceris achieved remission of distal ulcerative colitis at six weeks compared with placebo. [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Sep 16, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals announced that it has reached a $100 million settlement with Par Pharmaceuticals over patent litigation filed by the University of Missouri and Santarus, the San Diego-based speciality drug company that Salix acquired earlier this year. Under the agreement, Par agrees not to sell or commercialize generic versions of Zegerid capsules or powder, and will make a one-time payment of $100 million into an escrow account. [David Bracken, Raleigh News & Observer, Sep 22, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals shares were up after a CNBC anchor mentioned that Botox maker Allergan may be interested in acquiring [Salix]. [Raleigh News & Observer, Sep 16, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals shares were up after a CNBC anchor mentioned that Botox maker Allergan may be interested in acquiring [Salix]. [Raleigh News & Observer, Sep 16, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals and Indian pharmaceutical company Lupin announced that they have entered into a distribution agreement that grants Lupin the exclusive right to market and sell some Salix drugs in Canada. [David Bracken, Raleigh News & Observer, Sep 12, 14]
Salix Pharma announced topline results for a neurology drug that researchers hope will get a second life as an Irritable Bowel Syndrome treatment. The Phase 3 randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study evaluated an already-approved treatment, called Rifaximin, dosing patients suffering from IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D) three times a day for two weeks. ... Rifaximin, marketed as Xifaxan, is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use to reduce the risk of hepatic encephalopathy [Lauren K. Ohnesorge, Triangle Business Journal, Aug 11, 14]
Salix Pharma up 16% [Aug 19, 14] Allergan has approached Salix Pharmaceuticals about a potential acquisition that could thwart a $53 billion hostile bid for Allergan by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International according to people familiar with the matter. While it is unclear where the talks stand, Allergan could strike a takeover deal with Salix or another unknown party as early as next month, one of the people said. [ Jonathan D. Rockoff and Dana Mattioli, Wall Street Journal, Aug 19, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals received FDA approval to market Ruconest in the United States. .... partnered with Pharming Group, a Dutch drug company, on Ruconest, which is indicated to treat acute angioedema attacks in adult and adolescent patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE). ..... Salix gained rights to Ruconest through its 2013 acquisition of Santarus [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Jul 17, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals announced that the [FDA] has approved the company's drug Ruconest for treatment of acute angioedema attacks. [Raleigh News & Observer, Jul 17, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals announced that federal regulators have signaled they will approve its drug Relistor for treatment of chronic pain in non-cancer patients. ... will not require Salix and its partner Progenics Pharmaceuticals to submit additional data as part of its new drug application. [David Bracken, Raleigh News & Observer, Jul 14, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals (one SBIR twenty years ago) announced that it is merging with a subsidiary of Cosmo Pharmaceuticals, an Italian specialty drug company, in a deal that will significantly lower the Raleigh-based company’s tax rate. Salix will continue to be headquartered in Raleigh but will re-incorporate in Ireland, allowing it to eventually reduce its long-term tax rate from the high 30 percent range to the low 20 percent range. The company joins a growing list of U.S.-based companies pursuing so-called corporate tax inversions [David Bracken, Raleigh News & Observer, Jul 8, 14] In 2003, the company survived a hostile takeover bid from Canadian pharmaceutical company Axcan Pharma Inc, now named Aptalis. [Wikipedia]
Salix Pharma up 14% [Jul 1, 14] after the company announced upbeat test results for its best-selling drug. [Raleigh News & Observer blog]
Salix Pharmaceuticals reached a deal in which it acquired worldwide exclusive rights to what it believes is a first-in-kind product that fits well within its portfolio of treatments for gastroenterology diseases. .... The product would come in a capsule and be used for bowel preparation, or a flushing of the intestines and other internal organs, typically in preparation for a diagnostic procedure or surgery. Salix President and CEO Carolyn Logan said she believes this could be the first prescription encapsulated bowel prep product. [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Feb 27, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals took a big step toward bringing another drug to market when it announced that [FDA] had accepted its new drug [called budesonide] application. ....Through Sept. 30, 2013, Salix had spent $38 million developing budesonide [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Jan 30, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals announced that [FDA] accepted its new drug application for Budesonide, a rectal foam used to treat patients with ulcerative colitis ... expects to issue a ruling on the application on Sept. 15. [Raleigh News & Observer, Jan 31, 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals is closing operations at San Diego-based specialty drug developer Santarus and laying off about 200 employees, two months after buying the company for $2.6 billion. [Jonathan Horn, utsandiego.com, Jan 15, 14]
Salix Pharma up 18% [Nov 8, 13]
Salix Pharmaceuticals (one SBIR 20 years ago) announced that it is acquiring Santarus (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) specialty pharmaceutical company for $2.6 billion. .... The combined company will have a portfolio of 22 products and estimated annual revenue of nearly $1.35 billion. [David Bracken, Raleigh News & Observer, Nov 7, 13]
Progenics Pharma up 31% [Jun 11, 12] said a [FDA] advisory committee will review Salix's opioid-induced constipation treatment in patients with chronic pain, after Salix formally appealed the FDA's response on the drug last year. [Wall Street Journal, Jun 11]
Salix Pharmaceuticalswon regulatory approval for a new medicine with major sales potential to treat chronic diarrhea in HIV/AIDS patients. [David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, Dec 31, 12]
Salix Pharma down 13% [Jul 30, 12]
When Salix Pharmaceuticals and Napo Pharmaceuticals (no SBIR) inked a deal to develop the diarrhea drug crofelemer in late 2008, Raleigh-based Salix had a market cap of about $250 million. Today Salix, buoyed in large part by growing sales of its best-selling drug Xifaxan, has a market cap approaching $3 billion with a number of promising drug indications in the pipeline. Napo, meanwhile, is in a very different place. Having soured on its relationships with Salix and another of its crofelemer partners, India-based Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, it is seeking to terminate those agreements and retake control of the drug, which would be the San Francisco-based company’s first revenue-generating product.[David Bracken, Raleigh News & Observer, Jul 5, 12]
The FDA has agreed to give a priority review to Salix Pharmaceutical's potential treatment for HIV-associated diarrhea. ... The FDA grants priority reviews to drugs that offer major advances in treatment or which provide treatment where no adequate therapy exists.[Mary Cornatzer, Raleigh News & Observer, Feb 8, 12]
Salix Pharma up 13% [Nov 29, 11]
Salix Pharma down 10% [Nov 14, 11]
Salix Pharmaceuticals reported strong third-quarter revenue as demand for the company's best-selling drug Xifaxan continued to grow. ... also announced that it is adding two new products to its drug portfolio by acquiring privately held Oceana Therapeutics (no SBIR) for $300 million in cash. [David Bracken, Raleigh News & Observer, Nov 9, 11]
Salix Pharmaceuticals has been mentioned as a possible acquisition target of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, a Canadian drug company [David Bracken, Raleigh News & Observer, May 10, 11]
Salix Pharmaceuticals down 24% [Feb 24, 11] after the company said it expects regulators to delay approving its best-selling drug Xifaxan for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. ... Salix shares had soared 55 percent over the past year, partially on anticipation that the company would win approval at a hearing March 7. [David Bracken, Raleigh News & Observer, Feb 25]
A 14-day round of antibiotic made by Salix Pharmaceuticals appears to provide months of relief from some of the worst symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, researchers announced today. The antibiotic, which goes by the brand name Xifaxan is the first therapy for IBS that offers prolonged benefit - a feature sufferers hailed as a breakthrough. Salix is seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to market the antibiotic for IBS [Sarah Avery, Raleigh News & Observer, Jan 6, 11]
Salix Pharmaceuticals, which raised more than $300million on Wall Street in May, is putting some cash to use by buying an experimental drug to detect colon cancer. [Alan Wolf, Raleigh News & Observer, Oct 20, 10]
Salix Pharmaceuticals added 3.5% after the [FDA] accepted for priority review the company's efficacy supplement to its new drug application for Xifaxan 550 mg tablets, with an action date of Dec. 7. Salix said the review classification signals the FDA considers the drug may have the potential to provide a significant advance in the treatment of non-constipation irritable bowel syndrome. [Wall Street Journal, Aug 10, 10] Salix also reported promising news about a potential new market for its top-selling drug Xifaxan, whose surging sales pushed the company's second-quarter revenue up 80 percent. [David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, Aug 10, 10]
Salix Pharmaceuticals reported late Monday that it has received positive news about its attempts to get its drug Xifaxan approved for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. [Raleigh News & Observer, May 5]
Salix Pharmaceuticals rose after the FDA approved the company’s drug rifaximin. [Wall Street Journal, Mar 26, 10]
Salix Pharmaceuticals' fourth-quarter revenue and net income slightly exceeded analysts' expectations, but the Raleigh company projected first-quarter numbers that were surprisingly low. [Raleigh News & Observer, Mar 10, 10]
Salix Pharma up 20% [Feb 24, 10]
Nasdaq halted trading in Salix Pharmaceuticals shares this morning, as the company awaits word from regulators on one of its medicines. [Raleigh News & Observer, Feb 23, 10] but then Salix Pharmaceuticals shares jumped as much as 18 percent in after-hours trading Tuesday after the company's application to market its best-selling drug Xifaxan for a serious liver disease got a thumbs up from a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel. [Raleigh News & Observer, Feb 24, 10]
Salix Pharmaceuticals down 9%. FDA questioned the impact of the company's drug that would treat a condition caused by the buildup of toxic substances that impairs brain function known as hepatic encephalopathy. [Wall Street Journal, Feb 20, 10]
Salix Pharma up 51% [Sep 14, 09] after it said Monday a new version of an irritable bowel syndrome drug met its goals in two late stage clinical studies, sending shares soaring to a new year high. [AP, Sep 14]
Salix Pharmaceuticals said this morning that it won regulatory approval for a new treatment for stomach ailments, expanding its portfolio of drugs that treat gastrointestinal diseases. [Raleigh News & Observber, Sep 8, 09]
Salix Pharmaceuticals reported a first-quarter [$14M] loss, but sales of its medicines to treat gastrointestinal ailments rose 30 percent. ... The stock is up 55% in the past year. [Alan Wolf, Raleigh News & Observer, May 7, 09]
Salix Pharma up 20% [Mar 18, 09]
Salix Pharma up 10% [Jan 2, 09]
The FDA ordered new warnings on prescription bowel cleansers marketed by Salix Pharmaceuticals, [Raleigh News & Observer, Dec 12, 08]
Salix Pharma down 11% [Dec 1, 08] On a stock bloodbath day
Salix Pharmaceuticals reported its third quarterly loss in a row this year, but it was much less than analysts had expected. [Raleigh News & Observer, Nov 6, 08]
Salix Pharma down 11% [Oct 9, 08]
Salix Pharma up 24% [Oct 6, 08] said its Xifaxan antibiotic measurably improved quality of life in a study of patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable-bowel syndrome.
Salix Pharma up 13% [Sep 18, 08]
Salix Pharmaceuticals filed a lawsuit to prevent a competitor from selling a cheaper, generic version of Salix's bowel cleanser, Osmoprep. [Raleigh News & Observer, Sep 10, 08]
Salix Pharma down 13% [Aug 18, 08]
Salix Pharmaceuticals announced plans to raise $50 million to expand its product lineup, boost revenue and ease the increasing pressure from generic competitors. [Raleigh News & Observer, Aug 19]
FDA wants more info. A gastrointestinal drug that could have bolstered Salix Pharmaceuticals'(Morrisville, NC; $700K SBIR) sales has come up short of regulatory approval. [Raleigh News & Observer, May 20, 08]
Salix Pharmaceuticals reported that first-quarter revenue slumped 43% as generic rivals hurt sales of the drug that was previously the Morrisville company's biggest product. [Raleigh News & Observer, May 7, 08]
Salix Pharmaceuticals down 10% after it said that Novel Laboratories is challenging the patent on the company's bowel cleansing drug Moviprep. [AP,Apr 18, 08]
Salix Pharmaceuticals up 11% [Apr 1, 08]
Salix Pharmaceuticals bought the rights to develop and market treatments for moderate Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, which can cause abdominal pain. [Raleigh News&Observer, Mar 14, 08]
Salix Pharmaceuticals (one 1994 SBIR)reports a $19M million loss for the quarter. [Raleigh News&Observer, Mar 4, 08]
Salix Pharaceuticals (Morrisville, NC; one SBIR) investors were expecting a challenging 2008 after federal regulators in December approved generic copies of the company's best-selling drug. [Now], they found out that the year also will be unprofitable. [Raleigh News&Observer, Feb 1] Salix stock trades at a third of its high three years ago.
Salix Pharmaceuticals down 16% [Dec 31, 07] after it submitted an application to the FDA for marketing approval for granulated mesalamine, an anti-ulcer drug. [Forbes] amid news of generic competition.
Salix Pharmaceuticals down 22% [Dec 28, 07]
Salix Pharma up 14% on news of the company's exclusive rights to co-promote the drug Colazal once it is approved by the FDA
Salix Pharmaceuticals (Morrisville, NC; one Phase 1 SBIR) up 10% when second-quarter revenue and profit rose as the company sold more drugs to treat gastrointenstinal diseases. [Raleigh News & Observer, Aug 2, 07]
Salutaris Medical Devices (Tucson, AZ; no SBIR) raised Early Stage $1.2M in first quarter [Eric Jay Toll, Phoenix Business Journal, Apr 17, 15] HOYA Group announced that it has closed an investment financing in Salutaris Medical Devices, ... will use the funding to further its growth strategy in developing its patented medical device designed for minimally invasive therapy of wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD). [company website, Mar 26, 15]
SAM Medical (Wilsonville, OR; no SBIR), an industry leader in the pre-hospital care market, announced the U.S. Army has honored the SAM Junctional Tourniquet with a Greatest Innovation Award for 2015. ... After extensive international "head to head" testing, the SAM Junctional Tourniquet was deployed by the U.S. Army as its preferred solution [for certain blast injuries] ... was developed as a result of the concerted research efforts of army scientists at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, military surgeons, and strategic partnerships with the U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School, as well as outside universities and companies. [company press release, Jul 19, 16]
Sancilio Pharmaceuticals (Riviera Beach, FL; no SBIR, founded 2006) filed an $86 million [IPO]. ... is developing a proprietary lipid drug delivery platform with hopes on commercializing it ... started with $700,000 from the towns of Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens. Since then, drawing more than $20 million in investments last year. [Shaun Bevan, South Florida Business Journal, Sep 3, 15]
Sand 9 (Cambridge, MA; $700K SBIR) a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) company that makes a more rugged replacement for quartz timing devices found in most electronic devices, has raised another $2 million in a third extension of its Series C round. [Don Seiffert, Boston Business Journal, Jan 7, 13]
After five years of work and $49 million in venture capital raised, Sand 9 (Cambridge, MA; $700K SBIR) expects to begin shipping commercial volumes of its micro-electromechanical (MEMS) devices — a substitute for ubiquitous quartz timing devices — in the second half of 2013, CEO Vince Graziani said [Kyle Alspach, Mass High Tech, Nov 26, 12]
Sand 9 (Cambridge, MA; $700K SBIR) specializing in precision timing products, said Wednesday that Ericsson (Sweden) has invested $3 million in the company. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Sep 5, 12]
Sand 9 (Cambridge, MA; $700K SBIR) developing precision timing products for wireless and wired applications, announced Tuesday that it has raised a total of $23 million in its Series C financing round led by Intel Capital [Boston Globe, Jun 18, 12]
Sand 9 (Cambridge, MA; $700K SBIR), a MEMS company that’s developing tiny timing products for wireless devices, has raised $16 million in equity out of a planned $20 million fundraise .... brings the company’s total to at least $37 million since the company was founded in 2007 as a spinout from the Boston University Photonics Center [Don Seiffert, Mass High Tech, Jun 7, 12]
Sandia Biotech (Albuquerque NM; no SBIR) has signed an agreement with STC.UNM (STC) to develop a new system for creating fluorescent antibodies used by laboratory researchers. ...developed by Dr. Ravi Durvasula from the University of New Mexico’s Department of Internal Medicine and Dr. Angray Kang from Queen Mary’s Department of Molecular Cell Biology. [Gary Gerew, AlbuquerqueBusiness First, Sep 19, 14]
the Sixth Annual Innovation Tri-Valley Forum, a gathering in Pleasanton [CA] of Lawrence Livermore and Sandia/California lab officials, medical professionals, investors and entrepreneurs who discussed ways that startups could benefit from the area's available resources. ... Betsy Cantwell, director for Economic Development at the Livermore lab. "Technology transfer has been a part of the lab's DNA for 20 years." Cantwell said the lab has produced 20-30 regional "spinout" companies in the last decade, including HealthTell (San Ramon, CA; no SBIR) and Fathom (Oakland, CA; no SBIR) , a 3-D printing company. ... [Sandia NL claims] Sandstone Diagnostics (Livermore, CA; no SBIR) [Jeremy Thomas, San Jose Mercury News, Jul 24] The big contribution from the government-funded labs is computing power.
Sangamo lays off 27% of US staff in latest refocus A month after being abandoned by Biogen and Novartis, Sangamo is laying off 120 employees and refocusing on three key areas. {Fierce Biotech, Apr 27, 2023]
Sanofi is rethinking its approach to genomic medicines. Having worked with Sangamo Therapeutics on personalized cell therapies, Sanofi has decided to scrap the deal and shift its focus to allogeneic universal genomic medicine approaches. The termination of the deal, which is set to take effect in June, will return full control of sickle cell disease candidate SAR445136 to Sangamo. [ Nick Paul Taylor, Fierce Biotech, Jan 6, 22]
Sangamo Therapeutics up 19% [Nov 4, 21] announced preliminary results from the Phase 1/2 STAAR clinical study evaluating isaralgagene civaparvovec, or ST-920, a wholly owned gene therapy product candidate for the treatment of Fabry disease. [company press release, Nov 4, 21]
Sangamo Thera up 53% [Dec 10, 20]
Sangamo Thera down 24% [Mar 16, 20]
Sangamo Thera up 28% [Feb 28, 20]
Biogen and Sangamo Therapeutics, a genomic medicine company, announced that they have executed a global licensing collaboration agreement to develop and commercialize ST-501 for tauopathies including Alzheimer's disease, ST-502 for synucleinopathies including Parkinson's disease, a third undisclosed neuromuscular disease target, and up to nine additional undisclosed neurological disease targets. The companies will leverage Sangamo's proprietary zinc finger protein (ZFP) technology delivered via adeno-associated virus (AAV) to modulate the expression of key genes involved in neurological diseases. [joint companies press release, Feb 27, 20]Pfizer is taking the reins on experimental hemophilia A treatment SB-525 after partner Sangamo Therapeutics completed Phase 1/2 tests of the gene therapy. The pharmaceutical giant has already started enrolling patients in a Phase 3 study and will be responsible for further development. [xconomy.com, Jan 3, 19]
Sangamo Thera up 29% [Apr 2, 19]
Sangamo Thera down 31% [Feb 7, 19] reported preliminary molecular and enzymatic evidence of editing of the human genome in vivo (inside the body). These findings are part of the interim results from the Phase 1/2 CHAMPIONS Study evaluating SB-913, a zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) in vivo genome editing product candidate for the treatment of patients with Mucopolysaccharidosis Type II (MPS II) [company press release, Feb 7, 19]
Sangamo Thera down 18% [Nov 9, 18]
Sangamo Thera down 10% [Oct 2, 18]
Sangamo Theera down 24% [Sep 5, 18] after the company released early results from a gene-editing trial for a rare metabolic disorder called Hunter syndrome. [Emma Court, marketwatch.com, Sep 6, 18]
Sangamo Thera up 11% [Aug 9, 18]
Sangamo Biosciences acquired [for €72 million] French biotech TxCell, adding an experimental technology with the potential to treat autoimmune diseases with cell therapy. [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Jul 23, 18]
Sangamo Thera down 11% [Jun 27, 18]
Sangamo Thera up 10% [Jun 20, 18]
Sangamo Thera down 10% [May 8, 18]
Sangamo Thera down 10% [Apr 16, 18]
Sangamo Thera down 16% [Mar 27, 18]
Sangamo Thera up 14% [Feb 22, 18] Gilead Sciences has formed a broad alliance with Sangamo Therapeutics, continuing an aggressive push into cellular immunotherapy that began late last year. Gilead will pay Sangamo $150 million up front in cash in the deal, through which Gilead will tap Sangamo’s gene editing techniques to try to develop a variety of next-generation cell therapies for cancer. ... Gilead’s run began when it paid nearly $12 billion for Kite in August, just months before the FDA approved the non-Hodgkin lymphoma cell therapy axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta) Kite had developed. In December, Gilead followed that up by paying $567 million for privately held Cell Design Labs (Emeryville, CA; no SBIR, founded 2015, total funding $34M), working on next-gen CAR-T techniques, in December. [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Feb 22, 18]
Sangamo Thera up 10% [Feb 14, 18]
Sangamo Thera up 13% [Feb 7,18]
Sangamo Thera up 12% [Nov 30, 17]
Sangamo Thera up 14% [Nov 15, 17]
Sangamo Thera up 11% [Aug 29, 17]
Sangamo Thera up 13% [Aug 14, 17]
Sangamo Thera up 12% [Aug 10, 17]
Sangamo Thera up 13% [Jun 22,17]
Sangamo Thera up 10% [May 23,17]
Sangamo Thera up 17% [May 12,17]
Sangamo Thera up 61% [May 11,17] Sangamo and Pfizer announced an exclusive, global collaboration and license agreement for the development and commercialization of gene therapy programs for Hemophilia A, including SB-525, one of Sangamo's four lead product candidates, which Sangamo expects will enter the clinic this quarter. ... Sangamo also reported a consolidated net loss of $16.6 million compared to a net loss of $16.5 million for the same period in 2016. [company press release, May 10, 17]
Sangamo Therapeutics (founded 1995 as Sangamo BioSciences) up 10% [Mar 31, 17]
Sangamo Bio down 11% [Dec 22, 16]
Sangamo Biosciences up 19% [Dec 9, 16]
Sangamo Bio up 18% [Nov 9, 16]
Shares of Sangamo Biosciences sank [down 29% the day before] due to “delays in multiple…gene editing programs and concerns about management execution capability,” wrote Jefferies analyst Gena Wang in a note to investors. In an earnings release Wednesday, for instance, Sangamo said the first trial for its treatment for the rare disease Mucopolysaccharidosis type I has been delayed until next year. [Ben Fidler, xcomomy.com, Aug 5. 16]
Sangamo Bio down 29% [Aug 4, 16]
Intellia Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) up 23% [May 6, 16], which owns rights to an important but disputed piece of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology, .... raised $108 million by IPO. .... joins Editas Medicine, Cellectis (France), and Sangamo Biosciences as publicly traded biotechs using gene editing to develop their main products. [Alex Lash, xconomy.com, May 5, 16]
Sangamo Bio down 10% [Mar 23,16]
Sangamo Biociences down 10% [Feb 10, 16]
Sangamo BioScience down 13% [Jan 13, 16]
Sangamo BioScience down 13% [Jan 11, 16]
Sangamo Bio up 11% [Dec 1, 15]
Sangamo BioSci up 12% [Nov 2, 15]
Sangamo BioSciences up 12% [Oct 23,15]
Sangamo Bio up 11% [Oct 15,15]
Sangamo BioSciences up 22% [Sep 10, 15]Announces Unanimous Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) Approval Of ZFP Therapeutic Phase 1 Study Protocol For First In Vivo Genome Editing Application [company press release]
Sangamo Bio down 18% [Aug 6, 15]
Sangamo Bio up 11% [Mar 19, 15]
Sangamo Biosciences up 07% [Feb 12,15]
Sangamo Bio up 10% [Feb 11, 15]
Sangamo Bio down 11% [Dec 15, 14]
Sangamo Bio up 17% [Dec 12, 14]
Sangamo Bio up 20% [Dec 9, 14]
Sangamo BioSciences, which earlier this month grabbed headlines with its gene-editing therapy that could offer an effective cure for HIV, is raising $100 million by selling 4.4 million shares of stock. [Steven E.F. Brown, San Francisco Business Times, Mar 21. 14]
Sangamo Bio up 38% [Jan 9, 14] Biogen Idec and Sangamo unveiled a collaboration and license deal to develop therapeutics for hemoglobinopathies, inherited conditions resulting from the abnormal structure or underproduction of hemoglobin. .... provide Sangamo with an upfront payment of $20 million and will reimburse Sangamo for its research and development program-related costs. Sangamo may also receive additional payments of about $300 million based on certain milestones, as well as double digit royalties on product sales. [Ben Fox Rubin, Wall Street Journal, Jan 9, 14]
Sangamo Bio up 14% [Oct 1, 13]
Sangamo BioSciences will buy Ceregene (San Diego, CA; $1.1M SBIR) working on a virus-delivered gene therapy for Alzheimer's disease, in a stock and cash deal. ... Ceregene's CERE-110 is a gene therapy that uses an adeno-associated virus, or AAV. It is in a Phase II clinical trial with Alzheimer's patients. [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, Aug 26, 13]
Sangamo Biosciencesup 12% [Jul 25, 13]
Sangamo BioSciences think they can do much better [than big pharma]. They’re trying to free patients from a lifetime of pills or infusions by giving them one-time doses of gene therapy. Gene therapy—a treatment based on modifying or correcting human genes and introducing them into the body—is a fast-growing research area. The treatments are often designed to inactivate a gene that causes a disease, or replace an essential gene that is missing. Although the FDA has not yet approved a gene therapy, the European Commission in November 2012 approved alipogene tiparvovec (Glybera) as a genetic remedy for a very rare defect in fat metabolism caused by the lack of an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase. [Bernadette Tansey, xconomy.com, Jul 15, 13]
... $6.37 million was awarded to fund a partnership with Sangamo BioSciences designed to create a therapy for beta-thalassemia, a disorder that reduces the ability of blood cells to transport oxygen, causing anemia and other problems. The grant, spread over four years, requires Sangamo to match the funding. [James Dunn, San Francisco Business Times, May 23, 13]
Sangamo Biotech down 10% [May 3, 13]
Sangamo Bioscience up 17% [Jan 14, 13]
Sangamo Bioscience up 10% [Dec 7, 12]
Sangamo Tech>down 10% [Feb 9, 12]
Sangamo up 21% [Feb 1, 12] Shire plc (UK), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, and Sangamo BioSciences, a leader in genome-editing technology, announced today that they have entered into a collaboration and license agreement to develop therapeutics for hemophilia and other monogenic diseases based on Sangamo's zinc finger DNA-binding protein (ZFP) technology. [press release, Feb 1, 12]
Sangamo up 18% [Nov 30, 11]
Sangamo down 30% [Oct 3, 11]
Sangamo up 10% [Aug 9, 11]
Sangamo down 11% [Aug 4, 11]
Sangamo down 10% [Jun 1, 11]
Sangamo BioSciences priced a public offering of stock that will raise about $51.59 million [San Francisco Times, Apr 8, 11]
Sangamo Bio up 12%[Feb 25, 11]
Sangamo Biosciences up 10% [Nov 29, 10]
Sangamo Biosciences up 11% [Sep 20, 10]
Sangamo up 11% [Sep 13, 10]
Sangamo Biosciences up 13% [Jul 20, 10]
Sangamo Biosciences up 11% [May 27, 10]
Feed gazelles. The biotech industry raised a record $55.8 billion in 2009 despite hesitant stock and venture capital markets, as drug-company partnerships fed the cash-burning startups that develop new therapies. .. a jump of 85% over 2008, according to Steve Burrill, whose San Francisco firm Burrill & Co. is both an industry investor and analyst. ... $37 billion in financial partnerships through which large drug companies license technologies or experimental remedies from biotech startups, ... [CEO] of Sangamo BioSciences said he hopes to use partnerships to fund the costly marathon of developing a biomedical breakthrough while retaining enough control to preserve his company's big league potential. [Tom Abate, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan 10, 10] The SBIR advocates want to choke this flow by refusing SBIR funds to companies that have larger VCs investing at the nursery stage to mature the infant technology to the stage where big pharma would be willing to take over. But if SBIR is to be a launch platform for future market companies, it has to get beyond bland and repetitive handouts to life-style firms doing incremental R&D for government agencies. Feed gazelles, not SBIR mills. Both the agencies and the economy will be better off in the long run.
Sangamo Bio down 10% [Dec 7, 09]
Sangamo down 13% [Oct 30, 09]
Sangamo Biosciences down 10% [Oct 7, 09] after the company announced plans to sell at least three million shares [Wall Street Journal, Oct 8, 09]
Sangamo Bioseciences up 15% [Aug 25, 09]
Sangamo up 13% [Mar 17, 09]
Sangamo up 24% [Mar 10, 09]
Sangamo Biosciences up 10% [Mar 6, 09]
Sangamo down 11% [Feb 25, 09]
Sangamo Biosciences up 10% [Feb 24, 09]
Sangamo up 14% [Feb 2, 09]
Sangamo up 11% [Jan 21, 09]
Sangamo down 15% [Jan 20, 09]
Sangamo Bio up 19% [Dec 16, 08]
Sangamo Bioscience up 16% [Dec 8, 08]
Sangamo up 14% [Dec 5, 08]
Sangamo Bioscience down 66% [Nov 11, 08] ... reported that no significant differences were observed in several measures of nerve function compared with a placebo in its clinical studies for SB-509, a drug intended to treat diabetic neuropathy. [Wall Street Journal, Nov 12]
Sangamo Bioscience down 12% [Nov 5, 08]
Sangamo Bioscience up 14% [Oct 30, 08]
Sangamo up 12% [Oct 13, 08]
Sangamo Bioscience down 11% [Oct 6, 08]
Sangamo Bioscience up 21% [Sep 18, 08]
Sangamo BioSciences down 14% [Jun 6, 08] despite news that its drug for diabetes-associated nerve damage has yielded encouraging results.
Sangamo Biosciences down 10% after an analyst said two trials of a key drug candidate are going to fail. [AP, May 28,08]
Sangamo BioSciences down 13% [Mar 10, 08]
Sangamo Biosciences down 12% [Nov 12, 07] as a big investor sold some.
Sangamo BioSciences up 12% [Sep 18, 07] after the company showed data demonstrating that human CD4 T-cells can be made permanently resistant to HIV infection by treatment with zinc finger DNA-binding protein nucleases (ZFN(TM)) and preferentially survive and expand in an animal after HIV infection.
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, 07] 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.
Sangamo BioSciences jumped 10% on news that it agreed with Dow AgroSciences on "multiple" research milestones in their collaboration to develop plant cell cultures. SBIR $2M over a decade. [Nov 22, 06]
Sangart (San Diego, CA; $800K SBIR a decade ago) said that it raised more than $50 million in a new private equity fund-raising round to pay for work on the San Diego company's experimental drugs to prevent tissue damage due to low blood oxygen and a painful blockage of blood vessels in people with sickle cell disease. ... has raised $230 million from investors since the company was created in 1998 [Keith Darce, signonsandiego.com, Apr 19, 11] A smart SBIR program feeds the company just enough capital to make it competitive in the private capital markets. It does not play the DOD-NASA game of funding the entire R&D for techs that only a government could love. But, SBIR junkies shouldn't worry, the DOD leopard is not about to change its spots. Unless and until Congress decides to re-write DOD's rules.
TFS Corp. an Australian firm that claims to be the world’s largest owner and manager of commercial Indian sandalwood plantations, has struck a deal to buy ViroXis (San Antonio, TX; no SBIR). and Santalis Pharmaceuticals (San Antonio, TX; no SBIR) [for] up to $270 million. ... TFS is expected to invest $25 million over five years in the companies. ... TFS will own the entities, which exclusively develop and sell products containing Indian sandalwood it grows and processes [W. Scott Bailey, San Antonio Business Journal, Jun 18, 15]
Sapheon (Morrisville, NC; no SBIR) has raised $19.8 million in equity financing to push ahead its VenaSeal Sapheon Closure System — a single use kit to treat venous reflux, also called varicose veins. [Lauren Ohnesorge, Triangle Business Journal, Sep 9, 13]
Scientists at UC San Diego and Sapphire Energy (San Diego, CA; $200K SBIR) say they have successfully completed the first EPA-approved outdoor field trial of genetically engineered algae. Cultivating the algae outdoors didn’t harm nearby populations of wild algae, the scientists say in a study published Thursday [Bradley Fikes, San Diego Union Tribune, May 8, 17]
San Diego County
companies that
raised the largest amount of venture capital in the fourth quarter of
2015
Sapphire Energy
($200K SBIR)
$91 million; Effector
Therapeutics: $40 million; MD Revolution:
$22.45 million;
AltheaDX:
$20.1 million; Elcelyx
Therapeutics: $20
million; Amplyx
Pharmaceuticals:
$20 million; Astute
Medical:
$20 million; Glysens
($6.8M SBIR): $20 million; Crinetics
Pharmaceuticals ($200K SBIR): $18
million; Enlibrium:
$15 million Source:
MoneyTree Survey by
PricewaterhouseCoopers and the NVCA with data from Thomson Reuters
[xconomy.com]
Sapphire Energy (San Diego, CA; $200K SBIR) startup developing algal biofuel, said it successfully modified certain cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, to produce significantly higher yields of “green” crude oil. Sapphire said it also has tapped into the deep expertise in producing blue-green algae through a licensing agreement with Earthrise Nutritionals (Irvine, CA; no SBIR), which produces food colors and nutritional supplements from a type of blue-green algae known as Spirulina. [Bruce Bigelow, xconomy.com, Mar 2, 12]
Sarcos Technology and Robotics (Salt Lake City, UT; $15M SBIR), that established an outpost in Pittsburgh following the $100 million acquisition of a local robotics firm announced a companywide pivot that will lead to the ending of its presence [and 150 employee layoffs] in the region. [Sarcos] purchased Lawrenceville-based robotics company RE2 Inc. back in April 2022, said in a press release that it will be pivoting its business operations to focus on the "larger, near-term opportunity" of its robotics-based artificial intelligence and machine learning software platform. [Pittsburgh Inno, Nov 2, 2023]
Sarda Techonogies (Durham, NC; formed 13 months ago, no SBIR yet) CEO Bob Conner expressed confidence that the company will close on a total of about $3 million in venture capital funding in the next few months. ... has working prototypes of its low power semiconductors, which are designed for use in mobile devices such as smartphones, tablet devices and laptop PCs. [David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, Mar 12, 12]
Sarepta Therapeutics down 37% [Oct 31, 2023] amid uncertainty about the future of the company’s $3.2 million gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which received approval earlier this year. [Barron's Oct 31, 2023]
Sarepta Therapeutics up 31% [May 15, 2023] announced that [FDA] voted 8 to 6 in support of accelerated approval of SRP-9001 (delandistrogene moxeparvovec) for the treatment of ambulatory patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy with a confirmed mutation in the DMD gene. [company press redlease, May 12, 2023]
Sarepta Therapeutics raised $1.2 billion during the quarter to ensure we have the resources necessary to fully prepare for and successfully launch SRP-9001. [company press release, Nov 2, 2022]
Sarepta Therapeutics the leader in precision genetic medicine for rare diseases, and GenEdit (Berkeley, CA; $200K SBIR), a developer of genetic medicines that leverage its NanoGalaxyTM polymer nanoparticle platform for tissue-selective delivery, announced a research collaboration and option agreement under which the companies are employing GenEdit’s NanoGalaxy platform and Sarepta’s gene editing technology to develop gene editing therapeutics for the treatment of neuromuscular diseases.In addition to research payments, under the terms of the collaboration and option agreement, GenEdit may receive up to $57 million in near-term payments and is also eligible for significant future development, regulatory and commercial milestones [joint companies press release, Feb 1, 2022]
Sarepta Therapeutics is walking away from a partnered gene therapy just months before the readout of a pivotal clinical trial. The biotech stuck with Lysogene {France) through a tough 2020 that featured the death of a child who received their partnered gene therapy but has now decided to exit the deal. Sarepta paid Lysogene $15 million for ex-Europe rights to a gene therapy against the neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIA in 2018 as part of its push into the modality. [Nick Paul Taylor, Fierce Biotech, Jan 13, 22]
Sarepta Thera down 51% [Jan 8, 21] announced top-line results from Part 1 of Study SRP-9001-102 (Study 102), an ongoing, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to evaluate the safety, efficacy and tolerability of a single dose of SRP-9001 (rAAVrh74.MHCK7.micro-dystrophin) ... however, the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.37) [company press release, Jan 7, 21]
Sarepta Therapeutics, the leader in precision genetic medicine for rare diseases, and Codiak BioSciences (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR), a company at the forefront of advancing engineered exosomes as a new class of biologic medicines, announced a global research and option agreement to design and develop engineered exosome therapeutics to deliver gene therapy, gene editing and RNA technologies for neuromuscular diseases. The engineered exosome approach offers the potential to effectively deliver genetic therapeutics without triggering the adaptive immune response. The two-year agreement includes up to five neuromuscular targets. Codiak is eligible to receive up to $72.5 million in upfront and near-term license payments plus research funding. Sarepta is granted an option to any of the candidates developed pursuant to the research alliance. [company press release, Jun 22, 20]
Boston startups ended the first quarter of 2020 with a bang. The disruption caused by COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, notwithstanding, 60 Beantown startups raised over $1.5B. Chief among those were monster rounds raised by biotech companies: Cambridge-based Sarepta Therapeutics raised $400M; Xilio Therapeutics, formerly known as Akrevia Therapeutics, raised $100.5M in a Series B round; and Cambridge biotech Kymera Therapeutics raised $102M.
Sarepta Therapeutics, the leader in precision genetic medicine for rare diseases, announced that Sarepta and Roche have entered into a licensing agreement providing Roche exclusive commercial rights to SRP-9001 (AAVrh74.MHCK7.micro-dystrophin), Sarepta’s investigational gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), outside the United States. Sarepta will receive $1.15 billion in an upfront payment and an equity investment; up to $1.7 billion in regulatory and sales milestones; and royalties on net sales, anticipated to be in the mid-teens. In addition, Roche and Sarepta will equally share global development expenses. Sarepta retains all rights to SRP-9001 in the United States. [company press release, Dec 23, 29] The deal comes days after Roche advanced its push into gene therapies by closing the takeover of Spark Therapeutics. [Fierce Biotech, Dec 23, 19]
Sarepta Thera up 31% [Dec 13, 19] announced that [FDA] has approved VYONDYS 53(TM) (golodirsen), an antisense oligonucleotide from Sarepta's phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO) platform, indicated for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in patients with a confirmed mutation amenable to exon 53 skipping.... also announced today that it has entered into an agreement that provides up to $500 million of borrowing capacity [company press release, Dec 12, 19]
Sarepta Therapeutics, the leader in precision genetic medicine for rare diseases, and StrideBio (Research Triangle Park, NC; no SBIR), a leading developer of novel adeno-associated viral (AAV) based gene therapies, announced the signing of a collaboration and license agreement to develop in vivo AAV-based therapies for up to eight central nervous system (CNS) and neuromuscular targets. Pursuant to the agreement, Sarepta is granted an exclusive license on selected targets to leverage StrideBio’s novel, structure-driven capsid technology, intended to enhance specific tropism to tissues of interest and evade neutralizing antibodies ... with an upfront payment of up to $42.5 million along with future downstream milestone payments, while StrideBio has an option to obtain co-development and co-commercial rights to one of the collaboration targets. In addition, Sarepta has made a commitment to invest in StrideBio’s next financing round. [joint companies press release, Nov 14, 19]
Sarepta Thera (Cambridge MA; no SBIR) down 15% [Aug 20, 19]
The FDA rejected the new drug application for golodirsen, the follow-up to Exondys 51, Sarepta’s first treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), the company said in a statement. [Amirah Al Idrus, Fierce Biotech, Aug 19, 19]
Landos Biopharma (Blacksburg, VA; no SBIR), focused on the discovery and development of first-in-class oral therapeutics for patients with autoimmune diseases, announced the successful completion of its $60 million Series B financing round [company press release, Aug 13, 19] the first biotech to come out of Xontogeny, the accelerator started by former Sarepta Therapeutics chief Chris Garabedian [Fierce Biotech, Aug 14, 19]
Sarepta Thera up 17% [Jun 28, 19]
Already struggling to keep pace with Sarepta Therapeutics in the race to develop a gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Solid Biosciences reported another setback. A patient treated with its Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy suffered a transient decline in platelet levels from the gene therapy, and a serious GI infection that wasn’t related to the treatment. The patient recovered and the trial continues, but shares nonetheless fell 40 percent. [Frank Vinluan, xconomy.com, May 17, 19]
Sarepta Therapeutics has been steadily building up its gene therapy capabilities for a few years now, and it took two more steps forward on that front this morning. First, it exercised an option to buy gene therapy startup Myonexus Therapeutics (New Albany, OH; no SBIR) for $165 million. And then it disclosed early human results from the first program to come from the deal, a potential treatment for a form of Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (LGMD), a progressive, deadly genetic disease with no available treatments. [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Feb 27, 19]
Success. In 2017, Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug maker Sarepta signed a deal with Duke University to research potential cures for the disease using the gene-editing system CRISPR. Now the Duke lab at the center of that research pact is reporting promising results from a trial of CRISPR in mouse models of DMD. [Arlene Weintraub, Fierce Biotech, Feb 18, 19]
For the first time, a gene therapy—a one-time, long-lasting treatment—has shown it may improve the lives of kids with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a deadly genetic disease with no cure. Patients in a small trial showed improved motor function, such as walking and climbing stairs, and near-normal levels of a key muscle protein. But the data Sarepta Therapeutics is presenting are rife with caveats: from just four patients [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Oct 3, 18]
Sarepta Therapeutics said the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, which helps guide drug approval decisions in Europe, has rejected eteplirsen for the second time. [Ben Fidler, xcononmy.com. Sep 21, 18]
Sarepta Therapeutics announced that it has made a strategic investment and entered into a license and option agreement with Lacerta Therapeutics (Alachua, FL; no SBIR), a gene therapy company using a constellation of proprietary adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector technologies to develop CNS-targeted treatments and lysosomal storage diseases. Sarepta expects to benefit from Lacerta’s expertise in AAV-based CNS-targeted gene therapies, will gain access to Lacerta’s capsid screening and proprietary OneBac manufacturing platform and process for the licensed products, and bolsters its pipeline to 11 gene therapy programs, with three CNS-focused programs from Lacerta. [Sarepta press release, Aug 6, 18]
A phase 1/2a trial Sarepta Pharma’s gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) has been placed on clinical hold by the FDA after rogue DNA was found in a test sample. [Phil Taylor, Fierce Biotech, Jul 26, 18]
Sarepta Thera up 37% [Jun 19, 18] impressive report today about an early-stage clinical trial for a gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, or DMD [Andrew Bury, Barron's, Jun 19, 18]
Sarepta Therapeutics up 15% [May 4, 18] inked a pact with Myonexus Therapeutics, a Nationwide Children’s Hospital spinout developing gene therapies for rare muscular dystrophies. Sarepta paid $60 million up front to co-develop five gene therapy products, and nabbed an option to buy the startup outright. [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, May 4, 18]
Sarepta Therapeutics suspended a U.K. study of its next-generation Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug, golodirsen. The temporary halt in dosing, mandated by U.K.-specific rules, was “triggered by one serious adverse event that could possibly be related to the investigational drug product,” Sarepta said in an emailed statement. [Amirah Al Idrus, Fierce Biotech, Feb 9, 18]
Risk-loving gene therapy startups are emerging with creative solutions to expand the reach of genetic medicine. Two of them debuting this morning, Generation Bio (Cambridge, MA) startup with a $25 million Series A round attempting an unusual gene therapy approach meant to make the technique available to more people, and possibly allow them to get a second dose if the first wears off. Stoke Therapeutics (Bedford, MA) startup run by former Sarepta Therapeutics CEO Ed Kaye, trying to address a current weakness of gene therapy—the inability of developers to control the level of the therapeutic effect. The hope is that Stoke’s treatments will treat diseases that current gene therapies can’t touch. It has raised $40 million. [Ben Fidler, xconomy, Jan 4, 18] Stoke working to increase gene expression to treat a wide array of diseases caused by genetic insufficiency, announced that it has completed a $40 million Series A financing to support the further advancement of multiple pre-clinical development programs. [company press release, Jan 4, 18]
Sarepta Therapeutics a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of precision genetic medicines to treat rare neuromuscular diseases, and Nationwide Children’s Hospital announced that the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for the GALGT2 gene therapy program was cleared by the FDA. Nationwide Children’s is on track to initiate the Phase 1/2a clinical trial in individuals with DMD by year-end 2017. [company press release, Nov 3, 17] also announced that it has signed a research collaboration agreement with Duke University, granting the Company an option to an exclusive license to intellectual property and technology related to CRISPR/Cas9 technology developed in the laboratory of Charles A. Gersbach, Ph.D. [company press release, Oct 31, 17]
Sarepta Thera up 14% [Sep 6, 17]
Sarepta Therapeutics agreed to pay $35 million plus royalties and potential milestones to BioMarin Pharmaceutical to resolve a dispute over patents on its Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug. [Max Stendahl, Boston Business Journal, Jul 18, 17]
Sarepta Thera up 20% [Jul 20, 17]
Sarepta Therapeutics raised $325 million in a stock offering.... Following the best quarterly results to date for its Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug eteplirsen (Exondys 51) and a roughly 20 percent rise in shares, [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Jul 28, 27]
Parents convinced FDA. After trial data for a new medicine proved inconclusive, Sarepta Therapeutics joined with the parents of sick boys to persuade officials it helped ... An FDA advisory committee voted 7-6 last year to oppose the drug’s approval, a position later overruled. ... Two weeks after the [2012] conference [on Duchenne muscular dystrophy] , the company made a 1-for-6 stock split, which raised its share price and allowed it to keep its Nasdaq listing. It also changed its name to Sarepta from AVI BioPharma. Sarepta shares have dropped back to $35. Some insurance companies refuse to cover the drug [at more than $300,000 a year]. A label on the medicine—renamed Exondys 51—says a clinical benefit of the drug “has not been established.” [Susan Pulliam and Brody Mullins, Wall Street Journal, May 18, 17]
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 sold the drug’s rights to PTC Therapeutics last week). [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Mar 22, 17]
Sarepta Therapeutics didn’t just get its first drug to market when the FDA approved the Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug eteplirsen (Exondys 51) last year—it got a potentially lucrative voucher from the FDA too. Today the company cashed that in. ..... sold what’s known as a priority review voucher to Gilead Sciences in a deal worth $125 million. Sarepta will use the cash to help develop next-gen drugs for Duchenne. [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Feb 21, 17]
Sarepta Therapeutics up 21% [Jan 10, 17]
Catabasis Pharma up 40% [Sep 29, 16] and Sarepta Therapeutics announced a joint research collaboration to explore a combination drug treatment approach for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). [company press release, Sep 28, 16]
Sarepta Thera up 14% [Sep 20, 16]
Sarepta Thera up 76% [Sep 19, 16] Bowing to pressure from patient advocates, the [FDA] approved a treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy even though an outside panel of experts and the agency's own reviewers questioned the drug's efficacy. ... The FDA's lead reviewer, Dr. Ronald Farkas, recently quit the agency after issuing a scathing report criticizing the quality of the data presented by Sarepta Therapeutics, developer of the drug Exondys 51, known also as eteplirsen. [Toni Clarke and Natalie Grover, Reuters, Sep 19, 16]
Sarepta Thera up 27% [Sep 14, 16] following reports of the departure of one of the chief [FDA] critics of the company’s drug for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a fatal muscle-wasting disease affecting boys. .... market cap now $1.5B [Andrew Bary, Barron's, Sep 14, 16]
In another announcement spurring optimism for approval of its Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug, Sarepta Therapeutics announced plans late Wednesday to sell $38 million worth of new shares. The move comes two days after an update on the Duchenne drug sent the Cambridge company’s stock soaring more than 20 percent. [Don Seiffert, Boston Business Journal, Jun 9, 16]
Sarepta Thera up 23% [Jun 7, 16] disclosed that the FDA had requested muscle biopsy data at 48 weeks of treatment from an ongoing Phase 3 confirmatory trial of the company’s DMD drug, eteplirsen. [Andrew Bary, barrons.com, Jun 7, 16]
Sarepta Thera up 27% [May 25, 16] said the [FDA] wouldn’t issue a decision on the company’s muscular dystrophy drug by Thursday’s deadline, raising expectations that the agency may approve a treatment that an advisory panel recommended to reject. [Lisa Beilfuss, Wall Street Journal, May 25, 16]
Sarepta Thera up 26% [May 2, 16]
At the end of a dramatic, 11-hour meeting, a group of FDA advisors recommended against accelerated approval of eteplirsen, a drug developed by Sarepta Therapeutics for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Apr 28, 16]
Sarepta Thera up 19% [Apr 28, 16]
Sarepta Thera down 44% [Apr 21, 16] after [FDA] further questioned the efficacy of the company's drug candidate to treat a fatal form of muscular dystrophy. [Wall Street Journal, Apr 21, 16]
Sarepta Thera up 19% [Apr 6, 16]
Sarepta Thera down 11% [Mar 23,16]
Sarepta Thera up 21% [Mar 21,16]
Sarepta Thera up 17% [Mar 17,16] on news that the chairman and two other directors bought $2.5 million worth of shares at market price. [ Don Seiffert, Boston Business Journal, Mar 17, 16]
Sarepta Thera up 15% [Mar 10,16] is vacating its lab space in Corvallis and consolidating most of its 270 employees in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Boston Business Journal reported. founded in Corvallis in 1980 under the name Antivirals That’s where it developed the gene-inactivating technology behind its drugs to treat genetic disorders. [Elizabeth Hayes, Portland Business Journal, Mar 10, 16] Need a serious pool of qualified labor? Go where they cluster. Harvard's Michael Porter explained concentrated industry decades ago.
Sarepta Therapeutics down 12% [Feb 8, 16] said the [FDA]had delayed a decision on its lead drug for a rare muscle-wasting disorder. The FDA has delayed the decision to May
Sarepta Thera down 10% [Jan 21, 16]
Sarepta Thera down 55% [Jan 15, 16] after [FDA] released documents that suggested it may not approve the company’s treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disease for which there is currently no treatment. [Clara Linnane, Marketwatch.com, Jan 15, 16]
Sarepta Thera up 11% [Nov 23, 15]
Sarepta Pharma up 28% [Nov 20, 15]
Sarepta Thera down 12% [Oct 14,15]
151 meters could be the number which earns approval of the drug being developed by [Sarepta Therapeutics up 22% [Oct 1, 15]] to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Sarepta presented what will likely be the last batch of trial data ... how far 10 boys in a trial, who have been given weekly doses of a drug called eteplirsen, are able to walk in six minutes. ... the rate of decline in the distance they can walk in six minutes is 151 meters less than what would be expected if the boys were not treated. [Don Seiffert, Boston Business Journal, Oct 1, 15]
Sarepta Thera
up 60% [May
20,
15] after the
company
announced it would be filing a new [FDA] drug application, to be
completed by the middle of the year. This will be for eteplirsen, which
targets Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Investors seem to be assuming this
treatment will be a home run. But approval is far from
certain.
What’s more, the share-price jump now puts Sarepta’s valuation in
league with that of BioMarin
Pharmaceutical; both are now trading around 18 times
projected
2016 sales. ... But BioMarin at least has other products to
fall
back on. Sarepta, by contrast, could see the wheels come off.
[Charley Grant, Wall Street Journal, May 20, 15]
Sarepta Thera up 11% [May 6,15]
Sarepta Thera up 15% [Feb 17, 15]
Sarepta Pharma down 15% [Jan 12, 15]
Sarepta Pharma down 32% [Oct 27, 14]
Sarepta Pharma
shares fell
after
the company said regulators want more data about its muscular dystrophy
treatment eteplirsen before they will consider approving the
drug.
[Raleigh News & Observer, Oct 27, 14]
Sarepta Theraa up 11% [Oct 15, 14]
Sarepta Therapeutics known mostly for its experimental drugs to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, reported data from an early stage trial of an influenza drug called AVI-7100. The drug, which uses the same RNA-based approach as not only Sarepta’s muscular dystrophy drug, but its potential drugs for Ebola and Marburg virus, was shown to be safe in healthy volunteers who were given a range of doses. [Don Seiffert, Boston Business Journal, Oct 2, 14]
Sarepta Thera up 13% [Jul 30, 14]
Exodus at Sarepta. Managerial turnover is hitting Sarepta Therapeutics as it prepares to seek regulatory approval for its high-profile drug for a rare and fatal form of muscular dystrophy, according to people familiar with the matter. ... fired its chief scientific officer ... involving senior employees over the past year .... head of commercial development [left] ... [former] chief scientific officer [resigned] in 2012 [Joseph Walker, Wall Street Journal, Jul 24, 14]
Sarepta Therapeutics down 13% [Jul 10, 14], one of three companies worldwide planning to file for approval of a drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy,... after announcing three-year data from its main trial of its drug. [Don Seiffert, Boston Business Journal, Jul 10,14]
Sarepta
Therapeutics plans
to acquire and employ about 40
people at a 60,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in a
yet-to-be-disclosed location in Massachusetts. ...
plans to
file for U.S. approval by the end of the year for a drug to treat
Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, said it has an agreement to acquire the
facility for $25 million. .... used to be
known as AVI
Biopharma
and was based in Oregon. It still owns a
manufacturing facility in Oregon, and spokesman Jim Baker said there
are no plans to get rid of it. [Don
Seiffert,
Boston Business Journal, May 22, 14]
Sarepta Pharma up 14% [Apr 22, 14]
Sarepta Pharma up 39% [Apr 21, 14] said that it would submit a new drug application for its experimental treatment for a fatal degenerative disease that afflicts children to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by the end of the year. [Michael Calia, Wall Street Journal, Apr 21, 14]
Serepta Thera down 10% [Apr 10, 14]
Sarepta Thera up 40% [Jan 16, 14]
Sarepta Thera up 19% [Dec 12, 13]
Sarepta Thera up 12% [Nov 14,13]
Sarepta Thera down 64% [Nov 12, 13] reported the U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration said its planned new drug application for Eteplirsen was premature owing to recent data that raised some questions about the treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. [Wall Street Journal, Nov 12]
Sarepta Thera down 12% [Oct 9, 13]
Sarepta Thera up 11% [Sep 23, 13]
Sarepta Thera up 14% [Sep 20, 13]
Sarepta Thera down 19% [Jul 24, 13]
Sarepta Pharma exploded on the scene the past year. One year ago, its stock was worth 69 cents. Today, it will open trading at more than $37. Many smart people now believe that Sarepta has come up with the first effective drug for treating Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a disabling and deadly neuromuscular disease. The product is a molecular-targeted drug that is designed to help boys with the disease who can’t make enough dystrophin for proper muscle function because they have an abnormality in part of the dystrophin gene called exon 51. [Luke Timmerman, xconomy.com, Jun 10, 13]
Sarepta Thera down 13% [Apr 16, 13]
Sarepta Thera up 11% [Apr 9, 13]
Sarepta Therapeutics up 14% [Jan 25, 13]
Sarepta Thera up 19% [Nov 12,12]
Sarepta Pharma down 12% [Oct 12, 12]
Sarepta Pharma down 10% [Oct 5, 12]
Sarepta Therapeutics developer of innovative RNA-based therapeutics, received notice from DOD that the Ebola portion of the Company's contract for the advanced development of hemorrhagic fever virus therapeutics was terminated for the convenience of the government due to funding constraints. [Marketwire, Oct 3, 12]
Sarepta Therapeutics down 16% [Oct 4, 12] after nearly tripling [Oct 3] after Sarepta's treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a drug called eteplirsen. 48-week trial data released this morning displayed incredible improvements for patients receiving a 50mg dose of the drug. In fact, the results showed some evidence that eteplirsen could help to reverse the progression of this fatal disease versus simply slowing its progression. [Motley Fool, Oct 4]
Sarepta Thera up 14% [Aug 27, 12]
AVI BioPharma (Bothell, WA; $1.6M SBIR) has renamed itself Sarepta Therapeutics and completed a 1-for-6 reverse stock split. [Seattle Times, Jul 12, 12]
Salix Pharmaceuticals received FDA approval to market Ruconest in the United States. .... partnered with Pharming Group, a Dutch drug company, on Ruconest, which is indicated to treat acute angioedema attacks in adult and adolescent patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE). ..... Salix gained rights to Ruconest through its 2013 acquisition of Santarus [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Jul 17, 14]
Sanuwave Health (Alpharetta, GA; no SBIR) raised $10.1 million after closing a private placement with institutional and select accredited investors. ... will use the funding for its Phase III clinical trial in diabetic foot ulcers using the company’s dermaPACE. ... develops high-energy shockwave technology used in devices for the repair and generation of bones, muscles, tendons and skin, and also for the separation of solids and fluid in non-medical systems. [Ellie Hensley, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Mar 18, 14]
Clarus Ventures, which has backed some big Bay Area biotech M&A winners over the past year, is raising $375 million for a third fund, part of a $2 billion or more surge in life sciences VC funds over the past year. .... It invested in the East Bay's FerroKin BioSciences ($100K SBIR) which Shire bought in 2012 for up to $325 million, Redwood City respiratory disease drug developer Pearl Therapeutics (Redwood City, no SBIR), which AstraZeneca bought in June for $1 billion, and eye drug maker SARcode Bioscience (no SBIR) purchased a year ago by Shire for at least $160 million. It also has put money into up-and-comers like cancer drug developer Cleave Biosciences (Burlingame, no SBIR). [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, Feb 7, 14]
SatCon Technology which filed for bankruptcy in October, gave up hope in finding a buyer for the clean energy business. The bankruptcy followed Satcon’s report to the Securities and Exchange commission that it had defaulted on $16 million in debt. [Patricia Resende, Boston Business Journal, Feb 22, 13]
Satcon Technology filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following years of financial struggles and a severe downturn in the solar power industry [AP, Oct 18, 12] Had something in the $40M range of SBIR since 1986, went public in 1992. Regardless of the eventual business failure, it was a good company for SBIR because it really tried to make a go of profitable private sector business with tons of private investment in advanced technology.
SatCon Tech did a 1:8 reverse split [Jul 19, 12]
Satcon Technology said it will supply 16 megawatts of its PowerGate Plus solutions to Unity Electric LLC of New Jersey at a site that, upon completion, is expected to be one of the largest solar installations in the Northeast. [Lori Valigra, Mass High Tech, Mar 6, 12]
Satcon Technology jumped more than 55 percent to 87 cents per share in mid-day trading Tuesday after the company said it had inked a five-year sales, marketing and distribution agreement in China.[Lori Valigra, Mass High Tech, Feb 8, 12] Down 11% Wednesday, and still below the buck.
Satcon Technology ($35M SBIR since 1986) said it will cut 140 employees [about 35 percent of its worldwide workforce] globally, close its Canadian plant, and reduce other costs in an effort to improve its financial performance [Lori Valigra, Mass High Tech, Jan 4, 12] They hope for a lot more than the present $0.58 per share, down from a high of 40 in 2000. For the last three years, it has lost a total of $53M.
SatCon Tech down 23% [Jul 5, 11] after saying that quarter's results would be disappointing and cutting 15% of staff
Satcon Technology said it has won a contract to provide solar power inverter equipment for projects totaling 20 megawatts of electricity in Italy, Greece and Bulgaria. [Mass High Tech, Jun 23, 11]
Satcon Technology signed a deal for solar power inverters handling up to 20.5 megawatts with Solar Cells Hellas, a Greek solar power farm developer. [Mass High Tech, Mar 23, 11]
SatCon down 10% [Mar 1, 11]
Satcon Tech down 27% [Feb 23, 11] despite making nice noises about manufacturing and expansion. Though the maker of solar energy equipment narrowed its loss on booming sales, its gross margins suffered due to continuing supply chain issues. Its results disappointed Wall Street analysts, who expected a profit. [AP]
Satcon Technology has been chosen to supply solar power inverters for a massive new solar installation in Germany, marking a major step in the company’s growth in the European market, the company said. ... plans to hire 40 people for its Boston operations soon and is also eyeing the city for a manufacturing expansion that could add another 40 jobs [Kyle Alspach, Mass High Tech, Feb 15, 11]
SatCon down 10% [Nov 17, 10]
Satcon Technology said it has priced its public offering of 9 million shares at $3.90 each. .... expects proceeds of about $32.7 million, which it plans to use for working capital and general purposes such as research and capital expenses. [Boston Globe, Oct 22, 10]
SatCon down 10% [Aug 11, 10]
SatCon Tech up 11% [Aug 9, 10]
Satcon Technology saw its revenue for the second quarter of 2010 soar by more than 250 percent over the same period in 2009, setting a sales record. The company still saw its net losses grow as well, however. [Mass High Tech, Aug 6, 10]
Satcon Technology has taken on $12 million in debt under a new subordinated debt facility ... Satcon’s new chief financial officer [says] the company has a backlog as of early May of more than $80 million in orders for its power systems, driven largely by the growth in utility-scale solar installations around the world. ... As of March, Satcon reported approximately 225 employees. [Mass High Tech, Jun 18, 10]
Satcon Technology said it has received an order for its solar PV inverters from GCL Solar Ltd., one of China's largest utility solar power plant developers and suppliers. [Boston Globe, Apr 7, 10]
SatCon Technology said it is looking to raise $20.2 million in a follow-on public offering. [Mass High Tech, Jun 10, 09]
Satcon Technology and Solyndra (Fremont, CA; no SBIR)announced a strategic partnership for commercial rooftop solar power production. [San Francisco Business Journal, Apr 30, 09]
SatCon Technology sold its electronics and motor divisions for a total of $5.6 million cash. ... part of the SatCon’s strategic restructuring plan, will enable the company to focus its financial, technical and marketing resources on the growth of their core photovoltaic and fuel cell power conditioning solutions business, ...The company reported $56.6 million in revenue for 2007, while posting a $11.8 million loss. [Mass High Tech, Sep 29, 08]
Satcon Technology said that it will deliver its PowerGate Plus inverter to a private European power utility that specializes in renewable energy production. [Boston Globe, Aug 26, 08]
Shares of SatCon Technology plunged after the company said its second-quarter loss widened due in part to a jump in operating costs. .... So far this year, the stock is up about 40% [Boston Globe, Aug 13,08]
SatCon Technology up 9% [Jul 16, 08] after saying it will increase manufacturing capacity by 50% in the third quarter.
SatCon up 13% [Jun 16, 08]
SatCon Technology got a new $10M credit line with Silicon Valley Bank. [press release, Mar 4, 08]
SatCon Technology borrowed $10M to retire its existing convertible secured notes, [Mass High Tech, Nov 9]
SatCon Technology, an early and frequent consumer of SBIR, reports plans to replace David Eisenhaure as SatCon's CEO ... No date or reason made public ... company executed a definitive agreement with RockPort Capital Partners and NGP Energy Technology Partners for a secured $10 million short-term debt financing, ... also reports executing a non-binding term sheet with RockPort and NGP ETP for an equity financing of $25 million of preferred stock and warrants, $10 million of which would be used to retire the new short-term debt. [Mass High Tech, Oct 22, 07]
SatCon down 18% [Jul 18, 07] after peddling $4.7M in warrants at a far reduced price from the original plan.
SatCon got a new for $2.8M for its PowerGate fuel cell inverters. [Jun 26, 07]
SatCon won another Phase 2 SBIR to add to its collection of more than thirty Phase 2s over two decades.
SatCon won $2.7M deal for the first stage of a $6.5M development of an energy storage and delivery of 8 megawatts for several seconds. [Mass High Tech, Dec 1]
SatCon gets more revenue from a $600K follow-on contract for optically isolated solid-state relays. Now if it could just make some obscene profits.
SatCon jumped 14% (back across the dollar barrier) on news of a wider quarterly loss. Hope spring eternal for profits from the $32M backlog. [Nov 16, 06]
SatCon jumped 14% back over the $1 threshold in its new home on the NASDAQ Capital Market. [Oct 06]
SatCon stock moved to minor league NASDAQ National Market where it no longer needs $50M market cap and a $5 minimum price. The 184 employees have plenty of business $33M in orders that somehow haven't produced the profit and stock trader optimism needed for the major league. (Sep 06)
SatCon asked for a NASDAQ hearing about pulling the trading plug. On Sept. 1, SatCon was notified that it failed to comply with the exchange's minimum market value requirements of $50 million over the course of 10 consecutive business days... Founded in 1985, SatCon Technology develops electronics and motors for the alternative energy, hybrid-electric vehicle, grid support, high reliability electronics, and advanced power technology markets. It operates facilities in Boston, Worcester, Marlborough, Maryland, and Ontario, Canada. SatCon employs 184 workers. [Mass High Tech, Oct 6] And has a ton of SBIR money since the mid-1980s. SBIR, revenues, manufacturing all lead to dashed hopes and temporary jobs if they cannot turn a profit. Twenty years seems a long time to wait for steady profitability. When, if ever, should the government give up and divert its SBIR elsewhere? Or is SBIR an open-ended handout to any company smart enough to wangle a R&D government contract?
SatCon broke the buck, again, trading below $1 a share despite gobs of revenue and government contracts. [Sep 06]
SatCon will close its manufacturing facility in Worcester by the end of the year to streamline operations .... it also saysorders have reached an all-time high of $33M, including more than $16M from SatCon's renewable energy products division. [Mass High Tech, Sep 20]
SatCon got a $1M order from FuelCell Energy to be used in development of fuel cells. Now if only SatCon could make a profit on all this business. Thta requires getting the cost of sweet technology down below the demand price.
Optimists Abound. Another $12M from institutional investors for SatCon. Founded in 1985 and employing 184, SatCon makes electronics and motors for the alternative energy and advanced power technology markets. The company sells to both the private sectors and government agencies, including the U.S. Army and Navy corps. [Mass High Tech, Jul 20] Not even military sales for Iraq could turn the company profitable, having lost $50M over the last three years. It has also had over 30 Phase 2 SBIRs over two decades. The economics avoiders in the SBIR crowd could at least point to the 184 employees which far exceed the amount supportable by just SBIR and the oodles of private capital that has gone into SatCon.
SatCon took a 20% nosedive after reporting another quarter of loss despite several new contracts. CEO David Eisenhaure made the required positive noises, I am pleased with the progress we are making towards transitioning into a products-oriented business, ... The steps we have taken to align our organization with our product and market initiatives will bring clarity and focus to our business. [May 06]
SatCon got multiple purchase orders from four new customers for 13 commercial grade inverters equaling 2.3 megawatts (MW), including an order the company describes as one of the largest photovoltaic integrators in North America. [Mass High Tech, May 5]SatCon got a short term development sub-contract for an Army starter-generator. Mass High Tech says that SatCon's 170,000 square-foot facility located on Boston Harbor employs 225 people with company revenues of $36M last year. Earlier this week it announced a $1.1M NIST sub-contract for a second 2,200 kVA Rotary Uninterruptible Power Supply (RUPS).
Hot news in Mass High Tech - SatCon got a government contract. Great, it's a Phase 1 SBIR, something SatCon has been getting for twenty years. Unlike most of the eastern Massachusetts SBIR firms, SatCon is one of the few SBIR firms in the non-life sciences that went public, but it's not one the even fewer firms that have made consistent profits and a rich ROI for its investors. If Congress ever really intended SBIR to be an economic engine, it put the wrong people in charge. [Jan 06]
SatCon's newest auditors also see it as a "going concern" which is the equivalent of a medical diagnosis of still capable of breathing. Its cash position was boosted by sale of its Ling divison as selling the family silver keeps the castle in groceries.
Doubters. SatCon ranked # 5 on percentage increase in sextupling the short interest. [Sep 05]
b>SatCon took an upward blip when it announced shipment of components for the hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) market as part of it strategy to make money in hybrid vehicles before it runs out of cash. [Aug 05]
SatCon won a $2.8M Army contract for power conversion control. [May 05] So twenty years after winning its first SBIR, SatCon is still alive although also still looking to make any money and living proof that "living dead" is a status that a start-up can keep for a long time on small government contracts.
More money trouble at SatCon as it took resignations from its financial VP and a director on its audit committee. Although its losses are eating up the capital being raised, On Jan. 14, the company said its independent auditor maintained a "going concern" opinion about SatCon Technology in the most recently filed Form 10-K. [Bhattiprolu Murti, Dow Jones Newswires, Feb 3]
SatCon raised $8M by selling shares at about $1.65 plus a sweetener of warrants to buy more shares at $2.
SatCon will sell NIST a 2.2 MW uninterruptible flywheel-based power supply for $1.8M plus an option to buy another for $1.5M. NIST must be expecting either a terror attack on its bureaucracy or more battles with hurricanes. [Oct 04]
SatCon's outsource division got a $1.5M contract to build a power supply for plasma trash burners. The Burlington Ontario operation has supplied over 20 of these power supplies to international markets. The foreign manufacturing doesn't seem to bother the SBIR arms of the government who keep shoveling Phase 2 awards to SatCon. Actually, SBIR rules allow a US-owned firm that does its SBIR in America to manufacture all it wants outside the US. That's mostly because the SBIR advocates are American R&D firms, not manufacturers, and government ignores any economic implications of its SBIR actions.
SatCon says it booked $2.2M in industrial product contracts. Even though its track record is to lose on contracts but make it up in volume, maybe it could even make a profit. Maybe!
SatCon reported another $1M government contract, this time with Energy to develop inverters, advanced of course, for residences (that can beat the power company's diddling the home owner to avoid competition?). But at the rate SatCon loses money on more business, increasing volume should merely put it in the ground sooner. [Nov 10, 03]
SatCon has a new cash supply to cover its continuing losses, from its new hoard that it raised from a private placement from nameless investors in a convertible preferred. [Nov 3, 03]
SatCon shot up 22% when it announced that it had "successfully demonstrated" the ability of its Integrated Power System (IPS) to isolate power outages in a simulated "all-electric" Navy ship power grid. Ever heard a company talk of an unsuccessful demonstration? SatCon has had $12M of Navy money to far to show that the IPS works. SatCon claims the system has possible application to all future naval electric ships with a market potential estimated to be in excess of $500 million if fully implemented. Maybe with $500 on the top line, SatCon can bring a plus down to the bottom line.
Profit in blackouts. SatCon stock has quadrupled in the past month as the market takes a positive view of prospects for even making profits. This week SatCon announced it got the OK from GSA for government agencies to buy from the catalog SatCon's Rotary UPS (uninterruptible power supply). That just means it is pre-approved, it says nothing about whether any agency would actually buy any. Meanwhile, SatCon reported another blue quarter with a net loss of $6.7M as revenues plunged 46%.
SatCon sank another 17% to 70 cents after reporting more sickly financials. [May 14, 03] SatCon also got a delisting notice for Sept 15 if the stock price doesn't re-mount the $1.
The bank gave SatCon another yard of rope in more time to to make a $15M debt and equity deal. financing transaction. One (of many barriers) is last year's going concern qualification from its auditors. Meanwhile, the stock price languishes under the buck.
As SatCon's auditors questioned its "going concern" premise in the face of continuing losses (another $5.4M in the latest quarter), SatCon said it got another $5-7M equity financing.
We had a very successful fourth quarter in terms of new business, said David Eisenhaure, SatCon's CEO as SatCon reported $19M in new business booked. Profitability? Have W bang his war drum to divert attention.
Who Will Buy a Flywheel?(May 24) For Beacon's new high-power (250kw to 500kw), shorter-duration composite flywheel there seem to be not enough buyers to provide cash before the $30M runs out at $1.5M per month burn rate. Says David Kurzman, an analyst at H.C. Wainwright in Multex Investor (May 25), Composite flywheel technology simply does not make sense for UPS applications. Nobody cares how light your system is when it's installed on or below the ground..... Another problem stems from the very logic of BCON's business model, composite systems, while faster and lighter than traditional systems, carry huge component costs. This tradeoff is acceptable for, say, satellite projects, where weight is an issue. But it's an obstacle to penetration in the terrestrial markets BCON is targeting. Multex says Beacon had no sales in the first quarter, expects no sales of its low-power device in 2002, and looks forward to fewer than 10 orders of its high-power design by the end of the year.
SatCon says it got two Army contracts totaling $1.5M to develop novel power electronics and advanced materials technologies for hybrid electric vehicles: one to demonstrate the cost and reliability benefits of silicon carbide based inverters for hybrid electric vehicles, and one to develop a continuously variable transmission that employs SatCon's patent pending magnetorheological fluid technology. Why the news isn't as great as the 10% bump in the depressed stock price: they're two more SBIRs and not much of indication of long term military interest in buying volume production. The company press release doesn't mention the program source, but the Army's August 2001 SBIR list does.
In advance of its earning release monday,SatCon lost another 11% of market cap, down to $27M. It is now down 90% from its high of the past 12 months. Better power management gizmos just aren't selling well enough to make money. SatCon has a substantial boost in its early years in the 80s from SBIR, especially defense that liked the magnetic bearings technology. Now DOD has the bearings technology and SatCon has the pain of losing money. It was a nice ride for a while in the bubble.
Beacon Power flywheel running down. With the stock price well below $1 (37 cents) the stock is due for de-listing in mid-June. Although Beacon claims lots of cash, the customers are staying away in droves. Beacon was spun off from SatCon in 1997 to commercialize (sell) flywheels. SatCon is having sinking price problems of its own, although it's still over $2. Flywheels looks like one of those future technologies that will be so for a while.
When SatCon warned Wall Street that it would lose something like $10M for the present quarter, the traders whacked the stock price and at least one broker downgraded it. Day's loss 13%.
The sex appeal of SatCon's futuristic, alternative-energy products has been overshadowed by the decline of its mainstay electronic-components business. Remember that good old slowdown in telecom spending? Regardless, if SATC can stem the cash burn this year and get revenue growth going again, it'll justify the torturous ride its shareholders have endured. [Multex Investor, Apr 17]
Although SatCon says its Power Systems business unit got $1.5M in contacts over the past several weeks, the NASDAQ traders don't seem impressed as SatCon's ship takes on water. SatCon, of course, claims that the orders are a signal of new life in its industrial automation and semiconductor manufacturing equipment markets. But $1M is in MagLev which has a quite uncertain future. [facts from Mass High Tech, Feb 21]
SatCon got a $4M extension on its contract with General Atomics to keep developing its Integrated Power Systems. Under the latest phase, SatCon will deliver 100KW and 300KW power converter and control assemblies to be tested as part of the demonstration program for the Navy’s all-electric ship. [says Matthew French, Mass High Tech, Jan 23]
SatCon shot up 28% on news that it had cut a deal to peddle Digital Fuel Cell Controllers to Fuel Cell for power plants. APA Optics shot up 21% without news. .
SatCon joined a fuel cell demonstration project led by Verizon. SatCon will contribute its PowerGate(TM) power electronics conversion and controls to the consortium that includes Nuvera Fuel Cells, KeySpan Energy, and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. At least some of money will coome from the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust.If virtual phone monopolist Verizon puts as much energy into this project as it does to resolve customer complaints, it could be a long cold winter.
Beacon Power rose 43% from barely anything to barely noticeable at a market cap of $50M as it announced that it sold a 2 KWH flywheel to Cox Communications for back-up power in Phoenix.
The past fiscal year was a very busy and productive time for the Company , said CEO David Eisenhaure of SatCon's loss of $24M for the year as revenues rose a lot to $41M. With enough such business activity, a company could go broke faster. The stock price sagged to a market cap of $82M, down 70% from its high for the past twelve months.
David Eisenhaure, of SatCon Technology holds an increasingly rare title trifecta among power technology executives. He's the company's president, chief executive - and founder.More and more power technology companies are shedding the brainy folks who started them for company leaders who are more comfortable in the boardroom than the research lab. That transition is a sign of maturation for the still young industry, said John McCormack, of management consulting firm Stern Stewart & Co. in New York. ... Eisenhaure has an impressive resume that includes developing power systems for the NASA, but he admits he can't do it all at SatCon. ... "The first thing you have to realize is you can't end up doing it all yourself," Eisenhaure said. "You start with all the hats, and you quickly realize that you have to get rid of them as fast as you can." The shift from the development stage to the manufacturing stage often is a critical time for founders. "The original founders typically don't have the skills to take it beyond the next stage," said Frank Gibbard, chief executive of H Power, a Clifton, N.J., fuel cell developer. ... at SatCon, Eisenhaure and colleagues are still losing money, but the firm is expected to be among the first power-tech firms to move into the black, according to analyst estimates compiled by Thomson Financial/First Call. H Power and FuelCell also remain in the red. [CHRISTINA CHEDDAR, Wall Street Journal, Sep 11]
Lead With the Good News After boasting that revenue was up 22%, SatCon took several paragraphs to get to the news that operating loss for the quarter was $3M. CEO/founder David Eisenhaure said, Our accomplishments during the third quarter demonstrate SatCon's ability to leverage its standard product base and position itself for additional growth. [Translation: hang on folks, our stuff will sell someday.] Wall Street did not panic and kept the stock in its recent trading area down 80% from the 12-month high.
SatCon Acquires Another(Jun 27) SatCon will acquire Inverpower Controls Ltd, of Burlington, Ontario, a manufacturer of power electronics modules and advanced high-speed digital controls for use in industrial power supply, power conversion and power quality systems. SatCon paid $100K cash and 400,000 shares of common stock (trading around 10).
SatCon sold 1.5M shares at $12.125, a 12% discount to the previous closing price. In principle, the scheme Mini-Secondary(TM) program is generally suitable for growth-oriented public companies with market capitalizations between $100 million and $1 billion and top-tier institutional investors seeking to establish sizable long-term positions in promising middle-market companies.
SatCon rolled out a competitor to American Superconductor's D-SMES, developing a 250kW UPS (uninterruptible power supply) flywheel system by end end of the year. SatCon says the steel flywheel would supply power for several seconds until the generator is automatically started.
All That Demand and No Profit(May 2)Revenues up 50%, operating loss up 25%. How soon will such a company go broke? SatCon has $7M cash on hand to absorb the regular bleeding.Of the $8.5M revenue, $3.0M comes from funded R&D - someone else's contract work (mostly the US Navy). Here's a power technology company that doesn't make money in a US that is in power shortage crisis talk with Vice-Presidential task force making political hay by pretending that the previous administrations had no policy.
SatCon lost either $5.6M or $2.3M for the quarter depending on how you view an accounting adjustment for warrants and investments. The operating loss of only $2.3M was a slight improvement.
California, Have Some Power. SatCon announces a new family of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) products at the Los Angeles Power Association Winter Conference to provide up to 2.0MW of power during power outages. The StarSine MegaPower UPS will combine Ling Electronics' StarSine power converters and controls with commercially available battery banks or flywheels to provide uninterruptible power during brownouts or blackouts, such as the rolling blackouts that have recently affected certain regions in California. Note that the product does not create power where their is now fuel to run the gadget(s). But dule is easier to stockpile against an emergency than kilowatts are. Now, if SatCom could just make money atop all the new product announcements. Its stock price is about double its 1992 IPO price and a third of its high for the last twelve months.
SatCon Technology rose 10% when it said that it has been selected by the U.S Navy to develop modular motor drive systems for the Navy's DD21 ``all-electric'' ship. Under this award, SatCon will develop the initial design and perform simulation studies for a modular motor drive that will be designed to be compatible with several different motor types. Motor drives integrate electronics and controls within a motor to perform specific motor control functions. The initial study phase is valued at approximately $200,000. SatCon recently was awarded a $2.7M subcontract to design and develop the integrated power conversion system for the new ship. ``We're pleased to be selected to develop another system for the Navy's DD21 `all-electric' ship,'' said David Eisenhaure, SatCon's President and Chief Executive Officer. ``The DD21 represents a growing trend in the conversion of vehicles and heavy machinery to `all-electric,' thereby creating a new and broader sector for power electronics. SatCon, a heavy user of SBIR, has shown a number of ways to lose money in its commercial business and such Navy work will at least keep the doors open.
Buying Each Other's Power (Jun 1) Mechanical Technology invested $6M in Beacon Power to own 8% of Beacon which was founded by SatCon Technology which sells power and energy management products, and which will still have a big piece of Beacon. Mechanical's $6M was matched by $6M each from GE Capital and Perseus Capital all of which ($28M total) will fund early stage production and commercialization of Beacon's flywheel energy storage system. As part of its strategy of investing in and incubating new energy companies, Mechanical entered into a strategic alliance with SatCon in 1999, and in 1997 entered into a joint venture with DTE Energy (the Detroit power utility) to create Plug Power, a leading fuel cell company. The players are. explained and sorted in the July issue of Technology Investor. |
Although SatCon is a leader in flywheel components, this big sale of equity says that the business isn't going anywhere in a hurry. Flywheels still cost ten times a battery for stored power, a problem with most new technologies that seek government backing in programs like SBIR and ATP. In most cases the government "investment" programs are gullible enough to pretend they are on the edge of a economic breakthrough when in most cases they are nowhere near economic. Slogging is OK for normal government R&D but not for programs that claim high-risk funding for technologies needing only a small push to break through. The advocates of the handouts strive to blur the difference. |
SatCon makes all sorts of cutting-edge power things: contract engineering, motion-control products and power converters. They also hold a nice big piece of Beacon Power, the cutting-edge flywheel maker. Top line revenue is up 21% this year. The market is giving these folks the cold shoulder right now. The stock is down more than 50% from its high in March. But don't count these guys out. Their R&D is up big. If anybody is going to get the future right, it is these rock-solid engineers.
SatCon took a whack of 23% to less than 40% of its recent high which was based on the dream that alternative energy, especially fule cell, would soon score big. Alas, the dream faded with the NASDAQ "corredtion", which knocked profitable AstroPower down half from its peak also. Semiconductor Ibis down 14%. Emcore down 10% to a third of its high. The story stocks that rode high for a couple of years now need profits to keep flying. SBIR stocks often take a long time to make a steady profit.The two dozen public SBIR companies don't make much money as a percentage of their market cap. As a group they are trading at pie-in-the-sky multiples, although not nearly so high as a month ago.
Fuel Cell Mania. Fashions come and go. Fuel cell suddenly got hot when MSFT MoneyCentral column Wednesday did what brokerage recommendations couldn't do in October -- focused investors on fuel cell technology. SatCon Technology soared 22% Friday, although even that did not get to its all time highs of 2-3 years ago. New technology developments to warrant the new fashion? None noted. SatCon still gets a lot of government low-profit business while holding out the promise of obscene profits from commercial winners (that somehow don't seem to catch on).
SatCon Leaps (Jan 11)SatCon Technology which ended Friday at 12, opened at 18 and settled at 14.75, up 28%. It's a sympathy rise with PlugPower which more than doubled Friday on a news story about fuel cells (but dove 20% yesterday). There's not much new about the fuel cells, apparently, only a story plugging them in a tech-hungry market. NASDAQ up another 4% Monday. |
Are the tech evaluations crazy? Economics Nobel laureate FRANCO MODIGLIANI said at the AEA meeting that yes, the stock market is a bubble, that the evaluations imply a 8% growth rate for the economy. Whereas 3% is usually an excellent national performance. |
SatCon Struggling (Dec 30) SatCon reported another quarterly loss along with the usual CEO remarks about progress, we've made investments in new products that, combined with our recent acquisitions, will position SatCon for future growth and increased revenues in 2000 Revenue of $4M produced a loss of $2.5M up from $1.6M. Said CEO-founder David Eisenhaure,, ``This has been a milestone year for SatCon. We introduced several new products for our traditional markets and entered into some new markets as well. We've also taken significant steps for future growth through acquisitions that enhance our manufacturing capability, while providing us with additional revenue.Over the past year, we have had some significant new product developments which will benefit greatly from our recent acquisitions, In particular, at the Tech Center, we have been working to deliver our power inverters for fuel cell power generation systems. And with the addition of our new SatCon Electronic Power Products in Maryland, formerly Northrop Grumman's Power Products Group, we are now positioned to be the leader in power electronics for fuel cell and micro-turbine power inverters. We believe that we are currently positioned to be the leader in this marketplace. That's the kind of soothing blather that SBIR proposers throw at government, not what a fats growth company says seven years after its IPO. Says an observer on Yahoo's massage board, a very dismal report. Lets see we added 3 news businesses this year and sales for the 4th quarter are 4.0 mill vs. 3.8 million last year.
Even though it was Christmas Eve in a slow TV slot, the Yahoo message board says SatCon CEO David Eisenhaure on First Business was discussing the flywheel technology and it's ability to provide backup power for utility companies. He was followed by a Merrill Lynch analyst with positive comments on Satcon. I darn near fell out of bed!!!! But then SatCon has a lot optimistic stories that jolt the stock briefly only a little. It smells like another company with technology of the future. SBIR's proposal bins and government tech-transfer rags teem with such stories.
The Customer Likes It (Sep 16) Applied Materials says that SatCon Technology's stuff is an enabling technology. Which is different from SatCon's saying it in yet another SBIR proposal. SatCon's magnetic levitation mechanism, which ApplMat says is revolutionary had its roots back in the 80s as an SBIR from SDIO for control of magnetic bearings. Appl Mat makes machines that hold and manipulate wafers in a sterile environment cheaply and extreeeeeeeemely accurately. The market for such equipment was $224M last year which grow to $600 million by 2003.
SatCon Gets $8M(Aug 30) SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) sold $8M of a Convertible Redeemable Preferred Stock in a private placement. SatCon says its capital needs are growing from increased product sales - always a good sign. Film Microelectronics revenues up to $2.1M, an increase of 85%. Magmotor revenue up 40%. SatCon says it will use the $8M to enhance its manufacturing base, make future acquisitions, and other corporate applications that better position SatCon for its continued growth and future opportunities - the usual story. The question is how much does this $8M dilute existing stockholders.
SatCon Not So Rosy (Aug 17) Among the rosy pictures of SatCon Technology's earnings, the accountants found thorns. Now SatCon has to restate past earnings and take a big one-time (allegedly) hit of $7M plus restating two previous quarters to $1.3M losses. SatCon was and still is a big SBIR user that was trying to emerge into self-sufficiency. Now the accountants say that the probability of success was over-rated and that reserves are inadequate. Such is the price of the advantages of a tech firm living in the fishbowl of public ownership and the accompanying paper wealth of the owners.
SatCon Soars 76% (May 3) SatCon (Cambridge, MA) got a 76% market boost when it said, an additional order for electric motors and controllers for use in fuel cell vehicles from Opel, General Motors' German partner for alternative fuel vehicles. ... ``With our recent award of $10 million by the Department of Energy to develop low-cost, advanced power systems for fuel cell and other hybrid vehicles, ... received a contract from Plug Power to supply power electronics building blocks (PEBB) modules for use in residential and small commercial-sized fuel cell power systems. Plug Power expects to begin selling residential-sized systems in 2001 and small business-sized units by 2002. .. a joint venture between DTE Energy the parent of Detroit Edison and Michigan's largest electric utility, and Mechanical Technology , an early developer of fuel cell technologies. SatCon is an SBIR success story although it took a lot of kerosene to make a fire.
Another SatCon SBIR (Mar 1) SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) got another Phase 2 SBIR, for a miniature navigation system. SatCon says The advantages of such a microfabricated device are low cost, small size, high reliability, and shock resistance. In production quantities, such devices could become key elements of future automobile navigation and suspension control systems. It also has potential in robotics, in-vivo medical applications, high-speed machining and electronic parts placement machines, markets whose customers are familiar to SatCon's FMI and Magmotor Divisions. The INS will be integrated with its micro-electronics to provide the necessary low cost and small size. The device could be built in production quantities at our FMI Division, where we build micro-electronics for similar applications, and where we are familiar with etching micro devices into substrates. |
Blah, blah, blah. All wonderful tech talk. But is SatCon's stock price steadily slipping because SBIR is too much a part of SatCon's focus? If the government's purpose is to help otherwise helpless companies, why is it pushing so much to the likes of SatCon? Public companies are presumed to generate enough profit and attract investment that they should not need much government help. SatCon has already had a load of SBIR. Will the advocates of SBIR blow the whistle (or are they so deep in SBIR money that they have no moral standing)? Should the government disfavor public companies after a few years from IPO on the theory that if they haven't achieved independence by then, they have a basic flaw that won't be helped by more government money? |
Some features from SatCon's Annual Report: David Eisenhaure, for all is entrepreneurialism in getting SatCon started, sounds like a General Motors bureaucrat, opening with Fiscal year 1998 was an important year in the growth and development of SCT. I am pleased to report that we achieved a number of important objectives. ... Manufacturing and product-based revenues increased over 100% from the previous year and continue to have a positive impact on corporate revenues. Its own funded R&D dropped dramatically in 1998, by 86%. Its cumulative loss for 1996-1998 was $13M. Its two 1997 acquisitions had the effect of lowering its government business to 25% FROM 47% in 1997 and 51% in 1996. On balance, SatCon is an SBIR success even if still being weaned. If it does not adhere to the market's discipline, its stockholders will get a chance to hurl management into the street. |
SatCon Navy Contract (Feb 10) SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) says it got a Navy SBIR Phase III [that's after SBIR] for the shipboard evaluation of SatCon's modular drive system that provides clean electrical power conditioning and a variable speed permanent magnet motor. SatCon says it developed a system to standardize on 50 HP and 15 HP that can accommodate any AC motor or static inverter from 15 HP to 500 HP. CEO and founder David Eisenhaure, said, Electrification and energy management are undergoing significant structural changes. We can then offer this to the commercial marketplace. It follows on the heels of the $10M Automotive Integrated Power Module (AIPM) award from DARPA to develop the standard low-cost power module for hybrid electric and electric vehicles in conjunction with a consortium of the Big Three auto manufacturers. This helps establish SatCon as a key player in power management electronics and drive systems. Sound like SatCon deserves the pounding its stock is getting as it continues to dribble out profit at the margin of survivability? Government R&D contracts are nice for paying bills but not for making profits. Because no matter how tight your competitive corner on a product, the government will only buy at a small markup from cost. And even if you somehow induce a procurement officer to buy at a high markup, another arm of government will come along eventually to blow the whistle and collect the overpayment. Sat Con has lots of SBIR since 1987; the DOD likes SatCon's power products that got their early start with Star Wars' magnetic bearings for power in notional space weapons.
SatCon Loses for 98 (Dec 18) SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) has 24% more revenue in 98 than in 97 but atill a net loss of $763K. Which is better than losing $6M+ last year. It also said it will buy Inductive Components and Lighthouse Software. SatCon got an early start with SBIR in 1986.
SatCon Technology's Magmotor Division is marketing a new brushless DC servo-motor line designed to provide the highest possible torque in the smallest amount of space. It uses traditional SatCon technology to create higher power density than traditional brushless motors in the $250M machine tool and factory automation markets.
SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) says its Film Microelectronics subsidiary has signed a contract with a "major government aerospace contractor" for the production of its combined power and mixed signal hybrid to be used in a critical air force application. The value of the contract is valued at a minimum of $2 million and could go as high as $3 million. [Business Wire, Sep 24]
Flywheel for Your Phone (Sep 11) You've already noticed that in a power blackout, your phone still works. Now Bell Atlantic wants to protect that even more with a flywheel by testing Beacon Power Corporation's 20C1000 Cable/Telecom Flywheel System. last week Swiss ABB AG's Electric Systems Technology Institute (ETI) took on such evaluation. Says Beacon CEO Bill Stanton The agreement[s] not only lend tremendous credibility to the technology's potential, but confirm our belief that the market for it is significant. We look forward to announcing additional field trial agreements with other industry leaders in the coming months. Bell Atlantic has about 20,000 remote terminals that serve some seven million customers where several flywheels will replace lead-acid. [Business Wire, Sep 8] Beacon is a subsidiary of SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) a big SBIR user all the way back to its infancy when it developed power technologies for the hypothetical giant space platforms with hypothetical lasers and electric guns for shooting down ICBMs. SatCon is one of the few such early SDI "developers" who made something commercial out of SDI's SBIR money. BMDO (the democratic name for SDI) is still putting all its SBIR money into dual-use technology (although the politically correct name of the strategy keeps shifting).
Cable TV Flywheel Trial (Sep 4) Asea Brown Boveri AG's Electric Systems Technology Institute (ETI), a world-renowned power transmission and distribution laboratory, will evaluate Beacon Power Corp's 20C1000 Cable/Telecom Flywheel System in its innovative power quality systems demonstration laboratory. The agreement, along with the previously announced agreement with San Diego Gas and Electric, is part of 14 field trials with leading cable television, telephone and wireless service providers and their suppliers. Beacon also announced that it has shipped the first of these field trial units to WinDBreak Cable, a Nebraska cable television operator. The Company's unique, patented uninterruptible power supply(UPS) system will replace conventional, less reliable lead-acid batteries to provide emergency power to WinDBreak's cable network in case of a commercial power outage. [Business Wire, Sep 1] Beacon is a majority-owned subsidiary of SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) which got a big start in its Active Motion Control from SBIR from 1986.
Now They Wanna Sell (Aug 4) Individual Investor downgraded Sat Con Technology (Cambridge, MA) from buy to sell because it says SatCon concentrated on the medical application markets instead of meat market (as was planned originally), and the delay in introducing SATC's RIBS technology to the market this year. The stock did fall last week. SatCon started the year as one the advisory's top 25 for 1998 since which it has sunk 34%. Two of the other 24 are down similar percents buy still rated buy.
SatCon Buy Back (Jul 31) Got extra cash with your stock price slipping (especially if management's compensation is tied to the stock price)? Invest in yourself: buy your own shares back from the public. Thus does SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) prepare to buy back 5% of its shares while asking the government for R&D free SBIR money. Should government then declare SatCon self-reliant and stop SBIR awards? Fat chance.
SatCon Ships (Jul 22) SatCon Technology shipped the first 200mm production Integrated Motor and Suspension (ISAM) product to the semiconductor equipment industry. Currently, SatCon has product offerings for both 200mm and 300mm wafer fabrication equipment. Said founder-CEO David Eisenhaure, "The shipment is a major milestone for SatCon. We have successfully transitioned our magnetic levitation technology into three other production products for the semiconductor equipment industry.'' The technology traces back to the SDIO SBIR in 1986 when SatCon had six employees. Still, the stock trades at half its high despite enthusiastic recommendations by Individual Investor. Maybe because it is easier to make technology than to make profits.
One great fan of SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) says, Food poisoning continues to dominate the headlines, emphasizing the importance of SatCon's biological sensor "RIBS" which detects bacteria in contaminated meat. A June 29 Wall Street Journal article reported that an outbreak of food-born illness sickened about 5,000 guests at graduation parties around suburban Chicago. The article noted another serious case involving ten children stricken with a more deadly E-coli strain in Atlanta water park... Given this report and many other recent cases in which meat and poultry were found to be contaminated, consumers have been getting more concerned about food safety. Unfortunately, bad news is good news for SATC. We continue to rate the stock a buy. [Individual Investor On-line, Jun 30]
SatCon A Buy? Says Individual Investor in a May 6 Chat Shop: We still rate [SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA] a buy. We are waiting for the RIBS technology to enter the market by the end of 1998. The company should become profitable this year due to strong contract growth and new products. Earnings should come in at 14 cents per share. The newspapers are filled every day with another large case of food poisoning. The latest scourge being in Florida, where more than 1000 people were affected. Satcon's RIBS technology can help companies produce food with no poisonous substances in them. Obviously we think the potential for a product like that is enormous. I wonder why RIBS is an anagram for SBIR.
SatCon Loses Again(Mar 2) SatConTechnology's revenues for the first quarter increased more than 73 percent to $3.7M but the loss was about the same $670K as last time.... Said CEO Dave Eisenhaure about the expensive move of subsidiary Beacon Power to antoher place in the Boston area," We are very excited about this transaction, as it is the next logical step in the evolution of Beacon Power to an independent operation. At least this heavy SBIR user had half its revenues from commercial sales. Things can't be all bad, though; SatCon's stock was the 12th biggest percentage gainer one day last week, perhaps on the publication of Forbes's (Mar 9) story on SatCon's inspection scheme for e-coli.
SatCon Loses $6M (Dec 29) SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA with no Website), lost $6M for its fiscal year, $4M of which came from "restructuring". Companies taking a bath like to allot as much of the damage to some one-time event. They compete for imaginative euphemisms. SatCon's press release blamed "product development and relocation costs". | SatCon could be both victim and beneficiary of skullduggery. The (s-s-sh) National Reconnaissance Office through Honeywell had a development going with American Flywheel Systems which now claims that the government stole its technology and let Honeywell hire SatCon who hired Honeywell flywheel people for its new Tucson office.[facts from Washington Post, Dec 9] The situation portends a long intellectual property dispute in which the government stonewalls for convenient national security reasons and the small company turns to politics and the courts (although both take more money than small companies have). The last such public battle was a software company with Ed Meese's Justice Department. |
Individual investor analysts selected [satcon tech] as one of the top 25 stocks to own in 1998.
What e-coli-logical Timing! (Sep 4) Just as e-coli 0157 shows itself more endemic than health experts hoped, SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) finished Phase 1 testing of an e-coli detector. The market loved it, pumping up SatCon's stock 20% yesterday. Of course, the real problem isn't regular e-coli that spreads into lots of places in tiny doses, innocuously, it's the 0517 strain that kills. Any 0157 monitor should have quite a market. SatCon is a company that got rolling in 1986 on SDIO SBIR and has spread its magnetic bearings tentacles, so far unprofitably, into lots of applications.
SatCon Engine to Nowhere? (Aug 13) SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) got a contract for $1 million from a major (unnamed) aircraft engine manufacturer for more development of magnetic bearings for aircraft turbine engines. The work was started in support of the Air Force. Nice work, will it lose another $100K on the deal as it lost 11% of its $3M revenue for the quarter? Will it make up in volume what it loses on each project? After great hopes since its first SDIO SBIR in 1986 and its 1992 IPO, SatCon has struggled with loss after loss as revenues still come from government R&D contracts. Government contracting for R&D only sounds like a prelude to money-making procurement contracts. DOD especially looks like a poor prospect for another decade as a hardware buyer. Still it sends money to small firm R&D (it has no choice under SBIR law) which far too many firms read as a procurement precursor. The smart course: take DOD's R&D money but aim for the civilian market which is awash in money.
Two New SatCon Products (Aug 8) SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) announced two new product lines as its stock price keeps sagging after continuing losses in the five years since the IPO. The new products are called Power Electronics Building Blocks and Power Smart Motor Controllers.
Doing It All in Active Motion Control (Jun 12) SatCon Technology (Cambridge. MA) got a pat on the back, formed a $5M strategic partnership with an NYSE power company, founded a subsidiary to produce flywheel storage devices, and got a contract to start development of a meat inspection scheme in North Dakota. All it needs now is to make a profit. Spending money and dreaming dreams is so much easier. Founder David Eisenhaure got a city of Cambridge recognition award for bringing in all tat money and keeping alive the long tradition of MIT grads' founding companies (4000 companies nationwide). The $5M came from DQE Inc of Pittsburgh for starting Beacon Power Corp to sell flywheel energy storage, something enabled and encouraged by the magnetic bearing technology that was SatCon's base for SBIR back in 1986 when it had six employees and a dream.
SatCon Technology's announcement of its "Power Smart" electronics to make a classier auto alternator brought a stock price jump of 24%, seventh highest on NASDAQ. That jump despite another soggy earnings report of losing $300K for the quarter. A few days before, another SBIR user was the top percent gainer, Ibis Technology.
Another SBIR for another favored public company SatCon Technology (Cambridge. MA), an Air Force Phase 1 for a gimbal to help point satellite antennae. SatCon's Tucson division will do it.
Ships First Production Units
(Apr 23) SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) shipped
its first
production units to Applied Materials, the mega-supplier of equipment
to the semiconductor industry. AM's output is 300-mm wafers. President
David Eisenhaure made the usual soothing noises.
SatCon Buys Film MicroElectronics(Apr 10) SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) signed a deal to acquire 30-year old Film Microelectronics (N Andover, MA), a $5M supplier of custom integrated circuits. Since SatCon has a small market cap and is not profitable and has a decent percentage of its revenue from SBIR, a regular maker of anything salable must be a welcome addition.
SatCon Technology $700K(Mar 18) Sat Con Technology (Cambridge, MA) announced $700K more in government development contracts (guess SBIR). Continuing good news for SatCon's R&D department survival; indeterminate news for SatCon's future as a vendor of profitable products. Public since late 1992 and still not turning a regular profit. President David Eisenhaure keeps up the required optimism about how the $50M in development contracts in the past five years have led and will lead to products. The government requires such statements and optimism in SBIR proposals but rarely asks whether they have any substance in a contest too often larded with imaginary commercialization scenarios.
First Production Order (Feb 25) SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) announced its first production order, to the leading producer (it says) of semiconductor equipment - Applied Materials. Although the press release left out all the details, any volume production order for an SBIR firm is a giant step for SBIR. SatCon will be the sole-source supplier to AM who in turn gets an exclusive right to sell the SatCon component in AM's process chamber. If all goes well, the red ink could turn to black at SatCon; AM's doing fine in its industry boom.
Impacted by Commercialization (Feb 18) How to explain lower revenue that leads to a bigger loss? Say, our first quarter results continue to be impacted by our strategic investment in the commercialization of our technology, as does David Eisenhaure of SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA). It covers almost anything disappointing. Sat Con lost $650K.
Buy and Try Flywheel(Feb 3) San Diego Gas & Electric will try a SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) flywheel to store energy for cable TV. SatCon's flywheel technology got boosts from Star Wars SBIR in the 80s when Star Wars was exploring flywheels for big space platforms. When the space platforms fell out of favor (far too complicated), SatCon continued developing the flywheels for real world competition in a variety of military and commercial energy storage uses. Flywheel profits seem still a ways off until the bugs are worked out in the minds of users who need reliable energy storage.
Flying Flywheel(Jan 23) Cambridge to Tucson to orbit. SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) announced a $2M contract from USAF for a flywheel-based satellite power and attitude control. System. SatCon's Tucson division will do the work Flywheels store energy in the form of angular momentum as an alternative to batteries. Looks like the flywheel will work on space before it works in Chrysler's car of the future. And the longer that takes, the longer SatCon will depend on government's 7% profit contracts for a livelihood until the hopes for the 1992 IPO come true.
SatCon
Loss
SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) lost $2M
for the
quarter, apparently to no one's amazement since the stock price did not
move on the news. Revenues were $1.6M. Said CEO David Eisenhaure, "We
are solidly focused on our long term strategy of commercializing our
leading edge technology." (Note that if you are to be an CEO or a
politician, you have to learn to talk that way. Pretend you are driving
the raft in the raging river by standing in the front and gazing above
the water's surface.) BMDO is still hoping Eisenhaure can pull it
off.
SatCon Acquires Profitable CompanyOne way to get profits in to buy them. SatCon Technology (Canmbridge, MA), saddled with a string of small losses, acquired proifiable K&G Magmotor (Worcester, MA) for undisclosed terms, and projected more losses for the present quarter.
More SatCon SBIRAnother SBIR million went into SatCon Technology's (Cambridge, MA) coffers from NASA, Navy, and Army. "a key link in SatCon's strategy", says founder David Eisenhaure, the same speech in 1987 at his first SDIO SBIR. The press release avoids ratios like percent of revenues from programs designed to give fledgling businesses an opening. SatCon's grand plans from its 1992 IPO seem to have been waylaid as it scoops up $3.7M from 1996 SBIR program awards. $3.7M is enough to employ about a third of the company, an inferior outcome after a decade. SatCon, like almost all the top SBIR winners, exploits the government's inability to coordinate SBIR investments in companies, an inability intended by Congress to the delight of the agencies dominated by their technical experts.
From BetaTest to LOIdelivered some beta-site test and evaluation components that we developed with them. The components have been performing well, Applied Materials is excited about the technology Thus says SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA) about a Letter of Intent with AMI, a $3B company. The vague press release suggested that SatCon's active motion control could show up (behind the walls, of course) in AMI's semiconductor that wafer machines. SatCon had a helping hand from SBIR in its infancy long before it wet public in 1992.
SatCon Spins at Intelec The friendly, neighborhood flywheel would provide 1 KW of power for two hours so that TV commercials won't stop when the local power fails. SatConTechnology (Cambridge, MA) unveiled its modular energy storage unit at the International Telecommunications Energy conference in Boston. Unlike batteries, it ignores the weather for 20 years.
$75K
Award is News?
We won a $75,000 award
to design a
military vehicular power system said
the press release of SatCon Technology
(Cambridge,
MA). This is press release material? It strikes the SatCon fan as a
deep fallback from the dreams of just two years ago of dominance in a
new flywheel power system for Chrysler future cars. In 1992 SatCon, a
spinoff of Draper Lab (which has had some great successes), was the
first BMDO SBIR-supported company to go public and had a stock price
rise to a market cap over $100M as it crossed into profitability. Now
unhappily, it is back to losses and press releases for $75K government
contracts. (For a deeper look at MIT spin-off successes, read
Roberts's, Entrepreneurs in High Technology.)
Profit Interruptible, Not Power SatCon Technology(Cambridge, MA) lost $0.5M on revenues of $2.1M for the quarter. It delivered beta-site units to Delco-Remy for an advanced alternator. SatCon has gone from 80% government to 70% commercial over the last eight years. SatCon had six employees in 1986 when it got its first BMDO SBIR. It went public in 1992, the first BMDO SBIR company to do so. Its initial euphoria over the deal with Chrysler for the Patriot racing car cooled when Chrysler cooled on racing.
Satori Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA; $200K SBIR) has abruptly shut down due to issues with preclinical studies on its experimental treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, May 31, 13]
Satori Pharma (Cambridge, MA; $200K SBIR) focused on developing treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, said that it has raised an additional $15 million in financing [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Feb 23, 12]
Satori Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA; two SBIRs) developer of drugs for neurodegenerative disorders, has raised $7 million in a new round of financing that is targeting $20 million [Mass High Tech, Jan 4, 11]
Three years after it launched, Satori Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA; two SBIRs) developer of drugs for neurodegenerative disorders, reports it has taken its first full round of venture funding, worth $22 million, and added a seasoned CEO. [Mass High Tech, Jan 8]
Satsuma Pharma (South San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) down 76% [Sep 10, 20] announced that Topline data did not show statistically significant differences between either dosage strength of STS101 and placebo on co-primary endpoints of freedom from pain and most bothersome symptom at two hours post-administration [company press release, Sep 10, 20]
Savara (West Lake Hills, TX; $4.5M SBIR, founded 1995) announced the decision to discontinue ENCORE, a 48-week, open-label, non-controlled Phase 2a exploratory clinical study of Molgradex for the treatment of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung infection in people living with cystic fibrosis (CF). Molgradex, an inhaled formulation of recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), was also evaluated for the treatment of NTM in non-CF patients in the Phase 2a OPTIMA study that completed in March 2020. [company press release, Sep 3, 20] While not mentioned by name, this is referring to Vertex’s Trikafta (elexacaftor/ivacaftor/tezacaftor), now FDA approved for patients 12 years and older with CF who have at least one F508del mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene, which is estimated to represent 90% of the cystic fibrosis population. [Ben Adams, Fierce Biotech, Sep 4, 20]
Savara (Austin TX; $4.5M SBIR, founded 2007) down 75% [Jun 13, 19], an orphan lung disease company, announced top line data from IMPALA, a pivotal Phase 3 clinical study evaluating Molgradex, an inhaled formulation of recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), for the treatment of aPAP. [company press release, Jun 12, 19] total funding $101M [crunchbase.com]
Savara (Austin, TX; no SBIR) pharmaceutical company developing treatments for respiratory diseases, has acquired the assets of Denmark-based Serendex Pharmaceuticals. [Allison Brown, Austin Business Journal, Jun 21, 16]
Savara (Austin, TX; $4.5M SBIR w/ one Ph II of $4M) announced that it has closed a $20 million Series C financing round. Preparations are underway to begin a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of AeroVanc, the first inhaled antibiotic being developed to address the growing problem of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) lung infection in people with cystic fibrosis (CF) [company press release, Mar 1, 16]
Savara Pharmaceuticals (Austin, TX; no SBIR) said it has secured $10 million in funding for continued development of AeroVanc, an inhalable antibiotic that treats MRSA infections in cystic fibrosis patients. ... has completed enrollment of patients in its Phase 2 trials for AeroVanc and expects to have results in the first quarter of 2015. ... considering an initial public offering in 2015. [Chad Swiatecki, Austin Business Journal, Oct 6, 14]
Savara (Austin, TX; no SBIR, founded 2007, employs seven) has updated a previously reported tranche of Series B round financing to $14.3 million..... develops pulmonary drugs, .... to fund Phase 2 development of AeroVanc, an inhaled antibiotic to treat patients with cystic fibrosis, company officials have said. [Christopher Calnan, Austin Business Journal, Jun 26, 13]
Savara Pharmaceuticals (Austin, TX; no SBIR) which is developing inhalable drugs for cystic fibrosis patients, has raised $7.4 million to fund its next stage of clinical trials.The company also said it was awarded a $4 million [NIH] grant. ..... founded in Kansas, where it licensed technology from the University of Kansas. In 2008, the company moved to Austin, which is home to Savara investor [and CEO] Robert Neville, co-founder of Evity Inc., an Austin-based software company that was acquired by BMC Corp. for $100 million in 2000. [Lori Hawkins, Austin American Statesman,Mar 20, 13] Nice place, Kansas, but innovative tech companies looking for growth and success need nurturing in an industry environment where capital hangs out.
Savara Pharmaceuticals (Austin, TX; no SBIR) developer of drugs for cystic fibrosis patients, has raised $8.6 million to fund its next stage of clinical trials. The company said its drug, called AeroVanc, is the first inhaled antibiotic being developed for the treatment of a life-threatening pulmonary staph infection in cystic fibrosis patients. The investment round was led by angel investment group [Austin American Statesman, Jun 13, 12]
Savara Pharmaceuticals, (Austin, TX; no SBIR) developer of drugs for cystic fibrosis patients, has raised $8.6 million to fund its next stage of clinical trials.... said its drug, called AeroVanc, is the first inhaled antibiotic being developed for the treatment of a life-threatening pulmonary staph infection in cystic fibrosis patients. [Lori Hawkins, Austin American Statesman, Jul 13, 12
When startup FireFly LED Lighting (Austin, TX; no SBIR) was accepted into the Austin Technology Incubator two years ago, its LED bulbs were still prototypes. Since then, the company has launched its product line, signed customers including Kerbey Lane Cafe and the University of Texas and received $3.4 million from backers including the Central Texas Angel Network and the Texas Emerging Technology Fund..... Since its founding in 1989 by legendary business leader George Kozmetsky, ATI has worked with more than 200 startups, helping them raise nearly $1 billion in investment capital. [Lori Hawkins, Austin American Statesman, Jan 26, 12] Graduates: Agile Planet, Atomometrics, Axelo, Calxeda, Dorsan Biofuels, Famigo, GameSalad, Ideal Power Converters, Itzbig, Nitero, Notice Technologies, Open Algae, Qcue, RFMicron, RRE Solar, Savara Pharmaceuticals, Spredfast, Terapio ($500K SBIR), Unwired Nation, WiMax.com.
Savara Pharmaceuticals (Austin, TX; no SBIR) won $1.9 million from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund to develop drug-delivery systems using nanotechnology. ... raised $1.4 million in venture backing last year — researches and develops ways of turning drugs into dry powders that can be inhaled to treat diseases such as asthma and lung cancer. ... licensed the technology from the University of Kansas. In 2008, the company moved from Kansas to Austin [Austin American Statesman, Jun 10, 10]
Savara (Austin, TX; no SBIR), which develops inhalation systems for drug delivery, raised more than $1.4 million in a second round of venture capital funding. ... licensed the technology from the University of Kansas [Austin American Statesman, Dec 16, 09]
Savara Pharmaceuticals (Austin, TX, no SBIR, founded 2007) has secured $833,000 of a $1.4 million Series A financing round, ... late 2008, it moved to the Austin Technology Incubator five months after Austin entrepreneur Rob Neville was named the company’s chairman and CEO. Neville previously was founder and CEO of another ATI-based company, Evity Inc. That startup was acquired in 2000 by Houston-based BMC Software Inc. for $100 million about a year after it was founded. Savara’s pulmonary — or via the lungs — drug delivery product, initially developed in 2004, is based on nanotechnology and dry powders rather than conventional propellants. It plans to offer its platform to drug makers seeking alternative delivery methods and to develop its own drugs. [Austin Business Journal, Jun 9, 09]
Savi Technology (Alexandria, VA; early Navy SBIR) has landed a [DOD] contract worth up to $45M to supply its military branches and other government agencies smart technologies and connected devices — portable deployment kits, readers and satellite communications among them, as well as support services for the software and hardware. It follows Savi’s collaboration with the DOD to get its logistics tech to the Army National Guard ($3.2M) and the Army Reserve ($5.1M) amid the coronavirus crisis. [Sara Gilgore, DCInno, Jul 23, 20
Savi Technology (Alexandria, VA; $2.4M SBIR) is working with the Department of Defense to get its logistics tech to the Army National Guard, a 221-unit order amounting to $3.2M in business. It’s one of two multimillion-dollar orders from the DoD, to help get first responders logistics equipment — Savi’s Portable Deployment Kit, as it’s called — amid the coronavirus crisis. The other? The Army Reserve’s $5.1M order for 354 units [DCInno, May 26, 20]
supply chain
analytics company
Savi Technology
(Alexandria,
VA; $2.6M SBIR) secured
$7.5 million
in
funding ... delivers live-streaming data and insights about the
location, condition and security of in-transit goods.
[DCInno, Dec 4, 18] in SBIR's early days Savi was a Navy poster-child
for application of a relative mature RFID technology, capped by an
unheard of $2.4M Phase II in 1991.
Savi Technology (Alexandria, VA; $3.4M SBIR) creates tools allowing companies and military personnel to track their packages and cargo in realtime. See, in 2012, Savi spun out from Lockheed Martin to expand into its own business. In 2015, the company raised $15M to expand its offerings beyond the Department of Defense and into commercial and industrial markets. .... Savi’s newest device, which can be placed on any container, is reusable. It’s $50 for the device and wireless services, and the battery life last for up to 45 days. [DCInnoBeat, Aug 29, 17] Before Savi was acquired by Lockheed, it was a Navy poster child for SBIR (in California) with RFID tags, a relatively low-hanging fruit for development.
The Pentagon awarded Savi Technology (Alexandria, VA; $2.6M SBIR in Silicon Valley) a five-year, $102 million contract for active radio frequency identification sensors, as well as other hardware and software products, Washington Technology reports. [Washington Business Journal, Apr 10, 14]
Once and still dependent on government After cutting its teeth manufacturing [RFID] tags to track military equipment, Savi Technology (Alexandria, VA; $2.5M SBIR, almsot all in a single 1991 Navy SBIR) is moving beyond hardware and embracing data analytics, particularly hoping to attract more commercial work. The shift reflects the need for technology companies to continually reinvent themselves as their products mature. ...has been owned by three defense contractors: Texas Instruments from 1995 to 1997, Raytheon from 1997 to 1999, and Lockheed from 2006 to 2012 ... Lockheed sold it last year to affiliates of a private-equity firm as the military continued to draw down operations overseas. ... government still makes up about 85 percent of its revenue. ... Now Savi also is readying a much larger shift, moving into data analytics related to its tags. .... Savi may face challenges in moving into commercial work, said Raghu Das, chief executive of British market research firm IDTechEx, which has been tracking RFID technology for 14 years. The company had great success winning the military market, he said, but simply hasn’t put the same emphasis on commercial industries. [Marjorie Censer, Washington Post, Aug 16, 13] Savi was the Navy's SBIR poster child of 1991, with its RFID technology that was already technically mature. But Navy loves predictable results. It was much more business risk than technical risk that Navy was reducing. Savi is an all too common case of a government tech contractor having trouble graduating into commercial markets, despite government blather about SBIR commercialization. But 20 years of defense sales qualifies as a commercial success as defined by DOD, and 20 years of sales is no small accomplishment.
The Navy's one-time SBIR poster child, Savi Technology (Sunnyvale, CA), is in the thick of securing cargo containers with smart electronic seals, says MIT Tech Review (Sep 03). Of course Savi's not the only company and/or institution to have the great idea for container security since the task needs more application engineering than breakthrough innovation.
Savi Raises $20M (May 7) Savi Technology raised $20M for its campaign to sell its tracking gizmos to the commercial world, says the Wall Street Journal. Savi is the Navy's poster-child for SBIR because Navy gave Savi an award for an application of its radio transmitter technology that flunked marketing for tracking children with bracelets. UPS liked the technology enough to invest in Savi but won't be adopting it anytime soon. Was that a good use of SBIR which is supposed to be an innovation nursery? It is at least as good as you should expect from a bureau which found a happy combination of utility, low risk, and a rare commercialization story. Savi claims $200M in military sales. The again private firm was first bought by Texas Instruments, traded to Raytheon, and then bought back by corporate investors.
Savi Technology, now a subsidiary of Raytheon via Texas Instruments, won a Motorola protest to GAO for a $111M contract. Savi is the Navy's SBIR poster-child. [facts from WSJ, Dec 23].
Get DOD's SBIR/STTR news by e-mail. To subscribe.
Savi Gets $111M Contract(Aug26) The Navy's SBIR poster-child, Savi Technology (Mountain View, CA), will get $111 million from DOD to track military supplies with its radio transceiver. Savi is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Raytheon (having been bought out by TI which sold its military business to Raytheon). Says the Silicon Valley Business Journal Savi received its first DOD contract in 1994 [for] $70 million which was scheduled to expire this year. During the prior two years, the company had received $2.5M from DOD through SBIR, a little-known federal grant program. Savi makes cargo tags to track cargo at distances of up to 600 feet. By today's info-tech standards, it's a low-tech smart card and driven more by cost than technology.
The first round of grants awarded under the Massachusetts-Israel Innovation Partnership, MIIP, were announced ... A total of at least $1.3 million ... SBH Sciences (Natick, MA; no SBIR) and Improdia (Israel) will work together toward the development and manufacture of a chronic inflammation-dependent immunosuppression prognostic kit. $400K .... Automated Medical Instruments (Needham, MA; no SBIR) will work with STI Lasers (Israel). They will develop new technology involving radio frequency energy to perform circumferential ablation of the pulmonary veins. $230K ... Lantheus (North Billerica); no SBIR and Check-Cap (Israel) will work on a novel 3-D imaging capsule that can be used to screen for polyps and lesions associated with colorectal cancer.$600K ... FloDesign Sonics (Wilbraham, MA; no SBIR) and Transbiodiesel (Israel) have been selected as the clean energy award winners. Their joint project will use FloDesign’s acoustic molecule separation technology to separate oil that can be used to create fuel from Transbiodiesel’s oil-generating algae. $75K. [DC Denison, Mass High Tech, Jun 19, 12]
Medical device-maker Scanadu (Mountain View, CA; no SBIR, founded 2011) raised $35 million in Series B funding to move into clinical trials for its Scout device. ... to develop devices to allow users to track and monitor their health on their smartphones with hospital-grade diagnostic tests. [Gina Hall, Silicon Valley Business Journal, Aprl 27, 15]
Sciaderm (Paoli, PA; no SBIR) received part of a $575K grant to three firms from Ben Franklin Partners of Southestern PA .... is developing a new and novel treatment for psoriasis with a mode of action that is different from other treatments currently in use. [Ben Franklin press release, May 17, 17]
Scinovia (Durham, NC; no SBIR, founded 2014, three employees)’s new imaging system s is moving closer to the market in 2016. ... In 2015 raised $600,000 from private investors in a Series A financing round, and it plans to raise $6 million more in a Series B round to drive commercialization, says [founder CEO] Sund. ... device enables doctors to remotely measure blood flow speeds to assess the quality of a procedures to save lives and reduce costly complications [Barry Teater, wraltechwire.com/, Jan 19, 16]
Scholar Rock (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR, founded 2012, emerged from stealth 2014) focused on discovering and developing drugs that selectively modulate growth factor activation in the disease microenvironment, announced the closing of a $47 million Series C financing [to] advance SRK-015, the company’s lead clinical candidate for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and other neuromuscular disorders, into clinical development [company press release,Jan 3, 18]
With a pharma partnership already in hand and big biotech names on board, startup Scholar Rock (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) announced a $20 million Series A round of funding. ... will continue its pursuit of antibody therapies that exploit a relatively new biological understanding of the way crucial proteins called growth factors behave in local disease environments within the body. ... based on work from the Harvard Medical School labs of Tim Springer and Leonard Zon. ... in January signed a deal with Janssen Biotech, a division of Johnson & Johnson, that focuses exclusively on transformational growth factor beta 1. [Alex Lash, xconomy,com, Sep 15, 14]
Schrodinger (Portland,OR and NYC, NY; $4.8M SBIR) down 24% [Aug 3, 2023] reported financial results
SciClone Pharma down 21% [Jul 19, 16]
SciClone Pharma up 14% [Mar 31, 16]
SciClone Pharma down 12% [Nov 12, 15]
SciClone Pharma up 21% [Nov 10, 15]
SciClone Pharma down 13% [Aug 11, 15] after announcong quarterly loss [company press release]
SciClone Pharma down 15% [Jul 9, 15]
SciClone Pharma up 14% [Jul 1, 15]
SciClone Pharma up 13% [May 12, 15]
SciClone Pharma (one SBIR) up 10% [Mar 11, 15]
SciClone Pharmaceuticals (Foster City, CA; one SBIR) China-focused company, said the China Food and Drug Administration approved DC Bead, its drug-device for liver cancer. Microscopic beads filled with the chemotherapy agent doxorubicin, which is aimed at cutting off blood flow to tumors, are delivered through a catheter to a spot directly in front of the tumor. [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, Sep 3, 14]
SciClone Pharma (one SBIR) up 10% [Aug 12, 14]
SciClone Pharma up 10% [Feb 7, 14]
SciClone Pharma up 17% [Jan 28, 14]
SciClone Pharma down 13% [Jan 27, 14]
A better buyback case. Earlier this month, SciClone Pharma disappointed investors with a small earnings miss, caused by weakened pricing of its flagship ZADAXIN hepatitis C drug in China. Adding to the worry, revenue guidance for the year tumbled 9%. Regardless, management bulled ahead with a $10 million addition to its buyback plan, which now stands at $16.2 million. Weak near-term guidance notwithstanding, I see a lot to like in this plan. SciClone boasts a fortress-like balance sheet with $86 million cash and not a lick of debt. Uncommonly for a small biotech, it's throwing off loads of cash -- $65 million over the past year alone -- and is now in its third straight year of improving free cash flow. Clearly, SciClone can afford this buyback. And with its stock trading for a reasonable 15 times earnings and an even cheaper four times annual free cash flow, I can't think of a better use of SciClone's cash than buying back its super-cheap shares. SciClone isn't the only U.S. company that's making mounds of money doing business internationally. Profiting from our increasingly global economy can be easy, and our free report " 3 American Companies Set to Dominate the World" shows you how. [Motley Fool, Nov 23]
SciClone up 11% [Nov 12, 12]
SciClone Pharma down 19% [Nov 9, 10]>
SciClone Pharma up 12% [Sep 18, 12]
SciClone Pharma down 16% [Aug 13, 12]
SciClone Pharma up 15% [Aug 9, 12] after the biotech group issued a positive quarterly earnings report. [marketwatch.com]
SciClone Pharma down 10% [Aug 1, 12]
SciClone Pharma up 21% [Mar 14, 12] after it released a positive quarterly earnings report. ... also issued a 2012 financial forecast that exceeded many expectations. [Market Watch, Mar 14]
SciClone Pharma down 10% [Aug 10, 11]
SciClone Pharma down 10% [Aug 8, 11]
SciClone Pharma up 11% [Jun 20, 11]
SciClone Pharma down 10% [Jan 19, 11]
SciClone Pharmaceuticals plunged to a year-low on Tuesday after the biotech company said it is facing inquiries by the SEC and the Department of Justice about possible violations of anti-bribery laws overseas. [AP, Aug 19, 10]
SciClone Pharma down 29% [Aug 9, 10]
SciClone Pharma up 16% [May 12, 10]
SciClone Pharma down 15% [May 7, 10]
SciClone Pharma up 19% [Apr 9, 10]
SciClone Pharmaceuticals (Foster City, CA; one SBIR) aid it will cut 17 percent of its U.S. work force — or about 7 jobs — as part of a corporate restructuring. ... after the company stopped a trial of a late-stage pancreatic cancer drug candidate earlier this month. The company said at the time a data safety monitoring committee recommended the trial of RP101 be stopped. [AP, Oct 28, 09]
SciClone Pharma down 15% [Oct 20, 09]
drug maker SciClone Pharmaceuticals (Foster City, CA; one SBIR) fell 10% as it stopped a Phase II trial of a potential treatment of late-stage pancreatic cancer following a recommendation from a safety committee. [Wall Street Journal, Oct 6, 09]
Edico Genome (La Jolla, CA; no SBIR, founded 2013) took first place [in The Scientist top ten innovation list] for its Dragen Bio-IT Processor. The add-on card accelerates the analysis of genomic data by a factor of 30, says Pieter van Rooyen, Edico's president and chief executive. .... Genome sequencers from Illumina took second and third place [Bradley Fikes, utsandiego.com, Dec 1, 14] Other winners: BioNano Genomics, RainDance Technologies (Lexington, MA; $1.1M SBIR) , Leica Microsystems, Organovo (San Diego, CA; $300K SBIR), Haplogen Genomics, Immucor, Sciencescape. [The Scientist, Dec 1, 14]
Scienss Biotechnology (one SBIR) which makes recombinant proteins for use as therapeutics in the livestock industry is receiving a $100,000 phase 2 state matching grant [Nick Williams, WisconsinInno, Mar 11, 21]
Scientific Conservation (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) has raised $15.65 million in a second round of funding, the company said ... makes energy-management analytics software aimed at energy efficiency for the commercial building market [John Sailors, San Francisco Business Times, Jan 19, 11]
engineering company Scientific Research Corp (Atlanta, GA; $16M SBIR twenty years ago, founded 1988) will provide operational support for the U.S. Air Force’s command-and-control and combat intelligence functions under a potential five-year, $95 million contract. [Brenda Marie Rivers, govconwire.com, Feb 5, 21]
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]
Efficient Ears. On average, companies generated roughly $28 in earmark revenue for every dollar they spent lobbying. By any standard, that's a hefty ratio: The companies in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index brought in just $17.52 in revenues for every dollar of capital expenditure in 2006. ... Says Keith Ashdown, chief investigator for the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense: "The lion's share of these projects is about politics and jobs, rather than real needs." [Business Week, Sep 17] The earmark efficiency champ is an SBIR company, Scientific Research (Atlanta GA and others; about $15M SBIR), that got $344 in earmarked funds per dollar of political "investment".Other SBIR investors: Isothermal Systems (KY and WA; $2M SBIR) at $221 per lobbying dollar; Prologic (Fairmont WV; $2M SBIR) at $133 per dollar; Trex Enterprises (San Diego CA; $7M SBIR) at $116 per dollar. From an efficiency viewpoint, politicians make a good investment. You just have to learn how to kiss frogs.
Scientific Solutions (N. Chelmsford, MA) got Laurin Publishing’s prestigious 2001 Photonics Circle of Excellence Award in recognition of their NIR High-Resolution Liquid Crystal Fabry-Perot Etalon, a next-generation tunable optical filter optimized for use in the Near Infrared. Product worthiness is based on uniqueness, importance to the industry, and technological achievement. The awards go to 25 technically innovative products. SSI’s President John Noto accepted the award at SPIE's Photonics West. Some of the development capital came from SBIRs from NASA, Air Force, BMDO, and Energy. [SSTI, Jan 25,02]
Scientific Systems (Woburn, MA; 222 SBIR awards in 27 years) [has an USAF contract] to develop what that company calls its Image-Based Navigation and Precision Targeting (ImageNav) system. Like Spice, this is a bolt-on system that works by comparing images from a camera with those in a database on board. If all goes well, development and testing should be completed by January 2018 and the result will, its makers hope, be able to strike within three metres of its intended target. ... Meanwhile Lockheed Martin, the world’s biggest aerospace firm, is working on an optical-navigation system called Northstar. This is based on a piece of non-military software called Hydra Fusion, which was developed by Lockheed Martin’s Canadian subsidiary. [The Economist, Dec 3, 16]
Scientific Systems reports it has landed $750,000 from the U.S. Air Force to develop open-source software for testing navigation sensors and algorithms used by military robots. [Mass High Tech, Oct 21, 09] Hardly newsworthy that a company with something like $80M in SBIR got another DOD Phase 2 to develop a modular software platform to test the sensors and algorithms. Let's guess that the technical risk is pretty small for such an experienced company, which is just the way DOD likes their SBIRs. Disruptive innovation is just too .... well, disruptive.
Loving Experience. Scientific Systems (Woburn,MA; $50M+ SBIR) won a NASA JPL Phase 2 SBIR for Distributed Formation State Estimation Algorithms Under Resource and Multi-Tasking Constraints. Creare (Hanover NH; $120M SBIR) won four NASA JPL Phase 2 SBIRs. Intelligent Automation (Rockville MD; $100M SBIR) won three NASA JPL Phase 2 SBIRs. Physical Optics (Torrance, CA; $200M SBIR) won one NASA JPL Phase 2 SBIR. Radiation Monitoring Devices (Watertown, MA; $90M SBIR) won one NASA JPL Phase 2 SBIR. Etc, etc, etc. A zillion start-ups all over America got letters saying there was not enough money to nurture their ideas.
SciFluor Life Sciences LLC, (Boston, MA; no SBIR) focused on fluorination technology discovered at Harvard University, said that it has secured $5 million in first-round funding ... looks to commercialize technology that enables late-stage fluorination of pharmaceutical drug candidates and other commercial chemicals.[Boston Globe, May 17, 11]
SciKon Innovation (Research Triangle Park, NC; no SBIR) inks life sciences deal with Singapore group [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Apr 11, 16] recognized for our unique ability to pioneer human and animal primary cell culture devices into predictive model biotools. Simply put, we provide both the cells and the engineered tool-boxes needed to generate different types of disease responses, all within controlled environments. [company website]
Scilex Pharmaceuticals (Malvern, PA; no SBIR) focused on developing new pain medications, raised $2 million in a private stock sale. ... received an undisclosed investment from Itochu Chemical Frontier (Japan) [which] For the past two years has worked closely with Scilex as an adviser and development partner for its flagship product, still under development, called Ztlido - lidocaine patch formulated a single layered analgesic tape. ... raised $5 million in a private stock sale last year. [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, Apr 3, 15]
Epidermolysis bullosa is a rare, debilitating skin disease with no approved treatments, and unfortunately, that isn’t going to change anytime soon. Amicus Therapeutics [Cranbury, NJ; no SBIR) reports this morning that an experimental drug it has been developing for the condition failed a Phase 3 trial. The won’t invest in future studies. Amicus said that SD-101, a drug it acquired when it bought Scioderm (Durham, NC, no SBIR, founded 2012) [for about $224 million in cash and stock], failed all of its primary and secondary goals in the 169-patient study. The drug actually fared worse than a placebo on a few different measures. [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Sep 13, 17]
Amicus Therapeutics is expanding its pipeline of rare-disease drugs by acquiring privately held Scioderm (Durham, NC; no SBIR, founded 2012), the developer of a topical cream to treat patients with a genetic disorder that causes extremely fragile skin susceptible to blisters and tears from even the lightest touch. ... purchased for $229 million in cash and Amicus stock, according to deal terms announced by the companies Monday. Amicus will pay up to $618 million in additional cash and stock to Scioderm investors if future clinical, regulatory and sales milestones are met. ... For much of the past year, Amicus has been looking for first-in-class or best-in-class rare-disease drugs to bring into the company [Amicus press release, Aug 31, 15]
Scioderm (Durham, NC; no SBIR) kicked off its Phase 3 registration trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of an experimental drug to treat patients, typically children, with a skin disorder [Epidermolysis Bullosa, 'the worst disease you've never heard of'] that causes blisters and lesions. In December, Scioderm announced it has raised $20 million, which CEO Robert Ryan says enough to not only complete the study trial but also put together a full [FDA] application. [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Mar 19, 15] its Series A of $16 million was in Apr 2013 [company website]
Scioderm (Durham, NC; no SBIR) raised $20 million [Series B funding] to further develop a treatment for Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a rare but tragic skin disease that affects infants and children. ... to test the experimental drug called Zorblisa. [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Dec 18, 14]
Scioderm [Durham, NC; no SBIR), a tiny startup drug developer headquartered in Durham, became the first biotech to secure "Breakthrough Therapy" designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. .... with a recent $16 million dollar fundraise ..... has teamed up with Novella Clinical (no SBIR) which was recently acquired by Durham-based contract research giant Quintiles to manage a Phase 2B trial for its lead candidate. [Lauren Ohnesorge, Triangle Business Journal, Oct 15, 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]
Until this month, the dermatology startup Scioderm (Raleigh, NC; no SBIR) was a “virtual effort,” operating remotely from CEO Robert Ryan’s Raleigh home office and other places with Internet access. What Scioderm lacked in years and walls, it has made up for in cash, nabbing $16 million in April from two investors .... The product, SD-101, aims to treat a painful and rare pediatric condition called Epidermolysis Bullosa. [Lauren Ohnesorge, Triangle Business Journal, May 24, 13]
The Department of Energy will award $128M to support 75 research projects that seek to advance the development of solar technologies. Most money went to academic and large businessses. Several awards went to former SBIR winners: Energy Materials (Norcross GA one SBIR) won a $4M Solar project award to create new methods to deposit layers of material to make the cell, develop a high-speed process ; Leading Edge Crystal Technologies (Gloucester, MA; one SBIR) won $2.5M to develop a floating-silicon method for producing high-quality single crystalline wafers ; Sunvapor (Livermore, CA ; one SBIR) won $2.5M to show how using enormous tanks that normally store liquefied petroleum gas can be used to accumulate and store solar-generated steam ; Brayton Energy (Hampton,NH; $3M SBIR) won $700K to partner w Oak Ridge Lab to examine examine creep behavior—the tendency to deform under mechanical stress—in thin-sheet nickel alloys; Ceramic Tubular Products (Lynchburg, VA; $3.2M SBIR) won $1.9M to develop silicon carbide composite receiver tubes for molten chloride salt and liquid sodium receivers; Echogen Power Systems, (Akron, OH; $300K SBIR) won $4.4M to develop a large-scale, low-cost, single-shaft compressor for supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power cycles; Osazda Energy (Albuquerque, NM; one SBIR) won $1M to develop a cost-effective metal paste that strengthens the metal connections in solar cells; Scion Plasma (East Lansing, MI; $200K SBIR) won $1M to develop a tool that rapidly deposits transparent conductive oxide onto heterojunction silicon with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cells; Swift Coat (Peoria, AZ; one SBIR) won $1M to make and scale multilayer, anti-reflective and anti-soiling coatings for solar glass [Jane Edwards, govconwire, Nov 7, 19]
SciQuest (Cary, NC; no SBIR) technology company that went public in September partly to raise money for acquisitions, has agreed to ... pay about $13 million for AECsoft (Houston, TX; one SBIR) and [its affiliate AEC Global (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.]. The firms develop technology that complements SciQuest's e-procurement software and services, which allow customers to buy products more cheaply online. [Alan Wolf, Raleigh News & Observer, Dec 21, 10]
Last month, [CEO] Tim Burr (Scopic Software, Rutland, MA; no SBIR) needed $35,000 to boost his small software company, so he applied for loans at Bank of America and Citibank, both of which took billions of dollars in government bailout funds intended to spur lending and lift the economy out of a recession. They turned him down. “I thought, ‘I can’t believe this!’ These programs are supposed to help small business during tough times,’’ said Burr, ... Now he has taken another route - seeking approval for a SBA loan from Middlesex Community Savings Bank, a 31-branch bank that did not receive bailout money. [Megan Woolhouse, Boston Globe, Nov 2, 09]
Scopus BioPharma up 21% [Jan 7, 21]
Scopus BioPharma up 48% [Dec 23, 20]
Scopus BioPharma down 19% [Dec 22, 20]
Scopus BioPharma down 25% [Dec 21, 20] announced the closing of its initial public offering.
Scopus BioPharma down 36% [DEC 18, 20]
Scopus BioPharma (New York, NY; no SBIR) up 474% [Dec 17, 20] Another IPO that is having a better second day than first day engages in the development of therapeutics targeting the endocannabinoid system, had its 500,000-share IPO price at $5.50 [MarketWatch, Dec 17, 20]
Three months after launch, precision medicine startup Scorpion Therapeutics (Boston, MA; who needs SBIR?) raises $162M [Rowan Walrath, BostInno, January 07, 21]
Scout Bio, a gene therapy company spun out of the University of Pennsylvania, has raised just under $9.3 million in an equity financing — according to [SEC] document [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, Mar 27, 18]
scPharmaceuticals (Burlington, MA; no SBIR, founded 2014),up 32% [Jul 17, 19] focused on developing and commercializing products that have the potential to optimize the delivery of infused therapies, advance patient care, and reduce healthcare costs, announced [that] FDA confirmed that it does not believe it will be necessary to conduct additional clinical safety, efficacy, or pharmacology studies as part of scPharmaceuticals' NDA for FUROSCIX. [company press release, Jul 16, 19] total funding $61M [crunchbase.com]
Sanofi has teamed up with Scribe Therapeutics (Berkeley, CA; $300K SBIR) to write the next chapter in its natural killer (NK) cell therapy story, paying $25 million upfront and committing to $1 billion in biobucks for access to a CRISPR platform. [Nick Paul Taylor, Fierce Biotech, Sep 27, 2022]
Molecular engineering company Scribe Therapeutics ($300K SBIR) has entered into a research collaboration with Biogen for the development of CRISPR-based genetic medicines for neurological diseases. Scribe will secure $15m upfront payment and is eligible to receive over $400m in potential development and commercial milestone payments between on the two targets of interest. [Pharmaceutical Business Review Oct 7, 20]
Scribe Therapeutics (Alameda, CA; $300K SBIR), focused on engineering the most advanced platform for CRISPR-based genetic medicine, unveiled its vision for highly efficient and specific in vivo genome modification. Since launching out of UC Berkeley’s Doudna Lab, Oakes Lab, and the Innovative Genomics Institute in late 2018, Scribe utilized an initial $20 million Series A round to further develop a custom platform of gene editing and delivery technologies that will revolutionize genetic medicine. [company press release, Oct 6, 20]
SCYNEXIS up 25% [Nov 15, 21] reported quarterly financials
SCYNEXIS up 17% [Nov 19, 20]
SCYNEXIS (Jersey City, NJ; $400K SBIR), a biotechnology company pioneering innovative medicines to overcome and prevent difficult-to-treat and drug-resistant infections, today announced positive top-line results for its Phase 3 VANISH-306 study investigating the safety and efficacy of oral ibrexafungerp, a novel broad-spectrum antifungal, as a treatment for women with vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), also known as vaginal yeast infection. With these results, ibrexafungerp has now achieved superiority over placebo with a high degree of statistical significance [company press release, Apr 20, 20]
SCYNEXIS (Jersey City, NJ; $400K SBIR, market cap $90M), developing innovative therapies for difficult-to-treat and often life-threatening infections, announced positive results from its Phase 2b, dose-finding study (the DOVE study) evaluating oral SCY-078 for the treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC). SCY-078, the first representative of a novel oral and intravenous triterpenoid antifungal family, is in clinical development for the treatment of multiple serious fungal infections, including VVC, invasive candidiasis (IC), invasive aspergillosis (IA) and refractory invasive fungal infections. [company press release, Jul 10, 18]
SCYNEXIS up 18%[Oct 3, 16]
SCYNEXIS up 11%[Sep 23, 16]
Scynexis down 16%[Jun21, 16]
SCYNEXIS down 24%[Jun 9, 16] Announces Positive Results in its Proof-of-Concept Phase 2 Study of SCY-078, the First Member of a Novel Class of Glucan Synthase Inhibitors [company press release, Jun 8]
SCYNEXIS up 10% [May 27,16]
SCYNEXIS down 14%[May 13, 16]
Scynexis down 10% [Mar 26,15]
Scynexis down 21%[Jun 20, 14]
Sanofi (France) bought nearly 20 percent of Scynexis shares sold in the IPO. Scynexis has an existing partnership with Merial, the animal health division of Sanofi, in which it discovered two new drug candidates to treat parasitic infections [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, May9, 14]
Scynexis down 10% [May 2,14]
Scynexis (Durham,NC; no SBIR) drug-development company that delayed its planned initial public offering of stock earlier this month, has revised its filing again [ to $10]. ... proceeds expected to be [$55-64M] ... doesn’t yet have a drug on the market, plans to use $30 million from an IPO to develop its lead drug candidate. The product is an intravenous drug for treating serious and life-threatening fungal infections that is years away from approval. [David Bracken, Raleigh News & Observer, Apr 30, 14]
Scynexis’ plans to go public have been delayed. The Durham drug-development company had been expected to go public this week, but that didn’t happen. The new timetable is uncertain. [David Ranii, Raleigh News &Observer, Apr 4, 14]
drug-development company Scynexis (Durham, NC; no SBIR) hopes to raiseup to $68.1 million with an initial public offering of stock. .... French pharmaceutical company Sanofi is interested in purchasing up to $5million .... Sanofi owns 6 percent of Scynexis and Scynexis provides research-and-development services in the field of animal health to Merial, the animal health division of Sanofi. [David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, Mar 19, 14]
pharmaceutical company Scynexis (Durham, NC; no SBIR) filed [IPO] with the intent to raise $55 million .... spun out from Aventis S.A, in 2000 as a chemistry and animal health services company, providing contract research services to third parties [Jason deBruyn, TriangleBusiness Journal, Feb 28, 14]
Amyris (Emeryville, CA;$700KSBIR, founded 2003) up 26% [Feb 26, 14]
Scynexis (ResearchTriangle Park, NC; no SBIR, founded 2000) has another shot at a compound thatscientists hope will make headway against a deadly condition in which fungi enter a patient’s bloodstream, known in medical circles as systemic fungal infections. Dubbed MK-3118, the treatment candidate is the result of an exclusive license and research agreement signed between Scynexis and Merck in 2002. [Lauren Ohnesorge, Triangle Business Journal, Jun 14, 13]
[Frenchman] Yves Ribeill, CEO of drug chemistry company Scynexis (Durham, NC; no SBIR, 130 employees), found a way to combine his passion with his business. Last month, he worked out a deal with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative [which] is paying Scynexis $17M over five years to help find safer medicines to treat sleeping sickness, also known as human African trypanosomiasis. ... Founded in 2000 by 24 scientists who worked at Aventis CropScience's headquarters in Research Triangle Park [Sabine Vollmer, Raleigh News&Observer, Dec 27]
Chemistry-focused drug discovery and development company Scynexis (Durham, NC), no SBIR, is thinking IPO by partnering with large pharmaceutical companies. [Raleigh News and Observer, Jan 9] Its roots lie in France and Switzerland.
Until this month, the dermatology startup Scioderm (Raleigh, NC; no SBIR) was a “virtual effort,” operating remotely from CEO Robert Ryan’s Raleigh home office and other places with Internet access. What Scioderm lacked in years and walls, it has made up for in cash, nabbing $16 million in April from two investors .... The product, SD-101, aims to treat a painful and rare pediatric condition called Epidermolysis Bullosa. [Lauren Ohnesorge, Triangle Business Journal, May 24, 13]
Grab Your Politician for Plus-Up. Smaller and more transparent earmarks of federal funds for favored domestic projects are returning after a one-year moratorium on the controversial practice. ... a bit less than 1% of total R&D appropriations (3% for DOD) ... The Senate Top 10, are mostly smaller states with senators in key committee chairmanships—Mississippi, New Mexico and Tennessee are at the top... search AAAS's new database of 2008 earmarks [AAAS Newsletter, Sep 07] But for small business, even 1% is a big honey pot. In the list (August version): Electro Energy (CT; SBIR), Ocean Power Technologies (OR, SBIR in NJ), DBS Energy CT, Eikos (MA; $8M+ SBIR), Cellular Bioengineering HI, Cerematec (UT; SBIR), Ramgen WA, Advanced Radar Technologies WY, Compact Membrane Systems (DE; $20M SBIR), SD Catalyst Group SD. Your story is that high-tech small business will create jobs, and they don't know whether your claim is valid or just wishful thinking. Like the federal mission agencies who then have to award and supervise the contract, they don't seem much to care.
Cashing Out In the past twelve months, the two leading lights of SDL have cashed out a pile of their chips. R&D guru Dave Welch sold $42M of shares and CEO Don Scifres sold $196M.
Meanwhile, one broker house enthused over SDL Highlights..· Outstanding EPS On Higher Gross Margins And Strong Sales. SDL reported Q3 revenues up 33% sequentially to $147M, exceeding our $140M estimate. EPS beat our estimate by a wider margin due to higher-than-expected gross margins. · Raising Q4 And 2001 Estimates Significantly. With SDL’s Q3 performance, we are now looking for $1B in FY01 revenues, up from $805 million, and EPS of $2.53, up from $1.91. Reiterate Strong Buy. We continue to believe that SDL’s proposed merger with JDS Uniphase (#) will be approved and will close by the end of the December quarter. SDLI shares are currently trading at an 18% discount to the acquisition price based on the 3.8:1 exchange ratio. Moreover, even considering the unlikely scenario of the deal falling through, we believe SDLI shares are attractive on a stand alone basis given the robust fundamental outlook and the high likelihood of another bidder emerging.
We are reiterating our Strong Buy rating on the shares of leading optical component pure-play SDL after the company reported 3Q EPS of $0.45, $0.07 ahead of our expectations. Pro forma revenue was up about 20% sequentially to $146.5M, $6.5M ahead of our expectations. The drivers of this upside were continued strength in terrestrial and undersea 980nm sales as well as ramping sales of new products related to a string of successful acquisitions including IOC, Veritech, Queensgate and PIRI.
SDL is a horseman. The demand for the company's lasers increases as more channels of light are multiplexed within a strand of fiber. They have become just a phenomenal company in the past year with obscene sequential revenue growth. Estimate was $0.38; they did $0.45. Revenue growth was up 33% sequentially, 208% year-over-year. [L Siracusano, Individual Investor, Oct 19]
Fortune has a focus piece on how JDS Uniphase is the premier bandwidth company in a world where bandwidth is exploding. Potential SBIR proposers in photonics should be able to recite and relate to the JDS story.
Meanwhile SDL soared 19% to even higher heights after reporting record profits of $27M on revenue of $110M for the quarter. Now it trades at only 690 times earnings and a $32B market cap. JDS is buying it for $41B if the government anti-monopolists allow such concentration of photonics.
More SDL High (Jun 16) SDL climbed to an all-time high at a market cap of $12.3B (and a 500+ PE ratio) on news that it would supply high speed optical modulators to Siemens at least thorugh 2001. In the battle for optical communications, SDL is an arms merchant that wins with all warriors who will build-out (a vogue industry term) bandwidth, bandwidth, and more bandwidth. Modulators wink on and off to add the information to the laser beam shooting down the fiber. SDL is 12 times its year ago price.
Speculation, Rumor, Industry Talk says Corning would buy SDL. Corning has spent $7B recently to push to the forefront of the optical-fiber business and is now expected to spend yet more. After all it is making more money than even Wall Street expects. So-called industry observers expect Corning to acquire optical-parts rival SDL just to beat JDS Uniphase on a like buying spree. Both Corning and SDL say "no comment" to questions. [facts from thestreet.com, Jun 13] The sharks are all around and even eating each other as this industry grows while finding how far it can go and who will dominate. One benficiary of all the buyouts has been BMDO's SBIR reputation. BMDO got fed several companies' early need for infant capital: SDL, CoreTek, NZ Applied Technologies, Intellisense, E-Tek Dynamics. Once company whose CEO once boasted he could compete with SDL still languishes at its market cap of the early 80s - Spire.
Although the stock price is up more than 1800% since we first wrote about this company, we still like the company's prospects. We believe that the exponential growth of the information age will continue to cause bottlenecks on the existing networks. SDL has the products to ease the pain. As demand for its products continue to heats up, investors should expect the shares to soar. [Individual Investor, June 2]
Stunned, Says Individual Investor. Last week fiber-optics component maker SDL stunned analysts with a simply phenomenal quarter, blowing out top- and bottom-line estimates. Pro forma revenue increased nearly 92% to $72M million in the quarter, with pro forma net income coming in at $17M, or $0.22 per share, six cents above consensus estimates. Revenue from fiber-optic communications products increased 35% over the fourth quarter, and by 163% over the prior year quarter. SDL, and all the other fiber-optics stocks that II favors, took a dive yesterday in a soggy NASDAQ day.
Dave Smith, a co-manager at Loomis Sayles' Global Technology, Small Cap Growth and Aggressive Growth [mutual] funds, is also nibbling away at a few optics companies. ... he's focused on a smaller outfit called SDL Inc., which makes "active" optical networking components. "Demand for these components continues to be strong, not just in the U.S. but all the world," says Smith. SDL reports earnings next week, and Smith thinks it will beat expectations. For fiscal 2000, which ends in December, analysts expect the company to earn 79 cents; in fiscal 2001 the consensus estimate is $1.13. This rapid earnings growth, combined with sharp revenue gains, will eventually propel the stock upward again, he predicts. Late Friday SDL was changing hands for $143 per share, down sharply from its 52-week high of $244.75 [Barron's, Apr 17]
Though probabilities favor the stock to outperform the year-ahead market, investors willing to accept above-average risk may be in for a wild ride., says Value Line March 3 in a special coverage of SDL. VL ranks SDL Number 1 (of 5 ranks) for likely price rise and claims it has half the market for undersea 980mm pump chips and could up that to 80% by the end of this year. VL also repeats the rumor of JDS Uniphase 's buying SDL.
Consistent with its meteoric rise to $7B market cap, SDL has the largest display at the bustling oversubscribed Exhibit Hall at Photonics West in SDL's home town of San Jose. Only Sony competes in gaudiness of display in a giant hall full of things that flash and wink.Also present with good traffic flow is DOD's SBIR which ran out of handout material and souvenirs.
SDL was up another 6% yesterday (Dec 20) to 260 times earnings and a $6B market cap. Did CEO Don Scifres in his wildest dreams in 1992 when he got his first BMDO SBIR foresee such a development seven years later? Could you see such a thing for your company? You may need a longer time horizon since SDL was already a going enterprise of 200 when it formed from the joint venture it had been for ten years or so.
Market Action SDL (San Jose, CA) closed above $100, up 6%, the first SBIR company to do so. Ortel (Alhambra, CA) followed last week's up action with another 18% rise. ATMI (Danbury, CT) sank another 16% on fear of soggy earnings; it's now off 40% from its high of two weeks ago. Vixel (Bothell, WA) was up 7% in its post-IPO volatility.
SDL 21x Its Low (Aug 27) Former SBIR company SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) shot up another 14% yesterday to a $2.8B market cap which is 21 times its low for the last twelve months. Which makes CEO Don Scifres a very rich man. Said Reuters about Cisco's purchase of two companies The Cisco deal also demonstrates the value of firms working in the fiber-optic market, analysts said. ``It raises the bar and lifts the floor on the valuation of these companies,'' said one market watcher who declined to be named. ``It's hot. This is as hot as it gets,'' said an analyst who asked not to be named. ``The stock is trading at more than 100 times this year's earnings expectations.'' Other players in the fiber-optic market also made major gains on Thursday trade, including E-Tek Dynamics up $6-1/2 to $59-5/8, and SDL Inc. ``All the components companies are up,'' said Patrick Houghton, analyst at Sutro & Co. in San Francisco. If you are doing SBIR proposals to a real SBIR agency, not one that just does what it would do anyway without SBIR, outline the implications of Cisco's move in your analysis of the future of your technology. Show that you understand your world.
SDL Buys Polaroid Well, not the whole company. SBIR graduate SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) bought Polaroid's fiber laser business for $5M. Over the past seven years, the two companies have jointly developed fiber laser technology and shared in the production of systems for thermal printing and data storage markets. It is a non-surprise result of the business wherein one Polaroid department supplied SDL which manufactured the fiber laser systems and then sold them back to Polaroid. One management roof now, although Polaroid's part stays in MA. SDL will still sell fiber laser subsystems to Polaroid's Graphic Imaging Div. Although PRD was one of the high-multiple big growth stocks of the 60s, SDL with its close at 100 Friday has a 50% higher market cap than PRD - $1340M v. $932M. Now, just around the corner from PRD is a proud (it says) competitor of SDL in the laser diode business - Spire - whose market cap is still around the $10M it was when it got its first SBIR in 1984 and has had $30M since.Still the CEO shows up to testify what a great program SBIR is.
SDL Zooms to 90(Apr 1) SDL reached $90/ share yesterday as the Dow-Jones frolicked in the 10,000 pool. That's 10 times its low of six months ago and is a market cap of $1300M. A lot for an SBIR-supported firm. SDL got SBIR support from BMDO and others when it transitioned in 1991 to an independent firm from being a joint venture of Spectra-Physics and Xerox. It soon went public and outgrew SBIR.
SDL Rockets Again After reporting a $4M profit for the quarter,SDL (San Jose, CA) shot up another 24% yesterday to a market cap of $840M. That's now six times its price a year ago. SDL had some SBIR in its early days, although it started SBIR life with 200 employees when it became eligible in 1991. CEO Don Scifres looked executive at Photonics West in January. In contract, Spire (Bedford, MA) which sees itself as a competitor to SDL, has the same market cap it had in the mid-80s when it got tons of SBIR.
SDL Gets Swiss Business(Nov 11) SDL (San Jose, CA) said that Ismeca SA, Le Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland, has named SDL as its exclusive supplier of laser marking equipment to be integrated onto its standard semiconductor package handling equipment. Ismeca SA is the leading manufacturer of package handling equipment in the discrete semiconductor component marketplace with an estimated 40 percent market share worldwide. [PRNewswire, Nov 10]
Two Make Big Profits
(Nov 2) SDL (San Jose, CA) shares jumped 46% on
higher-than-expected quarter's earnings of $3., up 26% from the
year-ago quarter. SDL shares have now have nearly tripled their low in
mid-summer. Meanwhile, Cree Research (Durham, NC)
has also
nearly tripled its summer low on news of $17M new Asian business and a
doubling of quarterly profits.
SDL Sinks All those folks who waited for SDL (San Jose, CA) to fall further last Christmas have another chance. It's back to year opening levels at 14-15 (down 15% yesterday) from its highs in the high twenties despite a "Strong Buy" recommendation by a big broker in August. The reason: one estimator cut earnings estimates by 14% for 1998 and 5% for 1999. That's good news and bad. Good because an SBIR firm is actually making real money from something other than 6% of SBIR contracts. SDL is one of the few companies to outgrow SBIR. The others have a variety of excuses.
SDL Rockets (Aug 20) Shares of SDL (San Jose, CA) rocketed 19% to 23+ after CIBC Oppenheimer initiated coverage of the company with a strong buy rating. Analyst Jungjohann said the company has high-growth opportunities in the optoelectronics market. SDL makes optoelectronic integrated circuits, semiconductor lasars and fiber-optic related products. The same kind of strong buy rocketed ATMI last year before the Asian contagion infected ATMI's prospects. SDL had risen from 14 to the mid-20s before the July market swoon. SDL had a healthy chunk of SBIR in the years since it became eligible in 1991 and before it went public in 1995 and then outgrew SBIR last year. SBIR aficionados mght compare SDL's market performance with anaother SBIR user in the same industry - Spire (Bedford, MA) which has had tens of millions of SBIRand still has the same market cap it had in 1985.
SDL $2.2M Profit (May 1) SDL (San Jose, CA) made $2.7M for the quarter on 20% higher revenues of $25M, a nice number in line with the doubling of its stock price since October.
SDL Up Again
(Feb 11) From $14 on January 1 to $23 yesterday, up 64%. Compare with
Spire who competes with SDL on laser diodes. Spire is at the same $15
level after having been in the twenties in the early fall. One
difference is the steady profits rolling out of SDL (except for the one
time settlement of a fight) and the irregular profits at Spire. Both
used SBIR; SDL for five years and Spire for 15 years. Both started
using SBIR at nearly the same employment level; SDL outgrew SBIR last
year; Spire has about the same employees as 1983. If you were judging
SBIR, what would you do when the next Spire proposal for laser diodes
hit your desk?
SDL Makes A Profit (Feb 5) SDL back to profitable. After its one-time giant loss to settle a long-standing claim, SDL (San Jose, CA) made $1.8M for the quarter on $24M sales. Maybe that explains the ever bigger booth at Photonics West. Emcore swallowed a $29M one-time charge and about broke even from recurring business. (Note: one-time losses are often claimed.) The Street liked the picture, lifting SDL 15% yesterday.
SDL Earns $2.5M SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) earned $2.5M on $24M sales for the quarter. CEO Don Scifres attributed the profit to more front-end wafer manufacturing capacity.
SDL Sells Lasers to Corning (Jul 22) SDL Inc. (San Jose, CA) signed a "multi-million-dollar" contract to supply Corning, the glass company, with fiber-coupled pump modules for use in optical fiber amplifier modules. The innumerate DJ news story implies a competitive market struggle. Corning is the glass company.
SDL Unveils Products (Jul 23) SDL Inc. (San Jose, CA) unveiled two visible semiconductor laser products for the data-storage and cancer-therapy markets. A 30 mW 650 nm single mode laser, aimed at high density optical data storage, has enough power for enabling both writing and reading data at high digital video disk storage densities. The second product is a 3W fiber coupled 665 nm laser used in a new method of cancer treatment, photodynamic therapy, relies on a light sensitive chemical ingested by a patient that then accumulates in the tumor.[DowJones Jul22] For the story of photodynamic therapy read "A New Light on Cancer", MIT Technology Review, A/S97.
Only a Million Profit (Jul 15) SDL Inc sadly estimated this quarter's profits at only $1M after a $30M charge for settling the patent ownership dispute with ex-parent Spectra-Physics. Other SBIR companies should try to have such problems.
Got a good idea for a new product? Keep thinking, it often takes more than one. On average, it took seven ideas to generate a new commercial product in 1995, down from 11 ideas in 1990, says the Product Development and Management Association. The Wall Street Journal, May 1, 97. You must keep thinking because as Nathan Myhrvold says, No matter how good your product, you are only 18 months away from failure.
SDL's Profits Down (Apr 18) Like the dog that misquotes Shakespeare, SDL's profits were down for the quarter to only a half-million. But CEO Don Scifres made the usual CEO noises. He has 100 patents, was a research fellow at Xerox PARC, and he still lets magazines (Photonics Spectra, Apr97) publish his picture with fully brown hair. It was not brown at Photonics West 97 where both Don and VP Dave Welch were smiling. Someone smiling always looks younger. Don Scifres has brought SDL into self-ownership, an IPO and a secondary, more than doubled employment since 1991 birth as an independent company (now right out of SBIR eligibility) with sales over $80M. The help from SBIR (at least from BMDO) was for long range, high technical risk innovations. Yes, several were declined for excessive ordinariness. But now the self-funded R&D will have to do both long and short range development. That's what it means to graduate from SBIR
SDL Finds A Significant Other (Mar24) SDL Inc (San Jose,CA) announced a significant contract to supply Lucent Technologies (ne Bell labs) with 980 nm fiber-coupled pump modules for optical fiber amplifiers. SDL's largest single order for commercial telco market.
SDL Beats Rockwell in MOCVD Claim (Mar 3) A federal court said Bah to Rockwell's claim that SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) infringed Rockwell's MOCVD patent. Rockwell several years ago made a sweeping claim to have invented MOCVD for opto-electronic devices, a practically universal process. SDL CEO Don Scifres said he liked the decision. (Why do newswires report such blather and why do companies say such obvious banalities?) [Metal-Organic-Chemical-Vapor-Deposition]
Revenue and Profits Soar at SDL (Jan 31) For the year sales were up by half to $82M and profits were $7M. Stock traders liked the news and jacked the price up 7% to $26 which gives SDL a market cap of $350M. CEO Don Scifres made the usual anodyne noises. Companies like SDL give SBIR a good name and cancel the bleating of a lot of gimme-a-handout sheep. Of course, not everyone believes: Insider DS Evans sold $3.6M of stock in December, 74% of holding, says WSJ, Jan29.
So Blue the Laserb SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) announced a blue laser at Photonics East. Air cooled, frequency doubled, 1-2 mW in 15-35 C. Price not yet determined (and therefore market not determinable either).. [Photonics Spectra Dec 96. It has some SBIR support. Maybe they'll bring it to Photonics West, Feb8-14 San Jose Convention Center.
Cisco has a market capitalization of over $40 billion (much the same as General Motors) yet the firm has barely attracted the notice of the average computer user, much less the anti-trust authorities. The Economist, Dec 7, 96
SDL Revenue Up, Income Down$19M (up38%) came through the door in the quarter but only $0.9M (down 41%) went into the earnings drawer. SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) is thus in an enviable position of being an SBIR company (but not for much longer) that has profit drops to moan about on Wall Street. Don Scifres, the personable (and now rich) CEO was dutifully upbeat about the results. (I wonder how SDLs's accountants deal with the skyrocketing market value of the land on North First St under SDL.)
An Action StockIt must have seemed like a photon torpedo game. From 28 the day before SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) sank as low as 15 before closing at 19, down 32%, the top percentage loser for the day on 3.9 million shares traded. It never traded above 22. The news: the firm said its revenues wouldn't be skyrocketing as analysts had predicted because of manufacturing problems. . Hardly seems fair treatment for so good an SBIR firm; SDL is one of the few SBIR firms who move smartly into production and growth. (Too many get hooked on easy SBIR once they're known by the government technical gurus.) SDL is an employee buy-out of a joint venture between Xerox and Spectra-Physics. It develops and sells laser communications products like laser diodes (for a version of photon torpedos) and reported healthy profits (by SBIR standards) for the last two quarters. Aug 96
New SDL Pump SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) announced a new, higher power pump for lasers at 980 nm, 120 mW output from the same input formerly delivering 90 mW. With$24.6M revenue for its last quarter, SDL must be an early candidate for honor graduate from SBIR.
SDL Profit SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) reported $2.4M quarterly profit and $4.6M for six months. That brings SDL's P-E ratio down to about 30, normal for a growth stock. Which also implies that SDL would soon graduate from SBIR, not that SDL was ever dependent on SBIR anyway. SDL makes laser diodes.
Another $45M SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) raised another $45M in a public stock sale yesterday. That makes over $100 in three such sales since 1994. SDL got SBIR-qualified in 1991 by buying itself out from the Xerox-Spectra Physics joint venture. Since then it has nearly doubled, but not on SBIR money. It gets a few SBIRs for the new product ideas and then raises the public money for production (and for cashing out the original investors).
Cashing Out In the past twelve months, the two leading lights of SDL have cashed out a pile of their chips. R&D guru Dave Welch sold $42M of shares and CEO Don Scifres sold $196M.
Meanwhile, one broker house enthused over SDL Highlights..· Outstanding EPS On Higher Gross Margins And Strong Sales. SDL reported Q3 revenues up 33% sequentially to $147M, exceeding our $140M estimate. EPS beat our estimate by a wider margin due to higher-than-expected gross margins. · Raising Q4 And 2001 Estimates Significantly. With SDL’s Q3 performance, we are now looking for $1B in FY01 revenues, up from $805 million, and EPS of $2.53, up from $1.91. Reiterate Strong Buy. We continue to believe that SDL’s proposed merger with JDS Uniphase (#) will be approved and will close by the end of the December quarter. SDLI shares are currently trading at an 18% discount to the acquisition price based on the 3.8:1 exchange ratio. Moreover, even considering the unlikely scenario of the deal falling through, we believe SDLI shares are attractive on a stand alone basis given the robust fundamental outlook and the high likelihood of another bidder emerging.
We are reiterating our Strong Buy rating on the shares of leading optical component pure-play SDL after the company reported 3Q EPS of $0.45, $0.07 ahead of our expectations. Pro forma revenue was up about 20% sequentially to $146.5M, $6.5M ahead of our expectations. The drivers of this upside were continued strength in terrestrial and undersea 980nm sales as well as ramping sales of new products related to a string of successful acquisitions including IOC, Veritech, Queensgate and PIRI.
SDL is a horseman. The demand for the company's lasers increases as more channels of light are multiplexed within a strand of fiber. They have become just a phenomenal company in the past year with obscene sequential revenue growth. Estimate was $0.38; they did $0.45. Revenue growth was up 33% sequentially, 208% year-over-year. [L Siracusano, Individual Investor, Oct 19]
Fortune has a focus piece on how JDS Uniphase is the premier bandwidth company in a world where bandwidth is exploding. Potential SBIR proposers in photonics should be able to recite and relate to the JDS story.
Meanwhile SDL soared 19% to even higher heights after reporting record profits of $27M on revenue of $110M for the quarter. Now it trades at only 690 times earnings and a $32B market cap. JDS is buying it for $41B if the government anti-monopolists allow such concentration of photonics.
More SDL High(Jun 16) SDL climbed to an all-time high at a market cap of $12.3B (and a 500+ PE ratio) on news that it would supply high speed optical modulators to Siemens at least thorugh 2001. In the battle for optical communications, SDL is an arms merchant that wins with all warriors who will build-out (a vogue industry term) bandwidth, bandwidth, and more bandwidth. Modulators wink on and off to add the information to the laser beam shooting down the fiber. SDL is 12 times its year ago price.
Speculation, Rumor, Industry Talk says Corning would buy SDL. Corning has spent $7B recently to push to the forefront of the optical-fiber business and is now expected to spend yet more. After all it is making more money than even Wall Street expects. So-called industry observers expect Corning to acquire optical-parts rival SDL just to beat JDS Uniphase on a like buying spree. Both Corning and SDL say "no comment" to questions. [facts from thestreet.com, Jun 13] The sharks are all around and even eating each other as this industry grows while finding how far it can go and who will dominate. One benficiary of all the buyouts has been BMDO's SBIR reputation. BMDO got fed several companies' early need for infant capital: SDL, CoreTek, NZ Applied Technologies, Intellisense, E-Tek Dynamics. Once company whose CEO once boasted he could compete with SDL still languishes at its market cap of the early 80s - Spire.
Although the stock price is up more than 1800% since we first wrote about this company, we still like the company's prospects. We believe that the exponential growth of the information age will continue to cause bottlenecks on the existing networks. SDL has the products to ease the pain. As demand for its products continue to heats up, investors should expect the shares to soar. [Individual Investor, June 2]
Stunned, Says Individual Investor. Last week fiber-optics component maker SDL stunned analysts with a simply phenomenal quarter, blowing out top- and bottom-line estimates. Pro forma revenue increased nearly 92% to $72M million in the quarter, with pro forma net income coming in at $17M, or $0.22 per share, six cents above consensus estimates. Revenue from fiber-optic communications products increased 35% over the fourth quarter, and by 163% over the prior year quarter. SDL, and all the other fiber-optics stocks that II favors, took a dive yesterday in a soggy NASDAQ day.
Dave Smith, a co-manager at Loomis Sayles' Global Technology, Small Cap Growth and Aggressive Growth [mutual] funds, is also nibbling away at a few optics companies. ... he's focused on a smaller outfit called SDL Inc., which makes "active" optical networking components. "Demand for these components continues to be strong, not just in the U.S. but all the world," says Smith. SDL reports earnings next week, and Smith thinks it will beat expectations. For fiscal 2000, which ends in December, analysts expect the company to earn 79 cents; in fiscal 2001 the consensus estimate is $1.13. This rapid earnings growth, combined with sharp revenue gains, will eventually propel the stock upward again, he predicts. Late Friday SDL was changing hands for $143 per share, down sharply from its 52-week high of $244.75 [Barron's, Apr 17]
Though probabilities favor the stock to outperform the year-ahead market, investors willing to accept above-average risk may be in for a wild ride., says Value Line March 3 in a special coverage of SDL. VL ranks SDL Number 1 (of 5 ranks) for likely price rise and claims it has half the market for undersea 980mm pump chips and could up that to 80% by the end of this year. VL also repeats the rumor of JDS Uniphase 's buying SDL.
Consistent with its meteoric rise to $7B market cap, SDL has the largest display at the bustling oversubscribed Exhibit Hall at Photonics West in SDL's home town of San Jose. Only Sony competes in gaudiness of display in a giant hall full of things that flash and wink.Also present with good traffic flow is DOD's SBIR which ran out of handout material and souvenirs.
SDL was up another 6% yesterday (Dec 20) to 260 times earnings and a $6B market cap. Did CEO Don Scifres in his wildest dreams in 1992 when he got his first BMDO SBIR foresee such a development seven years later? Could you see such a thing for your company? You may need a longer time horizon since SDL was already a going enterprise of 200 when it formed from the joint venture it had been for ten years or so.
Market Action SDL (San Jose, CA) closed above $100, up 6%, the first SBIR company to do so. Ortel (Alhambra, CA) followed last week's up action with another 18% rise. ATMI (Danbury, CT) sank another 16% on fear of soggy earnings; it's now off 40% from its high of two weeks ago. Vixel (Bothell, WA) was up 7% in its post-IPO volatility.
SDL 21x Its Low (Aug 27) Former SBIR company SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) shot up another 14% yesterday to a $2.8B market cap which is 21 times its low for the last twelve months. Which makes CEO Don Scifres a very rich man. Said Reuters about Cisco's purchase of two companies The Cisco deal also demonstrates the value of firms working in the fiber-optic market, analysts said. ``It raises the bar and lifts the floor on the valuation of these companies,'' said one market watcher who declined to be named. ``It's hot. This is as hot as it gets,'' said an analyst who asked not to be named. ``The stock is trading at more than 100 times this year's earnings expectations.'' Other players in the fiber-optic market also made major gains on Thursday trade, including E-Tek Dynamics up $6-1/2 to $59-5/8, and SDL Inc. ``All the components companies are up,'' said Patrick Houghton, analyst at Sutro & Co. in San Francisco. If you are doing SBIR proposals to a real SBIR agency, not one that just does what it would do anyway without SBIR, outline the implications of Cisco's move in your analysis of the future of your technology. Show that you understand your world.
SDL Buys Polaroid Well, not the whole company. SBIR graduate SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) bought Polaroid's fiber laser business for $5M. Over the past seven years, the two companies have jointly developed fiber laser technology and shared in the production of systems for thermal printing and data storage markets. It is a non-surprise result of the business wherein one Polaroid department supplied SDL which manufactured the fiber laser systems and then sold them back to Polaroid. One management roof now, although Polaroid's part stays in MA. SDL will still sell fiber laser subsystems to Polaroid's Graphic Imaging Div. Although PRD was one of the high-multiple big growth stocks of the 60s, SDL with its close at 100 Friday has a 50% higher market cap than PRD - $1340M v. $932M. Now, just around the corner from PRD is a proud (it says) competitor of SDL in the laser diode business - Spire - whose market cap is still around the $10M it was when it got its first SBIR in 1984 and has had $30M since.Still the CEO shows up to testify what a great program SBIR is.
SDL Zooms to 90(Apr 1) SDL reached $90/ share yesterday as the Dow-Jones frolicked in the 10,000 pool. That's 10 times its low of six months ago and is a market cap of $1300M. A lot for an SBIR-supported firm. SDL got SBIR support from BMDO and others when it transitioned in 1991 to an independent firm from being a joint venture of Spectra-Physics and Xerox. It soon went public and outgrew SBIR.
SDL Rockets Again After reporting a $4M profit for the quarter,SDL (San Jose, CA) shot up another 24% yesterday to a market cap of $840M. That's now six times its price a year ago. SDL had some SBIR in its early days, although it started SBIR life with 200 employees when it became eligible in 1991. CEO Don Scifres looked executive at Photonics West in January. In contract, Spire (Bedford, MA) which sees itself as a competitor to SDL, has the same market cap it had in the mid-80s when it got tons of SBIR.
SDL Gets Swiss Business
(Nov 11) SDL (San Jose, CA) said that Ismeca SA, Le Chaux
de Fonds, Switzerland, has named SDL as its exclusive supplier of laser
marking equipment to be integrated onto its standard semiconductor
package handling equipment. Ismeca SA is the leading manufacturer of
package handling equipment in the discrete semiconductor component
marketplace with an estimated 40 percent market share worldwide. [PRNewswire,
Nov 10]
Two Make Big Profits
(Nov 2) SDL (San Jose, CA) shares jumped 46% on
higher-than-expected quarter's earnings of $3., up 26% from the
year-ago quarter. SDL shares have now have nearly tripled their low in
mid-summer. Meanwhile, Cree Research (Durham, NC)
has also
nearly tripled its summer low on news of $17M new Asian business and a
doubling of quarterly profits.
SDL Sinks All those folks who waited for SDL (San Jose, CA) to fall further last Christmas have another chance. It's back to year opening levels at 14-15 (down 15% yesterday) from its highs in the high twenties despite a "Strong Buy" recommendation by a big broker in August. The reason: one estimator cut earnings estimates by 14% for 1998 and 5% for 1999. That's good news and bad. Good because an SBIR firm is actually making real money from something other than 6% of SBIR contracts. SDL is one of the few companies to outgrow SBIR. The others have a variety of excuses.
SDL Rockets (Aug 20) Shares of SDL (San Jose, CA) rocketed 19% to 23+ after CIBC Oppenheimer initiated coverage of the company with a strong buy rating. Analyst Jungjohann said the company has high-growth opportunities in the optoelectronics market. SDL makes optoelectronic integrated circuits, semiconductor lasars and fiber-optic related products. The same kind of strong buy rocketed ATMI last year before the Asian contagion infected ATMI's prospects. SDL had risen from 14 to the mid-20s before the July market swoon. SDL had a healthy chunk of SBIR in the years since it became eligible in 1991 and before it went public in 1995 and then outgrew SBIR last year. SBIR aficionados mght compare SDL's market performance with anaother SBIR user in the same industry - Spire (Bedford, MA) which has had tens of millions of SBIRand still has the same market cap it had in 1985.
SDL $2.2M Profit (May 1) SDL (San Jose, CA) made $2.7M for the quarter on 20% higher revenues of $25M, a nice number in line with the doubling of its stock price since October.
SDL Up Again
(Feb 11) From $14 on January 1 to $23 yesterday, up 64%. Compare with
Spire who competes with SDL on laser diodes. Spire is at the same $15
level after having been in the twenties in the early fall. One
difference is the steady profits rolling out of SDL (except for the one
time settlement of a fight) and the irregular profits at Spire. Both
used SBIR; SDL for five years and Spire for 15 years. Both started
using SBIR at nearly the same employment level; SDL outgrew SBIR last
year; Spire has about the same employees as 1983. If you were judging
SBIR, what would you do when the next Spire proposal for laser diodes
hit your desk?
SDL Makes A Profit (Feb 5) SDL back to profitable. After its one-time giant loss to settle a long-standing claim, SDL (San Jose, CA) made $1.8M for the quarter on $24M sales. Maybe that explains the ever bigger booth at Photonics West. Emcore swallowed a $29M one-time charge and about broke even from recurring business. (Note: one-time losses are often claimed.) The Street liked the picture, lifting SDL 15% yesterday.
SDL Earns $2.5M SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) earned $2.5M on $24M sales for the quarter. CEO Don Scifres attributed the profit to more front-end wafer manufacturing capacity.
SDL Sells Lasers to Corning (Jul 22) SDL Inc. (San Jose, CA) signed a "multi-million-dollar" contract to supply Corning, the glass company, with fiber-coupled pump modules for use in optical fiber amplifier modules. The innumerate DJ news story implies a competitive market struggle. Corning is the glass company.
SDL Unveils Products (Jul 23) SDL Inc. (San Jose, CA) unveiled two visible semiconductor laser products for the data-storage and cancer-therapy markets. A 30 mW 650 nm single mode laser, aimed at high density optical data storage, has enough power for enabling both writing and reading data at high digital video disk storage densities. The second product is a 3W fiber coupled 665 nm laser used in a new method of cancer treatment, photodynamic therapy, relies on a light sensitive chemical ingested by a patient that then accumulates in the tumor.[DowJones Jul22] For the story of photodynamic therapy read "A New Light on Cancer", MIT Technology Review, A/S97.
Only a Million Profit (Jul 15) SDL Inc sadly estimated this quarter's profits at only $1M after a $30M charge for settling the patent ownership dispute with ex-parent Spectra-Physics. Other SBIR companies should try to have such problems.
Got a good idea for a new product? Keep thinking, it often takes more than one. On average, it took seven ideas to generate a new commercial product in 1995, down from 11 ideas in 1990, says the Product Development and Management Association. The Wall Street Journal, May 1, 97. You must keep thinking because as Nathan Myhrvold says, No matter how good your product, you are only 18 months away from failure.
SDL's Profits Down (Apr 18) Like the dog that misquotes Shakespeare, SDL's profits were down for the quarter to only a half-million. But CEO Don Scifres made the usual CEO noises. He has 100 patents, was a research fellow at Xerox PARC, and he still lets magazines (Photonics Spectra, Apr97) publish his picture with fully brown hair. It was not brown at Photonics West 97 where both Don and VP Dave Welch were smiling. Someone smiling always looks younger. Don Scifres has brought SDL into self-ownership, an IPO and a secondary, more than doubled employment since 1991 birth as an independent company (now right out of SBIR eligibility) with sales over $80M. The help from SBIR (at least from BMDO) was for long range, high technical risk innovations. Yes, several were declined for excessive ordinariness. But now the self-funded R&D will have to do both long and short range development. That's what it means to graduate from SBIR
SDL Finds A Significant Other (Mar24) SDL Inc (San Jose,CA) announced a significant contract to supply Lucent Technologies (ne Bell labs) with 980 nm fiber-coupled pump modules for optical fiber amplifiers. SDL's largest single order for commercial telco market.
SDL Beats Rockwell in MOCVD Claim (Mar 3) A federal court said Bah to Rockwell's claim that SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) infringed Rockwell's MOCVD patent. Rockwell several years ago made a sweeping claim to have invented MOCVD for opto-electronic devices, a practically universal process. SDL CEO Don Scifres said he liked the decision. (Why do newswires report such blather and why do companies say such obvious banalities?) [Metal-Organic-Chemical-Vapor-Deposition]
Revenue and Profits Soar at SDL (Jan 31) For the year sales were up by half to $82M and profits were $7M. Stock traders liked the news and jacked the price up 7% to $26 which gives SDL a market cap of $350M. CEO Don Scifres made the usual anodyne noises. Companies like SDL give SBIR a good name and cancel the bleating of a lot of gimme-a-handout sheep. Of course, not everyone believes: Insider DS Evans sold $3.6M of stock in December, 74% of holding, says WSJ, Jan29.
So Blue the Laserb SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) announced a blue laser at Photonics East. Air cooled, frequency doubled, 1-2 mW in 15-35 C. Price not yet determined (and therefore market not determinable either).. [Photonics Spectra Dec 96]. It has some SBIR support. Maybe they'll bring it to Photonics West, Feb8-14 San Jose Convention Center.
Cisco has a market capitalization of over $40 billion (much the same as General Motors) yet the firm has barely attracted the notice of the average computer user, much less the anti-trust authorities. The Economist, Dec 7, 96
SDL Revenue Up, Income Down$19M (up38%) came through the door in the quarter but only $0.9M (down 41%) went into the earnings drawer. SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) is thus in an enviable position of being an SBIR company (but not for much longer) that has profit drops to moan about on Wall Street. Don Scifres, the personable (and now rich) CEO was dutifully upbeat about the results. (I wonder how SDLs's accountants deal with the skyrocketing market value of the land on North First St under SDL.)
An Action StockIt must have seemed like a photon torpedo game. From 28 the day before SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) sank as low as 15 before closing at 19, down 32%, the top percentage loser for the day on 3.9 million shares traded. It never traded above 22. The news: the firm said its revenues wouldn't be skyrocketing as analysts had predicted because of manufacturing problems. . Hardly seems fair treatment for so good an SBIR firm; SDL is one of the few SBIR firms who move smartly into production and growth. (Too many get hooked on easy SBIR once they're known by the government technical gurus.) SDL is an employee buy-out of a joint venture between Xerox and Spectra-Physics. It develops and sells laser communications products like laser diodes (for a version of photon torpedos) and reported healthy profits (by SBIR standards) for the last two quarters. Aug 96
New SDL Pump SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) announced a new, higher power pump for lasers at 980 nm, 120 mW output from the same input formerly delivering 90 mW. With$24.6M revenue for its last quarter, SDL must be an early candidate for honor graduate from SBIR.
SDL Profit SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) reported $2.4M quarterly profit and $4.6M for six months. That brings SDL's P-E ratio down to about 30, normal for a growth stock. Which also implies that SDL would soon graduate from SBIR, not that SDL was ever dependent on SBIR anyway. SDL makes laser diodes.
Another $45M SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) raised another $45M in a public stock sale yesterday. That makes over $100 in three such sales since 1994. SDL got SBIR-qualified in 1991 by buying itself out from the Xerox-Spectra Physics joint venture. Since then it has nearly doubled, but not on SBIR money. It gets a few SBIRs for the new product ideas and then raises the public money for production (and for cashing out the original investors).
SeaChange's (no SBIR) hiring spree is typical of a class of high-tech businesses in Massachusetts that have proved virtually immune to the economic slowdown. These companies sell into global markets that provide a cushion as the US economy struggles with everything from mounting home foreclosures to a plummeting stock market. In many cases, they also offer products that enable them to benefit from economic downturns, when consumer spending is restrained and businesses cut costs. [Robert Weisman, Boston Globe, Mar 13] Note that such economic spinoffs and opportunities do NOT come from government R&D service contracting; they come from companies offering new business opportunities to the wide world. Almost all the economic arguments made for SBIR by the beneficiaries are self-serving blarney.
Last year, Seacoast Science (Carlsbad, CA; $4.4M SBIR) introduced its first mass product, a compact gas chromatograph that is about half the size of a shoebox, which the company developed in partnership with Vernier, a Beaverton, OR, distributor of scientific instruments and products for the university, college, and other educational markets. The device, which sells for $1,750, also reflects another aspect of the startup’s strategy. “Because we’re just 12 to 13 people, we’ve gone out to look for industrial partners with marketing and distribution networks,” Haerle says. [Bruce Bigelow, xconomy San Diego Union Tribune, Jan 27, 10]
lab on a chip In 1998 it occurred to David Baselt of the NRL that spin valves might also make excellent biosensors. Biological materials are not usually magnetic, but they are often chemically specific. Dr Baselt wondered if tiny magnetic particles could be attached to molecules using either antibodies (which will bond to proteins, sugars and so on) or single-stranded DNA (which will bond to a complementary DNA strand to form the famous double helix). Searching for a target molecule would then involve sprinkling a sample thought to contain it with magnetic nanoparticles coated with the appropriate antibody or DNA, and running it over a spin valve. the NRL has developed a battery-powered unit the size of a shoebox, and has licensed its design to Seahawk Biosystems (Austin, TX; $1.5M SBIR), for food-testing and environmental use. [The Economist, Dec 6, 08]
Seahorse Bioscience’s (no SBIR) local expansion has been so successful, the company made a second in-state acquisition, of BioProcessors (Woburn, MA; $500K SBIR) in March 2009. The Woburn company creates an instrument that helps biologic makers decide how to design their manufacturing process to maximize cell yield.... Founded in 2001, [Seahorse] has grown from around 60 employees two years ago to about 100 now, through hiring and acquisitions.... acquisition of Innovative Microplate (Chicopee, MA; no SBIR). five years ago has led to continued hiring through the recession and an expansion of the manufacturing facility there, to 25,000 square feet from 14,000 square feet. Seahorse’s lead product is a bench-top scientific instrument that measures the energy production activity of cells. [Julie Donnelly, Mass High Tech, Jun 23, 10]
Biotech materials company Seahorse Bioscience (no SBIR). has taken in $6 million in a Series D round of funding, to help it purchase BioProcessors .(Woburn, MA; $600K SBIR) maker of systems for improving biologic drug manufacturing. [Mass High Tech, Mar 10, 09]
Seaside Therapeutics, (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) developer of treatments for brain disorders, has landed $30 million in funding to aid the company’s Fragile X Syndrome and autism treatment research. The financing comes from an unnamed, private, family investment firm. [Mass High Tech, Sep 17, 09]
Seattle BioMed said it's received a seven-year, $9.8 million grant from [NIH] to develop a vaccine targeting HIV/AIDS. ... will lead a consortium that includes the Rockefeller University, the University of Washington, Seattle Children's Hospital and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center [Ben Miller, Puget Sound Business Journal, Mar 10, 14]
Researchers at Seattle BioMed (Seattle, WA; no SBIR) have claimed a major discovery in the research of malaria. The researchers' work, published in the latest issue of "Cell Reports," indicates that after a victim is bitten by a mosquito with the malaria parasite, there are a lack of symptoms. But the Seattle BioMed researchers "identified a robust innate immune response." [Ben Miller, Puget Sound Business Journal, Apr 4, 14]
Seattle Genetics and Astellas Pharma (Japan) announced that a phase 3 trial of PADCEV® (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv) met its primary endpoint of overall survival compared to chemotherapy [with] with a 30 percent reduction in risk of death (Hazard Ratio [HR] [joint companies press release, Sep 25, 20]
Merck has struck a deal to develop Seattle Genetics’ antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) ladiratuzumab vedotin. The agreement will see Merck pay $600 million and make a $1 billion investment in Seattle Genetics in return for the chance to embark on a joint development program. [Nick Paul Taylor, Fierce Biotech, Sep 14, 20]
Seattle Genetics announced [FDA] granted approval to TUKYSA™ (tucatinib) tablets in combination with trastuzumab and capecitabine for adult patients with advanced unresectable (cannot be surgically removed) or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer, including patients with brain metastases (disease that has spread to the brain), who have received one or more prior anti-HER2-based regimens in the metastatic setting. [company press release, Apr 17, 20]
Seattle Genetics received its third FDA approval, a regulatory nod for a breast cancer drug for patients with an especially aggressive form of the disease, four months ahead of schedule. [xconomy.com, Apr 20, 20]
Seattle Genetics has shared more of the tucatinib data it hopes will win it approval in HER2-positive breast cancer. The pivotal trial linked the tyrosine kinase inhibitor to reduced risk of progression and death in patients with and without brain metastases, leading Seattle Genetics CEO Clay Siegall to hail the data as “stunning.” [Nick Paul Taylor, Fierce Biotech, Dec 11, 19]
Seattle Genetics up 15% [Oct 21, 19] announced positive topline results from the HER2CLIMB trial, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, active comparator pivotal trial evaluating tucatinib. [company press release, Oct 21, 19]
Seattle Genetics and Astellas Pharma (Japan) announced initial results from the phase 1 clinical trial EV-103. Forty-five patients were evaluated for safety with the combination of the investigational agent enfortumab vedotin and the immune therapy pembrolizumab in previously untreated patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who were ineligible for treatment with cisplatin-based chemotherapy [joint companies press release, Sep 28, 19]
Seattle Genetics up 19% [Jul 17, 19]
Seattle Genetics down 15% [Oct 26, 18]
Seattle Genetics and Astellas Pharma (Japan) announced that [FDA] has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to enfortumab vedotin, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who were previously treated with checkpoint inhibitors (CPI). [joint companies press release, Mar 26, 18]
Pieris Pharmaceuticals (Boston, MA and Germany; no SBIR), that discovers and develops Anticalin-based drugs to target validated disease pathways in a unique and transformative way, and Seattle Genetics announced they have entered into a collaboration and license agreement with the goal of developing multiple targeted bispecific immuno-oncology treatments for solid tumors and blood cancers. [joint compamies press release, Feb 9, 18] As ever, the upfront cost is much smaller, just $30 million; but if everything goes perfectly well, and there are approvals and big sales, this could swell into $1.2 billion in biobucks terms. [Ben Adam, Fierce Biotech, Feb 9, 18]
Cascadian Therapeutics (Seattle, WA; no SBIR) up 71% [Jan 31,18] Seattle Genetics struck a deal to acquire Cascadian Therapeutics, gambling on an experimental breast cancer drug in late-stage testing. SeaGen will pay $10 per share in cash, or $614 million, for Cascadian and its lead drug tucatinib, being developed for women with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Jan 31, 18]
Seattle Genetics clears FDA hurdle for application of cancer drug Adcetris that could make billions ... Approval of Adcetris as a first line of treatment for patients with advanced lymphoma could push sales past $1 billion in the U.S [Puget Sound Business Journal, Jan 2, 18]
New start at new
startup. Eric
Dobmeier, longtime COO at Seattle
Genetics,
is to become CEO at stealthy biotech
startup Silverback
Therapeutics
(Seattle, WA; no SBIR for stealth). ... raised $10 million from OrbiMed
in 2016,
listed in an SEC filing as part of a larger $60 million round.
[Clare McGrane, GeekWire, Dec 1, 17]
Seattle Genetics announced that the [FDA] has approved ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) for the treatment of adult patients with primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (pcALCL) and CD30-expressing mycosis fungoides (MF) who have received prior systemic therapy. Primary cutaneous ALCL and MF are the most common subtypes of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). [company press release, Nov 9, 17]
Seattle Genetics announced that it has signed definitive agreements to purchase Bristol-Myers Squibb’s pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Bothell, WA. ... a 51,000 square foot state-of-the art manufacturing and laboratory space built in 2014. Seattle Genetics plans to utilize the facility primarily for antibody production for current and future pipeline programs. [company press release, Aug 1, 17]
Seattle Genetics said it is discontinuing a Phase 3 clinical trial after data showed “a higher rate of deaths, including fatal infections” in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients receiving its drug than in the study’s other patients. [Seattle Times, Jun 19, 17]
Seattle Genetics tees up another application of its flagship drug that could net $100M [Puget Sound Business Journal, Jun 7, 17] .... Takeda Pharmaceutical and Seattle Genetics announced that data from the randomized Phase 3 ALCANZA clinical trial evaluating ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) in patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) were published in the journal Lancet. [joint companies press release, Jun 7, 17]
A vitriolic proxy battle for control of a New Jersey company that Seattle Genetics made a big deal with in February has now put their transaction on ice for at least a month. Seattle Genetics agreed last month to pay $250 million upfront to license a potential solid-tumor drug developed by Immunomedics ... . Future milestone and royalty payments could push the total to $2 billion, the companies said. [Rami Grunbaum, Seattle Times, Mar 9, 17]
A vitriolic proxy battle for control of a New Jersey company that Seattle Genetics made a big deal with in February has now put their transaction on ice for at least a month. Seattle Genetics agreed last month to pay $250 million upfront to license a potential solid-tumor drug developed by Immunomedics ... . Future milestone and royalty payments could push the total to $2 billion, the companies said. [Rami Grunbaum, Seattle Times, Mar 9, 17]
Clinical holds placed last December on the Seattle Genetics leukemia drug vadastuximab talirine following four patient deaths were lifted this week after the Bothell, WA-based biotech made changes to the trials to “enhance patient safety.” [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Mar 10, 17]
A proxy fight at Immunomedics shifted control of the biotech’s board to directors backed by investment firm venBio. The firm criticized the deal Immunomedics management struck to license the company’s lead cancer drug to Seattle Genetics. On Thursday, a Delaware judge halted the transaction. [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, Mar 10, 17]
Immunomedics (Morris Plains, NJ; $14M SBIR) up 22% [Feb 10, 17] Seattle Genetics is to pay $250 million upfront for the rights to Immunomedics' solid tumor asset IMMU-132. The deal could swell to $2 billion, puts Seattle Genetics in charge of filing for accelerated FDA approval of IMMU-132 in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) while also advancing the drug in other indications. ... frees Immunomedics from up to $100 million in near-term development costs and gives it a partner that is potentially capable of ironing out lingering concerns manufacturing issues could hold the drug up. [Nick Paul Taylor, FierceBiotech, Feb 10, 17]
Seattle Genetics plans to hire 200 and seek new FDA approval in 2017. [Casey Coombs, Puget Sound Business Journal, Jan 23, 17]
Seattle Genetics down 15% [Dec 27, 16] announced that it has received notice from (FDA) that a clinical hold or partial clinical hold has been placed on several early stage trials of vadastuximab talirine (SGN-CD33A) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The clinical holds were initiated to evaluate the potential risk of hepatotoxicity in patients who were treated with SGN-CD33A and received allogeneic stem cell transplant either before or after treatment. Six patients have been identified with hepatotoxicity, including several cases of veno-occlusive disease, with four fatal events. [company press release, Dec 27, 16]
Seattle Genetics ($1.3M SBIR Y2K-2005) The region’s largest biotechnology company, poised to reach 1,000 employees, is hopeful its approved drug for Hodgkin lymphoma can enter the first tier of treatments. It’s also studying a pipeline full of other candidates. [Seattle Times, Dec 19, 16]
Seattle Genetics announced that (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) for the treatment of patients with CD30-expressing mycosis fungoides (MF) and primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (pcALCL) who require systemic therapy and have received one prior systemic therapy. MF and pcALCL are the most common subtypes of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), accounting for more than 75 percent of the disease. [company press release, Nov 10, 16]
Seattle Genetics up 16% [Nov 9, 16]
Seattle Genetics is building 100,000 square feet of new office space on its Canyon Park campus to facilitate a steady stream of new hires and expanded operations. [Puget Sound Business Journal, Oct 5, 16]
Seattle Genetics up 10% [Jul 27, 16]
Seattle Genetics and Takeda Pharmaceutical announced the final data of the ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) monotherapy pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial in relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma were published in the journal Blood. The manuscript, which summarizes the five-year, end-of-study results, highlights that patients who attained a complete response achieved long-term disease control. The manuscript is available online today and will be included in a future print edition of Blood. [company press release, Jul 18, 16]
Seattle Genetics treatment for high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma patients can now be marketed in Europe. .... says its global distribution partner Takeda Pharmaceutical has received permission from the European Commission to market Adcetris in 28 EU member countries and Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland. [Becky Monk, Puget Sound Business Journal, Jul 6, 16]
Seattle Genetics
is a
fast-growing part of what is setting the region
apart.
... is trying to widen the use of its first drug and enlarge
its
drug pipeline with new drugs, as well as embarking on yet another
hiring spree. [Puget Sound Business Journal, Mar
25, 16]
Seattle Genetics said its secondary stock offering raised about $552 million before costs [Seattle Times, Sep 14, 15]
FDA approved Seattle Genetics' flagship drug Adcetris for a third application to treat classical Hodgkin lymphoma in post-stem cell transplant patients who are at high risk for relapse or disease progression. Adcetris is already approved to treat two other types of lymphoma. The company is also exploring using the drug to treat lupus. [Annie Zak, Puget Sound Business Journal, Aug 18, 15]
Seattle Genetics, which develops cures for cancer but does not focus on immunotherapy, just struck a deal with immunotherapy company Unum Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR). The companies will work together to develop and commercialize therapies for cancer. Under the agreement, Seattle Genetics will pay Unum $25 million up front, plus a $5 million equity investment in Unum's next financing round. [Annie Zak, Puget Sound Business Journal, Jun 9, 15]
Seattle Genetics said it's made a deal with Danish cancer drug firm Genmab A/S that sees the company getting $11 million upfront and a potential of more than $200 million if milestones are met. ... for exclusive rights for its auristatin-based ADC technology, which targets multiple types of solid cancers. [Ben Miller, Puget Sound Business Journal, Sep 10, 14]
Seattle Genetics down 11% [May 2, 14]
Seattle Genetics said it will receive $6 million in milestone payments from Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited as one of the Bothell company's drugs is now commercially for sale in Australia, South Korea and Mexico. [Ben Miller, Puget Sound Business Journal, Apr 9, 14]
Seattle Genetics said it will receive $9 million from its Japanese partner, Takeda Pharmaceutical, because its Adcetris drug for lymphoma was approved in Japan. [Ben Miller, Puget Sound Business Journal, Jan 17, 14]
Seattle Genetics ($1.3M SBIR) up 11% [Feb 12, 14]
Seattle Genetics said it's expanded its deal with drug company AbbVie Inc. that will see the Chicago company pay the Bothell biotech an upfront fee of $25 million, and with milestone payments, it could be worth another $255 million. [Ben Miller, Puget Sound Business Journal, Jan 8, 14]
Seattle Genetics has a new agreement with Bayer HealthCare to jointly develop cancer-fighting drugs. Bayer will pay fees of up to $20 million for worldwide rights to utilize Seattle Genetics’ auristatin-based antibody-drug conjugates technology. [AP, Jun 25, 13]
In 2012, Seattle Genetics (Bothell, WA; $1.2M SBIR) more than doubled its year-over-year revenues to $210.8 million. The company attributed much of this increase to sales of its product, Adcetris, which treats patients with forms of lymphoma. [Mark Stiles, Puget Sound Business Journal, Feb 19, 13]
Seattle Genetics ended up getting $138.2 million of sales in the first full year of marketing its first cancer drug. [Luke Timmerman, xconomy.com, Feb 12, 13]
Seattle Genetics said that pharmaceutical giant Abbott Laboratories has agreed to pay $25 million plus potential milestone payments for the firm’s experimental antibodies to fight cancer. Under terms of the deal, Seattle Genetics may receive up to $220 million in milestone payments, if the products resulting from the antibodies are developed and achieve commercial goals. [AP, Oct 23, 12]
Seattle Genetics said it's received "undisclosed milestone payments" as part of selling rights to its anitbody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology to Genentech. [Puget Sound Business Journal, Oct 9, 12]
Seattle Genetics won FDA approval for its first cancer drug last August in the U.S., and now its partner appears close to getting that same clearance in Europe. ..... its partner, Cambridge, MA-based Millenium: The Takeda Oncology Company, got a positive recommendation for brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency. [Luke Timmerman, xconomy.com. Jul 20, 12] Got a great idea? If you're a capitalist, you will get a muscular partner to get it marketed; if you're a life-styler, you look for government handouts to keep the R&D going. But a smart government would tell you to get a life because you're impeding progress.
Seattle Genetics said it is pushing ahead with the final stage of clinical trials to test its brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) for patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). The company agreed to invest in the 124-patient study after seeing that researchers, operating independently at MD Anderson Cancer Center and Stanford University, both ran trials suggesting the Seattle Genetics drug could be an important new advance for CTCL. If the company and its partner, Cambridge, MA-based Millennium Pharmaceuticals, can confirm what the researchers saw in those smaller trials, then it could pave the way to an FDA approval of the drug for a third type of lymphoma. That could open the door to treating another 1,000 new patients a year in the U.S., expanding the number of people eligible to get the drug by about 35 percent. [Luke Timmerman, xconomy.com, May 23, 12]
Seattle Genetics down 18% [Nov 4, 11]
Seattle Genetics won [FDA] approval to sell the first new drug for Hodgkin lymphoma in more than 30 years. The drug, Adcetris, also was cleared by the FDA for a rarer cancer known as systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma or ALCL ... it plans to make the drug available next week. [Molly Peterson, Bloomberg News, Aug 19, 11] The news gave Seattle Genetics stock a strong boost as the broader market sank. [Matthew Perrone, AP]
Seattle Genetics up 10% [Aug 15, 11]
A panel of federal cancer experts has unanimously voted to grant accelerated approval to Seattle Genetics' innovative chemotherapy drug for two types of rare blood cancer.[Seattle Times, Jul 15, 11]
Seattle Genetics said it’s signed a deal that will see Abbott Laboratories pay $8 million for rights to use the Bothell cancer-drug company’s oncology antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology [Puget Sound Business Journal, Mar 22, 11]
Seattle Genetics said it is publicly offering $155 million in common stock.[Seattle Times, Feb 2, 11]
Securities regulators accused a manager at Seattle Genetics of leaking clinical trial results to a relative "who made more than $800,000 in illegal profits" using the insider information. [Kristi Heim, Seattle Times, Jan 22, 11]
Seattle Genetics said it will receive an $8 million fee from Pfizer for rights to use its cancer-fighting antibody-drug conjugate technology. ... said it has generated more than $145 million from licensing of the technology and it now has 10 ongoing collaborations. [AP, Jan 6, 11]
Seattle Genetics down 10% [Nov 2, 10]
Compugen (Israeli) said it signed a deal giving Seattle Genetics the opportunity to evaluate technology that could lead to potential cancer treatments. ... gives Seattle Genetics an initial evaluation period and an option for an exclusive license for a potential cancer target that Compugen has discovered. [AP, Oct 29, 10]
Seattle Genetics down 4% [Sep 13, 10] after it said it will end development of its experimental leukemia drug lintuzumab after a mid-stage trial of the treatment on older patients didn't meet its primary endpoint of extending overall survival. [Wall Street Journal, Sep 14, 10]
Genentech will pay $12 million cash upfront to Seattle Genetics — and up to $900 million overall — under an expanded 8-year-old deal that makes antibodies more powerful and targeted against cancer. [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, Aug 3, 10]
Seattle Genetics up 15% [May 10, 10]
Seattle Genetics said it will receive $9.5 million from Genentech to renew a antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) collaboration deal. [Puget Sound Business Journal, Apr 20, 10]
Seattle Genetics secured $12 million in upfront payments from GlaxoSmithKline in exchange for its technology that links antibodies to toxins that make them more potent, as Luke reported. [Gregory Huang, xconomy Seattle Times, Dec 22, 09]
Biotech powerhouse [Roche’s U.S.-based] Genentech will terminate a collaboration deal that paid Seattle Genetics $60 million and could have yielded over $800 million more in future years. [Seattle Times, Dec 11, 09]
Seattle Genetics clinched a partnership with Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company to co-develop and market an “empowered antibody” for Hodgkin’s disease and related lymphomas. ... Millennium (Cambridge, MA) handles all cancer research for Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals, has agreed to pay $60 million upfront, and make milestone payments worth $230 million over time [Luke Timmerman, Seattle Times, Dec 15, 09]
Seattle Genetics said it will receive $12 million from Agensys Inc. as part of the expansion of the companies’ anitbody-drug conjugate (ADC) deal involving cancer targets. [Puget Sound Business Journal, Nov 23, 09]
Seattle Genetics ended a midstage trial, sending its shares down15%... said its cancer drug dacetuzumab didn't look likely to meet the main goal of the test. [Wall Street Journal, Oct 6, 09]
Seattle Genetics up 14% [Jul 24, 09]
Four days after announcing it will lay off more than 160 employees and will discontinue some of its research efforts, ZymoGenetics said it will license eight of its “noncore assets” to Seattle Life Sciences (no SBIR). [Puget Sound Business Journal, May 4]
Millennium, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (TSE:4502), said it’s entering a global collaboration with Seattle Genetics to develop antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). [Mass High Tech, Apr 6, 09]
Seattle Genetics up 15% [Mar 12, 09]
Seattle Genetics said it plans to sell 5.7 million shares of stock and expects to raise $55.8 million from the sale. [Puget Sound Business Journal, Jan 28, 08] after U.S. and European regulators gave its drug candidate SGN-35 gave it "orphan drug" status" [Jan 26]
Seattle Genetics up 13% [Oct 28, 08]
Seattle Genetics down 13% [Oct 15, 08]
Seattle Genetics up 13% [Oct 13, 08]
Seattle Genetics down 10% [Oct 3, 08]
Seattle Genetics said it has entered a deal with Japanese pharmaceutical giant Daiichi Sankyo to develop anti-cancer therapies. The deal will give Seattle Genetics an upfront payment of $4 million, plus royalties [Seattle Times, Jul 9, 08]
Seattle Genetics said that an experimental drug to treat Hodgkin lymphoma and similar cancers showed a strong patient response in early clinical trials, [Angel Gonzalez, Seattle Times, Jun 4, 08]
Seattle Genetics raised $97M from a stock sale. [Seattle Times, Jan 24, 08]
Seattle Genetics down 12% as it said it plans to sell 10 million shares [Jan 14, 08]
Seattle Genetics ($1M+ SBIR) said it received a $4 million milestone payment from partner Genentech to begin an early clinical trial on its lead blood-cancer drug. [Angel Gonzales, Seattle Times, Jan 9]
Seattle Genetics ($1M SBIR) said it had begun a new mid-stage clinical trial for its SGN-40 anti-cancer therapy, triggering a $12M milestone payment from research partner Genentech. ... could receive up to $800M in payments from Genentech upon hitting research and regulatory milestones [Angel Gonzalez, Seattle Times, Dec 8]
Seattle Genetics up 15% [Feb 1, 07]
Seattle Medical Technologies, a medical-device startup founded by the prolific inventor Clif Alferness, has raised at least $8.6 million in venture capital ... from two prominent investment firms that have backed Alferness in startups before ... Alferness, who has diabetes and wears an insulin pump, has inventions in a wide range of medical areas — including the heart, lungs and esophageal tissues. [Luke Timmerman, Seattle Times, Oct 21]
startup Sebacia (Duluth, GA; SBIR) raised $22 million to help it bring a new acne treatment to market. ... developing a topical formulation that uses laser-activated microparticles to treat acne. The U.S. market for acne-based products exceeds $3 billion. ... has not yet been approved by FDA.... Sebacia microparticles, made of gold and a silica core and placed in a solution designed to penetrate the sebaceous follicles, are designed to be activated by the light from commonly used hair removal lasers. ... raised $30 million prior [Urvaksh Karkaria, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Jun 25, 15]
Sebacia (Duluth, GA; no SBIR), medical technology startup, raised about $6.5 million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. ... part of Duluth-based The Innovation Factory LLC — a privately funded health-care incubator. ... focuses on the dermatology market. [Urvaksh Karkaria, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Jul 3, 13]
Mayo Clinic is adding to a growing list of collaborations with cutting-edge startups focused on understanding what the teeming microorganisms essential to digestion can tell us about a broad range of health issues..... announced it established a formal collaboration with Evelo Biosciences (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR), a new firm established last year after a $35 million investment ... Mayo’s other microbiome collaborators include: Seres Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) focused on using micro-organisms as therapeutic agents for disease in clinical trials. Enterome (France) focuses on discovery and validation of gut microbiome-based diagnostics to predict responses to nutritional interventions in overweight and obese patients. Second Genome (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) collaborate in areas such as irritable bowel disease; obesity/metabolic disease; and surgery in obese patients with and without type 2 diabetes. Whole Biome (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) collaborating to decrease rates of preterm birth and labor, the leading cause of infant mortality in the United States, through microbiome-based diagnostics and therapies. [Don Jacobson, Twin Cities Business, Aug 31, 16]
Second Genome (formerly PhyloTech, South San Franciscom CA; no SBIR) developing drugs that seize on changes to the bacterial playground in the gut, known as the microbiome — snagged $42.6M Series B. [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, Apr 20, 16]
Second Genome (South San Francisco, CA; no SBIR), a leader in the development of novel medicines through innovative microbiome science, has entered into an extensive partnership with the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine to support the development of therapeutic products for multiple disease indications, starting with inflammatory bowel disease, metabolic disorders, and colorectal cancer. [company press release, Oct 7, 14] already has agreements with Pfizer and Janssen.
Second Sight Medical Products down 21% [Aug 19, 2022]
Second Sight Medical Products up 28% [May 12, 21] announced two-year results of its Early Feasibility Study (Study) of the Orion Visual Cortical Prosthesis (Orion). The Study is a single arm six subject study at UCLA and Baylor College of Medicine. The Study was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but is now resumed at both centers. [company press release, May 12, 21]
Second Sight Medical Products up 27% [Apr 6, 21]
Second Sight Medical Products down 20% [Mar 24, 21]
Second Sight Medical Products up 36% [Mar 12, 21]
Second Sight Medical Products down 25% [Mar 10, 21]
Second Sight Medical Products (Sylmar, CA; $200K SBIR) up 32% [Mar 9, 21]
Fuel Cell Energy up 21% [Mar 9, 21]
Second Sight Medical Products (Sylmar, CA; $200K SBIR) up 103% [Mar 8, 21] announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Argus 2s Retinal Prosthesis System, a redesigned set of external hardware (glasses and video processing unit) initially for use in combination with previously implanted Argus II systems for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa (RP). [company press release, Mar 5, 21]
Second Sight Medical down 28% [Feb 8, 17] announced terms of its coming rights offering [company press release]
Second Sight Medical up 17% [Oct 25, 16]
Second Sight Medical up 21% [Jul 7, 16]
Second Sight Medical down 11% [Jun 27, 16]
Second Sight Medical down 14% [Jun 10, 16]
Second Sight Medical up 22% [Jun 9, 16]
Second Sight Medical up 15% [Mar 7,16]
Second Sight Medical up 24% [Feb 23, 16]
Second Sight Medical up 21% [Feb 22, 16]
Second Sight Medical up 12% [Feb 16, 16]
Second Sight Medical up 11% [Jan 14, 16]
Second Sight Medical up 12% [Dec 17, 15]
Second Sight Medical Products up 10% [Dec 16, 15]
Second Sight Medical down 13% [Nov 18, 15]
Second Sight Medical Products down 10% [Nov 6, 15]
Second Sight Medical Products up 25% [Nov 2, 15]
Second Sight Medical Products up 20% [Oct 15,15]
Second Sight Medical up 13% [Oct 14,15]
Second Sight Medical Products down 14% [Sep 29,15]
Second Sight Medical up 10% [May 22,15]
SecondSight Medical up 11% [Apr 8,15]
Second Sight Medical down 12% [Mar 11, 15]
Second Sight Medical up 14% [Mar 5, 15]
Second Sight Medical up 37% [Feb 27, 15]
Second Sight Medical down 15% [Feb 26, 15]
Second Sight Medical Products up 25% [Feb 25, 15]
Second Sight Medical Products up 32% [Feb 24, 15] announced that all three of the centers approved to implant the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System ("Argus II") under the French Government national healthcare reimbursement program entitled 'Forfait Innovation' have successfully completed their first implants in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). [company press release]
Second Sight Medical down 11% [Dec 19, 14]
Second Sight Medical Products up 15% [Dec 2, 14]
Second Sight Medical Products down 11% [Dec 1, 14]
Second Sight Medical Products down 10% [Nov 21, 14]
Second Sight Medical Products up 18% [Nov 20, 14]
Second Sight Medical Products (Sylmar, CA; $500K SBIR in 2007) [EYES] up 122% [Nov 19, 14] after IPO. The Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System (“Argus II”) is the world’s first approved device intended to restore some functional vision for people suffering from blindness. Argus II is approved for use in the United States (FDA) and European Economic Area (CE Mark) and is available in some European countries, with several more to be added. [company website]
[FDA] approved the first artificial retina, an implanted device that replicates some of the function of the retina, helping to restore vision to people blinded with a rare genetic disorder, the agency said Thursday. The device, made by privately held Second Sight Medical Products (Sylmar, CA; $460K SBIR) , is intended to replace the function of light-sensing cells in the retina destroyed by retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited degenerative disease that affects about 100,000 people nationwide. [Reuters, Feb 14, 13]
Prosthetic Eye. a new technology combining an eye implant and video-camera-enabled glasses may soon be available in the U.S. .... One device designed to help people with a rare eye condition is awaiting U.S. regulatory approval. It is known as Argus II, made by Second Sight Medical Products (Sylmar, CA; $500K SBIR in 2007) .... the device reroutes visual data [from dead parts of the eye] via the implant to parts of the eye that still work.. ... If Argus II is approved by [FDA], it would be the first retinal prosthesis to hit the market in the U.S. ... already available in Europe. [Shirley Wang, Wall Street Journal, Jan 29, 13]
Securboration (Melbourne, FL; $12M SBIR, 54 employees) landed a big military [USAF SBIR Phase 3] contract worth $40 million. ... will include research to enhance capabilities in weapons systems to warfighters in today's information-intensive battle space using SBIR-developed technology. ... with a targeted completion date of September 2022. [Matthew Richardson, Orlando Business Journal, Sep 29, 15] Note that Phase 3 SBIR is not SBIR money. The company had a steady diet of about $1M a year for eight years doing what sounds like the decent engineering that the AF could use, and gave the AF enough confidence to give it a big job. From the government's standpoint, there is no particular gain from the total arrangement: the guv got what it needed, and would have bought anyway from some contractor(s). The OBJ reporter made no note of any amazing innovation. No economic impact and probably no jobs created that would not have happened anyway with the money spent with this contractor. Never mind though, both the government and the contractor will claim innovation because the SBIR law requires it.
Secure Computing up 23% [Sep 22, 08] on its sale to McAfee for $465M
Secure Computing down 11% [May 2, 08] to a year low after [it] said its first-quarter net loss widened 68 % on litigation costs and slow sales. [AP]
Secure Computing took a 38% cold shower (7/12/06)after cutting its quarterly revenue estimate.by 10% .
Among the losers was Secure Computing Corp, a network security service provider, which went public in November 1995 at $16, soared to close at $48.25 on its first day and now trades at just $6.25. Investors who snapped up the stock at the close of its first day would have lost almost 90 percent of their money. [San Jose Mercury, Jul 30] The vicissitudes of IPO.
Securus Medical Group (Cleveland, OH; no SBIR) announced the closing of a $10 million Series C financing ... will be used for continued product development and clinical investigation of the Company’s recently FDA cleared infrared thermographic system [IRTS]. IRTS is a proprietary, intrabody thermal measurement device that is intended for continuous esophageal temperature monitoring. [RiverVest Venture Partners press release, Sep 15, 16]
Sedia Biosciences (Portland, OR; at least $3M SBIR) has laid the groundwork with its test that determines how recently someone has been infected with HIV. Its new test will be able to give the result in just 20 minutes. [Elizabeth Hayes, Portland Business Journal, Jun 7, 17]
Sedia Biosciences (Portland, OR; one prior SBIR) was awarded an additional $1.8 million [NIH Phase II SBIR]grant to continue to develop its novel rapid HIV test for recent infections. Sedia’s test used a portable hand-held reader, which can estimate how recently an HIV infection occurred, with results obtained in 20 minutes from a finger stick drop of blood. ... The global HIV testing market is estimated at $4 billion. [Elizabeth Hayes, Portland Business Journal, Aug 30, 16]
Sedia Biosciences (Portland, OR; no SBIR) has received a [NIH apparently SBIR] grant of nearly $200,000 to develop an easy-to-use HIV test in developing countries. Sedia’s rapid HIV test can be done in as little as 20 minutes from less than a single drop of blood. [Elizabeth Hayes, Portland Business Journal, Aug 18, 14]
Startup Seeo (Hayward, CA; no SBIR) has developed ... An experimental lithium-ion battery based on materials developed at a U.S. Department of Energy lab stores twice as much energy as the batteries used in most electric cars. If the technology can be commercialized, [etc, etc, etc] ..... recently raised $17 million from investors, including Samsung. [Kevin Bullis, technologyreview.com, Dec 23, 14]
A new incarnation of lithium-ion batteries based on solid polymers is in the works. startup Seeo (Berkeley, CA; no SBIR) says its lithium-ion cells will be safer, longer-lasting, lighter, and cheaper than current batteries. Seeo's batteries use thin films of polymer as the electrolyte and high-energy-density, light-weight electrodes. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is now making and testing cells designed by the University of California, Berkeley spinoff. ... Seeo has gotten around the [longstanding] problem by making films with block copolymers: materials containing two linked polymer chains that self-assemble into nanostructures. One of the polymers forms an array of conductive cylinders that are embedded within the other polymer, which serves as a hard matrix. Singh says the electrolyte film is robust and is almost as conductive as liquid electrolytes. [Pachi Patel, MIT Tech Review, Mar 27]
Segetis (Golden Valley, MN; no SBIR) wants to build a $105 million facility in Hoyt Lakes where it will make chemicals out of corn sugar. .... founded in 2006, raised $25 million in venture capital two years ago .... Segetis will invest about $74 million into the project, while a Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development grant program would chip in $7.1 million. [Katharine Grayson, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, Apr 21, 14]
Venture-capital investment in Minnesota companies rebounded in the third quarter, with med-tech firms leading the way. The state’s startups raised at least $100 million during the quarter, though that figure includes a $20 million round for Mainstay Medical (no SBIR) — a device firm that plans to move its from the Twin Cities to Dublin, Ireland. .... Torax Medical (Shoreview, MN; no SBIR) announced it pulled in $30 million,plans to use the funds to boost marketing of its device for treating acid reflux disease. and Segetis (Golden Valley, MN; no SBIR) “green” chemistry company. raised a $25 million round led by the venture-capital arm of Saudi Arabia-based manufacturing giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp.[Katherine Grayson, Minneapolis /St Paul Business Journal, Oct 12, 12]
Segetis (Golden Valley, MN; no SBIR, founded 2006), one of the country's emerging "green chemistry" companies, is poised for significant growth thanks to recent customer acquisitions (Struck a deal with big Georgia Gulf Corp) and additional capital ($25M). .... has raised a total of $60 million over several years. ... develops and manufactures plant-based resins that supplant the petroleum used in cleaning solutions, plastics and synthetics. [Neal St Anthony, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Sep 2, 12] First serious funding $15M from a Silicon Valley green fund.
Trice Medical (Malvern, PA; no SBIR) announced that it is acquiring S.E.G-WAY™ Orthopaedics (Carlsbad, CA; no SBIR), a leader in solutions for minimally invasive orthopedic procedures. SegWAY is best known for its Endoscopic Carpal Tunnel Release (ECTR), a device that supports minimally invasive carpal tunnel surgeries. Trice Medical addresses the growing need for accurate, cost-effective orthopedic diagnostic solutions with its mi-eye™, a fully disposable arthroscopy camera. [Trice press release, Feb 7, 19]
Year-old Seldon Laboratories (Windsor, VT) Seldon Laboratories (Windsor, VT) got a $2M AF contract to develop post-prototype water filters from carbon nanotubes. In principle, the military can simply put almost any available water straight thru the filter into mouths or veins. [Small Times, Apr 26] Then long convoys will not be needed to transport water from Kuwait in plastic bottles. The web sites of DOD and the company show no sign that the prototype came from SBIR. Seldon claims that its nano-tubes create a "kill zone" capable of destroying all shapes and all types of bacteria and virus, as well as other pathogenic microbes such as the common Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia. If it works as advertised, it sounds like the best carbon thing to come along since activated charcoal. Why didn't the AF use SBIR to develop the device? Too slow! If you have such a breakthrough that you can prove, the DOD will not waste its nor your time diddling with slo-mo set-aside programs. It may have helped get inside the Pentagon door that a co-founder was Roger Kennedy, former CFO of the Ford Foundation, Director of the National Park Service and Director of the Smithsonian Institution. The anchor-man is Chris Cooper who worked a dozen years on nanotubes at Dartmouth from the days of his PhD.
Selecta Biosciences (Watertown, MA; $200K SBIR, founded 2007) raised $5.8M in equity, according to an SEC filing. [Srividya Kalyanaraman, BostonInno, Sep, 4. 19]
Selecta Biosciences(Watertown, MA; no SBIR) said that it restructured to reduce the current workforce by 36% as of January 3, 2019. The reduction, coupled with a reprioritization of the company's pipeline programs, is projected to reduce the yearly cash burn by 19% going forward. [businessinsider.com, Jan 4, 19]
Selecta Biosciences down 14% [Oct 25, 18]
Selecta Biosciences down 17% [Oct 24, 18]
Selecta Biosciences (one SBIR, founded 2015) down 33% [Oct 23, 18] presented new interim Phase 2 data from patients receiving SEL-212, a product candidate in development for the treatment of chronic severe gout designed to lower SUA [company press release, Oct 23, 18]
Selecta Biosciences (Watertown, MA; SBIR) filed for an IPO ... is using nanotechnology to trick the immune system into calling off an unwanted attack on a particular target; its lead drug is for chronic refractory gout. [Ben Fidler, xconomy.com, May 27, 16]
Selecta Biosciences (Watertown, MA; no SBIR) received a $3.2 million grant from Russian-based Skolkovo Foundation to develop an immunotherapy treatment for cancers caused by the Human Papilloma Virus. ... in the process of developing a vaccine for malaria with grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation ...received over $11 million from the National Institutes of Health to develop a nicotine vaccine. [Jessica Bartlett, Boston Business Journal, Dec 23, 14]
According to a pair of releases, the [Russian] firm RUSNANO participated in separate but identical $47.25 million investments to both Selecta [Biosciences] (no SBIR) and Bind [Biosciences] (one SBIR). Since both companies are involved in nanotechnology for drug delivery – Selecta makes nanoparticle immunomodulatory drugs to treat human disease, and Bind makes nanoparticle technology that concentrates a drug at the intended site of action while minimizing exposure to the rest of the system – it makes sense that they are getting the funds from a firm that describes itself as an open joint-stock company created “through reorganization of state corporation Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies.” [Rodney Brown, Mass High Tech, Oct 27, 11
Selecta Biosciences (Watertown, MA; no SBIR) reports it has raised a $15 million [Series C] round of venture capital. ... to continue developing vaccines based on its platform for developing synthetic vaccines. [Mass High Tech, Apr 5, 10] uses technology developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School, has raised more than $30 million since it was launched about two years ago. Selecta uses nanotechnology — which builds devices and structures at a scale that is one-thousandth the width of a human hair — to create synthetic particles that mimic viruses and trigger the body’s immune responses to protect against disease. [Boston Globe, Apr 5]
SELLAS Life Sciences down 10% [Jun 27, 18]
SELLAS Life Sciences down 18% [Jun 26, 18]
SELLAS Life Sciences down 10% [Apr 9, 18]
SELLAS Life Sciences down 25% [Apr 4, 18]
SELLAS Life Sciences Group (New York, NY; no SBIR, market cap $21M) up 150% [Apr 2, 18] announced positive interim data from the prospective, randomized, single-blinded, controlled Phase 2b independent investigator-sponsored clinical trial (IST) of trastuzumab (Herceptin®) +/- nelipepimut-S (NeuVax™) in HER2 1+/2+ breast cancer patients in the adjuvant setting to prevent recurrences. [company press release, Apr 2, 18] acquired by Galena Biopharma in August 2017 [crunchbase.com]
Selux Diagnostics (Cambridge, MA; $2.3M SBIR) an antimicrobial therapy company for Infectious Diseases, has been awarded $14.6M in funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority [BostInno, Jul 1, 21]
Selux Diagnostics (Cambridge, MA; $500K SBIR), developing personalized medicine to treat superbug infections and combat antibiotic resistance, met its first milestone three months ahead of schedule for the milestone-based contract worth up to $45M from the Biomedical and Advanced Research Authority (BARDA). [Srividya Kalyanaraman, BostonInno, Oct 2, 19]
SeLux Diagnostics (Charlestown, MA; no SBIR, founded 2014) raised $25 million to develop instruments that could help clinicians more quickly provide the best treatment for bacterial infections. [Wall Street Journal, Dec 12, 18] prior funding $23M [crunchbase.com]
Sema4 Stamford, CT; no SBIR, A 2017 Spinout Company of the Mount Sinai Health System) a health information company providing advanced genomic testing,announced the launch of , a supplemental newborn screening test designed to detect 193 childhood-onset diseases or disorders so parents can gain early insight into their baby’s health. This simple genetic test can be performed at home with a gentle cheek swab. [company press release, Feb 7, 18] Alexion Pharmaceuticals and Sema4 announced a strategic partnership to leverage their shared experience in data science and systems biology to accelerate rare disease diagnosis and therapeutic discovery. [company press release, Aug 10, 17]
Semba Biosciences (Madison, WI, $1.8M SBIR) has been bought by Tosoh Bioscience LLC (King of Prussis, PA) (subsidiary of Japanese parent) in an all-cash transaction [Teddy Nykiel, WiscInno, Oct 7, 2021]
Semba Biosciences (Madison, WI; $1.6M SBIR) has been bought by Tosoh Bioscience LLC, one of its investors and a Pennsylvania-based subsidiary of Tokyo chemical company Tosoh Corp. [Wisconsin Inno, Oct 7, 2021]
Semba Biosciences (Madison, WI; no SBIR, founded 2005) got $3M venture round Dec 1, 18. total funding $5.6M [crunchbase.com]
Semba Biosciences (Madison,WI; $1.8M SBIR, founded 2005) , which specializes in protein drug manufacturing, has received an undisclosed investment from Tosoh Bioscience, a Pennsylvania subsidiary of Tokyo-based Tosoh Corp. Tosoh also said in a news release that it has the intention to fully acquire Semba, which currently employs about 20 people. [Jim Dallke, Wisconsin Inno, Dec 3, 18] prior funding $2M [crunchbase.com]
Semba Biosciences (Madison, WI; one SBIR, founded 2005) supplier of scientific instruments and chemical substances for researchers, has raised $511,175 from investors, according to [SEC] filing [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan 8, 15] [got] $1.5 million SBIR grant to develop a device that could reduce the cost of making anti-cancer drugs. [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Oct 10, 14]
Semba Biosciences (Madison, WI; one SBIR) supplier of scientific instruments and chemical substances for researchers, said it will receive a $1.5 million [NIH SBIR] grant to develop a device that could reduce the cost of making anti-cancer drugs. ... to create a new version of its Octave product line that can be used by industry to manufacture antibodies for "designer" cancer drugs, which are made specifically to attack cancer cells without causing negative effects associated with chemotherapy, said Robert Mierendorf, Semba's president and chief executive officer. The company's equipment currently is used only by researchers. [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Oct 21, 14]
Six start-ups will be recognized for making strides to commercialization at a biotech industry summit in October. ... part of a one-day Biotechnology Vision Summit 2009 that is being run by BioForward, an organization that represents Wisconsin's biotech industry. AquaMost LLC (Madison, WI; one SBIR) , Echometrix (Madison, WI; no SBIR), Flex Biomedical Inc(Madison, WI; one SBIR), Semba Biosciences (Madison, WI; no SBIR), Invivosciences LLC (Wauwatosa, WI; no SBIR), and Rapid Diagnostek Inc (Hudson, WI; no SBIR). [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sep 22, 09]
$100M By 2000 (Feb 12) At least one financial wag foresees $100M revenue for Semiconductor Laser International (Binghampton, NY) by the year 2000. SLI is the creature of Goeff Burnham, who once got SDIO SBIR at a company in Ithaca, NY, with the exclusive right to an Al-free laser from Manijeh Razeghi at Northwestern University who in turn credits DARPA with the enabling funding. SLI also got an exclusive license through a CRADA for an Air Force MBE technology for which it just got delivered the world's first MBE crystal growth reactor. Along with the CRADA came the Air Force inventor to manage the machine. Getting out the Al allows laser life to run years instead of days (so far at least in Illinois). Of course, Northwestern was far from the only institution working to eliminate aluminum; Ortel (Alhambra, CA) for one was also trying with BMDO SBIR. SLI's deal give Northwestern 10,000 shares of SLI stock and royalties. SLI went public in March 1996 raising $8.6M. Biggest competitor for such lasers, SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) which has now graduated from SBIR by growing to 470 people while making a profit.
TheVermont Center for Emerging Technologies has added $1.8 million in new federal stimulus funds, boosting to $5 million the fund the quasi-public technology incubator has at its disposal ... Returns from investments will be paid back into the 10-year fund and reinvested, [fund manager David Bradbury] said. ... has already made a handful of investments out of miscellaneous funds, including Hearforward, (Colchester, VT; no SBIR) social media analytics software company; Kilawatt Technologies (Shelburne, VT; no SBIR) energy efficiency analytics company; and SemiProbe (Colchester, VT; no SBIR) semiconductor equipment company. [Mass High Tech, Apr 21, 10]
Semler Scientific (Portland, OR; SBIR) medical device maker, announced the pricing of shares for an initial public offering that is targeted to raise $10 million. ... founded in 2007 by Dr. Herbert Semler, who invented the technology behind the product. Semler started the company to commercialize his work [Elizabeth Hayes, Portland Business Journal, Feb 20, 14]
Semler Scientific (Portland, OR; no SBIR, founded 2007) intends to raise up to $15 million through an [IPO] .... makes FloChec, an FDA-cleared device used to measure blood flow in the arteries of a patient’s arms and legs [Malia Spencer, Portland Business Journal, Jan 2, 14]
Vertex Pharmaceuticals is acquiring Semma Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) for $950M to advance its diabetes treatment portfolio [Rowan Walrath, BostInno, Oct 2, 19]
Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced a definitive agreement under which Vertex will acquire Semma Therapeutics ; no SBIR), pioneering the use of stem cell-derived human islets as a potentially curative treatment for type 1 diabetes, for $950 million in cash. [Vertex press release, Sep 3, 19]
The many technical challenges of working with stem cells have not deterred Semma Therapeutics, (Cambridge, MA, and Providence, RI; no SBIR, founded 2014) which announced a whopping $114 million Series B round from a sizable list of investors. ... to move its experimental cell therapy into human testing .... in 2015, a $44 million Series A round. [Corie Lok, xconomy.com, Nov 30, 17]
Semnur Pharmaceuticals (Mountain View, CA; no SBIR), a startup working on non-opioid drugs to treat back pain, disclosed that it has raised $6 million of a projected $30 million funding round. [Cromwell Schubarth, Silicon Valley Business Journal, Aug 16, 13]
Semprius (Durham, NC; $600K SBIR, founded 2005) claims that the next generation of this power unit will make solar power the cheapest option for utilities installing new power plants. With fields of over 1,000 of these devices, utilities would produce electricity at less than 5 cents per kilowatt-hour. ... has raised $45 million from investors including Siemens, and has set records for solar-cell efficiency—meaning the amount of energy in sunlight that is converted into electricity. .... The company is raising $40 million in hopes of doing this. For now, the existing investors are keeping the company afloat, but they won’t do so forever. Rogers says the company needs a new investor within about a month. Otherwise it could go under. ... “Given all the stuff that’s happened in the solar industry over the last two to three years, including implosions of other small startups, our investors have every reason to head for the hills,” says Semprius CEO Joseph Carr. [Kevin Bullis, technologyreview.com, Oct 30, 14] Even great technology needs a market of willing buyers to survive.
startup Semprius (Durham, NC; $600K SBIR) says it can produce very efficient stacked solar cells quickly and cheaply, opening the door to efficiencies as high as 50 percent. (Conventional solar cells convert less than 25 percent of the energy in sunlight into electricity.) .... with three key innovations: a cheap, fast way to stack cells, a proprietary way to electrically connect cells, and a new kind of glue for holding the cells together. [Kevin Bullis, technologyreview.com, Aug 6, 14]
Semprius (Durham, NC; $600K SBIR), developing super-efficient solar modules for solar panels, is adding more cash to its already swollen coffers. ... raised $1.1 million in debt and warrants .... has raised more than $35 million in venture financing [Lauren K. Ohnesorge, Triangle Business Journal, Apr 28, 14]
Semprius (Durham, NC; $600K SBIR) marked the opening of its solar panel factory in Henderson .... the six-year-old company plans to employ more than 250 people in manufacturing and assembling its novel solar panel. Semprius stands to gain more than $18 million in state and local incentives if the jobs are delivered,... Semprius claims its solar panels are so efficient that some day they will not require government subsidies, which in North Carolina cover more than half the cost of solar power installations. The efficiency factor of the Semprius panels is nearly 34 percent, almost twice as much as conventional solar panels [John Murawski, Raleigh News & Observer, Sep 27, 12] With fossils fuel energy at about four cents per KW, solar has a long hard cost reduction road down from its eleven cents. Since consumers won't like paying more than the cheapest rates, the difference has to be made up in government subsidy. That means paying through your tax bill, instead of your utility bill.
Semprius
(Durham, NC; $500K SBIR) startup
that claims to have developed the
world’s most efficient solar panel made a prestigious roster of the
most important emerging technologies in the world.- the
annual list
compiled by [MIT] Technology Review, [on] criterion for emerging
technologies: their potential to change the world
.... has raised $44 million from venture capitalists and
Siemens
[John Murawski, Raleigh News & Observer, May 2, 12]
The other
nine technologies are: egg stem cells by OvaScience
(Boston, MA; no
SBIR) ; A camera that lets images be adjusted after the shot
by Lytro
(Mountain View, CA; no SBIR); solar powered micro-grids by Mera
Gao Power (Reusa, India); 3-D transistors by Intel; a faster
Fourier transform by
MIT; nanopore DNA sequencing by Oxford Nanopore
(Oxford, England); crowd-funding by Kickstarter
(New
York City); high speed materials discovery by Wildcat
Discovery Technologies (San Diego, CA; no SBIR); and
Timeline
interface by Facebook.
Semprius (Durham, NC; $600K SBIR) semiconductor startup that recently raised $20.6 million, is expected to receive financial assistance worth millions from state and Vance County officials to open a solar cell manufacturing facility near Henderson that eventually could create hundreds of jobs. ... With state unemployment still hovering at a 9.7 percent average, politicians are eager to prove that they are trying to attract one of few sectors that is seeing job growth - even if it means taking a big bet on a largely unproven company with promising technology. ... The manufacturing plant represents a major milestone for Semprius, which has spent the last several years applying its semiconductor fabrication process to the production of cheaper and more effective solar cells [David Bracken, Raleigh News & Observer, Jul 19, 11]
Semprius(Durham, NC; $500K SBIR) has attracted a $1.5 million strategic investment from a German company. As part of the deal with Durham-based Semprius, X-Fab Semiconductor Foundries will fabricate semiconductors for customers that have licensed Semprius' technology to develop new applications. ... has raised more than $10 million in venture capital financing from Intersouth Partners of Durham and other investors [David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, Jan 13, 10]
Semprius (Durham, NC; $900K SBIR) is developing what it hopes will become the next generation of solar-energy devices with the help of $6.4 million in new venture capital. .... previously raised $4.1 million in April 2007. ... Semprius' solar modules take advantage of technology licensed from the University of Illinois that allows it to make smaller semiconductors. Those semiconductors are combined with special lenses that concentrate sunlight 1,000-fold. [David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, Jun 10, 09]
Semprius, a Durham NC semiconductor startup, raised $4.1M in venture capital. ... commercializing a process for printing semiconductor circuits on any surface, including glass, plastic and other types of semiconductors, with applications in electronic displays, solar cells and wireless devices. Semprius was founded in 2005 with technology spun out of the University of Illinois. [Raleigh News & Observer, Apr 17] No SBIR yet reported by SBA.
Semprius (Durham, NC; $600K SBIR) solar panel company, is nearing its goal in a recent search for funds. ... has raised $1.25 million of the $1.4 million it hopes to raise and has garnered eight investors in the fundraising round, according to a recent SEC filing. ... has raised more than $35 million in venture financing and closed on $1.2 million in debt and warrants in June. ... claims its concentrated solar photovoltaic technology saves money. [Dawn Wallace, Triangle Business Journal, Nov 18, 14]
Teleflex a Pennsylvania medical device company, said that it has boughtSemprus BioSciences, (Cambridge, MA; one SBIR) spin-out from MIT. .... an upfront payment of $30 million. [and maybe] certain additional payments based upon the achievement of certain regulatory and revenue milestones. According to its website, Semprus is focused on reducing the health complications associated with medical devices such as infection, blood clots, improper healing, and cell overgrowth. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Jun 26, 12]
biomedical company focused on antibacterial coatings Semprus BioSciences (Cambridge, MA; one SBIR) has closed on an $18 million Series B financing round ... an MIT spinout, launched in 2007 out of the labs of Robert Langer, a Mass High Tech All-Star honoree in 2004. At the time the company was called SteriCoat [Rodney Brown, Mass High Tech, Dec 13, 10]
Antibacterial coatings biomedical company Semprus BioSciences(Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) reports it has raised $8 million in Series A financing [Mass High Tech, Dec 11, 08] The intellectual property comes from the MIT labs of Prof. Robert Langer and Prof. Greg Stephanopoulos, and part of this scientific research was featured in Nature[company website]
Sencera International (Charlotte, NC) which has 10 employees, develops and manufactures silicon thin-film solar modules that generate electricity. The new jobs, which will be added over the next three years, will pay average annual wages of $73,462, which is more than the Mecklenburg County average annual wage of $48,724. [Raleigh News & Observer, Jul 8, 08]
North Carolina’s Green Business Fund has awarded $1 million in its first round of grants, with Charlotte solar company Sencera International among the 13 businesses receiving funds. Sencera develops devices that directly convert solar energy to electricity. The company, headed by Chief Executive Rusty Jewett, will receive $100,000 to open a solar cell production facility. The Green Business Fund was founded last year, when the N.C. General Assembly allocated $1 million for the first round of grants. The fund is meant to help small businesses develop eco-friendly technology. It awards as much as $100,000 per company. [Charlotte Business Journal, Jun 30, 08]
SenesTech (Flagstaff, AZ; no SBIR, founded 2007) claims to have created a liquid that will [put rats on a contraceptive]. In tests conducted in Indonesian rice fields, South Carolina pig farms, the suburbs of Boston and the New York City subway, the product, called ContraPest, caused a drop in rat populations of roughly 40% in 12 weeks. This autumn, for the first time, the company is making ContraPest available to commercial markets in the US and Europe. [The Guardian, Sep 22, 16]
SenGenix (Chapel Hill,NC; no SBIR), a small company born in a Duke University lab, is developing a new way to allow health professionals to diagnose patients more quickly. It raised $2.5 million .... The market for in vitro diagnostics – meaning tests done outside the body – is projected to grow to nearly $70 billion in the near future, though point-of-care diagnostics makes up only about 10 percent of that market. [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Jul 21, 14]
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]
Seno Medical Instruments (San Antonio, TX; no SBIR) received the CE Mark for its Imagio opto-acoustic imaging system, which could give the medical device company market penetration for its medical device in Europe. ... designed to improve the process of diagnosing breast cancer, eliminating the need for intrusive biopsies for some patients. [W. Scott Bailey, San Antonio Business Journal, Apr 10, 14]
Seno Medical Instruments (San Antonio, TX; no SBIR) has sold $34.6 million of a $39 million Series C funding round to existing investors ...will support ongoing U.S. Pivotal Study of its Imagio breast imaging device. [W. Scott Bailey, San Antonio Business Journal , Feb 25, 14]
Senomyx (San Diego, CA; one SBIR), that makes flavor enhancers for low-calorie foods and beverages, received a takeover bid to be acquired by Swiss flavor and fragrance company Firmenich for nearly $74 million. ... Senomyx has long collaborated with Firmenich on research programs. [Brittany Meiling, San Diego Union Tribune, Oct 4, 18]
Senomyx down 59% [Oct 28, 16] reported financial results for the third quarter
Senomyx up 11% [Oct 12, 16]
Senomyx down 11% [Sep 28, 16]
Senomyx up 10% [Aug 26, 16]
Senomyx up 12% [Aug 2, 16]
Senomyx up 10% [Jun 2, 16]
Senomyx up 12% [Aug 3,15]
Senomyx up 23% [Jul 30,15]
Senomyx down 10% [Feb 26, 15]
Senomyx up 11% [Jan 22, 15]
Senomyx up 10% [Oct 2, 14]
Senomyx down 10% [Sep 15, 14]
Senomyx up 12% [Sep 10, 14]
Senomyx up 10% [Jun 19, 14]
Senomyx up 10% [May 19, 14]
If not salt, what? Senomyx and food giant PepsiCo have signed a new deal calling for the biotech company to find new flavors that would restore a salty taste to low-sodium foods. .... Last month, a Senomyx sweetness enhancer called Sweetmyx was given the "Generally Recognized as Safe" designation by the Food and Drug Administration. Under a previous agreement, PepsiCo has the exclusive right to use Sweetmyx in numerous nonalcoholic drinks. Sweetmyx by itself isn't sweet, but it intensifies the perceived taste of other sweeteners. Senomyx has built its products on knowledge of taste receptors -- cellular molecules that recognize certain flavors. [Bradley Fikes, utsandiego, Apr 9, 14]
Senomyx up 10% [Mar 31, 14]
Senomyx up 17% [Mar 11, 14]
Senomyx up 10% [Feb 27, 14]
Senomyx up 25% [Feb 12, 14]
Senomyx up 12% [Oct 16, 13]
Senomyx down 14% [Aug 5, 13]
Senomyx up 36% [Aug 2, 13]
Senomyx up 13% [Feb 24, 12]
Senomyx up 10% [Jan 3, 12]
Senomyx up 13% [Oct 18, 11]
Senomyx up 12% [Oct 14, 11]
Senomyx down 19% [Sep 28, 11]
Senomyx up 10% [Aug 23, 11]
Senomyx up 13% [Aug 11, 11]
Senomyx down 12% [Aug 4, 11]
Senomyx up 13% [Jul 1,11]
Senomyx up 16% [Dec 14, 10] as Pepsi is "very close" to launching new products that use a mix of sweeteners and flavor modifiers to make low-calorie drinks that taste better than ever, said Chief Executive Indra Nooyi. ... In August, PepsiCo signed a four-year deal to develop sweeteners with Senomyx [Reuters, Dec 13, 10]
Senomyx up 13% [Oct 18, 10]
Senomyx (San Diego, CA; one SBIR) rose 6% after it agreed to a four-year collaboration with large-cap PepsiCo to develop and commercialize artificial and natural sweeteners. Senomyx switched its allegiance from Coca-Cola to PepsiCo in favor of much more money. [Wall Street Journal, Aug 18]
Senomyx up 20% [Apr 26, 10]
Senomyx down 11% [Feb 11, 10]
Senomyx down 10% [Feb 4, 10]
Senomyx up 10% [Aug 5, 09]
Senomyx down 17% [Feb 17, 09]
Senomyx up 10% [Feb 4, 09]
Senomyx down 10% [Jan 14, 09]
Senomyx down 13% [Dec 1, 08] On a stock bloodbath day
Senomyx up 13% [Nov 17, 08]
Senomyx down 16% [Nov 14, 08]
Senomyx up 22% [Nov 11, 08]
Senomyx down 10% [Oct 10, 08]
Senomyx down 11% [Oct 6, 08]
Senomyx up 19% [Aug 21, 08]
Senomyx up 12% [Jul 3, 08]
Senomyx down 14% [Jul 1, 08]
Senomyx up 12% [Apr 18, 08]
Senomyx down 11% [Dec 27, 07]
Senomyx down 20% on reporting a raft of "accomplishments" that bury any financial bad news. [Nov 1, 07]
Senomyx up 16% after consumers were introduced to the first commercial product that uses one of Senomyx's flavor ingredients.[Jun 5, 07]
A medical training company Simulution (Prior Lake, MN; $1M SBIR) is using a software toolkit from SensAble Technologies (Woburn, MA; two SBIRs) in a new system that aims to educate doctors about spinal implant technology. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Oct 16, 08]
SensAble Technologies (Woburn, MA; no SBIR), developer of touch-enabled systems for 3D modeling, today announced that it has shipped its 6,000th PHANTOM haptic device. [Boston Globe, Jan 25, 08]
Sense (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) [startup] added $1 million to its Series A round announced in September, bringing the round’s total to $15 million. The additional money includes an investment by new backer iRobot Ventures, the corporate venture arm of iRobot. ... has now raised a total of $20 million in venture funding. Sense makes a system for monitoring the activities and energy use of various devices and machines in the home. In addition to the funding, the company announced wider availability of its product, new product features [Jeff Engel, xconomy.com, Jan 10, 17]
the Ohio Third Frontier Commission approved more than $84.9 million to support promising startups, new cutting-edge technologies and getting innovative ideas to the marketplace. Two Cincinnati companies are to receive $100,000 grants: Sense Diagnostics (Cincinnati, OH; no SBIR) will use the money to enable commercialization of a device named SENSE, a noninvasive radio frequency sensor that detects changes in the brain – including seizures, hemorrhage and increased swelling/edema. Standard Bariatrics (no SBIR) will use the money to further develop and commercialize a stapler guide. It will improve surgical procedures that reduce the volume of the stomach to help morbidly obese patients lose weight. [Barrett J. Brunsman, Cincinnati Business Courier, Jun 18, 14] Other Central Ohio entities receiving Third Frontier funds: EWI:$4.9 million as part of its matching funds toward a federal award creating a $148 million high-tech manufacturing research institute near Detroit in collaboration with Ohio State and the University of Michigan; Cardiox (Columbus, OH; no SBIR) :$1.7 million loan toward commercializing its device that detects abnormal blood flow from the ear; Inmobly (Columbus, OH; no SBIR):$1 million loan for scaling up the spread of its technology that helps stop broadband traffic logjams from video downloads. [Carrie Ghose, Columbus Business First, Jun 23, 14] Third Frontier seems a standard subsidy program with metrics that don't really measure the impact against the investment. But political programs usually work that way: fanfare for the handouts and no public ROI rerports and no control group for comaprison.
Liquidia Technologies (Morrisville, NC; one SBIR, founded 2004 ), a drug manufacturer developing dry powder therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension, filed for $58M IPO [nasdaq.com, Jun 28, 18] total funding $99M [crunchbase.com]
Senseonics Holdings (Germantown, MD; no SBIR) a medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of Eversense®, a long-term, implantable continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system for people with diabetes, announced the pricing of its underwritten offering expected to be $41.0 million. [company press release, May 26, 17]
Senseonics (Germantown, MD; no SBIR) reaches milestone with implantable glucose monitor. .... applied to the FDA to obtain pre-market approval for its Eversense CGM system. Its rice-sized implant would be an alternative to finger-pricking to check glucose levels for diabetes patients, delivering the information to smartphone or smartwatches. The market for the monitor could be $2.7 billion. [Washington Business Journal, Oct 31, 16]
Senseonics up 11% [Apr 13, 16]
Senseonics (Germantown, MD; no SBIR) medical device company raises $45M in IPO. ... is developing a glucose sensor that can be embedded under a user's skin to transmit health data to smartphones and smartwatches. The product, Eversense, would replace the finger-pricking many diabetics now endure. ... It plans to bring Eversense to limited markets later this year. [Tina Reed, Washington Business Journal, Mar 21]
Senseonics (Germantown, MD; no SBIR) medical device company formerly known as Sensors for Medicine and Science, has raised a fresh $20 million ... developing an implantable glucose sensor and transmitter that delivers continuous data to a smartphone app ... has begun pivotal trials for the devices in Europe [Bill Flook, Washington Business Journal, Jun 6, 14]
Raytheon said it had acquired drone maker Sensintel (Tucson, AZ;no SBIR, founded 1989, 50 employees) ... Sensintel's customers include the U.S. Special Operations Command, the Office of Naval Research and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, according to UPI. [Sara Castellanos, Boston Business Journal, Jan 30, 15]
Medical device startup Sensiotec (Atlanta, GA; no SBIR). has raised $1 million as it prepares for clinical trials. The ATDC startup has developed the Virtual Medical Assistant, a noncontact cardiorespiratory patient monitoring system. The Virtual Medical Assistant uses ultra-wide band, a high frequency, low power radar technology, to monitor vital signs and patient presence and movement at the point of care from up to five feet away. [Urvaksh Karkaria, Atlanta Business Journal, Mar 26, 13]
Returns to Earth. Greg Olsen was the third private citizen to make a self-funded trip into space with Space Adventures. In his earlier life he used SBIR to help his Sensors Unlimited company develop sensitive infrared cameras before it was bought out by Japan Inc. [facts from MIT Tech Review, J/F 09] After being written off as a failure by teachers due to poor grades in high school, Olsen planned to join the Army until he was counseled to try college for several months. Through an IBEW Local 3 scholarship, Olsen attempted college, kept his grades high, and graduated magna cum laude with multiple degrees from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He later graduated with a PhD from the University of Virginia. [Wikipedia]
Sensors Unlimited (Princeton, NJ) says the federal government will get $200-400M in capital gains and taxes from technologies supported by eight years of SBIR in their infancy. The immediate gain comes from the recent acquisition of Sensors by FINISAR for $700M. SU had about $8M of SBIR for instruments based on III-V materials like InGaAs.
Sensors Unlimited (Princeton, NJ) bought itself back for $6M after selling itself to Finisar for $700M in info-tech bubble time. Look for Gerg Olsen to return to the SBIR table. It was Olsen's sceond selling of a new company, having sold Epitaxx to Nippon just before he could sign an SBIR award from SDIO (that's MDA two generations ago). Thanks to Jeff Bond for keeping us up with high-tech developments.
SensorTran (Austin, TX; no SBIR) raised $8M in venture financing to expand its business of making and selling systems that do very accurate remote temperature measurements for a range of industrial applications. ... the company's venture investment total to $13.5M in the past two years. [Kirk Ladendorf, Austin American-Statesman, Dec 20] Starting as a division of Systems & Processes Engineering Corporation (Austin, TX; $40M or so SBIR) with the X33 space shuttle program to monitor internal cryogenic fuel tanks, SensorTran has been designing, manufacturing, and installing advanced fiber optic-based monitoring solutions since 1998, starting [company website]
Sentelligence (Noblesville, IN; no SBIR), a developer of fluid monitoring and detection sensors for the automotive and commercial vehicle markets, announced today it will begin field testing its new emissions control fluid sensor in Europe and Japan, as part of a potential contract with a major Japanese auto maker. .... is primarily an intellectual property company, and is developing a core of valuable and defensible assets. ... currently seeking industry-recognized entities for the purpose of developing a strategic development/funding relationship, as well as prospective test fleet customers with mission critical equipment requirements. [company website]
SentiAR (St Louis, MO; $2.2M SBIR) which has developed a holographic guiding system for cardiac procedures, has raised $8.5 million in Series B funding. [Nathan Rubbelke, St. Louis Inno, April 11, 2023]
Senti Biosciences down 31% [Oct 7, 2022]
Senti Biosciences up 23% [Oct 6, 2022]
Senti Biosciences (SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA; $2.5M SBIR) up 104% [Oct 4, 2022]
Inhibrx (San Diego, CA; $1.5M SBIR) up 47% [Oct 4, 2022] announced that, based on discussions with [FDA], there is potential to pursue an accelerated approval in the U.S. for INBRX-101, an optimized recombinant human AAT-Fc fusion protein, in patients with emphysema due to alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) using functional alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) serum levels as the surrogate endpoint. Inhibrx also announced the detection of INBRX-101 in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples from all AATD patients tested in the Phase 1 study. [company press release, Oct 4, 2022]
Senti Biosciences (Redwood City CA; $2.4M SBIR) down 24% [Jun 10, 22]
Senti Biosciences (South San Francisco, CA; no SBIR)the synthetic biology company developing next-generation adaptive therapies for important diseases, today announced the completion of a $53M round of funding to support them as they expand their therapeutic design platform [company press release, Feb 27, 18]
Artificial intelligence startup Sentient Technologies (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR, founded 2007, 60 employees) has raised $103.5 million [Series C] as it works to develop data-analysis technology that will help firms use software to manage complex tasks such as financial trading. [Marlize van Romburgh, San Francisco Business Times, Nov 25, 14]
Medical device startup SentreHEART (Redood City, CA; no SBIR) raised $35 million [Series D] to bring its suture delivery system to the trial phase. [Gina Hall, Silicon Valley Business Journal, Sep 28, 16]
Sepracor officially changed its name to Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Dainippon Sumitomo. [Boston Globe, Oct 12, 10]
Sepracor perhaps best known for its Lunesta sleep aid, will be renamed Sunovion Pharmaceuticals in the United States following its recent purchase by Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. Ltd. of Japan. [Boston Globe, Jul 15, 10]Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co Ltd has agreed to buy U.S. drugmaker Sepracor for $2.7 billion, two sources said, in a move that would give the Japanese firm a much needed U.S. sales force. [Reuters, Sep 2, 09] Sepracor stock rose 26%.
Drug maker Sepracor said it is determining whether to continue the development of its most advanced candidate for the treatment of depression after a phase 2 clinical trial returned “inconclusive” results that fell short of the company’s initial goals. [Craig Douglas, Boston Business Journal, Jul 2, 09]
Sepracor said its profit jumped nearly fivefold in the first quarter as a large research and development charge came off its books. [Boston Globe, Apr 30, 09]
Sepracor said it has submitted a new drug application to the US Food and Drug Administration for the use of eslicarbazepine acetate as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of partial-onset seizures in adults with epilepsy. [Boston Globe, Mar 31, 09]
Sepracor said that its insomnia drug Lunesta did not reach its main goal in a clinical trial that tested it as a treatment for generalized anxiety disorder. [Boston Globe, Mar 6]
Drug research concern Sepracor [up 16%] 2009 forecast topped analysts' expectations, and Sepracor said it was cutting its work force 20%, or by 530 positions. [WSJ, Jan 30, 09]
Sepracor down 14% [Jul 29, 08]
Sepracor said that late-stage studies of an epilepsy drug demonstrated a reduction in the frequency of seizure in patients given the drug, eslicarbazepine, along with standard anti-epileptic drugs. [Boston Globe, Jun 19, 08]
Sepracor, known for such drugs as the insomnia treatment Lunesta, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Oryx Pharmaceuticals Inc., an affiliate of the Arrow Group. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Jun 3, 08]
Sepracor announced earnings, disclosed plans to buy a Canadian firm, and added that it has settled a patent dispute involving an asthma drug. [Boston Globe, May 1, 08]
Marlborough drug maker Sepracor has powered up a new website "My Allergies in America" on allergies only days after announcing the availability of a new prescription nasal spray for allergy sufferers. [Boston Globe, Apr 23]
Sepracor, a research-based pharmaceutical company, said today that it swung to a fourth-quarter loss, due to a hefty drug-licensing payment. [Boston Globe, Feb 29]
Sepracor and the University of Massachusetts sued India's Lupin Ltd. to block it from selling a generic version of the allergy pill Clarinex in the US. [Boston Globe, Nov 7, 07]
Sepracor (Marlborough MA; $2M SBIR) plans to reduce its sales and marketing staff after a drop in profit during the third quarter. [Mass High Tech, Oct 30, 07]
Sepracor ($2M SBIR 1986-1998) agreed with Eisai Co. Ltd. of Japan for the development and commercialization of Lunesta for the Japanese market. ...and applied for clearance for Europe ... Sepracor, which employs about 2,400 workers, reported a profit of $184.5 million in 2006, on revenue of $1.2 billion. [Mass High Tech, Jul 27]
Fourteen startups that received a total of more than $17 million from [Texas Emerging Technology Fund managed by Gov. Rick Perry’s office... which has backed 143 startups] have failed or gone bankrupt. .... [ MIT professor Bill Aulet, who is managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship] said the number of failed ETF companies would be higher if state officials took the chances they needed when investing in startups. "They really haven't taken any risk," he said. "Governments aren't good at being venture capitalists because governments aren't good at risk." .... a partial list of the ETF-backed startups in Texas that have since closed, followed by the grant amounts they received: • NanoTailor, $250,000; • Star Vision Technologies, $750,000; • Terrabon, $2.7 million; • Thrombo Vision, $1.5 million; • Nanocoolers, $3 million; • Advanced Receiver Technologies, $250,000; • Bauhaus Software, $500,000; • Net Watch Solutions, $500,000; • Sunrise Ridge Algae, $250,000; • SeprOx, $750,000; • Speer Medical, $2.5 million [Christopher Calnan, Austin Business Journal, Jan 9, 14] None of these had SBIR.
SeQual Technologies (San Diego CA; two Phase 1 SBIRs)(of 34 total awards) won the award in the Medical Devices field for Technology Innovation 2007 by the Wall Street Journal.
Montgomery County [MD, a competitor for America's richest county] will dole out $500,000 to investors in 10 life sciences companies through its coveted biotech tax credit, a fifth of which will go to backers of diagnostics company DioGenix (Gaithersburg, MD; no SBIR) ... piggybacks on the $3.5 million in tax credits from the state to those same 46 investors. The incentives are tied to a total $7 million in private biotech investments in the county last year. Also receiving the credits are backers of 20/20 GeneSystems (Rockville, MD; $4.6M SBIR, incl one of $3.3M), Alper Biotech LLC, American Gene Technologies International Inc., BeneVir Biopharm Inc., ConverGene LLC, Creatv MicroTech (Potomac, MD; $11.6M SBIR)., Rafagen Inc., Sequella (Rockville, MD; $10.3M SBIR). and SynAm Vaccine. [Bill Flook,Washington Business Journal, Feb 28, 14]
Sequella (Rockville, MD; $6M SBIR) is getting orphan drug (for products that treat rare diseases) status from U.S. and European regulators for its potential new antibiotic called SQ109. ... started by a former government scientist 10 years ago to take on the global problem of tuberculosis ... orphan drug designation gives Sequella, which has just 16 employees, market exclusivity protections and a speedier, less expensive path to approval of its drug [Michael Rosenwald, Washington Post, Oct 22]
Pathway Genomics (San Diego, CA; no SBIR, founded 2008), known for pushing the boundaries of direct-to-consumer genetic testing, will launch a cancer screening test designed to detect bits of cancer DNA in the blood of otherwise healthy people. ... a first in the rapidly developing field of "liquid biopsies," which use gene sequencing technology to screen blood samples for trace amounts of DNA associated with different cancers. ... The cost to consumers begins at $299 to periodically check for DNA in their blood ... Guardant Health and Personal Genome Diagnostics Inc already offer blood tests for cancer patients. Roche-backed Foundation Medicine Inc, Genomic Health Inc, Illumina Inc and Sequenom Inc say they have similar tests in the works. [Julie Steenhuysen, Reuters, Sep 9, 15]
Sequel Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) has raised almost $1.4 million in a combination of debt, rights, and securities in a round intended to raise more than $1.9 million for the three-year-old specialized drug developer ... developing a drug candidate for treating an abnormal heart rhythm known as atrial fibrillation .... CEO Randall Woods started Sequel within 24 hours after selling his previous biotech, NovaCardia (no SBIR), to Merckfor $350 million [Bruce Bigelow, signonsandiego.com, Sep 11, 10]
N.C. Department of Commerce officials are being abundantly clear to those companies and communities that haven’t fulfilled their full promises to the state for incentive money and benefits: They want their money back [$1.36M] ... [particularly from Sequenom] [Amanda Hoyle, Triangle Business Journal, Oct 11, 16] Sequenom announced in Jan 2016 plans to divest its operations in Research Triangle Park, NC, which consists of a clinical genomic laboratory for processing noninvasive prenatal and other reproductive health tests. [company press release]
Diagnostics and lab test behemoth LabCorp bought prenatal diagnostic maker Sequenom (San Diego, CA; $400K SBIR) for $371 million, including assumed debt. [Alex Lash, xconomy.com, Jul 29, 16]
Sequenom announced it would divest various assets including North Carolina operations. ... company-wide reduction of 20% [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, Jan 8, 16]
A U.S. appeals court refused on Wednesday to reconsider its decision invalidating a Sequenom Inc prenatal DNA test patent, a decision that could put in doubt the validity of a wide range of medical and biotechnology patents. [Andrew Chung, Reuters, Dec 2, 15]
Sequenom down 17% [Aug 6, 15]
Sequenom will consolidate some of the workforce at a subsidiary from Michigan to North Carolina. The wholly owned subsidiary, Sequenom Laboratories, will move its laboratory operations in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to its facility in the Triangle. Sequenom Laboratories' cystic fibrosis carrier screen test will now be performed at the laboratory location here. [Jason deBruyn, Triangle Business Journal, May 28, 15]
Sequenom dow, 15% [May 7, 15]
Sequenom and Cypher Genomics (no SBIR), both of San Diego, agreed to develop prenatal diagnostic tests that use a maternal blood sample. They specifically want to identify and analyze difficult-to-detect fetal sub-chromosomal variants. [Alex Lash, xconomy.com, Jan 29, 15]
Sequenom up 13% [Dec 3, 14] Illumina and Sequenom settled their patent and intellectual property disputes, [they said] Ending the disputes will allow the companies to collaborate and grow their markets, analysts said. The companies will pool their patents regarding noninvasive prenatal testing. [Bradley Fikes, utsandiego.com, Dec 3, 14]
Sequenom down 10% [Dec 11, 13]
Sequenom down 23% [Oct 31, 13] board authorized a review of a full range of strategic alternatives for the company's genetic analysis business and has hired Jefferies LLC as its financial adviser to assist in the process. [Wall Street Journal, Oct 31]
Sequenom investing $18.7 million in a Research Triangle Park laboratory, is cutting 75 jobs across the company. However, company execs tell me plans for an $18.7 million lab in Research Triangle Park are still a go. .... has announced plans to hire 242 at the facility by 2015, .... The lab processes blood tests for Down syndrome. [Lauren Ohnesorge, Triangle Business Journal, Aug 20, 13]
Medical test provider Sequenom has laid off 75 employees as part of a cost-cutting reorganization, the company said. [Bradley Fikes, utsandiego.com, Aug 21, 13]
Sequenomdown 30% [Jul 25, 13] reported a jump in its second-quarter loss and prompted analysts to slash their ratings and price targets on the stock. [Reuters Jul 25]
Sequenom up 13% [May 10, 13]
Sequenom up 15% [Nov 21, 12] announced that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued a joint Committee Opinion recommending that cell-free fetal DNA testing be offered to patients at increased risk of aneuploidy. It can also be used as a follow-up test for women with a positive first-trimester or second-trimester screening test result. [yahoo finance, Nov 21]
Sequenom up 19% [Nov 9, 10] lost $30.2 million in the third quarter
Sequenom down 11% [May 18, 12]
Sequenom up 16% [Mar 8, 12]
Three years after a data scandal led to a federal investigation and management shake-up, Sequenom has launched the new Down syndrome test at the center of the controversy. The new, noninvasive test, called MaterniT21 Plus, offers pregnant women a safer way to check their babies for Down syndrome. Despite its thorny road to development, it is expected to become the gold standard in a field that is growing more and more crowded. [Padma Negappan, utsandiego.com, Feb 15, 12]
Sequenom down 11% [Oct 18, 11]
Sequenom up 10% [Oct 4, 11]
Sequenom landed a commitment for $30 million in loans and credit lines from Silicon Valley Bank of Santa Clara, the genetic test company said. [Keith Darcé, signonsandiego.com, Jun 2, 11]
Sequenom up 16% [May 6, 11] after the diagnostic test maker said it completed testing samples from a clinical study of its SensiGene fetal Down syndrome test. [AP. May 6]
Sequenom says today it hopes to raise gross proceeds of $84 million from an underwritten public offering of 14 million shares of its common stock at a price of $6 a share. [Bruce Bigelow, signonsandiego.com, Dec 2, 10]
Sequenom up 11% [Jul 13, 10]
Sequenom up 11% [Jul 9, 10]
Sequenom, which is working on noninvasive, prenatal tests, said Wednesday it will raise about $51.5 million in a private placement ... at a steep discount [San Diego Union Tribune, May 13]
Sequenom's first-quarter loss was in line with Wall Street expectations and its revenue came in stronger, but margins fell more than 10 percentage points. The company also updated investors on a prenatal Down syndrome test whose data it said last year had been mishandled. Sequenom shares dropped 86 cents, or 15%, to $4.74 [Wall Street Journal, May 8, 10]
Sequenom up 20% [Mar 23, 10]
Sequenom down 22% [Mar 16, 10] after posting higher costs and lower revenues [WSJ, Mar 17]
Sequenom up 16% [Mar 2, 10]
Sequenom up 16% [Feb 16, 10]
Sequenom settled shareholder lawsuits by paying $14 million, funded by insurance, and issuing the plaintiffs almost 10% of its shares outstanding. Last year, Sequenom disclosed it had "mishandled data" from its prenatal Down syndrome test and fired its chief executive and head of research [Wall Street Journal, Jan 16, 10]
Xenomics (NY, NY; no SBIR) accused Sequenom of deliberately doctoring test data on what was considered a promising Down syndrome test. Small firm Xenomics, which has a pending lawsuit against Sequenom, says it gave the company an exclusive license on urine-testing technology for fetal testing based on the promise of the Down syndrome test. Now it wants out of the agreement and is also seeking up to $300 million in damages. [Thomas Kupper, San Diego Union Tribune, Dec 18, 09]
Sequenom down 12% [Nov 25, 09]
Sequenom up 39% [Nov 24, 09]
embattled Sequenom,which halted the debut of a new diagnostic product over mishandled data, is now considering steps to conserve cash. In an SEC document filed Monday, the life sciences tools company says it expects to end the year with $39 million in cash — too little to fund operations and capital expenditures at current levels through the end of 2010. [Denise Gellene, San Diego Union Tribune, Nov 11, 09]
Sequenom up 11% [Oct 9, 09]
Sequenom said it dismissed Chief Executive Harry Stylli and four others after an independent panel of directors found the company failed to adequately police its studies of a noninvasive prenatal test for Down's syndrome. ... In after-hours trading, the stock was down 43% [Wall Street Journal, Sep 29, 09]
Sequenom down 14% [Sep 1, 09] The market rumor that pushed Sequenom shares sharply higher Monday was false, according to newspaper report. [TheStreet.com, Sep 1]
Sequenom up 21% [Aug 31, 09]
Sequenom down 17% [Aug 7, 09]
Sequenom up 12% [Aug 4, 09]
Sequenom up 14% [Jul 27, 09]
Sequenom up 10% [Jul 23, 09]
Sequenom up 10% [Jul 7, 09]
Sequenom up 10% [Jun 24, 09]
Sequenom down 23% [Jun 10, 09]
Sequenom up 58% [Jun 9, 09]
Sequenom up 12% [May 11, 09
Sequenom up 14% [May 1, 09]
Sequenom said yesterday it will delay the launch of its much ballyhooed prenatal Down syndrome test because employees mishandled supporting study data. [Terri Somers, San Diego Union Tribune, Apr 30, 09]
Sequenom offered to acquire Exact Sciences for $1.50 a share, valuing the Maynard, Mass., maker of DNA-screening technologies at $41 million. [Wall Street Journal, Jan 13, 09]
Sequenom up 14% [Jan 5, 09]
Sequenom up 13% [Dec 12, 08]
Sequenom up 14% [Dec 2, 08]
Sequenom down 16% [Dec 1, 08] On a stock bloodbath day
Sequenom up 12% [Nov 24, 08]
Sequenom up 12 [Nov 13, 08]
Sequenom down 11% [Nov 12, 08]
Sequenom down 10% [Nov 5, 08]
Sequenom up 10% [Oct 31, 08]
Sequenom down 15% [Oct 15, 08]
Sequenom up 20% [Oct 13, 08]
Sequenom down 12% [Oct 9, 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.
Sequenom down 12% [Oct 7, 08]
Sequenom down 10% [Sep 29, 08]
Sequenom up 35% [Sep 24, 08] after the company said its Downs syndrome screening test was effective in 200 cases, with no false positives or false negatives. [AP]
Sequenom up 12% [Sep 16, 08]
Sequenom up 10% [Jul 14, 08]
Sequenom up 12% [Jun 25, 08] after announcing a new stock financing>
Sequenom up another 20% [Jun 5, 08] after the company reported its noninvasive prenatal test to screen maternal blood for Down syndrome was effective in all samples, exceeding analysts' expectations. [San Diego Union-Tribune]
Sequenom up 22% [Jun 4, 08]
Sequenom up 18% [Mar 20, 08] on a buy recommendation.
Sequenom up 12% [Nov 6, 07]
Sequenom down 11% in disappointing financials. [Nov 1, 07]
Sequenom up 13% [Oct 17, 07]
Sequenom up 14% [Oct 15, 07]
Sequenom up 11% [Oct 1, 07]
Sequenom up another 15% [Sep 27, 07]
Sequenom up 16% [Sep 25, 07] after it announced that it plans to develop a third-generation single molecule nucleic acid analysis technology based on exclusive license rights from Harvard University that covers a readout system technology for single DNA molecules based on simultaneous optical probing of multiple nanopores.
Adaptive Biotechnologies (Seattle, WA; no SBIR), which was spun out of Fred Hutch and raised $105 million last year, this morning announced it acquired Sequenta (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) ... did not disclose the acquisition price, but Adaptive raised $94 million in private equity to buy Sequenta ... Both companies use immunosequencing to profile immune systems and help pharmaceutical companies and researchers understand how a drug treatment works for an individual person. [Annie Zak, Puget Sound Business Journal, Jan 7, 15]
Molecular diagnostics company Sequenta (South San Francisco, CA; no SBIR, founded 2007) raised $20 million in a Series C round. .... help with the commercial rollout and clinical validation of its ClonoSight test that is designed to predict if leukemia and lymphoma could relapse after treatment. ..... raised $13 million less than three years ago, started in the Mission Bay Innovation Center [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, Jul 8, 13]
In its second round of venture funding, device maker Sequent Medical [Alisa Viejo, CA; no SBIR) raised $15.6 million. ... working on devices for “neurovascular intervention,” which means treating diseases like aneurysms or atherosclerosis that affect blood vessels in the brain. [SEF Brown, San Francisco Business Times, May 13]
SeraCare Life Sciences (Milford, MA; one SBIR in CA) said that it has completed its previously announced merger with affiliates of Linden Capital Partners following a vote by SeraCare shareholders [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Apr 24, 12]
SeraCare Life Sciences(Milford, MA; one SBIR in CA) has agreed to a buyout offer worth about $77.7 million from the private equity firm Linden Capital Partners [AP, Feb 13, 12]
SeraCare Life Sciences (Milford, MA; one SBIR), provider of products and services that support drug discovery and medical device development, has won a contract renewal, worth about $17.6 million over five years, from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. ]Michelle Lang, Mass High Tech, May 2, 11]
SeraCare Life Sciences (Milford, MA; one SBIR), a developer of drug-discovery and related technologies, has landed several contracts with government agencies that carry up to $10.8 million in potential payments. [Mass High Tech, Sep 30, 09]
SeraCare Life Sciences (Oceanside, MD; one SBIR) There once was a life sciences company that declared bankruptcy amid a financial accounting scandal, got back into the good graces of the SEC, only to be bandied about by the most tumultuous Wall Street environment in decades, then managed to become profitable in the second quarter of 2009. [Julie Donnelly, Mass High Tech, Aug 28, 09]
SeraCare Life Sciences (Milford, MA: one SBIR) provider of services and products to the biopharmaceutical industry, is expanding its Milford facility to include a 60,000-square-foot research and manufacturing facility. [Mass High Tech, Oct 5, 07]
SeraCare Life Sciences (1 Phase 1 SBIR) got a $10M revolving loan. [Mass High-Tech, Jun 11]
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]
Roche Holding AG says its U.S.-based biotech company Genentech has agreed to acquire American biotechnology firm Seragon Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA; no SBIR, founded 2013) for up to $1.725 billion in cash and contingency payments. [AP, Jul 2, 14] focused on developing new treatments for estrogen-driven cancers based on its Selective Estrogen Receptor Degrader (SERD) platform. Seragon was spun out of Aragon Pharmaceuticals (no SBIR) [which was] acquired by Johnson & Johnson in August, 2013 for $650 million in cash up front along with $350 million in contingent development milestone payments, and is staffed by scientists from Aragon. [Seragon website]
Seragon Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA) said it has raised $30 million to develop drugs treating metastatic breast cancer and other hormone-driven female cancers. .... was spun off this summer from Aragon Pharmaceuticals (no SBIR), which was sold to Johnson & Johnson for up to $1 billion, including $650 million upfront. [Bradley Fikes, utsandiego.com, Oct 16, 13]
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]
Don't Share II. A Wake County NC judge has awarded $57.5 million to a Durham drug development company Serenex that had accused a former employee of stealing trade secrets and passing them on to Chinese drug companies. [John Murawski, Raleigh News & Observer, Sep 4, 08]
Pfizer, the world's largest drug maker, will buy Serenex (Durham, NC; no SBIR; 36 employees, $81M VC) a small company working on a promising lung cancer treatment to bolster its pipeline of experimental medicines. [Raleigh News&Observer, Mar 4, 08]
Serenex (Durham, NC; no SBIR) claims in a lawsuit that a former scientist stole trade secrets and funneled them to two Chinese companies that used the information in overseas patent applications for a cancer treatment. Serenex, which has 30 employees, is testing two experimental cancer drugs in humans. .. Also named as defendants are two Chinese companies, Beijing Gylongli Sci. & Tech. Co. and GYLL Biomedtech. [David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, Jul 27]
Nearly a dozen venture capital firms combined to invest $26 M in Serenex (Durham, NC; no SBIR) a small unprofitable firm working on two drugs to treat cancer patients. ... founded in 2001, has raised about $81M in venture money [Frank Norton, Raleigh News & Observer, Jun 28, 07] The Carolinas need all the innovative business they can find to fill the ever expanding hole of the textile industry.
Seres Thera up 21% [Aug 13, 20] reported early positive data from a pivotal test of its treatment for a type of gut infection. also also validation for the emerging microbiome medicines field, which has added many companies since Seres’s high-profile setback but has yet to yield an FDA-approved product. [xconomy.com, Aug 14, 20]
Seres Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR, founded 2010) up 389% [Aug 10, 20] reported positive topline results from the pivotal Phase 3 ECOSPOR III study evaluating its investigational oral microbiome therapeutic SER-109 for recurrent C. difficile infection (CDI). The study showed that SER-109 administration resulted in a highly statistically significant absolute decrease of 30.2% in the proportion of patients who experienced a recurrence in CDI within eight weeks of administration versus placebo, the study's primary endpoint. [company press release, Aug 10, 20]
AstraZeneca agreed to pay Seres Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR, founded 2010) $20 million up front to kickstart a three-year partnership focused on researching how tapping the gut microbiome could make cancer immunotherapies work better. [Frank Vinluan, xconomy.com, Mar 15, 19]
Mayo Clinic is adding to a growing list of collaborations with cutting-edge startups focused on understanding what the teeming microorganisms essential to digestion can tell us about a broad range of health issues..... announced it established a formal collaboration with Evelo Biosciences (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR), a new firm established last year after a $35 million investment ... Mayo’s other microbiome collaborators include: Seres Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) focused on using micro-organisms as therapeutic agents for disease in clinical trials. Enterome (France) focuses on discovery and validation of gut microbiome-based diagnostics to predict responses to nutritional interventions in overweight and obese patients. Second Genome (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) collaborate in areas such as irritable bowel disease; obesity/metabolic disease; and surgery in obese patients with and without type 2 diabetes. Whole Biome (San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) collaborating to decrease rates of preterm birth and labor, the leading cause of infant mortality in the United States, through microbiome-based diagnostics and therapies. [Don Jacobson, Twin Cities Business, Aug 31, 16]
Seres Health (Cambridge, MA, no SBIR) startup developing treatments for diseases driven by the trillions of microbes we host in and on our bodies, revealed a $65 million investment from Nestlé Health Science. Series D round brings its total raised to more than $130 million. Its previous round, announced in December, brought on board public healthcare investors who remained anonymous. ... Its lead product SER-109 is a mixture of bacterial spores that are meant to restore a healthy gut ecosystem in patients with recurring Clostridium difficile infection. C. difficile causes diarrhea that kills 14,000 people every year in the U.S. alone, with thousands more chronically debilitated. A Phase 3 trial should start soon. [Alex Lash, xconomy.com, Jan 8, 15]
Seres Health (Cambridge, MA) hopes to develop the first bacteria-filled pill to treat diseases associated with disruptions to the microbes inside the human body. The company launched last month with $10.5 million in investments; its founders have been working on the bacteria pill for two years and say they’re already testing one candidate treatment in patients. [Susan Young, technologyreview.com, Dec 2, 13]
NASA has a nice piece by Mike DiCicco of Goddard Space Flight Center on commercialization from four NASA SBIR/STTR awardees. Read the stories.. Companies: Serionix (Champaign, IL), Cambrian Innovation (Watertown, MA), Electric Power Systems (Lombard, IL), Zeus (Orangeburg, SC)
Sermonix Pharmaceuticals (Columbus, OH; no SBIR, founded 2014) startup seeking to revive the stalled FDA approval process for an osteoporosis drug has raised $1.6 million toward a potential $2.5 million round, according to [SEC] filing. [Carrie Ghose, Columbus Business First, Jul 12, 16] ... with targeted focus towards bringing new and emerging late-stage women’s health products through clinical development, regulatory approval, and commercialization. ... has as its lead product lasofoxifene, with exclusive global licensing rights obtained from Ligand Pharmaceuticals (La Jolla, CA; one SBIR in 1994, market cap $2.7B). [Sermonix website]
Soliciting investors illegally. [Indicted on] serious charges, first-degree securities fraud, Mr. Paxton [Texas recently elected AG while a member of TX legislature] is accused of misleading investors in a technology company, Servergy (McKinney, TX; no SBIR) his hometown. He is accused of encouraging the investors in 2011 to put more than $600,000 into Servergy while failing to tell them he was making a commission on their investment, and misrepresenting himself as an investor in the company, said Kent A. Schaffer, one of the two special prosecutors handling the case. .... Servergy has also been the subject of an [SEC] investigation centered on whether Servergy and its founder, Bill Mapp, made misleading statements about the company to induce investors to buy Servergy stock. [MANNY FERNANDEZ, New York Times, AUG. 1, 2015]
Sesen Bio down 23% [May 21, 18]
SetPoint Medical (Valencia, CA; no SBIR) a clinical-stage biomedical technology company developing a bioelectronic therapy for chronic inflammatory diseases, announced today that it has secured $30 million in Series D equity financing [to] develop bioelectronic medicine therapy as a breakthrough approach to treating autoimmune inflammatory diseases. [company press release, August 28, 2017]
GlaxoSmithKline (UK) said it has launched a $50 million venture capital fund to invest in companies pioneering bioelectronic medicines and technologies. ..... The fund has already made its first investment in SetPoint Medical (Valencia, CA; no SBIR) creating implantable devices to treat inflammatory diseases. ... intends to build a portfolio of five to seven companies — start-ups or existing companies developing technologies stimulate or block electrical impulses — over the next five years [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, Aug 8, 13]
Seurat Therapeutics (Chicago, IL; no prior SBIR), a University of Chicago startup biotech company developing a nasal spray to treat and prevent migraines, has been awarded a $509K [NIH SBIR] [to]continue to commercialize their technologies and progress toward human clinical trials. .. brings the total amount raised to date to $1.3 million. [polsky.uchicago.edu, Oct 12, 18]
Time magazine published its Genius Companies 2018: 50 businesses inventing the future. None would qualify for an SBIR program for high technical risk, high impact new ideas. They are all simply business risk questions, something not appropriate for government R&D.
Seurat Therapeutics (Chicago, IL; no SBIR, founded 2016) biotech startup that’s developing a nasal spray to treat and prevent migraines, with deep roots at the University of Chicago, raised $750K in a seed round. [Chicago Inno, Mar 30, 18]
Investors have pumped another $10 million [Series C funding] into Seventh Sense Biosystems, (Medford, MA; no SBIR) as the company awaits FDA clearance to begin selling its device that aims to make blood draws quick and painless. .... has raised $40 million total from investors, chief business officer Stuart Blitz says. [Jeff Engel, xconomy.com, Nov 18, 16]
Seventh Sense Biosystems (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR, 20-employee) [CEO] announced $16 million in financing from what he called “strategic partners.” .... still isn’t saying when it expects to launch its first product, a “painless” blood collection device. But it said the Series B round announced today will be used to “to complete the development” of that product, which it calls touch activated phlebotomy, or TAP. .... looking to upend the $3 billion to $5 billion worldwide blood collection market by replacing the finger-stick method of taking blood samples in the doctor’s office with itsTAP system. The device is the size of a stethoscope that uses micro-needles to pierce only the very surface of the skin. [Don Seiffert, Boston Business Journal, Aug 13, 14]
Seventh Sense Biosystems, (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) said that it has closed the final tranche of a $10 million Series A financing. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Jun 13, 12]
Seventh Sense Biosystems (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) a four-year-old medical device company, has raised about $6.7 million in equity financing, with a plan to close the funding at about $12 million, according to federal documents ... developing a blood sampling and testing platform for healthcare monitoring and diagnostics. [Michelle Lang, Mass HIgh Tech, May 10, 11]
Medical device startup Seventh Sense Biosystems has secured $4.18 million in its first funding round, according to an online report. [Mass High Tech, Dec 16, 08]
The U.S. Navy has awarded two-year contract modifications to five companies to provide command and control technology and experimentation support services. Three companies had previous SBIR: SEV1Tech (Metairie, LA; $400K SBIR); Solute (San Diego, CA; $12M SBIR); Forward Slope (San Diego, CA; one SBIR) [Jane Edwards, govconwire.com, May 5, 2023]