Category: Finance
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Rare Earths, Materials Hub Set for Ames National Lab
The U.S. Department of Energy will establish a research center at Ames National Lab in Iowa to find solutions to domestic shortages of rare earth metals and other critical materials for energy security. The $120 million Critical Materials Institute, will bring together for five years researchers from academia, four national laboratories, and the private sector.…
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Foundation Medicine Adds $13.5 Million to Series B Funds
Foundation Medicine, a genomic diagnostics company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, added $13.5 million to its current venture funding, bringing its series B round — the second financing cycle after start-up — to $56 million. The new investors include entrepreneurs and venture financiers Bill Gates, Evan Jones, and Yuri Milner. Foundation Medicine, founded by scientists at the…
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Genetic Tech Company to Acquire Prenatal Test Developer
Illumina Inc., a developer of genetic diagnostics systems in San Diego, will acquire Verinata Health Inc. in Redwood City, California, a provider of non-invasive prenatal tests for high-risk pregnancies. The deal will pay Verinata Health $350 million, with up to $100 million in additional milestone payments through 2015. Illumnia offers technology for research and diagnostics,…
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Mergers, IPOs for Venture-Backed Companies Down in 2012
Initial public offerings (IPOs) and mergers and acquisitions (M&As) of venture-backed companies in the U.S. declined overall in 2012 and in the last quarter of the year. Financial industry analytics service Dow Jones VentureSource says the Facebook IPO in May 2012 influenced much of the activity and money raised during the year. During 2012, a…
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Statistical Tools Sought for Smaller Placebo Group Sizes
A new challenge on InnoCentive seeks a technique for reducing sizes of placebo group samples in clinical trials — patients who do not receive the test treatments, to whom the patients getting the treatments are compared — without compromising the ability to interpret the results. Proposals describing the solution to this challenge are due by…
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Covidien to Acquire Blood Vessel Device Developer
Covidien — a maker of medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and health care supplies based in Dublin, Ireland — agreed to acquire CV Ingenuity in Fremont, California, a developer of a device to treat peripheral artery disease. Financial terms of the deal, expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2013, were not disclosed. Peripheral artery…
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$50,000 Challenge Seeks Simple, Inexpensive Timer
A new challenge on InnoCentive asks for a simple, reusable, and inexpensive timing mechanism based on the principles of reverse fluid flow and color change, with a total purse of $50,000. This type of competition — called a reduction-to-practice challenge — requires a written description and evidence of a working prototype, with one-page abstracts due…
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U.K. Universities Form Advanced Materials Consortium
The universities of Manchester, Cambridge, and Lancaster in the U.K. received funding from the European Research Council to develop new two-dimensional materials similar to graphene. The €13.4 million ($US17.7 million) grant was awarded to the three institutions under the council’s Synergy Grant initiative. The universities will form what they call a Synergy Group to support…
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R&D Project Aims To Cut Time, Cost of Solar Installations
A new research and development project led by North Carolina State University in Raleigh seeks to reduce the time and cost of installing rooftop solar energy systems. The five-year, $9 million grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy to a consortium of NC State’s FREEDM Systems Center — an energy engineering research lab…
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Synthetic Sugars Developer Lands $3.5M Venture Financing
Proterro Inc. in Ewing, New Jersey, a developer of synthetic sucrose for biofuels and chemicals, secured $3.5 million in new venture financing. The company also says the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a notice of allowance for the genetically engineered bacteria used in its production process. The company combines genetic engineering with chemical…