Exact Teams With Genzyme, Shrugs off Sequenom; Virtual Computer Reels in $15M; Beacon Power Inks National Grid Agreement; & More Boston-Area Deal News

Rebecca Zacks1/30/09Comments (1)

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of its software for tracking commission-based compensation for sales representatives through the Salesforce AppExchange.

—Auditing software provider Lumigent of Acton, MA, secured $6 million in new funding from North Bridge Venture Partners. The 9-year-old firm has refocused its efforts on helping companies lower the cost of complying with financial regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley.

—Lexington, MA-based Cubist Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CBST) agreed to pay Cambridge, MA-based Forma Therapeutics up to $14 million over the next three years to discover potential antibiotics to treat infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Forma could also get up to $54 million in milestone payments out of the deal.

—Waltham, MA-based database virtualization firm Xkoto raised $3 million from existing investors GrandBanks Capital and GrowthWorks Canadian Fund, which means the four-year-old firm has raised $13 million in total venture funding to date.

—Beacon Power (NASDAQ: BCON), the Tyngsboro, MA-based developer of flywheel-based energy storage systems, inked an information-sharing agreement with National Grid (NYSE: NGG). The deal gives the UK-based utility access to technical information that could help it decide whether to use Beacon Power’s technology to offset variations in the power available from wind farms.

—Lexington, MA-based NitroMed (NASDAQ:NTMD), agreed to a 80-cent-per share buyout offer from investment firm Deerfield Management. The deal, which requires shareholder approval, puts an end to NitroMed’s earlier agreement to sell its heart-failure drug BiDil to specialty drugmaker JHP Pharmaceuticals and its planned merger with privately held Archemix of Cambridge, MA.

—WordStream, a Boston-based search engine marketing (SEM) company, raised $4 million in venture funding from Boston-based Sigma Partners. Wade profiled the startup’s low-cost approach to SEM.

—Anti-obesity drug developer Zafgen of Cambridge, MA, forged an alliance with Harlow, UK-based contract research firm Argenta Discovery; the UK firm will help Zafgen develop one of its drugs, which are designed to fight fat by choking off its blood supply.

—TheraGenetics, a diagnostics firm headquartered in Cambridge, MA, and London, agreed to be bought by UK-based Avacta Group for an undisclosed amount of cash and stock.