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• Cancer Patient Can Use Newton Firm’s Drug, FDA Says

  Pro-Pharmaceuticals of Newton, MA, announced today that it got the go-ahead from the FDA to treat one breast cancer patient with its lead drug candidate, Davanat. The drug, a carbohydrate polymer... Read more »

• BladeLogic Scores Big, EMC Gets Another Crack at Iomega, Luminus Closes a Large Round, & More Deals News

  The word of the week for Boston-area deal-making was acquisition. You’ll see what I mean.

  —Data-center-automation firm BladeLogic (NASDAQ: BLOG) of Lexington, MA, scored an impressive $800 million in a... Read more »

• Alkermes Cuts Jobs After Lilly Deal Ends

  A week and a half after learning that Eli Lilly was ending a joint project to develop inhaled insulin, Alkermes (NASDAQ: ALKS) is cutting some 150 jobs and closing a... Read more »

• RXi’s Debut, Sirtris’ Surprising Deal, Hydra’s Big Financing Round, & More of the Last Week in Life Sciences

  The past week finally saw a life sciences firm debut on the stock market (although it was a spin-off rather than an IPO). That and more news below.

  —RXi Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:... Read more »

• Bristol-Myers Squibb Unit Now Independent

  The diagnostics business unit formerly known as Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging is now an independent firm called Lantheus Medical Imaging, the N. Billerica, MA–based company announced today. The news follows the... Read more »

• Exact Sciences Puts Itself on the Block After Investor’s Prodding

  Looks like Carl Icahn isn’t the only activist investor yanking local life sciences firms’ chains these days. Just a few weeks after a California fund manager called for a sale of... Read more »

• IT Acquisitions All Around: BladeLogic, Teragram, and Maybe Even Iomega?

  Looks like somebody misread the memo about Evacuation Day and decided yesterday was Acquisition Day here in the greater Boston area. (Although Axcelis Technologies made no such mistake.)

  First, there... Read more »

• Luminus Devices Aglow With $72 Million in New Financing

  When these guys say they’re looking to expand they ain’t kidding. Luminus Devices of Billerica, MA, said a few months ago that it was working to build its LED business beyond... Read more »

• GreenFuel Strikes A Deal, Sirtris Teams with Bayer on Crops, Salient Files for an IPO, & More Deals News

  A new IPO filing, a few solid venture financings, and a decent assortment of new partnerships… Dare we call it an uptick it dealmaking? You be the judge.

  —GreenFuel Technologies, a... Read more »

• Diomed Files for Bankruptcy, Plans Sale

  Minimally invasive medicine firm Diomed (AMEX: DIO) of Andover, MA, has filed for bankruptcy, the company announced today. The firm intends to sell some of its operating assets for between... Read more »

• Hydra Biosciences Feeling No Pain, Thanks to $34 Million From Advanced Technology Ventures And Others

  Cambridge, MA-based Hydra Biosciences has closed a $34 million Series C funding round, the company said today. The round, led by Advanced Technology Ventures and joined by Polaris Venture Partners, BioVentures... Read more »

• Mello RNAi Firm RXi Pharmaceuticals Has Wild Ride on First Day of Trading

  Shares of Worcester, MA-based RXi Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RXII) hopped on a bit of a roller coaster this morning when the company—which was spun out of Los Angeles’ CytRx to develop... Read more »

• Exact Sciences Makes the List, Curis and Alkermes Get Dropped, Patent Reform Sparks Debate, & More Life Sciences News

  Well, it’s our second installment of Life Sciences Wednesday, and once again the week has seen a relative dearth of financings and stock offerings. Still plenty of news to report from... Read more »

• Sumitomo Ups Axcelis Offer

  After rejecting an unsolicited $5.20 per share takeover offer from Sumitomo Heavy Industries (and getting sued by shareholders for failing to negotiate with the Japanese firm), semiconductor manufacturer Axcelis (NASDAQ: ACLS... Read more »

• Curis, Alkermes Down on News of Failed Pharma Partnerships

  Shares of two Boston-area biotechs are down today after separately losing large agreements with pharmaceutical partners.

  Curis (NASDAQ: CRIS) is looking for a new partner, the Cambridge, MA-based drug developer... Read more »

• A123Systems, GE, and Norwegian Carmaker Join Forces, TNS Commits to Compete, Bottomline Buys Optio, & More

  Last week was a little on the quiet side, deals-wise. Here’s what we’ve got:

  —Online community management firm Mzinga of Burlington, MA, raised $32.5 million in new venture financing and acquired... Read more »

• Exact’s Colon Cancer Test Included in Medical Organization Recommendations

  Exact Sciences (NASDAQ: EXAS) got some long-awaited good news yesterday afternoon when the American Cancer Society unveiled new colorectal cancer screening guidelines that recommend, among other things, the use of... Read more »

• Luminus Strikes Another Distribution Deal

  Luminus Devices of Billerica, MA, has struck another deal for the distribution of its “PhlatLight” super-bright LED technology, the company announced today. Under the agreement, Toyota Tsusho America, will distribute and... Read more »

• Biogen’s Busy Week, Alnylam’s Big Announcement, Targanta’s and Momenta’s Growing Executive Ranks, & More Life Sciences News

  Regular readers of Xconomy will have noticed that for a while now we’ve been doing (almost) regular roundups of the previous week’s news, focusing on financings, M&A, and other deals. But... Read more »

• Boston, Home of E-Commerce

  For your afternoon viewing pleasure, may I commend to you the following video from Alex Randall, co-founder of the Boston Computer Exchange.

  To commemorate what he says is the 25th anniversary... Read more »