11/20/09

SS&C Buys TheNextRound

TheNextRound, a Framingham, MA-based startup that makes software for private equity and alternative investors, has been acquired by Windsor, CT-based SS&C Technologies for an undisclosed amount, according to an SS&C announcement today. SS&C makes financial management software for insurance companies, hedge funds, banks and credit unions, real estate companies, and other institutions.

$31.3M for Cambridgesoft

Cambridge, MA-based Cambridgesoft, which makes software for life sciences companies, disclosed in regulatory documents filed November 17 that it has raised $31.3 million in new equity-based financing. Cambridgesoft first announced the funding round (though not the amount) in a November 16 release that named new investor Health Evolution Partners and existing investor Goldman Sachs as the funders in the round.

Brown, IBM Switch On Supercomputer

A new IBM supercomputer opened at Brown University’s Center for Computation and Visualization in Providence, RI, today is 50 times faster than Brown’s next best machine and is the most powerful computer in Rhode Island, according to an announcement from IBM (NYSE: IBM). Researchers at Brown and other institutions intend to use the 1,440-processor machine to model subjects such as the genomes of ocean-going microbes, the mechanics of human and animal movement, and the topography of other planets. Brown ordered the multimillion-dollar supercomputer in June; its exact cost hasn’t been disclosed, but IBM and Brown are calling it “a shared investment.”

11/19/09

ImmunoGen Nabs $1M From Amgen

Waltham, MA-based ImmunoGen (NASDAQ: IMGN) said today that Amgen has purchased a second license to develop a treatment that uses ImmunoGen’s technology for linking targeted antibodies to cell-killing agents that make them more potent. ImmunoGen will get $1 million upfront and could receive $34 million worth of milestone payments over time if Amgen is successful in developing a drug against an undisclosed target on cancer cells. Amgen bought its first such license to the ImmunoGen technology in September.

$5.3M for Corindus

Natick, MA-based Corindus has corralled $5.3 million of a proposed $10 million round of equity financing, according to an SEC filing. The firm is developing a robotic system that helps surgeons control the position of guidewires in veins in procedures to implant vascular stents, according to the firm’s LinkedIn profile. A call to company CEO David Handler was not immediately returned today, and it’s not stated in the SEC filing who participated in the financing. Prior to this financing, the firm raised $12.8 million in a Series B financing in spring 2008, according to a story I wrote about the deal for Mass High Tech.

Ligon Discovery Seeded with $1M

Ligon Discovery reported today on its website that it has raised $1 milllion in seed financing from incTANK Ventures. The Cambridge, MA-based startup says it uses a small molecule microarray system developed at Harvard University to discover drugs, and the drug-discovery technology has already been put to work at the Broad Institute. The company founders include Benjamin Ebert of Harvard Medical School, Angela Koehler of the Broad Institute, and company CEO Patrick Kleyn, who was previously director of scientific planning at the Broad. As part of the financing, IncTank Ventures general partner Christian Bailey is joining the board of directors at Ligon, according to the company.

New Partner at Braemar Energy Ventures

Braemar Energy Ventures, a venture firm focused on investments in the cleantech sector, has named Jiong Ma a partner of the firm, according to a Mass High Tech report. She was previously a principal at the firm, which has offices in Boston and New York City, according to its website. Braemar’s portfolio includes such Boston-area cleantech companies as A123 Systems (NASDAQ:AONE), EnerNOC (Nasdaq:ENOC), and Verenium (NASDAQ:VRNM).

11/16/09

Report: SEC Probing 3Com for Potential Insider Trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether a surge in call option trading on 3Com shares just hours before the announcement that Hewlett-Packard would take over the Marlborough, MA-based networking equipment maker for $2.7 billion was a result of insider knowledge of the deal, Bloomberg and other outlets are reporting today. Trading in call options—which guarantee the right to acquire a stock at a certain price—hit a 26-month high on November 11, just before the after-hours announcement of the acquisition. That “screams insider trading to the SEC,” Wayne State University law professor and former SEC attorney Peter Henning told Bloomberg, whose report was based on information from an unnamed source inside the agency.

$875K for Swipely

Swipely, a Providence, RI-based startup that was quietly launched earlier this year, has raised $875,000 of a planned $1 million equity financing, according to an SEC document filed last week. Angus Davis—a co-founder of the voice-based Internet search and services provider Tellme Networks, which was sold to Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and became a subsidiary of the Redmond, WA-based software giant in 2007—is listed as an executive and director of the startup. Davis told Mass High Tech in a story this morning that First Round Capital, of Philadelphia and San Francisco, led the financing in Swipely. He declined to describte to MHT, or when reached by phone this afternoon, what his startup is doing.

Alkermes to Seek FDA Approval of Anti-Addiction Drug

Cambridge,MA-based biotech Alkermes said this morning that its long-acting naltrexone injection (Vivitrol) was more effective in treating opioid drug dependence than placebo in a Phase III clinical trial. The 250-patient clinical trial compared urine samples of patients who took the firm’s once-per-month injection of naltrexone versus those who took placebo over the last 20 weeks of a 24-week treatment period. Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) said that it plans to file an application with the FDA for approval of its drug for treating opioid dependence in the first half of 2010. The FDA approved the drug for treating alcohol dependence in 2006.

11/12/09

Skyhook Boosts Nokia Maps

Boston-based Skyhook Wireless is expected to announce next week that it’s releasing an application for Nokia smartphones that will give owners a far faster and more accurate fix on their locations. Skyhook’s $2.99 Maps Booster works on any Symbian S60 handset and will be available starting next week through Nokia’s Ovi app store; it replaces the Symbian operating system’s built-in location-finding platform with Skyhook’s software, which then feeds location data directly to other location-aware apps such as Google Maps. The company says it created the program because Nokia phones are notorious for their slow performance in GPS mode. “With such high price tags, we think all features of Nokia smartphones should work perfectly,” Kate Imbach, Skyhook’s director of marketing and developer programs, said in a statement. “Maps Booster, finally, will make the location on any Nokia S60 device work just as well as location on the iPhone.”

Cequent Seeks First Oral RNAi Trial

Cequent Pharmaceuticals, the Cambridge, MA-based developer of RNA interference drug technology, said today it has filed an application with the FDA to begin the first clinical trial of an orally-delivered RNAi treatment. Cequent is seeking to test its drug, CEQ508, at a variety of doses in 18 patients with polyps that lead to colon cancer (familial adenomatous polyposis). Cequent hopes to get the trial underway before the end of March, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

Highland Closes $400M Fund

Highland Capital Partners of Lexington, MA, said today that it has closed its eighth venture fund, the $400 million Highland Capital Partners VIII Limited Partnership. “We are pleased to raise a fund in this challenging environment,” Highland general partner Bob Higgins said in the firm’s announcement. PE Hub’s Dan Primack has a deeper look at the long-delayed closing of this fund, which is just half the size of Highland’s $800 million seventh fund, reflecting the recession-ravaged fortunes of the limited partners who back VC firms. Higgins told Primack that Highland anticipates making fewer and smaller investments from the new fund—but that it doesn’t expect to shrink its partnership (in fact, it’s considering hiring up to three new partners).

11/10/09

Vertex Turns $109M Debt Into Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals, the Cambridge, MA-based developer of treatments for hepatitis C, said today that investors who hold about $109 million worth of debt securities have converted those holdings into equity stakes. The deal doesn’t leave Vertex debt free, because the company still has to pay back $35 million in principal, at a 4.75 percent interest rate, in 2013. The debtholders who are accepting stock will now get 4.8 million shares of Vertex (NASDAQ: VRTX). The company’s shares have more than doubled in value to $40.69 at today’s close, compared with the 52-week low of $19.87.

Life Technologies Acquiring BioTrove

Life Technologies (NASDAQ: LIFE), the Carlsbad, CA-based provider of biotech instruments and lab supplies, says it has agreed to acquire Woburn, MA-based BioTrove, which has developed a high throughput gene expression and genotyping analysis system. BioTrove, which withdrew plans to raise $75 million in an IPO last year, says the flexible array format of its OpenArray technology enables researchers to perform more than 3,000 PCR or qPCR gene expression assays at a time. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Hamilton Thorne Raises $2.2M

Beverly, MA-based Hamilton Thorne, which makes laser equipment used in stem-cell research labs and fertility clinics, has raised $2.2 million in a private stock placement and debt conversion deal, according to an announcement released last week. A the same time, the company, which recently completed a merger with Ottawa, Ontario-based Calotto Capital, will soon be listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, a Canadian stock exchanged headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Meg Spencer, Hamilton Thorne’s CEO, said in a press release that joining the TSX will give the company—which had previously raised about $13 million in venture backing from Brook Venture Partners and StarLake Capital—access to “a larger pool of capital to further advance our commercialization strategy.”

11/09/09

Helicos Takes Itself Off Block

Helicos Biosciences (NASDAQ: HLCS) said today that it has decided to call off discussions that could lead to a sale of the company, because of its “improving standalone prospects and its current market valuation.” The Cambridge, MA-based company hired Thomas Weisel Partners consider strategic alternatives earlier this year, and will continue to work with the investment bank on long term financial strategy. Helicos said it had $11.5 million in cash and investments on hand at the end of September, down from $19.7 million at the start of the year, according to its quarterly financial report. The company’s market value was about $132 million at today’s close.

Founder Collective Debuts with $40M

The new Somerville, MA-based venture fund Founder Collective made a public debut today in a blog post by founder Chris Dixon, the CEO and co-founder of New York-based Hunch. Joining Dixon in the collective are serial entrepreneurs Eric Paley (Brontes Technologies), Dave Frankel (Internet Solutions), Mark Gerson (Gerson Lehrman Group), Zach Klein (Vimeo), Bill Trenchard (LiveOps), and Micah Rosenbloom (Brontes). Xconomy reported in June that the firm had obtained investments and commitments totaling about $30 million; according to Dixon’s post, that number is now $40 million. That’s small for a venture fund, but Founder Collective intends to help New York- and Cambridge-based startups with seed funding only. “Hence our interests and the founders’ interests are aligned,” Dixon writes. “This also means we are happy with smaller exits if that’s what the entrepreneur wants to do.”

Litl Webbook Ships Today

The Litl Webbook, a new home media computer unveiled by Boston-based Litl last week, officially ships to buyers starting today. The $699 device, which is available from Amazon and directly from Litl’s website, has already attracted a wide range of reactions, from Netbook Choice’s “intriguing” to Engadget’s “unbelievably overpriced.” Xconomy was the first to cover Litl’s destealthing last week.

11/06/09

LogMeIn Stockholders To Cash In

Woburn, MA-based remote control software company LogMeIn (NASDAQ: LOGM), which went public in July, said today that early investors plan to sell 2.9 million of their shares in a secondary public offering. At this afternoon’s share price of around $19.35, that would bring the stockholders some $56.1 million. Venture backers Prism VentureWorks and Polaris Venture Partners are among LogMeIn’s largest shareholders. LogMeIn said it will also sell 100,000 company-owned shares in the offering.