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news
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May 18, 2012 Note: Carl Nelson Consulting, Inc is not an investment adviser and may hold a financial interest or client relationship in companies discussed.
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Tetraphase
Pharmaceuticals (Watertown, MA; no SBIR,
founded 2006) won a $67m contract [in February] from
America’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development
Authority (BARDA) for an antibiotic that might treat
both anthrax outbreaks and serious infections in
hospitals. GSK also has a contract with BARDA to test an
antibiotic for Gram-negative bacteria. However, the
company recently suspended enrolments to its trial
because of complications in some patients. Seeking new
ways to kill these vicious bugs is likely to be one of
the main aims of the European Commission’s new
partnership. [The Economist, May 12, 12] Universal Display
down 11% [May 17,
12] SunPower up 10% [May 17, 12] Hewlett-Packard
plans to cut its
workforce by 25,000 to 30,000 employees, a record number
for the venerable tech giant as it grapples with
declining revenue and profits. [Wall Street
Journal, May 18] Trouble in techno-land as R&D
giant shrinks. It's no longer the visionary company that
H&P invented and ran. Telik up
21% [May 16, 12] American Science & Engineering down 24% [May 15, 12] as revenue, earnings, and margins shrank SunPower down 10% [May 15, 12] Opnet up 24% [May 15, 12] Agenus up 10% [May 14, 12] Telik up
15% [May 14, 12] Xenoport up 14% [May 14, 12] Solutions [to USG
finance dilemma] are easy to come by “when you’re
sitting at the Council on Foreign Relations in New
York,” said Rubin, the council’s co-chairman. “It’s a
lot harder to do it when you’re sitting in Washington
and it’s one minute of midnight.” [Lori
Montgomery, Washington Post, May 15] Arena Pharma up
74% [May 11, 12] FDA
advisory committee recommended the agency approve a drug
[by Arena Pharmaceuticals] to treat obesity, the
second time this year agency advisors have backed a
fat-fighting medication. [Wall Street
Journal, May 11, 12] Xenoport up 10% [May 11, 12] Onconova Therapeutics
(Newtown, PA; $2M SBIR) raised
$7.05 million in a private equity financing, according
to [SEC] documents ... seeking to raise a total of
$30 million. ... developing new therapies to
treat cancer and related disorders.
[John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, May 11, 12] PolyMedix
(Radnor, PA; $8M SBIR) said
it has stopped enrollment in two clinical trials for its
new drug candidate PMX-60056 because of observations of
reductions in blood pressure in some study patients.
[John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, May 10, 12] Cell Therapeutics.
(Seattle WA; 0ne SBIR) has
received permission from the European Commission to
market its cancer drug Pixuvri (pixantrone) in the
European Union as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein and
Norway. [Jennifer Sokolowski, Puget Sound
Business Journal, May 10, 12] MicroVision said private investors have
invested $5 million in the company [Puget
Sound Business Journal, May 10, 12] A123 Systems supported by grants from the Obama administration, reported a significant loss and drop in revenue as a result of quality problems and slower-than-expected demand for electric cars.The company also said it plans to raise $50 million through a private offering of convertible notes [Wall Street Journal, May 14, 12] In a New York minute. New York has the nation's fastest-growing tech sector and has surpassed Boston as the No. 2 hub, behind Silicon Valley, for Internet and mobile technologies, according to a report released Wednesday by the Center for an Urban Future. .... in part because much of the innovation happening now is connected to industries that are centered in New York: advertising, fashion, financial services and media. ... The 10 New York tech start-ups that received more than $50 million in funding between 2007 and 2011 include Gilt Groupe, an online designer fashion sales company; ZocDoc, a platform for finding and booking appointments with doctors; Tumblr; and Foursquare. [Jennifer Maloney, Wall Street Journal, May 11] Despite sky-high taxes and space rental, it pays to sleep near the clients. Look for more wailing by the fly-over states on share of government contracts, including SBIR, even though it is unlikely that many of the start-ups in Silicon Alley will be looking for government handouts. One company with 16 DOD and NASA Phase 2s, not in the aforementioned NY industries, in the last decade is Honeybee Robotics in mid-town Manhattan. The intrepid
entrepreneurs at Thumbtack have today released a
fantastically detailed and informative survey of small
businesses across the United States. The full results
are here, and for each state, the
survey provides a detailed
regional breakdown
as well as specific comments from business owners.
Outstanding stuff. [Dane Stangler,
growthology.org] Entrepreneurs, at their
best, solve problems. Some problems (trying to
figure out a cheaper and more powerful source of energy)
are more important than others (an improved search
engine algorithm), or may seem so at first blush. Ex
post, we may realize that solving one problem gave rise
to a host of new challenges, but we probably wouldn't
return to the prior state of affairs. This is the nature
of economic progress. Actually, it's the nature of all
human history: two steps forward, one step backward.
[Dane Stangler, growthology.org] Religion wins in the
Bible Belt. Last weekend, former President Bill Clinton
took to North Carolina phone lines with a recorded
message warning of the perils of a constitutional
amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions.
“What it will change is North Carolina’s ability to keep
good businesses, attract new jobs, and attract and keep
talented entrepreneurs,” Mr. Clinton asserted. “If it
passes, your ability to keep those businesses, get those
jobs and get those talented entrepreneurs will be
weakened.” That argument landed with a thud, as
North Carolina voters resoundingly supported the
amendment by a margin of 20 percentage points.
[James Stewart, New York Times, May 12] If you're
looking for a state for high-tech biz, notice that the
religious impulse extends basically from the Virginia
coast in a broad belt through the Confederacy all the way
to the California border. Does warmer weather suppress the
intellect? Why does tech biz gravitate to
Massachusetts and California? Universal Display down 10% [May 10, 12] AMAG Pharma down 15% [May 10, 12] Dynavax down 23%
[May 9, 12] priced
a stock offering at a 17% discount to Tuesday's closing
price [Marketwatch.com] Motion-sensing chip
maker InvenSense
(Sunnyvale, CA; no SBIR). stock dropped by as much as 25 percent on
Friday after it lowered first quarter sales
guidance. .... went public in November at
$7.50 a share and rose to as high as $23.35 in late
March but traded as low as $12.51 on Friday.
[Cromwell Schubarth, Silicon Valley / San Jose Business
Journal, May 4, 12] A deal's a deal ..
until. Ryan
(R-WI) introduced a bill that would replace the budget
sequester established by the Budget Control Act of 2011,
in order to protect defense discretionary spending from
automatic cuts. .... would replace cuts to defense
spending, [AAAS, May 9] Horrors! Our friends
would have to actually pay the price of the deal. Politics misuses
economics. [An economist] argues that every dollar taken
from the private sector and channeled to the
public-sector for government spending produces a GDP
multiplier of less than one. Thus, the economy has
gotten worse under Obama's big-government policies. He
would have been better off leaving the money in private
hands. The multiplier might be true, but
was never tested because the money for the stimulus was
never taken from private hands. It was borrowed - hear the
Republicans wail - which put even more money into the
economy and in no way restricted private spending or
investment at risibly low interest rates. Oh, never
mind, if you don't like a president, you'll invent
convenient interpretations to justify your view. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc
still lives in politics. Eventually millions of
Americans will vote for president but not on the basis of
real economics, only on some overall view of the
candidates. The adults with some knowledge of economics
know they have heard all the promises before. You can vote
secretly but when you go to explain why, you need some
sensible arguments to be credible. And take note that the
stock market has doubled in Obama-time. Never give up --
Winston Churchill. After
two anti-evolution bills died in [Oklahoma legislature]
committee, the same language appeared as an amendment to
another bill which would have extended a deadline for
local school districts to meet standards for media,
equipment and textbooks. [AAAS, May
9] Not only can they not stop evolution, they will
not stop trying. Old news from the Bible Belt. Arena Pharma up 26% [May 8, 12] Vertex Pharma up
10% [May 8, 12] Eleven Biotherapeutics
(Cambridge, MA; no SBIR, founded 2010) said it has secured $20
million dollars in Series A equity financing,
.... to advance Eleven’s first drug candidate,
known as EBI-005, into clinical development later this
year. The drug is designed to treat dry-eye syndrome.
[Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, May 9, 12] dandv
writes with a story from VentureBeat about another entry
in the race to escape national jurisdiction by offshoring
work — literally offshoring, that is : "Blueseed is a
Silicon Valley company that plans on launching a cruise
ship 30 minutes from the coast of California, housing
startup entrepreneurs from around the world. These
startuppers won't need to bother with U.S. visas,
because the ship will be in international waters.
They'll have to pay tax to whatever country they're
incorporated in, though. So far, 146
startups said they'd like to come to the
ship." [slashdot.org, May 8] Trolling for
techno-votes President
Obama said he wants to replicate Albany [NY]
NanoTech's business model around the country, using the
venue to urge Congress to approve his economic agenda.
.... The NanoTech complex employs 2,700 people who focus
on semiconductors .... the newest NanoTech building,
being built by Watervliet-based M+W U.S. Inc.,
(Plano, TX; a full service engineering, architecture,
and construction management firm) that will house joint
research by the world's largest computer-chip
companies. In total, it is a $4.8 billion investment,
mostly private funding with government aid mixed in.
[Adam Sichko, The Business Review (Albany), May 8] Pork is a handout to
someone else. Sen
Schumer said Thursday that fuel-cell funding that would
benefit Plug Power (Latham, NY) cleared a hurdle
and was headed to the full Senate. .... Plug CEO
said the funding was also critical “to accelerate the
use of fuel cells in early market
applications.” [The Business Review
(Albany), May 8] Where is the market failure that
needs government intervention? Don't want no
innovation. North Carolina voters approved a constitutional
amendment defining marriage as strictly between a man
and a woman. [Wall Street Journal, May 9]
The political system sends mixed messages about inviting
innovation and science into a den of religion,especially
for biotech companies dabbling in stem cells and
reproductive science, and parents with school age
children. Perhaps the eventual solution is suggested
in Tom Toles's cartoon where a marriage officiator says If anyone here objects to
the marriage of these two men, speak up now because
opponents are aging and dying off and soon won't matter
anymore. [Washington Post, May 9] Vertex Pharma up
55% [May 7, 12]
new cystic fibrosis drug Kalydeco, when combined with its
experimental treatment for the disease, led to
significantly improved breathing ability in a mid-stage
study, .... The data suggested Vertex could
have a multibillion-dollar franchise in cystic fibrosis,
a life threatening genetic disorder that affects about
70,000 people worldwide. [Reuters, May
7] Vertex had $1M SBIR in the early 1990s and its
market cap is now $12B.. Optics systems maker
Boston Micromachines
(Cambridge, MA; six Phase II SBIRs in ten years) has landed a NASA Phase 2
SBIR to support NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration program. ....
will construct a 2048 actutor that can handle the harsh
environments and correct what space telescope optics
cannot. [Patricia Resende, Mass High Tech,
May 7, 12] GE Lighting is touting what it calls a breakthrough in light-emitting diode bulbs, thanks to a development accomplished with the help of Nuventix (Austin, TX; no SBIR). .... will use just 27 watts of power and will be able to replace 100-watt incandescent bulbs .... It makes an oscillating membrane called a synthetic jet that fits within the bulb and provides cooling [without making it bigger]. [Austin American Statesman, May 7, 12] The company website says that much of the development was supported by DARPA, the U.S. Navy, and NSF. SWIM for water.
[Today] a host of water
startups and established companies will hold an all-day
symposium to try and answer the question of how
Massachusetts could become the global innovation leader
of the $500 billion water industry. ... dubbed the
Symposium
on Water Innovation in Massachusetts (SWIM) [Don
Seiffert, Mass High Tech, May 7, 12] The [right wing] Heritage [Foundation] plan reforms
and funds those government programs that matter most to
people who need the government’s help, and it frees the
private sector to create the millions of jobs that will
dramatically reduce the growth of dependence on
government.
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/02/2012-index-of-dependence-on-government
Bah!. The private sector was always free to create
millions of jobs; it didn't do because there was too
little profit to be made from employees getting a decent
wage. BTW, uutold numbers of SBIR awardees are also
on the dole because their stuff can't cut it in the
private sector. The exact number will remain untold
because the politicians don't want it revealed that they
are handing out corporate welfare. Connecticut Innovations
said it invested an an additional $445,683 in CyVek (Wallingford,
CT; no SBIR) biotech
firm. CI invested $802,500 in cyvek in 2010. The latest
funding is part of a $3 million round of financing.CyVek
is developing a technology for "measuring multiple
markers simultaneously in patient blood samples," CI
said — a tool that can be used in drug discovery as well
as diagnosis in doctors' offices. [Hartford
Courant, May 3, 12] Emcore down 13%
[May 4, 12] for $3.7 billion in cash
... Hologic of Bedford, Mass., said it
is buying Gen-Probe
(San Diego, CA; three 1989 Phase I SBIRs), a 29-year-old company known
worldwide for its diagnostic tests and equipment.
Gen-Probe recently won FDA approval for Progensa, a test
that determines if men who have prostate cancer need a
biopsy. .... only a week after Ardea Biosciences (San
Diego; no SBIR) was
purchased by British drug maker AstraZeneca for $1.2
billion. AstraZeneca is moving to replenish its drug
pipeline and wanted a diabetes therapy that Ardea
developed. [Gary Robbins,
utsandiego.com, Apr 30, 12] Burns any fuel. The U.S. Army will test four
of INI Power (Morrisville,
NC; $800K SBIR in Illinois)’s fuel omnivores this year... little dynamo
can burn: gasoline, ethanol, diesel, kerosene, jet fuel,
methanol, grain alcohol, rum, paint thinner, hydrogen.
Any liquor that’s 151-proof and stronger will do in a
pinch. .... a decade-long struggle for a breakthrough.
The company has burned through $20 million in private
investment and federal grants, Markoski said. For the
past three years, the 10-employee business has been
“self-funded” [John Murawski, Raleigh News
& Observer, May 6, 12] Department of Energy's loan program is in shambles. Its reputation destroyed by the failure of Solyndra ... a near-perfect case study. It spent too much money too fast. In addition to the $535 million from the DOE, the company raised over $1.2 billion from private investors, including some of venture capital's most prominent firms. What Solyndra lacked, though, was market savvy and manufacturing flexibility. [David Rotman, Technology Review, M/J12] .... [renewable energy] all seemed intoxicating and revolutionary: a way to boost jobs, temper fossil-fuel prices, and curb global warming, while minting new fortunes in the process. Much of that enthusiasm has now fizzled. Natural gas prices have plummeted in the United States, the result of technology that has unlocked vast supplies of a fuel that is cleaner than coal. .... the government has schizophrenically ramped up and down support for renewable power, confusing investors and inhibiting the technologies' development; it has also structured its subsidies in inefficient ways. [Jeffrey Bell, Foreign Affairs, M/J12] Since government "investment" responds more to press release opportunities than profit opportiunities, no one should be surprised at some individual failures that supply even more press release opportunities. VCs in contrast quietly bury their failures and focus on exploiting the successes for total return onthe total investments. The success of many
biotech companies over the last two decades suggests how
such collaborations can work. Like clean-energy
companies, biotech startups face a lengthy and expensive
commercialization process for their products. But many
have avoided that process by making themselves
attractive targets for large pharmaceutical companies.
The acquisition of
startups by drug companies desperate to gain
innovative new technologies has fueled much of the
biotech industry's growth. These deals by large
pharmaceutical firms, which recognized that their own
research was inadequate and their drug pipelines were
collapsing, gave venture capitalists a highly profitable
way to cash out of their investments in biotech startups
long before the fledgling companies had to deal with the
expense and difficulty of scaling up or commercializing
their technologies. In turn, these lucrative "exits" for
venture investors provided strong incentives to invest
in the next round of early-stage companies. "It is a
virtuous cycle," Nanda says. [David
Rotman, Technology Review, M/J12] "The [energy startups] that are breaking out are the ones able to craft meaningful partnerships with larger companies," says Jim Matheson, a general partner at Flagship Ventures. Matheson is a director of Mascoma (Waltham, MA; no SBIR), a company that struggled for years to find the funding for a commercial-scale plant that would make cellulosic biofuels based on its novel process for turning biomass into ethanol. Late last year it signed an agreement with Valero Energy; the large oil refiner and ethanol producer will provide the majority of the financing for a $232 million cellulosic-ethanol facility in Kinross, Michigan, and will help operate the plant. [David Rotman, Technology Review, M/J12] Who's really
recovering? The stock market has doubled since March 2009,
while corporate profits and exports have surged to
records. [Daniel Gross, author of coming
book Better, Stronger,
Faster] Which political party best
represents those winners but cannot even whisper the
success in its restless search for things to complain
about? Forget about Seattle's
grand plans for a city-sponsored, superfast broadband
network. Seattle has quietly given up, ending nearly a
decade of blue-ribbon commissions, reams of studies and
public outreach. ..... Over the past decade,
cities across the country tried offering free Wi-Fi
through public-private partnerships that largely failed.
Now phone and cable companies are trying to seal the
coffin. [Brier Dudley, Seattle Times, May
6] Where there's a competitive private market,
public structures cannot and need not keep up. We don't
need free bread for everyone. Nor do we need free bread
for uncompetitive, life-style small tech biz. As Twain said: "Get
your facts first,
then you can distort them as you please." You
can be forgiven for a cockamamiee self-serving economic
theory, but not for having no facts that fit it. In
economics, though, there are so many facts that almost any
two can be connected with such a theory, especially among
the true believers. Sleep tracking device
maker Zeo
(Newton, MA; no SBIR) raised
$2 million in a
debt round of funding, according to an amendment filed
with the SEC. ... recently secured a partnership with training, physical
therapy and nutrition company Athletes’ Performance to
provide wannabe-pro football players with its sleep
tracking technology, Sleep Manager Bedside and the
mobile version of the technology to track and measure
their sleep. [Patricia Resende, Mass High
Tech, May 3, 12] AXT down 20%
[May 3, 12] ChemoCentryx down
18% [May 3, 12] Kensey Nash up
32% [May 3, 12] said
it will be acquired for about $360 million by Royal DSM,
a Dutch manufacturer with operations in the
pharmaceutical, food and automotive sectors
[AP]..... but a law firm is investigating the Board of Directors of Kensey
Nash Corporation for possible breaches of fiduciary duty
and other violations of state law in connection with the
sale of the Company to Royal DSM [Business Wire] the White House
released a comprehensive national strategy to guide
federal investments and collaborations with the private
sector in the life sciences. The National
Bioeconomy Blueprint identifies five strategic objectives that will
inform administration efforts to boost the bioeconomy.
Key among these objectives is the expansion of
foundational, cross-disciplinary research, which will
require improved funding mechanisms that are flexible
enough to support many kinds of collaborations and that
encourage high-risk/high-reward research
[SSTI, May 3] The gap between bloviating and results
is likely to be as cloudy as all earlier attempts to
perfect government R&D investment. As the Army exhorts
its leaders: Do something even if it's wrong. Slithering underway.
OMB says that
the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would be exempt from
the across-the-board cuts of between 8 and 10 percent
scheduled to take effect in January 2013. [AAAS
Policy Alert, May 3] Soon every other program will claim
equal holiness and the budget will be re-opened for
political re-jiggering.
.... once again, we are more likely to witness dithering
and bickering in Washington, accompanied by political
posturing packaged in competing election-driven
narratives [Mohammed El-Erian, WashPo, May
4] As an example of political dodging, European leaders are talking
growth, even as Germany remains adamant that it doesn't
want the fiscal framework it has established over the
past two years going up in smoke as soon as the going
gets tough. [Wall Street Journal, May 4]
Talk growth on the campaign trails, even though the
political system has no credible means of producing it
without adding even more debt. Such dithering will go on
in all democratic countries until the electorate stops
accepting irredeemable promises. Speech Tails (Elm
Grove,WI; no SBIR) that
offers online speech learning for children said
Wednesday it has raised $300,000 of funding from angel
investors. ... helps parents with early detection
of speech issues through a free website assessment
parents can take with their children. Then it helps
parents, educators and professionals deliver a set of
services to manage and correct issues.
[Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 2,
12] Naval Ravikant, chief
executive of AngelList, told attendees at the NVCA annual meeting that he
expects the
number of successful starts to grow, The Wall Street Journal reports. The early-stage
investor and matchmaker said there's been a huge jump in
fundings from VCs and newcomers for seed-stage
companies. Ravikant attributed low-cost Internet
resources as one reason the number of startups is
increasing. [Austin Business Journal, Apr
30] Success has a thousand
fathers.
[experts] pointed to the Google search engine, iPod
technology, and the Human Genome Project as examples of
how federal funding has aided transformational
innovation and economic growth. .....
The investment in knowledge represented by the federally
funded Human Genome Project had a $796.3 billion
economic impact from 1998 to 2010, according to a 2011
study by Battelle Memorial Institute. [Earl
Lane and Becky Ham, Science, Apr 27] Unfortunately,
no one can assign definite value to any piece of research
before it starts, and the budget mavens are not proposing
to zero out government science. It's just standard
pleading to oppose any proposed cuts to programs that
employ smart scientists, and the steady accumulation of
PhDs make the problem more acute every year. Stand by for
much wailing as a lot of people are going to give up
something to get government finance back on track. We're looking for bold
innovative strategies to pretty much maintain the status
quo. -- Wall Street Journal cartoon caption.
That's a variation in the old idea that we want a brand new idea
that's been thoroughly tested. The dilemma is
that the great and proved idea will be very expensive by
then and in the hands of your competitors. But then life
is full of uncertainty. Emcore up 10%
[May 1, 12] Intermune up 10%
[May 1, 12] ViroPharma down
10% [May 1, 12] 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 Pursuit Vascular
(Maple Grove, MN; no SBIR) raised $750,000 in bridge financing during the
first quarter and will soon kick off another round of
fundraising, the company announced. ... has
developed a catheter technology that it says could
reduce the risk of infection in hemodialysis patients.
In addition to the bridge financing, the company now
wants to raise $2 million, which it will put toward
prepping for clinical trials and intellectual-property
costs. [Katherine Grayson, Minneapolis / St
Paul Business Journal, Apr 30, 12] Cleveland BioLabs and its subsidiary, Incuron LLC, have plans to test a
new cancer drug in Russia. [Tracey Drury, Buffalo
Business First, Apr 29, 12] Having trouble sifting
through all that DNA data gathered in a gene sequencing
test? There’s an app for that. Illumina, a maker of machines that map
genes, said that it’s setting up a software marketplace
around its BaseSpace gene sequencing service.
Called BaseSpace Apps, the marketplace is a genomics
version of Apple’s Apps Store, and it aims to break a
bottleneck around software for analyzing genetic
information. [utsandiego.com, Apr 27, 12] Bloom
Energy (Sunnyvale, CA; no SBIR, founded 2001) a fuel cell technology
company, started building a factory in Newark, DE
... plans to hire “hundreds” of people to work in
the factory on a 272-acre site owned by the Univ of
Delaware [that] used to be a Chrysler assembly plant.
[Stephen EF Brown, San Francisco Business Times, Apr
30, 12] Transcept Pharmaceuticals (Richmond, CA; no SBIR) would use some of the $37.6 million it hopes to net from a public stock offering to sell its FDA-approved middle-of-the-night sleep drug and to move forward with a drug for obsessive compulsive disorder. [Ron Leuty, San Francisco Business Times, Apr 26, 12] austerity policies are
failing to spark confidence in the region's economies
ahead of a week of expected anti-austerity protests and
a string of important national elections..... both
French and Greek elections this weekend are expected to
castigate incumbents. [David Roman and
Stephen Fidler, Wall Street Journal, May 1] The very
nerve of those politicians to give us the free lunch we
clamored for despite economic reality that deficit finance
must eventually end. US Republicans take note - voters
don't like austerity. DOD has released
another SBIR solicitation with a June 24 deadline. It provides the names of
the topic authors and their phone numbers and e-mail
addresses for questions until May 23. You can ask them anything
but they have some restrictions on what they can tell
you. They are looking for the best technology in their
area and they will (should) tell you if what you plan
to propose interests them. Remember though that if you
are not the best in the country at what you propose,
you have little chance of winning an award.
Fortunately for first-timers, DOD is not finicky about
minor details if you have just what they want. And if
you have a really hot idea, they have the option of
picking up the phone and telling you to start
work. DOD always has money for what they must
have.
http://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/sbir/solicitations/sbir20122/index.shtml
Aware up 64%
[Apr 27, 12] will
sell some patents related to WiFi and 4G LTE to Intel
Corp for about $75 million [Reuters, Apr
27] A123 Systems rose the most in three weeks
after the US Army introduced a prototype vehicle that
uses its products. [Bloomberg News, Apr 27, 12] Voters shy from hard
choices. Lexington’s bet is that Americans will never
give the Republicans a clean mandate to drown the sort
of state they have now. Like voters everywhere, they
want many impossible things before breakfast, including
low taxes and all the things that high taxes pay for.
They will expect their leaders to muddle through. And
muddle through they probably will [The
Economist, Apr 27] Interdigital down 14% [Apr 26, 12] Triquint down 13% [Apr 26, 12] Repligen down
40% [Apr 26, 12] said it expects U.S.
health regulators to reject its imaging agent to
detect structural abnormalities in the pancreas
[Reuters] Targacept (one SBIR a decade ago) announced that it will lay off 65 people, or about 46 percent of its workforce, following the failure of an antidepressant drug candidate in Phase 3 clinical trials.[Triangle Business Journal, Apr 26, 12] medical device company Corinthian
Ophthalmic Raleigh, NC; no SBIR) raised $625,000 in
equity, according to securities filings. But the company
still has a long way to go to reach its goal of raising
$4 million by the end of May. ... for a new device that
Ballou hopes could replace the eyedropper
[Lauren Ohnesorge, Triangle Business Journal, Apr 26, 12] The most widely held
theory of politics is also the simplest: the powerful
get what they want. Financial regulation is driven by
the interests of banks, health policy by the interests
of insurance companies, and tax policy by the interests
of the rich. Those who can influence government the most
... eventually get their way. [Dani Rodrik] Illumina, the market-leading maker of
DNA sequencing instruments, said it is creating an open
platform for genomic software developers to make apps
for scientific customers who want to slice and dice
through DNA data. This new initiative is called
Basespace Apps, and will enable researchers to store
their data on cloud computing infrastructure provided by
Amazon Web Services, and then make it possible to
download various genomic software “apps” to analyze and
interpret the data. [Luke Timmerman,
xconomy.com, Apr 25, 12] Cymer (San Diego,
CA; $400K SBIR twenty years ago) is developing the next
generation of laser systems that will allow
semiconductor manufacturers to produce even smaller,
more powerful chips. Cymer recently showed off its
technology, called Extreme Ultra Violet, in
demonstrations .... expects to spend $58 million in
research and development in the second quarter
[Mike Freeman, utsandiego.com, Apr 25, 12] Shares of TriQuint Semiconductor plunged in extended trading on Wednesday as investors balked at the semiconductor specialist's weak guidance. [James Rogers, San Jose Mercury News, Apr 25, 12] "What do you call a
credit bubble built on a commodity bull market built on
a much bigger Chinese credit bubble?" asks Société
Générale strategist Dylan Grice in his latest research
note. Sadly, the answer isn't funny for some living in
the southern hemisphere. "Leveraged leverage?
A CDO squared? No, it's Australia." [Wall
Street Journal, Apr 26] Affymax up 12%
[Apr 24, 12] 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]
in an aggressive,
noisy campaign, the public may not fully understand the
candidates' positions. After all, precision and clarity
have never been the hallmarks of presidential campaign
advertising. ..... The American people
deserve a full debate and discussion on our fiscal
problems. With four $1 trillion deficits in row and a
debt ratio over 70%, the Washington response of both
political parties has been to "kick the can down the
road." [Bill Frenzel, realclearmarkets.com,
Apr 24] But the people don't want to hear the truth;
they want someone else to pay, and they will accept a
vague political promise that they won't have to suffer.
It's been going on for fifty years. LBJ wouldn't pay for
Vietnam and Bush-Cheney wouldn't pay for Iraq, etc. Achillion Pharma down
19% [Apr 23, 12] following
an analyst downgrade and an update on a key experimental
drug..... while Achillion's phase 2 clinical data showed
strong efficacy (you can't do better than 100%), it took
24 weeks for ACH-1625 to reach its endpoint. Time could
be an issue here as Gilead's drug is proving effective
in a much shorter time. [Motley
Fool] NeuroMetrix said that that it will
support a clinical study of 50 obese patients with
diabetes at the Joslin Diabetes Center. The patients
will participate in a weight and lifestyle management
program as the study seeks to determine whether weight
loss and improved diabetes management can impact the
progression of diabetic peripheral neuropathy, or DPN.
DPN affects more than 50 percent of people with diabetes
and causes significant morbidity including pain and
increased risk of falling. [Chris Reidy,
Boston Globe, Apr 23, 12] Argos Therapeutics (Durham, NC; no SBIR), which last month withdrew its plans to raise money with an initial public offering of stock in the wake of a lackluster market, has rebounded by raising $25 million in venture capital funding. [David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, Apr 24, 12] American Superconductor
raised $25 million of a $56 million offering,
according to [SEC report] [Mass High Tech, Apr 20,
12] Amag Pharmaceuticals
said that its iron
deficiency treatment has gotten a positive review from a
panel of European regulators, raising the possibility
that the drug could go on the market in Europe later
this year. [Boston Globe, Apr 20] Two companies founded
by Ms [Angela] Belcher are already making things with
viruses. Cambrios
Technologies (Cambridge, MA; one SBIR) is producing transparent
coatings for touch screens and Siluria Technologies (no
SBIR) (Ms Belcher
likes to name her companies after geological time spans)
is using viruses to develop catalysts for turning
natural gas into oil and plastics. There are also
potential applications in solar cells, medical
diagnostics and cancer treatment. And all that from an
idea inspired by a sea shell. [The Economist, Apr
21, 12] The Economist ran a compelling piece on the third
industrial revolution (the fruit of digitization) that has
the potential to lure back manufacturing from distant
cheap-labor Asia to smart-labor America where the
customers shop with flexible ideas. Government funding
sources serious about the economic future would do well to
heed the implications of future manufacturing, although
not because it would create that many unskilled jobs. Alder BioPharmaceuticals
(Bothell, WA; one SBIR) said
it's raised $38 million in Series D financing, which it
said will support the development of the company’s
clinical stage pipeline.[Ben Miller, Puget Sound
Business Journal, Apr 20, 12] Cytokinetics
(South San Francisco, CA; $500K SBIR) experimental drug to treat
patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou
Gehrig’s disease, won fast-track designation
[San Francisco Business Times, Apr 20, 12] Hyperion Therapeutics (South San Francisco,CA; no SBIR) biotech company developing drugs against metabolic disorders, will seek $57.5 million in an [IPO]. [San Francisco Business Times, Apr 17, 12] In its fourth round of venture funding, Neato Robotics (no SBIR) raised $12.2 million. [San Francisco Business Times, Apr 19, 12] Religion in science
class. Tennessee
Gov. Bill Haslam (R) allowed HB 368 [into] law ...
encourages teachers to present the "scientific strengths
and scientific weaknesses" of topics that include
evolution and climate science. [SSTI, Apr
19] Maybe a teacher or two will introduce books like
Dava Sobel's Gallileo's
Daughter as extra-credit reading on how
unrestrained religious authority denies science.
Surely, other Dixie states will form a phalanx for the
dumbing down of science as they retreat to the
intellectual safety of the Middle Ages. Immunomedics
up 10% [Apr 19, 12] Cell Therapeutics
(Seattle, WA; one SBIR a dozen years ago) said it has agreed to pay
$30 million in cash and stock for worldwide rights to a
drug candidate that has completed a phase-two clinical
trial for myelofibrosis, a bone marrow disease.
[Seattle Times, Apr 19] 3M subsidiary 3M New Ventures
said it has
invested in Zephyr Technology (Annapolis, MD; no
SBIR), a developer of real-time devices that monitor
human performance through smart-fabric sensor
technology. The amount was not released.
[Ed Stych, Minneapolis / St Paul Business Journal, Apr 16,
12] founded 2003
In addition to the US, Zephyr™ has distributors and
representatives in key markets such as the UK, Germany
and Singapore. [company website] The money is flowing again:
Venture capital investing in Austin companies soared in
this year's first quarter, thanks to a boost from six
deals that topped $10 million. .... a 204
percent jump over the $90.2 million that companies
received in the first quarter a year ago. It's also the
most money raised since the fourth quarter of 2007 when
the U.S. recession officially began.
[Lori Hawkins, Austin American Statesman, Apr 20] In
contrast, Just a few
Triangle companies succeeded in raising venture capital
funding in the first quarter, and collectively they didn’t raise very much.
The $11.8 million in venture capital attracted by four
up-and-coming companies was the Triangle’s worst
quarterly showing in more than a dozen years.
[David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, Apr 20] Unemployment in global
competition. U.S.-based multinational companies increased
their work forces at home by 0.1% in 2010 while
expanding overseas employment by 1.5%, the Commerce
Department said. The modest expansion of the
global companies' employment in the U.S. came in a year
when the private sector as a whole shed 0.6% of its U.S.
workers. .... Since 1999, U.S.-based
multinationals have cut U.S. employment by about 1
million, or roughly 4%, and added 3.1 million workers
overseas, a 39% increase [David
Wessel, Wall Street Journal, Apr 19] Don't be
surprised if the partisan political battle for president
never draws an accurate picture of the forces driving US
employment. Swiss drugmaker Roche Metabolix announced the opening of its
first office in Europe. Mechanical Technology turned its first annual profit in at least 15 years in 2011 [The Business Review (Albany)] Six investment funds
received $25 million Tuesday, money aimed at backing up
to 100 seed-stage companies around New York. The
total investment in small businesses will wind up being
at least $75 million, because each winning fund must
supply at least $2 of private investment to pair with
every dollar coming from the state. [Adam
Sichko, The Business Review (Albany), Apr 17]
Seed-stage is actually a true market-failure situation for
government intervention, but government support is
unstable because it is so driven by politicians with short
time horizons. New York politicians, like every other
state politicians, want the publicity of market
intervention, provided it carries some other name. This
New York fund with 2-for-1 private matching has the chance
to pick future winning technology because the private
investors won't go for kind of scientific blobs that
science agencies typically fund. Good luck, NY.
Attitude checks.
[NSF SBIR] Phase I
project will develop multi-dimensional neurodynamic
models of the cognitive organizations of teams that span
zero history to proven entrepreneurial teams (ET), with
the purpose of developing a neurophysiologic instrument
to rate a team's entrepreneurial aptitude.
..... Neurodynamic models will be generated using
EEG technologies and protocols previously developed for
high fidelity military training activities. These models
dynamically follow the engagement and workload of each
member of the team as well as the entire team and will
be customized for studying entrepreneurial teams.
[NASA SBIR abstract] Using a developed tool to study
another specimen could be an endlessly profitable job for
the research team, BUT where's the downstream economic
impact? The proprietary
neurodynamic assessment system will be marketed to
corporate training / coaching programs, financial
backers who wish to decrease uncertainty in ventures,
and entrepreneurial organizations who wish to optimize
their performance. The scientific
and technical merit people in government will believe
almost any commercialization story to justify SBIR for
their favorite research. Austerity hits science.
the long-delayed 2012
[Spanish] national budget would slash the funding for
science by more than 25% surpassed their worst
predictions.[Science, Apr 13] On this side
of the pond, we are still pretending that we can afford
all our famous debt-financed public science. Merck entered into an agreement
with Endocyte
(West Lafayette, IN; $3.6M SBIR) to develop and commercialize
Endocyte’s experimental cancer therapy in a deal
potentially worth $1 billion. [John George,
Philadelphia Business JounraL Apr 16, 12] First Solar up
10% plans to
close its Frankfurt [Germany] manufacturing operations
and idle four production lines at its plant in Malaysia,
as it looks to reduce costs amid a deteriorating solar
market in Europe.[Wall Street Journal, Apr 17,
12] Albany Molecular
Research said
it has been selected by Melbourne, Australia-based Biota
Holdings
Limited to further develop and manufacture Biota’s
influenza antiviral drug laninamivir. AMRI said it would
provide these services to support a New Drug Application
to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Biota is
seeking to have the drug manufactured in the United
States and approved in clinical trials for adults and
children. AMRI said it potentially could be chosen to
manufacture the drug for commercial use.
[Eric Anderson, Albany Times-Union, Apr 17, 12] InView Technology
(Austin, TX; no SBIR) a
two-year-old startup that develops advanced cameras and
imaging technology, said that it has received $2 million
in funding as part of a second investment round.
.... investors included In-Q-Tel, which led the
company's $4 million first investment round, and the
state's Emerging Technology Fund. .... continue to
develop its "compressive sensing," which uses advanced
mathematics to take sharp photographic images in low
light conditions and can detect images hidden by smoke
and fog. [Kirk Ladendorf, Austin American
Statesman, Apr 17, 12] Molecular Detection (Wayne, PA; no SBIR) has raised $3.5 million in a private stock sale, according to [SEC] documents .... founded in 2007, develops molecular diagnostic tests used to detect infectious diseases. [John George, Philadelphia Business JounraL Apr 13, 12] BioDelivery Sciences
(Raleigh, NC; $1.7M SBIR in New Jersey a decade ago) stock rose 12 percent after
the company announced it had extended [for seven
years] the patent protection for its experimental
treatment for chronic pain and received a $15 million
milestone payment from partner Endo
Pharmaceuticals. [David Bracken, Raleigh
News & Observer, Apr 18, 12] Cree fell as much as 10 percent
in after-hours trading Tuesday in the wake of
underwhelming quarterly results. [Raleigh
News & Observer, Apr 18, 12]
ChemoCentryx up
10% [Apr 17, 12] Alcresta (Newton, MA; no SBIR) start-up looking to commercialize enzyme-based nutritional products such as infant formulas, emerged from the stealth mode by announcing a $10 million Series A venture capital financing. [Boston Globe, Apr 17, 12] Enduring myths.
this intense focus on
small businesses may overstate the economic case. Big
businesses actually employ far more people than small
ones and, according to government data, the overwhelming
majority of small businesses don't employ anyone at
all. .... [Kelly Edmiston, a senior
economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City]
says small-business jobs are far less stable than jobs
at big businesses, in part because small businesses are
created and also fail at such a high rate.
.... tend to offer lower pay and fewer
benefits. ... he actually concludes that in
terms of economic development, it makes far more sense
for states and cities to promote small business than to
spend tons of money to try to lure a large factory into
town. [Tamara Keith, npr.org, Apr
18] Not to worry: politicians will continue to tell
people the enduring myths they want to hear. Can't/won't escape continuous connection. In a bid to capitalize on the growing market for fast Internet access on planes, Honeywell has signed a deal with satellite-operator Inmarsat to provide gear for airborne broadband connections. [Wall Street Journal, Apr 18] Telik up 12% [Apr 16, 12]The UC Board of Regents
is expected to vote next month to approve the Center for
Innovative Therapeutics, or CIT, a $110 million research
complex that would house UCSD scientists and researchers
from biotech companies. Regents are hoping to get
companies to more quickly develop products and
treatments invented by university scientists, a branch
of research known as “bench-to-bedside.”
[Gary Robbins, utsandiego.com, Apr 17] Y biz luvs guv. In a libertarian world
where politicians all just say no to subsidizing
businesses, then businesses would end up reasonably
evenly distributed across the country (due to labor
markets, distribution requirements, etc.) and taxpayers
would not be paying any subsidies. However,
because politicians fear that their community will lose
if they don’t play the subsidy game like everyone else
(the equivalent of staying silent while your partner is
ratting you out in prison) what we end up with is still
having businesses reasonably evenly distributed across
the country, but with massive subsidies in place.
[coyoteblog.com, Apr 16] Interstate competition is
natural where politicians have to convince voters to
re-elect them. Unfortunately the result if the subsidies
is a large diversion of tax revenue to private business. CoolChip Technologies
(Somerville, MA; no SBIR) has raised $500,000 in debt funding out of
$1.5 million sought, according to federal filings.
The money is the first filing for the company, which
works on low-cost, high-performance electronics cooling
systems, specifically a central processing unit cooler.
[Don Seiffert, Mass High Tech, Apr 13, 12] Imbed Biosciences
(Madison, WI; no SBIR) has received a $326,000 [SBIR] to continue
developing biologic dressings that could be used to
prevent wound infections and promote cell growth and
healing. {Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel, Apr 13, 12] Five Connecticut companies have qualified for more than $1 million in grants and loans through the Small Business Express Program. ... a bi-partisan effort created last year to help small businesses with 50 or fewer workers boost their payrolls and fund capital investments. Innovation companies: Nature's First (Orange, CT; no SBIR); Nalas Engineering (Essex, CT; one SBIR); [Janice Podsada, Hartford Courant, Apr 13, 12] A new report from the
Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) examines
the use of prizes to achieve ambitious national goals
over the past few years, and presents a number of ways
this approach could be improved. Read
the report... [SSTI, Apr 12] A new report by the Pew
Center on the States found that half of the states with
tax incentive programs do not take the basic steps
needed to know whether or not they are effective. The
study identified 13 states with good assessments, 12
with mixed results, and 26 not meeting any criteria for
scope or quality of evaluation. A major problem seems to
be that states conducting rigorous evaluations of some
incentives tend to ignore others and many states
evaluate infrequently or not thoroughly enough. The
authors focused the study on four criteria for effective
evaluation and assessed the states' practices as to how
well they: inform policy choices, include all major tax
incentives, measure economic impact, and draw clear
conclusions. Leading examples are found in Connecticut,
Oregon, Louisiana, and Washington. Evidence Counts: Evaluating
State Tax Incentives for Jobs and Growth is available at: http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/015_12_RI%20Tax%20Incentives%20Report_web.pdf. [SSTI,
Apr 12] Evidence has an uphill fight for
recognition where politics wants to hand out gifts. The Ohio State
University and Ohio University announced a new $35
million venture capital fund to address the lack of
critical, early stage funding for innovative technology
ventures in the state. Ohio State will contribute $20
million and Ohio University will provide the remaining
$15 million. The universities also committed to
leveraging their resources and assets to support
entrepreneurial activity and venture creation in Ohio.
Read the
press release... [SSTI, Apr 12] Even when a state has
the most favorable tax policies for a particular type of
business, the policy does little to influence where
people start companies. .... most would-be
entrepreneurs can’t choose between states in which to
start their companies without relocating. And few people
switch states to start businesses. [Scott
Shane, Bloomberg Businerss Week, Apr 10] Thanks to a cold call
placed by the Saratoga [NY] Economic Development
Corporation in 2005, pitching the area as an ideal site
for a factory, GlobalFoundries (no SBIR), a semiconductor
manufacturer, is building a $4.6 billion, 2m-square-foot
campus in a Saratoga forest ..... the area
has returned to its roots. GE Global Research, founded
112 years ago, traces its origins to a carriage barn in
nearby Schenectady. After shrinking its manufacturing
arm in the 1990s, it is bringing it back to New York,
making high-energy-density batteries and digital
x-ray-detectors..... Sematech, a chip consortium, has
moved to Albany from the high-tech magnet of Austin ...
the area has the lowest per-capita county taxes in New
York state. [The Economist, April 14]
The Capital District has a long industrial history, frigid
winters, a first class technical university, and no urge
to suppress science in the name of religion. Unlike with some rural
economic development programs in his office, [Texas
Agriculture Commissioner Todd] Staples decided last fall
to outsource investment decisions to two private [VC]
firms,. "I didn't want to be involved in the selection
process," Staples said. "I wanted to have that removed
from this office and that to be based on economic
criteria and investment criteria, so it would be based
on clear market circumstances."
[Laylan Copelin, Austin American Statesman, Apr 15]
What a novel idea: use private investors to decicde where
to invest in private companies for economic return. A
better idea is to get government out of investing in
private entities where an ROI is easily calculated. Limit
government investment in true market-failure situations. Telik up 59% [Apr 12, 12] SiOnyx (Beverly,
MA; three SBIRs) which makes a special semiconductor
material called Black Silicon, has raised $6.9 million in
equity financing, according to federal documents
... founded in 2006 by Professor Eric Mazur and
James Carey of Harvard University, is commercializing a
patented semiconductor process that enhances the infrared
sensitivity of silicon-based photonics. [Don
Seiffert, Mass High Tech, Apr 11, 12] ViaSat has been awarded a $31.5
million contract to provide the government with
high-tech communications hardware, the Defense
Department announced [Nathan Max,
utsandiego.com, Apr 11, 12] Food scraps and trashed Christmas trees could one day be a source of a billion-dollar business, according to Harvest Power (Waltham, MA; no SBIR), a start-up that just raised $110 million to help convert organic waste to energy and fertilizer. .... hoping to replicate in North America what countries such as Germany and Spain have been doing for years. [Yulika Chernova, Wall Street Journal, Apr 12] Since we were rich, we didn't see much need to recycle or conserve which leaders like VP Cheney denigrated as personal virtue but irrelevant. Making a profit frlom such conversion seems to be much harder than idealized. In the extreme, Harrisburg, PA went bust trying. Defense Conversion, 1992
Redux. with
the war in Iraq over and the conflict in Afghanistan
winding down, robot makers are facing a reboot.
.... At the same time, the administration's new defense
strategy pledges a "strong commitment" to emerging
technologies and singles out robotics as an area of
promise [Nathan Hodge, Wall Street
Journal, Apr 12] Defense conversion was all the rage
in the 1992 campaign, with almost every involved
Congressional committee suggesting more SBIR as a big
contributor. The new Clinton administration got busy
trying to make civilian technology out of military
R&D. As usual, it failed for price and the inability
of the federal agencies to adapt to private market
disciplines. Soon enough the fanfare subsided and defense
business as usual regained its hold. Vijay Govindarajan
and Chris Trimble's "Reverse Innovation," a book that
offers provocative insights into the quickly changing
dynamics of the global economy. As the subtitle has it,
the authors advise companies to "create far from home"
and "win everywhere." .... Cisco CEO John
Chambers told me that he expects developing countries to
account for 70% of his company's business a decade from
now, up from 30% today. Chief executives at other
multinationals make similar forecasts....
Govindarajan and Trimble make a persuasive case for a
different model. They say that, increasingly, business
success is coming from companies that use their
knowledge and resources to create innovative new
products for developing countries and then adapt those
products to satisfy demands in the developed world. The
traditional flow of innovation—from rich to poor
nations—is moving in reverse.
[Alan Murray, Wall Street Journal, Apr 12] More
global competition for American myths of innate and
permanent superiority in R&D and innovation. [Harvard Econ students said] "Today, we are walking out of your class,
Economics 10, in order to express our discontent with
the bias inherent in this introductory economics course.
We are deeply concerned about the way that this bias
affects students, the University [sic], and our greater
society." .... Today's economics is
dominated by ideas, like the efficient market
hypothesis, making such sweeping generalizations that
they render human beings practically unrecognizable. Do
people ever have "perfect information" or a complete
understanding of their best interests?
.... where economics finds itself today,
stuck between failed methodologies and whispered
realities. It can continue to produce elegant theorems
that work only by ignoring obvious real-world situations
and conditions. [Eric Weiner,
Institute for New Economic Thinking in New York, LA Times,
Apr 11] Conventional thinking in both R&D and
Economics under question. Making transportation
spending about the construction jobs instead of the
infrastructure is like making investment decisions based
on how attractive the broker is rather than the expected
return of the investment. [Adrian Moore,
Real Clear Markets, Apr 12] Never mind, if it has
jobs anywhere in the content, the politicians are for it
in front of a public that tells pollsters that jobs will
drive their voting preferences. How and why they actually
vote is much more complex. We get the government we
deserve. ChemoCentryx up
11% [Apr 10, 12] Targacept up
12% [Apr 10, 12] Viro Pharma
down 22% [Apr 10, 12] said that three companies are now selling
low-cost generic versions of its drug Vancocin, an
antibiotic that brings in half of ViroPharma's revenue.[AP,
Apr 10] Daystar got its
share price back above a buck with a 1 for seven reverse
split. A new Army laboratory
[in Warren, MI] will develop technology such as fuel
cells and hybrid systems for combat vehicles as the
Pentagon steps up its push for cleaner and more reliable
energy, federal officials said ... The
military uses 90 percent of the energy consumed by the
federal government, which accounts for about 2 percent
of all U.S. energy consumption. [John
Flesher, AP, Apr 11] Cree says it has halved the cost
of its light-emitting-diode streetlights and hopes the
new lower prices will sway local governments to adopt
the new technology. .... the new bulbs will
be comparable in cost to traditional high-pressure
sodium vacuum technology when maintenance and energy
costs are included. That would clear what has been seen
as a key obstacle to greater adoption. .... "LED roadway
lighting is pretty much a price war at this point," said
Michael Barber, a former street-light official in
Anchorage, Alaska .... Cree attributes the changes
to improvements in its proprietary silicon carbide
technology. [Kate Linebaugh, Wall
Street Journal, Apr 10, 12] SBIR boosted the SiC
development in Cree's nursery years soon after which Cree
spread its wings and flew in private markets. Intermune down 16% [Apr 9, 12]
The
[Chinese] government desperately wants its economy to
move up the value chain, to become a source of
innovation rather than just a producer of cheap goods.
To make that happen, it has employed the traditional
instruments of science and technology policy, but it has
also relied on industrial espionage directed at foreign
high-tech companies. Hackers have reportedly targeted
the negotiation strategies, business plans, and
financial information of foreign energy and banking
companies, too. ..... With a growing population of 500
million Internet users, it is easy to see why the
Chinese believe that the future of cyberspace belongs to
them. [Adam
Segal, Foreign Affairs, M/A 12] HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals (San Diego,
CA; no SBIR) said it
raised $13 million in an extension of its Series
B funding round to support a mid-stage trial
of its experimental drug for patients with sickle cell
disease. [Bruce Bigelow, xconomy.com, Mar
16, 12] MolecularMD (Portland OR; no SBIR) Lands $6,000,000 Series B Funding ... Founded in 2006, MolecularMD is a molecular diagnostics company specializing in clinical development and commercialization of state-of-the-art genomic assays to measure patient response and resistance to targeted cancer therapies. [xconomy.com, Apr 2, 12] Good Start Genetics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) Secures $14,000,000 Series B Financing ... advanced DNA sequencing technology is designed to deliver a higher detection rate and improved clinical performance compared to currently available screening methods. [xconomy.com, Apr 2, 12] Venture capital spending in Texas increased during third quarter 2011 by more than 100 percent on a quarter-overquarter basis, to almost $600 million. The figure was 59 percent more than the year-earlier period. The activity, marking the single strongest quarter for Texas since 2001 [Jackson Thies, FedReserveBnkDallas, 1Q12] Though [crowd funding] is being tried, in different ways, on sites like Kickstarter.com and Kiva.org, it is still very much an experiment, and its real-world benefits for small investors are still uncertain. [Robert Shiller, NY Tinmes Apr 8] To sell politicians on the benefits of allowing start-ups to grow into public companies, the task force pointed to research showing that when such firms go public, more than 90% of their job creation happens after the IPO. [James Freeman, Wall Street Journal, Apr 7] If the politicians believed such a fact, and weren't just passing any law they could with Jobs in the title, they would do something to push seed capital in programs like SBIR toward companies and ideas with a market future. Instead they stand by while the federal agencies serve themselves. In “Globalization
of S&T: Key Challenges Facing DOD,” Timothy Coffey and Steven
Ramburg argue that the demographic and industrial
strengths that shaped the highly successful U.S. S&T
strategy over the past 50 years is not likely to be
sustainable in the 21st century. ... as
emerging countries enter a phase of rapid economic
growth and accordingly ramp up investments in
R&D. .... the DoD should shift from
inventing and discovering new things at home to
forecasting the invention and discovery of new things
abroad. [William Pentland, Forbes, Apr 6] Beware of freeware. Techdirt reports that the latest
versions of Wikipedia's mobile apps have
switched to OpenStreetMap from Google Maps. Says
Techdirt's commentary: "One wonders how
Google didn't see this coming — or if they did, what
exactly their strategy is here. OpenStreetMap is gaining
a lot of momentum, and in some areas even features much
better data. The real lesson here is that there's
never an incumbent that isn't at risk of being unseated,
no matter how widespread the adoption of their product
or service—especially if they make an anti-customer
decision like Google when it put a price tag on Maps.
The situation also points to the long-term strength of
open solutions: while a crowdsourced system like
OpenStreetMap never could have put together a global
mapping product as quickly as Google did, over time it
has become a serious competitor in terms of both quality
and convenience." [slashdot.org, Apr 8]
AMSC (a.k.a
American Superconductor) raised about $25 million in gross proceeds
through the sale of convertible notes and warrants.
[Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Apr 4, 12] OvaScience
(Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) specializing in fertility treatments, announced
that it has completed a $37 million Series B financing.
[Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Apr 4, 12] Connecticut Innovations
has invested $269,160 antibiotics developer BioRelix (New Haven,
CT; no SBIR)., its
second investment in the firm after a $500,000 infusion
in December. ... developing antibiotics using
"riboswitches," which are "short stretches of messenger
ribonucleic acid (mRNA) that bind small molecules and
control genes that are essential for the survival of
many human pathogens," first identified in the
laboratory of Yale professor Ron Breaker. The firm
is developing a treatment for a hospital-acquired
infection. [Hartford Courant, Apr 3, 12] VirtualScopics
(Linden Oaks, NY; one SBIR) said it has completed the first closing in a
sale of a new series of preferred stock to the Merck
Global Health Innovation Fund for $3 million.
[Smriti Jacob, Rochester Business Jounral, Apr 4, 12] ReconRobotics
(Edina, MN; no SBIR) said
it has acquired Xollai,
(St. Paul, MN; no SBIR) that
develops systems to help military drones land.
ReconRobotics makes throwable microrobots for the
military, ... a spokesman for ReconRobotics, said
Xollai's St. Paul office will remain open and all nine
of its employees will stay with the company.
ReconRobotics now has 54 employees, Klobucar said.
[Ed Stych, Minneapolis / St Paul Business Journal, Apr 4,
12]
U.S. lawmakers, banks
and the SBA recently have expanded the scope of what
they commonly consider small. ... The SBA
has made similar upward revisions over the last year in
130 industries, adding at least 27,400 new companies to
its definition of a small business. Many of the
definitions hadn't been adjusted since the 1980s despite
inflation over that time.[Angus Loten, Wall
Street Journal, Apr 4] "The challenges facing
the American economy today are not primarily about the
vibrancy or efficiency of the business community.
They are about the barriers to economic opportunity and
economic security for many Americans....These challenges
can only be addressed by government action."
[SECTREAS Timothy
Geithner, Apr 4] The Republican view says
cut taxes and spending to fix what ails the American
economy, which by implication will liberate business to
invigorate the economy [and help further concentrate the
wealth at the top of the heap]. Not to worry much because
there are not enough rich voters and gullible middle class
voters to let it happen. Angel investors shelled out $22.5 billion in investment dollars during 2011, up about 12 percent from the previous year’s total, according to the 2011 Angel Market Analysis released by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire.[Boston Globe, Apr 2] A new program launched
in Massachusetts will help companies commercialize
technologies developed under [SBIR] by picking up where
Phase II of the program leaves off, providing financial
support, coaching and introductions to potential
investors. The Massachusetts Technology Development
Corporation will initiate the program with $6 million
over the next three years. [SSTI, Mar
28] Nice theory but usually too late since the
agency thought first of its own needs and then leaves the
commercializing for afterwards. The problem is far too
many market-dead companies getting SBIR to do nice
government R&D on just criteria of scientific and
technical merit. If you want good stew, start with good
ingredients. Not to worry though, with an election
coming up, the politicians will see the merits of amny
such investments with glitzy announcements. AbVitro (Boston,
MA, no SBIR,founded in 2010) received $745,000 in equity out of a $3
million offering ... working on a next-generation
antibody discovery platform [Don Seiffert,
Mass High Tech, Apr 2, 12] ChemoCentryx up 10% [Apr 2, 12] Telik down 19% [Apr 2, 12] Mechanical Technology (Latham, NY; 3 SBIRs) reported earnings of $2.4 million in 2011, marking its first annual profit in at least 15 years and a return to the company’s flagship products. [Pam Allen, The Business Review (Albany), Mar 30, 12]The Texas Emerging
Technology Fund has attracted almost $1.3 billion of
outside investment in technology companies and
university research, the fund's director testified
Friday, but he urged the Legislature to prod Texas
colleges to do more in converting research into
businesses. .... He said that the state has
invested $192 million in 133 companies since the fund's
inception in 2005 but that most of the money was
disbursed in 2009 and 2010. [Laylin
Copelin, Austin American Statesman, Mar 30] Theories
abound on state investments in high tech companies,
including those politically connected to the governor or
other politicians, with little economic evaluation of the
results except the easily counted jobs paid for with the
investment. The same theories abound in federal
investments like SBIR. The proponents are the politicians
who can announce a handout and the beneficiaries who like
free money. But then, government have only ever been
good at measuring money spent. Agenus up 13% [Mar 29, 12] Merrimack Pharma down 14% [Mar 29, 12] Illumitex
(Austin, TX; no SBIR, founded in 2005) received $2 million in debt
securities, according to a securities filing. The
company develops and sells high brightness LEDs for the
general lighting market, including residential,
commercial and industrial uses. .... has raised a total
of about $41 million. [Lori Hawkins, Austin
American Statesman, Mar 29, 12] Nearly every CEO and
business leader I speak with says virtually the same
thing: They are hesitant to make major investment
decisions until they know how Washington intends to
grapple with its huge deficits. That uncertainty is a
major drag on job creation because the price of
uncertainty for business is paralysis. Companies with
healthy balance sheets that could be creating jobs are
sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see if the federal
government will begin increasing market stability by
reducing long-term deficits.[Michael Bloomberg,
Wall Street Journal, Mar 29] If you're waiting for
the magic pain-free (for you) solution to the national
debt hole, there is no such solution. When the smoke
clears, everyone will be paying something in lost benefits
and higher taxes. Neurocrine Biosciences down 13% [Mar 27, 12] A123 fell 12%; said it will recall
defective battery packs developed for auto makers that
were made at its Livonia, Mich., plant.
[Wall Street Journal, Mar 26, 12] The U.S. Supreme Court ordered an appeals court to take a new look at a lawsuit challenging Myriad Genetics's (Salt Lake City, UT; one 2000 SBIR) patents on human genes. [Wall Street Journal, Mar 26, 12] FRX Polymers (Chelmsford,
MA; no SBIR) has
signed a long-term lease with Bayer Material Science to
operate its first commercial plant in Antwerp,
Belgium.... Founded in 2007, FRX has 20 granted
patents and 58 patent applications .. The company says
it’s producing at capacity in the current plants.
[Don Seiffert, Mass High Tech, Mar 24, 12] It’s hard to find a better example of how technology is revolutionizing patient care than the tiny edible sensor Proteus Biomedical (Redwood City, CA; no SBIR) plans to begin selling this fall in the UK. When the grain-of-sand-sized sensor is integrated into a drug tablet or capsule and activated by stomach fluid, it signals when the medicine was taken to a patch on the patient’s body. Then the patch relays the information along with the person’s heart rate and other medical details to a caregiver’s phone – all without a visit to the doctor. [Steve Johnson, San Jose Mercury News, Mar 26, 12] Nuventix (Austin,
TX; two 2003 SBIRs as Innovative
Fluidics, Atlanta, GA) said that it has raised an
additional $10 million in investment funds to accelerate
the company's global marketing program and to support
development of a new generation of its SynJet cooling
systems for LED lighting and electronics.
.... total investment capital raised to $52
million since it was founded in 2004 [Kirk
Ladendorf, Austin American Statesman, Mar 23, 12] a closer look at
China's supercomputers reveals a program that is far
less of a threat to U.S. technological dominance than
commonly believed. Chinese researchers say decisions
about how supercomputers are used are often made by
local politicians more interested in local development
projects than breakthrough technology. China's bureaucrats meanwhile
haven't figured out how to mount software
development projects that come close to U.S. or European
standards. Chinese scientists also lack the funding, and
freedom, to explore technologies that haven't already
been endorsed by the government, which can keep them
well behind the cutting edge. [Bob Davis, Wall
Street Journal, Mar 24] Imagine that: politicians
favor local benefits in deciding how government will
"invest". Just like Mississippi Senators deciding
the Navy has to have ships built in Mississippi despite
the Navy saying it doesn't need them. Should we
doubt that Mississippi Senators are not the least schooled
in national maritime strategy? Azelon Pharmaceutical
(West Conshohocken, PA, no SBIR) which formerly operated as Zelos
Therapeutics,
has raised $2.4 million in a private stock sale.
.... plans to use the proceeds to support its
development of a nasal spray formulation of teriparatide
for the treatment of osteoporosis. [John
George, Philadelphia Business Journal, Mar 22, 12] Persimmon Technologies (Wakefield, MA; no SBIR, founded 2010) which provides direct drive vacuum robotics, has received $2 million in equity financing, according the federal documents. ... [company's] website says it is the developer, manufacturer, and distributor of atmospheric and vacuum robotics, vacuum modules, and automation systems for a range of industries, including semiconductor, data storage, LED, OLED, solar and flat panel display equipment markets. Its goal is to be the largest vacuum robotics company serving the semiconductor, LED and solar markets by 2020. [Don Seiffert, Mass High Tech, Mar 21, 12] Pressure BioSciences (South Easton, MA, one SBIR), a 2009 Larta NIH-CAP company focused on the development of novel instruments and solutions to the error prone nature of biological sample preparation, has recently entered in to a distribution agreement with Netherlands-based LA Biosystems BV to market and sell their instruments in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. This follows on the coattails of a collaboration with the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science and international co-marketing and distribution agreements with KeraFAST LLC (USA), Digilab Inc. (USA), OROBOROS (Austria) and IUL Instruments GmbH (Germany). [LARTAVox, Mar 21, 12] Koning (West Henrietta, NY; $6.5M single SBIR) a 2008 Larta NIH-CAP participant, is a leading developer of advanced medical imaging systems which enable the early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer, one of the most common forms of cancer in North America, Europe and China. The company recently announced that they have obtained the CE mark of approval for their Koning Breast CT (KBCT) system, which signals compliance with European Union medical device regulations, allowing it to be marketed and sold throughout the EU and other countries recognizing the CE Mark. [LARTAVox, Mar 21, 12] Intermolecular up 12% [Mar 21, 12] With innovation key to the future of their businesses, two of the world’s largest drug companies are throwing in with Index Ventures to fund startups in the health care field. Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline are forming a $200 million fund with the global venture capital firm to jump-start investing in the biotech field, [Kent Bernhard, portfolio.com, Mar 21] downtown San Jose became the site of her third "Pitchcrawl," as investors hungry to find the next big thing trolled two startup incubators. ... Investors then were armed with kitchen timers as aspiring Larrys, Sergeys and Zucks got three minutes to deliver their pitches. Call it speed-dating for geeks. With 20 investors and roughly twice as many entrepreneurs, the room broke up into a grown-up version of Red Rover: [Peter Delevett, San Jose Mercury News, Mar 21] Don't you wish SBIR could simplify life for wannabes as easily? Imagine a two-page teaser to the topic decider that would elicit a fast estimate that would tell companies whether they had any real chance. The work and expense would drop for both parties in the proposal process. One of my objectives in my public speeches and topic writing was to discourage no-chance proposals by clarifying what we did want - innovation with a future. Icagen is operating under a new name: Neusentis. The Durham biotechnology company became a wholly owned subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer when it was acquired for $56 million at the end of October [David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, Mar 21] Tariff wall helps some, hurts others. . The threat of U.S. tariffs on imported
Chinese solar panels could slow down North Carolina’s
red-hot solar industry, according to those who benefit
from the plummeting costs of solar power.U.S. trade
officials on Tuesday imposed tariffs on Chinese panels
in response to complaints by American solar panel
manufacturers. The modest tariffs are between 2.9
percent and 4.73 percent, about three times lower than
had been feared by some. [John Murawski,
Raleigh News & Observer, Mar 21] The Supreme Court jolted the biotechnology industry with a unanimous ruling that threw out two medical-testing patents and suggested companies need to do more to prove their discoveries are really new. [Kendall, Rockoff, Weaver, Wall Street Journal, Mar 21] Agenus up 19% [Mar 19, 12] Kensey Nash up 23% [Mar 19, 12] Ligand Pharma up 10% [Mar 19, 12] Cellceutix (Beverly, MA; no SBIR) biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing small molecule drugs to treat unmet medical conditions, plans to collaborate with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center on a research project that will explore the potential of a Cellceutix drug candidate for treating certain types of cancer. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Mar 19, 12] Learn nothing, remember nothing. “Too often, investors are the target of fraudulent schemes disguised as investment opportunities,” [said] Mary L. Schapiro, the S.E.C. chairwoman about a Senator's proposal to loosen investment guards in small biz. In the heat of 24/7 campaigns, politicians soon forget any lessons that created the rules about accredited investors, as if they haad been asleep during the Enron and derivatives disasters that proved the ever-present urge to delude people wishing to help small biz and make some money. They should remember the adage that the best way to make a little money in such investing is to start with a lot of money. Meanwhile, the politicians will keep appealing to myths about small biz and jobs despite the pooh-poohing of the myths by serious economists. Cypher Genomics (San Diego, CA; no SBIR, five employees) , a startup developing software programs to help clinicians and researchers more quickly and easily search large genomic databases for information that will help them detect, identify and treat diseases. .... [believes that] the real challenge in the future will be in interpreting changes in DNA sequences between individuals and how they may impact health. [Gary Robbins, utsandiego, Mar 13, 12] [Irish drug developer] Shire agreed to acquire FerroKin BioSciences (San Francisco, CA; one 2010 SBIR) for an upfront payment of $100 million plus potential milestone payments of up to $225 million, depending upon development, regulatory and net sales targets. .... developing a new drug candidate, now known as FBS0701, that is a once-daily oral capsule for the treatment of iron overload due to chronic blood transfusions in adults and children. [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, Mar 16, 12] I had a close relative die recently from complications of undetected excess iron accumulation. ReconRobotics (Edina, MN; no SBIR). has sold more of its throwable robot kits to the U.S. military — this time to the Marine Corps. [Minneapolis / St Paul Business Journal, Mar 13, 12] LED light materials maker Intematix (Fremont, CA; $1.3M SBIR) has raised another $16 million in funding [Lindsey Riddell, San Francisco Business Times, Mar 16, 12] European regulators granted “orphan” status to a potential treatment for Lou Gehrig’s disease developed by Cytokinetics (South San Francisco, CA; $500K SBIR) [San Francisco Business Times, Mar 6, 12] Alas, the entrepreneurial flame is easier to put out than to light or relight. Governments across the world are determined to promote high-growth companies and the other accoutrements of an entrepreneurial society: ... Policymakers have proved inept at promoting enterprise. ... politicians focus on short-term election cycles and tend to junk their predecessors’ policies, good or bad. .... policymakers confuse promoting enterprise with promoting small businesses, regional development or job growth. In fact, serious entrepreneurs want to create big businesses, not multiply small ones. They don’t give a fig about regional development. And they habitually disrupt established patterns of employment rather than simply creating new jobs on top of the old. ... policymakers are obsessed by Silicon Valley. ... Universities everywhere are building high-tech “incubators”. Yet there is little evidence that the model is transferable. Most incubators are a bit like roach motels: would-be entrepreneurs check in but never leave. .... What can they do? The Kauffman group identified several, from the obvious (improving education and transport) to the politically controversial (encouraging immigration) to the technical (making it easier to declare bankruptcy and letting academics make money from ideas they come up with on campus). [The Economist, Mar 17] iRobot is expanding its line of Scooba floor washing Robots. The compact Scooba 230 is being introduced to such markets as Europe, and it was developed to meet the need for a robot that cleans tight spaces, such as in bathrooms and kitchens. The company is also upgrading its iRobot Scooba 390, a floor washing robot designed for bigger jobs. The Scooba 390 has a 30 percent longer battery life than its predecessors. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Mar 15, 12] The U.S. Navy will pay FLIR Systems $10.41 million in a modification to a previous fixed-price contract to exercise an option to buy 14 more of its 380-High Definition surveillance systems. The work will be performed in Afghanistan and Yuma, Ariz. [Mike Francis, The Oregonian, Mar 14, 12] Microvision up 10% [Mar 14, 12] Bonanza rising. the stage is now set for a different kind of robots, one with a sophisticated brain and an unlimited tolerance for menial tasks. ... In the next few years, thousands of "service robots" are expected to enter the health-care sector—picture R2D2 from "Star Wars" carrying a tray of medications or a load of laundry down hospital corridors. ... a potential bonanza for software and application developers to write new programs for them, investors and industry watchers say ... At the forefront of the trend is one of the world's top robotics companies, iRobot which has announced it is making a major move into the health-care sector. [Timothy Hay, Wall Street Journal, Mar 15] As Alabama discovered when it booted out the immigrants, Americans don't like menial jobs. Omeros up 34% [Mar 13, 12] reported positive data from its Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating OMS302 in patients undergoing intraocular lens replacement surgery. [company press release] Kala Pharmaceuticals (Waltham, MA; no SBIR) developer of treatments for such diseases as cystic fibrosis, announced that it raised $6.2 million in additional equity financing. .... added that it has also been awarded two grants from separate divisions of the National Institutes of Health that will advance its cystic fibrosis and ocular disease programs. [Boston Globe, Mar 14, 12] Investors bailed out
(down 45%) on Tranzyme
Pharma (Durham, NC; no SBIR) after the drug-development
company said new test results demonstrated that its most
advanced drug candidate performed no better than a
placebo. [David Ranii, Raleigh News &
Observer, Mar 12, 12] Went public in 2011 to raise
$50M.
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