Company Stories A

Stories that earlier appeared in Nelson's News

1366 Technologies

several Massachusetts projects will receive a total of $33.2 million in federal funding for energy research. 1366 Technologies (Lexington) $4 million; , Agrivida (Medford; $300K SBIR) $4.6 million for efforts to cut the costs of cellulosic biofuels and chemicals; MIT $7 million on all-liquid metal grid-scale batteries; FastCAP Systems (Cambridge) $5.3 million to reduce the cost of hybrid and electric vehicles and of grid-scale storage; FloDesign Wind Turbine (Wilbraham) on new high efficiency shrouded wind turbines that could reduce noise and safety concerns $8.3 million ; Sun Catalytix (Cambridge) $4 million for a novel catalyst to enhance the efficiency of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. [Boston Globe, Oct 27, 09]

Private companies to watch on electricity as picked by MIT Tech Review (Sep/Oct09): Nanosolar ($1.7M SBIR) founded 2002, raised $400M; A123 Systems IPO Sep 24; Brightsource Energy; Tendril; 1366 Technologies; Deepwater Wind; Solyndra; Silver Spring Networks; AltaRock; Stirling Energy Systems.

21st Century Systems (Omaha, NE)

Whom You Know. [Sen Ben] Nelson's current $7.5 million earmark for software helps 21st Century Systems Inc. (21CSI) (Omaha, NE; $3M+ SBIR), which employs the senator's son, Patrick Nelson, as its marketing director. The company gets 80% of its funds from federal grants, mostly through earmarks. With nine offices scattered among states represented by appropriators in Congress, the company has in recent years spent $1.1M to lobby Congress and $160K in congressional campaign contributions. "As of April," the Omaha World-Herald reported, "only one piece of [the company's] software has been used -- to help guard a single Marine camp in Iraq -- and it was no longer in use." [Robert Novak, Washington Post, Jul 23]

30 Second Software

Two Austin startups, 30 Second Software Inc. and Phurnace Software Inc., have received venture capital infusions. 30 Second Software, founded by Austin entrepreneur Dave Sikora, has raised $2.9 million from two corporate investors, to develop mobile commerce technology and services. Phurnace, which won the 2006 University of Texas MOOT Corp business-plan competition, received $1.3 million [from] a Texas-based venture fund affiliated with Draper Fisher Jurvetson. [Austin American-Statesman, Sep 3, 07]

Austin software industry veteran Dave Sikora has launched a startup focused on mobile commerce technology and services. The company, 30 Second Software Inc., offers a free e-commerce service for making purchases using BlackBerry devices. ... Sikora was formerly CEO of Austin-based Pervasive Software Inc. Prior to that he led three Austin software startups: Ventix Systems Inc., Question.com Inc. and Powered Inc. [Austin American-Statesman, Jan 29, 07]

3C Semiconductor (Portland, OR)

New CEO at 3C
3C Semiconductor (Portland, OR) announced Don Hagge, a veteran founder of tech companies, as first President and CEO. 3C got a BMDO Phase 2 SBIR recently to pursue heat resistant contacts to 3C silicon carbide devices. Having an business scarred CEO comforts the VCs who don't particularly like a scientist trying to do both science and business. Founder-scientist Jim Parsons and his investors from an Oregon VC firm apparently agreed a solution.

3D Technology Laboratories(Mountain View, CA)

True 3D Display
(May 5) Elizabeth Downing had a continuous flow of lookers at Photonics West 97 at her 3D pictures in a cube. She should get a larger flow after the John Drake's friendly article in MIT Technology Review May/Jun97. The BMDO SBIR-supported idea makes an image in 3D, not a 2D representation of a 3D image as on Hollywood's best silver screen or even Reveo's Vrex projector. Downing has now attracted VC to build a 6-inch cube display at her 3D Technology Laboratories (Mountain View, CA).

3F (Raleigh, NC)

Thirteen NC companies will split $1 M from a new state fund intended to help businesses create environmentally friendly technologies. In the Triangle area: Ecocurrent of Raleigh received $100,000 to convert hog manure into electric power; Kyma Technologies of Raleigh received $60,000 to work with N.C. State University on a more efficient, cheaper electric switch.; 3F LLC of Raleigh received $100,000 to develop a natural fiber-reinforced concrete formula.; Piedmont Biofuels of Pittsboro received $75,000 to work on a reactor that more efficiently creates biodiesel.; Nextreme Thermal Solutions of Durham received $57,319 to manufacture a generator that converts waste heat into electricity.; Rain Water Solutions of Raleigh received $18,000 to develop a new rain barrel manufacturing process. [Raleigh News & Observer, Jul 1]

3PrimiR (Westport, CT)

Spawned by Yale University, 3PrimiR (Westport, CT; no SBIR), which is focused on applying microRNA discoveries to cancer diagnostics, has raised $2 million in a planned $4 million equity financing, according to federal documents. [Mass High Tech, Sep 16, 09]

3VR (San Francisco, CA)

Video analytics firm 3VR Security of San Francisco raised $15 million in a third round of venture led by DAG Ventures. Also participating with follow-on investments were In-Q-Tel, the strategic venture firm funded by the Central Intelligence Agency, VantagePoint Venture Partners, and Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Buyers. [San Jose Mercury News, Oct 11]

A123Systems (Watertown, MA)

A123 Systems said it is expanding capacity at its facility in Michigan and also announced a battery supply agreement with Fisker Automotive, a new American automaker building premium green vehicles. [Boston Globe, Jan 14, 10]

Army's venture venture. The Army's VC (OnPoint Tech) current investment portfolio : A123 Systems (Boston, MA; $750K SBIR, IPO 2009) advanced Lithium-Ion based cells for rechargeable battery packs; Atraverda (UK) advanced bi-polar battery electrodes for rechargeable batteries; Integrated Fuel Cell Technologies (Burlington MA; no SBIR) next generation fuel cell systems for portable devices; Nanosolar (Palo Alto, CA; $1.7M SBIR) thin-film solar technology for roll-to-roll printing of solar cells on flexible substrates, PowerGenix (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) next-generation rechargeable batteries; Power Precise (Herndon, VA; no SBIR) a fabless semiconductor company specializing in battery management devices; Ultra Cell (Livermore, CA; no SBIR) integrated fuel cell systems; Zinc Matrix Power (Santa Barbara, CA; no SBIR) high-performance rechargeable alkaline battery technology for commercial and military markets; Akermin (St Louis, MO; no SBIR) portable fuel cells based on its proprietary �Stabilized Enzyme Biofuel Cell� SEBC� technology; Superprotonic (Pasadena CA; $200K SBIR) solid acid fuel cell. [defense-ventures.com] No surprise that a VC, even one doing it for the government, sees tech opportunity much different than does Army SBIR. I note that the three outside trustees (of five trustees) of OnPoint are a DOD political appointee, and entrepreneur/attorney, and Paul Gompers from Harvard Business School who with Josh Lerner publish a lot of venture research. Lerner did a lot of SBIR study until, I presume, he gave up on SBIR's ever being anything but a political handout.

A123 Systems and General Motors Co. partner SAIC Motor Corp. said yesterday that they plan a joint venture in China to supply batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles. [AP, Dec 17, 09]

A123 Systems up 18% [Nov 24, 09]

Factories Cost. Not even three months after it netted $249 million in stimulus dollars to build a manufacturing facility in Michigan, A123Systems is finalizing a deal with the U.S. Department of Energy for another $250 million, this time in loans for that facility�s construction, according to a report from Reuters. [Mass High Tech, Oct 22, 09]

A123 Systems down 10% [Oct 5, 09]

A123 Systems up 14% [Oct 2, 09]

A123Systems went public at $13.50 to collect $378 million; stock trades as AONE. [Mass High Tech, Sep 24, 09] First day trading ended up 50%.

A123 Systems hopes to raise some $225 million through an IPO the week of Sept. 21. The event, the first venture-backed cleantech company to go public this year [Mass High Tech, Sep 18, 09]

A123 Systems appears to be on its way to filing an [IPO], given the company�s move today to set terms of the offering. [Mass High Tech, Sep 9, 09]

Money Talks. A post on Scott Kirsner's Innovation Economy blog on Boston.com notes that A123Systems spent far more [$500K] on lobbying than Boston-Power did [$30K]. [Boston Globe, Aug, 7, 09] Boston-Power apparently still could win future federal funding. It is in the running for a $100 million grant from the Department of Defense, to be announced later this year. [Innovation Economy blog]

A123Systems yesterday was awarded $249 million in federal stimulus funds, which the company said will go to build factories to manufacture high-tech lithium-ion batteries. A123 previously received $100 million in economic incentives from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to build a factory in Livonia, Mich [Boston Globe, Aug 6, 09]

The Obama administration plans to announce Wednesday the winners of $1.2 billion in federal stimulus funds for makers of advanced automotive batteries, part of an effort to make sure that electric cars sold in the U.S. run on American-made power sources. One of the winners in a competition that drew applications from more than 100 companies is A123 Systems [Wall Street Journal, Aug 5, 09]

In the interstate competition for federal battery money, Michigan is giving as much as $400 million in state support for four companies: Johnson Controls-Saft Advanced Power Solutions LLC, LG Chem-Compact Power Inc., KD Advanced Battery Group LLC and A123 Systems Inc. ... DOE said 122 companies submitted applications in May seeking to share $2 billion in stimulus funds that were earmarked for advanced-battery efforts. The DOE said it will divide $1.2 billion of that sum among seven or eight manufacturing companies, part of an effort to develop quickly a U.S. capability to produce millions of batteries for electric cars [Rebecca Smith, Wall Street Journal, Jul 9, 09]

A123Systems, that just yesterday said it had raised $69 million in its latest financing round, announced today that it has secured more than $100 million in refundable tax credits from the state of Michigan. [Boston Globe, Apr 14]

Chrysler chose A123 Systems [for batteries] in part because the company was looking for a supplier based in the United States, says Lou Rhodes, the vice president of advanced vehicle engineering at Chrysler. A123 is based in Watertown, MA, and is building factories in Michigan. The company's battery cells met Chrysler's performance and safety specifications, and the company was developing battery modules that could be easily adapted to fit different vehicles. This was important, Rhodes says, because the automaker plans to start selling several different electric vehicles at around the same time. [Kevin Bullis, MIT Tech Review, Apr 10]

Chrysler says A123Systems will supply the lithium-ion batteries for the company's extended-range gas-electric cars and its all-electric cars. [Boston Globe, Apr 7, 09]

A123 Systems announced a $15 million investment from GE Energy Financial Services and GE Capital Equity to expand the company�s lithium ion battery manufacturing and smart grid capabilities in the U.S. The investment brings GE�s total of seven funding events in A123 to about $70 million [Mass High Tech, Apr 13, 09]

A123Systems said it is seeking $1.84 billion in direct federal loans ... from DOE's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program (love those multi-syllables) ... to support the construction of new world-class lithium ion battery manufacturing facilities in the United States, with the first construction location in southeast Michigan, the company said in a press release. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Jan 7, 09]

General Electric invested an additional $30 million in A123Systems, a maker of lithium-ion batteries that aims to power plug-in cars from General Motors and Chrysler. The investment raises GE's stake to 9 percent, making it the start-up's biggest cash investor. [Washington Post, Oct 23, 08]

A123 Systems (Watertown, MA; $750K SBIR) filed for IPO.

A radically modified version of the lithium-ion batteries used in portable electronics, the technology could jump-start the long-sputtering electric-vehicle market, which today represents a tiny fraction of 1 percent of vehicle sales in the United States. A123 Systems's batteries in particular have attracted the interest of General Motors, which is testing them as a way to power the Volt, an electric car with a gasoline generator; the vehicle is expected to go into mass production as early as 2010. [MIT Tech Review, Apr 30, 08]

A123 Systems publicly launched its Hymotion product line, which can convert Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles into 100 mpg, electric-powered plug-in hybrids to consumers. [Mass High Tech, Apr 29]

Of the 15 game-changing startups likely to upend existing industries - and spawn new entrepreneurial opportunities, two used SBIR - Cree and A123 Systems. Business 2.0 also named One Laptop Per Child, Desktop Factory, Renewable Energy Group, Zink, Vanu, Bloom Energy, PatientstLikeMe, Virgin Charter, MFG.com, Zipcar, Expensr, Raydiance, and Blinkx.

A123 Systems (Watertown, MA) Inc. has cut a new deal with a Norwegian electric car manufacturer that puts its nanophosphate power plants at the heart of a five-seat "crossover" style vehicle. [Mass High Tech, Mar 6, 08]

Nanotech battery maker A123Systems Inc. has been granted a new patent for its "nanophosphate" lithium ion batteries [Mass High Tech, Mar 4, 08]

A123Systems, which makes nanotechnology-based lithium-ion batteries, has completed a $30 million round of funding from GE Energy Financial Services, bringing the total raised by the company to $132 million. [Mass High Tech, Oct 24]

A123Systems has cut a new deal to supply nanophosphate lithium ion battery technology to Cessna Aircraft. [Mass High Tech, Sep 19, 07]

A123Systems (Watertown, MA) reports that, starting in early 2008, BAE Systems plans to offer A123Systems' lithium ion battery technology as part of its HybriDrive propulsion system, available on the DaimlerChrysler Orion VII hybrid transit bus. [Mass High Tech, May 17]

A123Systems (Watertown, MA; one Phase 2 SBIR) claims a powerful, safe, long-lived battery. �The problem came down to usability,� said Nick Zelenski, G.M.�s chief vehicle engineer. �You had to plan your life around when you were going to charge the EV1.� ... When Professor Chiang and two others founded the company in 2002, it was devoted to a radical business proposition: it hoped to develop a technique where component materials would �self assemble� into a practical lithium battery. ... Nice idea, too bad. By late 2003, the company had abandoned self-assembly for another, less alchemical but still dramatic technology. In place of cobalt oxide, it used a commonplace substance, iron phosphate, but assembled it in a novel, nano-structure .... [It] has raised more than $102 M from a variety of investors and a deal with GM to develop a battery for a new GM hybrid model. [Jason Pontin, New York Times, Mar 11]

AAstrom Bioscience

Aastrom Bioscience, a quite volatile stock up 12% [Oct 30,06]

Abaxis

every commercial revolution is born out of pain and controversy. Abaxis (no SBIR) has often been a clumsy midwife to its own baby. For 18 months the company missed out on 100 to 200 unit sales per quarter because it couldn't fill orders; one-third of its machines had defective components and were returned. Salesmen had good leads but were distracted dealing with unhappy customers. ... Piling promise on top of unfulfilled promise, Abaxis has spent $100 million to develop its exceptional machine. Lawsuits, firings, cash shortages and operational mishaps ... founded in 1989 by a trio of ambitious scientists ... a machine that could take a drop of blood and within a few minutes give readings on 80 tests used by physicians. ... Entrepreneur of the Year CEO Severson thinks the worst is behind. His aim is to double earnings per share over the next couple of years and move closer to a 10% slice of the market for blood chemistry. [Forbes, Oct 29]

Abiomed

The man who underwent the first commercial implantation of a self-contained heart - a device made by a Danvers company - has died. Abiomed Inc. and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Brunswick, N.J., yesterday acknowledged the death of the 76-year-old patient, who was not identified to protect his privacy. [Boston Globe, Sep 3, 09]

Abiomed up 11% [Apr 9, 09]

Abiomed up 10% [Mar 25, 09]

Abiomed down 11% [Mar 5, 09]

Abiomed down 12% [Mar 2, 09]

Abiomed down 23% [Feb 5, 09] biggest NASDAQ percentage decliner

Abiomed up 10% [Nov 24, 08]

Abiomed up 19% [Oct 30, 08]

Abiomed down 10% [Oct 27, 08]

Abiomed announced $20 million in shipments for fiscal year 2009 second-quarter shipments -- a record for the billed products and services. The amount signifies a 75 percent increase over fiscal year 2008�s second-quarter [Mass High Tech, Oct 17, 08]

Medical device maker Abiomed completed a public stock offering that raised nearly $42 million. [Boston Globe, Aug 22, 08]

Abiomed is expanding into Ireland, ... signed a long-term operating lease for a manufacturing facility in Athlone, Ireland, and expects its Impella blood pump production line to be operational there in about 18 months. [Elizabeth Campbell, Boston Globe, Jul 31, 08]

Abiomed reports it has agreed to convert a $5 million loan it received from World Heart Corp. into World Heart common stock -- part of World Heart�s plan to recapitalize itself for a total purchase price of at least $30 million. [Mass High Tech, Jun 24]

Abiomed jumped 16%, ...said the FDA approved its Impella 2.5 Cardiac Assist Device .... .threaded into the body through an artery to improve blood flow in the sickest of patients. ... about 150,000 patients in the U.S. each year are candidates for the pump, which will cost $20,000. [Wall Street Journal, Jun 3, 08]

Abiomed (Danvers, MA; much SBIR) said that it has gotten the approval of European Union regulators to market a power-pack (right) for one of its heart pumps in EU countries and countries that recognize EU approval. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Mar 28]

Jewish Hospital in Louisville is citing the expense of the AbioCor implants as a reason for not partnering with the device's maker, Abiomed. [Boston Globe, Jan 25, 08]

FDA approved system upgrades for Abiomed�s AbioCor implantable replacement heart. The device replaces severely damaged hearts in patients who are not eligible for a transplant or other treatments. [AP, Jan 23] Abiomed wins FDA OK for iPulse system. [Mass High Tech, Dec 19, 07]

Abiomed (Danvers MA) agreed to invest in World Heart Corp. through $5M convertible loans. [Mass High Tech, Dec 12, 07]

Abiomed up 12% [Aug 16,07]

OK for Canada which approved Abiomed's Impella devices for heart failure patients. [Jul 18, 07] Not yet OK for USA.

Abiomed up 11% [Mar 20, 07]

Abiomed plans to raise $60M+ in a public stock sale. [Mar 07]

Abiomed signed a $16M five-year distribution agreement with a Japanese distributor of cardiac assist devices to sell Abiomed's AB5000 and Impella products. [AP, Nov 13, 06]

complicated Leon relationship concerns Abiomed, . In 2005, Leon's incubator, Accelerated Technologies, sold a small company called Impella to Abiomed for $42.2 M in stock. Impella had invented a tiny pump that helps the heart do its job and can be implanted in minutes. Three versions of it are on sale in Europe, and the company is conducting clinical trials in the U.S. Leon received stock then worth nearly $1 million, plus the opportunity to receive a small share of up to $16.75 million in milestone payments, based in part on Abiomed's regulatory approvals and units sold. Six months later, Impella was featured in two live cases at TCT. At the same conference, Abiomed co-sponsored an evening event featuring doctors talking about heart pumps. Leon, who was the keynote speaker, noted briefly in the disclosure booklet and on a slide that preceded the presentation that he was a "major shareholder" of Impella-Abiomed. He retains the opportunity to collect milestone payments from the company. Abiomed CEO Michael Minogue says Leon's involvement isn't problematic. "He doesn't own that high a percentage of the company, and he's not involved in the trials," Minogue says. "What he has brought to the company is that he helped make the product more user-friendly." This year's TCT promises the event's first-ever panel on conflicts of interest.

Abiomed gap-opened down 10% on projection of lower than expected revenues. [Oct 13, 06] It has had at least 15 Phase 2 SBIRs over the two decades of SBIR and a volatile stock price (between 3 and 60, now 13) over the last decade. Its cardiovascular business is medical products to assist or replace the pumping function of the failing heart.

Absorbent Materials (Wooster, OH)

Absorbent Materials (Wooster, OH; no SBIR; 7 people) is looking for $2.4 million in funding. ... using organically modified chemicals called silanes, resulting in reactive, swelling glass materials. The materials are hydrophobic � repelled by water � but can absorb nearly any volatile organic compound, according to the company. [Mass High Tech, Aug 28, 09]

Acadia Pharmeceuticals

Acadia Pharma down 66% [Sep 1, 09] after the company said its drug candidate pimavanserin failed to meet key treatment goals in a late-stage study focusing on patients with Parkinson's disease psychosis. [AP, Sep 1]

Acadia Pharma up 16% [Aug 13, 09]

Acadia Pharna up 16% [Aug 10, 09]

Acadia Pharma up 15% [Aug 3, 09]

Acadia Pharma up 29% [Jul 27, 09]

Acadia Pharma up 31% [Jul 24, 09]

Cash-strapped Acadia Pharmaceuticals said yesterday that it will receive $30 million in upfront cash in a deal with a Canadian company to commercialize its experimental drug to treat Parkinson's disease psychosis. [Penni Crabtree, San Diego Union Tribune, May 5, 09]

Acadia Pharma up 130% [May 4, 09]

Acadia Pharma up 61% [Oct 13, 08]

Acadia Pharma up 16% [Sep 18, 08 ]

Acadia Pharma down 14% [Sep 17, 08]

Acadia Pharma up 14% [Sep 16, 08]

Acadia Pharmaceuticals were beaten down 43% after the company reported a complete failure of its Phase II-b trial of a schizophrenia drug. The study didn't meet any of its primary or secondary goals at two separate doses. [Wall Street Journal, Jun 17, 08]

Acadia Pharmaceuticals down 43% [Jun 16, 08]

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals down 12% [Feb 5, 08]

Acadia Pharmaceuticals up 11% [Jan 31, 08]

Acadia Pharmaceuticals down 11% on downgrade to Sell. [Nov 6, 07]

Acadia Pharmaceuticals up 12% on news of selling another tranche of shares. [Apr 3, 07]

The Trials Giveth, ... Acadia Pharmaceuticals doubled on good news from the trials of its schizophrenia drug. [Mar 19, 07]

Acambis

Acambis (the two Cambridges; one Phase 1 SBIR) reports beginning clinical trials of its West Nile virus vaccine. [Mass High Tech, Mar 21]

Acceleron Pharma (Cambridge, MA)

Acceleron Pharma (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) landed $10.9 million in equity financing, ... develops preclinical protein treatments to combat bone loss, grow blood vessels and block fat growth. ... co-founded in 2004 [Mass High Tech, Dec 16, 09]

Alkermes said it will invest $10 million to license the rights to a drug technology developed by Acceleron Pharma (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR), and also take an equity stake. [Boston Globe, Dec 4, 09]

Acceleron Pharma (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) said that preliminary test results were encouraging for its drug candidate designed to help people with neuromuscular diseases such as muscular dystrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. [Boston Globe, Sep 3, 09]

Acceleron Pharma (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) said that it has signed a lease on a third facility in Cambridge, further expanding its laboratory and office space by an additional 19,700 square feet ... biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, manufacturing, and commercializing biotherapeutics that modulate the growth of bone, muscle, red blood cells, fat, and the vasculature to treat musculoskeletal, metabolic, and cancer-related diseases. ... "has grown by more than 50 percent in each year since the company was founded in 2004, and we expect this rate of growth to continue throughout 2009," company founder and chief executive John Knopf said in a statement. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, May 1, 09]

Accentia BioPharmaceuticals (Tampa, FL)

Biotechnology companies in the United States are raising less cash than they have in a decade, in part because of the global economic crisis. The reductions have led to bankruptcies and threaten development of drugs based on biomedical breakthroughs. ... Twenty-five percent of the 370 public U.S. biotechnology companies have less than six months of cash, according to data compiled by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, a trade group in Washington. .... Among others, Peptimmune (Cambridge, MA; one SBIR), a 6-year-old firm, said it is struggling to pay for clinical trials of its multiple sclerosis drug. ... cut its staff more than half, to 22 people; moved to smaller offices to conserve the $6.5 million it has on hand; and is delaying research on drugs for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, chief executive Thomas Mathers said. .... On Nov. 10, MicroIslet (San Diego, CA; $1.8M SBIR) developer of diabetes treatments, and Accentia BioPharmaceuticals (Tampa, FL; no SBIR) sought bankruptcy protection to reorganize, each citing an inability to raise money. [David Olmos and Rob Waters, Bloomberg News, Dec 1, 08]

Access Pharmaceuticals

As major pharmaceuticals seek companies with a pipeline of promising drugs to augment their own depleting inventories, some pros bet that one target will be Access Pharmaceuticals ($200K SBIR), now at 2.85 a share. It hit a high of 17 in 2005. Its drug MuGard, approved by the FDA in 2007, treats oral mucositis, a debilitating side effect of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. It's now sold in Europe, with a global market potential of $5 billion, says Access. [Gene Marcial, Business Week, Oct 12, 09]

Accurate Automation Inc (Chattanooga, TN)

Business Waverider
The LoFlyte Mach 5 Waverider of Accurate Automation Corp (Chattanooga, TN) got national business coverage in Business Week (Aug26). Now to see if AAC can make a business of it and not be swallowed by the aerospace giants if and when the idea proves itself. Founder Bob Pap may well have enough of his spirit committed to the dream to resist all but the sweetest offers.

Bird? UFO? Plane? Waverider?
The LoFlyte waverider aircraft of Accurate Automation Corp (Chattanooga, TN) made the front page (above the fold) of yesterday's Sunday Times (Aug 11) in London. The news angle is explaining UFO sightings (give people a reason to read your stuff) over Europe. But since AAC has just started serious building plans, the sightings will need a different explanation. Or maybe DOD has been doing waverider for years and using AAC as a convenient innocent distraction. On the other hand, UFO sightings do attract attention. (A neighbor once told the newspapers of one right over our block; I saw it too - a C-135 on final approach at night to a rarely used Army military airfield.) AACs' strengths, nurtured with lots of Navy SBIR money for neural nets, are the neural control system and the entrepreneurial spirit of founder and CEO Bob Pap

LoFLYTE Rollout
750,000 people in Oshkosh watched the rollout of the first neural network piloted , SBIR powered, jet, the pride of Accurate Automation Inc (Chattanooga, TN). LoFLYTE is a high-lift, low drag, Mach 5 autonomous aircraft that rides the hypersonic shock and thus earns its waverider nomenclature. The PR Newswire story said that the "program represents a coordinated approach to SBIR contracts attempted by NASA Langley Research Center and the US Air Force to realize a complex objective". Which raises a complex question for SBIR - "What is SBIR really for?". Why would agencies fund it exclusively with SBIR if it has such high value? Did Congress intend such concentration of funding? Are the agencies just thereby avoiding the normal appropriations oversight of large projects? Even though the company has some decent claim to be commercially minded, does such a project pass a competitive investment efficiency test of commercial impact per marginal dollar invested? Did, indeed, the agencies even consider the investment competitiveness as viewed from the market sector? Why would anyone rain on a small business victory parade? Now that SBIR has proven the principle, will the normal agency R&D assume responsibility for the development under competitive bidding practices? And if so, can the company compete well outside the SBIR shelter since the technology belongs to the government for government use? Will success in such a maneuver now embolden the agencies to abandon the infant, diversified, market-minded, investment approach to invest a lot more money in a lot fewer companies with the objective of "a coordinated approach to SBIR contracts"? Does DOD hereby announce that Fast Track will be Second Track?

Accuray

Accuray (one SBIR) shed 12.5% after the maker of robotic surgery systems projected sales for the first quarter and the fiscal 2010 below analysts' expectations. [Wall Street Journal, Aug 26, 09]

Since CyberKnife was first approved in 1999 for tumor treatment, it has been used in some 40,000 cases, and demand is growing. ... from Accuray (Sunnyvale CA; one SBIR) ... allows doctors to treat tumors using a noninvasive, outpatient procedure that helps patients avoid the side effects of surgery, chemotherapy or other forms of radiation. It uses software and robotics to home in on cancerous tissue and deliver large doses of radiation while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. [Time, Dec 17, 07]

Accuray (Sunnyvale CA; one SBIR) entered a partnership with Still River Systems which makes proton bean radiotherapy products. [Silicon Valley Business Journal, Oct 30]

Accuray (one SBIR a decade ago) was up 62% from its IPO price the day before. [Feb 9, 07]

Accuri Cytometers (Ann Arbor, MI)

Accuri Cytometers (Ann Arbor, MI; no SBIR) got $13 M Series C Financing ... Spun out of the University Of Michigan in 2002, ... developed revolutionary high performance cell analysis systems. .... "We are a state-supported start-up company," says CEO Jennifer Baird, "and we've been making decisions of how to manufacture our product. We've decided to do it in the state of Michigan." [MetroMode, Jul 9, 08]

Acetylon Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA)

Therapeutics startup Acetylon Pharmaceuticals (Boston, MA; no SBIR) has pulled in $2 million in funding, bringing the total investment in the company to $9.25 million. [Mass High Tech, Jan 8, 10] ... formed in late 2008 to commercialize promising pharmaceutical technology emerging from collaborative research at Harvard University and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Acetylon is focused on development and commercialization of next generation, selective, small-molecule Histone Deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors with enhanced therapeutic efficacy and tolerability versus current alternatives. [mattcenter.mediaroom.com]

A handful of local life sciences companies have sprung to life over the past several months, in spite of a venture capital landscape that has sometimes looked windswept and barren. ... Companies that have successfully launched in this environment have powerful allies and a frugal mindset. Several are going after a platform that could target several diseases. Analysts say this approach gives the company several shots at profitability, making them more attractive to investors. ... Last week, Acetylon Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) announced its official launch with $7.25 million from private investors ... One company that did raise money from a traditional venture firm is Targ-Anox (Boston, MA; no SBIR). The company coalesced around technology discovered by Brigham and Women�s Hospital chief of medicine Joseph Loscalzo. [Mass High Tech, Aug 14, 09]

HDAC therapeutics startup Acetylon Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) has pulled in $7.25 million in a Series A funding round [Mass High Tech, Aug 7, 09]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals

Achillion Pharma down 12% [Jan 22, 10]

Achillion Pharma down 10% [Jan 11, 10]

Achillion Pharma up 10% [Dec 17, 09]

Achillion Pharma up 48% [Dec 16, 09] after the company said its hepatitis C drug candidate showed positive "proof-of-concept" results, while meeting safety and tolerability goals in an early-stage study. [AP, Dec 16]

The $27 million cash stash at Achillion Pharmaceuticals is a needed cushion for its development of treatments for HIV and hepatitis C. ... elvucitabine for HIV has finished phase II clinical trials. Achillion hopes to team up with a big drugmaker to develop the drug further, says Nash. Its hepatitis drug ACH-1625 is set for its first human clinical trials. [Gene Marcial, Business Week, Dec 7, 09]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals up 12% [Jul 31, 08]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals up 39% [Jul 23, 08]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals is the type of biotech that Big Pharma looks for to find new drugs. Achillion develops small-molecule drugs to fight infectious diseases like Hepatitis C and HIV. Gilead Sciences has partnered with Achillion and signed a worldwide exclusive license for a compound aimed at stopping the Hepatitis C virus from replicating. The drug has an estimated $1 billion market, says Alfred Mansour, CEO of Biotech Watch [Gene Marcial, Business Week, Jun 23, 08]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals up 13% [Jun 13, 08]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals up 19% [Apr 29,08]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals down 10% [Apr 1, 08]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals down 11% [Mar 5, 08]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals up 10% [Feb 25, 08]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals down 10% [Feb 20, 08]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals up another 23% [Feb 4, 08]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals up 41% [Feb 1, 08]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals down 10% [Jan 30, 08]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals up 12% [Jan 14, 08]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals down 16% [Jan 2, 08]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals up 16%. [Dec 31, 07]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals up 10% [Nov 20, 07]

Achillion Pharmaceuticals down 12% [Nov 2, 07]

Lost a big bet. Achillion Pharmaceuticals shares dropped in half [Feb 9, 07] as it and its partner Gilead Sciences gave up on their hepatitis C drug when it showed abnormal liver problems.

Achillion Pharmaceuticals was up 22% for its first week of public trading. One Phase 2 SBIR.

Acorda Therapeutics

Acorda Thera up 10% [Jan 22, 10]

Acorda Therapeutics up 47% after the company got a positive FDA panel vote Wednesday for fampridine-SR to improve walking in multiple-sclerosis patients. The FDA is set to decide on the drug's approval next week. [Wall Street Journal, Oct 16, 09]

Acorda Thera down 21% [Oct 9, 09]

Acorda Thera down 15% [Jul 1, 09] after the biotechnology company announced a licensing and collaboration agreement with Biogen Idec -- a deal analysts said will make Acorda a less attractive takeover target. [Wall Street Journal, Jul 2]

Acorda Therapeutics up 17% [May 6, 09] after the FDA assigned the company's multiple-sclerosis drug priority review and an October approval decision date. [Wall Street Journal, May 7]

Acorda Thera up 19% [Apr 23, 09]

Acorda Thera down 20%% [Mar 31, 09]

Acorda Thera up 11% [Mar 6, 09]

Acorda Thera up 19% [Feb 24, 09]

Acorda Thera up 13% [Dec 18, 08]

Acorda Thera down 15% [Dec 1, 08] On a stock bloodbath day

Acorda Thera up 12% [Oct 28, 08]

Acorda Thera down 10% [Oct 6, 08]

Acorda Therapeutics (Hawthorne, NY; $1.8M SBIR) rose 31% [Jun 2, 08] ... company said a second late-stage trial showed that its multiple-sclerosis drug improved mobility in some patients with the debilitating disease. Acorda plans to file for licensing to market the drug, being developed with Elan, in the first quarter [WSJ]

Acorda Therapeutics up 15% [Feb 13, 08]

Acorda Therapeutics down 11% [Feb 6, 08] on announcing higher R&D spending.

Acorda Therapeutics (Hawthorne, NY; $1.6M SBIR) up 25% [Jan 28, 08] after it said its multiple sclerosis drug Fampridine-SR does not raise the risk of heart-related side effects anymore than a placebo in a so-called QT cardiac safety study required by the FDA [Forbes.com]

Acorda Therapeutics up 12%[Jan 10, 08]

Acorda Therapeutics up 10% on no news. [Nov 20, 06]

AcroMetrix (Benicia, CA)

Life Technologies said it acquired the Bay Area company AcroMetrix (Benicia, CA; one SBIR) for an undisclosed amount. AcroMetrix makes diagnostic quality control products for laboratories, blood screening centers and diagnostic manufacturers. [Thomas Kupper, San Diego Union Tribune, Jan 13, 10]

AcryMed (Beaverton, OR)

I-Flow Corp. of Lake Forest, Calif., agreed to pay $25M in cash to acquire AcryMed (Beaverton, OR; $1.5M SBIR) ... focused on wound dressings since its beginning in 1993. [The Oregonian, Jan 3, 08]

ActaCell (Austin, TX)

ActaCell (Austin, TX; no SBIR) which is developing advanced battery cells, has received a grant worth as much as $1 million from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. The company, which was founded in 2007 to commercialize some of the University of Texas' lithium-ion battery research, will get an initial $250,000, with more money to follow as the company meets certain benchmarks. .. previously raised $5.8 million from investors including Google.org, [Lori Hawkins, Austin American Statesman, Nov 11, 09]

ActaCell (Austin, TX; no SBIR) is hardly alone. [CEO] Ott estimates that a dozen companies, many of them startups, are chasing the same goal. Most them are trying to modify the lithium-ion technology now used in many laptop computers and cell phones. One Austin company, Valence Technology Inc., already is making batteries for a variety of vehicles, including the Segway Personal Transporter. ... and $2 billion in federal funds for advanced battery development just passed by Congress � has sparked a rush of investment in startup battery companies and a surge of interest in promoting more manufacturing of advanced batteries in the U.S. [Kirk Ladendorf, Austin American-Statesman, Mar 9, 08]

ActaCell (Austin, TX; no SBIR), A small battery company spun out of the University of Texas and nurtured by the Austin Technology Incubator has raised $5.8 million in a first round of venture capital, including a grant from the philanthropic arm of Google. ... formed to commercialize some of UT's lithium-ion battery research [Austin American Statesman, Jul 23, 08]

ActivBiotics (Lexington, MA)

ActivBiotics (Lexington, MA; no SBIR) developer of antibiotics, reports plans to liquidate all of its assets following the failure of its lead drug in clinical trials. [Mass High Tech, Dec 19, 07]

ActivMedia Robotics (Peterborough NH)

Smart new wheels. The government giveth to technology companies, and the government maketh life really difficult for them. Last week, I had the chance to ride in a souped-up, artificially intelligent motorized wheelchair. It was developed by ActivMedia Robotics of Peterborough NH., under a $100K NIH grant, and was shown publicly for the first time ... The chair uses a digital map of the room it is in to navigate autonomously. Click a point on the map and it will take you there, avoiding obstacles and people along the way. Eventually, it could be driven by touching icons on the screen or by speaking voice commands, like ''Go to the dining room.'' ... If not for the NIH grant, the chair wouldn't exist, and it won't have much hope of making it to the market without a further $750K NIH infusion. After that, there's the FDA approval process [who] must certify that the chair won't endanger the lives of its users by, for example, autonomously pitching them down a flight of stairs.... How large is the market for an intelligent wheelchair? And will prospective users and their caretakers trust the chair's driving ability enough to buy it? No one knows. Dietsch estimates that the chair, if made in small quantities, would cost about $30,000. If manufactured in large volume, $20,000. That's about the same price at which Johnson & Johnson is expected to sell its Independence 3000 Ibot Transporter, the robotic wheelchair developed by Dean Kamen that climbs stairs, handles all kinds of rough terrain, and balances on two wheels. ... Both the Ibot and ActivMedia's Independence-Enhancing Wheelchair are entirely new kinds of products, and they both will require that new tests be developed before they can be deemed safe for use. But how safe is safe enough? A human wheelchair operator is responsible if she drives the chair into a wall, and that happens often enough: Dietsch says that wheelchair accidents send 35,000 people to the hospital each year. Should ActivMedia's artificially intelligent chair be required to perform more reliably than a human and prevent 100 percent of all possible wheelchair accidents? The FDA's guidelines say that the benefits of a new medical device must outweigh the risks. But the agency can be slow in figuring that out. Clinical trials for the Ibot began in mid-1999. Kamen initially thought it would be on the market by early 2001, but the revised projection is later this year. [ Red glare, black ink. [Scott Kirsner, Boston Globe, July 1,02]

Active Power

Active Power (Austin, TX; no SBIR), which makes battery-free, flywheel-based backup power systems, agreed to a $3 million private placement of its shares. [Austin American-Statesman, Jun 2, 09]

Shares of Austin-based Active Power shot up 40.5 percent after the company reported a 58.7 percent increase in fourth-quarter revenue and a dramatically smaller loss. [Austin American-Statesman, Jan 31]

Active Power (Austin, TX) received two multimillion-dollar orders from Caterpillar. [Austin Business Journal, Nov 24, 08]

Active Power (Austin, TX; no SBIR) said sales grew 34% in 2007, and the company narrowed its full-year ...makes battery-free backup power systems for facilities that need uninterrupted power. [Austin American-Statesman, Feb 2]

Active Power (Austin, TX; no SBIR), inventor and manufacturer of the most energy-efficient critical power systems in the world, announced today it completed a private placement of approximately $14 M of common stock to institutional investors. .. flywheel-based UPS systems protect critical operations in data centers, healthcare facilities, manufacturing plants, broadcast stations and governmental agencies in more than 40 countries. [company news release, Aug 16]

Backup power systems company Active Power reported a 27% gain in revenue ... specializes in battery-free, flywheel-based power systems ...still it lost $4.9M [Austin American-Statesman, Oct 27, 06]

Acton Pharmaceuticals (Marlborough, MA)

Drug developer Acton Pharmaceuticals (Marlborough, MA; founded 2008) has closed a $500,000 tranche in a planned $10 million preferred-stock sale, according to a regulatory filing.... engaged in the acquisition, development and commercialization of potential therapies to treat respiratory illnesses, according to the company�s website. [Mass High Tech, Dec 16, 09]

Actuality Systems

Actuality Systems Founded in 1997, Actuality Systems develops the world's first Spatial 3D visualization systems, which have been proven to provide faster and more accurate outcomes in critical defense, medical, and security operations. Organizations evaluating Perspecta include the National Institutes of Health, Centacor (J&J), Kyoto University, Nissho International, Purdue University, the US Army, University of Toronto $1.7 million grant from ATP for work to commercialize low-cost scalable 3D holographic video.sale of its PerspectaTM 3D system to the NASA Ames Research Center in California. The unique 360-degree display will be used as part of the center's work in 3D imaging of scientific data in the fields of earth science and astronomy. .. Apache Corp. has invested $1.2 million in the company. Houston-based Apache's investment is part of $6.5 million raised to expand business development, and add engineering staff.

Acucela

things are looking better: the research-oriented startups seem poised to survive the downturn, and long-awaited clinical results could propel larger companies like Dendreon to stardom. ... despite the financial crisis, the Accelerator, a local incubator based in Seattle's Eastlake neighborhood, created three firms last year - Recodagen, GPC-Rx and Mirina (none had SBIR) ... "Seattle is really a town of development-stage biotechs," Miller said. ... Light Sciences Oncology (no SBIR), a firm that canceled its initial public offering last February, managed to raise $10 million from venture capitalists in July. Private investors provided Redmond-based Healionics (no SBIR) � which manufactures material for implants � with a $2.6 million boost in December. In a deal that could yield big results, Bothell-based Acucela (no SBIR), which is developing therapies to treat blindness, signed a partnership deal in September with Japanese firm Otsuka Pharmaceutical that could potentially bring it $258 million. [Angel Gonzalez, Seattle Times, Jan 25, 09]

Aculight (Bothell, WA)

Laser technology company Aculight (Bothell, WA; $22M SBIR, 90 employees) is being purchased by Lockheed Martin for an undisclosed sum. [Puget Sound Business Journal, Jul 28, 08] Thanks to Duane Zieg, MDA Tech Applications group; MDA furnished a small fragment of the SBIR haul.

Acumentrics (Westwood MA)

Acumentrics (Westwood, MA; one SBIR) has developed and introduced a rugged uninterruptible power supply system able to provide simultaneous DC and AC outputs ... for solid oxide fuel cells. [Boston Globe, Sep 11]

Acumentrics (Westwood, MA; one SBIR) got a 3 1/2-year, $15.6 M grant to continue the development of the company's tubular solid oxide fuel cell technology, courtesy of the DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy [Mass High Tech, Jun 5, 08]

Acumentrics (Westwood MA) got its first recorded SBIR Phase 2 from DOE to develop optimized manufacturing techniques and to build pre-commercial prototypes of a hybrid ceramic-metallic heat exchanger for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) [press release Oct 11, 07]

Adamis Pharmaceuticals (DelMar, CA)

La Jolla Pharmaceutical (LaJolla, CA; no SBIR) announced a merger deal with another small biotechnology company. The deal between La Jolla Pharmaceutical and Adamis Pharmaceuticals (DelMar, CA; no SBIR) will give La Jolla shareholders as much as 30 percent ownership of the combined company, while Adamis gets $2.5 million to $3 million in cash expected to be left over from La Jolla�s operations. [Thomas Kupper, San Diego Union Tribune, Dec 8, 09]

Addrenex Pharmaceuticals (Durham, NC)

Addrenex Pharmaceuticals (Durham, NC; no SBIR) has been acquired for $29 million by Sciele Pharma , an Atlanta pharmaceutical company that has already licensed three of Addrenex�s products and is one of its current investors. [Triangle Business Journal, Nov 16, 09]

Adenosine Therapeutics (Charlottesville VA)

Adenosine Therapeutics (Charlottesville VA; $7.5M SBIR) got $14M financings from Novartis Option Fund [company press release, Jun 27, 07]

Adeza Technologies (Durham, NC)

Adeza Biomedical shot up by half on news that it was being bought by Cytyc rose 2%. [Feb 12, 07]

Adherex Technologies (Durham, NC)

Adherex Technologies (Durham, NC) has a deal with a Canadian investment bank for $25M in stock to work on new cancer therapies. Adherex recently regained the rights to develop its most advanced cancer therapy when GlaxoSmithKline decided not to continue assisting in its development., [Raleigh News and Observer, Jan 23] No SBIRs yet.

AdiMab (Lebanon, NH)

AdiMab (Lebanon, NH; no SBIR) a biotech focused on antibody discovery technology, has closed a Series B round of venture capital to fuel growth and hire more workers, company officials said. ... $6.2 million Series A round last summer. Gerngross said the value of his biotech has increased by 300 percent from the time of the Series A to the Series B, based on investor valuations [Mass High Tech, Mar 26]

Adnexus Therapeutics (Waltham,MA)

Bristol-Myers Squibb said yesterday that it would pay $430M for Adnexus Therapeutics (Waltham, MA; no SBIR), a privately held biotechnology company whose lead product is a cancer drug in the earliest stages of human trials. ... is owned by a handful of venture capital companies [Reuters, Sep 25]

Adolor

Adolor said it is eliminating 45 jobs, or 285 of its work force, and implementing other cost-saving moves to reduce its operating cash burn rate. [Philadelphia Business Journal, Jun 3, 09]

Adolor up 17% [Feb 3, 09]

Adolor up 10% [Oct 20, 08]

Adolor up 18% [Oct 16, 08]

Adolor down 12% [Sep 17, 08]

Adolor down 11% [Jul 7, 08]

Adelor down 10% [Mar 14, 08]

Adelor up 19% [Dec 5, 07] after a deal with Pfizer.

Adolor up 13% [AP, Nov 28, 07] after it and GlaxoSmithKline PLC said that a U.S. Food and Drug Administration committee will review Adolor's application for experimental drug Entereg, which treats stomach-related side effects after surgery.

Adolor up 12% [Aug 7, 07]

Adolor's stock free-fell 60% after the company announced it had suspended for safety reasons clinical testing of its lead new drug candidate as a potential treatment for opioid-induced bowel dysfunction. [bizjournals.com] [Apr 10, 07]

Adelor up 26% [Mar 12, 07] on news that Glaxo will expand the testing of Adelor's bowel drug.

ADS Biotechnology (Toledo, OH)

Rocket Ventures, a pre-seed, early-stage venture fund for technology-based [Ohio] companies, has awarded Ignite! grants to three Toledo firms - ADS Biotechnology, TechTol Imaging, and DoX Systems. These grants are given to help the companies develop and use technology to create new products or improve processes that have an impact on jobs and revenues in Northwest Ohio. [Toledo Free Press, Jun 13, 08] No SBIR.

Advanced Bionics

Back to SBIR. Advanced Bionics ($500K SBIR) will become an independent company again, with businesses in cochlear implants and its development program in drug pumps as Boston Scientific unwinds its 2004 acquisition ... Boston Scientific will be left with Advanced Bionics' pain-management business, including a spinal-cord stimulator for chronic pain, and the Bion, which is in development to treat migraine headaches. [Keith Winstein, Wall Street Journal, Aug 10]

Advanced Cell Technology

Advanced Cell Technology said that its is closing its research facility and Charlestown and won�t be renewing its lease on its headquarters in Alameda. Calif., in an effort to cut operating expenses. [Mass High Tech, Sep 9]

Advanced Cell Technology ($200K SBIR), the biotechnology company that recently announced it was having financial troubles, may find relief from its latest accomplishment. The firm announced that its scientists have used human embryonic stem cells to generate billions of blood cells. Though the technique is still preliminary and has not been proven safe in animals, the hope is that it could eventually lead to a new supply of blood for patients. The research appears online (pre-published ahead of print) in the journal Blood. [AAAS, Aug 27, 08]

Advanced Cell Technology a developer of stem cell treatments, has granted an exclusive license, potentially worth up to $1.25 million, to Embryome Sciences Inc. [Mass High Tech, Aug 11, 08]

For the past decade, Advanced Cell Technology (Worcester, MA; $300K SBIR) has claimed one spectacular success after another. ... the first to clone an endangered species ... cloned the first human embryo ... Now, ACT could be on the verge of shutting down. ... the company warned that it doesn't have cash to continue operating after July 31 without raising additional money or drastically slashing operations. [Todd Wallack, Boston Globe, Jul 17, 08]

Advanced Cell Technology (one SBIR) reports that, along with colleagues from the University of California, San Francisco and embryo bank StemLifeLine, the company has developed five human embryonic stem cell lines without having to destroy any embryos. [Mass High Tech, Jan 11, 08]

A Los Angeles-based developer of stem cell treatments with research facilities in Worcester [MA] is on the hunt for corporate partners to develop recently acquired products and therapies. Advanced Cell Technology (one SBIR) took ownership of a stem cell treatment for heart failure through a $5M acquisition of Boston's Mytogen (no SBIR), completed in September. [Mass High Tech, Dec 7]

Advanced Ceramics Research (Tucson, AZ)

Eyes Are Watching. Advanced Ceramics Research got some notoriety from the investigation of Congressman Curt Weldon (a huge friend of Defense) for its payments to lobbyists: paid Grimes $60,000 as its registered lobbyist in 2003 and 2004. An affiliate of Advanced Ceramics paid her an additional $40,000 during that time, according to her lobbying registration documents. Weldon gave testimonials on behalf of Advanced Ceramics Research in two separate hearings of the House Armed Services subcommittee on tactical air and land forces, which he chairs. Weldon had invited the Arizona company's CEO to testify in 2004 and 2005 about what he characterized as its "very interesting work in developing state of the art composites that have increased performance while significantly reducing component cost." ... Some watchdog organizations [like Taxpayers for Common Sense] previously noted Weldon's support for companies that had little to do with his constituents in Delaware County and that paid fees to the firm operated by his daughter and Sexton, or to a close friend of Weldon's, lobbyist Cecilia Grimes. [Jeffery Smith and Carol Loennig, Washington Post, Oct 18] Advanced Ceramics, and its apparent manufacturing spinoff (same address), have had $20M of SBIR.

Business Week (June 23) reports that Advanced Ceramics Research (Tucson) makes plastic bones that can be tailored to the exact shape needed for compound fractures. It says that ONR "pioneered" such rapid prototyping and indeed ONR gave ACR two Phase 2 SBIRs for such osteoinductive material work. ACR has been blessed with many SBIRs (29 DOD Phase 1s since 1992 leading to five Phase 2s so far, and three NASA Phase 2s). FDA approval could come in 3-4 years.

Advanced Diamond Technologies (Romeoville, IL)

Wisconsin investors also participated in a $3.5 million funding round for an Illinois company, Advanced Diamond Technologies (Romeoville, IL; $700K SBIR) firm turns natural gas into diamond for a variety of industrial, electronic and medical applications. [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sep 30, 09]

Advanced Electron Beams (Wilmington, MA)

Advanced Electron Beams (Wilmington, MA; no SBIR) said it has closed a $14.2 million Series C financing, bringing its total amount raised to more than $50 million since October 2005. [Boston Globe, Aug 4, 09]

Advanced Fuel Research (East Hartford, CT)

A Party, A Party
(Apr 21) On-Line Technologies is having a grand opening party for its manufacturing line. The Governor will remark. On-Line is a spin-off of Advanced Fuel Research (East Hartford, CT) which has consumed tons of SBIR money (and recently ATP $2.8M) for its FT-IR technology. AFR's WebPage on SBIR is still under construction (it takes a long time to make a credible rationale for so much investment). Because AFR and On-Line are private companies, they don't have to tell the public nuttin'; only the federal agencies who have supplied all the money can demand an accounting and they don't seem so inclined. The agencies don't mind the ton of kerosene to light a fire in whose glow they (and the local politicians) would then bask. They believe you can do great things as long as you don't mind how much money it takes. And On-Line's Website pretty much adopts that strategy with the usual stuff about our wonderful products. Nevertheless, a manufacturing line merits a some celebration in SBIR companies. Is there any harm in pouring all that kerosene into AFR? Depends on your view. If you're a federal agency who has committed itself to a technology, more money is good, not bad, and the competent R&D companies feed well on that. If you are a startup or an existing commercializer with a new idea, you often get shut out as the money goes to the established SBIR companies. Never-had-SBIR companies like startup Actify (San Francisco) and commercializer TM Electronics (Worcester) get not even a Phase 1 to even show their new technologies. Consider the calculus: every Phase 2 to an established company for struggling technology cuts out ten Phase 1 awards to new ideas (whenever the agency caps its SBIR).

So, you have an interesting concept for an instrument that you think industry will want because it lets them monitor gas temperatures at a distance? You soon find that industry is not as enthusiastic as you are and so you try the government to get R&D money to develop something that industry will surely buy. You tell that story to government, who really doesn't know all that much about industry economics. Lo, and behold, government gives you a cool half-million to develop it. But industry still won't buy it. Maybe you, too, don't understand the industry economics. Why not try government again with the same story? Nah, they can't be that dumb! Oh, really? Consider the case of FT-IR technology at Advanced Fuel Research (East Hartford, CT).

Advanced Fuel Research Phase II SBIRs for FT-IR
NASA 85 In-Situ Characterization of the Size and Composition of Atmospheric Aerosols by FT-IR
Energy 86 Measurement and Observation of Combustion Performance and Coal Water Fuels
USAF 88 Materials High Temperature Measuring Instr Emissivity Spectral Emissometers
SDIO 90 In Situ Diagnostics for deposition of High T Superconducting Films
NSF 91 Temperature Modulation Method for In-Situ Measurement of Surface Treatment & Emissivity
NSF 92 Temperature Modulation Instrument for Glass Manufacturing
USAF 92 Novel Test Method for Fuel Thermal Stability
Army 92 High Temperature Oxygen Index Apparatus Stability
NSF 92 A New Method of Time-Temperature Modeling of Sedimentary Basins
NSF 92 Measurements and Modeling of the Behavior of Charring Polymers in Fires
USAF 93 Process Monitoring and Control During Plasma Processing of Semiconductors
BMDO 93 Miniaturized FT-IR Sensor for Infrared Measurement
NSF 93 In-Situ Measurement of Sub-Micron Particles during Synthesis from Gaseous Pre-Cursors
NASA 94 Blackbody reference for Infrared Imaging Systems
Energy 94 On-Chip IR Spectral Sensors by Superconducting Detector Arrays
Energy 94 An In-Situ Particle Sensor for Metal Forming Processes
USAF 95 Real-Time FT-IR Diagnostics and Control of Semiconductor Fabrication
NSF 95 Fourier Transform Infrared Diagnostics
NASA 95 Process Control for Plasma Spray Coating
DARPA 96 Rapid Thermal Annealing Process with Real-Time Monitoring for SiO2 Layer
Army 96 Fiber Optic Raman Probe for Real-Time Monitoring of Composite Viscosity and Intelligent Process Control of Autoclave Cure
NSF 96 On-Line Control of Particulate and Volatile Air Toxic Emissions from Thermal Treatment Systems
NSF 96 NonIntrusive Diagnostics for Sooting Combustion Systems
Energy 97 Sensors for Performance Monitoring of Advanced Gas Turbines
NSF 97 In-Line Process Monitoring & Control for Poly-Silicon Formation Inside Cluster Tools
If there's a problem, who's responsible and what's the solution? Whatever, don't blame AFR which merely proposed what it would like to do. The government apparently accepted the promise of a bright future over and over. Could these proposals simply have been the best of a bad lot? Who would believe that with all the government and small firm blather about "a highly competitive" program? 'Nuf Said? Now, if you want the Complete History, dig into what was funded before 1993 by all the agencies whose Websites don't report earlier SBIRs (wonder why?). But then you don't need a longer history to get the message that government's view of history circumnavigates the present.

Advanced Life Sciences

Advanced Life Sciences led all downers 19% [Jul 2, 07] after bad news on the trials for its pneumonia drug.

Advanced Life Sciences down 10%. [Jun 25, 07]

Investors who stuck with Advanced Life Sciences even after it delayed completion of Phase 3 clinical trials on cethromycin felt rewarded when the Food & Drug Administration granted it "Orphan Drug" designation. ... The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases is collaborating with Advanced Life on cethromycin [Gene Marcial, Business Week, Apr 2, 07]

Advanced Liquid Logic (RTP, NC)

Advanced Liquid Logic (RTP, NC: three Phase 1 SBIRs) won a runner-up award in the Semiconductor field for Technology Innovation 2007 by the Wall Street Journal.

Advanced Magnetics

Advanced Magnetics says it will sell common stock in a public offering to raise $130-150M. [May 07]

Advanced Magnetics settled its suit with Cytogen by paying $4M cash and releasing 50,000 shares of Cytogen stock to regain rights to two experimental products for use in detecting cancer. [Mass High Tech, Feb 16]

Revenue has dwindled, down nearly 80 percent from 16 years ago, and losses have gotten steeper. But then there is this: Advanced Magnetics shares have soared 430 percent, from $11.08 to $59.54 so far this year, making it the most successful Massachusetts stock of 2006. [Steven Syre, Boston Globe, Dec 28, 06]

Advanced Magnetics will sell another piece of itself for $132M which will more than cover the $25M loss in 2006 by its 36 workers. [facts from Mass High Tech, Dec 8, 06].

It Works! The Phase III clinical trial of Advanced Magnetics's ferumoxytol for blood iron was so good that the stock jumped 30%. Or as a sciencecrat said demonstrated a statistically significant achievement of all the primary and secondary endpoints. [Nov 17, 06]

Advanced Photonix

Advanced Photonix up 10% [Oct 23, 07] after announcing that its subsidiary, Picometrix, has received a follow-on $750K AF Phase II SBIR for further non-destructive testing (NDT) application development involving the testing of radomes for defects such as delaminations and water intrusion utilizing the T-Ray 4000 terahertz system platform. [company press release] Picometrix started life in 1992 with an SDIO SBIR when Steve Williamson got fed up with his university's handling of patenting his work.

We own the night! Advanced Photonix jumped 26% when it said it had booked a $520K Army buy of its (LED) Arrays used for night vision displays in the Army that claims to own the night. API is most notably a vendor of avalanche photodiodes. It had one Phase 2 SBIR, from BMDO, in 1993 for single-chip photodetector arrays when it had 65 employees and a market cap around $50M. Now it has 50 employees and a market cap of only $16M.

AdvanDx (Woburn, MA)

AdvanDx (Woburn, MA; no SBIR) maker of medical diagnostics, has raised $8 million, part of a Series C funding round [Mass High Tech, Aug 18, 09]

Adventrx (San Diego, CA)

Can't Afford Science. The staff cuts (at Adventrx (San Diego, CA; no SBIR)), including the chief scientific officer, vice president of medical affairs and vice president of research and development, are expected to reduce 2009 payroll expenses by $1.5 million. ... leave the company with enough cash to fund operations until mid-09. [San Diego Union Tribune, Oct 22, 08]

AeroVironment

Aerovironment up 10% [Jan 14, 10]

Forbes's 2009 list of best 200 small companies includes Aerovironment, American Science and Engineering (paying a dividend and with nearly $600M market cap), Argon ST, Hittite Microwave, II-IV, Meridian Bioscience, Neogen, NVE, and Synaptics.

AeroVironment hoped to make its plane, called Helios, into a cheaper version of a telecom satellite. That hasn't panned out yet. So the company instead makes most of its money closer to the ground, selling planes with 4-foot wingspans that fly at 500 feet. Small enough to fit in a soldier's backpack and outfitted with cameras that feed real-time video in color or infrared to a handheld screen, these drones have quickly become cherished equipment to soldiers searching for terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. .... had been working on small unmanned planes for a decade, so it was able to offer the military a series of small planes that were quickly adopted by several services. [Jonathan Fahey, Forbes, Jul 13, 09]

coondoggie writes "Unmanned aircraft maker AeroVironment got an additional $5.4 million to further develop a diminutive aircraft that can fly into tight spaces undetected, perch and send live surveillance information to its handlers. Last Fall, AeroVironment, got $4.6 million initial funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop the Stealthy, Persistent, Perch and Stare Air Vehicle System (SP2S), which is being built on the company's one-pound, 29-inch wingspan battery-powered Wasp unmanned system." [slashdot.org, Jun 4, 09]

Aerovironment up 18% [May 7, 09]

AeroVironment down 33% [Mar 10, 09] maker of unmanned aircraft for the military posted fiscal third-quarter net income that fell short of Wall Street's expectations. ... also cut its fiscal-year revenue projection. [Wall Street Journal, Mar 11]

AeroVironment's fiscal third-quarter net income dropped 24% on lower margins and higher research and development expense. Shares sank 27% to $22.25 in after-hours trading as the results fell far short of Wall Street's expectations, and the aircraft manufacturer cut its fiscal-year revenue guidance, citing economic conditions and the timing of the receipt and shipment of customer orders. [Wall Street Journal, Mar 9]

Aerovironment up 12% [Jan 15, 09]

Aerovironment up 11% [Nov 21, 08]

Aerovironment up 10% [Oct 28, 08]

Aerovironment up 13% [Oct 13, 08]

Aerovironment down 18% [Sep 10, 08] after its fiscal first-quarter net income beat analysts' expectations. [Wall Street Journal, Sep 11]

AeroVironment up 15% [Jun 25, 08] to an all-time high after it posted better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings [also up 15%] and predicted next year's sales will rise more than Wall Street has anticipated [AP, Jun 25]

The top Street analyst for Aerospace & Defense says His top pick this year is unmanned-aircraft maker AeroVironment ($8M SBIR), which went public in January 2007. It's a "pure play" on the military's adoption of such systems and a "strong acquisition candidate" in the next few years, he says. The company's Raven aircraft are small enough to be launched by hand. [Wall Street Journal, May 19]

AeroVironment ($8M SBIR since 1991), a leader in unmanned aircraft systems and efficient electric energy systems, announced that the U.S. Marine Corps has ordered $19.3M in BATMAV (Battlefield Air Targeting Micro Air Vehicle) systems, each consisting of two Wasp III micro air vehicles plus ancillary pieces. [company press release, Nov 20, 07]

AeroVironment, a leader in unmanned aircraft systems and efficient electric energy systems, has installed its Architectural Wind system on the roof of the new Beloit, Wis., manufacturing facility of Kettle Foods, a Salem, Ore.-based producer of all-natural potato chips and other snack foods. The Beloit installation includes 18 wind turbines. [press release, Oct 25]

Spending on products suited for deployed troops in harm�s way remained the most dominant spending driver for the group. Companies such as FLIR and AeroVironment continued to see strong order flow, deliver strong results, and have exceptionally optimistic outlooks for 2008. [Jeff Saut, minyanville.com, Oct 22]

Unmanned-aircraft maker AeroVironment shot up 41% on its first day of trading after its IPO. Eight Phase 2 SBIRs since the early 1990s. The company had a funded backlog of government contracts totaling $64 million as of Oct. 28 and an unfunded backlog of about $492 million. [Wall Street Journal, Jan 24,07]

AETC (San Siego CA)

AETC (San Diego, CA), that provides remote sensing systems and related services for the DOD, is being bought by SAIC for an undisclosed sum. [San Diego Union Tribune, Nov 9]. AETC had about $2M in DOD SBIRs.

Affinity BioReagents (Golden, CO)

Thermo Fisher Scientific reports it has bought Affinity BioReagents (Golden, CO; one SBIR) a provider of life sciences research materials. [Mass High Tech, Jul 17, 08]

Affomix (Branford, CT)

Affomix (Branford, CT; $200K SBIR) has entered into a development deal with Canada�s Kalgene Pharmaceuticals Inc. in which Kalgene will use Affomix�s technology to help identify possible diagnostics and therapies for breast cancer. [Mass High Tech, Dec 31, 09] $7 million Series A Financing in 2008

Affymetrix

Affymetrix up 10% [Jan 14, 10]

Affymetrix down 14% [Jan 13, 10] The technology that Affymetrix develops is quickly becoming obsolete, or so analysts believe. ... increased pricing pressures from competitors as its technology becomes quickly outdated by new genetic analysis technology such as Illumina�s sequencing technology. [Lisa LaMotta, Minyanville.com, Jan 13, 10]

Affymetrix up 10% [Jan 6, 10]

Affymetrix up 14% [Dec 9, 09]

Affymetrix down 10% [Oct 28, 09]

Affymetrix down 18% [Oct 22, 09] after it reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss hurt by weak gross margins, and forecast fourth-quarter revenue below market estimates. [Reuters]

Affymetrix up 33% [Jul 23, 09] company's second-quarter earnings topped Wall Street's estimates. [Wall Street Journal, Jul 24]

Affymetrix up 17% [Jul 20, 09]

Affymetrix down 10% [May 13, 09]

Affymetrix up 11% [Apr 28, 09]

Affymetrix up 13% [Apr 24, 09]

Affymetrix down 17% [Apr 23, 09]

Affymetrix up 11% [Apr 16, 09]

Affymetrix up 14% [Mar 26, 09]

Affymetrix up 13% [Mar 23, 09]

Affymetrix down 12% [Feb 20, 09]

Affymetrix down 20% [Jan 29, 09]

Affymetrix up 20% [Jan 27, 09]

Affymetrix down 10% [Dec 1, 08] On a stock bloodbath day

Affymetrix agreed to buy Panomics (Fremont, CA; $2.3M SBIR) for $73 million in cash. -... Panomics makes products for genetic, protein and cellular analysis. [San Francisco Business Times, Nov 11, 08]

Affymetrix down 14% [Oct 23, 08]

Affymetrix up 11% [Oct 20, 08]

Against the surge, Affymetrix down 17%, [Oct 13, 08] projected lower-than-expected third-quarter sales amid increased competition for academic research and funding and softness in industrial spending. [Wall Street Journal, Oct 14]

The Wall Street Journal's Patent Scorecard in Biotechnology ranks Invitrogen and Maxygen #2 and 3 in Science Strength (13-week rolling average). Sequenom was #6; Affymetrix #11 of 28 listed. Only Sequenom had an impressive stock price record, up 170% over 52 weeks.

Affymetrix fell 27%a day after the company reported moving from a second-quarter profit to a loss and presented a discouraging forecast. [Sacramento Business Journal, Jul 25, 08]

Affymetrix dropped more than a third after the maker of tools to analyze genes cut its revenue forecast, dragging down the shares of equipment suppliers Illumina and Applied Biosystems Group. [San Jose Mercury News, Apr 15, 08]

Affymetrix will pay $75M cash for USB Corp. (Cleveland, OH; no SBIR), which calls itself a supplier of reliable biochemicals and molecular biology products. [Dec 08]

Affymetrix down 10% [Nov 13, 07] said it will offer $250 M of unsecured senior convertible notes, due 2038.

Santa Clara CA gene chip maker Affymetrix won a four-year, $10.2M million federal grant to delve deeper into the secrets of human heredity. The grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute was awarded to a team of Affymetrix scientists and will finance the identification of various functional regions found across the human genome. [San Jose Mercury News, Oct 9]

Affymetrix won a patent fight with Illumina over five patents held by Affymetrix and Illumina was ordered to pay Affymetrix $16.7M. [Mar 07]

Affymetrix soared 14% after predicting high fourth-quarter revenue. [Jan 8, 07]

Affymax (Palo Alto, CA)

Affymax (Palo Alto CA) going public this week. One Phase 2 SBIR.

Agennix (Houston, TX)

Agennix (Houston, TX; $2.5M SBIR) is banking on the idea that an ingredient in mother's milk can help treat lung cancer. ,,, could become the first federally approved cancer drug to come out of Houston. ... Lung cancer kills more Americans than breast, prostate and colorectal cancers combined [Lynn Cook, Houston Chronicle, Jan 17]

Agile Materials (Goleta, CA)

Agile Materials & Technologies (Goleta, CA) got a first VC round of $5.8M and looking for $2-3M by next month. Agile, a spinoff of the UCSB, has had $1M SBIR from the Army, [LARTA, Sept. 23]

From SBIR to Real Money
(Jul 30) Agile Materials (Goleta, CA) passed briefly through DARPA and SBIR (Army Phase 1) to VC funding. Prof Robert York and Dr. Chris Elsass spun the company out from UCSB where York did thin film ferroelectrics with BST. [story from LARTA July 29] Agile's website claims that ferro-electric materials can shrink capacitors by 99% (I guess that's what "100X smaller" means) from some baseline; cost reduction claims are more vague. Maybe they could shrink the website too, as it takes several screens to deliver a simple message of the BST material's claims.

Agiltron (Woburn, MA)

Agiltron (Woburn, MA; $30M SBIR) reports it has landed a Phase 3 Small Business Innovation Research grant from the U.S. Navy for a fiber-optic repair system that would help Navy technicians repair aircraft. [Mass High Tech, Dec 16, 09] Technically Phase 3 is not SBIR, but mainline R&D money. Little matter, this company has a decade-old lifeline to the Navy's purse. Let's guess its strengths: good engineering and snappy salutes.

Agios Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA)

Agios Pharmaceuticals, (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) a biopharmaceutical company that is focused on discovering and developing novel drugs in the field of cancer metabolism, said today that it has received funding from Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC2), a non-profit organization that supports brain cancer research. [Boston Globe, Dec 22, 09] the first biopharmaceutical company dedicated to drug discovery based on targeting cancer metabolism .. founded 2008 with $33 Million Series A Funding [company website]

Agios Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) says it has secured $33 M in first round financing, for development of cancer metabolism-regulating drugs. .... The field of cancer metabolism concentrates on cell growth within cancer cells, which rely on more nutrients than normal cells to survive, Agios reports. While the company�s initial plans draw on cell metabolism therapeutics related to cancer, it may also eventually apply to other fields, including diabetes, inflammatory, autoimmune and neurological diseases. .... Agios Pharmaceuticals was founded by cell metabolism leaders Lewis C. Cantley, director of the Cancer Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and professor of systems biology at Harvard Medical School; Tak W. Mak, of The Campbell Family Institute for Cancer Research and The University of Toronto; and Craig B. Thompson, director of the Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania. [Mass High Tech, Jul 7, 08]

Agrivida (Medford,MA)

Agrivida (Medford, MA; $300K SBIR) has received a $2 million grant from the USDA to develop genetically engineered feedstocks for biofuels production. [Mass High Tech, Nov 20, 09]

Aguila Technologies (San Marcos, CA)

Allied Signal did an exclusive agreement with Ormet Corp (Carlsbad, CA) to produce fine-line, micro-via, high-density electronic interconnect products. ... Ormet Corporation is an innovator in leading edge technology produces fine-line interconnect products and engineered material products based on its unique electronic materials. With a strong and growing intellectual property portfolio, Ormet is leveraging (whatever that means) both internal and government-sponsored research to produce commercial fine-line products and to license partners in selected technology areas. Ormet designs, manufactures and markets products and solutions in the high-density electronic market. Ormet's products include semiconductor packaging products, fine line-microvia interconnect products, thermally enhanced wiring boards, active substrate products, and engineered material products (EMI shielding, jumper wire and embedded passives). . [May 7] The founder of Ormet, then called Toranaga Technologies, Al Capote, invented Ormet inks and got $750K from BMDO and about $4 M from Venture Capital. The Allied Signal deal, says Capote, resulted from his idea to incorporate the Ormet conductor in microvias for high density PWBs. Capote these days has a new start-up, Aguila Technologies.

Al Capote speaks on entrpreneuring

I spent the large majority of my time writing business plans to sell my company to new investors who would then provide the additional capital to perfect my product, a conductive ink, and not enough time solving the technical problems. Which, I think, delayed the improvements that would make the product viable. It wasn't until four or five years later that it was working well enough that people actually started using it in real products. One of the first end-users was Ford, for PC boards in Lincoln dash panels...then Apple Computer started using it to correct errors in boards, overlaying the corrected circuit on top of the existing solder mask, eliminating the need to scrap 10 to 20 thousand circuit boards. Intel also used it for the same purpose. ...[Then] my venture capital partners, who had been with me from the beginning and had been quite good to me, had grown tired with me still talking about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I saw an opportunity I wanted to pursue, but they were tired. We shook hands, parted company. Toranaga still exists...doing quite well. They have a really nifty technology for using the ink to produce multi-chip modules, a technology that's just getting started, and when it does catch on, that's when I get my check, as I'm still a major stockholder. The story of Al Capote at Toranaga Technologies (Carlsbad, CA) [interview in Designfax, May 98] In the ten years I was President of Toranaga I raised upwards of 12 million dollars. So I had an opportunity to begin again, with all the things I had learned...they even provided me a bit of seed money, and with that I started Aguila in 1996, which has done very well in a very short amount of time. What I've learned is that one must focus on the immediate and urgent needs of real customers. We don't begin R&D in any area unless there is a specific customer with a specific and urgent need for a solution we can provide. The speculative R&D I did at Toranaga -- where you conceive of a product, then go out and try to sell it -- is much too difficult. A more effective approach is to identify a need. .. started this new company...very quickly convinced the Department of Defense that this was an urgent need, raising nearly a million dollars from the US government to get started. The government's an outstanding source for start-up money.

Al was one of the few SBIR proposers who smelled like an entrepreneur, the kind you bet government R&D money on. In a commercialized SBIR government must judge by smell. Science will not suffice; the better you can analyze the proposal, the less likely it will make any breakthrough innovation. The many agencies that play safe with their SBIR will get only incremental advances to their comfortable paradigm. Anti-missile defense couldn't afford slow, safe, and steady. A note to Congress: no legislation can instill entrepreneuring in a federal agency. They can kill it though. Al's live-to-work attitude fulfills economic historian Landes's advice that we are living in a dessert age. We want things to be sweet; too many of us work to live and live to be happy. Nothing wrong with that; it just does not promote high productivity. You want high productivity? Then you should live to work and get happiness as a by-product. [David Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, 1997]

What It Takes to Win
One California state awardee was Aguila Technologies (San Marcos).which had to get rated by a committee (ugh!)that weighed the business plan and the technology. In the proposal, Aguila teamed up with a large corporation that is putting up cash in exchange for rights to the technology. To get the state funds, Aguila and teammate had to: 1) provide a cost share contribution of at least the California amount, at least 20% in cash, and 2) at least double the amount in Federal contract money. With BMDO's 4:1 match (for a company's very first Phase 2 SBIR) in Fast Track and the teammate's cash, Aguila met the state's demand. The state money can be used to buy capital equipment, which federal funds cannot. So, $75K cash by Aguila's corporate partner (plus Aguila's $100K) won a $175K state grant which allowed a $1M federal contract. Not a bad deal for a year-old market-driven startup. Disregarding the public policy problem in federal matching of state money to private firms, both state and federal governments rewarded a market-driven company driven by high-risk private capital which is what SBIR is supposed to do. Aguila is still at risk of government's (state or federal) dawdling and thus collapsing the structure.
In addition, Aguila founder Capote says it has launched its first product developed under a government contract - a flip chip adhesive flux that "has everybody in our industry excited. I am swamped with calls from prospective licensees who want to manufacture and market it for us". Aguila has been working a year under a DARPA contract on the technology.
Aguila also just won a Phase 1 STTR from NASA to develop yet another aspect of the flip chip technology. (If NASA backed more entrepreneurs like Capote, instead of mining the moon for astronomically uncommercial materials, its SBIR and its technical products would do what Congress intended for SBIR.)
Capote's view of the key to Aguila's commercial success is his devotion to a principle - focus on the URGENT and SPECIFIC needs of REAL customers. His formula - get the customer to tell the government just how important it is to solve their problem, how many millions the solution is worth, and how much money they themselves are willing to risk to solve it. "I use Phase 1 money to prove the feasibility of the solution to the customer. Then getting Phase 2 matching funds is a shoo-in. I have never lost a proposal where I got the customer and the government talking to one another."

Note: Capote's formula works wonders for product innovation. Another innovator class, visionary pioneers, don't satisfy today's clients; they look to create a new world with discontinuous change where today's customers are irrelevant. That's usually long-term, astronomical risk with a history of the pioneer being eaten by more market-driven entrepreneurs. Visionary government (an oxymoron) will help such pioneers. The ones who don't fare well in government competition are those who come down in the muddled middle - neither credible pioneer nor market-driven entrepreneur - scientists wanting a paid hobby.

You, too, can follow Capote's formula, at least since DOD has made it easier for newbies to find the levers.

Start-up Starts Up
Aguila Technologies (San Marcos, CA), Al Capote's new start-up, won an open competition $855K DARPA contract to develop a new flip-chip encapsulant technology. Three other partner companies - Kester Solder Division of Litton, Avex Electronics, and a major chip manufacturer - are co-investing in parallel R&D efforts at their own expense. Al founded Toranaga Technologies (Carlsbad, CA) with the help of four VC outfits who stepped into direct company management after Al won an SBIR award over $1M from BMDO with escalating matching provisions. The flip-chip technology simplifies attaching chips to silicon in multi-chip modules with a technology spun out from Al's first BMDO SBIR. Al has also done what SBIR intended, get a seed stage SBIR and then combine with strategic partners for further investment for market development. (No, more SBIR is NOT strategic partnering.) Al and Toranaga struck me as the kind of entrepreneur and company that SBIR was meant for. Anti-immigrant shriekers take note: Al came from Cuba and has created 22 jobs so far in California.

One of the VCs who sponsored Toranaga Technologies (Carlsbad, CA) from which Al Capote decamped has also decamped. Jim Morgan or the eponymous Morgan Holland Ventures is now CEO of ADRA Systems. Jim served one term recently as President of the National Venture Capital Association. He also served one year as the elected student body Grand Marshal in the 50s at RPI. I don't remember whether I voted for him.

Ahura Scientific (Wilmington MA)

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has agreed to buy Ahura Scientific (Wilmington, MA, founded 2002; no SBIR) maker of analytical instruments, for $145 million in cash. [Mass High Tech, Jan 19, 10]

Ahura Scientific reports it has partnered with QinetiQ North America�s Technology Solutions Group to add Ahura�s spectrometry technology to QinetiQ�s Talon robots. Under terms of the agreement, the companies will add a compact, laboratory-grade Raman spectrometer to Talon military robots. [Mass High Tech, Sep 29, 09]

a hand-held tool with an extremely sensitive laser that can help detect counterfeit drugs. TruScan, developed by Ahura Scientific (Wilmington, MA; no SBIR) can analyze the composition of raw materials or finished manufactured drugs, in about 30 seconds, and is now gaining interest in the market, company officials say. [Mass High Tech, Aug 21, 09]

The National Guard has ordered $2.6M worth of Ahura Scientific (Wilmington MA; three SBIRs) First Defender instruments and fiber-optic extension probes. Early this year, Ahura closed a $7M financing deal bringing its total funding to $29.5M. [Mass High Tech, Nov 15]

Aiko Biotechnology (Portland, ME)

Aiko Biotechnology (Portland, ME; one SBIR) plans to raise $400,000 from unnamed investors. None of the shares has been sold so far. ... an early stage drug discovery company with drug candidates targeting pain, addiction and adverse side effects resulting from prescription opioid pain reliever use. [Mass High Tech, Sep 30, 09]

Aileron Therapeutics

Protein-focused Aileron Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) reports it has closed on $40 million in a fourth round of financing ... developing therapies using small pieces of a naturally occurring protein, called Stapled Peptides, that restore programmed cell death in multiple myeloma cells [Mass High Tech, Jun 8]

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation reports that it has awarded $500,000 each in grant funding to a pair of Cambridge-based companies, Aileron Therapeutics (no SBIR) and Astex Therapeutics (no SBIR), for cancer therapy research. [Mass High Tech, Mar 2, 09]

Airtricity

Irish Wind. The wind energy company Wind Capital Group LLC is getting a $150 M investment from Ireland-based NTR PLC � a financial boost that [founder] Carnahan says will help transform NTR will provide cash and supply 150 megawatts of wind turbines for delivery in 2010. ... NTR has within the last year sold off its interest in Airtricity, a wind energy developer in the U.S. and Europe, and it has been reinvesting some of the proceeds in startup renewable energy firms. Last week, the company agreed to pay $100 M for a majority stake in Phoenix-based Stirling Energy Systems, which is developing solar power plants. [St Louis Post Dispatch, Apr 25]

Airtricity plans to build enough wind-powered electricity plants here to make Texas the No. 1 wind state next year. [Dallas Morning News, Apr 4] New, more efficient wind technology has a future.

Akebia Therapeutics (Cincinnati, OH)

Biomedical firm Akebia Therapeutics (Cincinnati, OH; no SBIR) has raised $16 million in new funding ... develops small-molecule drugs for the treatment of anemia and vascular disorders. Its first drug, an anemia treatment called AKB-6548, is scheduled to start Phase 1 clinical trials later this year. [Business Courier (Cincinnati), Jul 30, 09]

Akermin (St Louis, MO)

Army's venture venture. The Army's VC (OnPoint Tech) current investment portfolio : A123 Systems (Boston, MA; $750K SBIR, IPO 2009) advanced Lithium-Ion based cells for rechargeable battery packs; Atraverda (UK) advanced bi-polar battery electrodes for rechargeable batteries; Integrated Fuel Cell Technologies (Burlington MA; no SBIR) next generation fuel cell systems for portable devices; Nanosolar (Palo Alto, CA; $1.7M SBIR) thin-film solar technology for roll-to-roll printing of solar cells on flexible substrates, PowerGenix (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) next-generation rechargeable batteries; Power Precise (Herndon, VA; no SBIR) a fabless semiconductor company specializing in battery management devices; Ultra Cell (Livermore, CA; no SBIR) integrated fuel cell systems; Zinc Matrix Power (Santa Barbara, CA; no SBIR) high-performance rechargeable alkaline battery technology for commercial and military markets; Akermin (St Louis, MO; no SBIR) portable fuel cells based on its proprietary �Stabilized Enzyme Biofuel Cell� SEBC� technology; Superprotonic (Pasadena CA; $200K SBIR) solid acid fuel cell. [defense-ventures.com] No surprise that a VC, even one doing it for the government, sees tech opportunity much different than does Army SBIR. I note that the three outside trustees (of five trustees) of OnPoint are a DOD political appointee, and entrepreneur/attorney, and Paul Gompers from Harvard Business School who with Josh Lerner publish a lot of venture research. Lerner did a lot of SBIR study until, I presume, he gave up on SBIR's ever being anything but a political handout.

Alabama Cryogenics Engineering (Huntsville, AL)

A Cool and Cozy Business. The professor started his own company to feed on SBIR and government work outside the gates of a high-tech government complex. Since 1983 when he had 10 employees the company has grown to 9 employees in 1996. It has won SBIRs from DOE, DOD, HHS, and NASA, a total of about $7.5M. Now it has a 1998 cryocooler DOE Phase 1 for a project that sounds about like a 1988 project and a 1983 project. The technology plods on and the professor has a nice, not rich by any means, lifestyle company supported by the government nursery program. $7.5M into a 10 person firm over 15 years means most of the firm was supported by SBIR for the company's life. Is that an SBIR-mill? Because it's a private firm, only the government knows whether any other economic good was done by the technology. And the government won't tell. But apparently, neither will the government hold the company accountable for 15 yars of funded plodding. As long as the company offers a good cool technology, the government will go for yet another dose.
1998: Develop an innovative regenerator that will allow reliable, high efficiency, pulse tube cryocoolers to be used with high sensitivity detectors, high vacuum cryopumps, and superconducting filters. In Phase I, a perforated plate regenerator using neodymium metal will be fabricated. Phase I will also produce a design of a prototype cryocooler to be demonstrated in a Phase II follow-on. 1994: regenerator structures using fine wires of a metal having high specific heat at low temperatures. Neodymium (Nd)spheres have been used in two-stage cryocoolers that can operate below 4K. In a single-stage cryoccoler, the minimum temperature will be lowered below 20K, making the refrigerator very useful for devices using the new ceramic high temperature superconductors. 1983:CRYOCOOLER CAPABLE OF REACHING 20 K. THE FIRST STAGE FLUID IS NITROGEN, THE SECOND STAGE FLUID HYDROGEN. COOLDOWN TIME OF LESS THAN 2 SECONDS; RUN TIME OF 10 MINUTES. USES AN INNOVATIVE FABRICATION TECHNIQUE, THAT YIELDS A "MONOLITHIC" STRUCTURE. THE FABRICATION TECHNIQUE IS INTRINSICALLY HIGH VOLUME, AND SHOULD YIELD SUBSTANTIAL COST SAVINGS IN HIGH VOLUME PRODUCTION COMPARED TO THE CURRENT TECHNOLOGY.

Albany NanoTech (Albany, NY)

No story about Albany NanoTech (no SBIR) is without a mention of its leader, Alain Kaloyeros, the UAlbany physics professor who has built the $3.5 B facility on Fuller Road by pulling together hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from IBM, the state of New York, and other semiconductor companies. ... BusinessWeek magazine did an extremely flattering piece on how IBM Corp. drastically changed its semiconductor research and development methods to include a host of partners, including Albany NanoTech and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., to great acclaim. [Albany Times-Union, Sep 9,07]

Aldagen (Durham, NC)

Aldagen (Durham, NC; one SBIR) appears to be pushing ahead with its IPO. ... developing drugs using stem cells, revived plans for an initial public offering of stock in late October. ... scrapped an IPO in the fall of 2008 when the stock market slumped. .. founded in 2000 as StemCo Biomedical, based on technology developed at Duke University. [Alan Wolf, Raleigh News & Observer, Dec 11, 09]

Aldagen (Durham, NC; one SBIR), which employs 18 and develops treatments based on adult stem cells, hopes to raise as much as $80M with an IPO. ... founded in 2000 as StemCo Biomedical, based on technology developed at Duke University. It has raised about $48M in VC since then. ... testing four products in humans. The most advanced would improve cord blood transplants used to treat metabolic diseases in pediatric patients. [Sabine Vollmer, Raleigh News & Observer, May 13, 08]

Aldagen (Durham, NC; ?? SBIR) developing treatments based on stem cells raised $18 M VC. ... founded in 2000 as StemCo Biomedical based on technology developed at Duke University. [Raleigh News& Observer, Apr 26]

Private investment continues to boost young Triangle companies. Biologics (Raleigh NC; no SBIR) oncology pharmacy, $20M; . Aldagen (Durham NC; no SBIR) biotech company, $9 M; HyperBranch Medical Technologies (Durham NC; one SBIR) medical device startup, $1.5M. [Sabine Vollmer, Raleigh News & Observer, Sep 15] Those who can, do; those who can't or won't depend on government handouts.

Aldevon (Fargo, ND)

Aldevon (Fargo, ND; no SBIR), maker of DNA and protein products is putting a research and sales operation in [Wisconsin] .... founded by two ND State U graduates, has more than 70 employees, and provides products and services to pharmaceutical companies and diagnostic test-makers. ... also welcomed to Wisconsin: RJA Dispersions (no SBIR), VitalMedix (no SBIR) and Rapid Diagnostek (no SBIR), from Minnesota; Flex Biomedical (one SBIR) and Exact Sciences (no SBIR), from Massachusetts; NanoMedex ($1M SBIR), from Florida; and Inviragen ($2M SBIR) from Colorado. Biotechnology is the fastest-growing segment of the Wisconsin economy, with an annualized growth rate of nearly 7%, [Gov] Doyle said in a statement. The sector has 400 companies in the state with 34,000 employees.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals

Alexion Pharma up 12% [Mar 12, 09]

Alexion Pharmaceuticals has resolved an ongoing patent dispute with PDL BioPharma Inc. over Alexion�s Soliris antibody therapy. Alexion announced that it would pay $25 million to PDL BioPharma for rights to use some of PDL�s patent portfolio called the Queen in its Soliris drug. [Mass High Tech, Jan 5, 09]

Alexion Pharma up 14% [Oct 13, 08]

Alexion Pharma down 10% [Sep 17, 08]

Alexion Pharma up 16% [Aug 8, 08]

Alexion Pharmaceuticals (Cheshire, CT; $1.8M SBIR) agreed to pay $10M to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation for all rights to certain patents related to technology used to develop Alexion's blood-disorder drug Soliris, ending a legal dispute between the two operations [Mass High Tech, Feb 14,08]

Alexion Pharmaceuticals up 10% [Oct 25, 07]

Alexion Pharmaceuticals up 18% on news that it didn't lose as much as expected. [Jul 25, 07]

Alexion Pharmaceuticals raised $140M with a public stock offering. Alexion has a drug for a rare blood disorder on fast track for FDA approval. The stock has been rising for about three years on an apparent road to recover its high of five years ago at twice the present price. [Nov 22, 06]

Alexza Pharmaceuticals

Alexza Pharmaceuticals said it plans to raise $19.7 million in a private placement of its common stock. [Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, Sep 30, 09]

Alexza Pharma down 12% [Sep 14, 09] as preliminary results from the company's midstage trial for a migraine treatment failed to meet a goal. [Wall Street Journal, Sep 15, 09]

Alexza Pharma down 13% [Jan 29, 09]

Alexza Pharma up 13% [Jan 21, 09]

Alexza Pharma down 10% [Jan 9, 09]

Alexza Pharma up 15% [Oct 16, 08]

Alexza Pharma down 11% [Aug 29, 08]

Alexza Pharma up 18% [Aug 28, 08]

Alexza Pharmaceuticals down 11% [Aug 21, 08]

Alexza Pharmaceuticals up 13% [Jul 30, 08]

Alexza Pharmaceuticals down 14% [Jun 10, 08] on news of disappointing clinical trials.

Alexza Pharma up 16% [Mar 11, 08]

Alexza Pharmaceuticals up 11% [Feb 26, 08]

Alexza Pharmaceuticals up 10% [Nov 28, 07]

Alexza Pharmaceuticals down 12% on lack of good news. [Aug 14,07]

Alexza Pharmaceuticals up 10%. [Aug 8, 07]

Alexza Pharmaceuticals down 10%. [Aug 3, 07]

Alexza Pharmaceuticals doubled after announcing encouraging results from two studies intended to develop new treatments for migraine victims and schizophrenic patients with acute agitation. [Businessweek.com, Mar 26, 07]

Alfalight (Madison WI)

Alfalight (Madison WI; no SBIR) got a $1.2M Army contract for development of stronger fiber lasers for industrial and defense applications. Alfalight's commitment to innovation is validated by funding from several government branches including DARPA, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the Army Research Laboratory [company website]

Alien Technology

Optimism Not Enough. Wall Street just escaped an attempted alien abduction, spurning a wildly inappropriate initial public stock offering from Alien Technology of Morgan Hill. Alien, struggling to develop a new way of making low-cost radio identification tags for retailing and other applications, is in no way qualified to be a public company. Alien's losses are bigger than its sales, its technology is unproven and the company has missed self-imposed deadlines to make that technology work as claimed. [Mike Langberg, San Jose Mercury News, Aug 26]

Alkermes

Life science firms pitch optimism [CEO] of Alkermes stood before scores of potential investors yesterday and talked about two drugs - for diabetes and opiate dependency - that his Cambridge company expects to get approved in 2010. �This year is going to be a big year,�� Pops said. ... Henri Termeer defending his leadership at Genzyme as it scrambles to fix production problems, Biogen Idec�s James C. Mullen avoiding any mention of his recent decision to step down from the company�s top post - the mood was generally upbeat. ... companies have been raising more money in follow-on offerings than any time in the past decade, about $6 billion in 2009 ... Another huge market opportunity lies in a drug being developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals to treat hepatitis C, a largely untreated virus estimated to affect about 3 million Americans and 100 million people globally. �We�re doing a lot to raise awareness of this disease,�� said new Vertex chief Matthew Emmens. [Robert Weisman, Boston Globe, Jan 14, 10] from the 28th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco

Alkermes up 14% [Nov 17, 09] said a late stage clinical trial shows its drug Vivitrol, which is used to help alcoholics quit drinking, also helped opioid addicts stay off drugs. [AP, Nov 16, 09]

Alkermes said that a drug for addiction and nervous system disorders met its goal in two early stage clinical trials. [Boston Globe, Oct 13, 09]

Alkermes up 11% [May 5, 09]

Alkermes up 13% [Mar 26, 09]

Alkermes up 12% [Mar 12, 09]

FDA is looking for more information about Cambridge-based biotech company Alkermes�s bipolar disorder treatment drug Risperdal Consta before it considers granting permission to expand its usage. [Mass High Tech, Feb 11, 09]

Alkermes up 14% [Dec 11, 08]

Alkermes down 10% [Dec 9, 08]

Alkermes up 22% [Dec 8, 08]

Alkermes said that it has regained from Cephalon full commercialization rights to Vivitrol, once-monthly, extended-release injectable medication for the treatment of alcohol dependence. [Boston Globe, Dec 1, 08]

Alkermes down 12% [Oct 27, 08]

Alkermes down 14% [Oct 15, 08]

Alkermes up 13% [Oct 13, 08]

Alkermes down 12% [Aug 27, 08]

Alkermes down 10% [Aug 18, 08]

Alkermes up 11% [Aug 8, 08]

more and more companies in the pharmaceutical game, including biotech firm Alkermes, think the way to kick that addiction is through a dose of their drugs. Millions of Americans are hooked on everything including booze, cigarettes, cocaine and even cheeseburgers � and drug-makers are filling their research and development pipelines with potential treatments for such addictions. With mixed results, Alkermes and several pharma companies have launched a handful of drugs to help patients quit drinking or smoking. [Mass High Tech, Jul 11]

Alkermes will expand its common stock repurchase program by an additional $40 M. According to biotech firm Alkermes, the $40 million boost in the buyback plan comes after the company received a $40 million payment from Eli Lilly after the drug giant canceled its inhaled insulin program with Alkermes in March.

More insulin innovation, please. Alkermes reports that it expects partner Eli Lilly and Co. to pull the plug on the AIR Inhaled Insulin product, which is being developed by the two companies [Mass High Tech, Mar 7, 08] Indeed, Eli Lilly joined the exodus: abandoned plans to develop inhalable insulin, joining other drug makers that have exited from the field. [Wall Street Journal, Mar 8]

Alkermes plans to continue working with partner Eli Lilly and Co. on an inhalable form of insulin for diabetes patients, even though two other drug makers scrapped work on competing products in the past few months. [Boston Globe, Jan 18]

Alkermes said a unit of Johnson & Johnson has agreed to sell its treatment for alcohol and opioid dependence in Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). [Mass High Tech, Jan 7, 08]

Alkermes reports it plans to sell its stake in New Jersey-based Reliant Pharmaceuticals Inc. to GlaxoSmithKline for up to $174 M cash. [Mass High Tech, Nov 23, 07]

Alkermes up 13% on good earnings and prospects [Aug 3, 07]

Alkermes gained 13% on reporting doubled profit and a brighter future. [Feb 8, 07]

Allegro Diagnostics (Boston, MA)

Allegro Diagnostics (Boston, MA; no SBIR) a diagnostics startup with ties to Boston University, has reeled in its first round of venture capital financing to develop its molecular tests, officials said [Mass High Tech, Mar 7, 08] announced the completion of $4M in Series A financing. [Boston Globe, Mar 7]

Allegro MicroSystems (Worcester,MA)

NIH gave Allegro Diagnostics, (Boston, MA; no SBIR) developer of medical tests for cancer, a $2.8 million Phase 1/2 Fast Track SBIR for a clinical study of its lung cancer diagnostic test, BronchoGen. ... Founded in 2006 by researchers from Boston University, ... received a $4 million Series A round in 2008. [Mass High Tech, Oct 22, 09]

Allegro MicroSystems (Worcester, MA; no SBIR) is pulling its planned IPO, citing negative market conditions.The company filed for its IPO, expecting to raise $115 million [Mass High Tech, Aug 22, 08]

Allegro MicroSystems (Worcester,MA) that makes semiconductors for the automotive industry and other markets, said today that it will not go through with its initial public offering of common stock due to current market conditions.

AllerQuest (West Hartford, CT)

Six start-up technology firms have received grants as part of the state's small-business incubator program, ... administered by the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology ... $32,000 to $50,000 went to: AllerQuest LLC of West Hartford, Catelectric Corp. of Storrs, Hydrogen Safety of East Hartford, Quadra-Aerrow International of Glastonbury, Revegen Inc. of Farmington and the Center for Network Centric Product Support Research of East Hartford. [Hartford Courant, Dec 12, 08] no SBIR for any

Allos Therapeutics

Allos Thera down 11% [Dec 7, 09]

Allos Therapeutics (Westminster, CO; $400K SBIR a decade ago) finished selling 14 million shares of stock, raising $93 million the biotech drug maker plans to use to market its newly approved drug Folotyn and for general purposes. [Denver Business Journal, Oct 13, 09]

Allos Therapeutics ($0.4M SBIR) priced its underwritten public stock offering ... to raise about $99.4 million from the offering, before underwriting discounts and expenses, to help it commercialize its cancer drug Folotyn and for general corporate purposes. [Denver Business Journal, Oct 7, 09]

Allos Thera down 12%% [Mar 31, 09]

Allos Thera up 13% [Jan 21, 09]

Allos Thera up 11% [Dec 31, 08]

Allos Thera down 21% [Dec 8, 08]

Allos Thera up 15% [Dec 5, 08]

Allos Thera down 19% [Dec 1, 08] On a stock bloodbath day

Allos Thera down 13% [Oct 24, 08]

Allos Thera up 10% [Oct 20, 08]

Allos Thera up 11% [Oct 16, 08]

Allos Therapeutics down 14% [Oct 15, 08]

Allos Thera down 11% [Oct 14, 08]

Allos Thera up 30% [Oct 13, 08]

Allos Therapeutics down 14% [Oct 7, 08]

Allos Threapeutics down 10% [Oct 2, 08]

Allos Therapeutics down 14% [Oct 7, 08]

Allos Threapeutics down 10% [Oct 2, 08]

Allos Thera down 11% [Sep 17, 08]

Allos Thera up 11% [Sep 16, 08]

Allos Thera down 10% [Sep 8, 08]

Allos Therapeutics down 10% [Sep 4, 08]

Allos Therapeutics up 14% [May 22, 08]

Allos Therapeutics up 17% [Mar 24, 08]

Allos Therapeutics up 12% [Oct 26, 07]

Allos Therapeutics down 11% on soggy profits. [Oct 16, 07]

Allos Therapeutics down 15% [Aug 8, 07] on news of a growing loss.

Allos Therapeutics down 14% [Jun 22, 07]

Allos Therapeutics jumped another 11%. [Feb 6, 07]

Allos Therapeutics jumped 10% even after raising $50M in a stock sale a few days earlier. [Feb 2, 07]

Allos Therapeutics up 10% after being up 20% intra-day. [Nov 14, 06]

Alnara Pharmaceutical

Alnara Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical startup developing non-systemic protein therapeutics for the treatment of metabolic and inflammatory diseases, has secured $20 million in Series A funding [Mass High Tech, Oct 30]

Alnara Pharmaceuticals Inc., a newly formed life sciences company in Boston, announced today that it has secured $20 million in Series A venture capital financing. [Boston Globe, Oct 30,08]

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals said today that it received a milestone payment from its partner Roche AG after Roche started a study of a drug developed with Alnylam's gene-silencing technology. [Boston Globe, Jan 6, 10]

DIY Pharma. At a time when major drug makers are consolidating and may be less willing to buy fledgling companies, biotechs have to make it on their own and bring drugs to market themselves. Industry leaders warned that the old model of forming a biotech company, shepherding a drug through development and years of clinical trials, and then selling the company to a pharmaceutical buyer may be played out. Success will now require a survival mentality and a focus on remaining independent, said Barry Greene, president of Cambridge biotech Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. [Robert Weisman, Boston Globe, Oct 7, 09]

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Regulus Therapeutics (no SBIR) said that they have been awarded a US patent that covers some of their intellectual property related to microRNAs, a field thought to be ripe for developing new drugs. [Boston Globe, Aug 11, 09]

Alnylam Pharma up 13% [Jul 23, 09]

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals said today it extended a long-standing contract with Novartis focusing on developing drugs using RNAi, or gene silencing, technology. This marks the second extension by Novartis, as well as the fifth and final year of the contract. [Boston Globe, Jul 17]

Alnylam Pharma up 11% [May 8, 09]

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals said that Novartis AG has elected to fully exercise its current right to purchase 65,922 unregistered shares of Alnylam's common stock in accordance with the terms of a 2005 investor rights agreement between the two companies. [Boston Globe, May 7, 09]

Alnylam Pharma and Isis Pharma said they have formed a new collaboration focused on the development of single-stranded RNAi (ssRNAi) technology. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Apr 29, 09]

Alnylam Pharma up 11% [Mar 10, 09]

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals said it was one of two firms that invested a collective total of $20 million in Regulus Therapeutics (no SBIR) ... In 2007, Alnylam and Isis Pharmaceuticals established Regulus to "focus on the discovery, development, and commercialization of microRNA-based therapeutics," the two companies said in a press release. [Boston Globe, Mar 5, 09].

Alnylam Pharma down 12% [Mar 2, 09]

Alnylam Pharma down 11% [Jan 20, 09]

Two local life sciences companies are teaming up to work on a collaboration to commercialize some RNAi therapeutics that could potentially yield one of the companies just over $100 million in up-front and milestone payments. Cubist Pharmaceuticals and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals announced that they have formed a strategic collaboration to develop and commercialize Alnylam's ALN-RSV program; the RSV-specific RNAi therapeutic program includes ALN-RSV01, which is currently in Phase II clinical development for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus infection in adult lung transplant patients, the two companies said in a press release. [Boston Globe, Jan 9, 09]

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has bought up a large portfolio of intellectual property from Nucleonics (one SBIR). [Mass High Tech, Dec 8, 08]

Alnylam Pharma up 11% [Dec 8, 08]

Alnylam Pharma down 11% [Nov 14, 08]

Alnylam Pharma down 11% [Nov 12, 08]

Alnynam Pharma up 11% [Nov 4, 08]

Alynlam Pharma up 11% [Oct 30, 08]

Alnylam Pharma down 13% [Oct 27, 08]

RNAi biotech company Alnylam Pharmaceuticals received a $20 million milestone payment from Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd., adding to the $100 million the Cambridge-based biotech has earned already from Takeda. [Mass High Tech, Oct 7, 08]

Alnylam up 12% [Sep 18, 08]

Researchers have uncovered a new pathway to malaria infection, linking cholesterol metabolism to the disease, which could ultimately lead to new treatments using RNAi therapeutics. Scientists from Cambridge-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Dresden, Germany-based Cenix BioScience GmbH and Lisbon-based Instituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM) published their findings in Cell Host & Microbe. [Mass High Tech, Sep 11]

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals said it has formed a collaboration with the Max Planck Institute in Germany. [Boston Globe, Aug 11, 08]

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals said that its second-quarter loss increased slightly, as rising expenses canceled out improved revenue from collaborations. [Boston Globe, Aug 7, 08]

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals signed its second collaborative deal in as many months, sending shares higher. [Boston Globe, Jun 19, 08]

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals says it has made a $5 million equity investment in Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. as part of an expanded licensing deal [Mass High Tech, Jun 2, 08]

Takeda Pharmaceutical is betting big on U.S. biotechnology companies to reinvigorate Japan's No. 1 pharmaceutical company.... [After buying one company for nearly $9B], a technology alliance with biopharmaceuticals company Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA; $600K SBIR). Under the agreement, Takeda could pay as much as $1 billion if all development and sales targets are met. [Hiroko Tabuchi, Wall Street Journal, May 28, 08] includes a $100 million up-front payment, $50 million in near-term technology transfer payments, and more than $850 million in potential milestone payments and royalties, [Boston Globe, May 28]

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals reports that [Swiss giant] Novartis AG will pay $5.4 million to buy more shares in the Cambridge-based biopharmaceutical company that is focused on using RNA interference (RNAi) for developing therapies. [Mass High Tech, May 8]

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA; $600K SBIR) granted Shanghai GenePharma a non-exclusive world-wide license to manufacture and provide RNAi research products and services under the Kreutzer-Limmer patent family. [company website, Mar 20, 08] The nearly $1B market cap barely moved.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) said it was part of a research team awarded a new $3.8 million grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation to further develop an RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.... seeks to develop novel technologies based on RNA interference, or RNAi, a naturally occurring mechanism within cells for selectively silencing and regulating specific genes; since many diseases are caused by the inappropriate activity of specific cells, the ability to silence genes selectively through RNAi has great potential, researchers think. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Jan 7, 07]

AlphaMed (Acton, MA)

AlphaMed (Acton, MA; six Phase 1 SBIRs) reports it has received a $750,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute to advance its experimental treatment for deadly skin cancer. ... The two-person firm hopes to find development partners and raise $5 million to $10 million in a Series A round of venture capital this year .....the company's founders: Richard F. Testa, formerly of Thermo Electron Corp., Digital Equipment Corp., and General Electric Co.; Herbert A. Moore, formerly of DuPont Merck Pharmaceuticals Co., Hoffman la Roche Inc., and Tracerlab Inc. [Mass High Tech, May 7, 08]

AlphaVax (RTP, NC)

AlphaVax (RTP, NC; no SBIR) got three-year $3.6M NIH contract to advance its development of adjuvant technologies, which are agents used to enhance the effects of other agents used in vaccines. In February, the company raised $12.7M in a preferred stock offering to begin clinical trials relating to herpes and influenza. [Raleigh News & Observer, Jul 12]

Alseres Pharmaceuticals (Hopkinton, MA)

Alseres Pharmaceuticals (Hopkinton, MA; no SBIR) focused on the development of therapeutic and diagnostic products for disorders in the central nervous system, announced $1 million financing. [Boston Globe, Nov 20, 08]

AltAir Fuels (Seattle, WA)

AltAir Fuels, (Seattle, WA startup), said it has entered into agreements with [14] airlines to negotiate the purchase of jet fuel and diesel derived from the camelina plant, a weed related to mustard that produces seeds with a high oil content. ... the company aims to build a new facility within the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes and begin operating in 2012. He said the company expects Tesoro to become an investor in AltAir. ... The camelina oil will be sourced from Montana-based Sustainable Oils, which has camelina-research expertise and production contracts with farmers. [Cristi Heim, Seattle Times, Dec 16, 09] SBIR history unknowable until SBA repairs its often crippled website.

AltaRock

Nature Prices Extraction. Startup AltaRock (Seattle, WA; no SBIR) stopped its California geothermal project after earthquakes in Switzerland from similar extraction of heat from geologically active rocks. In addition to a $6 million grant from the Energy Department, AltaRock had attracted some $30 million in venture capital from high-profile investors ... AltaRock has also received some $25 million in federal money for a project in Oregon [James Glanz, Wall Street Journal, Dec 11, 09]

Altor (Miramar FL)

Hing C. Wong founded Altor (Miramar FL; $1.5M SBIR) in 2002 as a spin-off from Sunol Molecular (Miramar FL; $0.5M SBIR) which seeded the company with $4M. Top venture funds then invested $6M. The company�s proprietary technology, which it calls its �STAR� platform, has been in development for a decade. [Allan Maurer, Tech Journal South, Nov 9]

Altra (Los Angeles, CA)

Altra (Los Angeles CA), a biofuel company, said it received $50 M from a group of private investors including venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, a founder of Sun Microsystems. Altra, founded in 2004 as Malibu Capital Partners Inc., acquires and develops projects using renewable energy, including ethanol and biodiesel. [LA Times, Apr 6]

Altus Pharmaceuticals

Nasdaq said it will delist Altus Pharmaceuticals [AP, Dec 16, 09]

Altus Pharmaceuticals (Waltham, MA; no SBIR) filed for bankruptcy. ... had been developing a human growth hormone that would have been injected to treat diseases [Boston Globe, Nov 12, 09]

Three years after Altus Pharmaceuticals went public and raised $105 million in a single day, the Cambridge biotechnology company is running out of money, and its stock, which once traded for more than $25 a share, closed at 40 cents yesterday. [Scott Kirsner, Boston Globe, May 9, 09]

Shares of Altus Pharmaceuticals plunged to an all-time low Tuesday as Wall Street reacted negatively to preliminary results from a late stage trial of its Trizytek enzymes. [Boston Globe, Aug 13,08]

Altus Pharmaceuticals up 11% after reporting top-line results from a Phase 1 clinical trial of ALTU-237 in healthy adult volunteers. [Jun 5, 08]

Altus Pharma up 11% [May 22, 08]

Altus Pharmaceuticals up 10% [Mar 18, 08]

Altus Pharmaceuticals up 15% [Feb 4, 08]

Altus Pharmaceuticals bought back a human growth hormone formulation it had licensed to a California biotech [Genentech] almost exactly one year ago ... reported a net loss of $55.7 M on $5.1 M in revenue for 2006. [Mass High Tech, Dec 20, 07] The return was disastrous news for the stock which tumbled 44%.

Altus Pharmaceuticals up 10% [Nov 13, 07]

Altus Pharmaceuticals up 10% [Aug 16,07]

ALung Technologies (Pittsburgh, PA)

ALung Technologies (Pittsburgh, PA; no SBIR) said it has raised $2.5 million from its investors. ... to fund clinical trials in India and Germany scheduled to begin in late 2009, and support working capital needs. The investors are private individuals or angels and were not identified. ... commercializing artificial lung devices for the treatment of acute and chronic respiratory disorders. [Pittsburgh Business Journal, Oct 6, 09]

AMAG Pharmaceuticals

AMAG Pharma up 20% [Jan 11, 10] besting Wall Street expectations.

AMAG Pharma up 12% [Oct 29, 09] third-quarter loss narrowed on higher sales of the anemia drug Feraheme. [AP, Oct 29]

AMAG Pharma up 11% [Mar 23, 09]

AMAG Pharma down 12% [Mar 2, 09]

AMAG Pharma down 15% [Feb 26, 09] said that its fourth-quarter loss widened on higher costs as the company sets up operations for the eventual marketing of its anemia drug Feraheme. [Boston Globe, Feb 27]

AMAG Pharmaceuticals said the FDA asked for more information on the anemia drug candidate ferumoxytol before considering it for approval. [Boston Globe, Dec 23, 08]

AMAG Pharma down 11% [Dec 1, 08] On a stock bloodbath day

AMAG Pharma doubled [Nov 13, 08] after going one step closer to getting its anemia drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The agency declared a response for more information to be complete, allowing the biopharmaceutical company to recover some of the value that had been lost over the past three months amid concerns about the fate of its treatment for iron-deficiency anemia. [Wall Street Journal, Nov 14]

AMAG Pharma down 12% [Nov 12, 08]AMAG Pharma down 19% [Nov 10, 08]

AMAG Pharma down 14% [Nov 4, 08]

AMAG Pharma down 12% [Oct 20, 08] received a letter from the FDA asking for more information on its iron-replacement drug ferumoxytol. The company said it should be able to respond quickly to the request without conducting any more clinical trials. [Wall Street Journal, Oct 21]

AMAG Pharmaceuticals said the FDA granted Fast Track designation to a diagnostic agent that can be used during vascular-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging procedures. The agent, called ferumoxytol, improves the assessment of peripheral arterial disease in patients with known or suspected chronic kidney disease, or CKD, the company said. [Boston Globe, Aug 21, 08]

AMAG Pharmaceuticals fell 13% after [a broker] recommended investors sell shares of the Cambridge, Mass., biopharmaceutical company, saying it believes development of the company's drug to treat iron-deficiency anemia won't get FDA approval without an additional trial. [Wall Street Journal, Apr 10, 08]

AMAG Pharmaceuticals up 10% [Mar 24, 08]

AMAG Pharmaceuticals down 10% [Jan 30, 08] after reporting that mortality rates for patients taking the experimental iron deficiency treatment ferumoxytol were lower compared with those taking oral iron pills.

AmberWave Systems (Salem, NH)

AmberWave Systems (Salem, NH; one SBIR) is partnering with the University of New Hampshire after receiving a "Granite State Technology Innovation Grant" from the New Hampshire Innovation Research Center (NHIRC). Amount unstated founded in 1999, has raised more than $91M in private funding . ...The NHIRC grant combines funding from the state of New Hampshire with federal dollars from the National Science Foundation's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research - EPSCOR, a program designed to hand money to the "have-not" states. So, why does a company that attracts $91M private capital need, or accept, a tiny "have-not " grant? Any free dollar is a good dollar even if it diverts attention from the serious business of making a profit in the competitive markets?

Amber Wave (Salem, NH) settled all its strained silicon patent infringement lawsuits against Intel. [Mass High Tech, Mar 6]

AmberWave Systems (Salem, NH) raised another $21M in VC money to bring its total to $66M. If all goes as planned, Amber Wave will bring its strained silicon for semiconductors to a profitable market. Back in the late 90s, during the IT bubble, Amber Wave got one SBIR for $1M from BMDO (now MDA) although not for strained silicon. If any company, like Amber Wave, wanted similar SBIR money this summer, it would have a hard time finding any DOD topic open to broad impact technology like semiconductors. DOD wants ready-to-go projects that produce a hard product (or some vague math model) for a specific program. What happened to all the broad thinkers?

AMBP Technology (Buffalo, NY)

Ready for the Factory Floor. Another MBE SBIR, one of a gazillion in 15 years, says it is preparing for the factory floor. AMBP Technology (Buffalo, NY), a spin off from the University of Buffalo, got a BMDO Phase 2 SBIR to combine laser heating and MBE to deposit thin metal films at a market price. The Buffalo News story March 19 says the academic types will get financing from NJ businessman Gary Tompa (who has had SBIRs in at least two other companies), now company president. While the technology sounds wonderful, - as they all do - MBE has usually been too expensive for market-competitive cost chips. Says founder Jim Garvey, There's really no technology hurdles I anticipate. Tompa must have told the two academics that BMDO wasn't going to fund their nice research in their 1997 SBIR Phase 1. Either find a credible commercialization route, or apply to some other SBIR program. After a couple of years (BMDO gives the Phase 1s whatever time is needed) to round up a credible story, they got $900K Phase 2, no doubt with the usual contingency clauses about co-investment and continuing technical credibility. SBA will probably gnash its bureaucratic teeth at the co-investment clause that guarantees that SBIR money has market attention.

American Science and Engineering

American Science and Engineering reports it has landed $5.8 million from an unnamed Middle Eastern customer for cargo inspection equipment. [Mass High Tech, Jan 5, 10]

American Science and Engineering rose 5.3% after an unnamed government agency placed a $39.7 million order for cargo X-ray inspection systems to screen cargo and vehicles for explosives at border crossings. [Wall Street Journal, Jan 5]

American Science & Engineering reports it has landed $7.3 million for its parcel inspection systems. Under the deal, AS&E will provide its Gemini parcel inspection systems to an unnamed Middle Eastern customer. [Mass High Tech, Dec 22, 09]

American Science and Engineering received a $9.1 million order from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to supply its cargo and vehicle inspection systems. [Mass High Tech, Oct 27, 09]

American Science and Engineering reports it has landed $18.2 million from a Saudi Arabian company for vehicle inspection systems to be used at customs stations in Saudi Arabia. [Mass High Tech, Oct 1, 09]

American Science and Engineering announced the receipt of a service contract award for up to $28.2 million from the US government to provide service and maintenance for the company's Z Backscatter Van X-ray inspection systems. [Boston Globe, Sep 16, 09]

American Science and Engineering won an $11.5 million renewal order from the U.S. government to handle service and maintenance on the company�s Z Backscatter Vans and ZBV Military Trailers � two systems used in counterterrorist measures. [Mass High Tech, Aug 20, 09]

American Science and Engineering landed an $8.6 million follow-on order of Z Portal X-ray screening systems for Abu Dhabi Customs Administration [Mass High Tech, Jul 9, 09]

American Science and Engineering reports it has won a patent infringement suit against three New Jersey companies. [Mass High Tech, Jun 15, 09]

American Science and Engineering which also declared a regular dividend landed $2.2 million from an unnamed European customs agency for service and maintenance on cargo X-ray inspection systems.. [Mass High Tech, May 14, 09]

American Science and Engineering reports it has landed $4.7 million from an unnamed law enforcement agency for its cargo screening vans. [Mass High Tech, May 4, 09]

American Science and Engineering reports it has landed $4.4 million from an unnamed U.S. government agency for maintenance on its cargo inspection vans. [Mass High Tech, Apr 27, 09]

American Science and Engineering won a $6.3 million follow-on order from an unnamed client in the Middle East for an unspecified number of its Z Portal cargo and vehicle screening systems. [Mass High Tech, Apr 2, 09]

American Science and Engineering said it has received a $2.9 million order for its Z Backscatter units. [Boston Globe, Feb 21, 09]

American Science and Engineering announced today the receipt of a $67.1 million order from the US government for ZBV military trailers. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Jan 15]

American Science & Engr up 11% [Jan 8, 09]

American Science & Engineering up15% [Nov 11, 08] after the company reported a 63 percent rise in its fiscal second-quarter earnings. [Boston Globe, Nov 12]

American Science & Engineering said its profit climbed 63% in the fiscal second quarter. [Boston Globe, Nov 10, 08]

American Science and Engineering announced the receipt of a multi-year $12.5 million service order to provide service, maintenance, training, and spare parts for multiple cargo systems. [Boston Globe, Sep 17]

American Science and Engineering said that the company has received a $22M order from the USG. .... for 22 Z Backscatter Vans, or ZBVs, a mobile X-ray screening system, the company said. [Boston Globe, Aug 25, 08]

American Science and Engineering got a $2.6 million order for its mobile X-ray detection system from a Middle East government agency [Boston Globe, Jul 31]

American Science and Engineering reports it has landed a $15.5 million contract from the U.S. government for service on its x-ray systems. [Mass High Tech, Jul 28, 08]

American Science and Engineering reports it has won $55 M from a customs agency in the United Arab Emirates for its X-ray detection systems, including its OmniView, Z Portal and Z Backscatter Van detection systems. [Mass High Tech, Jul 2, 08]

The U.S. government has awarded American Science and Engineering a $3.4 million service, support and maintenance order for AS&E�s Z Backscatter Vans, completing the multi-year contract totalling $46.2 million . [Mass High Tech, Jun 24]

American Science and Engineering , a maker of X-ray inspection systems, said it received a $9.2 million contract to supply a Latin American customs agency. [Boston Globe, May 14]

American Science and Engineering got a $3.4M contract for X-ray technology from a unnamed Middle Eastern customer. [Mass High Tech, Oct 2, 07]

American Science and Engineering says it is developing X-ray systems for a secret undisclosed government agency in Africa, which if AS&E is lucky will pay its bills from the proceeds of its customs bribery.

American Science and Engineering won a $5.9 M contract with an undisclosed agency of the U.S. government for service and maintenance work on AS&E's mobile screening systems, known as Z Backscatter Vans. [Mass High Tech, Sep 12, 07]

American Science and Engineering got a $10.8M contract from the TSA for the lease of five of the company's SmartCheck screening systems, with an option to acquire an additional 75. [Boston Globe, Aug 9, 07]

American Science and Engineering got a $17M government order for detection systems [Mar 07]

the best chance for investors to cash in on the security trend is with the pure-play small fry (albeit ones with commercial applications, too). His favorites have market caps of $2 billion or less ... a lot of customers for American Science & Engineering Peters likes its X-ray technology, called the Z Backscatter, which goes beyond traditional security X rays because it can pick up nonmetallic objects. ... The company, which is profitable, has a large order backlog [Forbes, Mar 26, 07]

TSA has begun testing American Science and Engineering Inc.'s SmartCheck personal screening system at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, [Mass High Tech, Feb 23, 07]

American Science and Engineering got a $2.2M government contract to deliver a 'ruggedized' Z Backscatter Van X-ray-based explosive detection system. AS&E reported an annual net income of $30M. [Mass High Tech, Nov 6, 06]

American Science and Engineering got a $13M deal from NATO for x-ray inspection of cargo, parcel and personnel. [Nov 06]

Hate Nasty Surprises. American Science and Engineering said fiscal first-quarter earnings fell as expenses for stock options and a higher tax bill cut into the bottom line. The results badly missed Wall Street expectations, sending the company's shares tumbling. Down 17%. [AP, Aug 9, 06]

American Superconductor

American Superconductor said that it has received a follow-on order for $10 million worth of wind turbine core electrical components from CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Research Institute Co. Ltd. in China. [Boston Globe, Nov 17, 09]

American Superconductor up 23% [Oct 29, 09] posted better-than-expected quarterly results, powered by a booming Chinese wind industry, a key growth driver for the company. [Reuters, Oct 29]

American Superconductor has been chosen to supply its superconducting powerline �pipeline� technology to the Tres Amigas Project, the first renewable energy market hub in the country that, for the first time, interconnects the three major U.S. power grids. The company has also take a minority stake in the entity that runs the hub, Tres Amigas LLC, for $1.75 million in cash and AMSC stock. [Mass High Tech, Oct 13, 09]

American Superconductor up 10% [Sep 30, 09]

American Superconductor said that it has signed a $100 million-plus contract with Beijing-based Sinovel Wind Corporation Limited. ... to supply core electrical components that the Chinese company will use for wind turbines. [Boston Globe, Sep 30, 09]

American Superconductor said in a press release that it has formed AMSC Korea to serve South Korea rapidly growing wind energy and power grid markets. [Boston Globe, Sep 24, 09]

American Superconductor down 12% [Sep 21, 09] after a broker cut its investment rating on the company's stock to "hold" from "buy." [Wall Street Journal, Sep 22]

American Superconductor said it has formed a unit called AMSC India to serve India�s rapidly growing wind energy and power grid markets. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Sep 09, 09]

American Superconductor said that it has received its second order for a D-VAR system to meet dynamic reactive compensation requirements for a power grid in China. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Aug 26, 09]

American Superconductor reports that Beijing-based Sinovel Wind Corp. Ltd. increased the size of its contract to more than $470 million to meet greater demand for its wind turbines in China. That and other deals pushed AMSC to its second profitable quarter in a row. [Mass High Tech, Jul 30]

American Superconductor said it has received $12 million in U.S. Department of Energy [so-called stimulus] funding for work on smart grid demonstration projects. ... to develop a 138 kilovolt fault current limiter using the company�s superconductor wires. ... also received $7.6 million to fund the second phase of its superconductor power cable project with the Long Island Power Authority. [Mass High Tech, Jul 21, 09] Whether it's stimulus or pork depends on whether you got the money.

American Superconductor said it reported its first quarterly profit in company history, [Boston Globe, May 15,09]

American Superconductor received an order worth more than $10 million from ACCIONA Energy, a division of Spanish wind developer ACCIONA SA, for its newly released Dynamic VAR Ride Through (D-VAR RT) product. [Mass High Tech, May 13]

American Superconductor down 14% [May 7, 09]

American Superconductor up 10% [May 4, 09]

American Superconductor up 10% [Apr 22, 09]

American Superconductor landed a new deal for its 344 Superconductor Wire from LS Cable Ltd. of South Korea. ..... ordered 80,000 meters (50 miles) of AMSC�s proprietary brand of second-generation (2G) high-temperature superconductor [Mass High Tech, Apr 20, 09]

American Superconductor said it received a new order from Shanghai Electric Cable Research Institute for its high temperature superconductor wire. [Boston Globe, Apr 1, 09]

American Superconductor up 12% [Mar 26, 09]

American Superconductor up 15% [Mar 10, 09]

American Superconductor up 13% [Mar 4, 09]

American Superconductor down 10% [Feb 27, 09]

American Superconductor down 11% [Feb 23, 09]

American Superconductor reported a loss for the latest quarter that was 6%greater than a year ago. ... reported a burgeoning backlog: $602 million, up from $168 million a year ago ... expects to post a net loss for the full fiscal year of $17 million [Boston Globe, Feb 3, 09] All those sales don't necessarily mean self-sustaining profits. Which is the problem with SBIR's trumpeting follow-on sales as a measure of economic success. You can sell a lot of stuff if you're willing to mark the price down to where you will eventually go bust.

Job Stimulus Beneficiaries? Asia. A recent study by the Renewable Energy Policy Project in Washington, D.C., found that each megawatt of wind capacity installed in the U.S. creates 4.85 full-time jobs, of which 3.4 come from making components -- which is done mostly outside the U.S .... The American Wind Energy Association said this past week that wind suppliers expanded or added 55 facilities last year. But that increase has been outstripped by growth abroad. American Superconductor designs wind turbines and licenses its designs to other companies, then helps them build manufacturing facilities. In recent years, it has inked deals with a dozen companies, none of them American. One customer, South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., is "specifically targeting the U.S. market," said Greg Yurek, chief executive of American Semiconductor. Korea's government said last week it is investing $4.37 billion to help Korean companies close the technology gap in 15 energy-product areas including wind, solar and battery technology. [Rebecca Smith, Wall Street Journal, Jan 31]

American Superconductor has received a new order for 100 sets of its wind turbine core electrical components from China [Mass High Tech, Jan 22, 09]

American Superconductor up 11% [Jan 15, 09]

American Superconductor said the US Navy successfully tested a 49,000 horsepower ship propulsion motor that includes the company's technology. [Boston Globe, Jan 13, 09]

American Superconductor said that it has received its first order for a D-VAR system to meet dynamic reactive compensation requirements for a 220 kilovolt power transmission grid in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, China. [Boston Globe, Jan 7, 09]

American Superconductor up 10% [Dec 16, 08]

American Superconductor down 10% [Dec 11, 08]

American Superconductor up 13% [Dec 8, 08]

American Superconductor up 13% [Dec 5, 08]

American Superconductor expects revenues will grow to a range of $175 million to $185 million in its fiscal 2008 from approximately $112 million in fiscal 2007. The company also maintained its net loss guidance of $13 million to $15 million ... For fiscal 2009, the company expects to grow revenues to more than $225 million with gross margin in the range of 28 to 30 percent. The company also expects to be profitable on a GAAP basis for full year fiscal 2009." [Boston Globe, Dec 4, 08]

American Superconductor up 13% [Dec 2, 08]

American Superconductor down 16% [Dec 1, 08] On a stock bloodbath day

American Superconductor up 20% [Nov 26, 08]

American Superconductor up 21% [Nov 24, 08]

American Superconductor up 13% [Nov 21, 08]

American Superconductor said it has agreed to help a Chinese manufacturer become a wind-turbine supplier. ... has signed an agreement with Shenyang Blower Works Co. Ltd., a Chinese industrial equipment manufacturer with about $1 billion in annual sales. [Boston Globe, Nov 18]

American Superconductor down 12% [Nov 14, 08]

American Superconductor up 10% [Nov 13, 08]

American Superconductor down 14% [Nov 12, 08]

American Superconductor down 10% [Nov 6, 08]

American Superconductor up 17% [Nov 4, 08]

American Superconductor up 13% [Oct 30, 08]

American Superconductor said that it has received an order for four systems that will be used to improve pumping-station performance for a major crude-oil pipeline. [Boston Globe, Oct 30]

American Superconductor down 11% [Oct 27, 08]

American Superconductor down 12% [Oct 23, 08]

American Superconductor down 13% [Oct 22, 08]

American Superconductor up 15% [Oct 16, 08]

American Superconductor continues to make deals around its wind power technology, reporting that it has licensed a pair of its proprietary wind turbine designs to industrial giant Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. of South Korea. [Mass High Tech, Oct 15, 08]

American Superconductor down 13% [Oct 15, 08]

American Superconductor up 24% [Oct 13, 08]

American Superconductor reports it has entered into a contract to design wind turbines for XJ Group Corp. of China. [Mass High Tech, Oct 8, 08]

American Superconductor down 12% [Oct 7, 08]

American Superconductor down 19% [Oct 6, 08]

American Superconductor down 12% [Oct 2, 08]

American Superconductor reports it has entered into a contract to design wind turbines for XJ Group Corp. of China. [Mass High Tech, Oct 8, 08]

American Superconductor down 12% [Oct 7, 08]

American Superconductor reports it has manufactured and shipped approximately 17,000 meters (56,000 feet) of its proprietary second-generation, high-temperature superconductor (HTS) wire for use in Project HYDRA, in New York. According to company statements, the shipment is the single largest shipment of 2G HTS wire by any company worldwide. [Mass High Tech, Oct 2, 08]

American Superconductor down 19% [Oct 6, 08]

American Superconductor down 12% [Oct 2, 08]

American Superconductor up 12% [Sep 29, 08]

American Superconductor up 13% [Sep 19, 08]

American Superconductor up 21% [Sep 18, 08]

American Superconductor doubled for the first half of 2008. The business is young and hasn't returned a profit yet, but Jesup & Lamont says sales from the wire could be profitable as early as 2010. [Roya Wolverson, Smart Money, Sep 08]

American Superconductor down 10% [Sep 9, 08]

American Superconductor down 10% [Jul 23, 08]

Twenty years later, the [superconducting] cables are snaking into commercial settings. ... American Superconductor supplied three to a Long Island Power Authority site in Hauppauge, N.Y. The lines are only about 600 meters long, but can move 50 times as much electricity as like-sized conventional cables. Expensive superconductors make the most sense in high-cost areas. Next up: New York City, where such cables may soon be used in Consolidated Edison's overstuffed manholes. [Adam Aston, Business Week, Jul 17, 08]

American Superconductor up 19% after it said it received a $450 million follow-on order to supply core electrical components for wind turbines from Beijing-based Sinovel Wind Corp, [Reuters, Jun 10]

American Superconductor licensed one of its proprietary wind turbine designs to TECO Electric & Machinery Co. Ltd. of Taiwan. [Boston Globe, Jun 6, 08]

American Superconductor up 10% [May 28, 08]

American Superconductor up 33% [May 8, 08] as its fourth-quarter loss narrowed 84 percent on wind power and electric utility sales. Net loss dropped to $1.8 million or 4 cents per share from $11.4 million in 2007. Sales more than doubled to $38.4 million from $19.1 million. [Boston Globe, May 8]

As part of an ongoing relationship with Beijing-based Sinovel Wind Corp. Ltd., power systems company American Superconductor received a new order from the wind developer worth more than $18 million, officials say. [Mass High Tech, Apr 2, 08]

American Superconductor got two new orders, one in Mississippi and one international, for its D-VAR voltage control products. Although revenues keep rolling in they can't keep up with expenses and the double-digit millions losses keep rolling also. [Feb 12,08]

American Superconductor claimed $3M in orders for its wind turbine components.

American Superconductor said it received a Department of Homeland Security contract for a project that aims to improve Manhattan's power delivery network. ... will provide up to $25 million in total funding for the $39 million project [Boston Globe, Jan 24, 08]

American Superconductor down 12% [Jan 17, 08] It was up 178% last year.

American Superconductor down 11% [Dec 17, 07]

American Superconductor is responding to growing demand in China with the formation of a new division known as "AMSC China" in Suzhou [Mass High Tech, Oct 30, 07]

American Superconductor is partnering with Texas-based TECO-Westinghouse Motor Co. to co-develop high-temperature superconductor (HTS) wire and related technologies for high-power wind generators for offshore wind farms. The 30-month research partnership is being funded in part with $3.4 in tandem funding from the National Institute of Science and Technology's Advanced Technology Program, which represents approximately half an estimated $6.8 million project price tag, according to the companies. [Mass High Tech, Oct 3, 07]

Congressional investigators have asked American Superconductor. to hand over documents and communications as part of their probe into one of the firm's government contracts [Wall Street Journal, Aug 28]

American Superconductor up 17% after getting a BUY rating. [Aug 8, 07] Meanwhile, Motley Fool is projecting a 24% stock dilution soon.

Windborne. American Superconductor got a follow-on $70M order for wind turbine electrical systems from Beijing-based Sinovel Wind Corp.

On the eve of tapping the public markets for as much as $100M , American Superconductor disclosed that one of its key government contracts is under investigation for potential violation of government contract-award rules. ... Shares have soared more than 55% since the May 21 announcement that it had been awarded the contract to develop technology for structurally secure power grids in New York in partnership with ConEd. [Karen Richardson, Wall Street Journal, Jul 23]

American Superconductor filed to raise $100M by selling stock. [Jun 07]

American Superconductor to be buried in New York, as ConEd installs superconducting electrical cable in midtown Manhattan largely funded by the DHS to harden the electrical infrastructure of critical national assets. Regardless of how many red states vote against evolution, the sine qua non assets are in the coastal metropoli. AMSC CEO said "We hope this breaks the logjam," as he smiled over the federal funding that he doesn't have to find the money for since everything is free from the government. Isn't it? Of course, ConEd will be raising its rates to pay for its share of the project. AMSC stock jumped 18%.

American Superconductor's Austrian subsidiary made an $8M wind power deal with China. [Mar 07]

Investors go hot and cold on alternative energy. But the wind isn't going away, nor is the emerging world's booming growth. Steven Syre [Boston Globe, Mar 8] has a friendly piece on prospects for American Superconductor after years of steady losses.

American Superconductor down 11% [Mar 5, 07]

American Superconductor got enough new orders from wind farm operators to boost its stock 16% [Feb 28, 07]

American Superconductor up 10% [Feb 26, 07]

South China Wind. American Superconductor made a $30M deal with a South China utility for a wind energy system made by AMSC's new formerly Austrian subsidiary. Last week it made a deal with a Korean maker of electric drive systems. [Mass High Tech, Jan 23]

American Superconductor signed a strategic business alliance with China's Shanghai Electric Cable Research Institute (SECRI) aimed at developing and promoting the use of its high temperature superconductor (HTS) power cables in China [Mass High Tech, Oct 31]

Not surprisingly the Navy is giving American Superconductor $5M to help get it AMSC's just produced super-duper HTSC propulsion motor into the fleet. The contract is the first in what AMSC expects to be a series of contracts from the U.S. Navy aimed at optimizing the motors and power electric drives for use in future surface combatants and other classes of naval ships, according to Greg Yurek, chief executive officer and founder of AMSC. [Mass High Tech, Oct 25]. SOP for new high tech stuff.

American Superconductor reports $4.6 million in new orders for voltage regulation systems at English-speaking wind farms in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

American Superconductor jumped 25% when it announced a nearly Holy Grail - commercial levels of electric current for the first time in long lengths of second generation (2G) high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire.

American Superconductor jumped 13% on news of booking orders for more than a mile of HTS wire. [Jan 06]

American Superconductor got a $10M add-on to its original $70M Navy contract for a 36.5 megawatt high temperature superconductor propulsion motor for electric warships to be delivered to the Navy in Philadelphia in September 2006. The USAF also chipped in $13M for costs associated with a high-temperature superconducting factory planned for Devens. AMSC is not a life-style company. American Superconductor got a $5.35 M DOD Title III contract to scale-up of its manufacturing of second generation high temperature superconductor wire [Dec 05]

American Superconductor lost $4M even though backlog grew superbly.

Growing: Sales, Technology, Shares, Losses. American Superconductor lost another $5.6M in the quarter and saw shares increase 20%, which drives (earnings) per share in the wrong direction.The shrinking number of Wall Street analysts don't see any profits next year either. The company's press release said, Prospects for new orders for industrial and wind farm D- VAR� systems and the substantial likelihood of one or more new U.S. Navy contracts for HTS rotating machines, in addition to our current revenue visibility, continue to point to a stronger second half than first half. We are also encouraged by the imminent signing of the Energy Bill into law, which should give rise to additional orders and contracts. When your biggest customer is wind farms, you hope fervently that government subsidies to those farms will continue.

Madden: American Superconductor is a pioneer in HTS technology, with 395 patents to its credit. HTS is potentially disruptive in nature for applications that currently use copper wires such as power cables, generators, you name it. A long-term chart shows that AMSC is trading at the same levels it did at its inception in 1991. ... The [in-process energy bill] bill provides for $100M for each HTS-grid solution, or high-temperature-superconductivity solutions, which American Superconductor provides. As the only HTS play, AMSC is positioned to capture the lion's share, which is meaningful, given that last year its sales were $58 million. Also, the bill stipulates for the enforcement of higher reliability standards that were absent during recent blackouts in our country. The change in regulation bodes wells for American Superconductor, as they have established products that allow utilities to be compliant. [Barron's, Jul 25]American Superconductor fired its president after an employee complaint. But Monday it led the percentage gainers at 23%. [Jun 05]

Power from Wind and Cold. American Superconductor got an order for two voltage regulation systems for a 150-megawatt wind farm in Saskatchewan that will blow enough zero-emission energy to serve 64,000 homes. [Nov 04]

American Superconductor says it will start prep to scale-up to full pilot production after satisfying its benchmarks for a second-generation HTS wire. It says its wire reached 330 amps, 10% over DOE (the government)'s specs for 2G HTS wires. [Mass High Tech, Jul 27] DOE chimed in with happy words in the administration's efforts to promote US manufacturing (especially in the swing states of the fall election)

American Superconductor's projected loss for the first quarter offset any glee from a doubled revenue for the fourth quarter, and the stock took a 24% dive.

American Superconductor got a sub-contract of unstated value to develop an ignition system for electro-thermal chemical (ETC) guns, an advanced weapon technology for future artillery, battle tank and infantry fighting vehicle (a dream machine for DOD weaponeers) The firing system uses pulsed power to ignite the propellant used by an ETC gun. [Mass High Tech, Nov 24] The big problem is that the Army has a huge capital investment in solid propellant guns and is unlikely to abandon it in favor of a completely new type with a marginal advantage and a huge logistcal problem.

American Superconductor will raise $50M in a public offering this week [Nov 03]

American Superconductor got a $400K award from DOD and Energy (DOE) for the first phase of a cost-sharing program of manufacturing scale-up for second generation (2G) high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire. If all goes well, Congress would pony up $10M for three year main course of a manufacturing plant. [facts from Mass High Tech, Oct 1] Why would an anti-industrial policy government build a commercial plant? There's a big election coming next year. That award is on top of a potential $2.5M award last week from DOE for the same wire.

American Superconductor won a contract to support remote power - voltage support to the electric power grid for Scotland�s Orkney Islands. The idea is to protect the Orkney Islands' power supply from disasters like the loss of underwater power cables to the islands or too much variation in the wind power generation. [Mass High Tech, Sep 22] The Orkneys are a windswept group of islands an hour-plus ferry ride off Scotland's north coast. They Orkneys were the source of a lot of the workers for the Hudson Bay Company in the 19th century and a haven for gazillions of nesting seabirds (puffins, etc) in the spring and summer. Remote they are, although a mere stepping stone to their cousins the Shetlands even farther out, about half-way to Norway.

American Superconductor signed non-binding letters of intent to raise$50M including a five-year loan of up to $30M provided by a corporate finance company and several institutional investors. AS says it will use the money for working capital, general corporate purposes and scale-up of pilot manufacturing for the company's second generation (coated conductor composite) high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire.

Shares of American Superconductor jumped 20% yesterday when the company said it got a $70M Navy contract, its largest contract ever, for a prototype electric ship motor.

Not so Super Conductor Yet. American Superconductor sprang a leak in its plan to demonstrate HTSC cable in Detroit. Leaks in the thermal insulation system in the HTS cables point up a downside of the marvel of HTSC - an expensive maintanance system for cable temperature, especially 70K. CEO Greg Yurek put the best face on it, While a lot has been learned during the course of this project ... So goes high promise high tech in getting to actual profitable business.

Steady As She Goes. American Superconductor won a contract to supply electrical line stability with its D-VAR gizmo at a town in mid British Columbia. Start small, succeed, and maybe the world will copy. Says the company, The D-VAR system maintains steady-state voltage levels on transmission and distribution lines and also protects against other externally caused voltage disturbances -- such as those caused by large motors in manufacturing facilities. The D-VAR system is a mobile power reliability resource that utilizes AMSC's proprietary PowerModule(TM) power electronic converters to inject precise amounts of continuous and instantaneous reactive power (measured in VARs) into transmission grids to solve voltage regulation and dynamic voltage stability problems that otherwise may result in blackouts and brownouts. The traders were not impressed on the day Pres Bush said that he would frown on any company executive who does what he did on inside trading. AMSC still trades at a fourth of its 12-month high.

American Superconductor is laying off a fourth of its workforce, 100 workers as it combines Wisconsin units into one, which will make magnetic energy storage systems. Last month it won an $8M Navy contract for the first HTS motor for ship propulsion.

More Shipboard Power, Please
(Mar 7)American Superconductor says it got a $2.9M Navy (ONR) contract to develop architecture for onboard ship propulsion and other electrical components that will be required for the future all-electric Navy.CEO Greg Yurek said The Navy is looking for the fastest way to incorporate new technology into its next-generation ship propulsion and weapons systems, Of course, itf the Navy really wants it, why is the contract from ONR which is merely the research arm? Oh, never mind: money is money.

American Superconductor took a 13% hit on top of 11% the previous day as it reported larger losses than investors want to tolerate. Emcore dropped 17% in the soggy semiconductor industry. On the plus side, Embrex has held up well as better earnings are being reported in an industry not selling information technology.ViaSat got hit 17% despite a $2.5M DOD contract this month.

What's Uncool About the Money? After American Superconductor was listed as a participant in an $18M superconductor cable project from DOE, its stock plunged for two days. Down 16% the first day and 8% more the second day to a low price not seen since late 1998.

Revenues Hit, Stock Downgrade. American Superconductor reported halved revenues for the quarter and two brokers downgraded the stock. ``Our results for the first quarter were in line with our expectations,'' said Greg Yurek, chief executive officer. ``Taking into account the downturn in the economy and the regulatory confusion in the utility industry, we stated in April that we expected to achieve revenue in the range of $20 to $30M this fiscal year. We maintain that expectation.'' The temporary euphoria over HTS faded when California didn't run out of power this summer and energy prices tumbled.

Paul Grant, a superconductivity expert at the Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, California points out that nobody in the superconductivity business is making money yet. Indeed, American Superconductor lost about $20M last year, and will probably not make a profit for at least another two years. Superconducting-wire technology has, though, made enormous progress. Manufacturers have increased the lengths of the wires they can produce many times over during the past few years, and have reduced the price considerably. Superconducting cable used to cost around $1,500 per kiloamp per metre, the standard industry measure of conducting capacity. Now, AMSC sells wire for $200 per kiloamp per metre, and expects to reduce the cost to about $50 per kiloamp per metre when it opens a new production plant next year. Reaching $25 per kiloamp per metre, the cost of copper cable, will take a little longer. The problem is no longer the cost of the ceramic itself, but of the metal casing. This is one cloud that is caused by its silver lining. [The Economist, Jul 14]

All is well, says American Superconductor,'s press release. American Superconductor is very well positioned with advanced, cost-effective solutions to meet critical power grid needs today. And we have a foundation in place to address significant growth in investment in the grid over the next 10 to 20 years. As the events of the last year have proven, the market is moving with greater speed in our direction. The solutions we offer - based on high temperature superconductor wire and solid-state power electronic switches - are timelier than ever. Alas, the market seems not to have understood as AMSC dove 5% after the release and remains about 60% below its last year's high.

Keeping Cool by Keeping Cold. American Superconductor got a 26% boost when it announced that Houston wants two more D-SMES units to keep cool in summer 2002. It already has two units for keeping cool in 2001. SMES is AMSC's patented means of storing prodigous amounts of electricity in a superconducting electromagnetic coil. California needn't pant after the stored electrons since Texas is pretty much an electric island outside any national scale grid. One Yahoo netster pooh-poohed, Face it folks, today's press relaease is not news but rather just another example of Yurek's spin machine. in that the two 2002 units had been announced earlier. Another wag notes, SMES would have a negligible effect on bulk transmission capability. It's just a little toy for low voltage transmission (115kv or less) or for distribution level stuff. Secondly, it will only help to increase power transfers for voltage (or angular) stability limited situations - which comprises a small fraction of existing limitations. With all that extra power, perhaps Houston can find a way to thin the traffic congestion on I-610.

American Superconductor cut its estimates of revenues and the traders cut their estimates of the stocks value. The company said it expected revenues for the fourth quarter of $2.5M, down from previous expectations of $5.5- 9M. For the fiscal year ended March 31, AMSC said it expected revenues of $16.8 million, and for fiscal 2002, it said it expected revenues of $20-30M.

American Superconductor keeps drifitng lower despite a recent apparent breakthrough in superconducting materials. Says AMSC, Superconducting magnesium diboride is a very brittle intermetallic compound. Thus, just as with HTS ceramic oxides, which are also inherently brittle materials, it will be a challenge to find ways to cost effectively manufacture flexible, durable wires from superconducting borides. ``American Superconductor is known for its world leadership in creating manufacturing methodologies to cost effectively produce usable wires out of inherently brittle materials - that is, to create ways to bend the unbendable, '' Yurek stated. ``Our scientists have been applying the company's knowledge base in HTS wire manufacturing - developed over 14 years - to the borides, and they are inventing new ways to manufacture boride-containing wires. We expect some of these manufacturing methodologies to be extensions of our existing, proprietary wire manufacturing techniques developed for HTS oxides, and we expect to protect the application of these and other wire-making methods with patents.'' AMSC is down to a fourth of its 12-month high and has had three broker downgrades in the last five weeks. The high promise of 1987 for HTSC is still high promise.

Ames Technology (Portland, OR)

Ames Technology (Portland, OR) a device to help stroke patients regain mobility by helping their brains form new neural connections. He had developed and tested the device for 10 years when the technology transfer office at OHSU helped persuade him to commercialize it. The money: $1 million in NIH grants before starting the company, then about $150,000 from Cordo's savings, and $2.2 million from a donor and three private investors. The plan: To have the first commercial product by 2011 and annual revenue of $60 million by 2016. His fear: That the recession will make it impossible to raise the money needed to bring the product to market. [The Oregonian, Dec 13]

Amgen

Amgen up 14% [Jul 8, 09]

Amgen up 10% [Nov 21, 08]

Amgen up 12% [Oct 23, 08]

Amgen up 11% [Oct 13, 08]

AMRI (born Albany Molecular Research) (Albany, NY)

AMRI down 13% [Aug 5, 09]

AMRI up 11% [Mar 23, 09]

AMRI down 10% [Mar 5, 09]

AMRI up 10% [Mar 4, 09]

AMRI down 10% [Mar 2, 09]

AMRI shot up 10% [Feb 9, 09] after it reported a 130 percent increase in net income for 2008, beating analyst estimates.

AMRI up 10% [Dec 16, 08]

AMRI up 10% [Dec 2, 08]

Albany Molecular Research has settled a patent dispute with two rivals regarding generic versions of the antihistamine Allegra. [Business Review (Albany), Nov 19, 08]

AMRI up 13% [Nov 13, 08]

Albany Molecular Research has expanded its manufacturing capacity in India. ... has had operations in Aurangabad, India, for about two years. It has expanded a manufacturing facility in that city to include a multipurpose pilot plant that can provide non-GMP manufacturing services up to a 1,000 liter scale. [The Business Review (Albany), Oct 29, 08]

AMRI up 20% [Oct 13, 08]

AMRI up 12% [Sep 16, 08]

Albany Molecular Research is in line to receive another $1.5 million milestone payment from Bristol-Myers Squibb .... because a second compound being developed under its research agreement with Bristol Myers will proceed into preclinical development. [The Business Review (Albany), Sep 8]

AMRI officials said Wednesday that revenue should top $200 million this year for the first time in the 17-year history of the contract drug discovery and development company. [Albany Times-Union, Jun 5, 08]

Albany Molecular Research up 15% after the company topped its own first-quarter profit outlook and raised full-year guidance. [AP, May 5, 08]

Federal regulations that limit the output of a controlled substance contributed to delays that crimped AMRI's fourth-quarter performance, company officials said [Albany Times-Union, Feb 12, 08]

AMRI down 11% on lower revenue forecast. [Jan 29, 08]

AMRI up 11% [Jan 23, 08]

Outsourcing Beneficiary. AMRI will expand its work force further this year as it projects significant growth, the company's chief executive said this week. ... formerly known as Albany Molecular Research ... The expansion comes as larger pharmaceutical companies, with fewer promising drugs in the pipeline, lay off chemists. [Eric Anderson, Albany Times-Union, Jan 11]

Albany Molecular Research took a 29% hit [Nov 6, 07] after reporting profits way below Street estimates.

Albany Molecular Research made a deal with Achaogen (no SBIR) to provide high throughput screening capability to test samples from its natural product libraries for activity against targets of interest in Achaogen's $25M DOD contract against anthrax and other baddies. [Jun 07]

Controlling expenses companywide, pursuing less expensive sources of raw materials overseas and emphasizing lean manufacturing techniques are among the steps Albany Molecular Research Inc. plans as it focuses on boosting profit margins. [Eric Anderson, Albany Times-Union, Jun 5, 07]

Albany Molecular Research will buy two drug manufacturing plants near the city of Mumbai (formerly called Bombay) in India for $11 million in cash. ... will buy more land in Aurangabad and will invest up to $15 million to expand capacity there in the next three years. ... also has operations in Hungary and Singapore. [Alan Wechsler, Albany Times-Union, May 22, 07]

Albany Molecular Research up 23% for the week ending May 10, 07.

Albany Molecular Research will shrink an unprofitable plant and the operation will be redesigned to be more "nimble and agile," Profit for the quarter also shrank thanks to shrunken royalty revenues. [Albany Times-Union, Nov 10,06]

Albany Molecular Research says it will start advanced preclinical testing for a compound that has been effective in killing cancer cells. The drug candidate is among a class of drugs that kill cancer cells by preventing them from dividing, and in preclinical tests it has performed better than those on the market. [Eric Anderson, Albany Times-Union, Oct 31, 06]

A generic competitor to Allegra cut royalty payments to Albany Molecular Research Inc. by more than $8M in the second quarter, and the drug discovery company posted a $353,000 loss. A year ago, it earned $7.3M. ... The company also took a $2.2M charge for the closing of its research center in Mount Prospect [IL]. [Albany Times-Union, Aug 3]

Albany Molecular Research will manufacture the active pharmaceutical ingredient in a promising new treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in a multi-year contract with New River Pharmaceuticals (Radford, VA). The drug still needs FDA approval. [Albany Times-Union, Jul 25,06]

Albany Molecular Research led Tuesday in NASDAQ losing percentage with -23% after a broker downgraded its prospects. Is that fair? There is no "fair"; there is only the balance between buyers and sellers in an open marketplace. [Sep 05]

Albany Molecular took an 18% stock price hit when it reported less than expected profits. Note the difference between SBIR where doing good government work is sufficient, and the stock market where making profits matter and doing good work is merely a necessity. On the other hand, if you're one of the few SBIR entrepreneurs who can make growing profits, you can get seriously rich, whereas doing government work, you merely draw a decent salary. [Feb 05]

Albany Molecular Research will continue its seven-year deal with Eli Lilly to do fee-for-service chemistry research on projects in strategic therapeutic areas identified by Lilly. The company also is opening a wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore. [Jan 05]

Seventh Downgrade. Albany Molecular Research got hit with its seventh downgrade in two years when it reported less than stellar earnings. The stock price dropped 25% in two days from its 12-month high. To get back to its hey-day bubble high, it would have to quadruple from here. [2004]

Albany Molecular Research took a 20% stock hit when it lowered its estimates for profits by a third. AstroPower gets pounded.

Albany Molecular got a plaudit from USA Today's financial gurus as a good contrarian bet with a five-year record of 73% revenue growth rate, 80% profit growth rate, and 38% return on equity. Latest quarterly profits were up 18%.

Help Merck Discover (July 8)Albany Molecular Research got a three-year medicinal chemistry drug discovery research contract with Merck to identify and develop small molecule drug candidates for a proprietary Merck target. Albany gets milestone reward on top of the usual scientific labor for any great news discovered which could be multimillion-dollars per compound. Last year Albany made $34M profit on $98M revenue, 40% of which was royalties.

Albany Molecular Research announced the signing of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute to develop anti-cancer compounds.Under the terms of the five-year agreement, scientists from both AMRI and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will select available, non-proprietary compounds for biocatalytic derivative synthesis from the NCI's repository.

A price dive also happened after good earnings hit Albany Molecular Research) after the chemistry outsourcing company cut its 2002 earnings forecast due to uncertainty about a contract with major customer DuPont Pharmaceuticals, which Bristol Myers Squibb recently acquired.

Amylin Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA)

Amylin Pharmaceuticals plunged 25% as the biotechnology concern reported four more deaths among users of its Byetta diabetes drug, which it markets with Eli Lilly. [Wall Street Journal, Aug 28, 08]

Amylin Pharmaceuticals fell 13% fter the FDA received reports of two deaths potentially related to pancreatic side effects of a diabetes drug. [Wall Street Journal, Aug 19, 08]

Amylin Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA; one Phase 2 SBIR) said yesterday that patients in a 24-week trial of its obesity therapy pramlintide lost an average of 25 pounds. [San Diego Union Tribune, Nov 16]

Amyris Biotechnologies

Amyris Biotechnologies (Albany CA; $700K SBIR) raised $70 M to produce bio-based fuels using genetic technology it used to make low-cost malaria drugs. [Wall Street Journal, Oct 29]

Anadigics

Anadigics up 11% [Dec 18, 09]

Anadigics up 13% [May 27, 09]

Anadigics down 31% [Oct 23, 08]

Anadigics up 10% [Oct 13, 08]

Anadigics down 38% [Aug 8, 08]

Anadigics down 32% [Jul 23, 08] on gloomy outlook. second-quarter net income more than tripled, but the company said it expects a decline in its wireless division on lower customer demand. [WSJ, Jul 24]

Anadigics up 13% [Jul 16, 08]

Anadigics down 16% [Jul 14, 08]

Anadigics up 30% [Apr 22, 08] after reporting a sweet profit.

Anadigics up 14% [Mar 18, 08]

Anadigics down 16% [Mar 3, 08]

Anadigics down 14% [Feb 13, 08]

Anadigics up 14% [Feb 11, 08]

Anadigics down 19% after the cell phone chip maker posted a third-quarter profit below its own forecast. [Oct 24, 07]

Anadigics up 17% as it made a surprise profit [Jul 25, 07]

Anadigics surged 17% after an investment fund manager, in an interview with Barron's magazine, said profit at the chip maker is poised to explode. [AP, Feb 5, 07] The manager owns 11% of the stock.

Anadys Pharmaceuticals

Anadys Pharma down 12% [Dec 17, 09]

Anadys Pharma up 44% [Jul 31, 09] after the company said regulators approved the design of a study of a potential hepatitis C treatment

Anadys Pharma down 11% [May 14, 09]

Anadys Pharma down 12% [May 13, 09]

Anadys Pharma up 33% [May 11, 09]

Anadys Pharma down 17% [Apr 24, 09]

Anadys Pharma down 40% [Apr 23, 09] after it reported that three patients got rashes during a 14-day, 30-patient Phase I study of its hepatitis-C drug ANA598. [Wall Street Journal, Apr 24]

Anadys Pharma up 12% [Mar 17, 09]

Anadys Pharma up 14% [Feb 18, 09]

Anadys Pharma up 115% [Jan 8, 09]

Anadys Pharmaceuticals down 12% [Jun 24, 08]

Anadys Pharma up 18% [May 16, 08] and still down 29% over 52 weeks.

Anadys Pharmaceuticals up 11%. [Aug 7, 07]

Anadys Pharmaceuticals down 11% [Aug 1, 07] after saying it would it was cutting its workforce by a third and discontinuing further development of ANA380, its drug to treat hepatitis B virus infection.

Anadys Pharmaceuticals down 29% [Jul 27, 07] after ending development of a hepatitis C drug with Novartis, more than a year after the program was suspended over safety concerns.

Anadys Pharmaceuticals down 13% after doubling its quarterly loss. [Feb 23, 07]

Anadys Pharma up another 20%. [Nov 21, 06]

Anadys Pharmaceutica up 25%. [Nov 14, 06]APA Optics (Blaine, MN)

Ancora Pharmaceuticals (Medford, MA)

NIH awarded a $530,000 Phase 1 SBIR grant to Medford-based Ancora Pharmaceuticals (Medford, MA; $3.6M prior SBIR) to research a vaccine to prevent malaria anemia. [Mass High Tech, Jun 3, 09]

AngioDynamics

AngioDynamics (Queensbury, NY; no SBIR) a medical device manufacturer paid $1.75 million for the assets of a similar, smaller company in California. ... the assets of FlowMedica (Fremont,CA; no SBIR), backed by venture capitalists. FlowMedica, founded in 2002, is developing ways to deliver drugs to kidneys to keep the organs functioning after certain medical procedures. [The Business review (Albany), Jan 13, 09]

If You Don't Own It, You Can't Sell It. AngioDynamics (no SBIR) paid $2M to the co-inventor of its recently introduced NeverTouch technology and will pay an additional $1 million after the product meets an unspecified milestone, the medical instruments manufacturer disclosed in a filing with regulators on Wednesday. AngioDynamics was forced to stop selling an earlier laser treatment for varicose veins after a federal court judge in Boston ruled it infringed on the patents of a competitor, Andover, Mass.-based Diomed Holdings (no SBIR).... The move comes as AngioDynamics appeals the decision in the Diomed case and defends itself in a patent-infringement case brought by VNUS Technologies Inc. of San Jose, Calif. [Eric Anderson, Albany Times Union, Jan 10]

AngioDynamics fell 21% as a jury found against it in a patent suit. [Wall Street Journal, Mar 29, 07]

Angiologix (Mountain View, CA)

Angiologix (Mountain View, CA; no SBIR) is a medical diagnostic device company whose products diagnose the first sign of cardiovascular disease � endothelial dysfunction. Angiologix says it has developed a diagnostic system that detects cardiovascular disease earlier than any other existing test. The diagnostic system has a cuff, which is placed on the patient�s arm, a hardware box and software with algorithms to detect the earliest sign of cardiovascular disease. [Mass High Tech, Aug 21, 09]

Angstrom Medica (Marquette, MI)

Pioneer Surgical Technology (PST) of Marquette, Mich., reports it has purchased Angstrom Medica (Woburn, MA; $1M SBIR) for an undisclosed amount. Angstrom is the first company to obtain U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a nanotechnology device. [Mass High Tech, Oct 24]

Angstron Materials (Dayton, OH)

Angstron Materials (Dayton, OH; no SBIR) will get [cost-shared] $1.5M federal help [from NIST] to develop nanotechnology ... toward developing processes for mass-producing special nano materials, especially for the energy industries. [Dayton Business Journal, Dec 16, 09] creator of nano graphene platelets (NGPs), is the only company in the world now able to provide pristine graphite and single layer graphene. [company website]

Ansoft

Ansoft up 30% [Mar 31, 08] after large-cap Ansys agreed to buy the Pittsburgh electronic-design automation software producer for $832 million in cash and stock [Wall Street Journal, Apr 1]

Ansoft down 11% [Feb 15, 08]

Antigenics (NYC, NY)

Antigenics (Woburn, MA; $700K SBIR) has spent between $400 million and $500 million to conduct two Phase 3 trials on its potential cancer vaccine. But the Lexington-based company never plans to send it to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval. �Not unless the agency significantly changes. The Western regulatory bureaucracies are too rigid to know how to deal with our product,� CEO Garo Armen said. [Julie Donnelly, Mass High Tech, Jan 22, 10]

Antigenics (Woburn, MA; $700K SBIR) said it will not seek approval for a potential kidney cancer treatment after a European advisory committee recommended against approving the drug candidate. [Boston Globe, Nov 20, 09]

In a tale of biotech snapback, Forbes [Matthew Herper, Oct 16, 09] notes that BioCryst Pharma is up 1014% from its 52-week low. Antigenics (Woburn, MA; $700K SBIR) is up 1032%.

Antigenics (Lexingtom, MA; $700K SBIR) sold 5 million shares for $10 million.... will use the proceeds from the sale to fund commercial and regulatory efforts, including sales of its cancer drug Oncophage in Russia, Europe, and elsewhere. [Boston Globe, Jul 31, 09]

Antigenics (New York City; $600K SBIR) up 23% after it said its treatment for kidney cancer received regulatory approval in Russia, the first authorization in any country for the cancer vaccine. [Wall Street Journal, Apr 9, 08]

Anue Systems

Hemi Thaker, age 43, has done this before ... he is back with another promising communications startup, Anue Systems (no SBIR) was among the 12 Austin firms that recently made Inc. magazine's annual list of the 500 fastest-growing companies in the country. ... "We can take our technology and apply it to different places, and all the sudden, the available market becomes much larger," he said. "We are going to morph into something that is no longer a niche company." [Kirk Ladendorf, Austin American-Statesman, Sep 11]

Anybots

damg writes "Anybots, which is three guys led by Trevor Blackwell, has developed the first robot that walks like we do, by dynamically balancing itself rather than being pre-programmed for walking like Asimo. The video shows the robot walking and being pushed by another 'bully' robot to demonstrate that it can't easily be pushed over." [slashdot.org, Feb 27]

AOptix Technologies (Campbell, CA)

AOptix Technologies (Campbell, CA; $2M SBIR) raised $15M. It develops iris-recognition systems and ultra-high bandwidth laser communication technologies. [San Jose Mercury News, Jun 6]

APA Optics (Blaine, MN)

APA Enterprises (formerly APA Optics) broke the buck after falling 13%. [Nov 13, 07]

Changing of APA Guard. Founder Anil Jain has resigned from APA Enterprises as the company also made "additional staff reductions." APA lost $2.1M for the year and has had a continual struggle to turn the technology supported by SBIR in the 1980s into a profitable enterprise. Jain will buy the company's India operation for $500K. [story Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jun 29]

APA Enterprises lost 10% after reporting yet more loss. CEO Jain explained: We are very pleased with the increased revenues as well as substantial decrease in losses both for the 3rd quarter and the first 9 months of fiscal year 2007. Extrapolating these figures to an annualized basis, we believe that the yearly projected losses represent more that 50% improvement over the losses of the last several fiscal years dating back to fiscal year 2000. Clearly, the consolidation steps taken during the last two years are in the right direction. [MarketWire, Feb 13,07] APA is actually an SBIR success story in that after 16 Phase 2s for II-IV electronic materials 1986-1995 it struck out on its own and has survived, albeit struggling for profitability, for another decade. Jain has led it for the entire two decades. SBIR's goal should be more APAs wherein private capital picks up and runs with technology nurtured in its infancy by government. Whether the company ultimately survives or not, SBIR has done its job.

Watch That Sun. APA Optics says it is shipping sun monitors that sound an alarm when you have over-sunned. Betting on a fickle consumer product market, APA tries to make another profitable product from the GaN technology it developed with SBIR money in the mid 80s. Its last Phase 2 was 1996 as it shifted to making product especially in a new manufacturing plant in South Dakota. Whatever the outcome, APA clearly hopped off the SBIR pram to risk life as an adult. The other advertised optics products have apparently fizzled as losses continue. Making money is a lot harder than making commercialization strategies that the government will accept for SBIR awards. But then, the government doesn't have to make an ROI, only to pass out the money as directed by the SBIR law.

APA Doubles Loss
(Nov 2)APA Optics doubled its quarterly loss to $1.4M from higher cost of goods sold, reduced interest income, and the slowing economy. ``Our financial results reflect the impact of the current economic slowdown, particularly in fiber optic communications, and performance issues with our Dense Wavelength Divisional Multiplexers (DWDMs) related to environmental specifications, ... We continue to work toward automated production of DWDMs for increased production capacity, performance uniformity and lower production costs. said CEO Anil Jain. Too slow, too variable, and too costly; "performance issues" is a euphemism for the product didn't do what the customer wants. Lesson for SBIR companies: manufacturing only looks like a great way to build your business.

Customer Said, "Too Slow" (Aug 14) After a customer cancelled a half-million dollar order APA Optics stock tanked 15%. A lesson for wannabe commercializers: it is one thing to fluff your wonderful technology to the government SBIR folks; it is quite another to get customer spec hardware to the customer on the customer's schedule. For a company that has been making steady losses since switching from research to production in a remote spot (South Dakota), such a loss does not help stock valuation.

Expect Further Losses
(Aug 6) says APA Optics which is having a hard haul toward profitability after ditching SBIR as a way of life in the late 90s. Our net loss in fiscal 2001 was $2,9M compared to $3,8M in fiscal 2000. The decrease in the loss was primarily a result of increased revenues and significantly higher interest income from the investment of cash raised during the fiscal year. Further losses can be expected until revenues from production increase, or operating costs decrease, sufficiently to produce positive cash flow. Of course the swoosh from the info-tech bubble didn't help a company trying to sell new DWDM devices. Optimists are still hanging around; the company market cap is still $100M, off about 60% from a year ago's optimism.

APA Optics lost $3M for last year, less than the $3.8M in 1999, Revenues doubles for the year. CEO Anil K. Jain said he welcomed the continued progress in revenue growth.

APA Gets Hit Again
(Nov 28)APA Optics dropped another 16% yesterday which puts it down 90% from its spring high. Earlier in the month it reported yet another loss despite optimistic words about sales volume of DWDM equipment. (It still has lots of cash on hand from the secondary issue. In five years it has lost $7.5M on revenues of $8M. Ibis also took a big hit (21%) to get to 13% of its spring high. At least the earnings estimators think Ibis will earn a decent profit next year and three brokers follow it. ATMI is down 70% from its high but that puts it at only 10 times next year's earnings as six brokers follow it. It's consistent with the cycles in the semiconductor industry where even stalwarts like Cypress and Xilinx took big hits yesterday.

APA Optics which seems to be having lots of trouble making money fell another 8% to 15% of its 52-week high. SatCon another steady money loser, is down almost half from where it was six weeks ago. A third non-profit firm, Spire is up 150% from just a few weeks ago without any exhilirating news.

APA Optics Dumps Again
(Sep 28)We are making significant progress in product development, manufacturing and marketing, said CEO Anil K. Jain, as APA Optics lost another $900K for the first quarter, just like last year. Plenty of cash still on hand, though, thanks to a secondary stock issue. Traders are getting antsy as the string of losses continues as in standard living dead companies. The price is down over 80% (15% yesterday) from the May high even though (or because) the listing moved to the NASDAQ National. APA was a promising beneficiary of SBIR in the 80s and claimed to be on the road to economic success with a plant in South Dakota. The world is still waiting for revenues and profits that smell like success.

APA Afire
(Feb 7) APA Optics shot up 75% last week on news that it was shipping a new single-mode fiber dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) product that provides narrow channel spacing, permitting greater utilization of a given wavelength band. The Company reported that it is shipping the new multiplexer/demultiplexer research unit to a major international supplier of fiber optic networking systems. The product, featuring 50 gigahertz, or 0.4 nanometer, wavelength spacing, is currently available in 8 and 16 channels. APA got some help from SBIR with $6.8M of Phase 2 money 1987-1996 for mostly materials work and almost all from DOD ($6M). That was a huge chunk of APA's revenues until it started in manufacturing mode. If the government had taken an equity position consistent with its "capital investment" over those years it would own something like 15% of APA today, a value of $40M.

APA Optics still rocketing - up another 15% Thursday. Doubled in a week with no official news. The Yahoo message board yakkers speculate about a Lucent buyout and an estimated value of $1.2 per share, far below the $16.4 trading price. Says one, Read their 10Q. The co. is deluting [sic] stock value to raise operating cash. They are near insolvency. Ah well, that's why we have stock markets and horse races and elections.

APA MUX/DEMUX
(Feb 26) APA Optics (Blaine, MN) rolled out the world's most compact dense wavelength division (DWDM) Multiplexer/Demultiplexer unit at the OFC '99 Conference in San Diego, an international meeting. Compact means a 90% shrinkage in size. Word must not have reached the market which budged the stock merely 1/16. APA still has to make any noticeable profit after 15 years in business and 15 Phase 2 SBIRs 1986-1996.

APA Loses Again
(Feb 22) APA Optics (Blaine, MN) lost money and bled cash, a loss of $616K for the quarter on revenues of only $134K. CEO Anil Jain said that APA is moving forward with an aggressive marketing campaign which he hopes will lead to higher revenues. "We have some of the most advanced products available today in the fiber optic communications area and will be very active at the global conference later this month in California," he said, especially for its ultra Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexer (DWDM). "The outlook for significant orders still appears promising, but we must continue to focus on the marketing challenges. The cash balance at December 31 of $3.5M dropped from $5.2M on March 31. APA got a lot of SBIR in the 80s for its nitride materials.

APA Loses Again
(Nov 17) APA Optics (Blaine, MN) lost $660K in the second quarter, more than the $178K loss last time. Revenues were down to $246K from the $653K. CEO Anil Jain said the increased loss was a result of planned reductions in government contract research work, coupled with the costs incurred in establishing its fabrication and marketing operations. APA recently shipped WDM evaluation units to three large companies and 35 more companies have placed orders for qualification units of APA's new Gallium Nitride ultraviolet detector. Jain also said that APA has sold these new Schottky UV detectors to a wide range of customers for diverse applications, has 2,000 of these detector units on hand as well as enough working capital to sustain operations.

APA Optics Grins
(Jul 16) APA Optics (Blaine, MN) said it believes it has adequate resources to maintain operations through fiscal 1999 and beyond. The quarterly loss of $1M raised the usual questions to which APA grinned through its teeth that it has a backlog in research contracts as it moves forward in the 1999 fiscal year and was accepting orders for its new South Dakota manufacturing line. The stock price has held a reasonably constant range. APA has had about $9M of SBIR from DOD over the last decade. [Dow Jones, Jun 24]

MD to SD
(Mar 27)APA Optics (Blaine, MN) induced a key engineer of newly public Ciena (Savage, MD) to emigrate to Aberdeen SD as VP of APA's Aberdeen Products Division. Could be pretty isolated in a prairie blizzard as British educated Jim Pooladdej will find as many Brits did in their 19th century cattle investments. APA is still struggling at break-even after a decade of SBIR. Return to Index APA also reported that its technical leader for that SBIR decade, Dr Asif Khan is leaving for an academic post in South Carolina. Readers can infer what they will on why the technical leader of a company about to break into profitability would decamp for a university.

APA Enjoys Government
(Feb 18) APA Optics Inc continues to enjoy a substantial backlog of uncompleted government contracts. Says CEO Anil Jain about losing $40K for the quarter in Blaine, MN.

APA's WDM Line
The new line of optical communications products are "outgrowths of the company's pioneering efforts in single laser WDM technology". The announcement by APA Optics (Blaine, MN) of its new WDM optical modulator line never mentioned the millions poured in by SBIR. APA, like dozens of other photonics hopefuls banks on the growth of the WDM market from $100M today to $12.1B by 2005 (as if anyone could see in three significant figures a decade ahead). Now APA has its chance to show profits instead of perennial zero profits that typify R&D houses. The government awaits the news. Return to Index

APA Optics Modest Loss
Final development work on the South Dakota factory dropped APA Optics (Blaine, MN) into the red from the black it would have seen had it just plodded along on government-funded research, says its quarterly report. It lost just $63K on revenues of $540K. APA says its new optoelectronic product will have "wide application in the giant fiber optic communications industry". Those government agencies who poured millions of SBIR money into APA, and who care about commercial success, hope for a South Dakota miracle. Meanwhile the market is hopefully evaluating APA stock at about 20 times revenues. (Grammarians note adverbial use of "hopefully", the only use fully approved by Miss Grigsby - everyone's eighth grade English teacher.) Return to Index

A Different Story
Another opto-electronics company has a different history. APA Optics (Blaine,MN) reported another small yearly loss blamed in the fourth quarter "on the result of the one government contract", says the Business Wire story. If ever a company knew how handle a government contract, it should be APA Optics with its nearly $7M in SBIR money over the past decade. That's probably half the company's revenues over the decade. And what's the government's ROI on the $7M? Wait though; maybe, just maybe, some return will show up soon. APA Optics has made a deal with the South Dakota for a $5.5M assistance to match APA's investment of $2M for manufacturing optical modulators for Wavelength Division Multiplexing. What and when will be South Dakota's return?

Apieron (Menlo Park, CA)

The [FDA] has given Apieron (Menlo Park, CA; no SBIR) the OK to sell its Insight eNO system for helping detect airway inflammation, a key symptom of asthma, .... The private, venture-financed company formed in 2001, said the device is designed to be easily used in doctors' offices and to provide results in less than a minute. When a patient breathes into the gadget, a sensor can detect traces of nitric oxide molecules, which are known to be indicators of respiratory inflammation. [San Jose Mercury News, Mar 17]

Apoplogic Pharmaceuticals (Aurora, CO)

The Colorado BioScience Association is seeking entries for its annual BioWest Venture Showcase award. Six companies in bioscience technology (biotechnology, medical devices or biofuels) will be chosen to present to a panel of national venture capital investors on Nov. 13 at the 2008 BioWest Conference and Expo, Nov. 13-14 ... Each company will have 15 minutes to present their technologies and business plans. ... Past winners include Apoplogic Pharmaceuticals (Aurora, CO; $700K SBIR) , Inviragen (Ft Collins, CO; $700K SBIR) and ValveXchange. [Denver Business Journal, Sep 4]

Applied NanoWorks (Malta, NY)

Applied NanoWorks Inc. (Malta, NY; no SBIR) has changed its name to Auterra . ... second move in less than three years. The company moved to the East Campus in 2006 after outgrowing space at the Watervliet Innovation Center, located in the Watervliet Arsenal. That move more than quadrupled its space. The firm, which is still in the development stages, has 10 employees. [Pam Allen, The Business Review (Albany), Apr 16]

Applied Optoelectronics (Sugarland, TX)

More VCSEL Investment (Aug 14) Even with the big telecoms swimming in billions of red ink, another tiny VCSEL firm has attracted a second round of investment. Applied Optoelectronics (Sugarland, TX (home of right-wing fire-breather Tom DeLay)) got $10M of private equity financing, on top of a previous $7M round, both slugs from a Dallas area VC firm. AOI calls itself a vertically integrated optoelectronics company that designs, grows, processes and packages advanced semiconductor optoelectronic components, including lasers and photodetectors, primarily for the biosensing and telecommunications markets. Having started life as a NASA spin-off in 1997 at NASA's Space Commercialization Center, it has since built and moved to a 24,000 sq.ft semiconductor manufacturing facility. It has had at least $2.7M of SBIR from DOD (including a Phase 2 from BMDO) plus three Phase 1s from NASA last year.

Applied Physical Sciences (Groton, CT)

Applied Physical Sciences (Groton, CT; $5.5M SBIR) landed $8.4 million from the U.S. Navy for research and development on stealth technology, ... develop advanced analytical, numerical and experimental methods used in stealth technologies ... founded in 2002 and provides specialized research and engineering services to the Navy [Brendan Lynch, Mass High Tech, Dec 23, 09] SBIR made the government smarter.

Applied Science and Technology (Wilmington, MA)

MKS Instruments which claims to be the number one supplier of gas process control instruments said it would acquire Applied Science and Technology(Wilmington, MA) the number one supplier of reactive gas solutions. Other MKS acquisitions this year have included Compact Instruments, Telvac, Spectra International, and DIP. Agreement: Founded in 1987 and SBIR-involved shortly afterwards, ASTeX has been public since 1993, coming out about the same time as ATMI whose history sounds like MKS's. The value of the transaction is about $300M in MKS stock at late September prices (half that now). ASTeX grew despite several SBIRs 1991-1997 in diamond films which wrecked several other companies over the SBIR years. Only one small Phase 2 (all NSF ever gave then anyway) in 1992.

Appollo Diamond

CVD diamond is news again. After a decade from the mid 1980s of finding it too expensive for real world applications, Apollo Diamond (17-year old company near Boston) attracted a Busines Week story [Feb 12] with a picture of CEO Bryant Linares (son of Bob Linares, whose face appears on the website, of Linares Management that got some SBIR for it back then).

Aptima (Woburn, MA)

Aptima (Woburn MA) got five DOD SBIR Phase 2s worth $3.74 M for: a simulation tool to predict the reactions of culturally diverse groups; a computing architecture based on human neurology, to enable future software applications such as natural language understanding, concept-based internet search, natural human-computer interfaces, cognitively based data-mining, and image analysis; a resource to help engineers better design and incorporate 'cognitive' capabilities into newly designed systems; how to organize the flow of information and the tools used as the military moves to an increasingly network-centric architecture; and a predictive tool that helps determine the relationship between simulator design and training effectiveness. According to officials, Aptima plans to expand these technologies to business, law enforcement, and industrial settings. [Mass High Tech, Jun 6] So say they all who get DOD contracts for knowledge.

Aqua Bounty

They Still Speak English. Ross Kerber [Boston Globe, Jan 28] notes that four Boston area companies have gone public recently by listing on the London AIM exchange. Of the four, fuel cell developer Protonex Technology had about $1M in SBIR, and fish farmer Aqua Bounty had just one Phase 1.

AquaMost (Madison, WI)

AquaMost (Madison, WI; one SBIR), a start-up company based on University of Wisconsin-Madison technology and licensed from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and Encotech, (Eighty Four, PA; probably no SBIR), a provider of products, systems, and services for the environmental remediation industry, announced that they have been awarded a $100,000 SBIR Phase I [NIH] grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop and commercialize an advanced water purification device [photoelectrocatalytic oxidation]capable of removing organic pollutants and pathogens from water. [company press release, Jan 12, 10]

Six start-ups will be recognized for making strides to commercialization at a biotech industry summit in October. ... part of a one-day Biotechnology Vision Summit 2009 that is being run by BioForward, an organization that represents Wisconsin's biotech industry. AquaMost LLC (Madison, WI; one SBIR) , Echometrix (Madison, WI; no SBIR), Flex Biomedical Inc(Madison, WI; one SBIR), Semba Biosciences (Madison, WI; no SBIR), Invivosciences LLC (Wauwatosa, WI; no SBIR), and Rapid Diagnostek Inc (Hudson, WI; no SBIR). [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sep 22, 09]

Arbovax (Raleigh, NC

Arbovax (Raleigh, NC; no SBIR) raised the first half of a $1.5M VC round. ... to commercialize vaccine technology for preventing insect-borne viruses. The technology was developed at N.C. State University by Dennis Brown and Raquel Hernandez, both scientific advisers to Arbovax, which has three employees. [Raleigh News& Observer, Jun 20]

Archemix

teaming up to collaborate on some research-and-development work ... are Archemix (Cambridge, MA; $2M SBIR) focused on commercializing aptamer therapeutics, and Dicerna Pharmaceuticals (Watertown, MA; no SBIR) seeking to use RNAi gene-silencing technologies to develop novel drug treatments [Boston Globe, Jul 21, 09]

GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Archemix said they will work together to develop drugs for inflammatory diseases in a deal that could be worth as much as $1.4 billion. [San Diego Union Tribune, Dec 23, 08]

NitroMed , the Lexington company that became known for marketing a heart medicine for blacks called BiDil, is attempting to reinvent itself. The company -- which recently unveiled plans to sell the rights to BiDil, its only approved drug -- today said it will merge with Archemix a small, privately-held Cambridge biotech company developing drugs for blood-related diseases. [Boston Globe, Nov 19, 08]

Archemix (Cambridge, MA; $2M SBIR) signed an agreement with Eli Lilly & Co. regarding research-and-development evaluation of aptamer therapeutics and access to intellectual property. [Boston Globe, Oct 21, 08]

Archemix (Cambridge, MA; $2M SBIR) granted a Japanese bio-venture company intellectual property rights in developing aptamers, short nucleic acid sequences. The agreement with Tokyo-based Ribomic Inc. will give Archemix an upfront payment of $6 million. [Boston Globe, Aug 8, 08]

Archemix (Cambridge, MA; $2M SBIR) announced that one of its product candidates [ARC1779 is an anti-platelet agent] has received orphan drug designation from European regulators. [Boston Globe, Jul 8, 08]

Archemix (Cambridge, MA; $2M SBIR) pulled its IPO [Feb 8, 08]

Archemix landed a $1M milestone payment from Nuvelo. ... triggered by Nuvelo's Phase 1 study of NU172, a thrombin-inhibiting aptamer, developed by Archemix. [Mass High Tech, Jan 30, 08]

Archemix (Cambridge, MA; $2M SBIR) filed for a $69M IPO. [Jul 07]

Archemix ($2M SBIR) reports receiving a total of $35.8M in payments and investments from two business alliances related to its aptamer technology. [Mass High-Tech, Jun 11]

Archemix ($1M SBIR) says it got two patents in Europe that cover methods to identify aptamers for use in therapeutics. [Mass High Tech, Mar 8].

Archemix says it has signed up with Merck KGaA on a multi-year, multi-target program that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of aptamer-based therapeutics to treat cancer. [Mass High Tech, Jan 18] Nearly $2m SBIR.

Arch Therapeutics

An entrepreneur, a doctor, and a team of researchers at MIT are trying to make surgery less bloody. ...surgeons spend about half their time in the operating room trying to manage bleeding ... An MIT researcher, Rutledge Ellis-Behnke, had a eureka moment in 2001. He was trying to develop a substance that would help foster the regeneration of damaged nerve tissue, using protein fragments known as peptides. But during one surgical procedure, Ellis-Behnke noticed that the animal stopped bleeding after he applied the substance. He and his colleagues assumed the animal died; they were wrong. They soon realized that the transparent peptide gel had an interesting side effect: It seemed to halt bleeding within a few seconds, and then break down safely once an incision had healed. ... Until Arch Therapeutics (originally Clear Nano Solutions, Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) can show that its gel works in larger animals - and eventually in humans - many investors will regard it skeptically; another nifty science fair project that requires more real-world proof. [Scott Kirsner, Boston Globe, Jun 29]

A startup based in Cambridge, MA, says that it plans to soon begin clinical trials of a nanostructured material that stops bleeding almost instantly. Arch Therapeutics (founded in mid-2006; no SBIR) has licensed the technology from MIT and is developing manufacturing processes for making it in large amounts. The new material can be poured over a site and will stop the bleeding almost at once. [Kevin Bullis, MIT Tech Review, May 12]

Arena Pharmaceuticals (Sorrento Valley, CA)

Arena Pharmaceuticals said that it has applied to the FDA for approval of a weight-loss drug, putting it ahead of two potential competitors with drugs in the works. [San Diego Union Tribune, Dec 23, 09]

Arena Pharma up 11% [Dec 15, 09]

Arena Pharmaceuticals down 15% [Jul 8, 09] said it is raising $52.1 million through a public offering [San Diego Union Tribune]

Arena Pharma up 10% [Jun 15, 09]

Arena Pharma up 26% [Jun 8, 09] said its treatment lorcaserin helped patients lose a "highly significant categorical and absolute amount of weight" in their first year on the treatment and helped them keep that weight off in the second year. [Wall Street Journal, Jun 9]

Arena Pharma down 10% [May 12, 09]

Arena Pharma up 12% [Apr 30, 09]

Arena Pharma down 28% [Mar 30, 09] after it said its trial for an obesity treatment met its primary goal, but one result on weight loss fell short of an FDA guideline. [David Benoit, Wall Street Journal, Mar 31]

Arena Pharma down 22% [Mar 16, 09] as its late-stage study on lorcaserin, a treatment for obesity, is due by the end of the month and Canaccord Adams warned the Food and Drug Administration will be closely scrutinizing any side effects, given the history of obesity drugs. [Wall Street Journal, Mar 17]

Arena Pharma up 11% [Mar 10, 09]

Arena Pharma down 10% [Feb 26, 09]

Arena Pharma up 11% [Feb 24, 09]

Arena Pharma down 11% [Feb 19, 09]

Arena Pharma down 15% [Feb 18, 09]

Arena Pharma up11% [Feb 5, 09]

Arena Pharma up 12% [Jan 27, 09]

Arena Pharma up 11% [Dec 18, 08]

Arena Pharma down 20% [Dec 1, 08] On a stock bloodbath day

Arena Pharma down 11% [Nov 12, 08]

Arena Pharma down 10% [Oct 15, 08]

Arena Pharma down 11% [Oct 9, 08]

Arena Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA; one SBIR) said an independent safety monitoring board found the company's experimental obesity drug, lorcaserin, was safe and did not cause any heart valve problems after 12 months. [San Diego Union Tribune, Mar 18, 08]

Arena Pharmaceuticals up 12%. [Jan 15, 08]

"We don't think there's any risk at all." Arena Pharmaceuticals (one SBIR ) CEO Jack Lief thinks he has a new weight-loss pill that will work. Called lorcaserin, it stimulates production of serotonin, the same brain chemical that fen-phen did. But Arena executives and obesity experts say it has none of the heart valve risks because it is targeted to the brain. .... The firm has become quite the diversified drug-discovery factory since its origin in 1997 [Kerry Dolan, Forbes, Oct 29] Longer term trials with larger populations often have surprising problems that small trials don't uncover.

Arena Pharmaceuticals (Sorrento Valley, CA; one SBIR) down 15% this week despite a positive safety update on the company's weight loss drug. The company said an independent monitoring board did not find evidence of increased heart risks in patients who took the drug for six months. [San Diego Union Tribune, Sep 14, 07]

ArgonST

Argon ST said that it will consider options including a potential sale, merger or acquisition. ... designs and develops sensors, computer systems and software used in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, mostly for the U.S. government. Founded in 2004, Argon ST has roughly 800 employees and reported annual sales in 2009 of $366 million. [Washington Post, Jan 13, 10]

Argon ST up 12% [Jan 11, 10]

Argon ST down 12% [May 6, 09]

Argon ST up 13% [Dec 5, 08]

Argon ST down 18% [Dec 4, 08]

Argon ST up 15% [Oct 16, 08]

Argon ST up 11% [May 8, 08]

Argon ST down 16% on poor profit news. [Aug 9, 07]

Argon ST up 11% [Jun 18, 07]

Argon ST got a $10M Navy contract for engineering support services for integrated submarine communications receiving systems. The company (now 600+ employees) is a combination of at least four companies: Argon Engineering Associates (several SBIRs), SenSyTech (3 Phase 1s), Radix (9 Phase 2s), San Diego Research Center (5 Phase 2s).

Argos Therapeutics

Argos Therapeutics (Durham, NC; no SBIR) a drug development company, has raised $35 M. ... for further testing of ongoing clinical trials of cancer and HIV treatments. [Raleigh News & Observer, Apr 23, 08]

Ariad Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA)

Ariad Pharmaceuticals said it will offer 17 million shares in a public offering. [Boston Globe, Aug 4, 09]

Ariad Pharma up 42% [Jul 27, 09]

Directors Revolt. Four of Ariad's nine board members formally stepped down in a Dec. 1 letter that left no doubt how they felt about Harvey J. Berger, the longtime chief executive of the Cambridge biotech company. "We have never before witnessed the egregious misbehavior in which you have engaged during recent weeks," they told him in the letter disclosed in a public filing last Friday. Berger had an answer for them in a conference call for stock analysts yesterday. The executive summary: Take a hike. [Steven Syre, Boston Globe, Dec 9, 08]

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals said it is in line to receive a $12.5 million milestone related to a collaboration with Merck. [Boston Globe, Oct 21]

Ariad Pharmaceuticals said that a federal judge has granted its request to permit an immediate appeal of the court's ruling against Ariad in a patent infringement case. [Boston Globe, Oct 6, 08]

Ariad Pharmaceuticals said today that it plans to pursue the "appropriate legal action" after a federal judge ruled against it in a patent dispute. ... a federal judge in the US District Court of Delaware granted Amgen's motion for summary judgment of noninfringement of seven claims of a US patent based on activities related to Enbrel. [Boston Globe, Sep 23, 08]

Ariad Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge MA; three SBIRs) said today that its second-quarter loss widened slightly on higher research and development costs. The company lost $17 M.3 million, or 25 cents per share, compared with a loss of $17 million, or 25 cents per share, during the same period last year. [Boston Globe, Aug 8, 08]

Drug developer Ariad Pharmaceuticals ($600K SBIR in the 19902) said it expects a higher net loss [$80M] in 2008 as it continues research and development and defers revenue from a Merck partnership. [Boston Globe, Jan 9, 08]

Ariad Pharmaceuticals says its global deal with Merck could top $1B after the initial $75M. A mighty return from a $500K 1994 SBIR after a 1991 founding. If the government had taken an equity share proportional to its $500K investment at nursery stage, it could claim some noticeable fraction of the present market value near $400M. And if NIH would study such a hypothetical return for its SBIR investments over the two decades, it might be able to show that SBIR is worth the money in terms of economic return to the US economy, at least as managed by NIH. The Congress should consider some such evaluation scheme to see whether SBIR is merely an administrative burden on the federal agencies with no showing of any economic benefit that wouldn't have happened anyway.

Ariad Pharmaceuticals (one Phase 2 SBIR) won a patent case against Eli Lilly for royalties on sales of the osteoporosis treatment Evista and the sepsis medicine Xigris. [Indianapolis Star, Jul 10]

Ariad Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA; one Phase 2 SBIR) counterclaimed against Amgen Inc. and Wyeth for alleged patent infringement.

Armadillo Aerospace (Mesquite, TX)

coondoggie writes "NASA said it will this week award $1.65 million in prize money to a pair of aerospace companies that successfully simulated landing a spacecraft on the moon and lifting off again. NASA's Centennial Challenges program, which was managed by the X Prize Foundation, will give a $1 million first prize to Masten Space Systems (Mojave, CA; no SBIR) and a $500,000 second prize to Armadillo Aerospace (Mesquite, TX; one SBIR) for successfully completing the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge." [slashdot.org, Nov 3, 09]

Armorworks (Chandler, AZ)

Armorworks (Chandler, AZ; $3M SBIR) won a [$7M] contract to help protect U.S. Marines in battle. ... Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts ... cover a soldier�s chest and back from gunfire. Armorworks has been providing such inserts to the military for most of this decade. [Phoenix Business Journal, Jun 23, 09]

Arrowhead Research

Arrowhead Research (public, 58 employees) announced today the sale of its majority-owned subsidiary, Aonex Technologies (Pasadena, CA; one SBIR), to AmberWave Systems (Windham NH; one SBIR). ... for $7.95M in earn-out payments, plus a running royalty on sales of solar products incorporating Aonex�s technology. Aonex Technologies was launched in 2004 by Arrowhead and Caltech Professor Dr. Harry Atwater to commercialize a materials integration technology developed in Dr. Atwater�s lab for high efficiency solar cells. [Business Wire, May 7, 08] Two other Arrowhead sub also had SBIR: Calando Pharma (one Phase 1) and Insert Therapeutics ($1M).

ArQule (Woburn, MA)

Woburn biotechnology company ArQule which focuses on cancer therapies, said today that its second-quarter loss widened on higher clinical development costs. [Boston Globe, Aug 11, 08]

Arsenal Medical (Watertown, MA)

Arsenal Medical (formerly WMR Biomedical; Watertown, MA; no SBIR) has raised $8.2 million of a $12.2 million Series C round, according to documents filed last month with federal regulatory authorities. ... operates in stealth mode out of Watertown offices. ... founded in 2005 ... last raised $13.2 million in early 2008 [Mass High Tech, May 5, 09]

Arteriocyte (Cleveland, OH)

Arteriocyte (Cleveland, OH; at least two STTRs), which has a manufacturing and distribution facility in Hopkinton, MA announced it had received $1.9 million from DARPA) for one of its projects. The DARPA initiative, dubbed the Blood Pharming program, seeks to establish an automated set of processes and technologies to create and package a donor-less supply of universal red blood cells. These red blood cells are the most crucial component of blood and the most transfused blood product used in traumatic care at the battlefield, stated Arteriocyte. [Mass High Tech, Nov 12]

Arteriocyte (Cleveland, OH; $1.4M SBIR) launched a new 6,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility in Hopkinton, MA in September ... Arteriocyte�s stem cell technology was developed at Case Western Reserve University, which then spun out the firm in 2004. The university seeded Arteriocyte with a mere $250,000 and the Hopkinton-based biotech raised $29 million through a combination of grants, state award programs and private investments. [Stephen DeSantis, Mass High Tech, Oct 17, 08]

Arteriocyte (Cleveland OH; one SBIR) and Utah-based DW Healthcare Partners have started Arteriocyte Medical Systems Inc. with a $10 M growth capital investment from the two partners ... to develop and market medical products to improve patient outcomes in cardiac, orthopedic and vascular surgeries. [Mass High Tech, Oct 26]

ArthroCare (Austin, TX)

In a series of stunning disclosures, Austin medical device company ArthroCare (no SBIR). said Friday that it had discovered "accounting errors and possible irregularities" in reporting revenue, that it would restate its financial performance for eight years and that it had received grand jury subpoenas in Florida related to an investigation of a controversial subsidiary. The company, which makes minimally invasive surgical devices, said its chief financial officer and two other senior executives had resigned as a result of the revenue reporting issues. ... The disclosures sent the stock down 64 percent to close Friday at $5.92. In the past 12 months, the stock has lost almost 90 percent of its value. [Austin American Statesman, Dec 20, 08]

Arthrosurface

Arthrosurface (no SBIR) raised another $4 million to make a total of $31 million in equity financing. The medical devices company, which develops joint resurfacing systems, said the financing was funded by Boston Millennia Partners and unnamed private investors. ... Arthrosurface's HemiCAP systems consist of a range of contoured articular prosthetics and instrumentation intended for the repair of significant lesions and cartilage damage in the major joints. [Mass High Tech, Feb 29]

Artisan Pharma (Waltham, MA)

Artisan Pharma (Waltham, MA; founded 2006) focused on treating blood clotting disorders, has raised $9.4 million of a proposed $11.8 million round, according to a federal filing. ... founded with $39 million in funding led by NGN Capital LLC [Mass High Tech, May 15, 09]

Aryx Therapeutics (Fremont, CA)

Aryx Therapeutics (Fremont, CA; no SBIR) slid 44% as its tecarfarin anticlotting drug showed efficacy in a late-stage clinical trial, but didn't meet its primary goal -- superiority against the leading oral anticlotting treatment, warfarin. [Wall Street Journal, Jul 9, 09] incorporated in 1997, IPO 2007, $21M private placement in 2008, raised $26M in 2002,

Arzeda (Seattle, WA)

Arzeda (Seattle, WA; no SBIR) startup, which designs custom-made enzymes on computers, has pocketed [an NSF SBIR] to see if it can create an enzyme that can turn plant biomass into one of the key ingredients in synthetic rubber tires. ... in July, Arzeda clinched a two-year partnership with the Pioneer-Hi Bred International subsidiary of chemical giant DuPont ... company has its roots in the lab of University of Washington biochemist David Baker, who uses pooled computing power from around the world to help design brand new enzymes that don�t exist in nature. [Luke Timmerman, xconomy Seattle, Dec 8, 09]

Ascension Orthopedics

Ascension Orthopedics (Austin, TX; no SBIR) said it has raised $21M in VC to ramp up its growth... has raised $46M since its 1996 inception. [Lori Hawkins, Austin American-Statesman, Jan 23]

Ascent Solar Technologies (Littleton,CO)

Ascent Solar Technologies (Thornton, CO; $1M SBIR) developer of flexible thin-film solar modules, has signed a direct-supply agreement with Goal Zero LLC. ... will supply up to 30,700 units of its "Premier" modules through 2010. [Denver Post, Sep 23, 09]

Ascent Solar Technologies, (Littleton, CO; two SBIRs in 2007), a developer of CIGS photovoltaics, got a Phase 2 SBIR for tandem solar cells in a stack in which the top one collects only the blue light of the spectrum, and the bottom collects the remaining wavelengths. Since 1995, AFRL funded the development of flexible CIGS at ITN Energy Systems ($12M SBIR). Now, it continues the funding the technology development, but at Ascent Solar which is a manufacturing creation of ITN. [Compound Semi News, Oct 17]

Ascent Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA)

Ascent Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) announced a $19 million Series A round of funding ... develops Pepducin drugs, originally invented in the Tufts Medical Center laboratories, to treat inflammation, cancer, CNS disorders and cardiovascular disease. The drugs are designed to target G-protein coupled receptors on the cell membrane. [Mass High Tech, Nov 18, 08]

Aspen Aerogels (Northborough,MA)

Aspen Aerogels (Northborough, MA; $13M SBIR over six years) got a $37M investment from Atlanta-based investor, Arcapita. [Boston Globe, Jun 26]

After an investment of $30M, executives at materials company Aspen Aerogels (Northborough, MA; $13M SBIR) report the firm has tripled its production capacity with a newly opened, 150,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in East Providence, RI [Mass High Tech, Apr 7]

Aspen Technology (Burlington, MA)

The NASDAQ is kicking out Aspen Technology (Burlington, MA), a maker of software for oil and chemical companies, for fumbling its filings.

Astex Therapeutics

Astralux (Boulder,CO)

One of the fathers of GaN LEDs, Jacques Pankove, retired from Astralux (Boulder, CO), his company that convinced many DOD techies to spend SBIR on his science. The Compound Semiconductor piece (Dec 23) says Astralux is essentially a cutting edge hothouse. .. What Astralux does is what it has always done, leverage its core expertise in research and development and help young companies grow and successfully spin out from Astralux, as they did with their first company, PowerSicel. The piece lists many government contracts without enumerating any economic success therefrom. Astralux has hauled in at least $6M SBIR over a decade to support a handful of employees. Maybe one or more of the several funders in DOD can explain how DOD got any return beyond more knowledge about GaN technology. But such accounting will not happen until Congress insists on an economic accounting since the agencies do not accept the idea that attracting capital into new technology gives them development they don't have to pay for. Powersicel's web site says it raised $2.5M and an ATP award in 2003 and an unspecified amount in the last boom year Y2K.

AstroPower (Newark, DE)

AstroPower's Final Repose? While GE is expanding solar module production using cells from outside suppliers, does this event mark the end of the both recycled wafer and APex� Silicon-Film� solar cell technologies developed by solar industry pioneer AstroPower? Ed Gunther's blog Gunther Portfolio (Aug 06) tells a lot of the decline story. In a long saga, AstroPower got a lot of SBIR money (14 Phase 2s) for its silicon solar technology and its Liquid Phase Epitaxy process research in the 1980s and 1990s, and then eventually went bankrupt in 2003. It qualifies as an SBIR economic success story in that it exploited the SBIR investment to bring in public capital for its manufacturing and world-wide sale of silicon cells. Remember that SBIR's role is not to guarantee market success of its investments, but to give new technology with market potential a boost in its early R&D phase. Bringing new technology to market is NOT a government function. Like all venture investments, they are ventures, not Treasury notes. Thanks to Duane Zieg of MDA's excellent Tech Applications uncovering the latest story.

The remains of bankrupt Astro Power will remain in Newark DE under its new owner GE Energy.

AstroPower lost 90% of the remaining 5% of its high price when it declared bankruptcy and sold some of its assets to GE. Its auditor also called a foul. AP got a huge hand from SBIR in its heavy R&D days in the 80s and early 90s. The silicon solar cell technology sold a lot of hardware all over the world into a competitive market. The other technologies, mostly III-V semiconductors based in liquid phase epitaxy, never made much commercial splash. But then hardly any SBIR supported semiconductor research graduated to the big time. Is that because the government has a hard time picking winners and ignores market signals on what would even be viable if it succeeded technically? The SBIR advocates want just such a situation to continue because it allows mediocre companies to keep feeding at the trough. Politics trumps economics every time when government is involved.

AstroPower says it is laying off workers to exploit new productivity. The stock price has doubled in a week from under a buck to over a buck, still miles below its price in the thirties. [Jan 8, 04]

AstroPower stock took a swan dive when it announced that it is being de-listed from NASDAQ for failing to file required reports.

One bad thing leads to another. AstroPower got another nastygram - delisting notice for failure to file - from the SEC. The company says it can't file the second report until it straightens out the first one for which it got the first nastygram. The stock price jumps around in the lower reaches of price per share but at least staying above the magic buck below which it might get yet another delisting notice.

The constant whacking of AstroPower must have been too much for the big shareholders. They convinced founder-builder-CEO Allen Barnett to go down with his stock, to resign along with a couple of other top management.

Solar Power Bounce. AstroPower led the NASDAQ list of percentage losers Friday, down 11% in continuation of its severe bouncing of the last month.

Even though Value Line lists AstroPower as its leading bargain basement stock, it lost another 13% yesterday. Just to get on VL's list of covered stocks is quite an achievement for the four SBIR stocks, APWR plus Cree, ATMI, and Surmodics.

If you're looking for AstroPower, look for APWRE, the temporary symbol. AWPR got a nastygram from the NASDAQ of delisting for not filing its annual report on time. It is also received a hailstorm of lawsuits alleging deceptive pronouncements.

When another legal jackal joined the pack of suers, AstroPower dropped another 14% to a market cap under $100M. As SBIR companies go, such a market cap is still in the top 1%.

Bill Lerach, vulture lawyer to many, is now after AstroPower for being optimistic. The suit alleges that APWR claimed that it was well positioned to take advantage of the increasing demand for solar power products. (the usual puffery of even SBIR proposals) but because of capacity limits ( the problem all companies want) it was in fact losing ground to more effective competitors. Another firm filed a similar suit as the jackals hunt in packs

AstroPower skidded on another icy patch when it said it would delay announcing earnings. A Yahoo finance posting expounds: AstroPower's shares hit a 4 year low on heavy trading volume after the company delayed its previously scheduled March 5, 2003, earnings announcement "pending receipt of confirmation of certain contractual agreements with two government customers". It is highly unusual for a company to delay its earnings announcement for any reason, especially on the day before their scheduled release. We, at StockDiagnostics.com, suspect that the delay is due to a lot of "gnashing of teeth" going on behind closed doors as AstroPower's management is most likely having difficulties in convincing its auditor, KPMG, that its receivables are legitimate. We again are reiterating our OPS Warning on AstroPower. Its shares should be avoided at any price. Believe what you will at your own risk.

AstroPower took a 17% hit when it reported less profit than Wall Street was hoping for. Profit was down 44% as revenues rose 25%.At least it made some profit, which is infrequent among SBIR public companies lately.

AstroPower Bombs on Wall Street
(Aug 5,02) After AstroPower reported lower profits, a stampede of brokerage house downgraded their recommendations on the stock. Whammo - half the already well declined market cap dissolved. Even though it still made money, profits dropped 80% even though revenue rose 27%.

Go Ahead, Pick a Number. A brokerage lowered its target price for AstroPower from $38 to $27 as the present price sinks below $14. Such targets are mere fantasies that pretend to issue from analytical research. No one, particularly brokers who need buyers and sellers regardless of the price, knows what the market climate will be for companies with struggling earnings and a high PE multiple. The whole market PEs look awfully high and the energy market into which APWR sells its solar power is in disarray as the traders like Dynegy and Mirant crater.

Cheap Solar Power Maybe. A Canadian company claims it will halve the cost of solar power with a new technology to be in production next year. A Canadian company said on Wednesday it has developed solar cells that will slash the cost of solar power, holding out the possibility of a revolution in the generation of clean, renewable energy. A press release says that Spheral Solar Technology will use tiny silicon beads bonded in an aluminum foil that use a fraction of the silicon in current solar cells. It does claim that Energy experts said the technology could make huge strides in lighting up parts of the developing world. AstroPower stock price showed no reaction to the news although it had already sunk below half its 2001 highs.

Pessimists abound on AstroPower at least as measured by the short interest. As of early April,the 4M share short initerest was 30 days of trading at the average daily volume and an estimated 35% of the floating share total. And since the stock price has fallen 15% in the last month, there probably hasn't been much short covering.

The recently resurgent interest in solar power has been a boon to AstroPower , the largest pure play in the sector. AstroPower has posted impressive growth rates although that growth has actually been restrained by limited manufacturing capabilities.The company is set to open an additional plant, which should sharply boost output; AstroPower will lurch into the number three spot worldwide when the new plant becomes fully operational, predicts Salomon Smith Barney analyst David Smith.To find customers for that additional output, AstroPower has inked agreements with almost a dozen homebuilders, as well as Home Depot (HD). The company expects its solar power cells to be in 70 Home Depot stores by the end of the year. "I think that program could be huge," says Smith, adding that it could, "more than double AstroPower's revenues by 2005." [ Multex Investor, Apr 24]

AstroPower doubled its quarterly profit but reported a 15% decline for its fiscal year. The traders booed and dropped the price 40% below its highs despite the fact that the sun always shines and fossil fuel energy still costs money.

More. More, Or Else
(Nov 13) After AstroPower reported 50% higher earnings, the market beat the stock down for failure to meet the street estimates. It fell 15% to only 236 times earnings. The culprit? Goldman Sachs 2002 earnings estimate by 20% in light of the company's disappointing third-quarter results. And just after Value Line highlighted AP as one of its two weekly picks on Oct 28.

Solar Power Is Reaching Where Wires Can't, says DAVID LIPSCHULTZ, (New York Times, Sep 9), and AstroPower is one of a group of companies making real money. ... according to Strategies Unlimited, a market research firm in Mountain View, Calif., for the solar industry, roughly 40 percent, or $1.2B, of the $3B worldwide solar business last year came from rural markets ... and the solar companies will continue to have revenue growth of about 20 percent a year from these markets. That will make the remote rural market alone worth roughly $2.5B by 2005. ... roughly 30 percent of the world population, are off the energy grid, living in areas without utility services. And a billion of them have the means to pay for power. ... "There's a lot of money to be made in converting those people to solar," said Dr. Allen M. Barnett, chief executive of AstroPower, a publicly traded company based in Newark. ...But not everywehre: England's first solar-powered parking meters, in Nottingham, in central England. They may not catch on: the country's famously gloomy skies haven't allowed enough sunshine through to keep them powered up. Which is OK since almost all those people off any grid do not live in prosperous Northwest Europe. Note: if you are going to project commercial prospects for your wonderful new technology, you need analyses like Lipschultz'sd article, which thanks to the Interent are widely available.

Record earnings not good enough. Even though AstroPower upped revenue 35% and profits nearly doubled (albeit from a low base), the stock price tumbled 14%. Meanwhile AP will acquire Aplicaciones Tecnicas de la Energia, S.A., commonly known as Atersa, a private Spanish company, and Atersa's 50% equity stake in AstraSolar, a Spanish solar cell manufacturing joint venture between Atersa and AstroPower. Atersa is a leading manufacturer of solar electric power modules and balance-of-system components, The price will be 4,000 million pesetas ($21M) in a stock and cash.

Unlike fuel cells or microturbines, solar power is a proven technology, and it is becoming cheaper to produce. And AstroPower, a maker of solar cells, modules and panels, is a rarity in the sector: a profitable, stand-alone, publicly traded company. It can meet only about 60% of demand for its rooftop systems and is adding manufacturing capacity as fast as it can. "Our consumers know we are getting a little respite right now, but they really want to have control over their energy," said Allen M. Barnett, an electrical engineer who is the founder and chief executive of AstroPower. Solar energy has been promoted as a clean solution ever since the energy crisis of the 1970's. But as prices of gas and oil fell and generally stayed low through the late 1990's, the solar alternative found only limited use.But a confluence of forces has expanded the market for solar power in the last two years, and various companies are pushing ahead, sensing the dawn of a big business. [ABBY SCHULTZ, New York Times, Jul 29]

AstroPower has transformed itself from being primarily a research shop for solar cell technology at the University of Delaware into a fast-growing commercial venture. In 2000, revenues increased 48%, to $46.6M, and the company posted a profit of $3.5 million, or $0.27 cents per share -- a 53% jump from 1999. Even better, the company projects revenues of $75M for 2001, an increase of nearly 60%. ...it's on track to meet analysts' expectations of almost double its 2000 profit. Granted, AP is still a tiny company compared to the solar subsidiaries of global energy giants, such as BP Solar and Siemens Solar. Those companies recorded worldwide revenues of $200M and $150M in 2000. Yet AstroPower has the ambitious goal of becoming a leading U.S.-based producer of low-cost, state-of-the-art solar technology. Even before the latest energy crunch, AstroPower was gaining market share, especially in North America, where the company cornered roughly 24% of the market for solar power systems in 2000... That's not far behind market leader Siemens Solar, with 37% market share in North America. AP is just about neck-and-neck with BP, which has 25%. SBIR entrepreneurs who want a model might make a pilgrimage to Allen Barnett who made all this happen with the help of SBIR at the early stages. Most CEO/founders talk about such success to the gullible government but do NOT accept the price to be paid for getting there. They seem to think that wanting it to happen is the same as making it happen.

Irrational Exuberance? AstroPower hangs in there at 1000 times earnings as yet another broker starting covering it with a BUY recommendation. It takes a strong constitution and lots of faith to ride 1000 PE stocks.

Allen Barnett interview on CEO Cast on the growth of AstroPower. Highlights: the president will propose a tax incentive of $2000 per house for solar power; we are a semiconductor-like company selling in the power industry; we cannot meet the voracious demand for another 18 months; we sell power for about 25 cents per KWHR, the national average is about 10 cents, New York cost is about 20 cents and Cliifornia up to 25 cents; if you install our solar unit in your house we guarantee electricity for the circuits that you name, forever.

The Government Got It
(May 8)Well, it would have been a nice profit growth except for the nasty government grabbing $3.5M in a settlement over an overhead rate dispute in the 90s. Anyway, AstroPower lost $1.5M when it would have made a record $1.1M profit on a 40% growth in revenue for the quarter.

AstroPower has been growing product revenue at 50% a year for the last five years to a revenue of $50M in calendar year 2000. We have been growing pretax income at 89% a year for the last four years. We need to accelerate the growth rate. The premise for AstroPower is making more products so that we can satisfy demand. Our only problem today is that at a 50% growth rate, we cannot satisfy the demand of our current customers. [The Wall Street Transcript interview with Allen Barnett, CEO of AstroPower, May 2]

Spain Loves Solar Power
(May 1) AstroPower shot up another 15% yesterday on Friday's news that AP's Spanish joint venture, AstraSolar, will supply advanced solar cells for a 13MW solar electric power plant to be built in Spain. When completed, the power plant will be approximately four times larger than any photovoltaic power plant currently in operation, and will cover an area equivalent to 57 soccer fields. A PE-ratio of 135 is a rich price in a market that has been beating up the NASDAQ. AP now trades at six times its IPO price.

More, More Solar Panels, Please
(Apr 30) The only pure-play profitable solar company, says Red Herring's David Whitall about AstroPower. He says AP is cannot build production capacity fast enough to meet rising demand. Even though money can be raised, it takes time to build a plant. Even in Delaware. With California pointing up electricity generation problems, all the alternatives get more attractive. World-wide solar equipment market was $2.6B in 1999 and growing at 25% a year. AstroPower leases storage-attached systems for $10 a month, lower than the monthly bill for alternatives like diesel generators, candles and batteries. Last year Astro leased 100,000 solar units (usually connected to lead-acid car batteries), to relatively well-off consumers in the developing world. These typically power a couple of lightbulbs, a TV set and/or a music box for part of the evening. AstroPower netted $2.7 million on revenues of $35.7 million for the first nine months of 2000, an increase of 93% and 43% respectively. Despite a 50% drop in its stock price this year, it expects to maintain its 50% annual growth rate of the past three years. [Forbes, "Here Comes the Sun" Jan 22, 01]

AstroPower is an SBIR success even though it looked questionable in the 80s as more and more SBIR disappeared into the enteprise. . It was using a lot of SBIR for government type solar (space power) that had little terrestrial value. Eventually, the earthly energy supply-demand balance worked in AstroPower's favor and it went public where still commands a high PE multiple. Did the DOD know it was seeding such a commercial success? Nah, it hardly considered the question. Mainly because DOD cared only for its mission (and could not see the value of exploiting commercial success to get there) and because there was more hype than economics in the solar industry.

Power for the Water AstroPower says its solar cells will help power the world's largest hybrid-solar/wind power system in Hawaii. 225-kWac solar/wind hybrid system generates 24 hours per day for Parker Ranch, one of the largest cattle ranches in the United States. 475 AP Panels are the largest UL-approved solar power panels commercially available. During the day a tracker keeps the cells pointed at the sun and after sunset, the wind takes over. With that kind of power, the cattle ranches can try to pump the aquifer dry as ranches do in the CONUS Southwest.

Investment [in energy technology] has been flooding in: Britain�s Impax Capital, Switzerland�s Sustainable Asset Management, America�s Nth Power and even financial giants such as Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan now have big funds investing in this area. Despite the bleak market for public offerings, ET firms including Capstone, which makes microturbines, and AstroPower have found it relatively easy to float their shares. ... Two years ago, few investment banks, let alone ordinary punters, even knew ET existed. As word got out that information-technology gurus such as Paul Allen and Bill Gates were putting money into the sector, the big banks began to take it more seriously. ... California has been a giant wake-up call for investors, says Paul Lancaster of Ballard Power Systems, a Canadian fuel-cell pioneer. Interest has grown in technologies that bypass the grid altogether, such as micropower. [The Economist, Apr 21]

Invest in Your Customers
(Apr 12 ) AstroPower will be the first corporate investment in the $30M Solar Development Capital (SDC) private equity fund.that funds solar businesses located in developing countries. Although founder and CEO Allen Barnett is noted for his charitable work, including the first Humanitarian Award from the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation, this investment has practical use for making buyers for AstroPower's main product - silicon solar cells. Something like a third of the people in the world aren't plugged into an electric grid, a lot of them would probably like the gift of electricity if only a local enterprise could find some capital to start a solar-power business. Allen said We have dedicated operations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America which enable us to meet the needs of local entrepreneurs and communities. . SDC is a subsidiary of Solar Development Group, a joint project of the World Bank and some private charities. AP is one of those increasingly rare SBIR economic success stories. Real economic success, not soft stories of a few sales.

AstroPower reported more demand than profit. ``We continue to experience demand that far outstrips our ability to supply product,'' said CEO Allen Barnett. Profit was only $761K, down 22%, even though revenue was up 38%. Excess demand is a problem most companies would like to have.

AstroPower reported slashed profits, down 15%. Concurrently, the stock price dropped to only 135 times earnings. If you believe that stock prices should be around a PEG ratio of 1.0, you'll need faith that AP can continue its annual doubling of earnings despite such reverses.

AstroPower to S&P600AstroPower to S&P600
(Dec 29) AstroPower got the normal boost 8% from being named to the S&P Small Cap 600 index. It also is high up on the list of short interest ratios at 8 when the average is below 2. Lots of traders have shown pessimism to get the ratio up to 8.

Government Sues AstroPower
(Oct 24)Eight Years Later, Taking It Back. A federal auditor has decided to pursue AstroPower for using federal R&D funds to foster commercialization of solar power R&D for which the Energy Department was bragging about how important its R&D funding was to the development of commercial alternative power. Double standard? Sure smells like it. Says CEO Allen Barnett, The basis of it is a single individual in the Department of Defence audit agency...whose position has been that the government does not fund commercial development. We're the third-largest of the five largest U.S.-based companies (in solar research and development.) Of the five, three have been purchased by European companies, and the fourth has licensed its technology to Japan and Europe. They get help from their governments, we get sued by ours. ... The government had previously audited and accepted our overhead rate structure for 1991-1993, but has apparently reversed its position. Still, the one auditor managed to parlay his investigation into a suit by the Justice Department, which does act lightly in such situations. Accept a structure in 1993 and reverse it in 2000? How is a company to believe anything the government says in a contract? A warning to all those companies who believe the government's promises about fostering commercialization. Take that money at your peril of a zealous auditor years later who has the power to simply take back the government's money. The charge against AstroPower is in that vague area of what is a valid indirect cost. Your case would be just as vague and often in the eye of the beholder.

As a German I can tell you that APWR is in a hot future market anyway.Legislation especially in Germany is very challenging and in favor of new technologies like those APWR is offering, but also wind etc. Government is paying big money to make such solutions interesting for the people/businesses.Maybe APWR looks somewhat expensive now - but in 10 years everybody will wonder about the low value 10 years ago. I'm absolutely sure about that. Conclusion: Don't assess on APWR based only on the US-markets. [a professed German on Yahoo msg board]

stroPower Convention Power
(Sep 1). The convention centers in LA and Anaheim will be powered partly by AstroPower solar panels during peak demand periods when the electricity supply is most scarce and, consequently, most expensive. Not that solar power is cheap, but the astronomical marginal rates that the partly deregulated utilities paid this summer make solar look real cheap. Says AsstroPower's press release, The first phase of the LA Convention Center project, a 120 kW system, was installed in time to provide power for the Democratic National Convention. The system has over 2,000 solar panels, and is designed to blend in with the Convention Center architecture. Panels are mounted on a highly visible curving wall overlooking the busy Harbor Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power designed the support structure and installed the power system as part of a 1.8 MW contract with AstroPower valued at $6 million. When the next phase is completed this fall, the LA Convention Center will be the largest solar-powered facility in North America.The Anaheim Convention Center project will use over 900 AstroPower panels, and will be rated at 100 kW. The NASDAQ traders liked the news, upping the stock price 20% in a week.

Money Manager Likes AstroPower. Says a press release from The Wall Street Transcript: Lorenzo Villalon, General Partner of Versant Partners, examines portfolio management strategies In a valuable review of investing strategies, Lorenzo Villalon explains his approach to managing money and offers specific stock recommendations. Villalon reports, ``We have a conservative approach to investing. We have a well-diversified portfolio (typically 25-35 companies on the long side), with no single name accounting for more than 5%-6% of the total. We also typically carry anywhere from five to 15 names on the short side and are able to move quickly into a defensive posture when market conditions warrant.'' Villalon continues, ``Capital preservation is one of our stated priorities. We have a very low tolerance for losses and, as we tell our clients, when quick decisions are called for to protect the portfolio, we move 'without emotion or delay,' whether in cutting losses, increasing our short exposure, or increasing our cash reserves.'' Villalon highlights AstroPower , ``We are very impressed with their solar panel technology and with their financial success. They are growing revenues at 50% and are quite profitable.'' To obtain this insightful 2,600-word report, call 212/952-7433 or see http://www.twst.com/info/info142.htm

AstroPower Profit Doubles
(Aug 3) AstroPower reported doubled quarterly profit on revenue up 50% from more demand from Asia, South Africa and US rooftops.Per share profits didn't grow as much because the number of shares went up a quarter.Still, a per share profit growth of 60% is in line with a PE multiple of 75 (for those who swear by unity PEG ratios as a measure of investment sanity).

Capacity Constrained. One problem a company would like to have is too much business for the plant. So, CEO Allen Barnett of AstroPower reports We continue to be capacity-constrained, in spite of more than tripling our manufacturing capacity over the past three years,. Bang, down goes the stock 25%. Although AstroPOower plans to expand to meet the demand, Barnet said revenues and earnings wouldn't grow until the new capacity came on line. Another high tech stock had the same problem this week, Agilent, the old economy fragment of HP.

LA Buys AstroPower Power
(Jun 19) The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest municipal utility in the nation, will pay AstroPower $6M contract to supply solar electric power modules. This contract is the largest single award for solar power since utility deregulation was introduced in the US 7 years ago. The contract represents only the first phase of an ambitious 4-year, $38M program to provide clean solar power. The green-leaning Democratic convention will showcase the panels.

Sunlight Into Earnings
(June 12)What makes AstroPower an interesting member of that jet set(of alternative power) is that it is the only name in the group to actually post profits. After being bludgeoned for the better part of three months, fuel cell stocks are starting to warm up again, and not surprisingly, AstroPower is drawing a lot of the heat. Last Thursday, Robertson Stephens initiated coverage on the company with a buy recommendation. The new institutional interest and some apparent short covering sent big blocks of stock across the tape on Friday, pushing the shares up more than 15% on double the normal volume to close at $25. Although its shares can clearly trade with the best momentum stocks, it is AstroPower's growth prospects that ultimately make this a compelling story. AstroPower is currently the largest American-owned solar electric power component manufacturer in the U.S., and the fourth largest in the world. The company derives about 75% of its sales overseas. In Germany and Japan. However, evidence is mounting that more of this "grid-connected" business is ready to migrate to the United States. [Luciano Siracusano, Individual Investor, June 12] Says Robertson-Stephens to its customers AstroPower - Buy. We are initiating coverage of AstroPower, the dominant public 'pure play' in the global solar electric power (photovoltaic or PV) products market, AstroPower has consistently grown at rates far exceeding the robust growth of the Photovoltaics' industry as a whole. We estimate that AstroPower is trading at a significant discount to its growth rate. One caution: the whole securities industry depends on buy recommendations overwhelming sell recommendations. The bias is spectacular.

AstroPower makes the best residential solar panel for generating electricity. They are also by far the most profitable company in the space. They have actual revenue that went up 47% this year over last. You'll see AstroPower solar panels on the roofs of houses in your neighborhood in no time. When you see your heighbors having power when you don't, you'll get one too.

Yesterday's other zoomer was AstroPower up 27% to a market cap of $420M. That's a company in which BMDO would have a tidy equity profit

Recruit or Die?. Most good high-tech companies say they cannot get the help they need. It's a tough competition in a world of declining birth rate and political resistance to immigration. A few suggestions from Washington Technology. It also embarasses the SBIR advocates who are put in the dilemma of complaining about encouraging more high-tech jobs while being unable to fill the ones they already have. Not to worry, though, for the pseudo-entrepreneurial companies with merely good scientists who depend on government contracts, politics is built on such contradictions. SBIR will go on despite the evaporation of any national economic need for it.

AstroPower Does New York
(Feb 15)AstroPower (Newark, DE) rose 15% on news that New York State picked it to increase residential solar electric power to NY consumers. NY will provide $500K to AP, who will match that to market solar electric systems to homeowners at a reduced cost. NY will provide an income tax credit - up to $3,750 - along with assurances that homeowners will be able to connect their solar power to the electric grid and get credit for electricity fed back into the grid. Normally, the utilities put roadblocks in front of such co-generation payments and do so only under state coercion.

AstroPower said it has been selected as one of the 25 most successful small manufacturers by Industry Week in its November 1999 issue. Industry Week is a publication that explores the personalities and enterprises that anchor the U.S. industrial base, those manufacturing firms with fewer than 500 employees....The IW Growing Companies 25 honors successful small manufacturers representing the vitality of U.S. manufacturing;small public and private companies that are laying a foundation of ``best practices'' which will ensure that they are well positioned for sustainable and profitable growth.

AstroPower, a leading supplier of solar electric power products, today announced the formation of a European joint venture company, AstraSolar. The new venture will be jointly owned by both AstroPower and Atersa (Applicaciones Technicas de la Energia, S.A.), a leading Spanish solar electric power module manufacturer and systems integrator.The packaging of solar cells into finished solar electric power modules is increasingly being performed by regional module assembly companies (MODCOs) worldwide. AstraSolar plans to manufacture APex(TM) solar cells using wafers supplied by AstroPower, and market the cells as well as a comprehensive package of associated products and services to these independent MODCOs, which are located close to the regional markets they serve. [company press release]

Exiting AstroPower
(Sep 10) AstroPower (Newark, DE) filed to sell 2.75M common shares, 2.025M for AP and 725K for certain stockholders plus 412K for the underwriters. The company's net proceeds (around $30M) will go to expand manufacturing capacity, working capital and other general corporate purposes, including possible acquisitions. The early investors thus reap a huge profit and will redeploy their money to more start-ups where the returns can be astronomical. Good solid companies like AstroPower should continue to grow and provide a handsome return but not with the thrills and get-rich potential of startups (except those startups doing mere government research and kidding the gullible government about economic potential). Look for those investors; they're rich and they like to play. You can ask CEO Allen Barnett how to deal with them.

AstroPower to Power California AstroPower to Power California
(Sep 9)GreenMountain.com the nation's leading brand of cleaner electricity, announced that it has entered into an agreement with GPU Solar and Real Goods to build the first commercial solar plant in California directly resulting from customer choice. GPU Solar, a joint venture between AstroPower, Inc. (Newark, DE) and GPU International, will build, own and operate the solar plant which will provide clean power to the California electric grid. ... AstroPower is currently the largest US-owned manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) solar power cells and panels. GPU International is a worldwide developer of independent power plants. California's competitive electrical power regime is changing the way power investment is made. [Greenmountain Press Release, Sep 8]

Profit from the Sun Profit from the Sun
(Aug 5) AstroPower (Newark, DE) netted $445K from record revenue of $8M, up 48% from the 1998 second quarter. Almost all the revenue came from products shipped. CEO Allen M. Barnett said We are very pleased with our continuing ability to produce record results. AP also just opened a new West Coast office to service the growing domestic solar power market. AP was a big SBIR user for a decade and still uses it for advanced products too technically risky for real money

Utility Buys Into AstroPowerUtility Buys Into AstroPower
(Jun 22) AstroPower (Newark, DE) says GPU - a big New Jersey utility - will cooperate in the development of products and services for electric industry restructuring, like one of the biggest - customer choice. To get in, GPU will buy $7M of APWR stock $14 1/2 plus a two year warrant for the purchase of 120K more at $18.85 per share (now trading around $16). APWR develops, manufactures, markets and sells photovoltaic (PV) solar cells, modules and panels for generating solar electric power. SBIR? Oh, yes, AstroPower has had a lot but didn't reach GAO's top 25 list.

The Government Took It The Government Took It
(May 7) While AstroPower (Newark, DE) made more gross profit, it made less net profit because its tax rate skyrocketed from 5% to 30%. Product sales was up by half and gross profit up 38%. Manufacturing productivity improved and demand for on-grid residential and commercial rooftop systems improved. But the government's take improved faster than any of those. Still, the stock has been riding well at 2.5 times its IPO price and 46 times earnings. Eventually, AP will pay back to the government in taxes a decent return on the many, many SBIR dollars invested - one of the few Multiple Award Winners to do so.

AstroPower Hot AstroPower (Newark, Del) is up 150% in six months on two factors: it makes rising money and BancBoston likes it as a beneficiary of electrical de-regulation. Lots of states, notably California, are either introducing competition (and not just between the regulated monopoly and the PS commission) that will change a lot of rules for the industry. AP is one of those tiny few MAW (Multiple Award Winners) of SBIR that turned the investment into a growing public company. Most MAWs have to mumble and search for non-economic rationales for government subsidy in a program that billed itself as a technology economics program. (Bah, it was a handout to an interest group and will be re-authorized in 2000 on the same basis.)

AstroPower Makes $2.4M
(Feb 25) For 1998, AstroPower's (Newark, DE) product sales were a record $20.2M, up 54% from 1997. Total revenues were $23.2M which includes SBIRs. Profit was $2.4M, up 270%.(but $1M was an income tax benefit) CEO Allen Barnett, said, ``We are very pleased once again". What is AP? AP sells photovoltaic (PV) solar cells for solar electric power which is used off the electric utility grid for many applications in the communications and transportation and in remote villages and homes. AP also sells conventional single-crystal silicon solar cells and modules world-wide, and is also developing specialty photovoltaic devices and detectors. Currently the largest US-owned PV manufacturer, AstroPower is one of the world's fastest growing PV companies. SBIR can claim AP as a success and its economic numbers would help make a case for SBIR. Although AP has had a LOT of SBIR, it finally went public in 1998 and created a growing manufacturing operation for real products.

Sunshine Talk Charge your cell phone battery with sunshine (in the daytime) with a charger from AstroPower (Newark, DE). R&D overseer Lou Dinetta says the crystalline silicon cells could do an hour's talk and indefinite daylight standby mode. The monolithic connection that makes the compression possible comes from a 1994 BMDO Phase 2 SBIR at AstroPower which went public this year and makes money. The stock trades around 30% over its IPO price. [technical story from Technology Review, Jan 99]

I've invested with this company and expect them to be a good long term pick. I worked for them as a summer intern and I was also impressed with their technology and leadership. They have a patented, low-cost manufacturing technology just coming online and a clear vision of where they want to go. They have a good research team and have a proven track record of attracting winning government research grants. They have a good relationship with the local university, all of which points toward good growth in new products in the future. I bought stock in the company, but I see it as a long term investment so the current lack of volume in trading doesn't bother me. Now, there's a buy -and-hold investor who helps AstroPower by posting his message publicly on an Internet message board. Another voice: I used to work for this company and i have never seen a company as well run as this. The research team they have there is top notch. Some of the leaders in the electrical engineering field. I got in at 7 3/8 and am in for the long run. Good luck to the smart ones who invested at the IPO because this stock won't be down here for long. It has nowhere to go but up. Eventually the market will realize the value of this technology company.
Now, there are two buy-and-hold investors who help AstroPower by posting messages publicly on an Internet message board. NOTE: this is not investment advice from Carl Nelson Consulting which doesn't give such advice. These are old messages (May 98) on Yahoo's message board. It could be a pump-and-dump ploy.

AstroPower Profit AstroPower Profit
(Aug 6) Astropower Inc. (Newark, DE) APWR) reported a quarterly profit of $200K on sales of $5.3M and said that it continues to ramp up the volume in its new Silicon-Film manufacturing factory while increasing the power generated by each solar cell toward its goal of tripling production capacity. [Dow Jones, Aug 5]

New AstroPower Plant Ships New AstroPower Plant Ships
(Jul 2) AstroPower (Newark, DE) began shipping Apex solar cells and modules from its new manufacturing plant which will enable it to increase its solar cell output at a lower manufacturing costs. The plant's capacity is 9-megawatts of Apex products per year, three times AstroPower's previous production capacity also in Newark. [Dow Jones, Jul 1]

AstroPower Profit
(May 7) AstroPower (Newark, DE) reported a $300K profit on sales of $4.9M for the quarter. The stock price hovers around $10, up 67% from its February IPO price. Says the company's PR Currently the second largest US-owned PV manufacturer, AstroPower is one of the world's fastest growing PV companies. AP has had a ton of SBIR money to help it grow from a few people in the mid-80s to its $60M market cap.

AstroPower Makes Money
(Feb 27) Newly public AstroPower (Newark, DE) reported a profit of $650K for the year as against losing $2.4M in 1996. Revenues were up to $16.6M from $10.6M. That's a lot better than most SBIR companies.

AstroPower Goes Public
(Feb 16) AstroPower (Newark, DE), a maker of photovoltaic solar cells, went public raising $16M by selling 2.7M shares at $6, a price considerably below the expected $8-10 a share. It will trade on NASDAQ as APWR. AstroPower got a looot of SBIR and a loooot of that from BMDO.

AstroPower IPO This Week
(Feb 9) Among 25 IPOs expected this week is AstroPower (Newark, DE) to raise about $25M. AstroPower, a big user of SBIR, would use the money for its production of silicon solar cells and continue to rely on SBIR for its high-risk opto-electronic developments. Such a raising of public capital makes SBIR look good, like something more than just a dole to companies best able to compete for government R&D contracts in a set-aside.

Congrats. Allen Barnett, CEO of (Newark, DE) for being elected a Fellow of the IEEE. Allen says that "SBIR + DOE got us here, which is a very good place". While such money helped, AstroPower merits its IPO by making and selling silicon solar cells.

More AstroPower Story
(Dec 23) AstroPower (Newark, DE), which filed for IPO last week, has had 37 SBIRs for $11M from DOD over the years of DOD's database, 3/4 of that from BMDO. The rest come from the Energy Dept into which any solar power company must have a subsidy tap, from NASA which will pay almost anything for efficient space cells, and NSF which thinks it knows commercializable technology (but won't invest enough to expect a company to enable any commercialization). (Actually, most agencies have the same policy inconsistency.) AP's revenues for the first none months of '97 were $12M from which it made $0.5M profit. Full year for '96 were $10M sales and a $2M loss. [financial data from EDGAR] AP's write-up by SBTC (the lobbying organization) claims AP got $11M of private capital on top of the $11M SBIR. Clients are original equipment manufacturers (OEM) worldwide, Niagara Mohawk Power and General Public Utilities (NJ). Foreign customers have been in Germany, India, Spain, Japan, Australia and Mexico. Why did I gave all that SBIR money to AstroPower? Because Allen Barnett smelled like the kind of entrepreneur who would go for the big hit of a public company.

AstroPower Files for IPO
(Dec 22) AstroPower (Newark, DE) filed to raise $24M in an IPO for a third of the company. Says IPO Central, AstroPower hopes investors take a shine to its proprietary solar cell manufacturing process. Its Silicon-Film process operates at continuous high speeds, produces large crystalline silicon sheets used in cells, and uses a cheaper silicon in its production. AstroPower plans to use the capital generated from its IPO to triple production capacity. AstroPower has been a regular SBIR user, about $10M from Defense and Energy, since before its liberation from AstroSystems, its original backer. IPO date still uncertain, not surprising for a company with an Asian exposure. CEO-founder Allen Barnett has grown the company from its original three to 150 employees with that $10M and a lot of help from private capital including a recent infusion from glass-monster Corning and an earlier minority position by Dow Chemical. Much of the recent SBIR has gone not to the cash-cow silicon cells but to advanced electronic materials especially made by Liquid Phase Epitaxy. A few years ago the company graduated from a cramped former middle school outbuilding (where one of my kids went to middle school) in the heart of the University of Delaware grounds to a modern factory next to Amtrak's mainline.

Barnett's Cherry Award
Allen Barnett, CEO/founder of AstroPower (Newark, DE) received IEEE's annual Cherry Award to a leader in photovoltaics. Allen's acceptance speech related his experience with installing a 4 KW version of his technology on his own house, from wifely reluctance (he called it her birthday present) to Big Electric's installing a new meter that didn't give him so much credit. Allen says about half the development money for the profitable solar-power silicon technology came from SBIR. He acknowledged that if consumers have the same trouble he did with the power company and the technology, widespread adoption is still a ways off. His speech pointed out the systems considerations that technologists often assume away.

Astroterra (San Diego, CA)

Data Through the Air. The fibers ends were 1.5 miles apart but still carried 2.5 billion bits per second error free, says Business Week Nov 23, of AstroTerra (San Diego, CA) technology derived from Star Wars investment in direct talk between satellites by laser. The curious could have seen a demo at the TechEast 98 in Boston where SBIR and Photonics combined forces.

Free Space Laser Rider
(Feb 27) Photonic answers to a designer's dilemma says the lead in to a Photonics Spectra story on free space lasers. The lasers would be part of a optics communication system without the fibers. Ground to airplane to spacecraft or between any two. The transceiver is built by ThermoTrex (a subsidiary of Hatsopolous's micro-conglomerate) with BMDO money and parts from SBIR companies SDL (San Jose, CA) and Astroterra (San Diego, CA). So far it's something only a government could love but the PS authors, one from ThermoTrex and the founder of AstroTerra, blather on about commercial potential. Commercially, SDL is doing fine with a $300M market cap; AstroTerra, still private, schmoozes the government technical experts into funding the development with SBIR despite a feeble prospect for commercialization. It's a classic case of a program's being captured by the bureau which merely requires that the favored technology company blather about commercialization. Then the tech transfer people write glowing prose about the potential for things like potential commercial market for intersatellite links in low earth orbit global constellations such as Teledesic. Such words could be safely uttered about almost every technology on the drawing board because no one has to prove them in the present. And unless the government discriminates wishing from investing, SBIR will be just another government R&D program driven by government needs.

Asuragen (Austin, TX)

Asuragen (Austin, TX; no SBIR) said it won more than $3.8 million in federal grants to further its development of molecular diagnostic tests for cancer and genetic diseases. Founder Matt Winkler spun the company off from Ambion Inc. when he sold Ambion to Applied Biosystems in 2006. Since then, Asuragen has received more than $12 million in federal grants to support its research. The new money is slated to help pay for research into developing diagnostic tests for pancreatic, cervical and some lung cancers and melanoma, among other initiatives. [Austin American Statesman, Oct 8, 09]

"So we cured four mice of cancer," Winkler said. "Kind of exciting." Winkler is Austin's leading biotech entrepreneur and the CEO of Asuragen Inc., which he started in 2006 after selling his first company, Ambion ($13M SBIR) , for $273M [to Applied Biosystems]. The company is announcing today that it has received a new investment of $18.5M. That's on top of the $49M raised to launch the company, which included $35M from Winkler himself. [Austin American-Statesman, Dec 10]

Athenix (Research Triangle Park, NC)

Athenix, (Research Triangle Park, NC; no SBIR) genetically engineering corn and soybeans to resist bugs and chemicals, is being bought by a bigger neighbor. Bayer CropScience will acquire Athenix, which was founded in 2001 and has about 65 employees. [Raleigh News & Observer, Aug 20, 09]

AtheroGenics (Alpharetta, GA)

AtheroGenics fell 14% after saying that AstraZeneca will likely withdraw support for developing one of the company's heart drugs after it missed a goal in a recent trial. [Wall Street Journal, Mar 29]

AtheroGenics (no SBIR) down 61% when its heart drugs failed a clinical trial. [Mar 19, 07]

AtheroGenics (Alpharetta, GA; no SBIR) fell 35%after a broker said that a clinical trial of a diabetes drug showed only a small effect. [Wall Street Journal, Sep 6]

Atlantia

Atlantia. the Gem of the Ocean. The company's only Phase 2 SBIR, from Energy in 1990 led to a half-billion dollar revenue stream in 9 years., says Dawnbreaker in plumping for its CAP that allegedly contributed to Atlantia's success. The SBIR developed a tension leg platform concept for deep water (10.000 feet) oil and gas drilling. since the company already had an established track record in the offshore platforms, specifically a platform product called the SeaHorse�, it would take a battery of lawyers and promoters to decide whether Energy just picked some low-hanging fruit that needed little or no government money anyway. The federal government will get a piece of the pie - $100M a year.royalties - which in the usual government scheme goes directly to the Treasury without passing through Energy's pockets. The government could actually make itself and SBIR look a lot better if it picked a lot more such projects at the lower risk margin with good money making potential. Only the hard-core free marketers and the SBIR losers would scream "corporate welfare". Their screams could be blown off by noting the huge ambiguity in assessing risk-reward.

ATMI (nee Advanced Technology Materials Inc) (Danbury, CT)

ATMI up 10% [May 4, 09]

ATMI down 14% [Apr 22, 09]

ATMI up 12% [Apr 9, 09]

ATMI up 11% [Mar 23, 09]

ATMI up 10% [Mar 10, 09]

ATMI up 17% [Feb 13, 09]

ATMI down 10% [Jan 9, 09]

ATMI up 13% [Dec 16, 08]

ATMI up 11% [Nov 26, 08]

ATMI up 13% [Nov 24, 08]

ATMI down 10% [Oct 15, 08]

ATMI up 10% [Oct 13, 08]

Forbes 200 Best Small Companies list for 2008 had several "SBIR involved" companies: Hittite Microwave 12, II-IV 23, Synaptics 33, NVE 39, ATMI 114, Cymer 166.

ATMI cut its 2008 forecast again, saying market conditions have "significantly deteriorated" as semiconductor-product demand slumps. [Wall Street Journal, Sep 27, 08]

ATMI has won the 2008 R&D 100 Award, for "the first and only in-situ ion implant cleaning process. The ATMI AutoClean System saves time and money by dramatically increasing ion source life and time between preventative maintenance." [Reports Duane Zieg of MDA's Tech Applications] ATMI does more than collect attaboys for R&D niceties; it makes money, maybe more money as a multiple of its SBIR early contribution than almost every other SBIR recipient. Too bad that nobody knows whether that claim is politically extravagant in this season of extravagance because no one with authority in SBIR matters dares ask the question.

ATMI down 11% [Sep 4, 08] has delayed the launch of a number of new products due to its "new business model" and sees research and development expenses rising in the short term, sending its shares down to their lowest in more than three years. [Reuters]

ATMI down 16% [Jul 14, 08] after it said its second-quarter earnings and revenue will fall short of analysts' expectations amid shipment delays and lower memory sales. [Wall Street Journal, Jul 15, 08]

Forbes's annual list of the best 200 small companies had several SBIR awardees: Ceradyne #12, Flir Systems 37, II-IV 58, ATMI 69, ViaSat 90, Surmodics 105, Micrel 149, OPNET Tech 167.

ATMI hired former chief of the DARPA's Science Department, Dr. Lawrence H. Dubois, as Senior Vice-President and CTO. He was most recently Head of the Physical Sciences Division at SRI International and is also Chairman-Elect of the Defense Sciences Research Council. [press release, Sep 20, 07]

ATMI is teaming with Kinik Company Ltd., a leader in wafer reclamation technology, to provide wafer reclaim services for a major Taiwanese semiconductor foundry using ATMI's unique RegenSi(tm) silicon process technology. [ATMI press release, Jul 18, 07] From its start in the green garage, and some nursery SBIR, ATMI has a $1B market cap twenty+ years later. Oh, if SBIR had got a proportional piece of equity in Advanced Technology Materials when it had just its four founding employees, the profit would have covered a lot of the mediocrity that SBIR has bought over the years.

These biotechs riding the profitless volatility of low stock prices could look to a real SBIR winner that used SBIR in its infancy to develop new products. If the government would use some normalizer for measuring the value of its SBIR "investments", ATMI should be right near the head of the pile in Return on Investment by any reasonable measure. It is currently making $40M annual profit on $280M sales, being followed by 18 stock analysts, employing 700 bodies (the politicians like that), and paying $10M+ a year in taxes.

ATMI stock has again reached the thirties where it has peaked in cycles for the last five years in accord with Chairman Gene's observance that ATMI serves a cyclic industry. ATMI got a 12% boost when it reported fourth-quarter earnings up 32%.

Gene Banucci, the business guy among ATMI's four founders, who still be chairman after he surrenders his CEO role. Gene and ATMI could be the poster children for SBIR's highest goals - feeding innovation in its infancy, and only its infancy. One of Gene's favorite phrases was "SBIR junkies" as he served on countless panels.

The market loved ATMI's profit report as the stock rose 14% yesterday putting it in the top percentage gainers for the day. (Oct 04)

Main man Gene Banucci said: ATMI's third quarter is distinct directionally from those of many participants in the semiconductor supply chain. We expect pressures on the supply chain to continue in the fourth quarter as wafer start growth goes negative from essentially flat in the third quarter. Our best estimate at present is that wafer starts will shrink 7-10% during the fourth quarter and return to a growth mode in the first quarter of 2005. As far as ATMI is concerned, we anticipate that our copper wafer start-driven base of business will enable us to mitigate much of the impact of the global trend. on reporting $6M quarterly profits.

HouseCleaning. ATMI sold its semiconductor fabrication plant parts cleaning services business to Materials Support Resources Inc as part of its on-going sale of business lines.

Copper Eggs. ATMI's annual report waxes as enthusiastic as public companies are allowed to wax on how copper from a copper goose is now the egg for ATMI's continuing success. Although revenues were $170M, profits were negative, and several business lines were spun off into larger businesses because they were too small to have a strategic impact by themselves. AMTI has made a huge gamble on copper interconnects, a technology that only recently came into view from work at IBM. Real companies in high-tech industries have no choice but to regularly bet the company. From four guys in a garage with a little savings and mortgages in the early 80s, plus a couple of SBIRs to start, Gene Banucci guided Advanced Technology Materials Inc through many SBIRs for ground-breaking technologies, into a public company in 1992, and a yo-yo profit cycle in sync with the intensely world competitive semiconductor industry. SBIR policy wonks who want SBIR to produce a noticeable ROI should study who in government supported ATMI and why over the 15 years from its inception to its out-growing both the qualification and need for SBIR. CEO Gene has offered lessons to the government as a regular contributor, at considerable expenditure of his time, to SBIR panels and studies. Unhappily, few in government seem to have listened.

Pilot-fish rides the whale. ATMI's CEO Gene Banucci credited the quarterly good profits to rising growth in the semiconductor industry that ATMI serves. It made $6M on $56M revenue. Still, in anticipation of the next cyclical swing in semiconductors, ATMI's stock price has dropped 20% in the last few weeks.

ATMI stock took a dive when it surprised Wall Street with a dour prediction of a big quarterly loss including a big write-down ($12M) from money-losing "technologies business" and outsourcing its entire manufacturing operations. Igor Greenwald in Smart Money opined that the party's over for ATMI whose stock hit a 52-week high a month ago amid indications of strong industry growth. .. But its equipment business isn't doing as well (as the materials business), forcing the company to write down the cost of two plants closed as part of a push to outsource equipment manufacturing.

ATMI acquires ESC, a manufacturer of copper and advanced interconnect cleaning materials; [Jul2003]

One attendee at the Academies' SBIR day was Gene Banucci, CEO of ATMI. Gene continues to give of his time, regardless of the press of business at an actively traded public company, tp, as he says, pay back for all ATMI got from SBIR. Unlike the other participating CEOs who plead for favored rules, Gene has no vested interest in the outcome since ATMI graduated by growth from SBIR eligibility.

ATMI, one of SBIR's best stories where the seed money went into real revenue producing future products, reported another annual loss from the tech bubble burst. Revenues are still respectable at $200M down from the golden year 2000 at $300M. CEO and co-founder Gene Banucci, one of the smoothest and smartest guys to get SBIR, notes that the semiconductor industry is transforming itself into a few really high-cost plants servicing an ant hill of fabless chip designers. That means less general business for fab support suppliers like ATMI..

while ATMI may have a 50% market share i... I think SDS is asymptotically approaching 100% share. You just have to wait until the installed based of older systems gets displaced, because all new systems are configured for SDS. And SDS is a very high-margin product, perhaps 70% gross profit margins in good times [Robert Sternat, Wall Street Transcript, Jan 7,03] SDS grew from an MDA (then SDIO) SBIR investment in the late 80s. Back when SDIO thought technological advance was good for everyone including the long term prospects for the steep tech advance needed to make Star Wars possible. The present MDA seems to believe that it already has all the technology it needs and lacks only a national political will to deploy it.

ATMI takes another hit in the soggy semiconductor business as it announces it lost $3M for the quarter plus another $22M to write down its gallium arsenide epitaxial services business. At least revenue was up to $52M, well over last year's quarter.

300th Patent
(Sep10) Said Chairman Gene,Receiving our 300th US patent in our 16th year of business shows how important ATMI considers intellectual property development. More important than the size of our portfolio is how we translate our innovations into new commercial products and how cost-effective our products are for our customers. ATMI's 300th patent, "Gas Cabinet Assembly Comprising Sorbent-Based Gas Storage and Delivery System," is part of our library of more than 40 sub-atmospheric gas delivery system patents, arguably ATMI's core product line. As far as patent efficiency is concerned, we believe the data indicates ATMI is one of the most efficient developers in the world."

Just What Besides Copper?. With copper getting more play in chips, platers need to know what besides copper is in the bath and what else might escape into the effluent stream. ATMI's bid to be the major supplier of the answer got a boost as it bought Microbar's Copper 2.0 Suite Delivery and Waste Recovery System product line. Tom Talasek, Senior Product Line Director for ATMI said, "The Copper 2.0 delivery system joins ATMI's CuChem copper bath analysis tool in our overall strategy to create complete material management solutions, in this case, the copper electroplating process tool." ATMI says its CuChem product line is the newest addition to its proven line of on-line analytical instrumentation specifically developed to support the semiconductor industry.

As Intel lays off 4000 workers and ATMI reports a loss, one borker makes ATMI a strong buy as the trading price seems to level off after a 30% dive in recent weeks.

Our industry is cyclical - and when it cycles down, it can be nasty. So we went to work to do smart things that prepare great companies to grow when good times return, says Gene Banucci in ATMI's annual report that tells how ATMI lost $10M for the year after making $43M in 2000. Gene was always citing what he learned from Jack Welch and one of Neutron Jack's rules that in down times, invest in opening a lead over your nearest competitor for the next upturn. One evidence of that rules is that ATMI spent 15% of sales on R&D, 10% more R&D spending than the previous year despite sales being down 30%. The annual report has a climb-the-mountain graph of cumulative R&D and patents that would make a mutual fund manager proud. A good chunk of that R&D in the company's first decade came from SBIR.

Gene Banucci also notes that The semiconductor industry is rapidly consolidating those few manufacturers who can afford to build $3B plants.

ATMI lost $9.7M for the year after making $43.7M last year. President Doug Neugold blamed The semiconductor industry's worst-in-its-lifetime downturn, dissipated consumer demand, and the national recession all combined to create a difficult economic scenario. Market cap stays near the top of its 12-month range as traders must be looking for the next upswing in the cyclical semiconductor industry.

ATMI took a 50% hit in revenue and lost $1.6M. Palin speaking CEO Gene Banucci said, The industry is in the sharpest and most pervasive downturn I have ever seen. We reduced annualized expenses by $25 million earlier in the year, primarily through plant closings and staff reductions. It wasn't enough.

The worst downturn in history, said CEO Gene Banucci as ATMI warned of a coming hole in its profits with only $40M revenue for the quarter. The market drove the stock down 14% Friday to near its perigee over the last few year and a market cap of $470M.

Profits Almost Vanished
(Jul 26) Gene Banucci, ATMI CEO, said, "We'd like to say we have seen the bottom of this industry cycle, but as we indicated in early June, we don't expect to see any improvement in the third quarter. If anything, early indications suggest a continued slowing of economic activity throughout the semiconductor supply chain." ATMI reported that profits almost vanished in the latest quarter, down 90%. One question for Gene: When you were getting tons of SBIR, the government was financing a lot of your innovation. Now that you are on your own, who will finance the high-risk stuff that makes for products eight years from now? Gene had the good business sense to seek only SBIRs that would further private business; he didn't do government funded science for strictly government purposes. If the government would adopt the same core idea - that SBIR should be for future innovative products - SBIR would be contributing something substantial to the nation's economy. The new head of SBA could take notice and convert his Office of Advocacy into an advocate of SBIR's being used for something useful to everyone.

ATMI Sees Downturn
(Jun 25)Dear Shareholder: ATMI's first quarter for 2001 was pretty good, given the circumstances. What are "the circumstances?" The semiconductor industry is in a severe downturn. No one quite knows where the bottom is. What is becoming increasingly clear is that this will be the industry's worst ever slump. End-user demand for semiconductors in the personal computer, telecommunications, and dot-com worlds has dropped precipitously. The first quarter of 2001 was the initial period to feel the effects of the downturn - when the industry has one this big, no company can escape feeling its wrath, including ATMI. Our next two quarters are going to be much weaker than we had originally hoped or forecast earlier this year. Nonetheless, a downturn is ATMI's opportunity to shine, showing the resiliency of our materials-based business model. We are doing everything we can to grow market share, add new customers, introduce new technologies, and expand our global presence. We have the ability, financial wherewithal, and people to take advantage of the opportunities that appear during downturns. [Gene Banucci, company press release]

We've said some things here about ATMI's future. Although we meant what we said when we said it, things can change. We can't control everything that changes. That's why the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 has a Safe Harbor provision, which is why we are writing this. [Gene Banucci, CEO] Maybe there's a connection between plain talk and an SBIR firm's paying $26M in income taxes last year.

ATMI's profit dropped 6% (only 6%) while quarterly revenues jumped again, 23% to $77M. ATMI also paid $4.5M in income taxes for the quarter. For those looking for evaluation criteria for SBIR commercialization (as opposed to softball stories about new technology), income taxes paid is an easy and direct measure for the US Treasury.

More Record Growth
(Feb 9) ATMI announced that fourth quarter revenues rose 46% to $87M. Net income was $10.6M, a 54% increase. For the full year, revenues rose 48% to $300M. Net income, excluding one-time gains or expenses, increased 105% to $40M. Said Chairman Gene "We posted outstanding results for 2000 with revenues up nearly 50% and net income more than doubled. Contributors to the increase in our SG&A (selling, general, and administrative) costs included the accelerated implementation of a new worldwide enterprise system, intellectual property litigation-related legal expenses, and the continuing integration of acquired facilities. ... We have long indicated our belief that ATMI should grow at twice the rate of wafer starts, which we believe will be about 5% this year. That's the kind of talk and results that SBIR should be seeking from every company if it is to have any noticeable impact on American technological growth. Whereas banging away at government missions needs with contract R&D companies will produce no such growth potential.

ATMI Up but Down ATMI reports glowing results while the stock price tanks. Chairman Gene talks of expansive growth while the pundits moan about declining semi-conductors. Do they all inhabit the same world? A T M I's second quarter results were our best ever - in a year that should set new financial records. revenues up 41% to $69.4 million, and we almost doubled operating earnings per share to $0.32.Revenues grew 51% for the first half with operating earnings per share just five cents short of tripling. This year is another boom year for the semiconductor industry. Semiconductor manufacturers worldwide are running their factories at close to full capacity, trying to keep up with chip demand. The dual needs of keeping up with the latest, most efficient production technologies as well as expanding capacity to meet rapidly growing demand are also making this year the largest ever in the dollars earmarked for new chip making equipment. All of the A T M I customers we've talked to see continued growth and market strength throughout 2000 and into 2001 [company report Nov 16] Meanwhile the stock price is about the lowest it has been in two years at only 15 times earnings. One crude rule of thumb in the stock market is that a cheap stock is any company whose earnings growth rate is higher than its PE ratio.

ATMI traded at a 52-week low Friday despite making real money and a Dataquest report that semiconductor sales will show double-digit growth in the next three years as manufacturers find places for them in a variety of devices other than the personal computer, a new report finds. Sales of semiconductors are growing at a rate of at least 25 percent as electronics manufacturers put them in cellular phones, gaming consoles, cameras, set-top boxes, handheld electronic organizers and other devices .

ATMI registered a Japan subsidiary and opened an office in Tokyo to keep up with the Japanese semiconductor market. Duncan Brown, superb metalorganic chemist, one of four founders of ATMI will be President.

ATMI Profit Doubles AgainATMI Profit Doubles Again
(Sep 5). Second quarter revenues were up 41% $69M, operating earnings per share doubled to $0.32. Says Chairman Gene, This year is another boom year for the semiconductor industry. Semiconductor manufacturers worldwide are running their factories at close to full capacity, trying to keep up with chip demand. The dual needs of keeping up with the latest, most efficient production technologies as well as expanding capacity to meet rapidly growing demand are also making this year the largest ever in the dollars earmarked for new chip making equipment. All of the A T M I customers we've talked to see continued growth and market strength throughout 2000 and into 2001. As a result, we see A T M I continuing to flourish. More importantly, A T M I is continuing to grow faster than its competitors. More taxes to repay the large SBIR investment. How many others are doing the same payback, and how many contribute only the research the government paid for?

More Capacity Constraint.
(Jul 28) UBS analyst Byron N. Walker said ATMI's "growth and margin expansion were curtailed by capacity constraints in certain key areas, as well as costly and time-consuming infrastructure upgrades." Walker also cut his 12-month price target to $51 from $55. As his comments dropped the stock price below $30 (60% below its high), his optimism must dim a little. Meanwhile, Emcore finished another capacity growth to handle the volume orders for photonics products, as its stock dropped also.

ATMI Sinks. Having reported record earnings, ATMI finds its stock priced pummeled 28% by a broker's downgrade. Business owners and investors will recall Keynes's dictum that the way to bet on a beauty contest is not on who you think is the best beauty but on who you think the judges will think the best beauty.This despite the semiconductor industry boom, up 57% on the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and bright prospects for more.

Semiconductors and ATMI Booming.
(July 20) ATMI boosted revenues 41% to $69M for the quarter as per share earnings rose to $0.32, from $0.17 (excluding one-time merger-related costs in the second quarter last year). Chairman Gene (Banucci) said, The semiconductor industry is booming,and we see this expansion continuing. ATMI's Technologies businesses --where capacity investment is a key driver -- turned in an excellent performance for the second quarter. Our Materials businesses -- driven by how many chips are being made -- are continuing to ramp, as process tools delivered over the last three to four quarters start to come on-line. Wanna make a great SBIR proposal? Emulate ATMI in making new products for a grwoiung industry. Maybe the only better industry at the moment is photonic components which is why SBIR-beneficiary (albeit minor) SDL is selling itself for $41B after much newer (and major SBIR-beneficiary) CoreTek sold itself for $1.4B.

ATMI Pays Heavy Taxes
(Jun 15) There's an old saw that you should be happy to pay a lot of tax because it means you're making a lot of money. ATMI says it paid $7.6M in taxes last quarter because it made a huge profit. Says CEO Gene Banucci, The year 2000 will be a record year for the production of semiconductor chips - as a result, A T M I is growing rapidly. This year will also be a record setting one for the semiconductor equipment industry - meaning there will a lot more equipment for us to feed in coming years. As you might expect, A T M I's first quarter was our best ever - our revenues were up 64% to $61M. During the quarter we sold half of our investment in Xicor, which increased overall EPS to $0.47. (We invested in Xicor as a way to help develop our Emosyn smart card venture.) Our business, overall, is going great guns. Part of the reason we feel we're doing so well is because of our market expansion business strategy during the industry's darker days. The acquisitions we completed in 1998 and 1999 - at favorable prices in a down market - are now growing and thriving. They are doing well not only because of their own valuable product lines, but also because of the significant improvement they see by being associated with A T M I. There's more demand for these products as they are integrated with other A T M I products to create complete materials solutions for our customers. ATMI has just about paid back in taxes all the SBIR investment of the 80s and early 90s. Not many companies can make such a claim (mostly because the government didn't invest in companies and technologies that ever had much chance of creating tax revenue. Since the federal agencies gets no benefit from Treasury tax collections, they have no incentive to think large.

ATMI will expand its silicon epitaxial technology to enter the power discrete semiconductor market. The batch silicon epitaxy expansion at ATMI's Epitronics Services business -- the world's largest independent specialty epitaxial foundry -- is a key part of its on-going strategy to provide a comprehensive range of specialty epitaxial services to meet all customer requirements.

ATMI says it won first place "Award of Excellence" for mid-sized companies at the Connecticut Business & Industry Association's 11th Annual Safety Success Awards. ATMI also received an "Award of Commendation" third place recognition for mid-sized companies in CBIA's 3rd Annual Environmental Success Awards. CBIA sponsors this annual conference focused on important environmental, health, and safety topics. ATMI is one of the great SBIR success stories. It used SBIR to get started in the mid-80s with product development, not merely useful government science. It went public in 1993 and today has a $1.3B market cap.

Then, the Asian markets started coming back, Internet infrastructure investments accelerated, you bought a new PC, the wireless revolution kicked into high gear, ..... We're at the beginning of what experts say is going to be a multi-year boom cycle. ATMI is poised - with growing market share and technology portfolio - to take good advanatge of this upturn. Stick around and watch us grow. [Gene Banucci, CEO ATMI, annual report] Good work, Gene, you turned the world and the rising tide lifted your boat.Gene's partly right about multi-boom, but a lot of counter-arguing experts predict a funk. Gene has it right about a rich and varied technology portfolio - almost all seeded by SBIR - scrubbers, gas sources, III-V deposition, CVD diamond, SiC, ..... ATMI also made $10.5M net profit after paying aid $7.7M in income taxes.

ATMI Sixfold Not Enough
(Apr 20) ATMI got hammered 19% yesterday when it reported a way cool sixfold increase in earnings. At its low for the day it was down a third. $13.5M iprofit and $7.9M income taxes. The government is getting its ROI for the SBIR investments in income taxes paid. Which is one measure the government could use to evaluate SBIR's economic effect. Nah, don't worry, the straphangers and the pandering politicians will scotch any hard evaluations.

If the chip industry�s in the middle of a big growth phase, then chip maker�s stocks should be hot right now. Or, a little further down the food chain, stock in companies that make the stuff chip makers use to make their chips. At the Online Investor Web site, James Hale profiles one such company ATMI supplies thin film materials, equipment and delivery systems. The stock has doubled in the last year. ... ATMI is also in a business that Hale cautions is notoriously cyclical, and although the chip industry looks like its in the beginning of a lengthy boom period, investors should be alert for signs of an end to that part of the cycle. Watch demand for the secondary offering. Hale says that will set the tone for ATMI stock.

Cashing Out A Profit
(Mar 9) Some early investors in ATMI will cash out. While the stock is at an all-time high, ATMI will offer 3M shares, half owned by individuals, and the other half by the company which will pick up another $75M or so ready cash for more acquisitions or whatever. If the government were such an equity investor, it would have a profit of tens of millions on its SBIR in the late 80s. Presumably, those early investors will see the value of linking their investment to SBIR in good new companies and will do it again. They do NOT sit on their profits.

ATMI (Danbury, CT and elsewhere) got a vote of confidence from Raytheon when Raytheon RF Components selected ATMI's Epitronics business to be its primary supplier of Indium Gallium Phosphide (InGaP) emitter Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor (HBT) epitaxial wafers (that's a mouthful). Use of HBT devices is critically important for making components that improve wireless communications equipment performance. Using InGaP materials enhances the benefits of HBTs over more typically-used materials such as Aluminum Gallium Arsenide (AlGaAs). Maybe ATMI can show Raytheon how to make money outside the defense markets where everyone is struggling in a post Cold War world. The announcement did nothing for ATMI's stock price.

Real Results From Real Companies.
Dear Shareholder: A T M I's third quarter was a good one. The good results were triggered by both the significant growth of the semiconductor industry and A T M I's continuing gains in market share. From our vantage point, it certainly looks like the downturn of 1998 is over - in fact semiconductor industry experts foresee 2000 and 2001 to be very high growth years. ... At the end of the quarter, Taiwan had an earthquake that shut down all semiconductor operations. We are happy to report that none of our employees or customers were hurt. Taiwan has grown to be 11-12% of A T M I's overall business, and we only see that growing. Revenues $45.6M, profit $5.1M for the quarter [Gene Banucci, Dec 99]

Buy ATMI After the 40% air pocket, two investment houses recommend a "strong buy" on ATMI, which they say is capacity limited in its Ecosys and Epitronics business lines. That's every SBIR applicant's dream - oh, to be capacity limited.

ATMI Makes Money Again
(Oct 21) A T M I (Danbury, CT) reported net income of $5.1M on $45.6 million in revenue for its third quarter on the back of a 55% revenue increase. Chairman Gene credited the revival of the semiconductor industry for its demanding ever more of ATMIs support products. ATMI also announced another acquisition, Newform, NV of Belgium, which will expand ATMI's presence in Europe and its specialty packaging business. Maybe the Belgian parliament will inquire how its small companies are being preyed upon by US companies who get government subsidy. Yes, SBIR is a subsidy under trade rules. But our Congress can conveniently look the other way, or throw brickbats at the WTO on demand, when we do what we complain about in others. No Belgian will be voting for any US member of Congress anyway.

Welcome to the semiconductor industry roller-coaster, says Gene Banucci to open his quarterly report of ATMI. As measured by his stock price and as measured by the near tripling of TJ Rodgers's Cypress Semiconductor, things are in the up-phase. Just whisper that news to Emcore and Implant Sciences whose stock prices have taken a dive in recent weeks.

ATMI either made $4M profit or a $1.5M loss depending on your view of a $5.5M one-time write-off of acquisition expenses. One should view reports of one-off write-offs carefully to see that they are not a mirage to cover continuous losses.

ATMI Acquires Another
(May 20) ATMI (Danbury, CT) will acquire Advanced Chemical Systems International (Milpitas, CA) because, CEO Gene Banucci says, ATMI's goal is to be the one-stop source for semiconductor specialty front-end materials. Adding ACSI and its products to our portfolio extends ATMI's reach - beyond chemical vapor deposition, ion implant materials, and specialty materials packaging - into photolithography and chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) materials. ACSI's 85 employees make photolithography chemicals and offers the semiconductor industry novel high purity CMP materials that ensure greater surface planarity. ATMI stock jumped again, not on this news but in news that ATMI's most representative customer - Advanced Materials - had a healthy earnings surprise.

Chairman Gene Banucci speaks: The question on everybody's mind is "can ATMI recapture its growth?" If you held our stock through the vicious cycles of 1998, I am sure there is a significant FUD - fear, uncertainty, and doubt - factor. Inside ATMI, there is positively no fear and absolutely no doubt. We're coming back. ... Here's why: the growth of the chip market is as unstoppable as the Information Age: it will grow. The semiconductor industry produces more than 3000 chips each year for every person born. ... In less than two years, the semiconductor industry produces enough chips to match the total number of stars o the Milky Way. ... It would take almost 9500 elephants to balance the weight of all the chips produced in one year.
ATMI earned only $6.4M in 1998 and paid $3.6M in income taxes. ATMI has not paid about $20M in income taxes and the expected steady stream makes it one of SBIR's premier investments. That's a real ROI measure, not a feeble post-SBIR commercial revenue statistic.
ATMI acquired TeloSense Corporation for $5.5 million. It will thus expand its gas sensor operation. TeloSense Corporation is a private company and is among the top 3 companies in semiconductor gas detection. TeloSense's patented SonoSense(tm) acoustic gas sensing technology analyzes the speed of sound through air to selectively monitor for the presence of hydrogen in their H2M (Hydrogen Monitor). Other TeloSense products include the ACM (Air Composition Monitor) using FT-IR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) for the detection of acid gases, VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and HAPs (Hazardous Air Pollutants); and the TGM (Toxic Gas Monitor) for the detection of extremely low levels of metal hydride and other toxic gases using Molecular Emission Spectroscopy. [press release, May 5] ATMI also announced a new semiconductor industry-wide SDS(r) Gas Source retrofit program for ion implanters. The retrofit program is a joint effort between ATMI's NovaSource business, end users of Ion Implant equipment, and Matheson Electronic Products Group (EPG), the exclusive licensee to market, manufacture, and distribute worldwide the SDS products to the implant market. Under this new program, Matheson is identifying opportunities to offer semiconductor manufacturers an easy, low risk approach to changing from high-pressure implant dopant gases to sub-atmospheric SDS(r) Gas Sources. Matheson works with end users to identify an upgrade program that addresses their needs to maximize tool utilization, lower costs, and improve safety.The program provides the end user with information that will assist them in determining the advantages of the upgrade. [press release, Apr 26]

ATMI Profit Down
(Feb 12) For 1998 ATMI (Danbury, CT) made only $8.7M profit, down from $15M in 1997. Said CEO Gene Banucci, "We believe we have gained market share in each of our businesses during the year. We announced two new ventures - Emosyn for smart card devices, and Q4D for semiconductor process gas sensors. We completed our acquisition of NOW Technologies.

Smart Card
(Nov 19) Emosyn, the fabless smart card venture of ATMI (Danbury, CT) announced its Rania(tm) Rapid Development Environment - a radical new approach to smart card solutions that can help streamline development cycles for smart card chips while allowing smart card developers to continually define, refine, and enhance smart card programs. It's a set of low-cost software development tools for smart cards - Simulation, Hardware Acceleration, and Instrumentation - designed to eliminate the need for extensive silicon-based testing. ATMI expects to next year by Emosyn's emerging family of Theseus(tm) smart card IC's, developed with EM Microelectronic. The Theseus architecture extends the existing technologies for density, speed, power, and memory partitioning. The Rania(tm) Rapid Development Environment is available to smart card manufacturers at US $750 (single user license) for the simulator module, and $3000 for the hardware accelerator module. {ATMI Press Release Nov 18] Can't sell semiconductor processing support equipment? Diversify into smart cards and compete in another tough game.

ATMI (Danbury, CT) quarterly revenues $21.7M, down 11% from the previous quarter with profit $1.1M, down from $1.7M. Which comports with Wood's analysis that world over-capacity has brought on the financial crisis. ATMI's growth depends on an expanding world capacity in semiconductors.

ATMI Gets 100th Patent.
(Oct 8) ATMI (Danbury, CT) got its 100th United States patent. ATMI also has 16 patents allowed, more than 100 US patents pending, and many patent licenses and foreign patents. That's .22 patents per employee whereas patent champ IBM has .06 per employee, says ATMI's co-founder Glenn Tom.

Near the end of April, with no warning, demand disappeared, says Gene Banucci in ATMI's quarterly report. Gene spices his We are confident report with words like slump, overcapacity, worst decline, downturn, plummeted... and says there are more opportunities than ever for acquisitions. ATMI is just one victim of a mostly unforeseen shift in semiconductor industry caused by the Asian contagion and a US shift to cheaper computers. The era of Intel and the chippers making rising prices from rising crunch power is at a crossroads. The Wall Street Journal [Aug 21] notes that it is affecting strategies throughout the industry's food chain. The new Intel Celeron chips, targeted at chips costing around $900, still aren't suited for newer machines, pushing prices much lower. Which is good for lowball chippers but bad for the established quality chip makers and their suppliers. SBIR proposers of ever-greater technology will probably however, notice no shift in government's attitude. Icebergs crawl and the techno-wizards who run the SBIR programs won't accept such downshifting. But the ones who pay attention to commercialization prospects should notice that the commercialization plans will have even more fantasy than before.

New ATMI Products (Jul 13) ATMI (Danbury, CT) announced three new products for the semiconductor industry. 1) a point-of-use ultra-low water use environmental system, for CVD, etch, and epitaxy (epi) process tools which abates SiH4 without an additional heat source; 2) a small, in-situ dry scrubber that installs into ion implanter exhaust lines and removes fundamentally all acid and toxic gases, operates at room temperature, with minimal electrical demand; and 3) the industry's first three-stage effluent gas scrubber designed for multi-chamber CVD. Now if ATMI could just get Korea and Indonesia buying semiconductors again, the stock price could recover the 2/3 it has lost in the past year.

And So....ATMI Says Lower Earnings ATMI Says Lower Earnings (Jul 1) ATMI (Danbury, CT) expects earnings for its second and third quarters to be as much as 50% below earnings levels in the comparable quarters in 1997... Gene Banucci, CEO said, "The semiconductor industry seems to have shifted into a lower gear at the start of the second quarter.

ATMI Announces and Bounces ATMI Announces and Bounces (Jun 2) EcoSys, the environmental part of ATMI (Danbury, CT) announced a new way to treat hazardous fluorine gas emissions - essentially eliminates the risk of producing potentially lethal oxygen difluoride (OF2) by treating the corrosive fluorine gas with its non-caustic, liquid scrubbing solution. Dr. Jose Arno, Chief Technologist of EcoSys, said, "We improved F2 abatement by combining EcoSys liquid scrubbing technology with a unique injection system that uses an inexpensive, non-caustic chemical agent. This new solution eliminates caustic material use to reduce F2 corrosiveness." It will now be an integral part of the Vector(R) liquid scrubbing product line. EcoSys is presenting a technical paper covering the test results of this new solution at the PFC conference during SEMICON/West in July, where it will also introduce this new solution to customers. Simultaneous with the announcement the NASDAQ traders drove ATMI's stock further down another 15%, after the 24% drop Friday, while the NASDAQ was taking a beating generally. That's almost two-thirds down from its pre-Asian contagion high. ATMI bounced to close down 9% on a day the NASDAQ was down 2%.

Opinion Drops ATMI (Jun 1) If you buy and sell stocks on the bigger fool theory, you would join the crowd in marking down ATMI by 20% Friday when an analysts downgraded his opinion from "strong buy" to merely "buy". Said Needham, ATMI's underwriter, ATMI will likely see a revenue slowdown as Asian economic turmoil eats at demand, and will not see a rebound in equipment sales before 1999. [Needham] expects the company to earn 90 cents a share in 1998 and $1.44 a share in 1999. The 90 cents would make ATMI's PE ratio only 20 (after the 24% dip to $18). The S&P 500 sits at 27 times las12 months earnings. (PE students can read Gene Epstein's essay in Jun 1 Barrons.] If you buy and sell on prospects for a growing business, you would have to look deeper than an analyst's opinion. If you buy and sell on the discounted future dividends theory, you would likely have to wait a long time to see the dividend stream anyway .

ATMI Opinion Boost
(May 7) A big Wall Street firm issued a new list of semiconductor stock coverage in which it recommended ATMI as "outperform" (WS lingo for buy, buy!). Just look at Gene Banucci's smirk in the annual report to see his opinion. In that report, Gene credits three companies as sources of ATMI's strategy: 3M, GE, and Intel. Gene has come a long way from the "green garage up in New Milford" in 1986. [Note: Carl Nelson Consulting, Inc is not an investment adviser and may hold a financial interest or client relationship in companies discussed.] If you'd like to copy ATMI's success start with a couple of smart chemists, and savvy business guy, and an idea with market pull that just needs proving and development. Get an SBIR that can produce a prototype by the end of Phase 1 and go market it while you negotiate Phase 2. That means as much attention to the market economics as to the beautiful science. Then use SBIR to get other products started while you bring the cash cow to market.

From a wildly successful SBIR president: 1997 was an incredible year for your Company. ATMI more than doubled in size. We achieved record operating profitability. We acquired ADCS and Lawrence Semiconductor. We filed more than three times the number of patents we have in any other year. Our market capitalization ended the year up almost 300%, at over $450 million. Most importantly for you: our stock price finished the year up over 40% on top of gains of 68% and 70% in 1995 and 1996. Now that ATMI (Danbury, CT) has outgrown SBIR, we can note that before that happened, ATMI paid more than $17M in income taxes. And a lot more to come. It is one of the few companies that can claim a net plus to the government from SBIR; the rest will have to do their best to claim "value received".

ATMI Doubled Profit, Again. (Apr 29) ATMI (Danbury, CT) nearly doubled its quarterly profit over last year's quarter, making $4.46M. For such success, ATMI paid another $2.2M in income taxes, getting nearer and nearer to paying back all its zillions of SBIR dollars. The market still likes ATMI, trading it at 95 times earnings. Return to Index

ATMI as a strong buy ATMI as a strong buy (Mar 30) Having announced its role in the secondary offering Hambrecht & Quist again recommends ATMI as a strong buy. As does Needham & Co. ATMI keeps growing; the pending merger of NOW Technologies (Bloomington, MN) will loose another 1.35 million common shares of ATMI. Now has a patented NOWPak system, for packaging advanced photoresist materials. NOW's 100 employees will just about push ATMI out of the SBIR program as one of the best examples of what SBIR could do. From 4 to 500+ employees and a $700M market cap in a dozen years.

ATMI Secondary (Mar 27) ATMI Inc will sell 4,720,000 shares of stock at $29.50 to raise $59M for the company and let some of the early investors cash out their handsome profit from the other $79M.

ATMI Repays SBIR (Feb 12) ATMI Inc (Danbury, CT) paid $5.9M in taxes in 1997 and thus repaid the government for about its first six years of SBIR money. To pay that much tax, you gotta earn a nice profit. $102M revenues, a 15% rise over 1996, and profit of $13.4M. Few companies can make a claim to repay their SBIR money. The four guys in the garage in 1985 now have $30M cash and about a 4:1 current ratio (current assets to current liabilities).

A 33% ROI (Nov 26) If the government had taken an equity position in ATMI Inc (Danbury, CT) proportional to its SBIR over the last decade, it would have a 33% internal rate of return, says a calculation by ATMI. Of course it's hypothetical because the government doesn't take equity. But it is a measure that SBIR could use to evaluate itself. ATMI has had about $36M of SBIR and the present market value of the 8.5M shares the government would have acquired would have been $212M at $25 a share at the end of 1997.

ATMI-TI JV (Oct 21) Advanced Technology Materials said it formed a joint development program with Texas Instruments (TI) to develop high density non-volatile memory technology, specifically ATMI's process technology for the fabrication of ferroelectric memories, leveraging integration work from their recently completed "DRAM Consortium" with IBM, Micron Technology, and Varian. Before the consortium was a SDIO Phase 2 SBIR for CVD deposition of lead zirconium titanate (PZT) films, the basis of these new memories. Of note, SDIO also funded Nonvolatile Electronics (Eden Prairie, MN) to cover as many bets as there were market-driven small companies to bet on.

New Stock Symbol New Stock Symbol (Oct 20) Advanced Technology Materials Inc (Danbury, CT) is now ATMI Inc, trading on NASDAQ as ATMID, because it's now a holding company after gobbling up ADCS and Lawrence Semiconductor. Imagine that! An SBIR company does so well it becomes a holding company instead of a hobby shop. Not everyone liked the idea, though, as the stock dipped 20% last week. ATMI was also last year's fifth place winner in the SBIR derby with $5.9M. It's probably the only SBIR firm that can say it has returned anything like a competitive ROI for the SBIR money invested. Its market cap of $300M (down last week from $400M) makes something in the range of a 15% (or so) annual ROI on the $20M or so SBIR since 1986. We'll ask CEO Gene Banucci what is his effective ROI.

SDS for CVD
(Oct 15) Said Karl Olander of ATMI's NovaPure, We expect the SDS(tm) Gas Source to be as successful in CVD applications as it is for ion implantation. The reasons are simple: enhanced productivity, superior tool performance, and increased safety compared with traditional high-pressure cylinders. The SDS(tm) Gas Source can be integrated inside, or next to, the process tool. This eliminates expensive remote gas cabinets and extensive double-walled piping. ... Peter Kirlin, ATMI Executive Vice President, (up from PI years ago) ATMI is aggressively looking to apply the SDS(tm) Gas Source technology to additional product markets. We are enthusiastic about the SDS(tm) Gas Source's future. It offers a new era in gas handling productivity and safety. The spread of the pure and safe gas delivery of very nasty gases that make very nice micro- electronics helsp propel Advanced Technology Materials (Danbury, CT) to its $400M market cap. [Source: ATMI Press Release Oct 14]

More Gas
(Oct 6) More gas, says the industry, we need more SDS Dopant Gas to make all these semiconductors. Advanced Technology Materials (Danbury, CT) makes it and Matheson Gas Products (a subsidiary of Nippon Sanso) distributes it. ATMI says that 80% of US ion implanters, of which there are many, get SDS Gas.

ATMI Doubles Profits
(Jul25) Advanced Technology Materials Inc. (Danbury, CT), had record revenues of $13.6M for the quarter and profit of $1.3M, double last year's second quarter. Profits also doubled for the first half. CEO Gene Banucci made the usual purring noises. Then the stock dropped 17% in two days. High expectations dashed?

ATMI Still Soaring
(Jul 16) With the earnings of high-tech stocks driving the NASDAQ index up-up-up, like Intel's $1.65B for the quarter, one of the few SBIR companies making a decent profit and public is also flying - Advanced Technology Materials spurted yesterday to $31, triple its price just 15 months ago. Too many SBIR companies are the kind that need 20 gallons of kerosene to light a little fire, which the government seems happy to supply since it has no demand for fire anyway. .

And ATMI's partner got a patent for recycling nasty perfluorinated compounds. Praxair and ATMI are getting ready to evaluate industry's first such system at Texas Instruments

ATMI Gets Big Order
(Jun 23) Advanced Technology Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATMI) got a $4.4 million order from Hyundai Semiconductor America, Inc. ATMI's EcoSys division is providing complete turnkey environmental equipment and extensive monitoring services for Hyundai's newest fabrication plant, in Eugene, Oregon. EcoSys is supplying Hyundai with point-of-use abatement equipment and services for its entire plant. This includes Novapure(r) dry scrubbers, Vector(r) wet scrubbers, and Guardian(r) thermal scrubbers. Under this new program, EcoSys establishes environmental management at the customer's site to service all the point-of-use abatement equipment at the plant. The equipment and ATMI got its start with two SBIRs from EPA and DOE in the mid-80s. ATMI's press release says that Hyundai is taking the lead in building memory chip plants, despite current low DRAM (dynamic random access memory) prices. Dataquest (San Jose, CA) projects more than $7 billion of capital expenditures by Korean manufacturers this year. They are shrinking time to market for new chip technologies. Nice deal for an ideal SBIR company.

ATMI Absorbs Another Firm
(May 20) Advanced Technology Materials, Inc. (Danbury, CT; Nasdaq: ATMI), will merge with Lawrence Semiconductor Laboratories (85-employees in Mesa, AZ) in a $78M stock swap. ATMI will swap 4.2 million common shares for Lawrence. Monte Lawrence, the principal owner of Lawrence Semiconductor, would join ATMI's Board of Directors and consult to Lawrence. The President of ATMI's Epitronics subsidiary, Dr. Duncan Brown, (a co-founder of ATMI) would assume responsibility for the operations of Lawrence. Lawrence specializes in the manufacture of epitaxial or "epi" thin silicon films by chemical vapor deposition. ATMI's Epitronics subsidiary provides epi services for next generation materials such as gallium arsenide and silicon carbide. Lawrence's revenues grew in excess of 40% during calendar year 1996, to greater than $20 million. Net income for Lawrence Semiconductor made $4M in 1996. ATMI, one of the premier SBIR firms in return for money invested, just saw its market cap grow again in the direction of $400M. Lawrence has been a bit SBIR player

Danbury to Eugene to Asia
(May 14) Matheson selected by Hyundai Electronic Industries to supply specialty gases for Eugene manufacturing facility. Included in the 30+ specialty gases to be supplied to Hyundai is the SDS Safe Delivery Source, an innovative source of dopant gases used in ion implantation. [press release] The SDS delivers clean toxic stuff like arsine at a respectable profit to ATMI (Danbury, CT and other places). It came from a late 80s SBIR whose Phase 2 was approved the same day received. It looked that promising even in its infancy

ATMI and ATCI Report

Two SBIR companies seem to make press releases often and simultaneously. And they have a lot more to say than "We won an SBIR".

(Apr 29) The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery heard Autononous Technologies (Orlando, FL) report crossing the threshold of enough patients tested in clinical trials to met FDA standards for its T-PRK system. Final judgment, though, on post-op patient vision must await Mother Nature's year or so to reach steady state. CEO Randy Frey called it the most critical milestone to date. (Apr 29) Epitronics, a subsidiary of Advanced Technology Materials (Danbury, CT) said it is shipping 100-mm AlGaAs hetero-structure bipolar transistor wafers to its best customers. It is the first throughput of Epitronics new big machine. Epitronics also said it can now make such wafers in InGaP and InP.

ATMI More Profits
(Apr 24) Advanced Technology Materials reported another nice quarterly profit of $1.1M on revenues of $10M. A role model for SBIR companies. Autonomous Still Needs Surgery BR>(Apr 24) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) is still heading to the starting line for profitable operations. Its first quarter showed a capital investment (i.e., loss) of $2.6M, about twice the loss of a year ago. Clinical trials for eye surgery don't come cheap.

ATMI, the Machine
(Apr 17) Last week ATMI bought a company; this week a monster machine. Epitronics, a Phoenix subsidiary of Advanced Technology Materials (Danbury, CT) agreed to buy a high throughput multiwafer AIX 2600G3 MOCVD production tool from Aixtron GmbH to make heterostructures on 100 and 150-mm GaAs wafers. Epitronics claims leadership in the development of MOCVD to create the starting substrate for manufacture of components for wireless communications, direct broadcast satellite, and CATV systems. The new reactor would make 2500 100-mm wafers per month. Dr. Duncan W. Brown, President of Epitronics and a co-founder of ATMI, said that "Our mission is to be the world's leading supplier of advanced semiconductor materials." (Now, that's a tall order.) Aixtron is the leading worldwide manufacturer of high throughput production MOCVD reactors with over 200 installed systems. (Note that the SBIR-beneficiary ATMI did not go to the many claimants of great results from SBIR investment; it went to Germany.) Facts from press release; commentary from respect for a machine - ATMI.

The Market Loved It. ATMI's stock price rose $2 the day after its announcement to go from $200M market cap to $300M. For $92M in new stock it acquired ADCS which was already making more profit than ATMI.

Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later. Fred Brooks, Wired Jun96

ATMI Expanding Again
(Apr 8) Advanced Technology Materials (Danbury, CT) announced a $92 million merger of ATMI's NovaMOS business line with Advanced Delivery & Chemical Systems(Austin, TX). The two generic title Advanced companies will then have major (for them) operations in Danbury, Austin, San Jose, Phoenix, and Korea, all hot spots in the semiconductor industry. Gene Banucci's empire continues to grow from the four guys who grew from two SBIRs in a 1986 garage. Need a model, SBIR aficionados, of how to put government capital to work?

Buy ATMI Says Advest
(Apr 7) Rating the rater while rating the company seems more popular. An Advest Group analyst said ATMI should go to $30 (from $17). The analyst was rated 1 of 3 in predicting the stock price movement of ATMI (not a widely held stock), and 2 of 3 in forecasting earnings.

ATMI Hits $20
(Jan 16) The NASDAQ traded Advanced Technology Materials Inc (Danbury, CT) across the 20 mark as the rising tide lifted yet another boat. ATMI struggled to IPO in late 1993 at $7.

ATMI Will Make It
(Jan 14) The big guy will sell what the little guy makes. Advanced Technology Materials Inc (Danbury, CT) rearranged its strategic partnership with Matheson Gas Products for oxymoronic safe toxic gas delivery for ion implantation and other semiconductor makings. The technology got started with a 1988 SDIO SBIR for arsine delivery. ATMI's press release danced around how nasty arsine is. ATMI's market success has almost doubled the market cap in the last year to $180M. ATMI's success in the electronic materials market also goes well beyond the typical DOD SBIR for materials which typically goes to technologically sweet dreams with a wave of hope for future market success for the company's better mouse trap.

ATMI Appoints Subsidiary Head
From HP to Genus to Advanced Materials Technology Inc (Danbury, CT) comes James Burns to head the EcoSys subsidiary in San Jose. Burns came most recently from Genus a $60M maker of CVD equipment and before that a division manager in a $4B part of HP. EcoSys is the CVD plant scrubbing part of ATM whose start in that field came from two SBIRs for DOE and EPA back in the formative years of SBIR. Gene Banucci, CEO of ATMI, made the mandatory soothing noises in which, typical of Gene, he talked about the competitive advantages of EcoSys's customers. Gene's approach to life is a big factor in ATMI's rising market cap and he makes a convincing spokesman that SBIR can be done right. ATMI is the only large SBIR user whose market cap divided by its total SBIR funding amounts to a large number (about 15). Only one other top user even has a market cap and its number is close to 1/15.

Value Rising
Market cap is rising nicely at Advanced Technology Materials Inc (Danbury, CT) to $170M,about double its value a year ago. ATMI started in a "green garage in New Milford" in the mid-80s with two SBIRs on a scrubbing technology for CVD gases. It has since captured the dry scrubbing market, bought three companies and expanded operations into three states. Its R&D operations gather a lot of SBIR for its future products in silicon carbide, flat panel displays, and other chemistry-driven processes. Of the top 20 SBIR winners (each with at least $10M SBIR), ATMI is the only company to go public.

ATMI Profit
A strong quarter for Advanced Technology Materials (Danbury, CT) of $975,000 profit on sales of $12M. The firm's officers made the usual bland explanations and disavowed any projections (in anticipation of California passing Prop 211). If 211 passes, CEOs will all have to turn around and look only backwards in public.

Shipped SIMOX to Semiconductor Shops.
Epitronics/Nippon Steel shipped 8-inch SIMOX wafers to North American semiconductor makers. Nippon licensed the method from AT&T and Epitronics markets and distributes in North America. Epitronics is an Arizona subsidiary of Advanced Technology Materials (Danbury, CT), a growing and profitable public firm which gets a lot of its R&D money from SBIR. SIMOX implants oxygen beneath the silicon surface to form an insulating layer of silicon dioxide which in turn saves about half the chip's power demands. It proved the technique on a 0.25 micron gate array ASIC. Although several SBIR firms have had DOD money to dabble in the technique, most seem all too ready just to spend the free SBIR money while promising good things someday. ATMI prefers its someday now. Press release available.

ATMI Profit
Advanced Technology Materials (Danbury, CT) reported $1.1M profit for the first half. Which cuts its P-E ratio down to a respectable 30 or so. The market beat the stock price down anyway to 11.6 on a bad day for high-tech stocks (NASDAQ index down 3%). Companies like ATMI shouldn't worry about short-run stock vicissitudes as neither should serious investors in long-term prospects for growing companies. ATMI is a big user of SBIR, one of the 19 companies with over $10M of SBIR and one of the few of those to turn it into public profits.

ATMI-Siemens Joint Venture
Advanced Technology Materials Inc (Danbury, CT) announced (May 13) a two-year joint development program with the German electrical giant Siemens to develop advanced non-volatile devices. The vaguely worded Business Wire story didn't mention the materials systems nor the specific devices. ATMI watchers can scan ATMI's $10M SBIR past for clues: ferroelectrics, bimetallic precursors, titanium reagants, ... ATMI may be the government's best large SBIR investment over the years with its $150M market cap starting from four people in "a green garage up in New Milford".

Atmospheric Glow Technologies (Knoxville TN)

Atmospheric Glow Technologies (Knoxville TN; $5M SBIR 2000-2005 and still growing) says it has been competitively chosen to participate in the NIH Commercialization Assistance Program (run by LARTA) to help bring additional applications of its patented plasma technology to market. [LARTA VOX, Oct 07] ... calls itself a market driven science and engineering company with the usual generalities about a growth-stage technology company, leverage, unique, broad portfolio of products, diverse, high-growth markets, platform technology, changing market climate, and additional market opportunities for success. It claims a total of only about $400K in Phase 3 government awards. It has lots of awards: a seed investment from the state, a Tibbetts award, two R&D 100 awards, a DOE Dawnbreaker award for outstanding commercial achievement, and an ORNL subcontractor of the year award. [company website] ... a public company with 16 employees and a market cap of $8M. It recently announced a breakthrough with the use of its proprietary atmospheric plasma technology to sterilize medical instruments and devices ... "Being able to destroy all known microorganisms in the presence of organic debris in simulated-use tests is the goal of any sterilization process," said Dr. Kimberly Kelly-Wintenberg, AGT President. "By achieving this milestone, we believe AGT is a big step closer to initiating the 510 (k) submission process to seek FDA approval for our plasma sterilizer." [press release, Sep 26, 07] In the last year it had total revenue of $2M and a total loss of $2M. As of Aug 23 it was in default of a $200K 12% unsecured loan. [SEC Form 8-K] At the time of its first SBIR it reported only four employees. Its peak market price was 88 cents in 1999 and it now trades in single digits. Now, IF you were an SBIR decider who actually cared about "commercialization", what would you want to see in a new proposal from AGT for an application of its technology? Would you accept the company's claims about commercial potential? Or would you demand third party validation in the form of co-investment (not necessarily cost-sharing the R&D)? What credibility would you give the company's "success" in Dawnbreaker and NIH-CAP?

Atomate

Atomatefounder Brian Lim felt he�d found the perfect niche market: creating nanotech research tools rather than developing his own nanotech devices, or as he puts it, �selling the pans to the prospectors.� So I was doubly astonished to find Lim practically hollering �Eureka� down the phone as he explained that his scientists may have struck their own �diamond mine�; they�ve discovered a new kind of nanowire that Lim hopes will boost silicon chips� processing speed by �orders of magnitude.� Lim is already thinking ahead, toward Atomate�s transformation into an outright nanotech prospecting operation. [Joe Chung, MIT Tech Review, Nov 23, 04]

AtriCure (Cincinnati, OH)

AtriCure (Cincinnati, OH; no SBIR), a six-year-old medical device firm, is an example of how demand for new treatments for an aging baby boomer population and new technology are fueling the state's bioscience industry, says Dr. Tony Dennis, president of BioOhio, a Columbus-based nonprofit trying to spur bioscience industry in the state. "They have a dominant market share and a breakthrough technology," says Dennis. ... AtriCure grew out of a company called Enable Medical (West Chester, OH; $1M SBIR) that was founded by Mike Hooven, a medical device engineer who joined Ethicon Endo-Surgery (Blue Ash, OH; no SBIR) nearly 20 years ago with the aim of eventually starting his own company. [Mike Boyer, Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov 4]

Audience

The EZ-IO device from Vidacare (San Antonio, TX; $1M SBIR), the company Dr. Larry Miller co-founded in 2001, is the Gold winner in The Wall Street Journal's eighth annual Innovation Awards competition. ... The Silver award went to Audience (no SBIR), a maker of voice processors, for a noise-suppression technology designed to block annoying background noise in mobile-phone calls. ... A team of scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory won the Bronze for their work in developing a microchip that, by analyzing DNA, is able to identify thousands of different varieties of bacteria that might be present in air, water, soil, blood or tissue samples. ...The PhyloChip [not currently available commercially. It is manufactured by Affymetrix], developed by staff scientist Gary Andersen and a team of researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., won in [environment] category. ...Nanocomp Technologies (Concord, NH, no SBIR), the winner in [materials and other base technologies] category, has developed a process to create large sheets of fabric and lengths of yarn using carbon nanotubes -- synthetic carbon molecules prized for their exceptional strength and conductivity. [Michael Totty, Wall Street Journal, Sep 29, 08]

Augmenix (Waltham, MA)

Biotech startup Augmenix (Waltham, MA; no SBIR) has closed on a $6.1 million Series B financing ... focused on using the materials Sawhney is famous for developing � hydrogels � in medical devices that will be used specifically for radiation oncology and cancer surgery. [Mass High Tech, Oct 19, 09]

The latest startup by serial life sciences entrepreneur Amar Sawhney - Augmenix (Waltham, MA; no SBIR) - has just landed $4.7 million of a planned $7.5 million funding round, according to federal documents. ... focused on using the materials Sawhney is famous for developing -- hydrogels -- in medical devices that will be used specifically for radiation oncology and cancer surgery, according to the company�s website. .... also the founder of I-Therapeutix Inc., also based in waltham, which is developing its I-ZIP Ocular Bandage also based on hydrogels. .... In June, I-Therapeutix raised $15 million in a Series C round of financing [Mass High Tech, Jul 25, 09]

Aurora Flight Sciences (Manassas, VA)

Aurora Flight Sciences (Manassas, VA (R&D in Cambridge, MA); $15M SBIR) to develop technology for a hot air balloon to operate on Saturn�s moon, Titan. [Brendan Lynch, Mass High Tech, Jan 18, 10] NASA and the SBIR advocates will no doubt continue to bleat about commercialization while the Centers fund R&D for outer space. The company's website does standard R&D spin for government-use stuff. It must be good stuff to get $15M and growing SBIR over twenty years from DOD and NASA. BTW: what would you consider a decent nursery period for small high-tech companies before they can compete on their own for government R&D work. What really happens is that the mission agencies won't let them compete for much of that work because the agency must put at least 3% of their outside work into SBIR. "Go get SBIR," say the agency managers to such companies.

What is SBIR for? Aurora Flight Sciences (Manassas, VA; at least $7M SBIR) reports it has landed a NASA Phase 2 SBIR to develop a method for conducting multiple-spacecraft maneuvers to more efficiently synthesize astronomical images. ... will share the grant with the MIT Space Systems Laboratory, and will collaborate with the lab. [Mass High Tech, Apr 21, 09] Says the company: For twenty years Aurora's entrepreneurial culture has created an environment where innovative ideas turn into reality in the form of new aerospace vehicles. And we have only just begun! The company websites boasts more than $80.6 million of SBIR-related work for government agencies. and Bell Helicopter selected Aurora as the airframe provider of the Bell Eagle Eye UAS. A month later, Aurora broke ground for a permanent Columbus, MS manufacturing facility at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport. The company currently has more UAS development projects underway than at any other time in its history. and in 2004 had 270 employees and growing. All of which raises the SBIR question: when does a company graduate from the nursery? Or is the government using SBIR to fund contracts in established companies that would easily compete for open procurement?

Ausra

Ausra of Palo Alto has started building a manufacturing plant in Las Vegas, claiming it will be the first in the nation to produce parts for solar-power plants. Ausra said the Nevada plant will assemble reflectors, towers, tubes and other solar components, with the first parts to be used to construct a 177-megawatt solar-power plant in San Luis Obispo County. "We're going to make twice as much stuff in a year as the entire world solar industry is making today," said John O'Donnell, Ausra's executive vice president. [San Jose Mercury News, Dec 13.07]

Sunny Solar. Silicon Valley's solar boom continues with Ausra, a Palo Alto startup backed by venture capitalist heavyweights Vinod Khosla and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, filing an application to build a 177-megawatt solar power plant on California's Central Coast. ... In September, Florida utility FPL announced it would use Ausra�s technology for a planned 300-megawatt solar power plant. [CNN Money]

Store Sunlight as Steam. Solar-power startup Ausra (Palo Alto, CA) proposes solar-thermal-power plants that turn sunlight into steam and efficiently store heat for cloudy days. [MIT Tech Review, Sep 27] But sunlight doesn't produce all that much power and by the time it was converted to steam, stored, and thence into electricity, a lot of the power would have been lost to inefficiency.

Ausra, a Palo Alto CA start-up, raised $40 M to develop, build and operate solar power plants. The money comes from Silicon Valley venture-capital clean-technology heavyweights. [Matt Naumann, San Jose Mercury News, Sep 11]

Autonet (Larkspur,CA)

Autonet, a closely held Larkspur, Calif., company, developed proprietary technology that converts the CDMA signal into a Wi-Fi one, allowing laptops and other electronic devices to connect to the Web. ... Passengers -- typically tourists -- who use the service surf the Web to find local restaurants or activities. ... American Airlines recently selected closely held AirCell LLC to provide a high-speed Internet connection to its airplanes by the first half of next year. AirCell, which has facilities in Itasca, Ill., will use spectrum specifically set aside for planes to connect them to the Internet. Cellular towers on the ground will have antennas pointed into the sky broadcasting CDMA signals that planes pick up and convert into Wi-Fi. [Roger Cheng, Wall Street Journal, Sep 4]

Autonomic Materials, (Champaign, IL)

New protective coatings developed at the University of Illinois heal over their own scratches with no external intervention, protecting the underlying metal. The self-healing elements, enclosed in microcapsules that rip open when the coating is scratched, are compatible with a wide range of paints and protective coatings. The coatings, being marketed by Autonomic Materials (Champaign, IL; no SBIR), may be on the market in as soon as four months. [Katherine Bourzac, MIT Tech Review, Dec 12, 08]

Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL)

Chocolate Bar with That Eye Surgery?
(May 26) While Summit Autonomous got clearance to use its laser eye track surgery in Europe from Portugal to Finland, Nestle says it will buy the company for $19 per share (double the trading price before the leaks started) or about $900M. That would be the second Swiss connection after Autonomous got its first serious capital investment from Ciba-Geigy. Although the stock price has suffered with all the other competitors as a price war broke out, Summit has the only access to the laser vision that arose from BMDO SBIR funding for laser radar at Autonomous Technologies now a subsidiary of Summit.

A Boost from a Dump
(May 5) Summit Autonomous got a 20% boost when it said it sold its Lens Express business for $31M cash plus a minority interest in the buyer. Summit wants to focus on the high return surgery business with its competitive advanatge of being the only owner (for now) of the eye-tracking technology that came from Autonomous Technologies' SDIO SBIR.

Summit Autonomous, a new name that recognizes the contribution of SBIR-helped Autonomous Technologies as price competition in the industry suddenly ate the dream of huge profits. Summit's stock price was up 21% on news that revenue had jumped 25% for the quarter even though it had to be written with $12M worth of red ink. It is still only a third of last summer's high.

Who's Got the Vision? While Bloomberg says that "Laser Vision Correction has become the nation's most common surgical procedure overnight", the sellers of the stock are beating the price down. Summit Technology, owner of Autonomous Technologies, has seen its stock knocked down more than half since mid summer with most of the decline in December. Market leader Visx the same story even though Bloomberg lists it number 36 among the top 100 gaining stocks for the past three years.

Patent Ruling Hits Eye Surgery Stocks
(Dec 8) When the ITC ruled that a Japanese firm, Nidek, did not violate international patent rules with its laser, the eye US surgery stocks took a dive. Visx dove 41% and Summit 30%. More lawyers and appeals to follow. Meanwhile, several advisory services downgraded both stocks.

First Autonomous Eye Surgery
(Oct 21) Summit Technology said that Marguerite McDonald, M.D performed the first customized laser vision correction in the United States using the Autonomous LADARVision(r) system and proprietary CustomCornea(r) wavefront measurement technology. Summit, which merged with creator Autonomous Technolgies said in a press release, Current laser vision correction techniques reshape the cornea to a standard spherical shape based on the patient's manifest refraction, which is the trial lens measurement technique used in determining a contact lens or spectacle prescription. This 100 year-old measurement technique relies on the subjective input of the patient rather than on objective scientific data. By using the CustomCornea(r) wavefront sensing measurement device developed by Autonomous, Dr. McDonald was able to objectively measure the unique optical aberrations in each patient's eyes and treat the patient with a customized ablation pattern to reshape the cornea. The customized ablation was applied to the cornea using the Autonomous LADARVision(r) System. The LADARVision(r) System is currently the only FDA approved laser vision correction system to utilize a narrow beam scanning laser and a sophisticated eye-tracker, which compensates for involuntary eye movement during the surgery. Customized ablations are intended to improve the outcome of laser vision correction surgery. The five patients treated underwent LASIK surgery this week for the correction of nearsightedness. Commenting after the surgery, Dr. McDonald stated, ``Today is a watershed moment in laser refractive surgery. This is probably as important a milestone as the development of laser surgery, it is that much of an improvement on current technology.'' Autonomous was launched with an SDIO SBIR in 1992, went public in 1996, and merged with Summit in 1999.

LadarVision is the next-generation eye laser Summit acquired through the purchase of Autonomous Technologies of Orlando, Fla., earlier this year. The device, which uses a tracking device to more effectively aim a very precise laser beam, has been approved to correct nearsightedness and astigmatism. The farsightedness indication approval is expected by year's end and laser surgeons are already clamoring for the device. Clinical studies have shown the device restores 20/20 vision in 70 percent of patients, compared to a 66 percent 20/20 outcome for Visx's leading laser. Summit recognizes the challenge of ramping up to deliver the new lasers. According to [CEO] Palmisano, the company has already increased production at its Ireland facility from three LadarVision lasers a month to six. It will double that production next year, shipping 150 new LadarVision lasers in 2000. That would be three times that amount of the systems installed this year. "The reality is we can place every unit we make," he said. [Judy Stringer, Mass High Tech, Sep6-12] Oops, made in Ireland. Nativists should arise to object to anyone outside the USA making money from an SBIR technology. Then those nativists can pull their blanket back over their heads and plug their ears against the roar of the global economy.

Legal Muscle Time
(Aug 19) The laser eye surgeons want to deal out the cost of paying the inventors. A key legal case has VISX suing Nidek over refusing to pay the royalty becaue it claims that its laser did not fall under its patents. II Online says Theodore Huber of Advest Inc. expects the decision to have a huge impact on Visx's future. 'A big watershed will come from the Visx case,' he says. 'It's game set and match if they win this one.' Visx maintains over 50 U.S. patents in total and roughly 80% market share, with Summit Technology new acquirer of Autonomous Technologies most of the rest. VISX has lots of lawyers, though, and to improve its chances it sues the doctors who use Nidek's lasers. If you are an inventor, you probably like such stiff defenses, if not you hate lawyers suing everybody in sight. If you have a new technology with a big market potential (or at least you want to promise that to a gullible SBIR agency), you too will need a mess of lawyers when you start making money.

The FDA GivethThe FDA Giveth
(Jul 27) The FDA's advisory panel recommends that Summit Technology's eye-surgery lasers be approved to treat a new wider range of symptoms and thus help Summit against market leader VISX which already uses similar lasers for the same purposes. The market loved it, driving Summit up 28%. Meanwhile, the FDA also spiked the prospects of Sunrise Technologies International (Fremont, CA) whose shares plummeted 75% by rejecting a laser technology to treat farsightedness. The FDA panel said it voted so because patients seemed to only show temporary vision correction. Patients in the study reported that their eyes reverted back to their original eyesight within two years after the surgery, which was designed to correct farsightedness in people over age 40 who wear bifocals. Summit stock was up 400% last year and the stockholders of Autonomous Technologies (the SBIR-aided Orlando company) did well in getting Summit stock in the merger. A few more of such winners and SBIR could be declared a success instead of just a handout to uncompetitive businesses. [Wall Street Journal, Jul 26]

Another $80M for the Eyes
(Jul 21) It will take another $80M to get the eyeball tracking laser surgery to market, as Summit Technology the new parent of Autonomous Technologies files to sell 4M shares at about $20/share. SBIR proposers with hot ideas and no business plan should take notice of what it costs in the real world to bring an innovative product to market. If you don't intend to follow through with the real business you are just deceiving yourself and the gullible government with project dreams.

Momentum investors have had VISX in their cross hairs for some time (see story), and it ain't cheap. ... the company trades at 47 times 2000 calendar-year earnings on the promise of the growing popularity and profitability of the surgery, which is expected to be the most widely performed surgical procedure in the U.S. next year. ... legal battles could take years to resolve, but they're not going to slow the demand for laser eye surgery ... Everyone agrees that the market is exploding. This year laser eye surgeries in the U.S. should double to 980,000 procedures (eyes), costing between $2,000 to $2,500 per eye, according to Dave Harmon with Dallas-based market-research firm Market Scope. Harmon predicts that number will grow again to 1.3 million next year before topping out at 2.5 million around 2006. In other words, there will be plenty of money to be made ... For the moment it may not matter which business model has the edge several years into the next millennium. A growing market for relatively cheap, safe and effective eye surgery has been established and that isn't going away anytime soon. [Smart Money, Jun 18]

Eye Surgery Soars
(Jun 7) A judge said forget it and the stocks soared. Visx and Summit were up 31% and 18% on the news that a federal judge had tossed out a patent suit. The FTC had charged the two with a monopoly practice of pooling patents and sharing the wealth instead of competing. The judge said the FTC failed to make a case. Any SBIR connection? Only that Autonomous Technologies was recently merged into Summit. Autonomous is a candidate for the best SBIR investment ever.

Laser Guided Stock From just before the Apr 29 merger with Autonomous Technologies Summit Technology has shot up to seven times its low for the last 12 months. A government 1992 hypothetical investment in Autonomous equal to the SBIR Phase 2 add-on of $500K would today have a value of about $80M. For that SBIR should take credit, and could take credit if program evaluation would adopt a VC approach instead of just pretending to be the VC for high-tech small business.

Although Autonomous Technologies may have disappeared as a separate entity, it seems it has linked its fortune to the smaller of the two dominant companies in the laser eye-surgery industry. The Boston Globe says Summit shares plunged from over 30 to below 4 in 1996 and stayed in that neighborhood for more than two years. Suddenly, the story changed and Summit stock has soared from 5 9/16 just six weeks ago to 16 7/16 yesterday.[which is what made the Autonomous deal so rewarding for Autonomous shareholder in a company that has never made a profit and barely any revenue] The sparks: improved performance benefiting from a hot market and a promising turnaround plan, completion of an important acquisition [Autonomous], and a broader following among investors. .. Summit reports the number of procedures performed with its lasers increased during the first quarter by 31 percent over the previous three months and by 81 percent compared with the same period a year earlier. .. The good news: Summit and just one other laser company own nearly all of the US market, and each one of them collects a fee of about $250 per eye. The bad news: Summit, once the leader in its field, is now a distant second. Competitor Visx Inc. controls about 75 percent of the market, leaving less than 20 percent for Summit. Visx shareholders have made out better than anyone amid the booming forecasts for procedure growth. Their stock has jumped from 21 last October to as high as 137 5/32. It closed yesterday at 121. [Boston Globe, May 5]

Autonomous Merged
(May 3) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) caught the fever in the past two weeks, rising to $14 from its year ago low of $3. Autonomous has now disappeared as a listed stock after merging into Summit. The merger left anyone who bought 1000 shares at IPO ($8000) with 730 shares of Summit (worth $12500) plus $3040 cash - a rough doubling in two years of a stock that has never made a dime's profit. If hypothetically, BMDO had taken a proportional share of Autonomous in return for its $500K SBIR Phase 2 extension in 1991-1992, it would today have a market value of something like $75M. Now that's an investment! And the opthamologists who invested in convertible preferred stock to prove Autonomous's claims of a commercial value have made an enormous profit. Isn't that what we capitalists want from government - an opening that we can exploit? Doesn't government want capitalists to think that way and thus invest in infant technology that they would not touch otherwise? But, unfortunately, the government mostly disdains such policies (except in its theoretical blather). Oh, government would like the story but won't pay the up-front price of investing in risky technology in the hands of bold entrepreneurs. Better, it says, safe and predictable science.

Busy Yahoo message board on Summit and Autonomous. An opthamologist says in my 25+ yrs of investing, the BEAM/ATCI combination is probably the best M&A deal I've seen. Opthamologists as M&A experts? Says another discussant about Summit, By the end off 1999 they will have the edge over VISX in technology and approval with their ATCI laser for stuff that VISX will not. Plus BEAM's takeover of ATCI brings with it a partnership with CIBA a massive distributor of medical goods. This market is only getting bigger and better. And with ATCI BEAM is a powerhouse leader. You can't play these stocks you just have to hold and forget that you own them. I could sell ATCI for a 250% and beam for 200% gain but this puppy is just starting. With laser stock you just have to be very patients and wait for the big boom. It's very simple. A big success story brewing for BMDO SBIR gave birth to ATCI in pushing it from a ladar research house to a commercial product developer.

ATCI Booming
(Apr 6) The boom in the stock price of Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) is driven by the conversion price of Summit Technology with whom Autonomous is about to merge. Summit posted the third largest percentage gain (151%) of 60 vision care stocks for the first quarter, says OptiStock.com's ``Top Performers'' report. The best-performing sector was laser vision correction, whose composite stock price increased by 59% in March alone. Autonomous was up 11% yesterday as Summit rose 20%. Autonomous says it had received a total of $3.5M in contract revenue through 1994 and then none thereafter. That was mostly SBIR which is a minor contributor (although critical in 1992) to the total of $45M spent developing the laser-tracking technology. An SBIR success story even if the product eventually flops. It is that sort of risk taking in technology infancy days in entrepreneurial companies where SBIR can make a contribution worth the micro-management of federal R&D for the benefit of a political class.

Eye Tracker Approved
(Nov 9) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) got a Medical Device License from the Canadian Therapeutic Products Directorate for its LADARVision(R) System for visual correction between -1.0 and -10.0 diopters of nearsightedness and up to -6.0 diopters of astigmatism, a few days after announcing FDA approval. Autonomous will soon disappear as a listed company when it is acquired by Summit Technology for $87M or so (Individual Investor sees a 40% growth rate in the industry in its recent review.) BMDO's predecessor -SDIO- funded the technology with SBIR to track fast moving objects in space and took the view that a test of the moving eye would prove the technology just as well as a ve-e-e-ery expensive space test. What's more, the private sector would do most of the proving. [story from BW HealthWire, Nov. 6]

The quarterly loss of $4.6 million was in line with analyst and Company expectations as the Company continues to ramp up for commercial production of its LADARVision(R) System. [Business Wire, Nov 2]. Note that Autonomous weaned itself from government support as soon as it found a lucrative opportunity. It raised capital and devoted itself for about five years to the single-minded objective of an FDA-approved business.

Autonomous to Merge with Summit Autonomous to Merge with Summit
(Oct 2) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) will merge with a subsidiary of Summit Technology. Shareholders of Autonomous will get part cash and part stock in Summit in exchange for their Autonomous shares. Autonomous is engaged in the is developing next-generation excimer laser instruments for laser refractive surgery with laser radar eye tracking. Summit is a leading maker of ophthalmic laser systems to correct common vision disorders such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. In 1995, Summit was the first excimer laser company to receive FDA approval for its Apex excimer laser system for the correction of mild to moderate myopia. [Business Wire, Oct 1] Autonomous got into the eye surgery business when SDIO's SBIR refused to fund any more of its laser tracking technology unless and until a credible commercial outlet appeared. Founder Randy Frey found a way. The merger terms value Autonomous at $86M which is about twice its present market cap. The deal includes a $5M loan to Autonomous which suggests cash is running short as FDA approval drags out.

See the Patent Maneuvers See the Patent Maneuvers
(Oct 1) Autonomous Technologies claims a moderate victory in its two-year-old lawsuit against VISX which abandoned its motion to dismiss the Autonomous suit against it and filed a counterclaim. Autonomous brought this suit in October 1996 seeking a declaratory judgment that VISX's L'Esperance U.S. Patent No. 4,718,418 (`418) was not infringed, was invalid and that all VISX's patents that were pooled in the Pillar Point Partners were unenforceable based upon fraud and inequitable conduct before the United States Patent Office (PTO). By filing a counter claim in this suit VISX has also now enabled Autonomous to directly seek the invalidity and unenforceablity of the L'Esperance U.S. Patent No. 4,665,913 (`913) as well. Randy Frey, CEO said, "Finally, we will be able to get these VISX patents before a Court of law. [BusinessWire, Sep 25]

Autonomous Loses $4M
(Aug 12) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) lost $4.2M in the quarter (versus a loss of $3.1M last year's quarter). The company says the loss was expected. The Company has been preparing for the launch of its LADARVision(r) product in the U.S. once the anticipated pre-market approval (PMA) is received.

One Eyeblink Closer One Eyeblink Closer
(Jul 30) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) said that premarket approval application (PMA) is approvable. (Bureauspeak for one step closer.) Final PMA approval awaits FDA's blessing of manufacturing facilities, methods and controls. Randy Frey, CEO said, ``This news brings Autonomous one step closer to the starting line for commercialization in the highest growth laser vision correction market: the United States. The Autonomous team is on track and prepared for its upcoming manufacturing inspection which is the final hurdle in the FDA approval process.'' Meanwhile the stock stays around 60% of the 1996 IPO price.

Autonomous Raises $3M
(Jul 1) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) raised $3M more in a European private placement and got FDA clearance to conduct "LASIK Hyperopic Astigmatism trials for up to +6 Diopters of Sphere and up to -6 Diopters of Cylinder". CEO Randy Frey said that LASIK has become the preferred method of performing refractive surgery in the U.S. Investors, though, seemed unimpressed as the stock price dawdles nearly half below the 1996 IPO price.

ATCI Loses $3M
(May 5) Although Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) lost another $3M in the latest quarter, NSF should take note of what can happen with co-investment as an add-on to a Phase 2 SBIR. Autonomous has its $60M market cap today because Star Wars in 1992 offered to match private sector money for a laser radar company that until then was just another struggling laser radar research house for government.

Autonomous Raises $24M
(Apr 18) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) arranged a total of $24 million in financing as part of its ongoing plan to enable it to participate in the U.S. laser vision correction market later in 1998. A financial institution will provide a $15 million credit facility to support the U.S. commercial placement its LADARVision(R) Systems for at least one year. This credit facility provides cash to the company about equal to the manufacturing cost of each system shipped and accepted under a per-procedure placement contract between Autonomous and the physician. [Dow Jones, Apr 17] And $9M in preferred stock. The stock trading price remains under $6 where it has been almost since the IPO at $8 in 1996.

ATCI Eyes the Future
(Apr 17) PaineWebber said Autonomous Technologies was expected to be the third company entering the laser equipment market by the end of this year. Laser eye treatment stocks rose (not ATCI yet) when VISX reported earnings. PaineWebber estimated that 70,000 people were treated in the United States in 1996, rising to 200,000 in 1997, with further growth to an estimated 350,000 this year, and to 500,000 to 550,000 in 1999.[Reuters, Apr 15]

Maybe a Price Break. Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) could benefit from an anti-trust action against the two big suppliers of the lasers. who dominate the booming laser eye-surgery - Summit Technology and Visx . Says the Wall Stret Journal (mar 24), The procedure, which is relatively low-risk and in many cases corrects myopia and other vision problems, is surging in popularity. It will be performed on more than 300,000 people this year, up from just 70,000 in 1996. A typical patient today is a young man active in sports for whom wearing glasses or contact lenses was a hassle. Autonomous got its technological and financial start with SBIRs from NASA and BMDO for laser radar, a technology that neither agency is falling over itself to adopt. Without the swerve into eye surgery, Autonomous would be just another roadkill on SBIR highway. Any price reduction following from breaking the two laser makers market control would help Autonomous AFTER it gets FDA approval, especially if the market is price sensitive. (Note: not all markets are price sensitive. The rich will pay almost anything to get the elixir of life or at least another year of breathing.)

Another Autonomous Step
(Feb 18) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) moved another step toward the market in gathering FDA advisory board recommendation to approve LadarVision for nearsightedness (not the bureaucratic kind) and astigmatism. LadarVision arose from SBIR by NASA and SDIO with a matching funding deal with SDIO to expand a Phase 2 in 1992. It uses laser radar technology to track the eyeball during laser surgery and thus provide a certain knowledge to the surgeon as to where the eyeball center is in relation to the cutting laser. Yes, lasers cut. The news pushed Autonomous stock (ATCI) up 9%.

Autonomous Loses Another Bundle
(Feb 10) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) lost another $9M, about in line with expectations for the technology still in FDA clinical trials. The $20M in the last two years ate up the IPO proceeds. Which means new capital needs if revenues don't start flowing soon.

FDA Says Go to Next Step FDA Says Go to Next Step
(Oct 22) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) got an FDA OK for filing an application encompassing correction of up to minus 10 diopters of myopic refractive error. One step at a time and approval for each separate procedure. Investors have taken note of the progress and bid the stock back up to 7.

Hyperopia Treatment Hyperopia Treatment
(Sep 9) If you can see the future better than the present, you're not only fooling yourself, you're suffering from hyperopia - farsightedness. If it's only in your eyes, though, maybe Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) will one day help you by carving your eyes. AT began FDA approved clinical trials, just the trials are approved, of its T-PRK system in hyperopia.

Laser Vision in Toronto Laser Vision in Toronto
(Aug 27) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) installed its T-PRK laser vision correction technology at the Vision Sculpting Center in Toronto. Through ATC's affiliates program, a physician pays Autonomous Technologies on a per-procedure basis, and the procedure fee includes ongoing service, maintenance, and technology and software upgrades. Anything that brings in revenues will be welcome to the stockholders who have endured a halving of last year's IPO price. FDA clinical trials are ongoing as a prelude to US use.

More Staff, No Revenue, at ATCMore Staff, No Revenue, at ATC
(Aug 5) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) said it upped its staff and its clinical trial activities, to get ready to submit a medical device application to the Food and Drug Administration by the end of 1997 for its laser eye-tracker surgery. But without revenues, it takes a quarterly loss of $3M.

Autonomous Raises $9M More Autonomous Raises $9M More
(Jun 18) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) announced a private sale of $9M stock at $3 a share to accredited investors (already rich) for more clinical trials. Selling stock at declining prices (IPO price was $8) shows how tough it is for a start-up to launch a company on a technology that needs FDA approval.

FDA Chasing Unapproved Eye Lasers
(Jun 10) Not all innovation is allowed on the street. A Florida company got a visit from US marshals to collect eye lasers the had not yet been approved by FDA as safe and effective. The competition just got better controlled, good news for companies like Autonomous Technologies (also Orlando, FL) which is undergoing FDA trials before trying to sell anything. [Facts from Wall Street Journal, Jun 10]

(Apr 29) The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery heard Autononous Technologies (Orlando, FL) report crossing the threshold of enough patients tested in clinical trials to met FDA standards for its T-PRK system. Final judgment, though, on post-op patient vision must await Mother Nature's year or so to reach steady state. CEO Randy Frey called it the most critical milestone to date.

(Apr 29) Epitronics, a subsidiary of Advanced Technology Materials (Danbury, CT) said it is shipping 100-mm AlGaAs hetero-structure bipolar transistor wafers to its best customers. It is the first throughput of Epitronics new big machine. Epitronics also said it can now make such wafers in InGaP and InP.

Autonomous Still Needs Surgery (Apr 24) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) is still heading to the starting line for profitable operations. Its first quarter showed a capital investment (i.e., loss) of $2.6M, about twice the loss of a year ago. Clinical trials for eye surgery don't come cheap.

Extra-USA License
(Apr 2) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) made an exclusive licensing deal with VISX for all the territory outside the US for use of the UV lasers in eye surgery. VISX had been in a patent fight with almost everyone it seems and the fight was not doing AT any good. AT's scheme uses laser radar developed in great part with BMDO SBIR to keep the surgeon's laser aligned with the eye. UK and Canada courts will be relieved to dismiss the ongoing suits. CEO/founder Randy Frey is the luncheon speaker at today's National SBIR Conference.

A Recommendation and a Boost
(Mar 3) Autonomous Technologies (Orlando. FL) got a stock price boost when Hambrecht & Quist started following the stock and recommending it as a buy. The stock is still 25% below the IPO price and could stay there until profits come into view.

The Silent Tracker The two pageBusiness Week (Jan 27) story on eye surgery, that discussed PRK as one of three still risky boutique methods, omitted any talk of the Tracker Assist for PRK by Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL). Such silence won't pump AT's stock back up to the IPO price. People apparently still go a long way to avoid spectacles - first contact lenses and now surgery. The ignore one of Nelson's Rules of Conservatism: don't touch the one pair of eyes you get issued.

Astigmatism Open Season
The Food and Drug Administration gave the green light to Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) to attack more severe astigmatism and myopia. (Not in government agencies who revel in their vision impairment.) It had been testing its tracker-assisted PRK on low level myopia with success since October 1995. Now if the stock traders can fix their myopia that keeps the stock at half its IPO price.

Strong Eyesight, Weak Stock
All patients got to 20/32 or better and 90% got to 20/20, says Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) about the Phase II clinical trials of its T-PRK system. The tests were six months after the procedure (a surgeon's euphemism for carving). Now if the company could only raise the price of its stock which is at half its IPO price.

Legal War on the Eyeway
Although the ideal world would be free of litigation, ATCI entered this industry aware that some competitors could resort to unfounded accusations in an attempt to prevent our superior technology from reaching the marketplace." [Randy, drug dealers have a litigation-free world.] Thus Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) sues its competitors who were using legal tactics rather than market competition to block entry of "the only eye tracker capable of tracking saccadic movements during excimer laser surgery." The competition Pillar Point Partners is already under attack for anti-competitive practices to protect the markets of laser makers VISX and Summit. Autonomous got into the eye surgery business when SDIO told it to get a life and stop relying on government contracts for laser radar. One of the best SBIR stories around.

Developer Gone
The move marks a bitter end for Dr Muller, who developed a groundbreaking laser to treat vision disorders but failed to turn the innovation into a profitable business. His departure comes amid huge financial losses, a precipitous stock decline and an ugly dispute with archrival... Sound familiar? Wall St Journal (Sep 6) shows a smiling Muller illustrating the story of Summit Technology firing its founder. It's a story that most SBIR companies would encounter only after the government had rightfully declared commercial success. Warning: founders need more than SBIR money and government smiles and R&D100 awards to succeed financially. The clanging of the government door at the founder's back should not be the first recognition of a need to survive in the marketplace.

Autonomous Drops Again
The trading price of Autonomous Technologies (Orlando, FL) dropped again to 3 1/2 after a spurt back above 5 presumably on the bad news coming from the laser surgery company, Summit Technology, of firing its CEO/founder (see story below). Laser steerers have to have something to steer and great new technologies have a place to fit in a going market. Else they become museum curios.

PRK - Promotion, Recriminations, and Keratectomy
Fixing eyes by PRK has turned nasty. The two makers of the excimer lasers are at each other's throats instead of at the patient' eyes. Today's Wall St Journal (July 29) carries the sordid tale of accusations, mudslinging, leaks, and investigations. No wonder Autonomous Technologies stock is taking a beating. If the laser makers can't build market confidence, how is an auxiliary supplier to thrive? Even the opthamologists are complaining about the business practices (and the $250 per use fee) of Visx and Summit Technology.

The Eyes Lose It
The fall of Autonomous Technology stock price by 40% from its May 1 issue price is partly explained by today's Boston Globe (July 12) story on Summit's layoffs after low sales. If the eye-shaping laser isn't selling, then the laser steerer shouldn't do so well either.

Eyes on the Front Page
Randy Frey says the phone rang off the hook after he was one of BMDO SBIR firms getting a notice on the front page of The Wall Street Journal June 6. See Randy's story below in "Autonomous Goes Public". SBIR firms don't get many front page stories (however brief). The other firm was Xinetics which has had two BMDO Phase 1s. The story was drawn from the BMDO Tech Applications newsletter Update.

Collusion Barrier?
The market march for Autonomous Technologies may be slowed while the Justice Department pursues the excimer laser makers whose beams would be directed by the eye-tracking technology. Today's (June 28)San Jose Mercury News reports a price-fixing action against Visx and Summit who have a patent sharing arrangement.

Autonomous Goes Public May 1, 1996
Autonomous Technologies Corp (Orlando, FL) sold $20M worth of stock (37% of the equity) in an IPO to continue US clinical trials and to get sales going overseas. (CEO) Randy Frey's road to IPO started in 1993 when he raised private capital to match a BMDO SBIR expansion of his Phase 2. Then he quit any thought of dependency on SBIR for his growth into a serious national competitor. From 1993 to 1996 he raised $6M, mostly from Ciba-Geigy, the Swiss firm. The concept uses laser radar (once an intense SDIO interest) to track the eyeball in laser surgery so the surgeon always has a reference between the carving laser and the center of the eye. Even if the patient cannot hold the eyeball steady. Could you?

Avanir Pharmaceuticals

Avanir Pharmaceuticals ($2M SBIR) said it raised $10.6 million by selling 4.5 million shares of stock. [AP, Aug 27, 09]

Avanir Pharmaceuticals ($2M SBIR) up 30% said late-stage clinical trials of its investigational drug Zenvia proved effective in reducing symptoms of pseudobulbar effect, a psychological disorder, in a 12-week study. Shares rallied 30%, . [Wall Street Journal, Aug 12, 09]

Avant Immunotherapeutics (Needham, MA)

AVANT Immunotherapeutics, announced that, pursuant to a previously announced shareholder vote, the company will change its name to Celldex Therapeutics effective October 1, 2008. [Boston Globe, Sep 30]

Avant Immunotherapeutics up 15% [Sep 19, 08]

Avant Immunotherapeutics up 14% [Sep 12, 08]

Avant Immunotherapeutics down 11% [Jun 18, 08]

Avant Immunotherapeutics tacked on 28% ... reported robust midstage results of its brain-cancer vaccine, CDX-110, on which it has teamed up with Pfizer. [Wall Street Journal, Jun 3, 08]

Avant Immunotherapeutics up 12% [May 22, 08] said the Federal Trade Commission approved a deal to license the rights to a brain cancer vaccine drug to Pfizer. [AP, May 21]

Avant Immunotherapeutics down 13% [Apr 18, 08]

Avant Immunotherapeutics (Needham, MA; $1.5M SBIR) up 17%, will make at least $50 M thanks to a development deal signed with Pfizer for a potential brain cancer treatment. [St Louis Business Journal, Apr 18, 08] .

Avant Immunotherapeutics ($1.4M SBIR) reports that British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC won U.S. approval of a rotavirus vaccine that GSK licensed from Avant 11 years ago. [Mass High Tech, Apr 4] AVANT Immunotherapeutics announced the completed merger of Callisto Merger Corporation, its wholly-owned subsidiary, with and into Celldex Therapeutics (no SBIR) , resulting in the combined company which will continue to be named AVANT and trade under the NASDAQ ticker symbol AVAN. [company press release, Mar 7, 08]

Gotta Keep Up. Avant Immunotherapeutics reports being notified by Nasdaq that the company has failed to meet the minimum bid price of $1 per share on the Nasdaq Capital Market, and could be removed from the exchange. [Mass High Tech, Jan 10]

Avant Immunotherapeutics (Needham, MA; $700K SBIR) claims good results in early tests of a single vaccine for three acute diseases [Mass High Tech, Dec 5]

Avant Immunotherapeutics (Needham MA; $900K SBIR) plans to merge with a New Jersey biotechnology firm Celldex Therapeutics ... Avant, a developer of vaccines and treatments, reported a 2006 net loss of $20.4 million on revenue of $4.9 million. The firm employs 86 workers. [Mass High Tech, Oct 22, 07]

Vaccine developer Avant Immunotherapeutics (Needham, MA; $600K SBIR) may soon lose its NASDAQ listing for breaking the buck. [Mass High Tech, Jul 11] It lost $20M in 2006.

Avanti Metal

startup Avanti Metal, using [environmentally benign, direct electrolysis] technology developed at MIT, hopes to commercialize a process that drastically reduces the cost [down to $3 a pound] of producing [naturally abundant] titanium. ... The process, developed by MIT chemist Donald Sadoway [Neil Savage, MIT Tech Review http://www.techreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=16963 ]

Avedro (Waltham, MA)

Avedro (Waltham, MA; no SBIR) raised a $10 million round of equity venture capital funding, according to a federal filing. .... started in 2002 using technology developed at Dartmouth College. It�s working on a microwave-based surgery procedure capable of treating myopia without using invasive laser vision correction. [Mass High Tech, May 11]

Medical device maker Avedro (Waltham, MA; no SBIR) raised $8M VC, [Mass High Tech, Feb 14,08]

Aveo Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA)

Aveo Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA; founded 2002 as GenPath Pharma; no SBIR) cancer-focused biotechnology firm, has filed a registration statement for an [$86.3 million IPO] [Mass High Tech, Dec 17, 09]

AVI BioPharma (Corvallis, OR)

AVI BioPharma (Corvallis, OR; $1.5M SBIR) said it�s received an $11.5 million contract from the federal government for the development of its Junin virus infection drug; a virus the government believes could be possibly be used as a weapon of mass destruction. The funding comes from the [DOD] ... the latest $11.5 million contract is part of a potential total of $45 million in DOD funds earmarked to the company to develop drugs to treat Ebola, Marburg and Junin virus infections. [Portland Business Journal, Oct 5, 09]

Avici Systems (Billerica, MA)

What's this business really worth? That is the bad news for onetime highflier Avici Systems Inc., the Billerica maker of high-end telecommunications equipment that warned yesterday it would fall short of third-quarter financial forecasts. .. Avici's stock market value by the close of trading yesterday ..was only slightly more than the cash and marketable securities .. on the company's balance sheet. What does that tell you? Once upon a time, four years ago actually, Avici stock was worth 100 times its current value. Hardly any stock plunged harder and survived the fall once the bubble burst. .. Avici shares have fallen back to their current price because the company pulled the plug on its story about business growing 20 to 30 percent this year. The new story: Customers have delayed orders. Chief executive Steve Kaufman says nothing, but the timing has changed. [Steven Syre, Boston Globe, Sep 28]

Avila Therapeutics

Avila Therapeutics (Waltham, MA; no SBIR) raised $30 million in a Series B round of financing, according to the company. The round was led by the Novartis Option Fund, a new investor, which has entered into an drug development option agreement with Avila that could bring in more than $200 million to the company. [Mass High Tech, Jul 27, 09]

Avnera (Beaverton, OR)

Avnera (Beaverton, OR; no SBIR) said it has raised $8 million in a private equity offering ... developer of semiconductor technology for wireless audio .. in 2007 announced it had quietly raised $42 million in venture capital. ... founded in 2004 by Manpreet Khaira, the former founder of Bluetooth-Wi-Fi chipset company Mobilian Corp. before selling it to Intel [Portland Business Journal, Nov 16, 09]

Aware

Aware down 12% [Jun 23, 09]

Aware up 15% [May 15, 08]

Aware up 11% [Mar 5, 08]

Axial Biotech (Salt Lake City, UT)

Axial Biotech (Salt Lake City; no SBIR), a [venture-backed company founded in 2002] revolutionizing spine care through the development of molecular diagnostics and motion preserving technologies, announced today that it has met several major scientific milestones in its development of the first genetic prognostic test for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) and has closed a $6 million tranche of its Series B financing. ... led by Johnson & Johnson [PR Newswire, Mar 17, 08]

Axion Power

In Axion�s (Pittsburgh, PA; no SBIR) new battery the negative electrode is replaced with one made from activated carbon, a material used in supercapacitors. Normal capacitors�those that power the flashguns in cameras for instance�can be charged and discharged rapidly, but cannot store much energy. Supercapacitors are meatier versions that are able to hold a reasonable amount of energy, and can take it in and release it quickly. Some, indeed, are already used in tandem with the lithium-ion batteries in electric cars to boost acceleration and recapture energy during so-called �regenerative� braking. Axion�s plan, therefore, is to have the best of both worlds by building a hybrid battery that is based on lead-acid/carbon (PbC) chemistry. [The Economist, Mar 7, 09]

lead-acid batteries are tried and trusted; they may just need a bit of pepping up. Axion Power (no SBIR) , a firm based near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has found that the ideal tonic is carbon. ... In Axion�s new battery the negative electrode is replaced with one made from activated carbon ... PbC batteries are durable and cheap to make because, according to Dr Buiel, they can be produced on existing lead-acid production lines. [The Economist, Mar 5, 09]

Axis Semiconductor (Marlborough, MA)

Axis Semiconductor (Marlborough, MA; no SBIR) a stealthy startup launched by veterans of Analog Devices Inc., has landed $1 million of a planned $2 million financing round, according to regulatory documents. [Mass High Tech, Jun 18, 09]

Axsun Technologies (Billerica, MA)

Axsun Technologies (Billerica, MA ; one SBIR) developer of medical lasers and optical engines, has been sold to Volcano Corp. of San Diego for about $21.5 million in cash [Mass High Tech, Dec 23, 08]

Axsun Technologies (Billerica, MA) a manufacturer of MEMS-based micro-optical spectrometers and optical channel monitors, has closed a $15 million Series D private funding, officials report. .. The round was led by Portland, Ore.-based Electro Scientific Industries Inc. (ESI), a maker of production laser systems for micro-engineering applications [Mass High Tech, Nov 8] One SBIR.

AXTI (born American XTAL) (Fremont, CA)

AXT up 12% [Oct 19, 09]

AXTI down 16% [Sep 17, 08]

AXT up 11% [Feb 4, 08]

AXT up 19% [Jan 24, 08]

AXT down 13% after an analyst downgraded the company, saying the stock is fairly valued following a 62% run-up in price since November. [AP, Jan 3, 08]

AXT (Fremont, CA; SBIR) struck a deal to supply IQE semi-insulating gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrates. The agreement to meet IQE's 2008 worldwide substrate requirements is valued at $15M. [Compound Semi News, Dec 18]

AXT down 18% [Oct 26, 07] after reporting a profit drop and a downgrade. AXT up 10% [Sep 18, 07]

After sharpening its accounting pencils and sending all opto-electronics numbers down the history hole, AXT reported a nice profit for the quarter and a skinny profit (better than last year's loss) for the 2006 year. "2006 was a great year for AXT," said CEO Phil Yin.

Roth Capital Partners initiated coverage on AXT, describing the company as a leading supplier of compound semiconductor substrates. The report includes an investment summary, a company overview, an industry overview, a product profile, customers, competition, a financial overview and analysis, a valuation analysis, and risks. (Discounted 50%) Buy report [Reuters, Oct 12, 06]

AXT reported its troubled quarterly finances as a newly optoelectronics-free company devoted to worldwide sales of LEDs made in China. It still expects gallons of red ink from a $2M+ loss on $8M quarterly revenues. Not long ago in the boom years, AXT was a poster child for SBIR as was appropriate for a company that attracted public capital for new technology. After all, that's what SBIR is supposed to do IF it is to have any economic national impact beyond a political handout to a vested interest constituency. Economically smart government agencies, a tiny population, would support of lot of new ideas with SBIR knowing full well that most will fail. In true investing, it's not the number of winners that counts; it's the growth of the capital pool. Government counts failures and capitalist count their money.

Can't Afford the Future. While the pundits glorify the optical chip and all other things photonic, small companies have to make money now while the future turtles toward them. Big companies, with deep capital assets, can afford the turtles, although they may have the wrong future when it arrives. AXT decided it could wait no longer and is cutting 165 folks in California and most of its unprofitable opto-electronics operations while claiming that its remaining substrate business is still on track AXT is no longer the SBIR company it once was with 1300 employees worldwide (300 in the US). How many of all those SBIR mills.with their plodding government-paid research can claim AXT's kind of success even if growth in volatile industries brings headaches? How many government SBIR deciders care?

Meanwhile, AXT says that Cree's patent infringement suit is without merit - standard legalese for "naw; you don't mean it".

Photons on Hold. AXT will stop its US production lines of opto-electronics devices for two weeks this month as a cost-cutting measure to cope with sick demand Sick mostly with SARS. The stock price also got sick, down 14%. [May 14,03]

AXT says things are going to be a lot worse than the earnings estimators had been guessing (estimating). It now expects to lose 26 cents a share (before asset impairment charges) on quarterly revenue of $15M. The guessers had guessed only nine cents per share.

After an early-in-the-year dip in the cold bath of a 70% decline, AXT has crept back up near where it spent the year 2000, in the $800M market cap range. And it sells at only a high multiple of 27 times trailing earnings. AXT uses a proprietary vertical gradient freeze technique for high-performance compound semiconductor substrates.

AXT reported record revenues $40M for the quarter, up 80% and profit of $5M, up 150%. It also paid $2.8M in taxes as a measurable payback on SBIR investments.Nanophase took in $1M a 73% increase and paid out $3M for another quarterly loss. SatCon pulled a secondary offering for too low a stock price.

In its most recent quarter, AXT earned $0.20 per share on $37M revenue. The company had earned $0.14 in the previous quarter.The company's advantage stems from its proprietary Vertical Gradient Freeze (VGF) crystal growth technology. Most competitors use inferior crystals based on either the Liquid Encapsulating Czochralski (LEC) or the Horizontal-Brodgeman (HB) techniques. The VGF process produces crystals faster, with fewer defects at a lower cost. These crystals improve electrical characteristics and produce a stronger, smoother surface that is beneficial for epitaxial transistor implantation used in many "next generation" applications. The qualification process is repeated for each company, so it can be a costly, lengthy barrier to entry. Some customers are so impressed they will now only use VGF substrates. AXT's customers include Agilent s, RF Micro Devices, JDS Uniphase, Nortel, Motorola, and TRW. ... Revenue from GaAs grew 12% sequentially to $30.6M in the quarter. ... According to Hans Mosesmann and Brett Pollack of Prudential Volpe, Indium Phosphide (InP) is the next big compound substrate material. The material is adaptable to many applications beyond its current use in optoelectronic lasers. It can be used in chips for fiber optics, wireless power amplifiers and other electronics all with high-growth prospects. This substrate material is better suited than GaAs substrates for high bandwidth applications. [Individual Investor, Mar 29]

AXT sank again to $21, about half its 12-month high. It clouds a glowing recent recommendation at $45 by a leading Internet-based stock information site that provides covered call selections and investment strategies, recently highlighted AXTI in its Newsletter.. Insiders have a somewhat lower opinion, having sold about 1M shares (7% of the float) over the last year and bought none.

AXT Cut and Run
(Dec 28) AXT gave up competing in laser diodes and consumer items and took a multi-million dollar hit as it retreated to what it calls its core business in substrates and visible emitters. The market liked the action and boosted the stock price 16% to 75 times earnings. SBIR proposers take note: you cannot be all things to all people. One good product in a competitive market is far better than several losing propositions spread too thin. Even if the government wants to hear fantasies about multiple markets, don't fall for your own hype. Government guys keep their jobs whether you win or lose at business.

AXT Gets Big Order
(Sep 18) AXT, a leading manufacturer of compound semiconductor substrates and opto-electronic devices, today announced that it has received its first major order for its recently announced cyan and green light-emitting diode (LED) products. The contract is a multi-million dollar agreement to provide green and cyan LEDs over a six-month period with the option for a continuation of the contract. Green and cyan LEDs are commonly used in cellular handset backlighting, full color indoor/outdoor displays, traffic signals, automotive instrumentation, the development of white lighting, as well as many consumer applications. AXT acquired the core technology for LED development through its Lyte Optronics acquisition in May 1999. The company began shipping green LEDs in limited quantities in April 2000. [company press release, Sep 15]

Make Those Numbers, Or Else
(Mar 20)American Xtal felt the sting from not making expected profits. The stock that went from 11 to 50 over the winter dropped by half when it said it was not going to make the profits Wall Street expected and it will be re-stating earlier profits. Wall Street doesn't like re-statements.

Speaking of GaAs, American Xtal took a dive yesterday 24% on no news. But it is still kept much of the doubling it did last week. From 15 to 40 in a week can cause some indigestion as the import of the forces driving such leaps dawns more clearly.Smaller loss than gain? Remember a price that doubles goes up 100% but falling back to its start point is only a 50% fall. The fall yesterday is half the stock's price on Feb 1.

AXTI Takes a Hit
(Sep 9) SBIR success story American Xtal Technology (Fremont, CA) got hit by the fall in satellite markets. It will stop germanium wafer shipments to Hughes at Hughes's request, for about two months because of low demand in the satellite market. AXTI said that would slice revenue by about $1M a month which is a lot for a small company. [facts from Bloomberg Online, Sep 8] What should the government do? Nothing. Capitalism does have its risks to go with the rewards and it is not government's role to rescue private companies from the rain that capitalism brings.

American Xtal to China (Feb 23) American Xtal Technology (Fremont, CA) got a business license for a new 30,000 sqft production operation in Beijing, China, (Politicians, ready, rant!) Although the company's proprietary Vertical Gradient Freeze (VGF) crystal growth operation will continue to be housed in Fremont, Calif., all other manufacturing operations will take place at the new facility in Beijing. Says Xtal, "Our goal is to become the leader in GaAs, Ge and other compound semiconductor substrate manufacturing. We believe that our VGF technology produces the highest quality products and that our strong growth affirms both the industry's acceptance of our technology and the potential of the markets that we serve. The new facility in China will allow us to further reduce our costs so that we can be even more competitive, particularly in price-sensitive markets. Since the DOD had promoted Xtal as an SBIR success story, what position should the USG take on Xtal's moving the manufacturing jobs offshore? The broad view that I promoted at BMDO was that having the new product was better than the alternative of no new product wherever the market economics eventually takes it. Some agencies though still insist on some guarantee (usually unenforceable) that production will take place in the US.

American Xtal-TRW Deal (Oct 1) American Xtal Technology (Fremont, Ca) says it has renewed a three-year agreement with TRW to supply gallium arsenide (GaAs). The agreement renews a previous multi-year, multi-million dollar contractto provide GaAs wafers for use in TRW's line of products from satellites to cell phones, "AXT's Vertical Gradient Freeze technology produces GaAs substrates of higher quality and lower defect density than the traditional LEC process. This results in better yields, better epitaxy and better device performance," said Dr. Dwight Streit, manager of TRW's Microelectronic Technology Department. [Business Wire, Sep 24]

American Xtal Leaps
(Sep 24) The GaAs supplier (Fremont, CA) shot up 34% yesterday to $9 1/2 in a good NASADQ market (up 3%) where many small stocks were up and the Fed hinted (ever so subtly) of lower interest rates. But still a little below its 1998 IPO price. Yahoo reports consensus earnings at 42 cents this year and 61 cents next year.

Volatile Xtal American Xtal (Fremont, CA) had an exciting stock day. From being up 12% at the opening it finished down 15% on a day when the larger market started down and went to less down.

A Strong Buy A Strong Buy (Jul 1) American Xtal (Fremont, CA) the GaAs company shot up 41% last week after a "Strong Buy" recommendation by a Wall Street broker. After its May IPO at $10, it idled around 10 until the recommendation when shot up to 17.

XTAL Goes Public (May 21) American XTAL raised $25M in an IPO yesterday. XTAL makes gallium arsenide substrates.

American Xtal Technology (Fremont, CA) makes GaAs substrates for wireless and fiber-optic telecommunications systems, lasers, light-emitting diodes, satellite solar cells, and consumer electronics by include Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, and Sony. And 5% of sales for other substrates like InP and Ge. It registered Mar 17 for IPO to raise $22M for 20% of the company. Since lots of SBIR companies claim great commercial potential in the same business, did Xtal need SBIR to get to $25M sales? Not NSF, not NASA; they were funding Spire and Kopin and whoever else whose GaAs sales were going nowhere. One DARPA 1990 Phase 2 for GaAs growth when it has 15 employees and recently a 1997 BMDO STTR Phase 1 for 145 employees (now 246 employees) and AlN substrates with new technology from Kansas State Univ. If DARPA were alert it would use Xtal as an example of what seed money can do and do more of it. XTAL CEO Morris Young will be a speaker at the SBIR National Conference in nearby San Jose Apr 3-5.

Azaya Therapeutics (San Antonio, TX)

The Texas Emerging Technology Fund will invest $1 million in Azaya Therapeutics (San Antonio, TX; no SBIR) to help the company commercialize a new treatment for fighting cancerous tumors. .... toward the development of its Azaya Liposome Encapsulated Radiation Therapy (ALERT). ALERT uses liposomes, or tiny bubbles made of cell membrane material, to deliver cancer therapy drugs through an injection directly in a tumor. [San Antonio Business Journal, Sep 29, 09]