New England saw a flurry of life sciences news this week, from venture firms, new startups, and established biotechs.

—Boston-based Avila Therapeutics presented data at the American Society of Hematology from early human trials of its lead cancer drug, AVL-292, which is on track to enter more extensive Phase 2 trials next year. This compound, a so-called covalent drug that bonds tightly to disease-causing proteins to shut down their activity over time, is targeting cancers such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

—Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALNY) could be onto something in the field of RNA interference, a technology that has fallen out of favor in the industry, my colleague Luke wrote. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech reported at a scientific meeting last month that one of its experimental RNAi drugs was able to shut down production of a protein that causes a rare and deadly disease called TTR amyloidosis.

—ImmusanT, a new startup working on therapies for celiac disease, inked a $20 million Series A financing from Vatera Healthcare Partners. The Cambridge-based company is developing a vaccine and a diagnostic and monitoring test for the condition, which renders the protein gluten toxic in the body.

—Newton, MA-based AesRx kicked off human trials of its lead drug Aes-103, a treatment for sickle cell disease. A partnership formed with the National Institutes of Health helped the company get this far, after it struggled to raise venture funding.

—Boston-based Ember Therapeutics raised $34 million from Third Rock Ventures to develop drugs that fight obesity by burning off … Next Page »

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Cambridge, MA-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals was one of the stars of the show at a recent blood cancer meeting, and now it’s striking while the iron is hot to raise more than $200 million in new cash.

Ariad (NASDAQ: ARIA) said today it has agreed to sell 21.5 million new shares of common stock at $10.42 apiece, meaning it will pull in gross proceeds of at least $224 million from the new offering. The company also granted its underwriters a 30-day option to purchase another 3.2 million shares.

J.P. Morgan, Cowen & Co., Jefferies & Co., are acting as joint book-running managers and underwriters for the offering while BMO Capital Markets, Leerink Swann, Oppenheimer & Co., and Rodman & Renshaw are acting as co-managers for the offering.

Ariad captured attention from investors in the past week at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Diego, where it presented clinical trial data for ponatinib, its experimental treatment for certain types of chronic myeloid leukemia. We wrote about the data in an ASH preview story last month. Ariad also has another cancer drug in the works, ridaforolimus, which is in late-stage development under a collaboration with Merck.

The Ariad leukemia drug, ponatinib, is designed specifically to work for patients who don’t respond to the standard imatinib (Gleevec) treatment from Novartis. Data presented at the ASH meeting showed that patients with the T315i mutation responded well to the new therapy. The Novartis drug, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is well-established as the standard of care in chronic myeloid leukemia, but investors are betting there is room for more entrants in this market. Patients with the T315i mutation don’t respond to the existing therapy.

“Thinking about this from a commercial standpoint, CML currently represents a greater than $5B market opportunity, and it’s estimated that 10-15% of patients harbor a T315i mutation,”  said Cory Kasimov, an analyst with JP Morgan, in a note to clients on Dec. 12. “Thus, that segment of the market alone represents at least a $500-$750M opportunity for ponatinib, and that does not even begin to include other low hanging fruit (patients refractory to 2-3 prior tyrosine kinase inhibitors) or future expansion opportunities (into earlier lines of therapy).”

Ariad had about $86 million in cash and investments in the bank as of Sept. 30, according to its most recent quarterly report. Ariad stock climbed 3 percent today to $10.75 at 9:57 am Eastern time.

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New England area biotechs had news this week on stock price, clinical data, new financings, and more.

—AMAG Pharmaceuticals of Lexington, MA, saw its stock shoot up 18 percent to $16.21 on Monday after announcing its CEO Brian Pereira’s departure and its plans for reducing operating expenses. AMAG (NASDAQ: AMAG) has struggled in transitioning from a diagnostic-imaging product maker to a drug developer, with its shareholders recently voting down a plan to merge with Allos Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ALTH).

—An early analysis of a pivotal study of Cambridge, MA-based Ariad Pharmaceutical’s experimental drug ponatinib showed the treatment may be safer than it was originally thought to be. A previous trial of the drug showed that about 12 percent of patients developed an adverse event known as pancreatitis, but Ariad (NASDAQ: ARIA) lowered the dose for the second trial and the rate of pancreatitis decreased to 3.7 percent of patients.

—Lebabon, NH-based PharmaSecure inked a $3.9 million investment late last month to put towards its technology for more cheaply preventing the sale of counterfeit drugs in markets like India. The money came from Innovation Endeavors—the fund led by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt—as well as Gray Ghost Ventures, Healthtech Capital, and TEEC Angel Fund.

—Cambridge-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) saw its stock drop 17 percent over two days after other biotechs developing rival hepatitis C drugs shared promising data at the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) annual meeting in San Francisco this week.

—Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, a Boston startup developing experimental obesity and diabetes treatments, hired Keith Gottesdiener, a veteran of the pharmaceutical giant Merck, as its new CEO.

—Dusa Pharmaceuticals plans to begin Phase 2 clinical testing later this month of its drug-device combination for preventing the recurrence of pre-cancerous skin growths known as actinic keratoses (AK). The company has sold the treatment, Levulan Kerastick, as a method for removing existing growths, but dermatologists have reported success preventing their recurrence by applying the product for longer than initially directed. Wilmington, Ma-based Dusa (NASDAQ: DUSA) is seeking FDA approval to market the product for that purpose.

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Ariad Pharmaceuticals CEO Harvey Berger has been fielding questions from investors for months about how much toxicity his company’s experimental cancer drug might be causing to the pancreas. The final verdict isn’t in yet, but an interim analysis being released today suggests the drug is safer than most thought it would be.

The preliminary results come from a pivotal study known as PACE, which is projected to enroll 450 leukemia patients on ponatinib, a drug candidate from Cambridge, MA-based Ariad (NASDAQ: ARIA). A previous trial showed that about 12 percent of patients on the Ariad drug developed a serious adverse event known as pancreatitis, when they got doses that ranged as high as 60 milligrams once a day. But Ariad chose to lower the dose for the pivotal study to 45 milligrams once daily, and it has reduced the rate of pancreatitis to 15 cases out of 403 patients (3.7 percent), according to data being posted today on the American Society of Hematology (ASH) website. The findings are based on about two months of follow-up data, and more updated information will be presented at the ASH conference next month in San Diego.

“The most common question I get about this drug is safety with pancreatitis, and this data should put that issue completely to rest,” Berger says. He added that no patients dropped out of the study because of pancreatitis, and that the condition these patients have developed is mild and treatable with fluids.

“It’s completely a non-event,” he says.

Analysts will be combing through this data carefully today, because much of Ariad’s value is based on this drug, which is being positioned for FDA approval just behind its lead drug candidate for bone cancer. The second Ariad product is seeking to treat patients with chronic myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia that overexpresses what’s known as the Philadelphia chromosome.

Harvey Berger

Novartis has two drugs in this category, including imatinib (Gleevec), the dominant player in the market with $3 billion in worldwide sales, and Bristol-Myers Squibb has a rival product dasatinib (Sprycel). But Ariad is betting that there will be room in the market for its molecule, too. The Ariad drug is designed to block a broader number of variations on the key biological target, BCR-ABL, than the existing drugs do. The hope is that should enable Ariad to treat patients who eventually relapse on the other therapies, and the 10-15 percent of patients who don’t respond at all to existing drugs because they have a mutation known as T315i.

By going after patients who resist existing treatments, and those with the T315i mutation, Ariad’s drug could generate more than $500 million a year in sales, according to JP Morgan analyst Cory Kasimov, in a note to clients on Nov. 1.

The remaining data on safety were consistent with other drugs in this class, Berger says. Researchers are reporting that 15 percent of patients had moderate-to-severe … Next Page »

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This week’s New England life sciences news was dominated by area drugmakers.

—Healthcare companies accounted for more than 75 percent of the $156.5 million brought in by Massachusetts startup companies in August, according to CB Insights FundingFlash. The overall monthly funding total has been shrinking since June, though.

–Cambridge, MA-based prostate cancer drug developer Tokai Pharmaceuticals wrapped up $23 million in Series D financing, bringing its total funding pot to $57 million. The new money comes from existing Tokai backers Novartis Venture Fund, Apple Tree Partners, and angel investors, and will go to Tokai’s drug galeterone (TOK-001), as it moves into the second of three phases of trials required for FDA approval.

—Eleven Biotherapeutics, a Cambridge-based developer of protein drugs, announced it was bringing on biotech veteran Abbie Celniker as its new CEO. Celniker, who has held roles at Novartis, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Wyeth, Genentech, and most recently, Taligen Therapeutics, says she expects Eleven to enter its first clinical trial by the second half of 2012, for a drug candidate that’s being developed as a treatment for dry eye and other topical inflammatory conditions like allergies or pink eye (conjunctivitis).

—Cambridge-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) moved into a human clinical trial with its third cancer drug, AP26113, a treatment for patients with solid tumors, particularly non-small cell lung cancer. The initial phase of the trial, which is designed to help Ariad determine dosage and tolerability of the drug, will involve 30 to 50 patients.

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Yesterday Cambridge, MA-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) began dosing patients in a trial of its third cancer drug, which the company believes may pack a double punch against the disease. The medicine, AP26113, inhibits two genetic targets found in some patients with solid tumors, particularly non-small cell lung cancer. The initial phase of the trial will include 30 to 50 patients, and is designed to help the company define the proper dose and measure tolerability. Ariad expects to begin the second phase of the trial in 2012.

AP26113 blocks overactive expression of both anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), two of the hottest targets in oncology drug development. Pfizer’s recently approved crizotinib (Xalkori) targets ALK, while Genetech’s hit drug erlotinib (Tarceva) inhibits EGFR. Ariad’s CEO Harvey Berger believes his company has a chance to come in with a best-in-class competitor. “It’s really two drugs in one,” he says of AP26113.

Ariad’s scientists designed the drug to inhibit not just ALK and EGFR, but also mutations of those genes that cause patients to become resistant to other targeted drugs. For example, Ariad’s drug may help patients who stop responding to crizotinib because they have a mutation that, in essence, shields their tumor from the drug. “Crizotinib is a breakthrough drug,” Berger says. “But it has incredible limitations. Every patient eventually fails. We believe one of the major reasons for that progression is the development of resistant mutants.”

In the second phase of the trial, Ariad plans to test the drug in lung cancer patients whose tumors are positive for ALK or EGFR and who have shown resistance to at least one marketed drug that targets those factors. The trial will also include patients with ALK-positive cancers who have not yet taken other drugs in that class, as well as patients with other solid tumors that are known to express ALK. Genetic testing, therefore, will be an essential component of the development plan for AP26113.

The progress of AP26113 is only adding to investor excitement over Ariad’s recent achievements. In May, Ariad and Merck (NYSE: MRK) presented positive results from a late-stage trial of ridaforolimus, a drug the two companies are developing together to treat sarcomas, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting. Merck filed for FDA approval for the drug in August. Ariad is also completing pivotal trials of ponatinib, which it developed to treat two forms of leukemia. If all goes well, both drugs could be approved by the end of next year. Ariad’s stock has doubled since the beginning of the year, to nearly $10 a share.

The Merck collaboration on ridaforolimus has provided Ariad with the resources it needs to go solo on its next two products, Berger says. Merck is covering marketing and development costs, and has agreed to pay Ariad tiered, double-digit royalties on sales of the product. The two companies will co-promote the drug, which will give Ariad a chance to build up a salesforce—and name recognition among oncologists—before it starts hitting the pavement to promote ponatinib and AP26113, Berger says. “When it was very early in the company’s evolution, we felt it made sense to partner,” he says. “But once we build a commercial organization and have the expertise to run global trials, it’s clear we can do it ourselves. We want to build a major cancer business and really make a difference for patients of many different types.”

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Cambridge, MA-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) said today that its partner, Merck (NYSE: MRK) has submitted an application to the European Union for clearance to start selling ridaforolimus as a new treatment for sarcomas. Merck plans to submit its application for FDA approval soon, Ariad said. Data on a pivotal clinical trial for the new drug was presented in June at the American Society of Clinical Oncology. If approved by regulators, the sarcoma treatment will be Ariad’s first to reach the market.

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Massachusetts drug developers and research institutions have nabbed funding, inked partnerships, and revealed clinical data this week.

—Constellation Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, MA-based developer of epigenetic drugs, grabbed another $15 million in extensions to its Series B financing, bringing the funding round’s total to $37 million. The money comes from returning investors Third Rock Ventures, The Column Group, Venrock Associates, SR One, and Altitude Life Science Ventures.

—Cambridge-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) and Merck revealed positive results from the Phase 3 study of their sarcoma drug ridaforolimus, at the conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) on Monday. The risk of progression or death in patients treated with ridaforolimus was reduced by 28 percent compared to the placebo group. Merck plans to file for approval of the drug in the U.S. and in Europe later this year.

—Concord, MA-based PolyRemedy brought in $20 million in Series C financing—from new investor Delphi Ventures and previous backers MedVenture Associates, Advanced Technology Ventures, and Flybridge Capital Partners—to put toward its customized wound dressing system. Home-based nurses can log on to the company’s Web application, input data on a patient’s wound, and PolyRemedy will ship dressings with the appropriate medicine, moisture level, and other factors tailored to their treatment.

—Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) announced it was kicking off a five-year research partnerships with a slew of Boston organizations: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard University, Partners HealthCare, Tufts Medical Center, Tufts University, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. The$100 million program will be headquartered at the Center for Life Science in the Longwood Medical Area.

—The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) announced it was providing Selecta Biosciences of Watertown, MA, with funding and research support under its Industry Discovery and Development Partnership. Financial details weren’t disclosed. Selecta, a vaccine developer, will get financial support from JDRF based on research milestones it hits as it applies its technology to Type 1 diabetes, which occurs when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

—Worcester Polytechnic Institute said that Abbott Laboratories, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Shire Human Genetic Therapies have joined as inaugural partners for its Biomanufacturing Education and Training Center. The facility is currently being built and is designed to support scientists researching compounds and developing drugs using live engineered cells.

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Whoever came up with the phrase “drinking from the fire hose,” could have easily been thinking of the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

The information on cancer R&D has been flowing furiously the past few days at ASCO, which draws about 30,000 cancer doctors, drug company executives, investors, and journalists. I didn’t attend the meeting this year in person, but I’ve still had plenty to write about. Here are some quick thumbnail summaries and links that caught my eye from companies in our national network.

BOSTON

Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA). The Cambridge, MA-based company built up a lot of suspense around its presentation of a pivotal study for its lead drug candidate for sarcoma, a deadly bone cancer. We already knew heading into the conference that this drug, ridaforolimus, hit its primary goal in a study of 711 patients, showing it kept tumors in check for a median of 17.7 weeks, compared with 14.6 weeks for a placebo. Yesterday at ASCO, researchers said an interim look at survival times suggests an advance for the Ariad drug over placebo—a median of 21.4 months vs. 19.2 months—but more patients need to be followed over time before statisticians can say with any confidence that the drug helps people live longer. Ariad’s partner, Merck, repeated that it plans to seek approval in the U.S. and European Union based on the success of the trial.

Infinity Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INFI). Infinity is the Cambridge, MA-based company that has dared to take on pancreatic cancer, a nasty malignancy that has pretty much whipped every drugmaker that has tried to take it on. When taken in combination with chemotherapy, Infinity’s drug, IPI-926, was able to produce meaningful tumor shrinkage in 31 percent of pancreatic cancer patients (5 of 16). There was no control group in this early-phase safety study, so this finding needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but historically less than 10 percent of patients have had that kind of response. Infinity is now in the process of attempting to prove this drug is a winner—through a randomized study of 120 patients that will measure whether IPI-926 in tandem with chemotherapy can help patients live longer than the chemo alone.

Synta Pharmaceuticals. Lexington, MA-based Synta (NASDAQ: SNTA) offered up some preliminary data that showed it has been thinking hard about how to pick patients with the right genetic profiles who are most likely to respond to its experimental drug, ganetespib. This drug, which works against a target called Hsp90, appeared most effective in lung cancer patients whose tumors expressed mutant forms of the genes ALK and KRAS. Patients with those mutations are especially difficult to treat, and the numbers of patients studied in that group is small, so it would be premature to raise any hopes about what this drug can do. Synta said six of the eight patients with ALK mutations (75 percent) had some tumor shrinkage in target lesions.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. The Cambridge, MA-based developer of RNA interference drugs (NASDAQ: ALNY) offered an update on an early-stage safety study of its experimental treatment for liver cancer, ALN-VSP. The company said most of the side effects experienced by the first 41 patients were mild in (fatigue, nausea, and fever) although there was one patient who suffered liver failure and died, in a case that Alnylam said “was deemed possibly related to study drug.” About two-thirds (7 of 11 patients) had their tumors stabilize at a dose of 1 milligram per kilogram of body weight—the dose Alnylam has selected as ideal for further development. The company didn’t talk specifically about next steps in clinical trials for ALN-VSP, but CEO John Maraganore did say “Clearly, these data are not only important for the continued advancement of our ALN-VSP program, but they also significantly increase our confidence in our entire pipeline of systemically delivered RNAi therapeutics.”

Constellation Pharmaceuticals. The venture-backed company in Cambridge, MA, developing cancer drugs based on advances in epigenetic science gave everybody a break on crunching hard data on drug response rates and side effects. It made some financing news, by raising $15 million in an extension of its Series B venture round, pulling in cash from Third Rock Ventures, The Column Group, Venrock Associates, SR One and Altitude Life Science Ventures.

San Francisco

Genentech/Plexxikon. Many of the big headlines at this year’s ASCO went to … Next Page »

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You wouldn’t know we had a holiday this week, with the rate Boston life sciences companies are pumping out news. They’ve inked partnerships, announced fundings, made acquisitions, and are gearing up for a big medical convention this weekend.

—Cambridge, MA-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) will reveal data from a clinical trial of its drug ridaforolimus to an eager audience at next week’s American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago, Luke wrote. The drug was developed in a collaboration with Merck and is designed to block a protein that causes tumor growth.

—Woburn, MA-based drug developer Excelimmune said it nabbed $10.5 million in Series B financing, from new and previous individual backers. The money will help advance Staphguard, the company’s treatment for Staph infections resistant to methicillin.

—Aveo Pharmaceuticals of Cambridge said it entered into a partnership with Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE: JNJ) Centocor Ortho Biotech unit to work together on Aveo’s antibodies targeting a receptor involved in tumor growth. Aveo (NASDAQ: AVEO) received $15 million upfront for this, and could get $540 million more down the road in milestones.

—Cambridge-based Dossia, a nonprofit consortium offering online medical records to employees of its member companies, inked a partnership this spring with Denver-based Health Language. Dossia CEO Michael Critelli says the collaboration will help translate the medical jargon in the clinical records into plain English for patients to better understand and manage their care.

—Luke took a look at Cambridge-based Infinity Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INFI) as it readies itself for a presentation at ASCO. The drug developer will reveal data from the first 16 months of a trial of its new drug candidate for pancreatic cancer, IPI-926.

—My colleague Arlene wrote about Newton, MA-based NeuroHealing, a virtual biotech company that looks for already approved drugs and reformulates them to treat central nervous system disorders. The company has been getting grants and other investments to fund the development of its drugs for treating patients with traumatic brain injuries, Parkinson’s disease, and premature ejaculation.

—Lumicell Diagnostics, a Waltham, MA-based developer of a cancer diagnostic device, took in $2.7 million in equity-based funding.

—Bedford, MA-based diagnostic and medical imaging firm Hologic (NASDAQ: HOLX) announced it had acquired TCT International, a China-based distributor of medical products, for $135 million in cash.

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Ariad Pharmaceuticals’ stock has surged 73 percent since New Year’s Day, so you could say CEO Harvey Berger is having a better-than-average year. The Cambridge, MA-based cancer drug developer has seen its market valuation eclipse $1 billion, on a wave of anticipation heading into what could be the most important medical meeting in his company’s 20-year history.

And yet he says he’s still not satisfied.

“My view is that the stock is still way underpriced,” Berger says.

We’ll all find out soon enough if doctors and investors agree with the insider’s take. For now, everybody following Ariad (NASDAQ: ARIA) is waiting in suspense for the data to validate this recent stock surge.

The story hinges on Ariad’s ridaforolimus (pronounced Rid-uh-for-AH-luh-muss, or just “Rid-uh” for short). This is an oral pill which Ariad, in collaboration with Merck, has developed to block the mTOR protein, a master biological switch that allows tumors to grow and thrive.

Doctors and investors are eagerly anticipating the results from the most rigorous test of this drug yet. The study enrolled 711 patients with sarcomas, who had already had their disease stabilize after a prior round of chemotherapy, and then compared how well they did on a daily maintenance dose of the Ariad drug, compared with a placebo. Results are expected to be presented in front of a roomful of doctors at 4:30 pm Central Time, June 6, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago.

The world already knows that this trial, called Succeed, has succeeded. The drug met its primary goal of keeping tumors from spreading for a longer period of time than a placebo, according to an Ariad statement in January. Patients were able to keep their tumors in check for a median time of 17.7 weeks on the Ariad drug, compared with 14.6 weeks on a placebo. That figure came from an independent panel of expert radiologists. Investigators at the clinical sites, who reviewed scans of patients, took a more favorable view. Doctors reported that patients on the Ariad drug actually had their tumors remain in check for a median of 22.4 weeks, compared with 14.7 weeks for the placebo group.

Harvey Berger

That sounded like a pretty modest clinical advantage to me, even in the world of cancer drugs, where the benefits of new treatments are often pretty incremental. But Berger insisted that it’s meaningful to doctors and regulators. Side effects were modest—mouth sores, fatigue, diarrhea and a drop in clot-forming platelet cells. That’s a much milder side-effect profile than the alternative, which is another round of cell-killing chemotherapy, Berger noted. Most importantly, the FDA agreed that this clinical goal—known as progression-free survival or PFS—could serve as the primary endpoint for success in this trial.

Of course, overall survival time is the gold standard measurement of success in cancer drug development, so many of the inquiring minds in attendance at ASCO will want to know how this drug is performing on that score. Ariad is gathering this data, and reported on a bit of the data in an abstract that ASCO posted online May 18 in advance of the annual conference.

The results so far, based on the first 313 total deaths in a study of 711 patients, showed that patients on the Ariad drug lived a median time of 88 weeks, compared with 78.7 weeks on the placebo, according to the abstract. Researchers said this suggested a “trend” toward an improvement in overall survival, although they didn’t disclose a p-value reading, which could demonstrate whether or not … Next Page »

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Big name biotechs in New England made news this week with revenue reports, clinical results, and news on licensing agreements.

—Cambridge, MA-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAD: ARIA) said it extended licenses to its cell-signaling regulation technology to three groups, each of which will use it for different purposes: Houston, TX Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (experimental cancer vaccine and cell therapies), Washington, DC-based ReGenX Biosciences (gene therapies), and Mountain View, CA-based Clontech Laboratories (the research market).

—Boston-based clinical informatics firm Humedica raised $20 million in equity-based finding, an SEC filing revealed. The startup came out of stealth mode in September 2009, after raising $30 million the year before from investors such as Bain Capital Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners, and the investment bank Leerink Swann.

—Pieter Muntendam, CEO of Waltham, MA-based BG Medicine (NASDAQ: BGMD), talked to my colleague Ryan about the company’s long road to going public and its diagnostic product for assessing the prognosis of heart failure patients.

—Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN), a Thousand Oaks, CA-based biotech with research operations in Cambridge, said its experimental osteoporosis drug met its goal of improving bone mineral density in a study of 400 postmenopausal women. The company said the treatment, AMG785, beat a placebo and two comparison drugs after 12 months of follow-up, and that side effects were “generally balanced” between patients on the new drug and in the control groups.

—Weston, MA-based Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) reported increased first quarter revenues and new information on its oral treatment for multiple sclerosis on Thursday, sending its shares up more than 22 percent to $105.83 as of 10:23 am Eastern time on Thursday. First quarter revenues were up 9 percent to $1.2 billion, thanks in part to sales of its existing MS treatments. Biogen also gave investors more information on a call about the experimental oral MS drug, dimethyl fumarate (BG-12), than it did when it first announced clinical results.

—Corindus of Natick, MA, and Royal Philips Electronics said they agreed to work together to get Corindus’ minimally invasive, robotics-based treatment for blocked arteries in Philips’ cardiology products. Philips will take a minority stake in Corindus as a result.

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Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARIA), a Cambridge, MA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it extended licenses to its cell-signaling regulation technology to three separate groups, all of which are using the technology for different purposes. Bellicum Pharmaceuticals of Houston, TX, is developing the technology for its experimental cancer vaccine and cell therapies; Washington, DC-based ReGenX Biosciences is using the technology to advance gene therapies; and Clontech Laboratories, a Mountain View, CA-based provider of research reagents, is licensing the technology for the research market. Some of the intellectual property for the technology comes from Harvard University and Stanford University. Ariad did not disclose specific financial figures from the licensing deals.

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New England’s tech and life sciences companies are roaring into spring with a number of startup financings, acquisitions, and partnerships.

—Harvest Power, a Waltham, MA-based startup focused on producing energy from organic waste, announced it had raised a $51.7 million Series B funding round led by Generation Investment Management, a firm co-founded by Al Gore and David Blood. Harvest’s previous investors, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Waste Management, Munich Venture Partners, and TriplePoint Capital returned for the round, alongside new investors DAG Ventures and Keating Capital.

—SustainX, an energy-storage technology developer out of West Lebanon, NH, said it nabbed a $14.4 million financing from GE Energy Financial Services and other investors including Cadent Energy Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, and Rockport Capital.

—Cambridge, MA-based gene therapy firm Bluebird Bio set up a deal with the French Muscular Dystrophy Association to develop a treatment for sickle cell anemia and the genetic blood disorder beta-thalassemia. Bluebird will get $1.4 million upfront and and up to $2.8 million in credit to manufacture clinical trial material at Généthon, AFM’s bio-therapy research center.

—EntropySoft, a French software maker with U.S. headquarters in Cambridge, announced it snapped up a $3.5 million financing led by Alven Capital. The money will go to expanding the sales team and U.S. presence of EntropySoft, which makes software for managing data and documents between different content management systems.

—Cambridge-based cancer drug developer Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) took the option to co-promote ridaforolimus, its experimental drug for treating soft tissue and bone sarcoma, with its partner Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), as part of a May 2010 licensing deal.

—Needham, MA-based Illume Software, a developer of a mobile application called iZUP for preventing cell phone usage while driving, raised $2.4 million from the Massachusetts Technology Development Corp. and individual investors, bringing its … Next Page »

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New England’s biotech attorneys must be working overtime, if the week’s headlines are any indication.

—Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam (NASDAQ:ALNY) announced it had settled a long-standing legal dispute over the so-called Tuschl I and Tuschl II patent families. The suit, which involved key players in the field of RNA-interference including Alnylam, Max Planck Society, the University of Massachusetts, and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, began in June of 2009 and was slated to go to trial this month.

—No sooner did Alnylam wrap up that litigation than it was hit with a huge lawsuit from its Vancouver, BC-based partner Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, which is accusing Alnylam of misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition, and more—and is seeking damages of more than $1 billion. The suit centers on technology for delivering RNAi therapeutics—a notorious challenge in the field. For its part, Alnylam called Tekmira’s complaint “without merit or foundation,” and said it intends to defend itself fully.

—Elsewhere in Cambridge, Genzyme (NASDAQ:GENZ) faced a lawsuit as well. It and Mt. Sinai Medical School are being sued by six patients with Fabry disease over the handling of a rationing system for agalsidase beta (Fabrazyme), Genzyme’s treatment for Fabry. Supplies of the drug were short following a temporary closure in 2009 of the company’s Allston, MA, plant.

—In non-legal news, Cambridge based Tolerx and its partner GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) reported that otelixizumab, their experimental drug for Type 1 diabetes, failed to meet its main clinical goal in a late-stage study called Defend-1. While the companies are … Next Page »

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Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARIA), a Cambridge, MA-based developer of cancer drugs against specific biological targets, said today that it has taken its option to co-promote its experimental drug ridaforolimus with its partner Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) for treating soft tissue and bone sarcomas. As part of Ariad’s license deal with Merck in May 2010, it has the option to be responsible for up to 20 percent of the sales effort for the treatment in all uses in the U.S. “The decision to co-promote ridaforolimus upon potential launch in 2012 is consistent with our plans to build a fully integrated commercial oncology company and dovetails with the potential launch of ponatinib, our investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor, in patients with resistant or intolerant chronic myeloid leukemia in late 2012 or early 2013,” said Harvey Berger, chairman and chief executive of Ariad, in a company press release.

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Cambridge, MA-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals’ (NASDAQ:ARIA) stock is up more than 25 percent this morning. It’s to be expected; the firm is reporting today that its top cancer drug candidate, which the drug giant Merck (NYSE:MRK) is developing through a licensing deal with Ariad, is making strides in a pivotal trial for patients with soft-tissue and bone tumors.

The company reported that the drug, ridaforolimus, has boosted median progression-free survival in study patients by 21 percent or 3.1 weeks, to 17.7 weeks, compared with those who got a placebo. The study also reached its primary goal by the drug reducing risk of tumor progression by 28 percent compared with the people who took placebo. Common side effects of the drug included mouth sores, fatigue, and diarrhea. Full data from the trial will be reported at a meeting later this year, according to Ariad.

The Phase III “SUCCEED” trial is ongoing. Whitehouse Station, NJ-based Merck plans to file for approval of oral ridaforolimus this year after analyzing all the results of the study, according to Ariad.

Ariad is still in the hunt for its first product approval, and the success of this drug could greatly increase its fortunes. In May, the biotech amended its licensing agreement with Merck, which provided the firm a $50 million payment at the time and agreed to handle all development expenses of the drug in return for a greater share of the revenue pie if the treatment makes it onto the market.

I did a more thorough look at Ariad’s strategy of designing molecules to target the drivers of cancer growth and its pipeline of potential drugs late last year. The firm’s common stock was up about 26.5 percent to $6.64 per share as of 10:16 am Eastern time today.

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It was a meaty life sciences news week for us that was finished off with a scoop on a legal entanglement between a biotech startup, a research institute, and a big drugmaker. We also had profile stories on some interesting health IT companies, as well as breaking news on clinical trials and expansion moves by pharma companies.

—Lexigton, MA-based biotech firm Antigenics announced its plans to expand a mid-stage clinical trial of its experimental treatment vitespen (Oncophage) in 50 patients with newly diagnosed brain tumors (glioma). The firm (NASDAQ: AGEN) will add six new clinical sites throughout the U.S. in an attempt to recruit enough patients to finish its trial a year ahead of time, an attempt to stay afloat after the immune-boosting drug failed in a trial for kidney cancer.

—Waltham, MA-based Spryance, a medical transcription service provider that operates under the name Heartland, sold to Atlanta-based transcription company Transcend Services (NASDAQ: TRCR) for $6.5 million.

—Ryan profiled Curaspan Health Group, a Newton, MA-based maker of software that streamlines the process of discharging patients from hospitals and managing the transition of patients at other post-acute care facilities. The firm’s staff has doubled in size this year and could double again in the next, Ryan wrote.

—Cambridge, MA-based Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals announced that it had sold to private equity firm Celtic Therapeutics the option to acquire its lead drug, RX-10045, and license it for all uses in treating eye conditions. The drug is set to enter a Phase III trial for the treatment of chronic dry eye syndrome next year. Celtic also purchased a note that is convertible into Resolvyx stock.

—Newton-based MedNetworks is another area company out to use social networking to improve healthcare, but instead of building its own online community, it’s focusing on software that maps and analyzes existing groups and networks of physicians, Ryan wrote. The startup, a spinout from the lab of Harvard University professor Nicholas Christakis, plans to sell the mapping technology to life sciences firms, employer-sponsored wellness plans, health plans, hospitals, and governments, who could use the data to improve the effectiveness of wellness programs and drug marketing campaigns.

—Swiss drug Novartis, Cambridge’s biggest corporate employer, plans to spend $600 million on building another four-acre office and lab complex in the city, the Boston Globe reported. The firm plans to add 200 to 300 employees over five years to its global research headquarters in Cambridge, which would bring the company’s headcount in Cambridge to about 2,300.

—InVivo Therapeutics, a Cambridge-based developer of an implant to treat spinal cord injuries, announced it … Next Page »

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It almost goes without saying that the Boston biotech scene is rapidly evolving—perhaps as fast as any industry we write about here at Xconomy. So the editors and I thought it would be useful to highlight five of the most important storylines that we have been and will continue to follow in New England.

1. Big Pharma Influence

French drug giant Sanofi-Aventis’s (NYSE: SNY) hostile bid to acquire Cambridge, MA-based biotech powerhouse Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ) is the big news on this front. Yet other large drug companies—including Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)—have also been buying up Boston biotech properties. These deals are evidence of all the great science under development here, but they will also inevitably change the face of the biotech community. We’ll be following up on what this means for entrepreneurs, venture investors, and scientists in the Hub.

2. Biotech Getting Personal

No, this is not about corporate raider Carl Icahn’s beefs with some Boston-area biotech CEOs in recent years. Rather, this is about the ongoing excitement surrounding the field of personalized medicine—in Boston and beyond. Genetic sequencing has become cheaper, faster, and more accurate. Foundation Medicine and Good Start Genetics are just two of the recent local startups to take advantage of next-generation sequencing tools to help guide the treatment of patients based on their genetics. There has also been intense interest in advances in the sequencing tools themselves, as we saw with the $375 million sale of Guilford, CT-based Ion Torrent Systems to Carlsbad, CA-based Life Technologies (NASDAQ: LIFE) in August.

3. Future of Gene-Silencing Drugs

Over much of the last decade, investors swooned over the promise of RNA interference drugs to silence disease-causing genes and become valuable new class of medicines for touch-to-treat illness such as cancers and neurological disorders. But the trouble has been figuring out how to deliver the gene-silencing drugs to cells deep in the body—and I mean deeper than the liver. Swiss drug giant Novartis is wrapping up its five-year collaboration with Cambridge-based … Next Page »

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We saw a few contributions in the life sciences sector, but for the most part, Internet and software companies have been dominating with deals headlines in the last week.

—Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) got $69 million in cash from Merck, for revising a 2007 agreement with a unit of the drug giant. The revisions give Merck (NYSE: MRK) an exclusive license to develop, produce, and sell Ariad’s experimental cancer drug ridaforolimus, and Merck will cover all future costs related to these activities. Cambridge, MA-based Ariad has already collected $128.5 million in fees and milestones for the collaboration, which initially had the two companies splitting the development responsibilities and marketing rights of the drug.

—Sanofi-Aventis, the giant Paris-based drug developer with a Cambridge research site, announced it will contribute $500,000 over two years to Massachusetts’ initiative for accelerating the life sciences industry in the state, according to the program’s administrator, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.

—Cranston, RI-based DormNoise, a developer of online interactive calendar systems for college students, announced it has raised $500,000 in Series A financing. The investment came from online education website PRESENT e-Learning Systems, and DN Ventures, an investor group formed by DormNoise director Alan Jacober.

—InstallFree, a Stamford, CT, maker of application virtualization software, brought in $3 million of a planned $3.76 million equity-based round of funding. Richard Fade of Ignition Partners, Peter van Oppen of Trilogy Partnership, and Microsoft veteran Yuval Neeman are listed as company directors on the SEC disclosure of the financing.

—WordStream, a developer of software for enhancing online marketing, said it pulled in $6 million in Series B financing, with contributions from Egan-Managed Capital and Sigma Partners. The cash will go toward the Boston-based company’s growth and expansion of products, which aim to improve both search-engine-optimization and pay-per-click marketing.

—Just call it software week. Redline Trading Solutions, a Woburn, MA, maker of software for getting financial market data to trading applications, raised $7.45 million in equity, according to an SEC filing. The money came from … Next Page »

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