S2

MDA reports that S2 Corp (Bozeman, MT) got a multimillion-dollar MDA SBIR Phase III contract for its radar signal processor plus development of the original optical memory materials developed with SBIR by Scientific Materials Corp. S2 is a spin-off of SMC after SMC was acquired by FLIR. S2's website makes the bodacious claim that Bozeman is quickly becoming one of the largest technology centers in the world even though it has posted no company news since Jan 05

Sage Electrochromics (Faribault, MN)

Sage Electrochromics (Fairbault, MN; $3M SBIR) just announced it raised another $20 million in venture financing. The company’s “smart glass” technology allows users to adjust the tint of windows depending on a building’s temperature and energy needs.  [Thomas Lee, Minneapolis Star Tribune blog, Feb 24, 09]

Sage Electrochromics (Fairbeault, MN; $3M SBIR) has been ready for months to move on just the sort of project the Obama administration hopes will bolster the U.S. economy: a $65 million factory that would make energy-saving windows and generate 250 new jobs.  So what's holding it up? The Energy Department, whose fledgling loan-guarantee office has yet to approve a single project, including the proposed Sage glass factory, since the loan program launched in early 2007. ... An obscure Commerce Department office with a $19 million budget and fewer than 20 grant officers could end up in charge of $7 billion in grants to expand Internet access in rural areas.  [S Power and N King, Wall Street Journal, Feb 13]  Agencies that have been "right-sized" by the smaller government crowd simply cannot spend double or triple their budgets in a few months while obeying the procurement rules that stand in the way of graft and fraud.

Medical devices start-ups powered Minnesota to the best quarterly VC performance in eight years just as a sagging economy curbed venture spending across the country. ... Seven medical device firms captured $130 million, led by CVRx (Brooklyn Park, MN; no SBIR) that makes a device that treats high blood pressure, raised $84 million on top of the $200 million investors have already poured into the company.  Cardiac Concepts  (no SBIR) first-round financing totaled a hefty $21 million. ... Other notable deals: Proto Labs (Maple Plain, MN; no SBIR) -based maker of injection molded products, attracted $67.2 million. Sage Electrochromics (Faribault, MN; $2M SBIR) raised $13.3 million, which makes glass that influences building temperatures, previously won $16 million in venture financing.  [[Minneapolis Star Tribune, Oct 26, 08]

Salient Surgical Technologies (Dover, NH)

Salient Surgical Technologies (Portsmouth, NH; no SBIR, founded as TissueLink in 1999) has landed $15 million in new funding, according to federal documents. The company makes devices to control bleeding during surgeries.  [Mass High Tech, Jan 7, 10]

Medical device company Salient Surgical Technologies, (Dover, NH; no SBIR) formerly known as Tissuelink Medical has withdrawn its IPO registration intended to raise about $86M, .... cites market conditions as the reason.  [Mass High Tech, Aug 28, 08]

Salix Pharmaceuticals (Morrisville, NC)

Salix Pharma up 51% [Sep 14, 09]  after it said Monday a new version of an irritable bowel syndrome drug met its goals in two late stage clinical studies, sending shares soaring to a new year high.  [AP, Sep 14]

Salix Pharmaceuticals said this morning that it won regulatory approval for a new treatment for stomach ailments, expanding its portfolio of drugs that treat gastrointestinal diseases.  [Raleigh News & Observber, Sep 8, 09]

Salix Pharmaceuticals reported a first-quarter [$14M] loss, but sales of its medicines to treat gastrointestinal ailments rose 30 percent. ... The stock is up 55% in the past year. [Alan Wolf, Raleigh News & Observer, May 7, 09]

Salix Pharma up 20% [Mar 18, 09]

Salix Pharma up 10% [Jan 2, 09]

The FDA ordered new warnings on prescription bowel cleansers marketed by Salix Pharmaceuticals, [Raleigh News & Observer, Dec 12, 08]

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

Salix Pharmaceuticals reported its third quarterly loss in a row this year, but it was much less than analysts had expected.  [Raleigh News & Observer, Nov 6, 08]

Salix Pharma down 11% [Oct 9, 08]

Salix Pharma up 24% [Oct 6, 08]  said its Xifaxan antibiotic measurably improved quality of life in a study of patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable-bowel syndrome.

Salix Pharma up 13% [Sep 18, 08]

Salix Pharmaceuticals filed a lawsuit to prevent a competitor from selling a cheaper, generic version of Salix's bowel cleanser, Osmoprep. [Raleigh News & Observer, Sep 10, 08]

Salix Pharma down 13% [Aug 18, 08]

Salix Pharmaceuticals announced plans to raise $50 million to expand its product lineup, boost revenue and ease the increasing pressure from generic competitors. [Raleigh News & Observer, Aug 19]

FDA wants more info. A gastrointestinal drug that could have bolstered Salix Pharmaceuticals' (Morrisville, NC; $700K SBIR) sales has come up short of regulatory approval.   [Raleigh News & Observer, May 20, 08]

Salix Pharmaceuticals reported that first-quarter revenue slumped 43% as generic rivals hurt sales of the drug that was previously the Morrisville company's biggest product. [Raleigh News & Observer, May 7, 08]

Salix Pharmaceuticals down 10% after it said that Novel Laboratories is challenging the patent on the company's bowel cleansing drug Moviprep.  [AP, Apr 18, 08]

Salix Pharmaceuticals up 11% [Apr 1, 08]

Salix Pharmaceuticals bought the rights to develop and market treatments for moderate Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, which can cause abdominal pain. [Raleigh News&Observer, Mar 14, 08]

Salix Pharmaceuticals (one 1994 SBIR) reports a $19M million loss for the quarter. [Raleigh News&Observer, Mar 4, 08]

Salix Pharaceuticals (Morrisville, NC; one SBIR) investors were expecting a challenging 2008 after federal regulators in December approved generic copies of the company's best-selling drug. [Now], they found out that the year also will be unprofitable. [Raleigh News&Observer, Feb 1] Salix stock trades at a third of its high three years ago.

Salix Pharmaceuticals down 16% [Dec 31, 07] after it submitted an application to the FDA for marketing approval for granulated mesalamine, an anti-ulcer drug. [Forbes] amid news of generic competition.

Salix Pharmaceuticals down 22% [Dec 28, 07]

Salix Pharma up 14% on news of the company's exclusive rights to co-promote the drug Colazal once it is approved by the FDA

Salix Pharmaceuticals (Morrisville, NC; one Phase 1 SBIR) up 10% when second-quarter revenue and profit rose as the company sold more drugs to treat gastrointenstinal diseases. [Raleigh News & Observer, Aug 2, 07]  

SDL Inc (San Jose, CA)

Cashing Out In the past twelve months, the two leading lights of SDL have cashed out a pile of their chips. R&D guru Dave Welch sold $42M of shares and CEO Don Scifres sold $196M.

Meanwhile, one broker house enthused over SDL Highlights..· Outstanding EPS On Higher Gross Margins And Strong Sales. SDL reported Q3 revenues up 33% sequentially to $147M, exceeding our $140M estimate. EPS beat our estimate by a wider margin due to higher-than-expected gross margins. · Raising Q4 And 2001 Estimates Significantly. With SDL’s Q3 performance, we are now looking for $1B in FY01 revenues, up from $805 million, and EPS of $2.53, up from $1.91. Reiterate Strong Buy. We continue to believe that SDL’s proposed merger with JDS Uniphase (#) will be approved and will close by the end of the December quarter. SDLI shares are currently trading at an 18% discount to the acquisition price based on the 3.8:1 exchange ratio. Moreover, even considering the unlikely scenario of the deal falling through, we believe SDLI shares are attractive on a stand alone basis given the robust fundamental outlook and the high likelihood of another bidder emerging.

We are reiterating our Strong Buy rating on the shares of leading optical component pure-play SDL after the company reported 3Q EPS of $0.45, $0.07 ahead of our expectations. Pro forma revenue was up about 20% sequentially to $146.5M, $6.5M ahead of our expectations. The drivers of this upside were continued strength in terrestrial and undersea 980nm sales as well as ramping sales of new products related to a string of successful acquisitions including IOC, Veritech, Queensgate and PIRI.

SDL is a horseman. The demand for the company's lasers increases as more channels of light are multiplexed within a strand of fiber. They have become just a phenomenal company in the past year with obscene sequential revenue growth. Estimate was $0.38; they did $0.45. Revenue growth was up 33% sequentially, 208% year-over-year. [L Siracusano, Individual Investor, Oct 19]

Fortune has a focus piece on how JDS Uniphase is the premier bandwidth company in a world where bandwidth is exploding. Potential SBIR proposers in photonics should be able to recite and relate to the JDS story.

Meanwhile SDL soared 19% to even higher heights after reporting record profits of $27M on revenue of $110M for the quarter. Now it trades at only 690 times earnings and a $32B market cap. JDS is buying it for $41B if the government anti-monopolists allow such concentration of photonics.

More SDL High
(Jun 16) SDL climbed to an all-time high at a market cap of $12.3B (and a 500+ PE ratio) on news that it would supply high speed optical modulators to Siemens at least thorugh 2001. In the battle for optical communications, SDL is an arms merchant that wins with all warriors who will build-out (a vogue industry term) bandwidth, bandwidth, and more bandwidth. Modulators wink on and off to add the information to the laser beam shooting down the fiber. SDL is 12 times its year ago price.

Speculation, Rumor, Industry Talk says Corning would buy SDL. Corning has spent $7B recently to push to the forefront of the optical-fiber business and is now expected to spend yet more. After all it is making more money than even Wall Street expects. So-called industry observers expect Corning to acquire optical-parts rival SDL just to beat JDS Uniphase on a like buying spree. Both Corning and SDL say "no comment" to questions. [facts from thestreet.com, Jun 13] The sharks are all around and even eating each other as this industry grows while finding how far it can go and who will dominate. One benficiary of all the buyouts has been BMDO's SBIR reputation. BMDO got fed several companies' early need for infant capital: SDL, CoreTek, NZ Applied Technologies, Intellisense, E-Tek Dynamics. Once company whose CEO once boasted he could compete with SDL still languishes at its market cap of the early 80s - Spire.

Although the stock price is up more than 1800% since we first wrote about this company, we still like the company's prospects. We believe that the exponential growth of the information age will continue to cause bottlenecks on the existing networks. SDL has the products to ease the pain. As demand for its products continue to heats up, investors should expect the shares to soar. [Individual Investor, June 2]

Stunned, Says Individual Investor. Last week fiber-optics component maker SDL stunned analysts with a simply phenomenal quarter, blowing out top- and bottom-line estimates. Pro forma revenue increased nearly 92% to $72M million in the quarter, with pro forma net income coming in at $17M, or $0.22 per share, six cents above consensus estimates. Revenue from fiber-optic communications products increased 35% over the fourth quarter, and by 163% over the prior year quarter. SDL, and all the other fiber-optics stocks that II favors, took a dive yesterday in a soggy NASDAQ day.

Dave Smith, a co-manager at Loomis Sayles' Global Technology, Small Cap Growth and Aggressive Growth [mutual] funds, is also nibbling away at a few optics companies. ... he's focused on a smaller outfit called SDL Inc., which makes "active" optical networking components. "Demand for these components continues to be strong, not just in the U.S. but all the world," says Smith. SDL reports earnings next week, and Smith thinks it will beat expectations. For fiscal 2000, which ends in December, analysts expect the company to earn 79 cents; in fiscal 2001 the consensus estimate is $1.13. This rapid earnings growth, combined with sharp revenue gains, will eventually propel the stock upward again, he predicts. Late Friday SDL was changing hands for $143 per share, down sharply from its 52-week high of $244.75 [Barron's, Apr 17]

Though probabilities favor the stock to outperform the year-ahead market, investors willing to accept above-average risk may be in for a wild ride., says Value Line March 3 in a special coverage of SDL. VL ranks SDL Number 1 (of 5 ranks) for likely price rise and claims it has half the market for undersea 980mm pump chips and could up that to 80% by the end of this year. VL also repeats the rumor of JDS Uniphase 's buying SDL.

Consistent with its meteoric rise to $7B market cap, SDL has the largest display at the bustling oversubscribed Exhibit Hall at Photonics West in SDL's home town of San Jose. Only Sony competes in gaudiness of display in a giant hall full of things that flash and wink.Also present with good traffic flow is DOD's SBIR which ran out of handout material and souvenirs.

SDL was up another 6% yesterday (Dec 20) to 260 times earnings and a $6B market cap. Did CEO Don Scifres in his wildest dreams in 1992 when he got his first BMDO SBIR foresee such a development seven years later? Could you see such a thing for your company? You may need a longer time horizon since SDL was already a going enterprise of 200 when it formed from the joint venture it had been for ten years or so.

Market Action SDL (San Jose, CA) closed above $100, up 6%, the first SBIR company to do so. Ortel (Alhambra, CA) followed last week's up action with another 18% rise. ATMI (Danbury, CT) sank another 16% on fear of soggy earnings; it's now off 40% from its high of two weeks ago. Vixel (Bothell, WA) was up 7% in its post-IPO volatility.

SDL 21x Its Low (Aug 27) Former SBIR company SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) shot up another 14% yesterday to a $2.8B market cap which is 21 times its low for the last twelve months. Which makes CEO Don Scifres a very rich man. Said Reuters about Cisco's purchase of two companies The Cisco deal also demonstrates the value of firms working in the fiber-optic market, analysts said. ``It raises the bar and lifts the floor on the valuation of these companies,'' said one market watcher who declined to be named. ``It's hot. This is as hot as it gets,'' said an analyst who asked not to be named. ``The stock is trading at more than 100 times this year's earnings expectations.'' Other players in the fiber-optic market also made major gains on Thursday trade, including E-Tek Dynamics up $6-1/2 to $59-5/8, and SDL Inc. ``All the components companies are up,'' said Patrick Houghton, analyst at Sutro & Co. in San Francisco. If you are doing SBIR proposals to a real SBIR agency, not one that just does what it would do anyway without SBIR, outline the implications of Cisco's move in your analysis of the future of your technology. Show that you understand your world.

SDL Buys Polaroid Well, not the whole company. SBIR graduate SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) bought Polaroid's fiber laser business for $5M. Over the past seven years, the two companies have jointly developed fiber laser technology and shared in the production of systems for thermal printing and data storage markets. It is a non-surprise result of the business wherein one Polaroid department supplied SDL which manufactured the fiber laser systems and then sold them back to Polaroid. One management roof now, although Polaroid's part stays in MA. SDL will still sell fiber laser subsystems to Polaroid's Graphic Imaging Div. Although PRD was one of the high-multiple big growth stocks of the 60s, SDL with its close at 100 Friday has a 50% higher market cap than PRD - $1340M v. $932M. Now, just around the corner from PRD is a proud (it says) competitor of SDL in the laser diode business - Spire - whose market cap is still around the $10M it was when it got its first SBIR in 1984 and has had $30M since.Still the CEO shows up to testify what a great program SBIR is.

SDL Zooms to 90
(Apr 1) SDL reached $90/ share yesterday as the Dow-Jones frolicked in the 10,000 pool. That's 10 times its low of six months ago and is a market cap of $1300M. A lot for an SBIR-supported firm. SDL got SBIR support from BMDO and others when it transitioned in 1991 to an independent firm from being a joint venture of Spectra-Physics and Xerox. It soon went public and outgrew SBIR.

SDL Rockets Again After reporting a $4M profit for the quarter,SDL (San Jose, CA) shot up another 24% yesterday to a market cap of $840M. That's now six times its price a year ago. SDL had some SBIR in its early days, although it started SBIR life with 200 employees when it became eligible in 1991. CEO Don Scifres looked executive at Photonics West in January. In contract, Spire (Bedford, MA) which sees itself as a competitor to SDL, has the same market cap it had in the mid-80s when it got tons of SBIR.

SDL Gets Swiss Business
(Nov 11) SDL (San Jose, CA) said that Ismeca SA, Le Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland, has named SDL as its exclusive supplier of laser marking equipment to be integrated onto its standard semiconductor package handling equipment. Ismeca SA is the leading manufacturer of package handling equipment in the discrete semiconductor component marketplace with an estimated 40 percent market share worldwide. [PRNewswire, Nov 10]

Two Make Big Profits
(Nov 2) SDL (San Jose, CA) shares jumped 46% on higher-than-expected quarter's earnings of $3., up 26% from the year-ago quarter. SDL shares have now have nearly tripled their low in mid-summer. Meanwhile, Cree Research (Durham, NC) has also nearly tripled its summer low on news of $17M new Asian business and a doubling of quarterly profits.

SDL Sinks All those folks who waited for SDL (San Jose, CA) to fall further last Christmas have another chance. It's back to year opening levels at 14-15 (down 15% yesterday) from its highs in the high twenties despite a "Strong Buy" recommendation by a big broker in August. The reason: one estimator cut earnings estimates by 14% for 1998 and 5% for 1999. That's good news and bad. Good because an SBIR firm is actually making real money from something other than 6% of SBIR contracts. SDL is one of the few companies to outgrow SBIR. The others have a variety of excuses.

SDL Rockets (Aug 20) Shares of SDL (San Jose, CA) rocketed 19% to 23+ after CIBC Oppenheimer initiated coverage of the company with a strong buy rating. Analyst Jungjohann said the company has high-growth opportunities in the optoelectronics market. SDL makes optoelectronic integrated circuits, semiconductor lasars and fiber-optic related products. The same kind of strong buy rocketed ATMI last year before the Asian contagion infected ATMI's prospects. SDL had risen from 14 to the mid-20s before the July market swoon. SDL had a healthy chunk of SBIR in the years since it became eligible in 1991 and before it went public in 1995 and then outgrew SBIR last year. SBIR aficionados mght compare SDL's market performance with anaother SBIR user in the same industry - Spire (Bedford, MA) which has had tens of millions of SBIRand still has the same market cap it had in 1985.

SDL $2.2M Profit
(May 1) SDL (San Jose, CA) made $2.7M for the quarter on 20% higher revenues of $25M, a nice number in line with the doubling of its stock price since October. 

SDL Up Again
(Feb 11) From $14 on January 1 to $23 yesterday, up 64%. Compare with Spire who competes with SDL on laser diodes. Spire is at the same $15 level after having been in the twenties in the early fall. One difference is the steady profits rolling out of SDL (except for the one time settlement of a fight) and the irregular profits at Spire. Both used SBIR; SDL for five years and Spire for 15 years. Both started using SBIR at nearly the same employment level; SDL outgrew SBIR last year; Spire has about the same employees as 1983. If you were judging SBIR, what would you do when the next Spire proposal for laser diodes hit your desk?

SDL Makes A Profit (Feb 5) SDL back to profitable. After its one-time giant loss to settle a long-standing claim, SDL (San Jose, CA) made $1.8M for the quarter on $24M sales. Maybe that explains the ever bigger booth at Photonics West. Emcore swallowed a $29M one-time charge and about broke even from recurring business. (Note: one-time losses are often claimed.) The Street liked the picture, lifting SDL 15% yesterday.

SDL Earns $2.5M SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) earned $2.5M on $24M sales for the quarter. CEO Don Scifres attributed the profit to more front-end wafer manufacturing capacity.

SDL Sells Lasers to Corning (Jul 22) SDL Inc. (San Jose, CA) signed a "multi-million-dollar" contract to supply Corning, the glass company, with fiber-coupled pump modules for use in optical fiber amplifier modules. The innumerate DJ news story implies a competitive market struggle. Corning is the glass company.

SDL Unveils Products (Jul 23) SDL Inc. (San Jose, CA) unveiled two visible semiconductor laser products for the data-storage and cancer-therapy markets. A 30 mW 650 nm single mode laser, aimed at high density optical data storage, has enough power for enabling both writing and reading data at high digital video disk storage densities. The second product is a 3W fiber coupled 665 nm laser used in a new method of cancer treatment, photodynamic therapy, relies on a light sensitive chemical ingested by a patient that then accumulates in the tumor.[DowJones Jul22] For the story of photodynamic therapy read "A New Light on Cancer", MIT Technology Review, A/S97.

Only a Million Profit
(Jul 15) SDL Inc sadly estimated this quarter's profits at only $1M after a $30M charge for settling the patent ownership dispute with ex-parent Spectra-Physics. Other SBIR companies should try to have such problems.

Got a good idea for a new product? Keep thinking, it often takes more than one. On average, it took seven ideas to generate a new commercial product in 1995, down from 11 ideas in 1990, says the Product Development and Management Association. The Wall Street Journal, May 1, 97. You must keep thinking because as Nathan Myhrvold says, No matter how good your product, you are only 18 months away from failure.

SDL's Profits Down (Apr 18) Like the dog that misquotes Shakespeare, SDL's profits were down for the quarter to only a half-million. But CEO Don Scifres made the usual CEO noises. He has 100 patents, was a research fellow at Xerox PARC, and he still lets magazines (Photonics Spectra, Apr97) publish his picture with fully brown hair. It was not brown at Photonics West 97 where both Don and VP Dave Welch were smiling. Someone smiling always looks younger. Don Scifres has brought SDL into self-ownership, an IPO and a secondary, more than doubled employment since 1991 birth as an independent company (now right out of SBIR eligibility) with sales over $80M. The help from SBIR (at least from BMDO) was for long range, high technical risk innovations. Yes, several were declined for excessive ordinariness. But now the self-funded R&D will have to do both long and short range development. That's what it means to graduate from SBIR 

SDL Finds A Significant Other (Mar24) SDL Inc (San Jose,CA) announced a significant contract to supply Lucent Technologies (ne Bell labs) with 980 nm fiber-coupled pump modules for optical fiber amplifiers. SDL's largest single order for commercial telco market. 

SDL Beats Rockwell in MOCVD Claim (Mar 3) A federal court said Bah to Rockwell's claim that SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) infringed Rockwell's MOCVD patent. Rockwell several years ago made a sweeping claim to have invented MOCVD for opto-electronic devices, a practically universal process. SDL CEO Don Scifres said he liked the decision. (Why do newswires report such blather and why do companies say such obvious banalities?) [Metal-Organic-Chemical-Vapor-Deposition]

Revenue and Profits Soar at SDL (Jan 31) For the year sales were up by half to $82M and profits were $7M. Stock traders liked the news and jacked the price up 7% to $26 which gives SDL a market cap of $350M. CEO Don Scifres made the usual anodyne noises. Companies like SDL give SBIR a good name and cancel the bleating of a lot of gimme-a-handout sheep. Of course, not everyone believes: Insider DS Evans sold $3.6M of stock in December, 74% of holding, says WSJ, Jan29. 

So Blue the Laser
SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) announced a blue laser at Photonics East. Air cooled, frequency doubled, 1-2 mW in 15-35 C. Price not yet determined (and therefore market not determinable either).. [Photonics Spectra Dec 96. It has some SBIR support. Maybe they'll bring it to Photonics West, Feb8-14 San Jose Convention Center. 

Cisco has a market capitalization of over $40 billion (much the same as General Motors) yet the firm has barely attracted the notice of the average computer user, much less the anti-trust authorities. The Economist, Dec 7, 96

SDL Revenue Up, Income Down
$19M (up38%) came through the door in the quarter but only $0.9M (down 41%) went into the earnings drawer. SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) is thus in an enviable position of being an SBIR company (but not for much longer) that has profit drops to moan about on Wall Street. Don Scifres, the personable (and now rich) CEO was dutifully upbeat about the results. (I wonder how SDLs's accountants deal with the skyrocketing market value of the land on North First St under SDL.) 

An Action Stock
It must have seemed like a photon torpedo game. From 28 the day before SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) sank as low as 15 before closing at 19, down 32%, the top percentage loser for the day on 3.9 million shares traded. It never traded above 22. The news: the firm said its revenues wouldn't be skyrocketing as analysts had predicted because of manufacturing problems. . Hardly seems fair treatment for so good an SBIR firm; SDL is one of the few SBIR firms who move smartly into production and growth. (Too many get hooked on easy SBIR once they're known by the government technical gurus.) SDL is an employee buy-out of a joint venture between Xerox and Spectra-Physics. It develops and sells laser communications products like laser diodes (for a version of photon torpedos) and reported healthy profits (by SBIR standards) for the last two quarters. Aug 96 

New SDL Pump SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) announced a new, higher power pump for lasers at 980 nm, 120 mW output from the same input formerly delivering 90 mW. With$24.6M revenue for its last quarter, SDL must be an early candidate for honor graduate from SBIR. 

SDL Profit SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) reported $2.4M quarterly profit and $4.6M for six months. That brings SDL's P-E ratio down to about 30, normal for a growth stock. Which also implies that SDL would soon graduate from SBIR, not that SDL was ever dependent on SBIR anyway. SDL makes laser diodes. 

Another $45M SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) raised another $45M in a public stock sale yesterday. That makes over $100 in three such sales since 1994. SDL got SBIR-qualified in 1991 by buying itself out from the Xerox-Spectra Physics joint venture. Since then it has nearly doubled, but not on SBIR money. It gets a few SBIRs for the new product ideas and then raises the public money for production (and for cashing out the original investors).

Sangamo Biosciences

Feed gazelles. The biotech industry raised a record $55.8 billion in 2009 despite hesitant stock and venture capital markets, as drug-company partnerships fed the cash-burning startups that develop new therapies. .. a jump of 85% over 2008, according to Steve Burrill, whose San Francisco firm Burrill & Co. is both an industry investor and analyst. ...  $37 billion in financial partnerships through which large drug companies license technologies or experimental remedies from biotech startups, ...  [CEO] of Sangamo BioSciences said he hopes to use partnerships to fund the costly marathon of developing a biomedical breakthrough while retaining enough control to preserve his company's big league potential. [Tom Abate, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan 10, 10]  The SBIR advocates want to choke this flow by refusing SBIR funds to companies that have larger VCs investing at the nursery stage to mature the infant technology to the stage where big pharma would be willing to take over.  But if SBIR is to be a launch platform for future market companies, it has to get beyond bland and repetitive handouts to life-style firms doing incremental R&D for government agencies. Feed gazelles, not SBIR mills.  Both the agencies and the economy will be better off in the long run.

Sangamo Bio down 10% [Dec 7, 09]

Sangamo down 13% [Oct 30, 09]

Sangamo Biosciences down 10% [Oct 7, 09] after the company announced plans to sell at least three million shares [Wall Street Journal, Oct 8, 09]

Sangamo Bioseciences up 15% [Aug 25, 09]

Sangamo up 13% [Mar 17, 09]

Sangamo up 24% [Mar 10, 09]

Sangamo Biosciences up 10% [Mar 6, 09]

Sangamo down 11% [Feb 25, 09]

Sangamo Biosciences  up 10% [Feb 24, 09]

Sangamo   up 14% [Feb 2, 09]

Sangamo up 11% [Jan 21, 09]

Sangamo down 15% [Jan 20, 09]

Sangamo Bio up 19% [Dec 16, 08]

Sangamo Bioscience up 16% [Dec 8, 08]

Sangamo up 14% [Dec 5, 08]

Sangamo Bioscience down 66% [Nov 11, 08] ... reported that no significant differences were observed in several measures of nerve function compared with a placebo in its clinical studies for SB-509, a drug intended to treat diabetic neuropathy.  [Wall Street Journal, Nov 12]

Sangamo Bioscience down 12% [Nov 5, 08]

Sangamo Bioscience up 14% [Oct 30, 08]

Sangamo up 12% [Oct 13, 08]

Sangamo Bioscience down 11% [Oct 6, 08]

Sangamo Bioscience up 21% [Sep 18, 08]

Sangamo BioSciences down 14% [Jun 6, 08] despite news that its drug for diabetes-associated nerve damage has yielded encouraging results.

Sangamo Biosciences down 10% after an analyst said two trials of a key drug candidate are going to fail. [AP, May 28,08]

Sangamo BioSciences down 13% [Mar 10, 08]

Sangamo Biosciences down 12%  [Nov 12, 07] as a big investor sold some.

Sangamo BioSciences up 12% [Sep 18, 07] after the company showed data demonstrating that human CD4 T-cells can be made permanently resistant to HIV infection by treatment with zinc finger DNA-binding protein nucleases (ZFN(TM)) and preferentially survive and expand in an animal after HIV infection.

Charities Investing. Fed up with breakthroughs that fill journals rather than medicine chests, private foundations and charities that have traditionally funded academic scientists have started doing the once-unthinkable: writing checks for millions of dollars to for-profit companies. ...  Earlier this month, JDRF announced that it was giving $2 million to MacroGenics Inc., a Rockville, Md., biotech, for a phase-2/3 clinical trial of an antibody that might slow progression of type-1 diabetes. [Sharon Begley, Wall Street Journal, Jan 26, 07]  MacroGenics has had $2+M in SBIR. JDRF has also funded Sangamo BioSciences (Richmond, CA) $3M,  Transition Therapeutics (Toronto) , and TolerRx (Cambridge, MA). Sangamo has also had $2+M SBIR.

Sangamo BioSciences jumped 10% on news that it agreed with Dow AgroSciences on "multiple" research milestones in their collaboration to develop plant cell cultures. SBIR $2M over a decade. [Nov 22, 06]

SatCon Technology (Cambridge, MA)

SatCon Technology said it is looking to raise $20.2 million in a follow-on public offering. [Mass High Tech, Jun 10, 09]

Satcon Technology and Solyndra (Fremont, CA; no SBIR) announced a strategic partnership for commercial rooftop solar power production. [San Francisco Business Journal, Apr 30, 09]

SatCon Technology sold its electronics and motor divisions for a total of $5.6 million cash. ...  part of the SatCon’s strategic restructuring plan, will enable the company to focus its financial, technical and marketing resources on the growth of their core photovoltaic and fuel cell power conditioning solutions business, ...The company reported $56.6 million in revenue for 2007, while posting a $11.8 million loss. [Mass High Tech, Sep 29, 08]

Satcon Technology said that it will deliver its PowerGate Plus inverter to a private European power utility that specializes in renewable energy production. [Boston Globe, Aug 26, 08]

Shares of SatCon Technology plunged after the company said its second-quarter loss widened due in part to a jump in operating costs. .... So far this year, the stock is up about 40%   [Boston Globe, Aug 13,08]

SatCon Technology up 9% [Jul 16, 08] after saying it will increase manufacturing capacity by 50% in the third quarter.

SatCon up 13% [Jun 16, 08]

SatCon Technology got a new $10M credit line with Silicon Valley Bank. [press release, Mar 4, 08]

SatCon Technology borrowed $10M to retire its existing convertible secured notes, [Mass High Tech, Nov 9]

SatCon Technology, an early and frequent consumer of SBIR,  reports plans to replace David Eisenhaure as SatCon's CEO ... No date or reason made public ... company executed a definitive agreement with RockPort Capital Partners and NGP Energy Technology Partners for a secured $10 million short-term debt financing, ... also reports executing a non-binding term sheet with RockPort and NGP ETP for an equity financing of $25 million of preferred stock and warrants, $10 million of which would be used to retire the new short-term debt. [Mass High Tech, Oct 22, 07]

SatCon down 18% [Jul 18, 07] after peddling $4.7M in warrants at a far reduced price from the original plan.

SatCon got a new for $2.8M for its PowerGate fuel cell inverters. [Jun 26, 07]

SatCon won another Phase 2 SBIR to add to its collection of more than thirty Phase 2s over two decades.

SatCon won $2.7M deal for the first stage of a $6.5M development of an energy storage and delivery of 8 megawatts for several seconds. [Mass High Tech, Dec 1]

SatCon gets more revenue from a $600K follow-on contract for optically isolated solid-state relays. Now if it could just make some obscene profits.

SatCon jumped 14% (back across the dollar barrier) on news of a wider quarterly loss. Hope spring eternal for profits from the $32M backlog. [Nov 16, 06]

SatCon jumped 14% back over the $1 threshold in its new home on the NASDAQ Capital Market. [Oct 06]

SatCon stock moved to minor league NASDAQ National Market where it no longer needs $50M market cap and a $5 minimum price. The 184 employees have plenty of business $33M in orders that somehow haven't produced the profit and stock trader optimism needed for the major league. (Sep 06)

SatCon asked for a NASDAQ hearing about pulling the trading plug. On Sept. 1, SatCon was notified that it failed to comply with the exchange's minimum market value requirements of $50 million over the course of 10 consecutive business days... Founded in 1985, SatCon Technology develops electronics and motors for the alternative energy, hybrid-electric vehicle, grid support, high reliability electronics, and advanced power technology markets. It operates facilities in Boston, Worcester, Marlborough, Maryland, and Ontario, Canada. SatCon employs 184 workers.  [Mass High Tech, Oct 6] And has a ton of SBIR money since the mid-1980s. SBIR, revenues, manufacturing all lead to dashed hopes and temporary jobs if they cannot turn a profit. Twenty years seems a long time to wait for steady profitability. When, if ever, should the government give up and divert its SBIR elsewhere? Or is SBIR an open-ended handout to any company smart enough to wangle a R&D government contract?

SatCon broke the buck, again, trading below $1 a share despite gobs of revenue and government contracts. [Sep 06]

SatCon will close its manufacturing facility in Worcester by the end of the year to streamline operations .... it also says orders have reached an all-time high of $33M, including more than $16M from SatCon's renewable energy products division. [Mass High Tech, Sep 20]

SatCon got a $1M order from FuelCell Energy to be used in development of fuel cells. Now if only SatCon could make a profit on all this business. Thta requires getting the cost of sweet technology down below the demand price.

Optimists Abound.  Another $12M from institutional investors for SatCon. Founded in 1985 and employing 184, SatCon makes electronics and motors for the alternative energy and advanced power technology markets. The company sells to both the private sectors and government agencies, including the U.S. Army and Navy corps. [Mass High Tech, Jul 20] Not even military sales for Iraq could turn the company profitable, having lost $50M over the last three years.  It has also had over 30 Phase 2 SBIRs over two decades.  The economics avoiders in the SBIR crowd could at least point to the 184 employees which far exceed the amount supportable by just SBIR and the oodles of private capital that has gone into SatCon. 

SatCon took a 20% nosedive after reporting another quarter of loss despite several new contracts. CEO David Eisenhaure made the required positive noises, I am pleased with the progress we are making towards transitioning into a products-oriented business, ... The steps we have taken to align our organization with our product and market initiatives will bring clarity and focus to our business.  [May 06]

SatCon got multiple purchase orders from four new customers for 13 commercial grade inverters equaling 2.3 megawatts (MW), including an order the company describes as one of the largest photovoltaic integrators in North America. [Mass High Tech, May 5]SatCon got a short term development sub-contract for an Army starter-generator. Mass High Tech says that SatCon's 170,000 square-foot facility located on Boston Harbor employs 225 people with company revenues of $36M last year. Earlier this week it announced a $1.1M NIST sub-contract for a second 2,200 kVA Rotary Uninterruptible Power Supply (RUPS).

Hot news in Mass High Tech - SatCon got a government contract.  Great, it's a Phase 1 SBIR, something SatCon has been getting for twenty years. Unlike most of the eastern Massachusetts SBIR firms, SatCon is one of the few SBIR firms in the non-life sciences that went public, but it's not one the even fewer firms that have made consistent profits and a rich ROI for its investors. If Congress ever really intended SBIR to be an economic engine, it put the wrong people in charge. [Jan 06]

SatCon's newest auditors also see it as a "going concern" which is the equivalent of a medical diagnosis of still capable of breathing. Its cash position was boosted by sale of its Ling divison as selling the family silver keeps the castle in groceries.

Doubters.  SatCon ranked # 5 on percentage increase in sextupling the short interest. [Sep 05]

SatCon took an upward blip when it announced shipment of components for  the hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) market as part of it strategy to make money in hybrid vehicles before it runs out of cash. [Aug 05]

SatCon won a $2.8M Army contract for power conversion control. [May 05]  So twenty years after winning its first SBIR, SatCon is still alive although also still looking to make any money and living proof that  "living dead" is a status that a start-up can keep for a long time on small government contracts. 

More money trouble at SatCon as it took resignations from its financial VP and a director on its audit committee.  Although its losses are eating up the capital being raised, On Jan. 14, the company said its independent auditor maintained a "going concern" opinion about SatCon Technology in the most recently filed Form 10-K. [Bhattiprolu Murti, Dow Jones Newswires, Feb 3]

SatCon raised $8M by selling shares at about $1.65 plus a sweetener of warrants to buy more shares at $2. 

SatCon will sell NIST a 2.2 MW uninterruptible flywheel-based power supply for $1.8M plus an option to buy another for $1.5M. NIST must be expecting either a terror attack on its bureaucracy or more battles with hurricanes. [Oct 04]

SatCon's outsource division got a $1.5M contract to build a power supply for plasma trash burners. The Burlington Ontario operation has supplied over 20 of these power supplies to international markets. The foreign manufacturing doesn't seem to bother the SBIR arms of the government who keep shoveling Phase 2 awards to SatCon. Actually, SBIR rules allow a US-owned firm that does its SBIR in America to manufacture all it wants outside the US. That's mostly because the SBIR advocates are American R&D firms, not manufacturers, and government ignores any economic implications of its SBIR actions.  

SatCon says it booked  $2.2M in industrial product contracts. Even though its track record is to lose on contracts but make it up in volume, maybe it could even make a profit. Maybe!

SatCon reported another $1M government contract, this time with Energy to develop inverters, advanced of course, for residences (that can beat the power company's diddling the home owner  to avoid competition?).  But at the rate SatCon loses money on more business, increasing volume should merely put it in the ground sooner. [Nov 10, 03]

SatCon has a new cash supply to cover its continuing losses,  from its new hoard that it raised from a private placement from nameless investors in a convertible preferred. [Nov 3, 03]

SatCon shot up 22% when it announced that it had "successfully demonstrated" the ability of its Integrated Power System (IPS) to isolate power outages in a simulated "all-electric" Navy ship power grid.  Ever heard a company talk of an unsuccessful demonstration?  SatCon has had $12M of Navy money to far to show that the IPS works. SatCon claims the system  has possible application to all future naval electric ships with a market potential estimated to be in excess of $500 million if fully implemented.  Maybe with $500 on the top line, SatCon can bring a plus down to the bottom line. 

Profit in blackouts.  SatCon stock has quadrupled in the past month as the market takes a positive view of prospects for even making profits. This week SatCon announced it got the OK from GSA for government agencies to buy from the catalog SatCon's  Rotary UPS (uninterruptible power supply). That just means it is pre-approved, it says nothing about whether any agency would actually buy any. Meanwhile, SatCon reported another blue quarter with a net loss of $6.7M as revenues plunged 46%. 

SatCon sank another 17% to 70 cents after reporting more sickly financials. [May 14, 03] SatCon also got a delisting notice for Sept 15 if the stock price doesn't re-mount the $1. 

The bank gave SatCon another yard of rope in more time to to make a $15M debt and equity deal. financing transaction. One (of many barriers) is last year's going concern qualification from its auditors. Meanwhile, the stock price languishes under the buck. 

As SatCon's auditors questioned its "going concern" premise in the face of continuing losses (another $5.4M in the latest quarter), SatCon said it got another $5-7M equity financing. 

We had a very successful fourth quarter in terms of new business, said David Eisenhaure, SatCon's CEO as SatCon reported $19M in new business booked. Profitability? Have W bang his war drum to divert attention.

Who Will Buy a Flywheel?(May 24) For Beacon's new high-power (250kw to 500kw), shorter-duration composite flywheel there seem to be not enough buyers to provide cash before the $30M runs out at $1.5M per month burn rate. Says David Kurzman, an analyst at H.C. Wainwright in Multex Investor (May 25), Composite flywheel technology simply does not make sense for UPS applications. Nobody cares how light your system is when it's installed on or below the ground..... Another problem stems from the very logic of BCON's business model, composite systems, while faster and lighter than traditional systems, carry huge component costs. This tradeoff is acceptable for, say, satellite projects, where weight is an issue. But it's an obstacle to penetration in the terrestrial markets BCON is targeting. Multex says Beacon had no sales in the first quarter, expects no sales of its low-power device in 2002, and looks forward to fewer than 10 orders of its high-power design by the end of the year.

SatCon says it got two Army contracts totaling $1.5M to develop novel power electronics and advanced materials technologies for hybrid electric vehicles: one to demonstrate the cost and reliability benefits of silicon carbide based inverters for hybrid electric vehicles, and one to develop a continuously variable transmission that employs SatCon's patent pending magnetorheological fluid technology. Why the news isn't as great as the 10% bump in the depressed stock price: they're two more SBIRs and not much of indication of long term military interest in buying volume production. The company press release doesn't mention the program source, but the Army's August 2001 SBIR list does.

In advance of its earning release Monday, SatCon lost another 11% of market cap, down to $27M. It is now down 90% from its high of the past 12 months. Better power management gizmos just aren't selling well enough to make money. SatCon has a substantial boost in its early years in the 80s from SBIR, especially defense that liked the magnetic bearings technology. Now DOD has the bearings technology and SatCon has the pain of losing money. It was a nice ride for a while in the bubble.

Beacon Power flywheel running down. With the stock price well below $1 (37 cents) the stock is due for de-listing in mid-June. Although Beacon claims lots of cash, the customers are staying away in droves. Beacon was spun off from SatCon in 1997 to commercialize (sell) flywheels. SatCon is having sinking price problems of its own, although it's still over $2. Flywheels looks like one of those future technologies that will be so for a while.

When SatCon warned Wall Street that it would lose something like $10M for the present quarter, the traders whacked the stock price and at least one broker downgraded it. Day's loss 13%.

The sex appeal of SatCon's futuristic, alternative-energy products has been overshadowed by the decline of its mainstay electronic-components business. Remember that good old slowdown in telecom spending? Regardless, if SATC can stem the cash burn this year and get revenue growth going again, it'll justify the torturous ride its shareholders have endured. [Multex Investor, Apr 17]

Although SatCon says its Power Systems business unit got $1.5M in contacts over the past several weeks, the NASDAQ traders don't seem impressed as SatCon's ship takes on water. SatCon, of course, claims that the orders are a signal of new life in its industrial automation and semiconductor manufacturing equipment markets. But $1M is in MagLev which has a quite uncertain future. [facts from Mass High Tech, Feb 21]

SatCon got a $4M extension on its contract with General Atomics to keep developing its Integrated Power Systems. Under the latest phase, SatCon will deliver 100KW and 300KW power converter and control assemblies to be tested as part of the demonstration program for the Navy’s all-electric ship. [says Matthew French, Mass High Tech, Jan 23]

SatCon shot up 28% on news that it had cut a deal to peddle Digital Fuel Cell Controllers to Fuel Cell for power plants. APA Optics shot up 21% without news. .

SatCon joined a fuel cell demonstration project led by Verizon. SatCon will contribute its PowerGate(TM) power electronics conversion and controls to the consortium that includes Nuvera Fuel Cells, KeySpan Energy, and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. At least some of money will coome from the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust.If virtual phone monopolist Verizon puts as much energy into this project as it does to resolve customer complaints, it could be a long cold winter.

Beacon Power rose 43% from barely anything to barely noticeable at a market cap of $50M as it announced that it sold a 2 KWH flywheel to Cox Communications for back-up power in Phoenix.

The past fiscal year was a very busy and productive time for the Company , said CEO David Eisenhaure of SatCon's loss of $24M for the year as revenues rose a lot to $41M. With enough such business activity, a company could go broke faster. The stock price sagged to a market cap of $82M, down 70% from its high for the past twelve months.

David Eisenhaure, of SatCon Technology holds an increasingly rare title trifecta among power technology executives. He's the company's president, chief executive - and founder.More and more power technology companies are shedding the brainy folks who started them for company leaders who are more comfortable in the boardroom than the research lab. That transition is a sign of maturation for the still young industry, said John McCormack, of management consulting firm Stern Stewart & Co. in New York. ... Eisenhaure has an impressive resume that includes developing power systems for the NASA, but he admits he can't do it all at SatCon. ... "The first thing you have to realize is you can't end up doing it all yourself," Eisenhaure said. "You start with all the hats, and you quickly realize that you have to get rid of them as fast as you can." The shift from the development stage to the manufacturing stage often is a critical time for founders. "The original founders typically don't have the skills to take it beyond the next stage," said Frank Gibbard, chief executive of H Power, a Clifton, N.J., fuel cell developer. ... at SatCon, Eisenhaure and colleagues are still losing money, but the firm is expected to be among the first power-tech firms to move into the black, according to analyst estimates compiled by Thomson Financial/First Call. H Power and FuelCell also remain in the red. [CHRISTINA CHEDDAR, Wall Street Journal, Sep 11]

Lead With the Good News After boasting that revenue was up 22%, SatCon took several paragraphs to get to the news that operating loss for the quarter was $3M. CEO/founder David Eisenhaure said, Our accomplishments during the third quarter demonstrate SatCon's ability to leverage its standard product base and position itself for additional growth. [Translation: hang on folks, our stuff will sell someday.] Wall Street did not panic and kept the stock in its recent trading area down 80% from the 12-month high.

SatCon Acquires Another(Jun 27) SatCon will acquire Inverpower Controls Ltd, of Burlington, Ontario, a manufacturer of power electronics modules and advanced high-speed digital controls for use in industrial power supply, power conversion and power quality systems. SatCon paid $100K cash and 400,000 shares of common stock (trading around 10).

SatCon sold 1.5M shares at $12.125, a 12% discount to the previous closing price. In principle, the scheme Mini-Secondary(TM) program is generally suitable for growth-oriented public companies with market capitalizations between $100 million and $1 billion and top-tier institutional investors seeking to establish sizable long-term positions in promising middle-market companies.

SatCon rolled out a competitor to American Superconductor's D-SMES, developing a 250kW UPS (uninterruptible power supply) flywheel system by end end of the year. SatCon says the steel flywheel would supply power for several seconds until the generator is automatically started.

All That Demand and No Profit(May 2)Revenues up 50%, operating loss up 25%. How soon will such a company go broke? SatCon has $7M cash on hand to absorb the regular bleeding.Of the $8.5M revenue, $3.0M comes from funded R&D - someone else's contract work (mostly the US Navy). Here's a power technology company that doesn't make money in a US that is in power shortage crisis talk with Vice-Presidential task force making political hay by pretending that the previous administrations had no policy.

SatCon lost either $5.6M or $2.3M for the quarter depending on how you view an accounting adjustment for warrants and investments. The operating loss of only $2.3M was a slight improvement.

California, Have Some Power. SatCon announces a new family of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) products at the Los Angeles Power Association Winter Conference to provide up to 2.0MW of power during power outages. The StarSine MegaPower UPS will combine Ling Electronics' StarSine power converters and controls with commercially available battery banks or flywheels to provide uninterruptible power during brownouts or blackouts, such as the rolling blackouts that have recently affected certain regions in California. Note that the product does not create power where their is now fuel to run the gadget(s). But dule is easier to stockpile against an emergency than kilowatts are. Now, if SatCom could just make money atop all the new product announcements. Its stock price is about double its 1992 IPO price and a third of its high for the last twelve months.

SatCon Technology rose 10% when it said that it has been selected by the U.S Navy to develop modular motor drive systems for the Navy's DD21 ``all-electric'' ship. Under this award, SatCon will develop the initial design and perform simulation studies for a modular motor drive that will be designed to be compatible with several different motor types. Motor drives integrate electronics and controls within a motor to perform specific motor control functions. The initial study phase is valued at approximately $200,000. SatCon recently was awarded a $2.7M subcontract to design and develop the integrated power conversion system for the new ship. ``We're pleased to be selected to develop another system for the Navy's DD21 `all-electric' ship,'' said David Eisenhaure, SatCon's President and Chief Executive Officer. ``The DD21 represents a growing trend in the conversion of vehicles and heavy machinery to `all-electric,' thereby creating a new and broader sector for power electronics. SatCon, a heavy user of SBIR, has shown a number of ways to lose money in its commercial business and such Navy work will at least keep the doors open.

 Three years after it launched, Satori Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA; two SBIRs) developer of drugs for neurodegenerative disorders, reports it has taken its first full round of venture funding, worth $22 million, and added a seasoned CEO.  [Mass High Tech, Jan 8]

Savara Pharmaceuticals (Austin, TX)

Savara (Austin, TX; no SBIR), which develops inhalation systems for drug delivery, raised more than $1.4 million in a second round of venture capital funding. ... licensed the technology from the University of Kansas  [Austin American Statesman, Dec 16, 09]

Savara Pharmaceuticals (Austin, TX, no SBIR, founded 2007) has secured $833,000 of a $1.4 million Series A financing round, ... late 2008, it moved to the Austin Technology Incubator five months after Austin entrepreneur Rob Neville was named the company’s chairman and CEO.  Neville previously was founder and CEO of another ATI-based company, Evity Inc. That startup was acquired in 2000 by Houston-based BMC Software Inc. for $100 million about a year after it was founded. Savara’s pulmonary — or via the lungs — drug delivery product, initially developed in 2004, is based on nanotechnology and dry powders rather than conventional propellants. It plans to offer its platform to drug makers seeking alternative delivery methods and to develop its own drugs. [Austin Business Journal, Jun 9, 09]

Savi Technology (Mountain View, CA)

The Navy's one-time SBIR poster child, Savi Technology (Sunnyvale, CA), is in the thick of securing cargo containers with smart electronic seals, says MIT Tech Review (Sep 03). Of course Savi's not the only company and/or institution to have the great idea for container security since the task needs more application engineering than breakthrough innovation. 

Savi Raises $20M  (May 7) Savi Technology raised $20M for its campaign to sell its tracking gizmos to the commercial world, says the Wall Street Journal. Savi is the Navy's poster-child for SBIR because Navy gave Savi an award for an application of its radio transmitter technology that flunked marketing for tracking children with bracelets. UPS liked the technology enough to invest in Savi but won't be adopting it anytime soon. Was that a good use of SBIR which is supposed to be an innovation nursery? It is at least as good as you should expect from a bureau which found a happy combination of utility, low risk, and a rare commercialization story. Savi claims $200M in military sales. The again private firm was first bought by Texas Instruments, traded to Raytheon, and then bought back by corporate investors.

Savi Technology, now a subsidiary of Raytheon via Texas Instruments, won a Motorola protest to GAO for a $111M contract. Savi is the Navy's SBIR poster-child. [facts from WSJ, Dec 23].

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Savi Gets $111M Contract(Aug26) The Navy's SBIR poster-child, Savi Technology (Mountain View, CA), will get $111 million from DOD to track military supplies with its radio transceiver. Savi is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Raytheon (having been bought out by TI which sold its military business to Raytheon). Says the Silicon Valley Business Journal Savi received its first DOD contract in 1994 [for] $70 million which was scheduled to expire this year. During the prior two years, the company had received $2.5M from DOD through SBIR, a little-known federal grant program. Savi makes cargo tags to track cargo at distances of up to 600 feet. By today's info-tech standards, it's a low-tech smart card and driven more by cost than technology. 

SciClone Pharmaceuticals (Foster City, CA)

SciClone Pharmaceuticals (Foster City, CA; one SBIR) aid it will cut 17 percent of its U.S. work force — or about 7 jobs — as part of a corporate restructuring. ... after the company stopped a trial of a late-stage pancreatic cancer drug candidate earlier this month. The company said at the time a data safety monitoring committee recommended the trial of RP101 be stopped.  [AP, Oct 28, 09]

SciClone Pharma  down 15% [Oct 20, 09]

drug maker SciClone Pharmaceuticals (Foster City, CA; one SBIR) fell 10% as it stopped a Phase II trial of a potential treatment of late-stage pancreatic cancer following a recommendation from a safety committee. [Wall Street Journal, Oct 6, 09]

Scientific Research (Atlanta GA)

Efficient Ears. On average, companies generated roughly $28 in earmark revenue for every dollar they spent lobbying. By any standard, that's a hefty ratio: The companies in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index brought in just $17.52 in revenues for every dollar of capital expenditure in 2006. ... Says Keith Ashdown, chief investigator for the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense: "The lion's share of these projects is about politics and jobs, rather than real needs." [Business Week, Sep 17]  The earmark efficiency champ is an SBIR company, Scientific Research (Atlanta GA and others; about $15M SBIR), that got $344 in earmarked funds per dollar of political "investment".Other SBIR investors: Isothermal Systems (KY and WA; $2M SBIR) at $221 per lobbying dollar; Prologic (Fairmont WV; $2M SBIR) at $133 per dollar; Trex Enterprises (San Diego CA; $7M SBIR) at $116 per dollar. From an efficiency viewpoint, politicians make a good investment. You just have to learn how to kiss frogs.

Scientific Solutions (N. Chelmsford, MA) )

Scientific Solutions (N. Chelmsford, MA) got Laurin Publishing’s prestigious 2001 Photonics Circle of Excellence Award in recognition of their NIR High-Resolution Liquid Crystal Fabry-Perot Etalon, a next-generation tunable optical filter optimized for use in the Near Infrared. Product worthiness is based on uniqueness, importance to the industry, and technological achievement. The awards go to 25 technically innovative products. SSI’s President John Noto accepted the award at SPIE's Photonics West. Some of the development capital came from SBIRs from NASA, Air Force, BMDO, and Energy. [SSTI, Jan 25,02]

Scientific Systems (Woburn, MA)

Scientific Systems reports it has landed $750,000 from the U.S. Air Force to develop open-source software for testing navigation sensors and algorithms used by military robots. [Mass High Tech, Oct 21, 09]  Hardly newsworthy that a company with something like $80M in SBIR got another DOD Phase 2 to develop a modular software platform to test the sensors and algorithms.  Let's guess that the technical risk is pretty small for such an experienced company, which is just the way DOD likes their SBIRs. Disruptive innovation is just too .... well, disruptive.

Loving Experience.   Scientific Systems (Woburn,MA; $50M+ SBIR) won a NASA JPL Phase 2 SBIR for Distributed Formation State Estimation Algorithms Under Resource and Multi-Tasking Constraints. Creare (Hanover NH; $120M SBIR) won four NASA JPL Phase 2 SBIRs. Intelligent Automation (Rockville MD; $100M SBIR) won three NASA JPL Phase 2 SBIRs. Physical Optics (Torrance, CA; $200M SBIR) won one NASA JPL Phase 2 SBIR. Radiation Monitoring Devices
(Watertown, MA; $90M SBIR) won one NASA JPL Phase 2 SBIR. Etc, etc, etc. A zillion start-ups all over America got letters saying there was not enough money to nurture their ideas.

Scopic Software (Rutland, MA)

Last month, [CEO] Tim Burr (Scopic Software, Rutland, MA; no SBIR) needed $35,000 to boost his small software company, so he applied for loans at Bank of America and Citibank, both of which took billions of dollars in government bailout funds intended to spur lending and lift the economy out of a recession. They turned him down. “I thought, ‘I can’t believe this!’ These programs are supposed to help small business during tough times,’’ said Burr, ... Now he has taken another route - seeking approval for a SBA loan from Middlesex Community Savings Bank, a 31-branch bank that did not receive bailout money. [Megan Woolhouse, Boston Globe, Nov 2, 09]

Scynexis (Durham, NC)

[Frenchman] Yves Ribeill, CEO of  drug chemistry company Scynexis (Durham, NC; no SBIR, 130 employees), found a way to combine his passion with his business.  Last month, he worked out a deal with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative [which] is paying Scynexis $17M over five years to help find safer medicines to treat sleeping sickness, also known as human African trypanosomiasis. ... Founded in 2000 by 24 scientists who worked at Aventis CropScience's headquarters in Research Triangle Park  [Sabine Vollmer, Raleigh News&Observer, Dec 27]

Chemistry-focused drug discovery and development company Scynexis (Durham, NC), no SBIR, is thinking IPO by partnering with large pharmaceutical companies. [Raleigh News and Observer, Jan 9] Its roots lie in France and Switzerland.

SD Catalyst Group

 Grab Your Politician for Plus-Up. Smaller and more transparent earmarks of federal funds for favored domestic projects are returning after a one-year moratorium on the controversial practice. ... a bit less than 1% of total R&D appropriations (3% for DOD) ... The Senate Top 10, are mostly smaller states with senators in key committee chairmanships—Mississippi, New Mexico and Tennessee are at the top. ... search AAAS's new database of 2008 earmarks [AAAS Newsletter, Sep 07] But for small business, even 1% is a big honey pot. In the list (August version): Electro Energy  (CT; SBIR), Ocean Power Technologies (OR, SBIR in NJ),  DBS Energy CT, Eikos (MA; $8M+ SBIR), Cellular Bioengineering HI, Cerematec  (UT; SBIR), Ramgen WA, Advanced Radar Technologies WY, Compact Membrane Systems (DE; $20M SBIR), SD Catalyst Group SD.  Your story is that high-tech small business will create jobs, and they don't know whether your claim is valid or just wishful thinking. Like the federal mission agencies who then have to award and supervise the contract, they don't seem much to care.

SeaChange

SeaChange's (no SBIR) hiring spree is typical of a class of high-tech businesses in Massachusetts that have proved virtually immune to the economic slowdown. These companies sell into global markets that provide a cushion as the US economy struggles with everything from mounting home foreclosures to a plummeting stock market.  In many cases, they also offer products that enable them to benefit from economic downturns, when consumer spending is restrained and businesses cut costs. [Robert Weisman, Boston Globe, Mar 13]  Note that such economic spinoffs and opportunities do NOT come from government R&D service contracting; they come from companies offering new business opportunities to the wide world. Almost all the economic arguments made for SBIR by the beneficiaries are self-serving blarney. 

Seahawk Biosystems (Austin, TX)

lab on a chip  In 1998 it occurred to David Baselt of the NRL that spin valves might also make excellent biosensors. Biological materials are not usually magnetic, but they are often chemically specific. Dr Baselt wondered if tiny magnetic particles could be attached to molecules using either antibodies (which will bond to proteins, sugars and so on) or single-stranded DNA (which will bond to a complementary DNA strand to form the famous double helix). Searching for a target molecule would then involve sprinkling a sample thought to contain it with magnetic nanoparticles coated with the appropriate antibody or DNA, and running it over a spin valve. the NRL has developed a battery-powered unit the size of a shoebox, and has licensed its design to Seahawk Biosystems (Austin, TX; $1.5M SBIR), for food-testing and environmental use.   [The Economist, Dec 6, 08]

Seahorse Bioscience

Biotech materials company Seahorse Bioscience (no SBIR). has taken in $6 million in a Series D round of funding, to help it purchase BioProcessors .(Woburn, MA; $600K SBIR) maker of systems for improving biologic drug manufacturing. [Mass High Tech, Mar 10, 09]

Seaside Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA)

Seaside Therapeutics, (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) developer of treatments for brain disorders, has landed $30 million in funding to aid the company’s Fragile X Syndrome and autism treatment research. The financing comes from an unnamed, private, family investment firm. [Mass High Tech, Sep 17, 09]

Seattle Genetics

Seattle Genetics secured $12 million in upfront payments from GlaxoSmithKline in exchange for its technology that links antibodies to toxins that make them more potent, as Luke reported. [Gregory Huang, xconomy Seattle Times, Dec 22, 09]

Biotech powerhouse [Roche’s U.S.-based] Genentech will terminate a collaboration deal that paid Seattle Genetics $60 million and could have yielded over $800 million more in future years. [Seattle Times, Dec 11, 09]

Seattle Genetics clinched a partnership with Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company to co-develop and market an “empowered antibody” for Hodgkin’s disease and related lymphomas. ...  Millennium (Cambridge, MA) handles all cancer research for Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals, has agreed to pay $60 million upfront, and make milestone payments worth $230 million over time [Luke Timmerman, Seattle Times, Dec 15, 09]

Seattle Genetics said it will receive $12 million from Agensys Inc. as part of the expansion of the companies’ anitbody-drug conjugate (ADC) deal involving cancer targets.  [Puget Sound Business Journal, Nov 23, 09]

Seattle Genetics ended a midstage trial, sending its shares down15%... said its cancer drug dacetuzumab didn't look likely to meet the main goal of the test. [Wall Street Journal, Oct 6, 09]

Seattle Genetics  up 14% [Jul 24, 09]

Four days after announcing it will lay off more than 160 employees and will discontinue some of its research efforts, ZymoGenetics said it will license eight of its “noncore assets” to Seattle Life Sciences (no SBIR).  [Puget Sound Business Journal, May 4]

Millennium, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (TSE:4502), said it’s entering a global collaboration with Seattle Genetics to develop antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).  [Mass High Tech, Apr 6, 09]

Seattle Genetics up 15% [Mar 12, 09]

Seattle Genetics said it plans to sell 5.7 million shares of stock and expects to raise $55.8 million from the sale.  [Puget Sound Business Journal, Jan 28, 08] after U.S. and European regulators gave its drug candidate SGN-35 gave it "orphan drug" status" [Jan 26]

Seattle Genetics up 13% [Oct 28, 08]

Seattle Genetics down 13% [Oct 15, 08]

Seattle Genetics up 13% [Oct 13, 08]

Seattle Genetics down 10% [Oct 3, 08]

Seattle Genetics said it has entered a deal with Japanese pharmaceutical giant Daiichi Sankyo to develop anti-cancer therapies. The deal will give Seattle Genetics an upfront payment of $4 million, plus royalties  [Seattle Times, Jul 9, 08]

Seattle Genetics said that an experimental drug to treat Hodgkin lymphoma and similar cancers showed a strong patient response in early clinical trials, [Angel Gonzalez, Seattle Times, Jun 4, 08]

Seattle Genetics raised $97M from a stock sale. [Seattle Times, Jan 24, 08]

Seattle Genetics down 12% as it said it plans to sell 10 million shares [Jan 14, 08]

Seattle Genetics ($1M+ SBIR) said it received a $4 million milestone payment from partner Genentech to begin an early clinical trial on its lead blood-cancer drug. [Angel Gonzales, Seattle Times, Jan 9]

Seattle Genetics ($1M SBIR) said  it had begun a new mid-stage clinical trial for its SGN-40 anti-cancer therapy, triggering a $12M milestone payment from research partner Genentech. ... could receive up to $800M in payments from Genentech upon hitting research and regulatory milestones [Angel Gonzalez, Seattle Times, Dec 8]

Seattle Genetics up 15% [Feb 1, 07]

Seattle Medical Tech

Seattle Medical Technologies, a medical-device startup founded by the prolific inventor Clif Alferness, has raised at least $8.6 million in venture capital ... from two prominent investment firms that have backed Alferness in startups before ... Alferness, who has diabetes and wears an insulin pump, has inventions in a wide range of medical areas — including the heart, lungs and esophageal tissues. [Luke Timmerman, Seattle Times, Oct 21]

Secure Computing (Minneapolis, MN)

Secure Computing up 23% [Sep 22, 08] on its sale to McAfee for $465M

Secure Computing down 11% [May 2, 08] to a year low after [it] said its first-quarter net loss widened 68 % on litigation costs and slow sales. [AP]

Secure Computing took a 38% cold shower (7/12/06) after cutting its quarterly revenue estimate.by 10% .

Among the losers was Secure Computing Corp, a network security service provider, which went public in November 1995 at $16, soared to close at $48.25 on its first day and now trades at just $6.25. Investors who snapped up the stock at the close of its first day would have lost almost 90 percent of their money. [San Jose Mercury, Jul 30] The vicissitudes of IPO.

Seeo (Berkeley, CA)

A new incarnation of lithium-ion batteries based on solid polymers is in the works. startup Seeo (Berkeley, CA; no SBIR) says its lithium-ion cells will be safer, longer-lasting, lighter, and cheaper than current batteries. Seeo's batteries use thin films of polymer as the electrolyte and high-energy-density, light-weight electrodes. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is now making and testing cells designed by the University of California, Berkeley spinoff. ...  Seeo has gotten around the [longstanding] problem by making films with block copolymers: materials containing two linked polymer chains that self-assemble into nanostructures. One of the polymers forms an array of conductive cylinders that are embedded within the other polymer, which serves as a hard matrix. Singh says the electrolyte film is robust and is almost as conductive as liquid electrolytes.  [Pachi Patel, MIT Tech Review, Mar 27]

Seldon Labs (Windsor, VT)

Year-old Seldon Laboratories (Windsor, VT) Seldon Laboratories (Windsor, VT) got a $2M AF contract to develop post-prototype water filters from carbon nanotubes. In principle, the military can simply put almost any available water straight thru the filter into mouths or veins. [Small Times, Apr 26] Then long convoys will not be needed to transport water from Kuwait in plastic bottles. The web sites of DOD and the company show no sign that the prototype came from SBIR. Seldon claims that its nano-tubes create a "kill zone" capable of destroying all shapes and all types of bacteria and virus, as well as other pathogenic microbes such as the common Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia.  If it works as advertised, it sounds like the best carbon thing to come along since activated charcoal. Why didn't the AF use SBIR to develop the device? Too slow!  If you have such a breakthrough that you can prove, the DOD will not waste its nor your time diddling with slo-mo set-aside programs. It may have helped get inside the Pentagon door that a co-founder was Roger Kennedy, former CFO of the Ford Foundation, Director of the National Park Service and Director of the Smithsonian Institution. The anchor-man is Chris Cooper who worked a dozen years on nanotubes at Dartmouth from the days of his PhD.

Semba Biosciences (Madison, WI)

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]

Semiconductor Laser Inc (Binghampton, NY)

$100M By 2000 (Feb 12) At least one financial wag foresees $100M revenue for Semiconductor Laser International (Binghampton, NY) by the year 2000. SLI is the creature of Goeff Burnham, who once got SDIO SBIR at a company in Ithaca, NY, with the exclusive right to an Al-free laser from Manijeh Razeghi at Northwestern University who in turn credits DARPA with the enabling funding. SLI also got an exclusive license through a CRADA for an Air Force MBE technology for which it just got delivered the world's first MBE crystal growth reactor. Along with the CRADA came the Air Force inventor to manage the machine. Getting out the Al allows laser life to run years instead of days (so far at least in Illinois). Of course, Northwestern was far from the only institution working to eliminate aluminum; Ortel (Alhambra, CA) for one was also trying with BMDO SBIR. SLI's deal give Northwestern 10,000 shares of SLI stock and royalties. SLI went public in March 1996 raising $8.6M. Biggest competitor for such lasers, SDL Inc (San Jose, CA) which has now graduated from SBIR by growing to 470 people while making a profit.

Semprius (Durham NC)

Semprius (Durham, NC; $500K SBIR) has attracted a $1.5 million strategic investment from a German company.  As part of the deal with Durham-based Semprius, X-Fab Semiconductor Foundries will fabricate semiconductors for customers that have licensed Semprius' technology to develop new applications.  ... has raised more than $10 million in venture capital financing from Intersouth Partners of Durham and other investors [David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, Jan 13, 10]

Semprius (Durham, NC; $900K SBIR) is developing what it hopes will become the next generation of solar-energy devices with the help of $6.4 million in new venture capital.  ....   previously raised $4.1 million in April 2007. ...  Semprius' solar modules take advantage of technology licensed from the University of Illinois that allows it to make smaller semiconductors. Those semiconductors are combined with special lenses that concentrate sunlight 1,000-fold.  [David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, Jun 10, 09]

Semprius, a Durham NC semiconductor startup, raised $4.1M in venture capital. ...  commercializing a process for printing semiconductor circuits on any surface, including glass, plastic and other types of semiconductors, with applications in electronic displays, solar cells and wireless devices. Semprius was founded in 2005 with technology spun out of the University of Illinois. [Raleigh News & Observer, Apr 17] No SBIR yet reported by SBA.

Semprus BioSciences (Cambridge, MA)

Antibacterial coatings biomedical company Semprus BioSciences (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) reports it has raised $8 million in Series A financing  [Mass High Tech, Dec 11, 08]  The intellectual property comes from the MIT labs of Prof. Robert Langer and Prof. Greg Stephanopoulos, and part of this scientific research was featured in Nature.  [company website]

Sencera International

Sencera International (Charlotte, NC) which has 10 employees, develops and manufactures silicon thin-film solar modules that generate electricity. The new jobs, which will be added over the next three years, will pay average annual wages of $73,462, which is more than the Mecklenburg County average annual wage of $48,724. [Raleigh News & Observer, Jul 8, 08]

North Carolina’s Green Business Fund has awarded $1 million in its first round of grants, with Charlotte solar company Sencera International among the 13 businesses receiving funds. Sencera develops devices that directly convert solar energy to electricity. The company, headed by Chief Executive Rusty Jewett, will receive $100,000 to open a solar cell production facility. The Green Business Fund was founded last year, when the N.C. General Assembly allocated $1 million for the first round of grants. The fund is meant to help small businesses develop eco-friendly technology. It awards as much as $100,000 per company.  [Charlotte Business Journal, Jun 30, 08]

Senomyx

Senomyx up 10% [Aug 5, 09]

Senomyx  down 17% [Feb 17, 09]

Senomyx   up 10% [Feb 4, 09]

Senomyx down 10% [Jan 14, 09]

Senomyx  down 13% [Dec 1, 08]  On a stock bloodbath day

Senomyx up 13% [Nov 17, 08]

Senomyx down 16% [Nov 14, 08]

Senomyx up 22% [Nov 11, 08]

Senomyx  down 10% [Oct 10, 08]

Senomyx down 11% [Oct 6, 08]

Senomyx up 19% [Aug 21, 08]

Senomyx up 12%  [Jul 3, 08]

Senomyx down 14% [Jul 1, 08]

Senomyx up 12% [Apr 18, 08]

Senomyx down 11% [Dec 27, 07]

Senomyx down 20% on reporting a raft of "accomplishments" that bury any financial bad news.  [Nov 1, 07]

Senomyx up 16% after consumers were introduced to the first commercial product that uses one of Senomyx's flavor ingredients.[Jun 5, 07]

SensAble Technologies

A medical training company Simulution (Prior Lake, MN; $1M SBIR) is using a software toolkit from SensAble Technologies (Woburn, MA; two SBIRs) in a new system that aims to educate doctors about spinal implant technology.  [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Oct 16, 08]

SensAble Technologies (Woburn, MA; no SBIR), developer of touch-enabled systems for 3D modeling, today announced that it has shipped its 6,000th PHANTOM haptic device. [Boston Globe, Jan 25, 08]

Sensors Unlimited (Princeton, NJ)

Returns to Earth. Greg Olsen was the third private citizen to make a self-funded trip into space with Space Adventures.  In his earlier life he used SBIR to help his Sensors Unlimited company develop sensitive infrared cameras before it was bought out by Japan Inc. [facts from MIT Tech Review, J/F 09]  After being written off as a failure by teachers due to poor grades in high school, Olsen planned to join the Army until he was counseled to try college for several months. Through an IBEW Local 3 scholarship, Olsen attempted college, kept his grades high, and graduated magna cum laude with multiple degrees from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He later graduated with a PhD from the University of Virginia. [Wikipedia]

Sensors Unlimited (Princeton, NJ) says the federal government will get $200-400M in capital gains and taxes from technologies supported by eight years of SBIR in their infancy. The immediate gain comes from the recent acquisition of Sensors by FINISAR for $700M. SU had about $8M of SBIR for instruments based on III-V materials like InGaAs.

Sensors Unlimited (Princeton, NJ) bought itself back for $6M after selling itself to Finisar for $700M in info-tech bubble time. Look for Gerg Olsen to return to the SBIR table. It was Olsen's sceond selling of a new company, having sold Epitaxx to Nippon just before he could sign an SBIR award from SDIO (that's MDA two generations ago). Thanks to Jeff Bond for keeping us up with high-tech developments.

SensorTran (Austin, TX)

SensorTran (Austin, TX; no SBIR) raised $8M in venture financing to expand its business of making and selling systems that do very accurate remote temperature measurements for a range of industrial applications. ... the company's venture investment total to $13.5M in the past two years. [Kirk Ladendorf, Austin American-Statesman, Dec 20] Starting as a division of Systems & Processes Engineering Corporation (Austin, TX; $40M or so SBIR) with the X33 space shuttle program to monitor internal cryogenic fuel tanks, SensorTran has been designing, manufacturing, and installing advanced fiber optic-based monitoring solutions since 1998, starting  [company website]

Sentelligence (Noblesville, IN)

Sentelligence (Noblesville, IN; no SBIR), a developer of fluid monitoring and detection sensors for the automotive and commercial vehicle markets, announced today it will begin field testing its new emissions control fluid sensor in Europe and Japan, as part of a potential contract with a major Japanese auto maker. .... is primarily an intellectual property company, and is developing a core of valuable and defensible assets. ... currently seeking industry-recognized entities for the purpose of developing a strategic development/funding relationship, as well as prospective test fleet customers with mission critical equipment requirements. [company website]

Sepracor

Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co Ltd has agreed to buy U.S. drugmaker Sepracor   for $2.7 billion, two sources said, in a move that would give the Japanese firm a much needed U.S. sales force.  [Reuters, Sep 2, 09]  Sepracor stock rose 26%.

Drug maker Sepracor said it is determining whether to continue the development of its most advanced candidate for the treatment of depression after a phase 2 clinical trial returned “inconclusive” results that fell short of the company’s initial goals. [Craig Douglas, Boston Business Journal, Jul 2, 09]

Sepracor said its profit jumped nearly fivefold in the first quarter as a large research and development charge came off its books. [Boston Globe, Apr 30, 09]

Sepracor said it has submitted a new drug application to the US Food and Drug Administration for the use of eslicarbazepine acetate as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of partial-onset seizures in adults with epilepsy. [Boston Globe, Mar 31, 09]

Sepracor said that its insomnia drug Lunesta did not reach its main goal in a clinical trial that tested it as a treatment for generalized anxiety disorder.  [Boston Globe, Mar 6]

Drug research concern Sepracor's [up 16%] 2009 forecast topped analysts' expectations, and Sepracor said it was cutting its work force 20%, or by 530 positions. [WSJ, Jan 30, 09]

Sepracor down 14% [Jul 29, 08]

Sepracor said that late-stage studies of an epilepsy drug demonstrated a reduction in the frequency of seizure in patients given the drug, eslicarbazepine, along with standard anti-epileptic drugs. [Boston Globe, Jun 19, 08]

Sepracor, known for such drugs as the insomnia treatment Lunesta, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Oryx Pharmaceuticals Inc., an affiliate of the Arrow Group. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Jun 3, 08]

Sepracor announced earnings, disclosed plans to buy a Canadian firm, and added that it has settled a patent dispute involving an asthma drug. [Boston Globe, May 1, 08]

Marlborough drug maker Sepracor has powered up a new website "My Allergies in America" on allergies only days after announcing the availability of a new prescription nasal spray for allergy sufferers.  [Boston Globe, Apr 23]

Sepracor, a research-based pharmaceutical company, said today that it swung to a fourth-quarter loss, due to a hefty drug-licensing payment. [Boston Globe, Feb 29]

Sepracor and the University of Massachusetts sued India's Lupin Ltd. to block it from selling a generic version of the allergy pill Clarinex in the US.  [Boston Globe, Nov 7, 07]

Sepracor (Marlborough MA; $2M SBIR) plans to reduce its sales and marketing staff after a drop in profit during the third quarter. [Mass High Tech, Oct 30, 07]

Sepracor ($2M SBIR 1986-1998) agreed with Eisai Co. Ltd. of Japan for the development and commercialization of Lunesta for the Japanese market.  ...and applied for clearance for Europe ...  Sepracor, which employs about 2,400 workers, reported a profit of $184.5 million in 2006, on revenue of $1.2 billion. [Mass High Tech, Jul 27]

SeQual Technologies (San Diego CA)

SeQual Technologies (San Diego CA; two Phase 1 SBIRs)(of 34 total awards) won the award  in the Medical Devices field for Technology Innovation 2007 by the Wall Street Journal.

Sequella (Rockville, MD)

Sequella (Rockville, MD; $6M SBIR) is getting orphan drug (for products that treat rare diseases) status from U.S. and European regulators for its potential new antibiotic called SQ109. ... started by a former government scientist 10 years ago to take on the global problem of tuberculosis  ... orphan drug designation gives Sequella, which has just 16 employees, market exclusivity protections and a speedier, less expensive path to approval of its drug  [Michael Rosenwald, Washington Post, Oct 22]

Sequenom

Sequenom settled shareholder lawsuits by paying $14 million, funded by insurance, and issuing the plaintiffs almost 10% of its shares outstanding. Last year, Sequenom disclosed it had "mishandled data" from its prenatal Down syndrome test and fired its chief executive and head of research  [Wall Street Journal, Jan 16, 10]

Xenomics (NY, NY; no SBIR) accused Sequenom of deliberately doctoring test data on what was considered a promising Down syndrome test. Small firm Xenomics, which has a pending lawsuit against Sequenom, says it gave the company an exclusive license on urine-testing technology for fetal testing based on the promise of the Down syndrome test. Now it wants out of the agreement and is also seeking up to $300 million in damages. [Thomas Kupper, San Diego Union Tribune, Dec 18, 09]

Sequenom down 12% [Nov 25, 09]

Sequenom up 39% [Nov 24, 09]

embattled Sequenom, which halted the debut of a new diagnostic product over mishandled data, is now considering steps to conserve cash. In an SEC document filed Monday, the life sciences tools company says it expects to end the year with $39 million in cash — too little to fund operations and capital expenditures at current levels through the end of 2010.  [Denise Gellene, San Diego Union Tribune, Nov 11, 09]

Sequenom up 11% [Oct 9, 09]

Sequenom  said it dismissed Chief Executive Harry Stylli and four others after an independent panel of directors found the company failed to adequately police its studies of a noninvasive prenatal test for Down's syndrome. ... In after-hours trading, the stock was down 43%  [Wall Street Journal, Sep 29, 09]

Sequenom down 14% [Sep 1, 09]  The market rumor that pushed Sequenom shares sharply higher Monday was false, according to newspaper report.  [TheStreet.com, Sep 1]

Sequenom up 21% [Aug 31, 09]

Sequenom down 17% [Aug 7, 09]

Sequenom up 12% [Aug 4, 09]

Sequenom up 14% [Jul 27, 09]

Sequenom up 10% [Jul 23, 09]

Sequenom  up 10% [Jul 7, 09]

Sequenom up 10% [Jun 24, 09]

Sequenom down 23% [Jun 10, 09]>

Sequenom up 58% [Jun 9, 09]

Sequenom up 12% [May 11, 09]

Sequenom  up 14% [May 1, 09]

Sequenom said yesterday it will delay the launch of its much ballyhooed prenatal Down syndrome test because employees mishandled supporting study data. [Terri Somers, San Diego Union Tribune, Apr 30, 09]

Sequenom offered to acquire Exact Sciences for $1.50 a share, valuing the Maynard, Mass., maker of DNA-screening technologies at $41 million.  [Wall Street Journal, Jan 13, 09]

Sequenom up 14% [Jan 5, 09]

Sequenom up 13% [Dec 12, 08]

Sequenom up 14% [Dec 2, 08]

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

Sequenom up 12% [Nov 24, 08]

Sequenom up 12% [Nov 13, 08]

Sequenom down 11% [Nov 12, 08]

Sequenom down 10% [Nov 5, 08]

Sequenom up 10% [Oct 31, 08]

Sequenom down 15% [Oct 15, 08]

Sequenom up 20% [Oct 13, 08]

Sequenom down 12% [Oct 9, 08]

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.

Sequenom down 12% [Oct 7, 08]

Sequenom down 10% [Sep 29, 08]

Sequenom up 35% [Sep 24, 08] after the company said its Downs syndrome screening test was effective in 200 cases, with no false positives or false negatives. [AP]

Sequenom up 12% [Sep 16, 08]

Sequenom up 10% [Jul 14, 08]

Sequenom up 12% [Jun 25, 08] after announcing a new stock financing

Sequenom up another 20% [Jun 5, 08] after the company reported its noninvasive prenatal test to screen maternal blood for Down syndrome was effective in all samples, exceeding analysts' expectations. [San Diego Union-Tribune]

Sequenom up 22% [Jun 4, 08]

Sequenom up 18% [Mar 20, 08] on a buy recommendation.

Sequenom up 12%  [Nov 6, 07]

Sequenom down 11% in disappointing financials. [Nov 1, 07]

Sequenom up 13% [Oct 17, 07]

Sequenom up 14% [Oct 15, 07]

Sequenom up 11% [Oct 1, 07]

Sequenom up another 15%  [Sep 27, 07]

Sequenom up 16%  [Sep 25, 07] after it announced that it plans to develop a third-generation single molecule nucleic acid analysis technology based on exclusive license rights from Harvard University that covers a readout system technology for single DNA molecules based on simultaneous optical probing of multiple nanopores.

SeraCare Life Sciences

SeraCare Life Sciences (Milford, MA; one SBIR), a developer of drug-discovery and related technologies, has landed several contracts with government agencies that carry up to $10.8 million in potential payments.  [Mass High Tech, Sep 30, 09]

SeraCare Life Sciences (Oceanside, MD; one SBIR) There once was a life sciences company that declared bankruptcy amid a financial accounting scandal, got back into the good graces of the SEC, only to be bandied about by the most tumultuous Wall Street environment in decades, then managed to become profitable in the second quarter of 2009.  [Julie Donnelly, Mass High Tech, Aug 28, 09]

SeraCare Life Sciences (Milford, MA: one SBIR) provider of services and products to the biopharmaceutical industry, is expanding its Milford facility to include a 60,000-square-foot research and manufacturing facility. [Mass High Tech, Oct 5, 07]

SeraCare Life Sciences (1 Phase 1 SBIR) got a $10M revolving loan. [Mass High-Tech, Jun 11]

Serenex (Durham, NC)

Don't Share  II.  A Wake County NC judge has awarded $57.5 million to a Durham drug development company Serenex that had accused a former employee of stealing trade secrets and passing them on to Chinese drug companies. [John Murawski, Raleigh News & Observer, Sep 4, 08]

Pfizer, the world's largest drug maker, will buy Serenex (Durham, NC; no SBIR; 36 employees, $81M VC) a small company working on a promising lung cancer treatment to bolster its pipeline of experimental medicines.  [Raleigh News&Observer, Mar 4, 08]

Serenex  (Durham, NC; no SBIR) claims in a lawsuit that a former scientist stole trade secrets and funneled them to two Chinese companies that used the information in overseas patent applications for a cancer treatment.  Serenex, which has 30 employees, is testing two experimental cancer drugs in humans. .. Also named as defendants are two Chinese companies, Beijing Gylongli Sci. & Tech. Co. and GYLL Biomedtech.  [David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, Jul 27]

Nearly a dozen venture capital firms combined to invest $26 M in Serenex (Durham, NC; no SBIR) a small unprofitable firm working on two drugs to treat cancer patients. ... founded in 2001, has raised about $81M in venture money [Frank Norton, Raleigh News & Observer, Jun 28, 07]  The Carolinas need all the innovative business they can find to fill the ever expanding hole of the textile industry. 

Seventh Sense Biosystems

Medical device startup Seventh Sense Biosystems has secured $4.18 million in its first funding round, according to an online report.  [Mass High Tech, Dec 16, 08]

SGX Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA)

Eli Lilly will acquire SGX Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) in a $64 million cash deal that will pay shareholders a substantial premium [San Diego Union-Tribune, Jul 9, 08]

Shiloh Laboratories (Madison, WI)

Shiloh Laboratories (Madison, WI; no SBIR) which is developing a better way to grow stem cells has received a $50,000 grant from the state, ... formed last year and began expanding its operations in the last few months following a scientific breakthrough, said Thomas Primiano, the company's founder.  ... has a patent pending for a supplement that researchers could add to the media, or broth, in which they grow stem cells, he said. It is what is known as a growth factor supplement, which means it uses a naturally occurring protein to stimulate cell growth.  The supplement would be less expensive than those in use now, and would allow scientists to feed their stem cells once every three days, rather than every day.  "We've shown it works with embryonic stem cells, and we're extending our research into other types of cells," Primiano said. .. aiming to have its supplement on the market by the end of 2009, he said.  ... has applied for a federal innovation grant and for funds from Madison Development Corp., a $12 million nonprofit economic development organization [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dec 23, 08]

Sicel Technologies (Morrisville NC)

Sicel Technologies (Morrisville, NC; one SBIR) announced Monday that the FDA has given it the go-ahead to begin selling a second-generation model of its wireless sensor that monitors the radiation used to treat patients with breast and prostate cancer. [David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, Mar 11]

Three Triangle technology firms raised $10.5M last month to hire workers, invest in research and market new products Medical-implants maker Sicel Technologies raised $7M; Biotech startup Entegrion raised $2M (first VC); Centice Corp. raised $1.5M. [Raleigh News and Observer, Nov 10] Sicel and Centice have had SBIRs.

Sicel Technologies (Morrisville, NC) received regulatory approval to use its wireless, implantable sensor in prostate cancer treatment. [Raleigh News & Observer, Jun 30] Sicel had one HHS Phase 1 SBIR in 2002. 

SiCortex (Maynard, MA)

jbrodkin writes 'SiCortex (Maynard, MA; no SBIR) had an idea that it thought would take the supercomputing world by storm — build the most energy-efficient HPC clusters on the planet. But the recession, and the difficulties of penetrating a market dominated by Intel-based machines, proved to be too much for the company to handle. SiCortex ended up folding earlier this year, and its story may be a cautionary tale for startups trying to bring innovation to the supercomputing industry.'  [slashdot.org, Nov 3, 09]

Sierra Monolithics (Redondo Beach, CA)

Downed Drone as Advertisment (Oct 12)When Iraq displayed the remains of a drone it had shot down (only unmanned USAF planes fly low and slow) the viewer could see two signs of the makers: USAF and Sierra Monolithics (Redondo Beach, CA). Charles Harper and Sierra got started with BMDO SBIR in 1988 and has had four BMDO Phase 2s in ten years plus three from other DOD agencies. This February it got its first round of VC money $14M for optical microchip development.

SI Diamond Still Kicking in some form.  SI Diamond Technology, a shadow of Howard Schmidt's diamond coated dream of the late 80s, is now a micro-conglomerate after its de-listing when diamond coating proved too expensive for all those CVD dreamers. Nonetheless, pressing on, the shell said that a subsidiary, Applied Nanotech, did a license agreement with one of the largest display manufacturing companies in Japan for all .the owned and assigned patents of SI Diamond and Applied Nanotech, Inc. in the field of carbon films/carbon nanotubes electron emission technologies for the manufacturing and sales of flat panel displays. Japan apparently still dreams of diamond. [story from MDA's Tech Applications group (which soldiers on to get good press for Star Wars despite a big depletion of the gold mine of entrepreneurial SBIR companies doing leading edge innovation)] [Dec 02]

A Whisper from the Past SI Diamond Technology, well de-listed from NASDAQ and no longer quoted by the Wall Street Journal, says it get good operation of a sealed triode-type color field emission display using diamond/carbon films. [Laser Focus World, Dec 98]

SI Diamond Gone (Feb 27) Trading stopped in SI Diamond Technology (Austin, TX). SIDT was created by Howard Schmidt in the MOCVD diamond craze of the late 80s. But like another SBIR-supported diamond firm, Crystallume, the product proved too expensive for real markets. For such firms SBIR is a good start that has to end when the product cannot penetrate the market. When that happens, more product oriented R&D like SBIR isn't the answer. The research thrust should shift back to basic research best done at non-profits like universities and the start-ups should wait until the next plateau of possible exploitable technology. Instead, too many SBIR programs won't let go and let the company fail. Companies are not knowledge; companies convert knowledge to market profits. One of the barriers to letting go is the government's use of technical experts to judge SBIRs on their "scientific and technical merit" (whatever that means). Those tech experts confuse the purpose of research with the purpose of SBIR.

SI Diamond Loses Again(Aug 19) SI Diamond Tech lost $1.7M on falling revenues of only $1M while shutting one of its four subsidiaries - Plasmatron. Diamond-coating scalpels and scissors must not have enough appeal for the price. Some optimists remain as the stock stays above a buck a share. .

SI Diamond Gets Another $2M(Jun 27) SI Diamond Tech, sans Howard Schmidt, said it got a private placement commitment for $2M with chances for $3M. The stock remains under a buck.

Howard's End (Jun 24) The founder left the board and SI Diamond Technology is no longer under the spell of Howard Schmidt. Two new board members replaced Howard, one an astronaut and one a technopreneur (with more success than Howard had). Howard founded Schmidt Instruments "with $275 and not enough sense to know better". He was an enthusiastic spokesman who knew you don't build a company sitting around guarding your in-box. (Only government can do that.) How long the company survives remains to be seen, not because Howard left but because the goal now seems to be always moving to beyond the available capital. Diamond, or even almost diamond, has turned out to be harder than we thought in the 80s.

SI Diamond Wins Texas Billboard(Jun 9) SI Diamond Technology won an exclusive $3.7M purchase from a Texas electronic billboard company. The stock price remains below a buck.

More Revenue and More Loss(Apr 7) SI Diamond Technology lost $13.7M for 1996 even though revenues grew 90% to $5.8M. SIDT now bills itself as a holding company, holding apparently a losing hand. The BMDO SBIR investment in CVD diamond didn't produce commercializable products, just like the other 20 or so companies who tried. Two went public where the trouble is more visible and spread to more people.

SI Diamond Raises $2M More(Mar 18) Preferred stock and convertible bonds raised another $2M for SI Diamond Technology (Austin, TX).

More Money on the Way(Mar 6) SI Diamond Technology (Austin, TX) says more money is on the way to refinance the self-called holding company. Amount and source still a mystery. SI got a running start from SDIO with SBIRs to develop CVD diamond magic and a license from UT Dallas for a gamma-ray laser spinoff technology to make almost diamond. It's the almost diamond that formed the basis for the capital-eating display technology. Since the SBIR days of promise the founder Howard Schmidt has been pigeonholed and the company seems always to be getting more money with little sign of becoming a profitable company. The NASDAQ trading shows the pessimism.

SI Diamond Signs Asian Rep (Feb 7) SI Diamond Technology (Austin, TX) signed on Diamond Pro-Shop Nomura Company Ltd to represent it in Asia.

SI Diamond Splits Making and Selling (Jan 14) SI Diamond Technology (Austin, TX) formed two subsidiaries - one to sell to the billboard industry and one to develop the field emission technology. The press release sounds an awful lot like a government plan to reorganize when things aren't going so great. The market hasn't liked SI's results so far, slicing SI's market cap by 80% from its high. (SI had a slight language deviation in noting "it's Plasmatron subsidiary", a problem widely respected among modern scientific proposal writers. For some reason modern scientists don't know "its" from "it's" nor "principle" from "principal").

Third Generation LampSI Diamond Technology (Austin, TX) announced its third generation 12,000 fl lamp that "opens the door for a number of product applications". It can be seen at Display Works 97 in San Jose Jan 29-30. [Business Wire, Jan 6, 97] Let's see: have we heard such claims before, especially about diamond? Not just from SI Diamond. Crystallume was saying the same things as it slipped beneath the waves. Whether diamond-like technology makes it in the market still depends on getting the price down to earth, a silent aspect of SI's great-new-technology announcement. The material comes not from an SBIR but from a spinoff of Star-Wars gamma ray laser research at University of Texas. SI, though, did have a lot of SBIR to search for CVD diamond miracles.

A Capital ReshuffleSI Diamond Technology(Austin, TX) announced a capital reshuffle in which preferred stockholders took common shares to liberate $1M cash - not a happy sign. Said the CEO, I am pleased the holders of our Series E Preferred Stock have demonstrated their support for our restructuring, [otherwise I'm toast]. Sep 96

Diamond Billboard PrototypeSixteen pixels, matrix-addressable, and quick enough for a billboard (but no tobacco advertising please) is the proof-of-concept prototype by SI Diamond Technology (Austin, TX). The final billboard would have 320 by 240 color pixels that would work at video rates. That's not TV quality but billboards speak in broad strokes anyway, ideally an incessant unforgettable message. Maybe now, the stock price can pick itself up from 1 1/2 , down from the 5 of the 1993 IPO. SI Diamond got its start as Schmidt Instruments with a license to exploit the gamma-ray laser research spinoff that produced the amorphic (not exactly) diamond that underpins for the display technology. SI also got a lot of SBIR for CVD diamond, for which it is still looking for the magic (as are all the other CVD diamond mongers).

Texas Red Ink
The ink flowed red again in Texas as SI Diamond Technology reported another big quarterly loss of $4M on revenues of $2M. Traders in SI stock, who have beaten the stock down below$2, seem to be losing faith that such losses are merely a preparation for a profitable flat-panel display technology.

Howard Schmidt Steps Aside
Howard Schmidt who founded Schmidt Instruments (Houston, TX) "with $275 and not enough sense to know better" yielded his position and Chairman and CEO of SI Diamond Technology Inc . Howard made a double company, one part doing research on CVD diamond on government funds (SBIR), and the other going for the gold with flat panel displays hinged on what Howard labeled Amorphic Diamond, a diamond-like carbon from a process spun off from the pie-in-the-future-sky Star Wars gamma-ray laser program. He attracted a lot of capital including $5M from the Russian gas company after going public in 1993 at $5 a share. The stock now trades under 3. SIDT is having the same trouble as the other CVD diamond makers - high unit cost for a world-beating product. None of the several BMDO SBIR-funded diamond entrepreneurs made it work commercially. The other 1993 IPO diamond company was Crystallume (Palo Alto, CA), now defunct. BMDO tried mightily in both its SBIR and Innovative Science programs to adapt the Russian CVD diamond for its wonderfully high conductivity and bandgap mostly with the oversight of Max Yoder of the Office of Naval Research. . Nice try; more research needed.

Siga Technologies

Siga Tech down 28% [Dec 11, 09] after it sold $20 million in common stock to investors, at a [15%] discount. [AP, Dec 10]

Siga Tech up 15% [Dec 14, 09]

Siga Tech down 10% [Dec 10, 09]

Siga Tech down 13% [Sep 1, 09]

SIGA Tech up 13% [Jun 26, 09]

SIGA   up 11% [May 5, 09]

SIGA Tech  up 12% [Apr 22, 09]

Siga Tech up 15% [Apr 8, 09]

Siga Tech   up 10% [Feb 17, 09]

Siga Tech up 13% [Feb 11, 09]

Siga Tech up 10% [Feb 10, 09]

SIGA up 14% [Oct 16, 08]

Siga Tech up 19% [Sep 18, 08]

On Sept. 3, Siga Technologies was awarded a $55 million contract by the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases to help develop an oral smallpox antiviral agent. The drug is one of several that Siga is developing to fight bio-warfare pathogens, says CEO Dr. Eric Rose. The contract follows a similar $16.5 million contract Siga won in 2006 to finance its filing of a new-drug application with the FDA for the smallpox antiviral. [Gene Marcial, Business Week, Sep 22, 08]

SIGA Tech up 35% [Aug 29, 08]

SIGA Tech up 11%  [May 8, 08]

Siga Tech up 12% [Apr 17, 08]

SIGA Tech up 13% [Nov 28, 07]

SIGA Technologies down 10% [Aug 3, 07]

SIGA Technologies up 22% for getting included in market index. [Jul 25, 07]

SIGA Technologies down 11% after reporting financials. [May 8, 07]

SIGA Technologies up 14% on news of improvement  in a toddler patient who got a disease after receiving the company's smallpox drug candidate.  [Mar 19, 07]

SIGA Technologies up 10% [Jan 18, 07]

Siga up 27% [Nov 7, 06]

Siga Technologies soared 135% after the micro-cap biotech claimed its lead drug became "the first drug ever to demonstrate 100% protection against human smallpox virus in a primate trial conducted at the federal CDC". [thestreet.com, Oct 18] Among its nearly $30M in federal grants and contracts to develop the smallpox agent since 2001 [Joe Rojas-Burke, Oregonian, Oct 19 (the New York firm has its research labs in Corvallis)], including several SBIRs, Siga had two Phase 2s that totaled $11.4M from HHS. Which would have caused NHS to award a lot of small Phase 1s to keep the average award below the Congressional target of $750K. Yes, it's politics that mandates spreading the largess around and agencies' shoehorning projects that need outsize awards into SBIR just because the firm is small. But the mandate doesn't stop multiple-multiple awards to favored firms who don't mind many small awards as long as they sum to good money.

Really Big SBIR.  Siga Technologies got a $4.8M SBIR to continue its smallpox work. NIH had given Siga a $1.7M Phase 1 in 2003 followed by a $5.8M Phase 2 in 2003 for smallpox work. After starting life in New York City with Phase 1 SBIRs, Siga moved to Oregon and now is in negotiation to be bought by a firm in Annapolis MD, says the The Oregonian (Aug 3). SIGA has been successful in leveraging these platforms through partnerships with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and TransTech Pharma.  We have obtained in excess of $12 million of funding from NIH grants.  We also have two contracts with the U.S. Army for $3.2 and a $1.6 million. Note that federal agencies can and will hand out big money awards when the work suits their purposes, and will shunt small firms into SBIR whenver possible. Whether that promotes the use of SBIR to foster economically useful innovation is a judgment call to be made by Congress when it can take time from "values" pandering.  A large chunk of SBIR already goes to ordinary federal R&D without regard to economic  consequences.

Silatronix ((Madison, WI)

start-up has pulled in $500,000 of funding to develop an electrolyte that a group of high-level scientists thinks will make batteries and other storage devices much more efficient and safer. Silatronix LLC (Madison, WI; no SBIR) raised the money from Venture Investors and will receive another $500,000 if it meets certain milestones, ... the first company created under a program Venture Investors started last year when it raised a $117 M fund. The fund will invest as much as 5% of its capital in the Venture Igniter program, which aims to pull untapped technologies out of the university and build companies around them, [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, May 13, 08]

Silicon Laboratories

Co-founders of Silicon Laboratories Inc., one of Austin's most successful homegrown companies, will tell their story next week at an event sponsored by the Austin chapter of the Indus Entrepreneurs, known as TiE, a global network for entrepreneurs. [Austin American-Statesman, May 9]

Silicon Mountain Design

SBIR Technology of the Year Award 1996 and 1995, claims SMD (Silicon Mountain Design), (Colorado Springs, CO). It's not a big SBIR user: $2M in 1995 but not enough earlier to make the top (ab)users lists. CCD cameras.

Silverbrook (Australia)

Silverbrook Research [Australia] has spent the last ten years developing Memjet, a printer that uses an array of ink jet nozzles that spans the width of the paper. Company executives have said they feel that they can ship an 8x10 color inkjet by the end of 2008 that will cost less than $200 and print 60 pages a minute. [Mark Hachman, PCMag, Mar 22]

Silver Spring Networks

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.

Simulation Technology and Applied Research (Mequon, WI)

software developer Simulation Technology and Applied Research (Mequon, WI; $2.5M SBIR)  has been acquired by AWR Corp. of El Segundo, Calif. .... founder John DeFord started his firm in 1997  [Rick Romell, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan 19, 09]

Simulution (Prior Lake, MN)

A medical training company Simulution (Prior Lake, MN; $1M SBIR) is using a software toolkit from SensAble Technologies (Woburn, MA; two SBIRs) in a new system that aims to educate doctors about spinal implant technology.  [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Oct 16, 08]

Singulex (St Louis MO)

Researchers at Washington University are using technology from a local biotech startup in the search for more effective diagnostic tests and treatments for cancer, diabetes and other ailments.  Singulex (St Louis MO; no SBIR), which has its research base at the Center for Emerging Technologies business incubator in St. Louis, said that its Erenna system has been installed in the proteomics lab at Washington University's Siteman Cancer Center. The system allows scientists to detect in blood samples minute amounts of proteins, known as biomarkers, that indicate the presence of disease.  [Rachel Melcer, St Louis Post-Dispatch, Nov 16]

SiOnyx (Beverly, MA)

at Harvard, James Carey made thin, super-sensitive light detectors out of "black silicon" [which gave silicon]  the ability to absorb the longer wavelengths of visible and infrared light that thin layers of traditional silicon can't. What's more, it absorbed every wavelength more efficiently than conventional silicon does. .... Carey cofounded SiOnyx (Beverly, MA; no SBIR), to manufacture black-silicon chips for devices such as inexpensive night-vision equipment and infrared surveillance systems. Other potential applications include better cell-phone cameras and cheaper, more sensitive detectors that could lower the x-ray dose needed for advanced medical imaging. [Anne-Marie Corley, MIT Tech Review, Sep/Oct09] 

Sioux Manufacturing (Fort Totten, ND)

Sioux Manufacturing (Fort Totten, ND; $1M SBIR) agreed to pay $2M to settle a suit saying it had repeatedly shortchanged the armor in up to 2.2 million helmets for the military, including those for the first troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan. Twelve days before the settlement with the Justice Department was announced, the company was given a new contract of up to $74M to make more armor for helmets to replace the old ones, which were made from the late 1980s to last year. [New York Times, Feb 6, 08] The case involved whistle-blowing employees and below spec manufacturing of Kevlar that nevertheless passed the required bullet -stopping tests.

The gist of the [DOJ] investigation is whether Sioux Manufacturing (Fort Totten, ND; two Phase 2 SBIRs including its first from SDIO) wove the cloth -- the defense against bullets -- densely enough. The Justice Department suggested that the company may never have. A whistle-blower brought the allegations to the government's attention. The Marine Corps Times quoted a Justice report:  "It appears until April 2006, SMC may not have ever complied with the 35 x 35 standard weave density in its construction of complete PASGT helmets or its manufacture of Kevlar helmet cloth," according to the Justice Department's Investigative Summary, which was sent to the Pentagon on April 9. "This practice potentially impacts an estimated 2,000,000 PASGT helmets." The military has been in the process of phasing out the helmets since 2003. News accounts said it remains unclear what kind of threat this posed to warfighters. The company said no helmet has failed ballistic tests. Whatever the case, the idea that so important a product could be potentially deficient for so long is unsettling. [Robert O'Harrow, Washington Post, Sep 10]

Sirga Advanced Biopharma

Two spinoff companies from N.C. State University and N.C. A&T State University are the first to receive loans and legal help from a new set of programs designed by the N.C. Biotechnology Center in Research Triangle Park. The programs offer companies $50,000 in startup loans as well as free legal help from area law firms. ... NCSU's company, Sirga Advanced Biopharma, uses the technology of biochemistry professor Paul F. Agris to identify therapies for drug-resistant diseases ... A&T's spinoff company, Provagen, was formed to commercialize protein technology developed by John Allen, a molecular biologist.  [Raleigh News & Observer, Jun 22] 

Sirna Therapeutics

Sirna Therapeutics to be sold to Merck for $1.1B cash. Its lead product candidate, Sirna-027, is for the treatment of the wet-form of age related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. [MarketWatch, Oct 30]

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals

Sirtris up 82% [Apr 23, 08] on acquisition news.

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, the Cambridge MA biotech company that has attracted national attention for trying to use drugs based on an extract in red wine to fight diabetes and other age-related diseases, is being sold to British pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC for $720 M  cash [Boston Globe, Apr 23]  A lot of dollars, half as many pounds sterling.

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals won a coveted orphan-drug designation from the [FDA] for resveratrol as a treatment for a rare disorder called MELAS syndrome. [Mass High Tech, Apr 2, 08]

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals said it will collaborate with the National Cancer Institute to test the anti-cancer impact of its enzyme activators in numerous models of cancer. [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Feb 22, 08]

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals that garnered national press attention for its efforts to use a red wine extract to treat aging-related diseases, hopes to bring its first drug to market in 2012 or 2013, said chief executive Christoph Westphal. [Boston Globe, Jan 10]

The quest for antiaging drugs took another step as [Sirtris] described new chemicals that mimic some of the beneficial effects of a low-calorie diet in laboratory mice and rats. [Keith Winstein, Wall Street Journal, Nov 29]

Sirtris has many patents on the formulation of resveratrol. Its stock soared from 9 in June to 15 on Oct. 24. Michael King Jr. of Rodman & Renshaw (it owns shares), who rates Sitris outperform, says the stock will be driven by the flow of scientific data. [Gene Marcial, Business Week, Nov 5, 07]

Sirtris (Waltham, MA; one SBIR) has licensed the MIT intellectual property associated with SIRT1, a sirtuin, an enzyme Sirtris reports it uses as a drug target in treating metabolic, cardiovascular and neurological diseases. [Mass High Tech, Oct 12]

Sirtris (One SBIR) going public to raise $60M. It is developing small-molecule drugs that activate an enzyme known as SIRT1 to treat diseases related to aging. [Mass High Tech, May 23, 07]

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals (one SBIR) filed an IPO for $20M. [Mar 1, 07]

Smart Modular Technologies

memory technology maker Smart Modular Technologies (no SBIR) tumbled 16%. The company said it expects a fiscal third-quarter net loss of two cents to four cents a share, in part because of a difficult pricing environment. [Wall Street Journal, May 21]

SmartSpark Energy Systems (Champaign, IL)

SmartSpark Energy Systems, (Champaign, IL; $800K SBIR), clean-energy company, is moving its headquarters to Austin and hiring workers as it prepares to launch its first product.  [Austin American Statesman, Feb 9, 09]

Soft Tissue Regeneration

Connecticut Innovations, the quasi-public authority that makes tech investments in its namesake state, has invested $750,000 from its Eli Whitney Fund into Soft Tissue Regeneration (no SBIR), a developer of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) treatment.  ... part of a $3.5 million Series A funding round   [Mass High Tech, Jul 14, 09] 

Solaicx (Los Gatos, CA)

Solaicx (Santa Clara, CA) will open a 136,000-square-foot  factory in Portland OR to make silicon wafers for the photovoltaic industry. [Seattle Times, Jun 13, 07]

Only The Sunshine Is Cheap.  On the photovoltaics front, upstart Solaicx in Los Gatos, Calif., predicts that residential and commercial solar panels made with its silicon material will soon compete with conventional fossil-fuel generators in markets where electricity costs at least 10 cents per kwh. But for that to happen, the capital cost of solar cell systems needs to reach the same magic number of $1 per watt of generating capacity. That up-front investment, along with operating efficiency and equipment depreciation, determines the price at which kilowatt-hours of output can be sold. Today, the installed cost of high-efficiency silicon solar panels starts at $3 per watt.  [Otis Port, Business Week, Sep 6]

Solaria (Fremont, CA)

Solaria, (Fremont, CA; no SBIR) is cutting by half the amount of costly silicon used in solar panels. ...  It has recently started shipping its first panels to select customers. This spring the company will begin production of solar panels at a factory built to produce 25 megawatts of solar panels per year. [Kevin Bullis, MIT Tech Review, Mar 14] The gimmick is deploying half as much silicon, but in strips with focusing plastic covers that produce 90% of the conventional panels.

SolarWinds (Austin, TX)

SolarWinds (Austin TX) a leading maker of Windows-based network management software, has raised $7.5 million in venture capital to expand operations and make acquisitions.  ... SolarWinds says it has 40,000 customers including the military, government agencies, educational institutions and Fortune 500 companies. .. and plans an IPO for 2008. [Austin American-Statesman, Feb 5]

Solazyme

Solazyme (South San Francisco, CA; one SBIR) won an $8.5 million contract with the Navy to produce 20,000 gallons of algae fuel for testing and certification that could be used in Navy ships.  [San Francisco Business Times, Sep 8, 09]

Solazyme (South San Francisco, CA; one SBIR) develops fuel from algae .... Q for CEO: This is a tough time for biofuel companies, especially startups like yours. With credit tight and oil prices low, will these companies fall into the "valley of death" that kills so many promising startups?  The other side is hard to see right now. But the fundamentals remain. Eventually, the price of petroleum will go back up. It's a certainty. ... Who thought corn would go from $2.20 a bushel to $9?   [San Francisco Chronicle, Mar 8, 09]

Solazyme (South San Francisco, CA; no SBIR) startup that makes diesel fuel from algae, said Tuesday that it will work with oil giant Chevron Corp. to perfect its technology. ..  has already spent years working with different strains of algae to create fuel, using a fermentation process  [David Baker, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan 23]

SolFocus  (Palo Alto,CA)

Often called "concentrated photovoltaics," the technology was the focus of a $103 million deal in November to install 10 megawatts of generating capacity in southern Spain, enough to power a city of 40,000. SolFocus Inc., the Silicon Valley company that supplied technology in that transaction, on Monday is also announcing a deal to help build a 1.6-megawatt power plant in Greece that is based on the same approach. [Jim Carlton, Wall Street Journal, Dec 15]

Racing for the Sun. solar power accounts for less than 1% of world-wide electricity generation. It costs 35 to 45 cents to produce a kilowatt hour of electricity from solar panels, compared with about three to five cents burning coal, ...Nevertheless,   SolFocus is one of nearly a dozen start-ups competing alongside established solar giants like Japan's Sharp Corp. to develop a solar panel that is both cheap and efficient. Well-known tech venture capitalists ... have poured cash into solar start-ups in recent years. Meanwhile, established leaders in conventional solar panels like Sharp, the U.K.'s BP PLC and Germany's Q-Cells AG have well-funded research labs working on their own technology. Whoever can come up with the answer will be able to claim a large chunk of the solar-power pie, an $11 billion market that is growing by more than 25% a year. "The race is on," says George Scott  [Leila Abboud, Wall Street Journal, Jun 14]

SolFocus (Palo Alto, CA) which produces solar power with less silicon -- a major advantage given today's silicon shortage -- is about to finish raising $32 million.  One allegedly big investor: New Enterprise Associates, which recently finished raising a huge venture fund. It has a serious vault of cash to put to work. [San Jose Mercury News, Jul 25]  No sign of SBIR; who needs or wants it (and its baggage) when real money is on offer by the bucketful?

Soliant (Pasadena, CA) (Palo Alto,CA)

A new mechanism for focusing light on small areas of photovoltaic material could make solar power in residential and commercial applications cheaper than electricity from the grid in most markets in the next few years. Initial systems, which can be made at half the cost of conventional solar panels, are set to start shipping later this year, says Brad Hines, CTO and founder of Soliant Energy, a startup based in Pasadena, CA, that has developed the new modules.  [Kevin Bullis, MIT Tech Review, May 11] No SBIR.

SolidWorks (Concord, MA)

SolidWorks (Concord, MA) said that its 3-D computer-aided design software has been used to develop a handcycle that can morph into a high-rider position that offers some of the benefits of a wheelchair. ... SolidWorks is part of Dassault Systemes S.A., a French company that develops and markets software for design, analysis, and product data management. [Boston Globe, Nov 26]

Solix Biofuels

Colorado State professor, Bryan Willson, who teaches mechanical engineering and is a co-founder of the three-year-old company Solix Biofuels  (no SBIR), said working with the Southern Utes on their land afforded his company advantages that would have been impossible in mainstream corporate America. The tribe contributed almost one-third of the $20 million in capital raised by Solix, free use of land and more than $1 million in equipment.  “If you’re going with strict venture capital, they’re looking for a blistering return on capital in three to five years,” Dr. Willson said. “The Utes have a very long economic view. .... But the tale of any start-up is written between the margins of inspiration and hard-edged reality. More than 200 other companies are also trying to find a cost-effective, scalable way to achieve the same end — turning algae into vegetable oil fuel, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory   [Kirk Johnson, New York Times, Aug 16, 09]

SolMap Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA)

Chelmsford-based Mercury Computer Systems Inc. has announced its sale of the assets and intellectual property of its biotech venture, SolMap Pharmaceuticals  (one SBIR), to Cambridge startup Forma Therapeutics (no SBIR) ... SolMap is a spinout from the structural bioinformatics laboratory of Sandor Vajda, a professor at Boston University. It focuses on computational and experimental fragment-based drug design to develop small-molecule, therapeutic drugs.  [Mass High Tech, Oct 2, 08]

Solomon Technologies (East Berlin, CT)

Solomon Technologies (Danbury, CT; one SBIR)  got a $150K contract  to develop and supply a prototype power supply for a new advanced vehicle launch ordinance system for the United States military. [press release, Feb 7, 08] The stock price, however, does not reveal much confidence as it trades below 10% of its high three years ago, having lost a total of $30M in the last three fiscal years.

Solomon Technologies (East Berlin, CT; one SBIR) landed a $250,000 contract to develop power supply systems for Siemens.  [Mass High Tech, Jan 17] Since its 2004 IPO it has sunk to only 5% of its first trading range. 

Solyndra Fremont, CA)

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.

Satcon Technology and Solyndra (Fremont, CA; no SBIR) announced a strategic partnership for commercial rooftop solar power production. [San Francisco Business Journal, Apr 30, 09]

Solar panel maker Solyndra signed a deal worth up to $320 million with Carlisle Energy Services (Carlisle, PA).  [San Francisco Business Times, Nov 17, 08]

The next wave of solar power technology may be a skinny glass tube that looks like a fluorescent light bulb painted black. The tube contains 150 solar cells, wrapped around the inside of the glass. Designed and built by startup Solyndra (Fremont, CA; no SBIR), the tube can absorb light from any direction and convert it to electricity. Placed in a rooftop rack, the tube can even collect light bouncing off the roof. Solyndra exits stealth mode Tuesday with $600 million in venture capital, $1.2 billion in customer contracts and a radically different approach to solar. [David Baker, SF Chronicle, Oct 7, 08]

Somaxon Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA)

Somaxon Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) jumped 30 percent after Chief Executive Rich Pascoe said the company is continuing to work toward approval of an insomnia drug that regulators turned away last month.  [Thomas Kupper, San Diego Union Tribune, Jan 8, 10]

Somaxon Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) jumped 30% after CEO Pascoe said the company is continuing to work toward approval of an insomnia drug [Silenor® (doxepin)]  that regulators turned away last month [San Diego Union Tribune, Jan 8, 10]

Sonex Aircraft

If Hope Could Fly.  An Oshkosh manufacturer of experimental kit aircraft unveiled a plane with an electric motor power plant, controller, lithium polymer battery pack and charging system. Though the innovative technology from Sonex Aircraft isn't ready for sale yet, judging by the reaction of the aviation enthusiasts who crowded around the proof-of-concept plane there's a demand for alternative fuel-powered planes. [Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Jul 25]

Sonitus Medical (San Mateo, CA)

Sonitus Medical (San Mateo, CA: no SBIR)  a business working on a hearing aid that uses the teeth, got an investment from In-Q-Tel, a firm started by the CIA. [San Francisco Business Times, May 26, 09]

Sontra Medical (changed to Echo Thera)   (Franklin MA)

Echo Therapeutics (Franklin, MA; one SBIR as Sontra Medical) got its wish, landing a $2 million equity financing round ... In June, Echo licensed its needleless glucose-monitoring technology to South Korea-based Handok Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. for $600,000 and royalties and other payments. [Mass High Tech, Jul 29, 09]

Sontra Medical (Franklin MA; one SBIR) a developer of transdermal treatments and diagnostics, reports it has officially changed its name to Echo Therapeutics [Mass High Tech, Oct 8, 07]

Sontra Medical (Franklin MA; one SBIR) a developer of transdermal drug delivery technology, reports it has merged with a North Carolina company (Echo Therapeutics) to form a single firm set to be based in Philadelphia. [Mass High Tech, Sep 17]

Sonus Pharmaceuticals (Bothell, WA)

Sonus Pharmaceuticals  (Bothell, WA; 37 employees; no SBIR) plunged 84% as the drug developer said a cancer treatment failed to meet its main goal in an early-stage trial on breast-cancer patients. Consequently, large-cap Bayer Schering Pharma will likely terminate its partnership on the product. [Wall Street Journal, Sep 25, 07]

Soteira (Dedham,MA)

Soteira (Natick, MA; no SBIR) has raised $6.6 million of a $12 million Series C equity financing round, according to documents filed with federal regulatory authorities.  ... medical device firm, co-founded in 2004 by Trinity Partners LLC managing partner John Corcoran, maintains no website, and CEO Lawrence Jasinski was not available to comment. ... In 2005, Fairfield, Conn.-based Competitive Technologies Inc. (AMEX: CTT) granted Soteira exclusive license to CTT’s nanotechnology-based bone biomaterial for applications related to the spine. [Mass High Tech, May 8, 09]

Medical device firm Soteira (Dedham,MA; no SBIR) closed on a $12 million Series B round of financing ... Soteira has no official website and has not released any prior statements.  [Mass High Tech, Sep 22, 08]  developing a system for treatment of vertebral compression fractures in patients with osteoporosis, cancer or traumatic injuries. Soteira's design provides a superior biomechanical structure and better control of cement flow than other solutions. [Fletcher Spaght Ventures website]   

Sourcefire (Columbia, MD)

Security software maker Sourcefire (Columbia MD, no SBIR) went public in an IPO. The market value  reached $358M, far exceeding its price when national security concerns scuttled an Israeli firm's attempt to buy Sourcefire in 2005 [Alec Klein, Washington Post, Mar 10]

Sourcefire (Columbia, MD) a network security company - best known for its anti-hacker technology, Snort - that started in its founder's living room and has since grown to a 174-person business, said yesterday that it plans to go public.[Stacey Hirsch, Baltimore Sun, Oct 26]  Nope, no SBIRs. Its attaboys come from other sources: the world leader in network intrusion prevention, today announced that it has been chosen by AlwaysOn as one of the Top 100 Private Company award winners for the third straight year. Sourcefire was handpicked by the AlwaysOn editorial panel based on a set of five criteria - technology innovation, market potential, customer adoption, media buzz and investor value creation [sourcefire website]

Southwest Windpower (Flagstaff, AZ)

Southwest Windpower (Flagstaff, AZ; no SBIR) is the world's leading manufacturer of small wind generators. ... In 2006, Southwest Windpower released the Skystream 3.7, which was designed in conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Labs.  ... The American Wind Energy Association conducted a study at the beginning of this year that predicts exponential growth in the sale of small wind generators over the next 10 years."  [Patricia Bathurst, Arizona Republican, Oct 19]  For 20 years, bringing low-cost, reliable wind energy to the world [company website]

Spaltudaq (Seattle, WA)

Seattle-based Spaltudaq started out as one man in a lab with an idea for fighting cancer. Now it's scored $29 million in its second round of venture-capital funding, a shot in the arm that should carry the biotech company into its first round of clinical trials.  [Kirsten Orsini-Menihard, Seattle Times, Mar 17]  No SBIR.

Spatial Photonics (Sunnyvale CA)

Spatial Photonics, a Sunnyvale CA start-up developing high-definition microdisplays that will compete with existing microdisplay technologies, has raised about $26 M in a second round [Matt Marshall, Venture Beat, Sep 5]

Spectranetics (Colorado Springs, CO)

Spectranetics up 15% [Dec 29, 09]

Spectranetics (Colorado Springs, CO; $150K SBIR in the 1990s) said it will pay $5 million to end a government investigation into allegations it imported and marketed medical lasers that had not been cleared by regulators. [Marely Seaman, AP, Dec 29, 09]

Spectranetics (Colorado Springs, CO; a little SBIR) announced the first use in Japan of its Spectranetics Laser Sheath technology for removal of cardiac leads. The technology has been used in the United States and Europe for more than a decade. [Denver Post, Aug 28]

Spectranetics (Colorado Springs, CO; three SBIRs long ago) announced the availability of the new LLD EZ Lead Locking Device (LLD) for the removal of non-functional or infected pacing and defibrillation leads. The LLD EZ enables physicians to secure the entire lead creating traction to enable the removal process. [PR Newswire, May 15]

SpectraWatt (Hillsboro, OR)

Intel, the world's largest computer chipmaker and Oregon's largest private employer, announced that it would lead a $50 M investment in SpectraWatt (Hillsboro, OR; no SBIR), a startup that will make photovoltaic cells for solar modules. [The Oregonian, Jun 17]

Spectro Coating (Leominster, MA)

Mason Box (North Attleboro, MA) is among several local companies that have been selected to participate in the "Next Generation Manufacturing Initiative, or NGMI, an effort to foster best-in-class manufacturing processes. Other participants in the initiative include Hoppe Tool (Chicopee, MA), Matouk Textiles (Fall River, MA),  Munksjo Paper (Fitchburg, MA), and Spectro Coating (Leominster, MA).  The initiative is a partnership of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, a nonprofit group representing Bay State employers; MassDevelopment, the commonwealth's finance and development authority; and the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a group dedicated to helping local manufacturers remain competitive in a global marketplace.  [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Jun 19]  No SBIR.

Spinal Restoration (Austin TX)

Spinal Restoration (Austin TX; no SBIR) raised $16M VC to finish a trial of its Biostat Disc Augmentation System, which is a new minimally invasive treatment for discogenic low back pain. [Austin American-Statesman, Oct 10]

SpineGuard

Medical device startup SpineGuard, (no SBIR) with offices in San Francisco and Paris, said late last week it’s raised $4 million from Irish VC firm Delta Partners, closing its $15 million first round of funding.  [Chris Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, Jul 6, 09]

Spineology (Oakdale, MN)

Spineology (Oakdale, MN; no SBIR) a med-tech firm that’s developed devices used during back surgery, has closed on $7.5 million in capital. [Minneapolis/St Paul Business Journal, Jul 15, 08]

Spiration (Redmond, WA)

Spiration (Redmond, WA; no SBIR) raised $18.5 M from existing investors to fund the launch of its first commercial product in Europe and the completion of pending clinical trials in the U.S. The company, which specializes in developing technology to treat lung disease, has raised some $97 M since its inception in 1999. [Angel Gonzalez, Seattle Times, Mar 26]

Spire Corp   (Bedford, MA) (includes Spire Solar)

Spire said that its wholly owned subsidiary, Spire Semiconductor LLC, has been awarded part of a federal contract from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory to help develop a solar concentrator chip. For part of the 18-month, $3.7 million cost share subcontract, Spire Semiconductor is developing technology to cost-effectively manufacture concentrator solar cells for concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems that would be 42 percent efficient.  [Mass High Tech, Jan 12, 10]

Spire down 13% [Dec 30, 09]

Spire up 42% [Dec 29, 09]  no news of note from Spire  [theStreet.com, Dec 29]

Spire down 11% [Dec 28, 09]

Spire up 11% [Dec 22, 09]

Spire up 10% [Dec 9,09]

Spire Solar received the green light from selectmen in Hudson, N.H., to build a $42 million solar cell manufacturing plant in the town that is expected to add 150 jobs, according to a report in the Lowell Sun. [Mass High Tech, Oct 29, 09]  Love those subsidies. 

Spire up 22% [Sep 28, 09]

Spire said that it has established a wholly-owned subsidiary called Spire Taiwan LLC.The Taiwan subsidiary will serve as the headquarters for equipment service operations and will support customers throughout China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and the Philippines [Boston Globe, Sep 26,09]

Spire up 13% [Sep 21, 09]

Spire said it has agreed to sell substantially all of the assets of its hemodialysis catheter business for $15 million so it can focus on in its core solar-energy business.  [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Sep 09, 09]

Spire up 10% [Jul 23, 09]

Spire has expanded its existing line of credit to $8 million with Silicon Valley Bank. The revolving credit facility adds $5 million of export-import credit facility to the company’s existing $3 million credit. Officials at the solar equipment manufacturer said the loan will be used to add liquidity and grow the company. [Mass High Tech, Jun 26]

Spire agreed with partner Gloria Solar Co. Ltd. of Taiwan to dissolve their joint venture, Gloria Spire Solar LLC, which performed photovoltaic systems integration in the U.S. ..  Spire chairman and CEO Roger Little said in a statement that the new direction is expected to free the company to develop new opportunities in the U.S. systems market, which is being stimulated by federal funding. [Mass High Tech, Jun 12, 09]

Spire up 10% [Jun 1, 09]

Spire  down 13% [May 18, 09] after reporting lower revenue and a loss.

Spire  down 11% [May 13, 09] 

Spire  down 12% [May 12, 09]

Spire   up 13% [May 4, 09]

Spire   up 18% [Apr 23, 09]

Spire  up 10% [Apr 16, 09]

Spire got a $3.7 million award from the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory to make 42 percent efficient concentrator solar cells. The award consists of just under $3 million in government funding and cost share of $745,509. ...  will help the company develop custom gallium arsenide-based solar cells [Mass High Tech, Apr 6, 09]  Spire had plenty of help on its III-V materials technology in the 1980s and 1990s among its at least 327 SBIR projects which should have handed it over $100M in free SBIR money. 

Spire  up 15% [Mar 26, 09]

Spire  up 19% [Mar 23, 09]

Spire down 14% [Mar 19, 09]

Spire down 11% [Mar 18, 09]

Spire failed to raise its market capitalization to at least $50 million as of March 3, as required by a previous warning notice by Nasdaq. The company’s stock is now subject to delisting by the exchange. As of Monday, Spire’s market capitalization was about $36.6 million.  Spire executives say the company will request a hearing before the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Review Panel,  [Boston Business Journal, Mar 9, 09]

Spire  down 30% [Feb 23, 09] with biggest percentage decline on NASDAQ.

Spire   up 11% [Feb 18, 09]

Spire up 12% [Jan 21, 09]

Spire up 11% [Dec 30, 08]

Spire  up 28% [Dec 29, 08]

Spire down 10% [Dec 24, 08]

Spire down 11% [Dec 19, 08]

Spire up 10% [Dec 11, 08]

Spire up 27% ... landed a $54 million contract from the Federal Prison Industries Inc. (known as UNICOR) to supply solar cells for the Spire-installed Turnkey Photovoltaic Module Factory located at the federal prison in Otisville, New York  [Mass High Tech, Dec 8, 08]  

Spire up 11% [Nov 28, 08] although down over 80% from a year as solar energy stocks crashed. 

Spire down 18% [Nov 14, 08]

Spire  down 28% [Nov 13, 08]

Spire  has landed a new contract with Korean solar company Hanwha Chemical Corp. for the sale of a 30 megawatt per year manufacturing line. [Mass High Tech, Oct 28, 08]

Spire down 12% [Oct 9, 08]

Spire up 11% [Sep 29, 08]

Spire reports it has received a contract from solar-energy company GreenBrilliance for an assembly line to make photovoltaic cells.  Under the deal, Spire will provide GreenBrilliance’s operation in India with a semi-automated crystalline silicon module manufacturing line capable of producing up to 12 megawatts of solar modules per year.  [Mass High Tech, Sep 17, 08]

Spire up 11% [Sep 19, 08]

Spire won a contract for the factory expansion of a Chinese manufacturer. ... provide machines to aid ChengDu Tianwei New Energy PV Module Co. Ltd. in the production of solar cells. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. [Elizabeth Campbell, Boston Globe, Aug 6, 08]

Spire said it has landed a multi-year, multi-system contract with Trina Solar Ltd. of China. According to the deal, Spire (Nasdaq: SPIR) will provide several Spi-Sun Simulator 4600 Single Long Pulse systems to the Chinese company. [Mass High-Tech, Jul 30]

Spire up 19% [Jun 17, 08] on a new BUY rating.

Spire up 11%% [Jun 11, 08]

Spire said that it has received a contract to provide a photovoltaic assembly line for a solar energy facility in India.   No financial details ...provide PLG Power Limited with a high performance, semi-automated crystalline cell module manufacturing line capable of producing up to 25 megawatts of solar modules per year. In a statement, Roger G. Little, Spire's chairman and chief executive, noted, "The photovoltaics market is expanding exponentially in India and is expected to grow by more than 500% in the next few years."  [Chris Reidy, Boston Globe, Jun 4, 08]

Spire was selected to provide its photovoltaic module assembly line for a new factory in Russia ...  the third such deal overseas in the past three months. In March, Spire closed a deal with the solar division of Spanish renewable energy company Fluitecnik SA, while in April it sold equipment to Alpex Exports Pvt. Ltd. of  India. Spire reported a 2007 net loss of $1.7 million on revenue of $38.4M  [Mass High Tech, May 23, 08]

Spire up 12% [May 14, 08]

Spire up 26% [Mar 27, 08] in front of earnings report next week

Spire up 14% [Mar 24, 08]

Spire down 14% [Mar 20, 08]

Spire down 10% [Mar 17, 08]

Spire said it has received a contract to provide equipment for a factory designed to manufacture solar panels in Portugal. [Boston Globe, Mar 13]

Spire announced a US patent for quantum dots that have the potential to make more efficient solar cells. [Feb 13, 08]

Spire up 10% announced that its expanded manufacturing facility is on track to gross annual revenue of $200M.  [Boston Globe, Jan 11, 08]

Gloria Spire Solar LLC, a joint venture formed by Spire and Taiwan-based Gloria Solar Co. Ltd., has won a contract to design and install a 308-kilowatt photovoltaic solar electric system at The Lee Co.'s manufacturing facility in Westbrook, CT  [Mass High Tech, Jan 7, 08]

Spire up 17% [Dec 20, 07] without news of that magnitude.

Spire expanded its solar-equipment manufacturing space by 53,000 SF at its headquarters to meet growing worldwide demand.

Spire down 10% [Nov 21, 07]

Spire down 10% [Nov 12, 07] as a solar vendor.

Spire up 13% got a new contract from Portugal's Martifer Solar SA for a fully automated 50 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic module manufacturing line. After two decades of SBIR, Spire reported $16 M in sales for its first six months of 2007, and a net loss of $3.6 M. The company employs approximately 113 workers.  [Mass High Tech, Sep 24, 07] 

Spire (lots of SBIR) finalized a joint venture with Gloria Solar of Taiwan aimed at providing equipment for the North American solar photovoltaic systems market. [Mass High Tech, Aug 7]

Spire up 12%  [Feb 26, 07]

Spire rose 12% on reports of sales of more PV module production lines and an additional order for expansion of a previously delivered production line.

Spire contracted with Prosperity Solar Power of Taiwan to provide a 10-MW photovoltaic module manufacturing production line.  Spire claims to employ more than 100 people, and has equipment installed in more than 142 factories around the world. Spire reported sales last year of $17.3 M. [Mass High Tech, Oct 16]

Spire reports it has completed the design and installation of a solar photovoltaic electricity-generating system at the office and distribution center for North Coast Seafoods in Boston.  [Mass High Tech, Aug 24,06]

Spire stock leaped 34% on news of big sales and profits. [Aug 16, 05]

Spire jumped up another 18% [Jul 26] after announcing a deal to provide a multi-megawatt turnkey photovoltaic module assembly line for Hyundai Heavy Industries. Someone smells future profit even though Spire has been steadily losing money or barely breaking even on operations for a long time, -$5M in the last three years on revenue of $50M. A good chunk of the revenue 1985-2000 came from SBIR contracts for technologies that are not the root of the current sales of solar equipment.

Spire jumped by half, topping all NASDAQ percentage gainers,  after announcing another sale of four solar testing systems. Maybe Spire will even start making a regular profit as those optimistic stock traders hope.[7/05]

Meanwhile, usually volatile Spire shot up 20% without news. Spire's most recent news releases in January on business were for two more SBIR Phase 2 awards. [spring 05]

Spire jumped 15% when it announced a contract for nano-engineered AlGaAs lasers. Big whoop; it's another Phase 2 SBIR. This time from DARPA. But if SBIR Phase 2s made a real 25% value gain, Spire's stock would be in the heavens. 

Spire shot up another 30% on Friday's news joined a consortium to make solar equipment in Taos NM. Spire claims to be the world's leading supplier of solar module manufacturing equipment, but cannot claim to be a steadily profitable company. And founder-CEO Roger Little has little to fear from unhappy outsiders since he owns or controls 65% of the shares after 20 years of many millions of SBIR dollars and barely breaking even.

Spire issues another press release of getting a Phase 2 SBIR - $400K from NI for coatings for implants. Which sounds like good news. But if a Phase 2 SBIR were a sign of future profits, Spire would be in the Dow-Jones Industrials by now. Still, the stock price has been bid up, pushing back up toward its five-year (bubble) high.

Spire gets $400K SBIR grant to improve orthopedic implant, says Mass High Tech in a dog-bites-man story. Spire was once in the top ten companies for total amount of SBIR money collected. Now it is hard to even discover such facts since concentration is politically unpalatable and so the SBA doesn't publish such data. 

Spire may be delisted from the NASDAQ for inadequate accounting, and join AstroPower in the pink sheet doghouse. It's one thing to pass DCAA muster for SBIR, it is quite another level for public company accounting and telling. .

Spire gained 10% (May 9, 03) on news of expansion of its ion implanting facility to accommodate higher customer demand and a $750K, two year grant from NIH for coatings for polyethylene prosthetics. Let's guess the grant is yet another Phase 2 SBIR that says nothing about market demand but does keep money flowing through Spire's R&D machine. 

Spire lands contract to design new surgical laser . Spire Biomedical has been awarded a Phase I, $144,000 contract from the NIH to develop a fiber laser instrument for ear surgery for children. ... for increasing the performance of implantable medical devices. ... develop a fiber laser treatment for myringotomy tubes. A myringotomy is a procedure where a hole is made in the eardrum to relieve fluid buildup and to prevent infection. If Spire is successful, [it] may be eligible to receive a Phase II, $1M contract to build a prototype. [Patricia Resende, Mass High Tech, Aug 22] Yet another SBIR.

Some business lines did better; some did worse. The result was that Spire lost $600K again and the traders whacked the stock price for 10%.An interesting ntoe: after a decade of gorging on SBIR, Spire seems to have had none in 2000 or 2001.

The FDA blessed Spire Biomedical's first product - a hemodialysis catheter for the treatment of patients suffering from end-stage renal disease which Spire licensed from the Pourchez XpressO catheter by French inventor Dr. Thierry Pourchez. The catheter’s kink-resistant body provides higher flow at lower pressures and increases placement flexibility. Although Spire projected no sales figures for the new device, itestimates that the worldwide market for dialysis catheters is $250M [facts by Adria Cimino, Mass High Tech, May 9]

Spire Jumps on Catheter
(Apr 17)Spire jumped 20% on news that FDA OK'd marketing of its patented Pourchez XpressO hemodialysis catheter with separated tips fopr which Spire imagines a worldwide market over $250M for a million dialysis patients. Maybe, just maybe, Spire can now report regular profits and justify the faith that the federal government had in spending tens of millions in SBIR for a variety of science projects.

A Loss Tradition(Apr 2)Spire posted another loss of nearly $0.6M, about the same as last year's quarter.despite a gain in revenue to $4M. It said strong gains in shipments of solar electric systems by Spire Solar Chicago, and higher processing volume at its Spire Biomedical, which provides proprietary surface treatments of orthopedic implants and other medical devices, helped revenue. But profitless revenue doesn't do much for shareholders as the stock price dove on the news. What did tens of millions of SBIR do?

Spire Loses Some More
(Aug 17)Spire reported and a loss of $697,000 on slightly lower revenues. CEO Roger Little said, We are still in a transition as our solar business expands, while certain government R&D programs wind down and our biomedical business develops higher margined products. Meanwhile, we have taken significant expense reduction measures to lower our break-even point. Advocates of SBIR might ask what the government got for its huge SBIR "investment" in Spire over the whole life of SBIR. What did the government think it was doing with all that money? We can I supose it got its money's worth of R&D contract spending. But did it have any higher goal, amd was that goal met? If not, why not?

Spire Springs Up. Spire announced the shipment of two SPI-SUN SIMULATOR(TM) 350i's to BP Solar. That puts Spire equipment into 144 factories worldwide in 17 years. The stock price jumped 25% to over $50M, and amount less than the amount of SBIR that Spire has absorbed in those 17 years.

Spire reported quarterly revenues of $3.2M, up from $2.7M last year, and a loss of $266K. After tens of millions of SBIR for 15+ years, Spire is no better off than it was in 1985. Should the government give up on companies that show no decent ROI on SBIR funds?

Stock Moves. After ATMI reported nice earnings the stock price fell 30% in three days. After projecting a return to profitability, Ortel's stock rose to six times its 52-week low. Vixel remains volatile freshly after its IPO. Spire rose after announcing it would sell its opto-electronic business for as much as its entire market cap - $13M. Spire also proudly announced another opto-electronics SBIR award - its 42d gazillionth - wihtout mentioning SBIR. Kopin nears its all-time high market cap of $500M while still not making a profit since it went public in 1992. Cree Research remains above $1B market cap after a nice earnings report. SDL touched a $3B market cap as it picked up another brokerage house coverage.

Spire Corp (Bedford, MA) rose on a press release that it got a $750K contract from the Air Force to continue its development of advanced high-frequency transistors needed for future commercial and military communications systems. Said Spire, This two year contract will build upon Spire's experience in developing advanced transistor materials and devices for both the Air Force and the U.S. Navy. Spire will use its proprietary metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) process to produce next-generation, heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) structures that promise higher reliability, lower operating voltage, and easier integration compared to today's state-of-the-art devices. Spire's unique structure uses a gallium arsenide nitride (GaAsN) base region doped with carbon and grown on gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafers. Now, where have we heard such promises before? A gazillion SBIR contracts for electronics materials by Spire and half-a-gazillion others. MOCVD is about as common as soap powder; almost anyone with a microwave oven makes a claim of CVD. If Spire's market cap had risen a few percent for every Phase 2 SBIR, its present market cap would be in the Billion range like its competitor SDL Inc.

Spire Corp (Bedford, MA) reported a quarterly loss of $558K on reduced revenues of $2.7M. Said übermogul Roger Little, Our financial partnering and strategic business activities are ongoing. We are pursuing a number of attractive alternatives. After gazillions of millions of SBIR, Spire still depends heavily on the government for its R&D since it cannot seem to make a continuing profit that generates investment cash. When you are in the fix, you do the R&D that the customer wants instead of what serves your strategic interests.

Spire Seeks a Savior
(Jun 21) What Capuano's folks do. Spire (Bedford, MA) has hired a strategic options advisor, OEM Capital, for possible JV, merger, or sale of everything. After $45M of SBIR, the fifth largest in all SBIR, Spire is worse off than when it got its first SBIR in the early 80s. From 185 employees in 1985 it is now 109 and apparently still shrinking. Its average of about $3M a year would have regularly paid about 40 of those employees. In those 80s Spire was a shining example of The Massachusetts Miracle that Michael Dukakis ran on and wrote about in his book with Rosabeth Kantor. Is Capuano the Congressman child to Dukakis the governor? Three of the top five SBIR burners are from Massachusetts and they have burned $225M of SBIR. Wanna hear it again? Listen to John Kerry when the Senate considers SBIR.

UninSPIREd. An August 20 opinion on Spire from the Yahoo message board: There remains the question, however, of whether or not this company is being managed properly as a public company. It's OK if you are private to let things languish ad infinitum, but there have been several missed opportunities that were presented to Spire management and which they have failed to act on. That's why there have been the organizational issues - insiders losing faith that the company is going anywhere and deciding they are better of somewhere else or starting their own, competing, operations. The CEO ought to just make a fair value offer for the 50% he doesn't own and run this (into the ground?) for his own amusement but leave the unsuspecting public out of it.

Finding the story in the data storm  CIA's VC, In-Q-Tel, hints it will invest in Spotfire (Somerville MA) which sells analysis software to big pharma companies. [Wall Street Journal, Jun 3] 

SRL (Somerville, MA)

Cymer Up 17%(Jun 21) Cymer jumped 17 % Monday after Morgan Stanley Dean Witter upped its opinion and set a target of $80 (which is all fluff that depends on growth in the PE ratio and fuul working of the bigger-fool theory). Said one Morgan mouth, We are pounding the table on the Cymer recommendation, One analyst, of First Union Securities,. said Cymer has 94% of the world market for excimer lasers, essential to deep ultraviolet lithography used to etch microchip circuit line-widths of 0.18, which is rapidly becoming standard. [facts from San Diego Union Tribune, Jun 21] Cymer is a derivative SBIR success story; its direct dribble of SBIR meant nothing, but licensing and using the technology from SRL (Somerville, MA), a much frequent SBIR winner, meant everything.

Staktek Holdings

Staktek Holdings (Austin TX) had its second straight profitable quarter ... makes stacked modules of memory chips for use in servers and other electronics. [Austin American-Statesman, Nov 3] No SBIRs.

STAR Cryoelectronics (Santa Fe, NM)

Los Alamos National Laboratory has approved $250,000 in new funding for four companies from its Venture Acceleration Fund [which] provides investments of up to $100,000 to regional entrepreneurs, companies, investors or strategic partners who use LANL technology or expertise to create or grow regional businesses. Award recipients are chosen based on potential for regional impact, team composition, technical feasibility, market opportunity, and the availability of matching funds or in-kind contributions. Retriever Technology (Santa Fe, NM; no SBIR) will receive $25,000 to upgrade a low-light imaging camera for advanced digital imaging into a more user-friendly and functional form for customer demonstration and evaluation.  Elemetric Instruments (Los Alamos, NM; no SBIR) will get $100,000 to further develop a prototype of an instrument that immediately detects elements in liquids and gases with continuous online, real-time processing. The device, called an element presence detector, is based on LANL technology with potential markets among food and pharmaceutical makers.  STAR Cryoelectronics (Santa Fe, NM; $2M SBIR) will get $75,000 to accelerate development of a high-resolution alpha particle spectrometer to be used in nuclear forensics and nuclear nonproliferation work.  Veezyon (somewhere, NM; no SBIR) will receive $50,000 to improve the technical capabilities of its Veezyon.com Web site — a knowledge-based online video site focusing on shared interest user collaboration.  Since the venture fund was launched in fall 2006, LANL has awarded about $600,000 to six companies, not including the new grants, [New Mexico Business Weekly, Jan 7, 09]

Starfire (Malta, NY)

 Ready With the Goo. NASA's orbiting shuttle has the needed pre-ceramic polymer "space goo" by Starfire Systems (Malta,NY; $1.5M SBIR) to repair the re-entry heat tiles .  Starfire's polymer hardens to a ceramic during the heat of re-entry into the atmosphere, protecting the shuttle from temperatures that can top 3,000 Fahrenheit.    [Eric Anderson, Albany Times-Union, Aug 14. 07]

 A heat-shield repair kit using Starfire Systems (Malta, NY) ingredients passed NASA tests and could be carried on future missions. [Kevin Harlin, Albany Times Union, Aug 26, 06] Starfire had a NASA Phase 2 SBIR in 2004 that seemingly led to this approval.

Sterling Semiconductor (Reston, VA)

From Bankruptcy to Dow.  Sterling Semiconductor wriggled out of the bankrupt Uniroyal to the arms of DOW for $11M to buy Sterling's manufacturing and research and development asset.  Sterling  began as a Russian research and development venture in the USA backed by Novecon and started with two BMDO Fast Track Phase 2 SBIRs.

A Silicon Carbide Deal. In its second year of two BMDO Phase 2 awards for new silicon carbide, Sterling Semiconductor ((Sterling, VA) says it has done a deal to supply the silicon for SiC semiconductors by Microsemi Corp. First product to be a 480 v Schottky diode early next year. [Sterling press release] Sterling makes the SiC substrate, its entry in SBIR and BMDO, and the epitaxial films on top. The key words for SBIR observers are "makes and sells", not nice research.

Silicon Carbide Alliance(Sep 15) ATMI (Danbury, CT) formed a "multi-year, multi-million dollar" silicon carbide wafer production alliance with Sterling Semiconductor, a subsidiary of Novecon Technologies (Reston, VA). ATMI licensed technology and transferred ISO9002-certified wafer manufacturing processes and equipment to Sterling. Sterling will be solely responsible for wafer sales and marketing. Both ATMI and Sterling are big beneficiaries of BMDO's SBIR for silicon carbide. Sterling started as a company in 1996 to manufacture silicon carbide and advanced electronic device components made from silicon carbide. Sterling's team of SiC crystal growth experts provides high-quality 6H-SiC and 4H-SiC to end-users. Sterling won two Fast Track awards following its first two Phase 1s in 1997. ATMI's silicon carbide awards go back several years to before ATMI went public in 1993.

A Sterling WebSite Visit Sterling Semiconductor (Reston, VA) and order now. The stated quality is fewer than 100 micropipes per square cm in 6H SiC. After the SBIR projects, however, who knows how low the micropipe count can go.

Startech Environmental

Startech Environmental won a Phase 2 SBIR from DOE for product optimization and scale-up to production, has already begun, according to the company.  The scheme separates hydrogen from plasma converted gas. The company claims that since [early] 2004 to have deployed plasma converter systems in several countries and cities worldwide, including Japan, Australia, Poland and additional units in Rome. The announcement moved the stock little. Sounds like DOE is looking for a low hanging commercialization fruit by funding product optimization with early R&D money as a nursery for teenagers.

Stellaray

The Texas Emerging Technology Fund is pumping more money into Central Texas technology startups.  Six more Austin companies have won grants totaling $5.3 million.  Among the six new grant winners is year-old NanoMedical Systems (no SBIR) which will use its $3.5 million to develop a tiny implantable capsule that delivers drugs a few molecules at a time, with the dosage controlled precisely for each patient. The company is completing a prototype using $4 million from a private investor, said co-founder and chief executive Randy Goodall. The grant will help fund it through the complex and time-consuming process of seeking Food and Drug Administration approval, Goodall said. ...... Farodox Energy Storage  (no SBIR), which has developed a new fabrication process for high-performance electrical capacitors, $250,000; ...  Ironbridge Technologies (no SBIR), which is developing self-heating food packaging technology, $250,000;  ... Merkatum (no SBIR), which is developing fingerprint and facial recognition identity technologies, $250,000;   .....  Stellarray (no SBIR), which is commercializing flat-panel radiation source technology, $750,000; ...  Sunrise Ridge Algae (no SBIR), which is commercializing technology to turn algae into a renewable energy source. [Lori Hawkins, Austin  American-Statesman, Nov 17, 08]

Stemagen (LaJolla, CA)

A team at the tiny biotechnology company Stemagen (LaJolla, CA; no SBIR) has become the first to document its successful cloning of human embryos by fusing donated egg cells with the DNA from skin cells of an adult man, according to an article that will be published online today by the journal Stem Cells. [Terri Somers, San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan 17]

StemCells (Palo Alto, CA)

President Obama signed an executive order Monday lifting restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. ....shares of StemCells rally 43% [Wall Street Journal, Mar 10, 09]

Stem Cells   up 17% [Feb 17, 09]

StemCells  up 13% [Jan 29, 09]

StemCells  down 18% [Jan 27, 09]

StemCells  up 18% [Jan 26, 09]

StemCells  up 18% [Jan 23, 09]

StemCells  (Palo Alto, CA; $800K SBIR) plans to raise $20 million with the sale of 13.8 million shares of common stock to selected institutional investors.  [San Francisco Business Times, Nov 12, 08]

StemCo Biomedical (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]

Stemina Biomarker Discovery   (Madison, WI)

Stemina Biomarker Discovery (Madison, WI; no SBIR) said it has raised $1 million in angel investor funding and received a $150,000 grant from the NSF. ... screening tool has been nearly 90% accurate at predicting problems, compared with accuracy of about 60% for traditional testing with animals, [CEO] Donley said. The $1 million is part of a total $3 million the company is trying to raise  [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nov 11, 09]

 Stemina Biomarker Discovery (Madison, WI; no previous SBIR)  won a $150,000 Phase I SBIR grant, ...founded in late 2006, offers research services and is aiming to use human embryonic stem cells to help drug companies determine whether new drug candidates will cause birth defects in humans. ... raised $1.5 million from angel investors and received a $1 million start-up package from the state. Donley started Stemina with University of Wisconsin-Madison stem cell scientist Gabriela Cezar. Cezar and UW-Madison stem cell pioneer James Thomson are featured as part of a group of 12 "stem cell revolutionaries" in this week's issue of Forbes magazine [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, May 30, 08]

DaneVest Tech Fund I, a new Madison investment fund, announced its first investment  ... $212,500 investment in Stemina Biomarker Discovery (Madison, WI; no SBIR), along with a recent $125,000 investment by Phenomenelle Angels, closed a common stock financing round of $1.5 million .... Based on research done by stem cell scientist Gabriela Cezar, Stemina is developing technology to discover small molecules that could be used to develop drugs. DaneVest was founded by Terrence R. Wall and Joe Hildebrandt to invest in early-stage growth companies with special technology in the life science, information technology, and consumer goods and service industries in Wisconsin.  [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Dec 20]

Stirling Energy (Phoenix, AZ)

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.

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]

Eternal Stirling.  Stirling Energy (Phoenix, AZ)'s solar technology, however, is anything but New Age. It consists of small metal tubes filled with hydrogen, which are heated by a large dish of mirrors that concentrate the sun's rays on the tubes, causing the hydrogen to expand and contract as it passes through heat exchangers. This process pushes the pistons of an engine originally invented by Church of Scotland reverend Robert Stirling in 1816 that in turn drives a generator and thus creates electricity. Unlike the internal combustion engine, the Stirling engine never burns any fuel and is consequently a thoroughly clean technology. Today it's used in extremely high-tech environments, such as within nuclear-powered submarines, but has never been deployed on a broader commercial basis. Stirling Energy's solar technology, however, is about three times as efficient as silicon-based photovoltaic solar cells, Slawson says, which means it could be economically viable as an alternative energy source as traditional energy costs rise.The engine's one big drawback, however, is that it requires near constant amounts of sunlight when the sun happens to be shining, which restricts its use to places such as the deserts of the American southwest. Another problem: Tracts of isolated land are needed to set up the mirrors and tubes and noisy pistons to generate enough energy to make it worthwhile. [Claire Pool, New York Times, Aug 14]

Stottler Henke Associates (San Mateo, CA)

Steve Ginsberg calls DOD a leading supplier of venture capital to technology startups, like Stottler Henke Assoc (San Mateo, CA). His evidence is Stottler's $600,000 in grants from the DOD since June with application for a dozen more and the company's doubling to 24 employees in a year with hopes of 10 more. Stottler's software is used by NASA to schedule shuttle launches, while Army and Navy use it to analyze defense weaknesses. Stottler Henke has been around nine years and has survived on $6 million worth of DOD's grants. That's an average of $700K per year which just about explains what all the employees do. The company has used SBIR because it allowed it to delve into areas such as artificial intelligence that typical venture capitalists wouldn't touch. (I wonder why?) About 75 percent of its revenues have come from the military, but Henke is eager to commercialize the work and perhaps take the company public. [San Francisco Business Times, Aug 4] Nice hometown boosterism story mixing DOD official theories of commercialization with the realty of SBIR money's favoring ordinary R&D. By contrast, after $6M Ann Winblad would expect her software investees to be far West of DOD SBIR. Ginsberg's definition of VC seems to enfold anyone who buys R&D from a small company. With a little more searching, Ginsberg could have found Bay Area firms who have used SBIR as intended: PolyStor, Deacon Research, SDL. Even Crystallume which went public and then bust makes a better case for SBIR.

Stratagene (LaJolla,CA)

Stratagene (LaJolla,CA; $6M SBIR in the 1990s) will be bought by Agilent for $245M. Its share price has been typically volatile for life-sciences companies since its IPO in 2004 and the purchase price is near its optimistic IPO price.

Stratasys (Eden Prairie, MN)

On "Star Trek," teleported objects materialized from thin air in seconds. At Stratasys (Eden Prairie, MN; no SBIR) it takes longer -- two hours for a monkey wrench or 10 hours for a coffeepot.  Stratasys does it ... with a machine that creates product prototypes out of nothing more than a fine plastic spray and the digital output from a computer-aided design workstation. .... many analysts -- and even one noteworthy institutional investor that recently purchased a large stake in the company -- are bullish on Stratasys' long-term prospects. The 19-year-old company is a leader in the growing $1.14 billion rapid prototyping industry. ... has 400 employees, has 10% of the world market based on revenue, but 44% of the installed systems, largely as a result of volume sales of its lower-end machines  [Steve Alexander, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jun 28, 08]

Stratatech (Madison, WI)

Stratatech (Madison, WI; $12M SBIR) gets $1.7 million from National Cancer Institute to develop living skin treatment for skin cancer: http://bit.ly/4rcQww  [kathleengall blog, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sep 30, 09]   kathleengall: Kathleen Gallagher covers emerging companies, technologies, financing and investments, probably the most extensive such coverage outside Mass High Tech.

Stratatech  (Madison, WI; $12M SBIR) that makes a human skin substitute said it will begin selling it in Europe to companies that can no longer do certain tests for their products on animals.  [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sep 8, 09]

Stratatech (Madison, WI; $6M SBIR) said it has genetically modified its skin substitute product so it can fight bacterial infections that routinely develop at the site of burns and other severe skin injuries like skin ulcers. [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Feb 3, 09] 

Strategic Response Initiatives (Watervliet, NY)

In late June, officials from Strategic Response Initiatives (Watervliet, NY (inside the Army's  Watervliet Arsenal); no SBIR) went to a conference on chemical warfare protection in Missouri [where] they saw a lot of interest in their product -- a French-made hazardous materials suit that is half the weight of conventional suits.   A few days later, the company signed a tentative deal with a New Jersey distributor to start marketing the product.  And on Wednesday, the owner of a Canadian distributor flew from Toronto to Albany in a private jet to discuss a similar agreement.    Not bad, considering Strategic Response only started marketing last week.   Chief executive Robert Domenici formed the company in 2005. The original idea was for him to train terrorism response and hazardous materials operations teams. But the company changed focus after a trip to Iraq in May 2007 to train an Iraqi team there. Word got out about Domenici, and a French company took notice. [Alan Wechsler, Albany Times-Union, Jul 3]

Sun Catalytix (Cambridge, MA)

Sun Catalytix (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) received a third round of seed funding to continue development of water-splitting technology developed by MIT professor Daniel Nocera. ... The $1 million tranche, combined with an exclusive licensing agreement with MIT for Nocera’s patents.... a month after ARPA-E grant  [Mass High Tech, Nov 23, 09]

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]

As part of a growing portfolio of local companies aimed at enabling what general partner Bob Metcalfe terms the “enernet,” Polaris Venture Partners has made an investment in a Cambridge-based startup focused on “solar fuels.”   Sun Catalytix (no SBIR) has not confirmed the funding amount, but according to a report from PEHub, a VentureExpert database lists the investment at $700,000. The company’s technology, which uses solar energy to break water molecules and use the released hydrogen as a power source, is based on research by MIT chemistry professor Daniel Nocera, according to reports in a recent issue of the publication Chemistry and Industry, as well as the online blog Xconomy. [Mass High Tech, Apr 16,09]

SunHealth Solutions (Naples, FL)

A New Paper Trail.  For 134 years Kimberly-Clark developed new products like Kleenex in-house. Now, outsiders are welcome in a dramatic overhaul of its research and development.  SunHealth Solutions LLC (Naples FL, no SBIRs), helped Kimberly-Clark roll out SunSignals, self-adhesive, water-resistant sensors that change color when the wearer is in danger of sunburn. ... Last year, KC formed more than 30 partnerships with firms big and small.  [Katherine Yung, Dallas Morning News, Aug 8]

SunPower

SunPower plunged nearly 20% today after the company said it may need to restate earnings for 2008 and 2009. [San Jose Mercury News, Nov 17, 09]

Solar Stocks. a few standouts may shine in the long run.... the Solar Power International 2008 convention drew attendees from 70 countries and generated lines stretching out the door for parking, food, and just about everything else.  ... With subsidies, First Solar's products can compete in many parts of the world with a natural gas or coal-fired power plant.  ... SunPower claims the most efficient. ... Suntech Power offers  scale ...  But for now, The shares of even the best solar companies have fallen on hard times.  [Michael Copeland, Fortune, Nov 10]

SunPower down 12% [Sep 26, 08]

SunPower down 27% [Sep 29, 08]

SunPower down 13% [Sep 9, 08]

SunPower up 10% [Sep 19, 08]

SunPower down 12% [Sep 15, 08]

SunPower up 18% [Aug 14, 08]

Some of the most efficient [solar] panels in production, from Sunnyvale, Calif.-based SunPower Corp., can yield about 220 watts of power from one square meter when 1,000 watts of sunlight is shone on it, up from 140 watts to 150 watts for the average panel five years ago.  [Yulia Chernova, Wall Street Journal, Jun 30, 08]

A Patch of Shade. After SunPower reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday and raised its 2008 earnings forecast, citing robust demand for its solar cells and panels, [Reuters, Apr 18, 08] the stock dove 13%.

Some solar stocks, such as Suntech Power and SunPower, are down over 50%. Is now the time to buy? In general, solar stocks are still a little pricey, but they make a good long-term investment. Solar cells are expensive, but manufacturing costs are going to go down. With advances in the material sciences and nanotechnology, solar will get more efficient, and consumers will find solar products more affordable.    Is there a "cleantech Google" that will make me a millionaire overnight?   No. As promising as some of the smaller cleantech players are, they can't push out their technologies without a big company acquiring them because energy is a large-infrastructure play. It will have to be a combination of a few [smaller] breakthrough technology companies, plus a lot of the big guys. [Ben Levisohn, Business Week, Apr 14]

SunPower up 11% [Apr 4, 08] Options traders took bullish positions in several solar-energy companies Friday, after lawmakers revived efforts to extend tax credits for renewable energy. Traders picked up huge volumes of options in Energy Conversion Devices Inc., Evergreen Solar Inc., First Solar Inc., SunPower Corp. and Suntech Power Holdings Co. -- all of which supply solar equipment to businesses, homes or power plants. [Wall Street Journal, Apr 5]

SunPower  up 11% [Mar 24, 08]

SunPower up 11% [Mar 18, 08]

Sunpower down 10% [Mar 17, 08]

SunPower up 12% [Feb 13, 08]

SunPower up 11% [Feb 11, 08]

SunPower down 10% [Feb 6, 08]

SunPower down 12% [Feb 5, 08]

SunPower down 12% [Jan 17, 08]

SunPower down 11% [Jan 15, 08]

SunPower down 15% [Nov 12, 07]

SunPower up 16% makes some of the most efficient solar panels in the business, with low installation costs, the analyst wrote.  [AP,Nov 6, 07]

SunPower up 10% [Oct 26, 07]

SunPower up 13%  [Aug 8, 07] on discussion of political prospects for green power.

Sunrise Ridge Algae

The Texas Emerging Technology Fund is pumping more money into Central Texas technology startups.  Six more Austin companies have won grants totaling $5.3 million.  Among the six new grant winners is year-old NanoMedical Systems (no SBIR) which will use its $3.5 million to develop a tiny implantable capsule that delivers drugs a few molecules at a time, with the dosage controlled precisely for each patient. The company is completing a prototype using $4 million from a private investor, said co-founder and chief executive Randy Goodall. The grant will help fund it through the complex and time-consuming process of seeking Food and Drug Administration approval, Goodall said. ...... Farodox Energy Storage  (no SBIR), which has developed a new fabrication process for high-performance electrical capacitors, $250,000; ...  Ironbridge Technologies (no SBIR), which is developing self-heating food packaging technology, $250,000;  ... Merkatum (no SBIR), which is developing fingerprint and facial recognition identity technologies, $250,000;   .....  Stellarray (no SBIR), which is commercializing flat-panel radiation source technology, $750,000; ...  Sunrise Ridge Algae (no SBIR), which is commercializing technology to turn algae into a renewable energy source. [Lori Hawkins, Austin  American-Statesman, Nov 17, 08]

Superconductive Components

SCI Engineered Materials up 26% [Jul 31, 08]

SCI Engineered Materials down 17% [Jul 24, 08]

SCI Engineered Materials up 26% [Jul 16, 08]

SCI Engineered Materials down 21% [Jul 15, 08]

SCI Engineered Materials up 15%  [Jul 3, 08]

SCI Engineered Materials  up 10% [Jul 2, 08]

SCI Engineered Materials  down 13% [Jun 26, 08]

SCI Engineered Materials up 19% [Jun 16, 08]

SCI Engineered Materials down 14% [Jun 12, 08]

SCI Engineered Materials up 13% [May 27, 08]

SCI Engineered Materials up 21% [May 6, 08]

SCI Engineered Materials  up 20% [Mar 27, 08]

SCI Engineered Materials up 17% [Mar 24, 08]

SCI Engineered Materials, formerly Superconductive Components, up 10% [Mar 17, 08]

Superconductive Components down 39% [Mar 10, 08]

Superconductive Components up 15% [Dec 14, 07]

Superconductive Components down 13% [Dec 13, 07]

Superconductive Components up 15% [Dec 11, 07]

Superconductive Components up 11%  [Sep 28, 07]

Superconductive Components still bobbing at 10+% a trip. Up 13% [Mar 5, 07]

Superconductive Components up 13% [Jan 25, 07]

Superconductive Components up 18% to end the trading year. [Dec 29, 06]

Superconductive Components shot back down 13% [Dec 26, 06]

Superconductive Components shot up 17%. [Dec 22, 06]

Superconductive Components up 18%. [Nov 17, 06]

Superconductive Components dropped 13% with no news. [Nov 16, 06]

Superconductive Components kept bouncing, up 15%. [Nov 3, 06] Two Phase 2 SBIRs.

Superconductive Components down another 12% [Nov 2, 06]

Superconductive Components record revenue, small profit, sinks stock 16%. [Oct 06]

Superconductive Components jumped 28% on almost no volume. [Oct 27, 06]

Superconductor Technologies (Santa Barbara, CA)

Superconductor Tech  down 11% [Jan 20, 10]

Superconductor Tech up 12% [Jan 8, 10]

Superconductor Tech up 18% [Jan 5, 10]

Superconductor Tech up 20% [Dec 23, 09]

Superconductor Technologies up 19% [Sep 2, 09] 

Superconductor Tech down 17% [Jun 22, 09]

Superconductor Tech up 27% [Jun 9, 09]

Superconductor Technologies   up 11% [May 18, 09]

Superconductor Tech  up 16% [Apr 22, 09]

Superconductor Technologies  up 91% [Apr 20, 09]

Superconductor Tech down 16% [May 28, 08]

Superconductor Technologies  up 12% [May 27, 08]

Superconductor Technologies up 10% [Mar 28, 08] and up 163% over 52 weeks.

Superconductor Technologies down 10% [Mar 7, 08]

Superconductor Technologies down 19% [Jan 16, 08]

Superconductor Technologies up 36%. Motley Fool says more than doubled since August. [Jan 15, 08]

Superconductor Technologies down 16%  [Dec 18, 07]

Superconductor Technologies  down 11% [Dec 17, 07] after filing to sell new shares.

Superconductor Technologies up 15% [Nov 14, 07]

Superconductor Technologies down 18% [Nov 8, 07]

Superconductor Technologies up 14% [Oct 24, 07]

Superconductor Technologies down 18%. [Sep 27, 07]

Superconductor Technologies down 14% after being up 500% for 52 weeks. [Sep 26, 07]

Superconductor Technologies up 67%. [Sep 25, 07] said it is planning a joint venture with a Chinese company on manufacturing in that nation.

Superconductor Technologies up 10%. [Sep 14, 07]

Superconductor Technologies down 10% [Sep 12, 07]

Superconductor Technologies down 10% as news and rumors swirl around its Chinese deal. [Sep 6, 07]

Superconductor Technologies up 21% after saying that Hunchun BaoLi Communication Co. Ltd. (China; no SBIR) will invest $15M.

Superconductor Technologies up 78% on news that it is negotiating to form a joint venture with Chinese Hunchun Baoli Communication, which manufactures push-to-talk handsets and the associated battery technology for the Chinese market. [Mass High Tech, Aug 27]

Superconductor Technologies down 24% on reporting more losses. [Mar 16, 07]

Superconductor Technologies rose 17% [Feb 7, 07]

Superconductor Technologies up 21%  [Jan 11, 07] to $2.1 which less than 1% of its bubble high. HTSC still has not found a way to deliver usefully decent currents.

Superconductor Technologies lost 13% on reporting more losses. [Nov 10, 06]  HTSC was a hot idea worth infant technology support in 1988. We (SDIO SBIR) supported a raft of them. If such another hot idea came along, SBIR should again support a wide range of ideas until the idea or the company is either proven or disproven as a source of market-driven technology. It should not support life style companies of earnest scientists on an endless quest. 

Superconductor Tech took a 45% dive when it forecast weak sales, down 50% for the first quarter. So stiff a loss that its auditor will again add a going-concern clause to the company's annual report. That means a doubt that the company qualifies for the most basic accounting assumption of an enterprise - that it will continue in business tomorrow. 

Superconductor Technologies added to Russell 3000, Russell 2000 indexes;  Jul 03

Superconductor Technologies has been added to the Russell 3000 and Russell 2000 indexes. STI claims to be the global leader in developing, manufacturing, and marketing superconducting products for wireless networks. 

Huddling for Warmth while waiting for the future, Superconductor Technologies  and Conductus  will merge and get a $15M a private placement. STI CEO Peter Thomas's press statement said, STI and Conductus have made enormous progress in driving the acceptance of superconductive technology in the wireless telecommunications market. 

Superconductor Technologies jumped 24% when it announced a deal to sell at least 1000 units over the next year of its SuperFilter System from a major North American wireless carrier. STI says that doubles its world-wide installations. Now if only the wireless companies don't sink from over-expansion as the dotcoms and fiber opticians did after the late 90s investment boom. Other HTSC companies rose in sympathy: Conductus up 27%, Illinois Super up 9% STI is one of the HTSC companies that grabbed SBIR money from 1988 on until the promise showed to be more promise than immediate revolution after they went public in the early 90s on a wave of hope. It has seven DOD Phase 2s in the early 90s including one $6M award from the AF which had enough nerve to invest a lot in one company at one time instead of bureaucratically safe dribbles.The first Phase 2 was from BMDO which has just withdrawn from the tech-investment arena to build a phantom national missile defense from present technology.

The Ups and Downs. Superconductor Technologies which led the NASDAQ percentage gainers Monday fell 16% Tuesday after gloomy talk about earnings prospects and a quarterly revenue under $2M. Last week SCON said it and Conductus were fighting Illinois Supeerconductor in court over patents. .None of the litigants is making serious money anyway as the wireless industry takes a dive. Spire which last week spiked up, spiked back downwards presumably on the realization that a solar power installation in Chicago (with fanfare) isn't that big a deal for Spire's future earnings which it has never had much of anyway. Likewise Kopin spiked up and down interrupting what had been a steady decline in market cap.

You're talking on your cell phone, and just as you come to the most important part of the conversation, you lose the signal. Sound familiar? Some not-so-new technology may be the key to solving this problem. It's been known that super-cooling circuitry enables much better electrical conductivity since 1911. For more than half the century, scientists didn't know what to do with this knowledge, because you had to get within three to four degrees of absolute zero to get what's called superconductivity. But Superconductor Technologies has developed a usable cryogenic technology that has come out of the lab and into commercial development. STI is deploying PC-size units in base stations at the foot of cell telephone towers to increase range and achieve clearer wireless communications. STI's CEO M. Peter Thomas says his company's technology enables the cell phone handset to hear the base station better by using a low-noise amplifier and a special filter together in the same refrigeration compartment. You've got to give them credit for their good timing: the idea of millions (or billions) of wireless devices connecting to the Internet at high speeds makes the product infinitely more interesting. Specifically, protocols such as third-generation wireless technology demand at least 384 Kbps of connectivity. For that you need substantially more power, which means very short battery life and perhaps a health hazard. STI's customers agree. Richard Goehring, VP of at United States Cellular , a company with $1.4B sales, says he's continuing to buy STI's product STI's other publicly acknowledged customer is ALLTEL , with $6.3B revenue. STI is working feverishly to bring on more high-quality wireless companies. .Mr. Estra rates the company a speculative buy with a target price of $100, which is more than 600% above a recent price of $13.75. He's forecasting losses of $0.77 per share this year and $0.24 per share next year, but predicts that the company will turn profitable in 2002 with $0.30 per share in earnings on $40M in revenue. [redherring.com, Jun 12]

Superconductor Rocket(Feb 29) The superconductor stocks took off like .. the fiber optics stocks. Superconductor Tech up 47%, Conductus up 22%, Illinois Super up 68%. ISCO announced Friday a new line of products. As if wireless had just been discovered and couldn't do without a gazillion superconducting filters. But these companies are still story stocks with no profits.

STI Up 35%(Sep 17) Superconductor Technologies (Santa Barbara, CA) got an order for 200 filters from a cellular phone company and the stock market loved it. Third highest percentage gainer on NASDAQ, 35%. STI has had over $10M of DOD SBIR 1989-1997 as it grew from 16 to 67 employees which explains what kept alive many of the employees for quite a while. STI went public in 1993 and is still at about half its IPO price.

Superconductor Technologies received an order for 16 SuperFilter Systems from an undisclosed cellular service provider. Financial terms weren't disclosed. {Dow Jones, Jun 29] Such news was enough for push the stock up above the half-1993IPO price. Meanwhile, another superconductor stock, Conductus led the NASDAQ percentage gainers one day earlier n June for no apparent reason. Conductus trades below half its 1993 IPO price.

STI Loses Again(May 4) Superconductor Technologies (Santa Barbara, CA) lost another $1.8M for the quarter. STI has had $11M of DOD SBIR 1989-1997 including one $6M 1992 Air Force award. Hoover's notes that It currently relies on government research contracts to fund its development of commercial products. Over the five years 1993-1997 it lost $15M on $33M revenues. Only government would pretend that such performance belongs in a commercialization-inspired R&D program. Ah well, as long as the standard is merely commercialization "potential", anyone can claim virtue and DOD can justify spending its SBIR own its own toys (oops, needs).

STI Up by Half (Apr 1) Superconductor Technologies stock shot up, leading the NASDAQ percentage gainers after STI reported a big order for filter systems. Neither Illinois Superconductor nor Conductus enjoyed a me-too rise.

STI Makes Deal with Dupont (Aug 7) Meanwhile, the other California superconducting company Superconductor Technologies (Santa Barbara, CA) reported a deal wherein Dupont will supply thallium films and will market some of the thallium products. STI's stock is even lower the Conductus, at $3.5 down from its IPO price of $10.

Superconductor Filter Dmo (Feb 25) Less interference and more coverage from a 30% smaller base station, says Superconductor Technologies (Santa Barbara, CA) of its SuperFilter. See it at the Moscone Center in the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association Wireless 97 trade show, March 3-5. STI claims the whole filter, cryocooler (it's gotta be cooler than a South Dakota blizzrard) and all can be mounted on the antenna which up to now has been impractical for file cabinet size boxes. Now, if the profits can flow, STI can recover to its IPO price from 60% below.

Revenues Down, Losses Up (Feb 21) The superconductor industry continues to be a tough place to make money despite all the investment of 1988-1991. Superconductor Technologies Inc (Santa Barbara, CA) finds it tough also. For 1996 STI lost $3.5M on revenues of $7.4M. It still has cash after the steady losses since its 1993 IPO because it did a secondary offering in 1996. The press release did its best to bury the loss by waiting until paragraph 5 to mention the financials after the talk of leader in development of wireless communications filter products. BMDO's SBIR helped with some of the investment in the hot years of superconductor hope. Of the several companies that SDIO funded in those years, only Illinois Superconductor (Evanston, IL) seems destined for profits. STI stock trades at about 40% of its IPO price.

Superconductors Cool Off.. Being the 8th biggest loser in stock price percent for a day (Nov 22) marked Superconductor Technologies Inc (Santa Barbara, CA) as again a victim in the lack of market enthusiasm for superconductors. Government will still have to fund the R&D despite the IPOs of three BMDO supported companies in 1993 - Illinois Superconductor (above its IPO price) and Conductus (below its), and STI (at 40% percent of its).

SuperDimension (Plymouth, MN)

superDimension (Minneapolis, MN; no SBIR) completed a $23.3 million round of financing, ... develops minimally invasive interventional pulmonology devices, said that it has treated more than 3,500 patients. [Minneapolis/St Paul Business Journal, Jun 30, 08]

SuperDimension (Plymouth, MN; no SBIR) is developing GPS-like technology designed to detect early stages of lung cancer.  Dubbed electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy, SuperDimension's system allows doctors to probe the deepest regions of the lungs, guided by sensors and 3D mapping software. SuperDimension has raised $75M VC so far from major investors such as pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, CIBC World Markets, and OrbiMed Advisors, the world's largest health care investment firm with more than $6B in assets.  [Thomas Lee, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Dec 27]

SuperPower

Twice this summer, SuperPower (Schenectady, NY; no SBIR) has been able to break its own world record when it comes to the performance of long segments of its wire, which has enormous potential for use by electric utilities. [Larry Rulison, Albany Times-Union, Aug 23, 08]

Philips Medical Systems MR, formerly Intermagnetics ($5M SBIR in the 1990s), announced that the company planned to keep SuperPower under its wing for the "foreseeable" future. ... Philips has invested $10M in the plant since the acquisition in 2006. ... SuperPower was celebrating the re-energizing of its high-temperature superconducting wire project being operated between two National Grid substations in Albany and Menands. [Larry Rulison, Albany Times-Union, Feb 22] The government's $5M in a new technology attracted an international giant which is now owns the technology in which it is investing serious money. That's what SBIR was supposed to do.

SuperPower told a DOE conference this week that it has made significant progress toward commercializing its second-generation high-temperature superconducting wire. [Albany Times-Union, Aug 10]

Superprotonic (Pasadena, CA)

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.

Superprotonic (Pasadena, CA; no SBIR) a startup company, is developing a fuel cell that can handle dirty hydrogen at relatively low temperatures. It could thus use hydrogen produced from other fuels--such as natural gas or ethanol--by a simple device called a "reformer." ...  rely on a material called a solid acid, first tested as an electrolyte in 2001 by Caltech materials-science and chemical-engineering professor Sossina Haile. [Katherine Bourzac, MIT Tech Review, Jan 6]

Surface Logix (Boston, MA)

Surface Logix (Boston, MA; no SBIR) that seeks to use biophysical chemistry to develop small molecule drugs to treat metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, said it has raised over $20 million. [Boston Globe, Mar 9, 09]

Surgient (Austin, TX)

Endless Capital?  Surgient [Austin, TX]  raised $20M to accelerate its sales of software services in the US and Europe. ... to buy more servers.  ... enable companies to use the Web to demonstrate products or provide customer training. .. Surgient started in 1999 as Surgient Networks Inc., which developed hardware to deliver and track online multimedia programs for many different users. The original company raised $77 M and spent all but $19 M of it before concluding that the business opportunity for such products was very limited. It was reorganized as a software-services company in 2003 It has 65 customers, [Austin Statesman-American, Jul 13] and no SBIRs.

SurgiQuest (Orange, CT)

A Connecticut medical devices startup has become the latest in a series of small developers of tools for minimally invasive surgeries to garner venture capital. SurgiQuest (Orange, CT; no SBIR) raised $4.8 M in a Series B VC round to develop devices designed for urological and gastrointestinal surgeries [Mass High Tech, Jul 3, 08]

Surmet (Burlington, MA)

Surmet (Burlington, MA) got several $2M DOD development contracts for reconnaissance sensor windows and transparent armor from the anti-terror group (TSWG) and the Dual Use Science & Technology (DUST) program. Surmet’s High Performance ALON Optical Ceramic will be used for point-of-sale scanner windows, missile domes, infrared windows and transparent armor prototypes capable of protecting against lethal projectiles. [Mass High Tech, Apr 26]  Surmet's dozen or so employees have had at least two recent Phase 2 SBIRs from Navy and AF and five from Energy.  It has built three operations by acquiring the assets of what was once Advanced Refractory in Buffalo NY which got SBIRs years ago for boron carbide armor materials.  

Surmodics (Minneapolis, MN)

Surmodics up 20% [Oct 6, 09]   said it has entered into a licensing and development deal with biotech company Genentech Inc. that could be worth as much as $200 million. [Kathryn Grayson, Minneapolis/St Paul Business Journal, Oct 6, 09]

Surmodics  down 20% [Jan 29, 09]

Surmodics up 11% [Oct 28, 08]

Surmodics down 12% [Oct 15, 08]

Surmodics down 21% [Sep 18, 08]

Surmodics rose to fifth on the short-ratio list with 51 days of average volume to cover the shorts [Wall Street Journal, Jul 25, 08]

They're shorting Surmodics as it made the April 08 top ten list of short interest ratio.

NeuroMetrix and SurModics appeared on the NASDAQ top ten short interest ratios. [Jan 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.

SurModics did a license agreement with Paragon Intellectual Properties to collaborate to develop a coronary artery stent system that mates SurModics' Finale Prohealing coating technology and Paragon's low-profile coronary stent system. SurModics invested $3.5M in Paragon and plus an additional $2.5M if it's working well. [Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jul 10]SurModics up a further 11% . [Jun 28, 07]

SurModics up 19% after announcing a deal with Merck to jointly develop and license a device to treat macular degeneration. Merck's chemical compounds will be delivered by a Surmodics manufactured implantable device. [Jun 27, 07]

SurModics signed an expanded corporate technology agreement with St. Jude Medical Inc., Little Canada, to license multiple technologies for use in products being developed in St. Jude Medical's cardiovascular and cardiac rhythm management divisions. [Minneapolis Star Tribune, Apr 12]

SurModics won a competition not of its own choosing. It led the monthly list of NASDAQ short interest ratios with 53 days worth of average trading volume. [Mar 07]

SurModics is selling its Bloomington MN contract manufacturing facility and taking a $2+M charge. [Sep 05]

SurModics is buying  InnoRx, a drug-delivery company developing therapies for the ophthalmology market. for $21M plus possible bonus os another $17M. It's the first acquisition in SurModics' 25-year history. [story Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jan 20,05]

 Another Manufacturing Closing.   SurModics says it will take a $15+M hit to earnings as it closes  its Bloomington MN  manufacturing plant. But, not to worry says management,  the charge will have no material impact on future revenue or operating activities. ... SurModics had announced that it will concentrate on value-added businesses, technology development and acquisitions, while de-emphasizing contract manufacturing. [Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jun 24]

Short sellers have hit SurModics as 32% of the shares are short, the highest of any Minnesota company. In response, the company will do what a government program would typically do - re-organize. [story from Janet Moore, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Apr 1,04]

Surmodics reported an 89% higher profit on 50% higher revenue. But since Wall Street expected even more, the stock went down 7%. If you are one of the tiny few SBIR beneficiaries who went public, you know what it is to held publicly accountable for every penny and decision.  

SurModics Disappoints as its stock dives 17% Thursday atop a 7% dive Wednesday. The immediate problem is questions about its customer's (giant Johnson & Johnson) stent which SurModics coats with a heretofore profitable product.  J&J's problem of FDA regulkation is compounded by the entry of a competitor in the market - Boston Scientific. SurModics stock is now half its springtime high price. Still, the company reported big profits, a 78% leap, [facts from Terry Fiedler, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Oct 31,03] No related news emerging from the other SBIR company in stent coating - Implant Sciences which is focusing its news on explosive sniffing. 

Surmodics took a short dive when competitor Boston Scientific got good results from its stent coating that would compete with the already FDA approved Johnson & Johnson device that uses Surmodics coatings. 

Surmodics justified its high PE ratio by reporting a 54% boost in profit to $2.2M. Justified if you believe in a PEG ratio test for Growth at a Reasonable Price; see Gerstein'PEG: fact or fairy tale? for a deeper look at PEG ratio.

SurModics said revenue rose 27% to $6.1M and operating income rose 45% to $1.8M Income before accounting massage increased 6% to $1.4M. Gains came mostly from record growth in PhotoLink revenue, up 52%.

Surmodics Jumps(Sep 6) SurModics jumped 16% on news that Johnson & Johnson's antibiotic coated stent hurdles the major barrier to stent use. Surmodix looks to get a 1% royalty on JNJ stent sales which could be huge. Said a CS Boston investment analyst, today's stock movement represents what is truly great data from J&J and a game-changing device in the field of interventional cardiology. Another analyst said J&J will be able to charge $2,100 to $2,200 per device, compared with the current $1,200 for a bare metal stent. Other analysts put the figure as high as $3,000

SurModics jumped 12% on the announcement that it will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600. It does surface modification solutions to the medical device industry, and is almost back to its highs after a reccent dive.

Surmodics continues to rise steadily, as it has for a year, to over five times its year ago price. Last quarter's 11% higher than expected earnings kept fueling the fire. First Call predicts steeply rising earnings for the next twelve months. Make money and the market will love your stock.

SurModics Profit(Jan 17)SurModics jumped 13% to a PE of 130 on news of yet more profits from its business of providing surface modifications to medical device manufacturers. Revenue was up 16% and net income up 45% to $1.4M. The press release said, ``As anticipated, our first quarter growth was not as strong as what we have reported in recent quarters,'' said Dale Olseth, Chairman and CEO. ``We knew the quarterly operating comparisons would be tougher given the temporary decline in royalties from Abbott Laboratories this year and a one-time $225,000 royalty payment that was received from another client last year. In addition, PhotoLink royalty revenues were a little below expectations. Despite these factors, the overall financial results were better than expected. ``From a technical perspective, we were very busy this quarter as shown by the large increase in commercial development revenue,'' Olseth added. ``Our project with Johnson & Johnson's Cordis division to deliver therapeutic drugs from the surface of a cardiovascular stent continues to advance. Early data from human clinical trials in South America and Europe have shown extraordinary results. Our genomics project for Motorola was also very active. And, importantly, we generated record sales of reagent chemicals during the quarter, which should lead to a boost in royalties received from clients in the future.''

SurModics, a leading provider of surface modification solutions to medical device manufacturers, reported a 35% revenue gain for the year to $18M across all PhotoLink® revenue categories, as each established new annual records Net profit ws up 85% to $4.2M, an 85% increase. Not good enough as the stock tanked 13% Friday.

SurModics, a leading provider of surface modification coatings for medical devices, made the Forbes' ``200 Best Small Companies in America'' for 2000. Its stock price has been steadily rising, tripling since spring.

You can please some of the people ... (Jul 7). A Minnesota paper (City Business,July 3) moans that the SBIR is not perfect. Nationally, a lot of the money available from the SBIR program ends up in California, Massachusetts, Texas, Maryland and New York. Those five states have received more than 85 percent of the SBIR money in recent years. Minnesota ranked 14th among states in terms of SBIR money received in 1996. A total of $18.96 million was funneled to 69 projects here. Must be the influence of the Farm-Labor Party in liberal Minnesota for this parochial and political view that suggests the editor may want to run for office with the complaint that something's wrong when capital concentrates in a few places. It is the usual moan from states that call themselves "flyover states" and resent the bi-coastal economic concentration. Where are WJ Bryan and the agri-populists? (They are destroying the Republican Party from within, says Michael Lind in Up From Conservatism.) The writer (Tim Huber) loved how one Minnesota company - SurModics (Eden Prairie, MN)- got $23M SBIR and went public. (No mention that such a sum itself may be an unhealthy concentration.) A second moan came from a company that got only $2M (so far) that the government reviewers are inconsistent and funded what he thought was not his prime opportunity. Maybe the CEO doesn't understand inconsistency and diverse government; or maybe he would like a monolith government that probably would never have invented SBIR in the first place.

Says Hoover's about SurModics (called BSI Corp until 1997) SurModics doesn't want to just scratch the surface of the medical devices market -- it also wants to coat it with its own special agent resistant to infection and compatible with patient's bodies. The company's PhotoLink product is a light-activated coating that makes a covalent bond between medical device surfaces and a variety of chemicals, improving infection resistance and drug delivery. PhotoLink is used on catheters, shunts, pacemakers, and urological and gynecological devices. SurModics has licensing agreements with companies including Abbott Laboratories, Cordis Corporation, and Medtronic. Sounds like it competes with Spire's ion implantation coatings for catheters. SurModics has 85 employees and annual revenue of $8M with a negligible (but positive) profit of $200K in 1997, and a $90M market cap. . The company says Unusually successful participation in the federally sponsored SBIR program has allowed SurModics to develop and refine its technologies while incurring a relatively low operating deficit. In 1987, the company shifted its strategic objective from contract research to the commercialization of its unique PhotoLink surface modification and immobilization technologies, and in 1990, added the marketing of biomolecule stabilization products. The government is still waiting for the first dollar return in taxes for the $23M SBIR over more than a decade, a sum which puts SurModics in the top 2% of SBIR winners. And its stock price is up 50% to 183 times earnings since going public in early 1998. The SurModics case again raises the question of whether SBIR should be doing long-term life-support of commercial products. Apparently, NIH supports the concept for SurModics.

Sustainable Oils

With the two Montana Senators and governor smiling, Targeted Growth (Seattle WA; no SBIR), a renewable energy bioscience company, and Green Earth Fuels (Houston, TX; no SBIR), a vertically integrated renewable biodiesel energy company, announce the formation of a joint venture called Sustainable Oils, Inc. (www.susoils.com) at a press conference today. The new venture will produce and market up to 100 million gallons of Camelina-based biodiesel by 2010  [Targeted Growth press release, Nov 20] The seed will be grown mostly in Montana.

SustainX (West Lebanon, NH)

SustainX (West Lebanon, NH; one SBIR so far) cleantech startup, has pulled in $4 million in equity financing, according to a regulatory filing   [Mass High Tech, Aug 12, 09]

Suzlon Rotor

Subsidy Not Enough.  As the White House pushes renewable energy, weak demand forces Minnesota firm Suzlon Rotor (no SBIR) to cut 160 jobs (half the workforce). [Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jun 9]  The SBIR mills are in even more precarious position if the SBIR subsidy were to disappear or be substantially revised. So, the mills are shouting their platitudes to avert any SBIR change. 

SVS (Albuquerque, NM)

Symetrix (Colorado Springs, CO)

Thanks for the memories (Jul 24) It's taken a decade, but ferroelectric technology might finally be ready to make good on a promise to rewrite the rules of the memory industry. Symetrix (Colorado Springs, Colo) reported vthat volume production of the parts is expected from at least three suppliers before year's end. First out of the gate will be Matsushita Electronics Corp., now ramping one dedicated ferroelectric-RAM fab and building another. Siemens AG, Hyundai,Motorola and others are readying production of the memories. If all goes according to plan, they would replace DRAMs and SRAMs in a host of applications, effectively rewriting the rules of the memory business and accounting for one-third of all semiconductor units sold by the year 2010. [Craig Matsumoto and Yoshiko Hara, EE Times, Mar 9] Symetrix had $2M of SBIR 1988-1993 from DOD(Navy, SDIO, DARPA) with no mandatory co-investment. It was the rare SBIR research firm who meant the commercial impact promises.

Symyx Technologies

Symyx down 14% [Dec 29, 09]

Symyx up 10% [Jul 10, 09] 

Symyx up 12% [Jun 25, 09]

Symyx up 11% [Jun 23, 09]

Symyx down 14% [Jun 22, 09]

Symyx up 19% [Jun 12, 09]

Symyx up 16% [Jun 4, 09]

Symyx  down 11% [May 13, 09]

Symyx  down 16% [Apr 27, 09]

Symyx  down 14% [Apr 20, 09]

Symyx  up 10% [Apr 9, 09]

Symyx  up 12%% [Mar 31, 09]

Symyx  down 16% [Mar 27, 09]

Symyx  up 18% [Mar 25, 09]

Symyx  up 11% [Mar 23, 09]

Symyx up 12% [Mar 18, 09]

Symyx up 22% [Mar 17, 09]

Symyx up 13% [Mar 12, 09]

Symyx  down 12% [Mar 5, 09]

Symyx down 11% [Feb 10, 09]

Symyx  up 14% [Jan 26, 09]

Symyx down 12% [Jan 14, 09]

Symyx down 12% [Jan 9, 09]

Symyx Tech up 18% [Dec 31, 08]

Symyx Tech up 20% [Dec 16, 08]

Symyx up 11% [Dec 12, 08]

Symyx  down 25% [Dec 1, 08]  On a stock bloodbath day

Symyx Tech up 14% [Nov 26, 08]

Symyx down 16% [Nov 25, 08]

Symyx Tech up 14% [Nov 24, 08]

Symyx up 13% [Nov 21, 08]

Symyx Tech down 10% [Nov 14, 08]

Symyx up 36% [Oct 30, 08]

Symyx down 15% [Oct 24, 08]

Symyx Tech up 15% [Oct 16, 08]

Symyx Tech up 11% [Oct 10, 08]

Symyx Tech up 18% [Sep 30, 08]

Symyx Tech down 17% [Sep 29, 08]

Symyx Tech down 10% [Sep 17, 08]

Symyx Technologies up 10% [Jul 16, 08]

Symyx Technologies up 13% [Jan 7, 08]

Synaptics

Synaptics  down 12% [Jan 22, 10]  Small-cap technology stocks plunged, as headline tech companies posted numbers that disappointed investors, even while beating analysts' estimates. [Wall Street Journal, Jan 23]

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. 

Synaptics down 33% [Jul 31, 09]  after disclosing that first-quarter and fiscal 2010 revenue would grow at a slower-than-expected pace.

Synaptics up 10% [May 18, 09]

Synaptics down 10% [Feb 23, 09]

Synaptics   down 10% [Feb 17, 09]

Synaptics up 14% [Jan 6, 09]

Synaptics up 10% [Nov 21, 08]

Synaptics down 10% [Nov 13, 08]  after Intel's cut in outlook prompted a reevaluation of many smaller technology names. Analysts at Lazard Capital Markets reduced their investment rating on Synaptics to "sell" from "hold," saying "the significant worsening of the market" could put the revenue estimates of  fourth quarter and first quarter at risk.

Synaptics down 12% [Nov 12, 08]

Synaptics up 10% [Oct 16, 08]

Synaptics up 12% [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. 

Synaptics up 10% [Oct 8, 08]

Synaptics down 18% [Oct 7, 08]

Synaptics down 12% [Oct 2, 08]

Synaptics down 23% [Jan 25, 08]

Synaptics up 10% [Jan 24, 08]

Synaptics dropped 15% after American Technology Research cut its rating on the Santa Clara, Calif., maker of touchpads for computers to neutral from buy, citing a loss in market share. [Wall Street Journal, Jan 11, 08]

Synaptics (one Phase 2 SBIR) up 19% after brisk first-quarter revenue growth for the maker of touchpads for computers.  [Wall Street Journal, Nov 2, 07]

Synageva BioPharma (Waltham, MA)

Synageva BioPharma (Waltham, MA; $2.8M SBIR) developer of next-generation follow-on protein treatments, has pulled in a $12 million investment to close on a total financing of $45 million. ... focused on new oncology and autoimmune treatments using monoclonal antibodies and cytokines-based drugs. ... moved  to Waltham in 2008, following 10 years in Atlanta under a former name, AviGenics.  [Mass High Tech, Oct 20, 09]

 Synageva BioPharma (Waltham, MA; no SBIR) announced the first closing of a financing raising $30 million. .... developing and commercializing novel, next generation, and follow-on protein therapeutics that leverage the unique competitive advantages of its proprietary Synageva Expression Platform.  [Boston Globe, Apr 16, 09]

SynSonix (Tempe, AZ)

SynSonix (Tempe, AZ; no SBIR, founded in 2009) medical devices startup looking to move to Cambridge, MA has developed ultrasound technology that can control brain function for therapeutic purposes, without having to cut through a person’s skull. ... looking for $2.5 million in funding for its first two years of operations here, and $4 million for the following two  [Mass High Tech, Dec 31, 09]

Syntax-Brillian

Syntax-Brillian rose 13%.  Robert W. Baird said momentum was mounting for the Tempe, Ariz., company's Olevia liquid-crystal-display television brand. [Wall Street Journal, Feb 2, 07]

Re-Sourcing.  Syntax-Brillian has made a splash with its Olevia brand of flat-panel TV sets, marketing them as high-quality, low-cost alternatives to Samsung and Panasonic. The company is hoping to gain additional advantage over rivals by opening earlier this week what is believed to be the first high-definition flat-panel TV assembly facility in the United States. ... Relocating to a plant in Southern California will allow it to react to changing demands more quickly, better control inventory and save the 5.3 percent duty it pays on each imported set. [Gary Gentile, AP, Oct 28]

Synthetic Genomics (San Diego, CA)

A San Diego biotechnology company led by genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter has landed a deal with Exxon Mobil that could include more than $300 million in funding to develop biofuels from algae. Venter, best known for his role in sequencing the human genome, said yesterday that his company Synthetic Genomics is planning a local greenhouse and test facility to study thousands of strains of algae from around the globe.  [Thomas Kupper, San Diego Union Tribune, Jul 15]

Systems Processes and Engineering (SPEC) (Austin, TX)