December 2nd, 2019 Xconomy San Diego — Neurocrine Biosciences is paying $30 million cash and taking a $20 million equity stake in Xenon Pharmaceuticals to license a clinical-stage epilepsy drug and collaborate on other potential treatments for the seizure-causing brain disorder. The Xenon (NASDAQ: XENE) deal is the second one San Diego-based Neurocrine has struck… Continue reading Neurocrine Inks $50M Xenon Pharma Deal to Expand Into Epilepsy
Author: Xconomy Online News
Alnylam Gets Quick FDA OK for Second RNAi Rare Disease Drug
November 20th, 2019 Xconomy Boston — [Updated 11/21/19, 10:05 a.m. See below.] An Alnylam Pharmaceuticals drug developed to treat a rare, inherited metabolic disorder won FDA approval on Wednesday, the second regulatory nod the company has received for a drug that turns off a gene to prevent it from causing disease. The FDA approved the… Continue reading Alnylam Gets Quick FDA OK for Second RNAi Rare Disease Drug
Underdog Launches With $4M to Target “Toxic” Form of Cholesterol
November 18th, 2019 Xconomy San Francisco — Underdog Pharmaceuticals has launched with nearly $4 million in seed funding to develop treatments for atherosclerosis, a progressive condition in which arteries become clogged with substances such as fats and cholesterol, which restricts blood flow. Based in Mountain View, CA, Underdog is a spinout of the nonprofit SENS… Continue reading Underdog Launches With $4M to Target “Toxic” Form of Cholesterol
Carnegie Mellon, Argo AI Form $15M Self-Driving Car Research Center
Carnegie Mellon University this week announced a five-year research partnership with Argo AI that will focus on advanced perception and decision-making algorithms for autonomous vehicles (AVs). Argo AI, a Pittsburgh-based self-driving car startup whose majority investor is Ford (NYSE: F), is spending $15 million to fund the effort, which will be called the Carnegie Mellon… Continue reading Carnegie Mellon, Argo AI Form $15M Self-Driving Car Research Center
PlanetM Awards New Grants to Advance Mobility Pilots in Michigan
PlanetM, the state of Michigan-backed business development organization, has announced a new batch of grants that aim to entice mobility startups and corporations to pilot their innovations in Michigan, or test and validate their technology at one of Michigan’s proving grounds. PlanetM has awarded a total of $440,000 in grants to five companies. The startups… Continue reading PlanetM Awards New Grants to Advance Mobility Pilots in Michigan
C-Motive Powers Up With $2M to Launch Reimagined Electric Motor
C-Motive Technologies, a small startup in Madison, WI, wants to overhaul the electric motors that power electric vehicles, assembly-line robots, aircraft propellers, and other machines. Now, investors are betting on the company’s vision. This week, C-Motive announced it closed a $2 million investment led by Prime Impact Fund, a Boston-area fund that invests philanthropic dollars… Continue reading C-Motive Powers Up With $2M to Launch Reimagined Electric Motor
MEDC Leader Details Michigan’s Road to the Waymo AV Factory Deal
This week, Michigan’s economic development office notched a win when it announced that Waymo, Google’s mobility arm, had chosen the Great Lakes State as the location for a new manufacturing operation. According to a press release from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), Waymo will invest $13.6 million in a factory that will integrate Waymo’s… Continue reading MEDC Leader Details Michigan’s Road to the Waymo AV Factory Deal
With New Cash and Facilities, Phoenix Transitions Out Of Startup Mode
It’s often not obvious precisely when an early-stage business reaches the point where it outgrows the “startup” label. Case in point: Madison, WI-based Phoenix, which sells neutron generators and provides image-reading services to organizations in industries ranging from healthcare to renewable energy to aerospace and defense. “From a cultural standpoint, everybody’s starting to feel the… Continue reading With New Cash and Facilities, Phoenix Transitions Out Of Startup Mode
Pivot to Software: Drone Maker CyPhy Rebrands, Seeks Airborne A.I.
January 15th, 2019 Xconomy Boston — The hardware business isn’t cutting it for CyPhy Works, a maker of tethered drones for everything from military uses to disaster response and the oil and gas industry. Today, the drone company announced a pivot to software—and a rebranding to Aria Insights. (The name comes from the word for… Continue reading Pivot to Software: Drone Maker CyPhy Rebrands, Seeks Airborne A.I.
Smartsheet Buys TernPro, Seattle Developer of Collaboration Tools
Smartsheet, a Bellevue, WA-based company that develops collaborative software allowing users to track projects and manage company processes, announced Tuesday it has acquired Seattle-based TernPro, whose flagship product Slope lets customers mark up documents, images, videos, and other media before releasing them to a wider audience. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Smartsheet’s… Continue reading Smartsheet Buys TernPro, Seattle Developer of Collaboration Tools