Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna, the Republican favorite for governor in 2012, has joined his counterparts from six other states to support the U.S. Justice Department’s lawsuit blocking AT&T’s proposed $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA.

It’s not unusual for state governments to get involved in cases like this, particularly when there may be some business or consumer impact on their residents. In McKenna’s case, of course, part of the motivation is that T-Mobile is based in Bellevue, WA. As Politico noted, “Washington … stands to lose, potentially, many jobs if the transaction is approved.” The other states involved are California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

In his announcement about the lawsuit, McKenna said allowing the buyout would lead to fewer choices and higher prices for consumers. “If the deal goes through, two companies will control roughly three quarters of mobile subscribers in the U.S.,” McKenna wrote. “Antitrust laws exist to prevent such strangleholds over products and services.”

McKenna had previously said he shared the DOJ’s concerns about the merger, but this is obviously a much stronger step. McKenna’s Democratic opponent for governor, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, also opposes the merger. Inslee has publicly criticized the two companies’ responses to his request for more details about the effects of the buyout, and applauded the DOJ’s lawsuit, saying “the last thing Washingtonians need are more layoffs, increases in their wireless bills and fewer choices for wireless service.”

McKenna joining the lawsuit will turn some heads because Republicans are generally friendlier with business than Democrats. But it’s been a long time since the GOP elected a governor in Washington, and the consumer and local-jobs angles to opposing this deal are probably winners with the voting public.

One last note: I checked the state campaign contribution database to see how the candidates were faring with any money from AT&T or T-Mobile. I couldn’t find any contributions to the candidates or to their respective parties’ major political action committees. Both McKenna and Inslee did have some small contributions from individual employees.

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The Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet) has received an additional $54.5 million in Recovery Act funds to expand high-speed broadband Internet to underserved areas across Washington state. U.S. Secretary of Commerce and former Washington state Gov. Gary Locke announced the funding, alongside U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee and Brian Baird, at the Seattle Central Library yesterday. All three touted the project as a way to bridge the technological divide, boost economic growth, create jobs, improve educational resources and access to healthcare, and connect the rural regions of the state to the digital economy.

“This critical investment will lay the groundwork for sustainable economic growth by connecting difficult terrain both east and west of the Cascades that has been without the full economic, educational and social benefits of high-speed Internet,” Locke said.

This is the second federal grant Tacoma, WA-based NoaNet has been awarded in the last year for the State of Washington Broadband Consortium, a $185 million project to bring Internet access to 170 communities, and 2,000 schools, libraries, universities, hospitals, and emergency response agencies that lack adequate service. The first grant, for $84 million, was awarded in March.

Altogether, the $185 million will finance the construction of more than 1,300 miles of new fiber, bringing affordable broadband Internet service to 55 Washington communities labeled by NoaNet as “economically depressed.” The project will directly affect 538,559 households and 103,230 businesses throughout 25 of the state’s 39 counties. The plan will also enhance connectivity to six Native American tribal communities in Washington, including the Tulalip Tribes of Washington, the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, the Yakama Nation, the Lower Elwha Kallam Tribe of Indians, the Suquamish Tribe, and the Port Gamble S’Kallam Tribe of Indians.

“This broadband initiative will create immediate jobs, attract economic investment to rural areas, and provide reliable, high-speed Internet,” NoaNet CEO Greg Marney said in a statement released yesterday. “Imagine a rural doctor being able to instantaneously share a patient’s test results and consult with an expert at any major medical center in the world. It’s a big deal for rural Washington.”

The NoaNet project focuses on remote areas, because they are those that most often have rudimentary capabilities. And according to Marney, greater broadband connectivity will bring  an overall enhancement to the quality of life in the areas served. Not only will these communities now have attractive economic appeal that could pull in outside businesses, but those living in even the most remote parts of the state will be able to quickly access and share critical information among fire, police, hospitals, and first responders.

“This is a game-changer for many communities,” Marney said. “It just like when electricity was finally extended to rural communities in the 1930s and 1940s. Broadband will help save lives, reduce government costs, help educate young people, and create business opportunities.”

The news came on the same day that Vice President Joe Biden announced an approximately $1.8-billion investment in new projects to create jobs and stimulate economic opportunities in 37 states across the country.

“Investment in Broadband will be a fuel for the engine of our economic recovery,” Inslee said. “NoaNet’s State of Washington Broadband Consortium is one more link in our economic chain that … Next Page »

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Last week the Northwest Energy Angels—a group of over 45 private investors who have banded together to invest exclusively in cleantech and energy companies located here in the Pacific Northwest—held its annual Summer Showcase at Tesla Motors’ South Lake Union showroom. Founded by Seattle entrepreneur Martin Tobias and state lawmaker Jeff Morris in 2006, the angels provide early-stage capital to cleantech entrepreneurs and connect promising companies with potential investors.

So far, the group has invested more than $3 million in 17 local companies, a sign that it is active and growing—along with the Pacific Northwest cleantech sector. Back in March the Angels hired on local tech veteran Margo Shiroyama as the new executive director, and the group is recruiting new angels, hoping to bring the membership up to 60 by the end of the year.

On Friday afternoon many of the angels joined representatives from local cleantech companies, and green-minded community members at Tesla to mingle, connect, and hear updates from 11 companies that had presented at a prior NW Energy Angels event. Drinks were served in 100 percent compostable plant polymer Greenware. I would be lying if I said a few in the crowd weren’t eyeing Tesla’s bright red Roadster on display in the front of the room. (After the presentations, many signed up for test drives around the neighborhood, though I was not so lucky.) But the combination of compostable cups and fully electric cars sure did set the scene for an event on cleantech business ideas.

One of the more high profile attendees included U.S. Rep Jay Inslee, the Democrat who represents Washington’s first congressional district. Energy Angel Bill Lemon introduced Inslee as our “tireless advocate in the promotion of clean energies.” In his introductory remarks, Inslee urged the companies to develop new clean technologies and move the country and world forward toward renewable energies.

“The future of the U.S. economy is not determined at the Fed, or the White House, or the Congress. It is determined by people like you,” he said. “It is a system that is broken because it is rife with subsidies that support old technologies that have been around for the past hundred years.”

Inslee then outlined his five pillars for the future of clean energy, which he termed his “vision for America.” The steps included creating demand for new technology, increasing energy standards for machinery (including cars, buildings, and gadgets), changing the tax code to provide clean energy incentives for small businesses, increasing federal energy R&D, and leveling the playing field between clean energy businesses and industry old timers like oil and coal.

“These five pillars, I think, have the capability to get us into the international game. And it needs to happen this year—next year is a year too late,” Inslee said. “This is the most exciting thing technologically since we went to the moon,” adding that Seattle and the Pacific Northwest are poised to be cleantech leaders based on our booming regional tech industry. “When there’s a technological transition, Washington shines!” he said.

The remainder of the event was dedicated to a series of short company updates and networking among cleantechies. The presenting companies included a few more established startup success stories, as well as a handful of brand new companies fresh on the scene. Though all of the companies had been represented at prior NW Energy Angel events, many of them have escaped our radar until now. But whether you’ve heard of these startups before or not, if you’re interested in what’s up-and-coming in the Pacific Northwest cleantech sector, take a look at these highlights:

—EMME (Beaverton, OR)

Standing for Energy Management Made Easy, EMME develops energy management devices. These are monitoring gadgets for everything from heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment, to wireless power monitors, and power meter breaker boxes—that helps consumers keep track of their home’s carbon footprint, and save money and energy. “It will tell you how much you’re spending on heating, cooling, your refrigerator is spending, your big screen TV,” said Jon Brodeur, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing. “And it will give you recommendations on what to do to save energy costs,” without having to change out any appliances.

—EnerG2 (Seattle, WA)

You’ve probably heard of EnerG2, a nanomaterials startup focused on energy storage. The company, which develops ultra-high performance synthetic carbon material for use in double layer capacitors, has had such success in the last few years that Lemon kicked himself for passing up an opportunity to invest. “Boy do I really, really regret it!” he said. Since that missed opportunity, EnerG2 has brought in $8.5 million in its Series A venture investment—which chief operating and financial officer Chris Wheaton joked happened during in the fall of 2008, “nearly financial Armageddon.” Later on, EnerG2 secured another $21.3 million in federal stimulus money. “It completely blew the doors off for us,” Wheaton added. “There’s nothing like success to create more success.”

—EnergySavvy (Seattle, WA)

This energy-efficiency focused startup works to help homeowners understand the “miles per gallon” of their homes by helping consumers calculate their energy use and find places they can cut back, make changes, and save both energy and money. Only an eight-person operation, according to Scott Case, the vice president of product management, EnergySavvy has had so much interest from prospective customers they have been struggling to grow fast enough to keep up. The company makes its money … Next Page »

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Last week, a group of executives and leaders from state life sciences trade associations across the country, including myself, gathered here in Seattle to discuss the policy landscape at both the federal and state levels. Part of our agenda for the meeting, which took place at Amgen’s Helix campus along Elliott Bay, was to discuss the implications of a new study conducted by Battelle and commissioned by the Council on American Medical Innovation (CAMI) outlining the policy changes necessary to maintain a thriving life sciences and biotech industry in the United States.

And as a state with a thriving life sciences industry, the study also had very specific implications for Washington.

The study, for which I was interviewed, identifies four key challenges that we must address in order to maintain our leadership: 1) lack of consistency and predictability in the review and approval of new medical products and uncertainties in reimbursement; 2) shortfalls in private investment for company formation, R&D and related manufacturing job growth; 3) gaps between research and translation of medical innovation into new treatments; and 4) limitations in the U.S. bioscience talent pool.

The most important conclusion from the study and our resulting meetings in Seattle is that we cannot take for granted the strength and growth we have witnessed in the life sciences and biotechnology sectors so far. Our leadership in these industries as a state and as a country is ours to lose. We are beginning to experience some regulatory and financial limitations that are not good signs for sectors that have been among the few bright shining areas in an otherwise dim economic picture.

A warning shot went up this week: If we don’t take steps now to relieve policy pressure on life sciences, we face the serious risk of losing our global leadership in these areas.

Many within Washington state have a stake in this leadership, and as evidenced by the nearly 60 interested community members who joined us for the event: Lee Huntsman from Life Sciences Discovery Fund, John Gardner from Washington State University, Bob Drewel from the Puget Sound Regional Council and Carolyn Busch from state Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown’s staff, to name a few.

U.S. Rep Jay Inslee, whose House district covers parts of Kitsap, Snohomish, and northern King County, continues to be a champion for innovation and the need to support the life sciences and therapeutic development, as well as education. Congressman Inslee—named Legislator of the Year by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)—added … Next Page »

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Next week, the U.S. Senate is expected to take up debate on health care reform. Regardless of what happens in Washington DC, the impact will be felt on virtually every business and individual in Washington State.

Without question, a simple solution to our health care crisis is elusive, and in the coming days and weeks many complicated and important issues will be debated, but from where I stand today, there is one key health care issue with no room for debate.

The issue is the development of a pathway for regulatory approval of biosimilars by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Biosimilars, as the name implies, are drugs that are similar to, but not the same as, innovator biologics. Biologics are molecular structures that can be hundreds of times more complex. That’s why copycat versions of biologics aren’t called “generics.” Biotechnology-based therapies that fight diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s are made from living cells—a process far more complex than the one used to manufacture chemical-based drugs such as aspirin.

The illustration below helps to put into perspective the differences between small molecule drugs and biologics:

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To give a sense of size, same-scale computer models of three drugs—aspirin (a small molecule), somatropin (human growth hormone), and Herceptin (an antibody)—are presented as an example of the relative complexity: The molecules are to scale and the objects are not, but the objects (bike, car, private jet) indicate relative size and complexity of these molecules. Used with Permission. Source: Genentech
http://www.gene.com/gene/about/views/followon-biologics.html

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Here in Washington State, we are fortunate to have great leadership on this issue from Representative Jay Inslee (D, WA-1). Rep. Inslee is one of the lead sponsors of the Pathway for Biosimilars Act (H.R. 1548), bipartisan legislation that protects patient safety and strikes the appropriate balance between increasing competition and maintaining our nation’s status as the world’s leader in science and innovation.

Rep. Inslee wants to make sure that biosimilar manufacturers are required to provide the FDA with clinical data on the safety and efficacy of their medicines. And his legislation preserves incentives for … Next Page »

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“Boeing, bytes, and biotech.” That is what Washington state will be best known for over the coming decades, at least according to U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee.

Inslee, a Democrat from Western Washington’s first congressional district, delivered that catchy sound bite yesterday morning at the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute. He spoke during a press conference to promote a new report that attempted to catalog of all the various drug, device, and other biomedical technologies emerging in the state’s labs. The event was hosted by We Work For Health, a partnership between governments, corporations and other organizations invested in healthcare. Inslee, along with Washington Governor Chris Gregoire and representatives from biomedical and biotechnology companies, spoke about the report and its key finding—that 119 new medicines developed in Washington labs are now being tested in clinical trials.

Produced by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the report is one of many regional versions of a national census on biotech R&D, according to Ken Johnson, senior vice president for communications and public affairs at the pharmaceutical industry trade group. He talked about how 46 new cancer treatments and 18 new heart disease treatments are being developed by companies with Washington branches or headquarters, and praised the work being done by Gregoire and Inslee, citing their support for national healthcare reform. Washington is a leader both in research and in policy when it comes to medical research and development, Johnson says.

“It is a healthcare crisis in America,” Gregoire said during her remarks. Gregoire, a breast cancer survivor, spoke optimistically about the future of disease treatment and prevention, and the leading role Washington plays and will continue to play in developing such cures. Collaboration is a key component to future innovation, she said. As an example, she mentioned a trip to Queensland, Australia she recently made to help create a partnership between the University of Washington and the University of Queensland to work together on medical research.

At the national level, Gregoire said she expects Congress to “bring forward healthcare reform by the end of this year and no later.” This effort to provide greater coverage for millions of Americans … Next Page »

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Bellevue, WA-based Ramgen Power Systems has secured $20 million from the federal stimulus package to develop technology that captures and stores excess carbon emitted by power plants, according to a statement from U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee.

Ramgen’s technology seeks to capture and store excess carbon based on compression principles learned from studying supersonic jet engines, as we described in our list of Washington’s leading cleantech companies in March. Ramgen is led by CEO Douglas Jewett, the former City Attorney of Seattle, according to the company’s website. He has been CEO of Ramgen since 1998, and had raised $22 million in private funding, and $26 million in government funding to support the technology before today’s announcement.

The latest funding comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $787 billion pot of money otherwise known as the federal “stimulus.” More specifically, the money is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s $1.5 billion initiative to improve carbon capture and storage as a way to help coal power plants get cleaner. Energy Secretary Steven Chu singled out Ramgen as a leading developer of this technology today at a meeting of the National Coal Council, along with Cholla Power Plant near Holbrook, AZ, which is receiving $70 million for a coal gasification system, according to this report by Scientific American.

Inslee, in a statement, said the support for Ramgen’s work is what he had in mind when he voted for the stimulus. The bill “is designed to put thousands of people to work in advancing the technologies that will lead America away from the dirty legacy that fossil fuels left for us and toward the clean energy economy that awaits,” he said. “I’m pleased that investment in this important technology will be key in the economic and environmental recovery.”

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Seattle biotech had its usual highlights and lowlights this week. One local company won its first FDA approval, of a minimally invasive device for lung disease. Another regional bellwether had a clinical trial failure that sent its stock down 29 percent in a day. Lots of politicians were showing up on the innovation scene this week, and if there was a uniform message, I’d say it could be boiled down to this: stay focused.

With that, we’ll help you review the week that was:

—ZymoGenetics had a bad news/good news week. First, the bad: one of ZymoGenetics most important drug candidates, atacicept, was linked to infections in a trial of patients with lupus of the kidneys, forcing that trial to be halted and sparking a 29 percent one-day stock decline. Now the good: ZymoGenetics got Bristol-Myers Squibb to cough up $21 million to settle a patent lawsuit, which gives them a little more cash to weather the current storm.

—Redmond, WA-based Spiration won FDA approval of its first product, a minimally invasive device for patients with complications following lung surgery. It’s not a huge market—fewer than 4,000 patients each year—but it’s certainly a bit of good news for the local medical device sector.

—Amgen is putting its anemia drug woes behind it, with budding excitement over its experimental drug, denosumab. This week, I profiled Amgen scientist Bill Dougall, who is one of the key players in development of this drug for bone cancer uses, in addition to osteoporosis.

—Gov. Christine Gregoire was the headliner at the WBBA’s annual meeting, despite the pressures of dealing with a tight re-election race, and what she called a “dramatic downturn” in the economy. She urged biotechies to stay focused on their goals.

—Politicians were showing up everywhere on the life sciences scene this week. Rep. Jay Inslee gave a fiery talk at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum-West meeting in downtown Seattle. He encouraged renewable energy entrepreneurs and investors to organize a march on Washington in Feburary or March, because a “cavalry” of Democrats will sweep in to the nation’s capital to make changes in energy policy, he said.

—Ikaria had some bad news with its lead drug candidate, INOT27, for premature infants with bronchopulmonary disease. This is different from the sodium sulfide product it’s developing to induce hibernation on demand, which its Seattle group is developing.

—I profiled S3, a startup that aims to deliver research lab supplies faster, cheaper, and in a more environmentally sustainable way. They are pitching a reusable cold storage box that could wean biologists off the standard Styrofoam boxes that get chucked into the landfill.

—Sen. Patty Murray was part of a parade of big-name speakers at the Seattle Chamber of Commerce’s annual leadership retreat at Suncadia Resort last week. She urged leaders in global health to continue doing what they do, and not get distracted by the hard economic times.

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U.S. Representative Jay Inslee walked into a room today full of VCs and portfolio managers who have seen a bloodbath in their cleantech portfolios. But he delivered a message that certainly got the crowd to take its anxious eyes off their Blackberries, to think a few months ahead to a new opportunity.

“The cavalry is going to arrive in Washington DC in January 2009,” said Inslee, a Democrat representing Washington state’s First District, with enough fire in the belly to get the audience of to interrupt with applause. “A new president is going to arrive, and he’ll have around 30 new allies in the House and seven to nine more in the Senate.”

Inslee made his remarks this morning in front of about 200 or so investors at the Grand Hyatt Seattle at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum-West meeting. What this cavalry of new Democrats will bring, Inslee said, is some big-time change in energy policy. A new cap-and-trade system for limiting greenhouse emissions that might include an auction for emissions credits; efforts to take away subsidies from fossil-fuel companies and give them to renewable energy producers; more federal money for basic research to spark new technologies; guaranteed loans to make sure alternative energy companies have access to capital; and beefing up building codes to ensure greater conservation and energy efficiency.

He urged members of the renewable industry to plan a summit to lobby for their interests in Washington in February or March. He said he wants to see a coalition of venture capitalists, labor interests, evangelicals, environmentalists, and manufacturing interests all pushing hard for what he called a “New Green Deal.”

“We need to have an Energy Week. We need to have a march on Washington,” Inslee said to the audience.

Inslee, the only member of Congress to write a book about alternative energy, said the country’s scientific talent has to be harnessed to work on alternative energy, for the sake of climate change and creating jobs and economic growth. “We are going to solve this problem. It is our destiny. America’s destiny,” Inslee said.

Sen. Maria Cantwell followed this fiery talk with a more detailed and, at some points, sober analysis for the crowd. She cited a report that says the country needs to invest $900 billion in an improved grid to distribute and transport energy by 2030. “I’ll look for ideas,” about how to go about improving the grid, she said.

She talked about the need to improve the grid to encourage plug-in hybrid vehicles. She said she plans to personally push the new President to negotiate trade deals that open foreign markets up to renewable energy goods produced in the U.S. Right now, China imposes a 35 percent tariff on solar water heaters from the U.S., she says. The U.S., in return, has a 2 percent tariff on those goods produced overseas for sale here. “We need to reinvigorate those markets,” she said.

During the question and answer session, Cantwell let it be known, though, that she’s not a big believer in unfettered free markets to get renewables off the ground. She pointed to the legacy of Enron creating new markets for energy, and how that led to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to limit corporate wrongdoing. Yet the housing bust and unregulated credit-default swaps market in securities trading are probably going to lead to more regulation, she suggested. “Now here we are, we’re on the precipice of an alternative energy revolution, and we’re hamstrung again because of the capital markets,” Cantwell said.

After the speeches, I caught up with Inslee in the hallway to ask about this idea of an “Energy Week” for the renewable industry. I asked if all the various lobbies and sub-lobbies amount to “noise” rather than a coherent vision for energy policy. “I’d rather consider it music, not noise,” he said. “There is no one single voice, but we need to get all these industries to DC to help my colleagues understand” the various options, he said.

I asked him about how much the average Congressman really knows about these alternatives in depth. “There’s only one who has written a book about it, but I’d say about 20 percent of the members of Congress could list six different alternative energy technologies,” Inslee said. “I’d like to get that up to about 80 percent to 100 percent.” If the cavalry of Democrats really is coming to Washington, it sounds like they’re about to get an earful about where they should be channeling all this support they have for renewables.

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