Science and Enterprise

Tag: equity

  • Biofuel Developer to Build Commercial-Scale Ethanol Plant

    Mascoma Corporation, a biofuels company in Lebanon, New Hampshire, said today it has secured financing to build a commercial-scale refinery to produce wood-based cellulosic ethanol. The company says the plant, located in Kinross Charter Township, Michigan, will be one of the first of its kind. Mascoma Corporation was founded by Lee Lynd and Charles Wyman,…

  • 2010 Venture Fund Raising Drops to Seven-Year Low

    According to a report by Dow Jones LP Source, venture capital (VC) companies in 2010 raised $11.6 billion in 119 funds, a decline of 14 percent compared to the $13.5 billion raised by 133 funds in 2009, and the lowest amount raised in seven years. VCs have been among the traditional equity funders of start…

  • IPOs, Mergers for Venture-Funded Companies Gain in 2010

    The number and value of exit deals — where enterprises backed by venture capital (VC) become financially self-sustaining — increased sharply in 2010, compared to 2009.  The compilation by Dow Jones VentureSource shows 514 exit deals took place in 2010 a 25 percent increase, with those deals netting $39.3 billion, a jump of 72 percent…

  • Biotech Lands $5 Million Investment Deal

    Compugen Ltd., a biotechnology company in Tel Aviv, Israel, said today that it will receive $5 million in R&D funding from Baize Investments Ltd., a private Israeli corporation that invests in medical technologies. Compugen is a drug and diagnostic discovery company that bases its work on automated (in silico) analyses and models, including computational biologic…

  • Investor Company to Offer Cancer Therapy Development Funding

    Mentor Capital Inc. in San Diego, California plans to extend its funding beyond cancer immunotherapy — its current specialty — to other leading cancer solutions. Its objective is to provide investments that fill the gap for therapies between initial lab development and their acquisition by major pharmaceutical companies. This middle stage is often called “The…

  • Pharma Mergers Jump 20 Percent in 2010 [UPDATED]

    Update: 12 January 2011. Life Science Analytics, the source of the statistics quoted in this entry, notes that the data refer to partnership deals, NOT mergers as the entry implies. The company asked that we post the following statement … Please note the reference to top deal makers in this article reflects their participation in…

  • Merck To Acquire Biotech for Diabetes Treatment Technology

    Merck & Co. Inc., a global pharmaceutical manufacturer, says it will acquire SmartCells Inc., a biotechnology company in Beverly, Massachusetts developing a glucose responsive insulin formulation for the treatment of diabetes. The SmartCells process was first developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology by its president, Todd Zion. SmartCells says its technology makes it possible to…

  • Life Sciences Venture Network Launches in New York

    The New York Academy of Sciences plans to kick off the Life Science Angel Network (LSAN) at the academy’s lower Manhattan headquarters on Thursday 18 November. The new investment network is expected to connect scientists and entrepreneurs with funding to support commercialization of discoveries in biotechnology, medical devices, and health care informatics. The academy says…

  • GE Plans $500 Million R&D Investment in China

    General Electric Company plans to invest another $500 million in China for research and development, including regional R&D hubs to serve the Chinese market. GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt announced the investment today, as part of a $2 billion plan that includes joint ventures in technology, energy, financial services, and transportation. Immelt (pictured left)…

  • Macular Degeneration Test Company Gets Investment

    The Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) in Toronto said today it has made an investment in molecular diagnostics company, ArcticDx Inc., also in Toronto. ArcticDx has developed Macula Risk, a test designed to determine one’s inherited risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common form of acquired blindness in the developed world, affecting over 10%…