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• Northstar Neuroscience Clinical & Regulatory Head Resigns

  Northstar Neuroscience, the Seattle-based maker of a electrical brain stimulation device for depression, said today that Nawzer Mehta has resigned his job as vice president of clinical and regulatory affairs to... Read more »

• Biogen Idec, Elan Start First Cancer Trial With Tysabri

  Cambridge, MA-based Biogen Idec and its Irish partner, Elan, said today they have started the first clinical trial of Tysabri as a cancer treatment. Tysabri, approved for multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s... Read more »

• Pathway Medical, With FDA Clearance in Hand, Starts Selling Device for Wiping Out Blockages in Leg Arteries

  Pathway Medical Technologies is in the marketing game for real now. The Kirkland, WA-based company has started selling its Jetstream device for clearing out fatty blockages in leg arteries, after winning... Read more »

• Alnylam Sees Opportunity in Turning Genes On, And Off

  A lot has been written about how Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, and plenty of other companies, see a gold mine in turning off problem genes through drugs based on the biological phenomenon called... Read more »

• Gates Foundation Calls for Proposals to Solve Global Health “Grand Challenges”

  The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest charitable organization, said it is accepting grant proposals for the second round of its five-year, $100 million initiative to try unconventional approaches... Read more »

• Acucela Strikes Deal With Otsuka Pharmaceutical to Develop Drug for Eye Disease

  Acucela has struck another big deal with its Japanese connections. The Bothell, WA-based biotech company said today it has agreed to form a partnership with Tokyo-based Otsuka Pharmaceutical to develop its... Read more »

• Massachusetts Housing and Economic Development Department Opening Beijing Office

  The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Economic Development is opening a new office in Beijing, the agency said today in a statement. The office, led by Daniel Ding, will maintain a... Read more »

• ZymoGenetics Hands Over Atacicept Rights to Partner, Merck KGaA

  ZymoGenetics is making a sacrifice to conserve cash. The Seattle biotech company (NASDAQ: ZGEN) said today it has agreed to hand over atacicept—its leading drug candidate for autoimmune diseases like... Read more »

• Oncothyreon To Sell Stock, Bet Resources on Developing Two Cancer Drugs

  Oncothyreon, a Seattle biotech company developing drugs against cancer, said today it is planning to sell 5.1 million more shares of stock in the second week of September to raise cash... Read more »

• Targanta Antibiotic Shown Effective in Less-Frequent Dose

  Targanta Therapeutics, the Cambridge,MA-based developer of potent hospital-based antibiotics, is on the rise today. The company’s oritavancin treatment, in a single dose or an infrequent dose, showed comparable safety and effectiveness... Read more »

• Hepregen Raises $3 Million To Screen Drugs for Liver Damage

  Hepregen, an MIT spinoff company developing a way to screen drugs in development for liver toxicity, has raised $3 million out of a $5 million first round of venture capital, according... Read more »

• ZymoGenetics, Bayer Drug Vying for European Regulatory Approval

  ZymoGenetics is going to try to crack the European pharmaceutical market. The Seattle biotech company (NASDAQ: ZGEN) said today that its partner, Bayer, has filed an application with the European... Read more »

• Idera Receives Milestone Payment from Novartis For Asthma and Allergy Collaboration

  Idera Pharmaceuticals, the Cambridge, MA-based developer of treatments for autoimmune and infectious diseases, said today it has received an undisclosed milestone payment from drug giant Novartis. Idera (NASDAQ: IDPH) received... Read more »

• Ikaria Developing Drug For “Hibernation-on-Demand,” Could Pull Off Biggest Biotech IPO Ever, VC Says

  Hibernation-on-demand is one of those enduring concepts of science fiction. If you can slow down breathing, heartbeat, and other metabolic functions without going too far and suffocating people, you could possibly... Read more »

• Ariad Pharmaceuticals Edging Toward Becoming a Commercial Cancer Drug Company

  Investors may not be in the mood to hear it when most portfolios are in the gutter, but life goes on during downturns at smallcap biotechs. One example is Cambridge, MA-based... Read more »

• Boston Scientific Gets Damages Reduced in Patent Case with Medtronic

  Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) said today it scored a victory with a U.S. District Court in Texas. A jury had previously determined the Natick, MA-based medical device company violated Medtronic’s... Read more »

• ZymoGenetics Sells Land for $11.5 Million

  ZymoGenetics, the Seattle biotech company that markets Recothrom for surgical bleeding, said today in a regulatory filing that it has sold a parcel of lake near its headquarters on Eastlake Avenue... Read more »

• Impel NeuroPharma Develops Novel Delivery System to Get Drugs Into the Brain

  Lots of drugs struggle to get into the brain. John Hoekman, the co-founder and chief scientific officer of a new University of Washington spinoff company called Impel Neuropharma, thinks he has... Read more »

• Quanterix Developing Instrument to Detect Cancer at its Earliest, Most Curable Stages

  Quanterix made the news this week when it raised the second half of a $15 million financing round from Arch Venture Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, and Flagship Ventures. The Cambridge, MA-based... Read more »

• SonoSite Marketing Boss Resigns to Take Job at Smith & Nephew

  Sonosite, the Bothell, WA-based maker of portable ultrasound machines, said today that Thomas Dugan, its senior vice president of global marketing and U.S. sales, is resigning as of Sept. 11. He... Read more »