Note: Carl Nelson Consulting, Inc is not an investment adviser and may hold a financial interest or client relationship in companies discussed.

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American Superconductor said that first-quarter net income was $9.2 millioncompared with net income of $1.8 million for the same quarter a year ago. [Boston Globe, Jul 29, 10]  Ultimately, subsidy programs like SBIR have to be judged on profits and taxes that result from government investment in untried technology.  Yakking about jobs as a criterion gets enmeshed in counting jobs paid for by the subsidy. Most of the hype about SBIR, as practiced for nearly three decades, as a job engine is bunk. 

AMAG Pharma  down 13% [Jul 29, 10]

Arena Pharma  up 10% [Jul 29, 10]

Metabolix  down 13% [Jul 29, 10]

Icagen developing treatments for pain and epilepsy has received a $3 million payment from larger partner Pfizer. ... Icagen's shares, which began trading publicly in 2005, have fallen sharply as investors worry about the company's financial health and whether it will be able to develop a successful drug [Alan Wolf, Raleigh News & Observer, Jul 29, 10]

Surgient (Austin, TX; no SBIR) was sold to Quest Software Inc., a maker of software for corporations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. [Austin American Statesman, Jul 30, 10]

[OMB] released their annual joint memo to agency heads last week titled "Science and Technology Priorities for the FY 2012 Budget."  The memo reiterates the President's long-term goal for investment in R&D to reach 3% of GDP, and encourages agencies to pursue transformational and multidisciplinary approaches aligned with six "challenges and areas to be strengthened." [AAAS, Jul 29]  More money for pet projects; more fantasy revenue to pay for it.

Goodyear discovered a principle, undoubtedly useful, but there is little evidence that he brought the process to the point of manufacturing viability. Although the inventor enrolled more than eighty patents, they mainly covered ways of using vulcanized rubber- flocked fabrics, molding hollow-core objects, and producing imitation leathers, rather than improvements to the methods of changing natural rubber into its vulcanized form.  [Cai Guise-Richardson, Technology and Culture, Apr 10]

Why did Britain have an industrial revolution first?  in Britain ideas interacted vigorously with business interests in "a positive feedback loop that created the greatest sea change in economic history since the advent of culture." ....  Reduced to a thumbnail sketch, liberty and natural philosophy—a catch-all term for the study of "useful" knowledge— begat prosperity, which begat more liberty and useful knowledge, which in turn spread through Europe and the Americas. [Trevor Butterworth reviewng Mokyr's The Enlightened Economy, WSJ, Jul 30]  Is American polity smart enough to learn any lessons from industrial history?  Or will political slogans rule in a quest for power to reward contributors?

Tech and its practitioners not quite ready.  very different results that four major [genetic test] companies returned, based on samples from the same customers. New tech always sounds sweet, until it has to satisfy customers.

GlySens (San Diego, CA; $6.8M SBIR) is seeking [FDA] permission to launch a pilot study testing its implanted wireless sensor in about a dozen people with diabetes. ... a device that constantly monitors blood-sugar levels without painful finger pricks or frequent maintenance  [Keith Darce, SD Union Tribune, Jul 28, 10]

DayStar  up 20% [Jul 28, 10]

Affymetrix  up 13% [Jul 28, 10]

Allos Thera  down 15% [Jul 28, 10]

Intermune  down 10% [Jul 28, 10]

Pamper the little darlings. both sides are noisily clamoring to prove their support for a critical constituency: America's small-business owners....  "Helping small businesses, cutting taxes, making credit available. This is as American as apple pie," Obama said. "Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. They are central to our identity as a nation. They are going to lead this recovery."  Republicans are blocking action on the bill in the Senate ...   "They've hit small business with a sledgehammer and now they're going to go around and say they're picking up some of the pieces," said Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), dismissing the small-business initiative before the Senate as "tinkering at the edges."   [Lori Montgomery and Michael Shear, Washington Post, Jul 29]  The winning formula is clear: clear the deficit but don't raise anyone's taxes nor cut anyone's handouts. Until the voters grow up to real math, there's no reason to expect the politicians to act like adults.

SBIR Insider Rick Shindell  implores small businesses to call their local, regional or state office [of members of Congress] to invite them to visit your business.  Let them know how important the SBIR program is to you, your business, and potential new jobs.  Programs such as SBIR that help keep or add employment for good wage paying jobs, are usually popular with the politicos.  But the only companies who would have a direct interest in SBIR are the SBIR junkies who lives on the program.  Many of the worthwhile beneficiaries haven't been born yet and the new innovations worth funding haven't yet been invented.  The political arguments being offered are the standard stuff of vested interests keeping government money flowing to present beneficiaries. 

Ocean Power Tech  down 10% [Jul 27, 10]

Momenta Pharma  down 12% [Jul 27, 10]

Cytori Therapeutics has been cleared to market its fatty tissue extraction device in Europe for breast reconstruction and the repair of wounds resulting from Crohn’s disease [San Diego Union Tribune, Jul 27, 10]

Exact Sciences has licensed technology from a Belgian company that it can use to strengthen the non-invasive DNA-based test for colon cancer it is developing. ...  from OncoMethylome Sciences S.A. an exclusive license for up to two DNA methylation biomarkers to use in stool-based detection of colon cancer.  [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jul 27, 10]

Chinese solar manufacturer Yingli Solar announced it has signed a technology, research and production agreement with Innovalight (Sunnyvale, CA; $900K SBIR in Texas). It's Innovalight's second major deal with a Chinese solar manufacturer. Earlier this month, JA Solar signed an agreement to buy inks from Innovalight for three years. ....  In 2008, Innovalight was one of six companies to be awarded a competitive, $3 million grant from the Department of Energy that aims to make solar energy cost-competitive with conventional forms of electricity by 2015.  [Dana Hull, San Jose Mercury News, Jul 26, 10]

American Science and Engineering  said it has landed a $5.3 million follow-on order for its X-ray-based Z Backscatter Vans for a customs agency in an unnamed Latin American country. [Mass High Tech, Jul 26, 10]

Onyx Pharmaceuticals (Emeryville, CA; $900K SBIR) jumped 21% after reporting that its experimental drug, called carfilzomib, was effective in treating advanced multiple myeloma, a fatal blood cancer, in patients that had no remaining treatment options. ... now expects to file for Food and Drug Administration approval for its lead development candidate by year-end.  [Wall Street Journal, Jul 27, 10]

Xtreme Power (Kyle, TX, no SBIR) which makes energy storage and power management systems for utilities, wind farms and manufacturing companies — has just raised $29.5 million in venture capital....   for technology development, the expansion of production of existing products and as working capital for large-scale power management projects ...  received a $2 million grant from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund in 2007  [Barry Harrell, Austin American Statesman, Jul 27, 10]

A123 Systems up 14% [Jul 26, 10]

AXT up 11% [Jul 26, 10]

DayStar down 14% [Jul 26, 10]

Momenta Pharma up 20% [Jul 26, 10]

Novomer ($1.1M SBIR) received $18.4 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for a project that seeks to convert waste carbon dioxide into plastics for use in bottles, laminates and other applications, the company announced.  [Mass High Tech, Jul 23, 10]

Chiasma (Newton Center, MA; no SBIR) raised $2 million in debt financing, as part of a planned $4 million debt round, according to federal documents. ....  developing technology that could enable oral delivery of protein- and peptide-based drugs that are available only by injection or intravenous methods  ....  In November of 2006, Chiasma closed on a $44 million Series C round   [Rodney Brown, Mass High Tech, Jul 23, 10]

Infinera up 31% [Jul 23, 10]

Cepheid up 12% [Jul 23, 10]

Enzo Biochem up 11% [Jul 23, 10]

Genzyme up 15% [Jul 23, 10] on news of a possible acquisition by Sanofi-Aventis

Momenta Pharma up 82% [Jul 23, 10] after FDA approved its generic version of Sanofi-Aventis SA's Lovenox, an injected drug for preventing life-threatening blood clots. [AP, Jul 23]

Trubion Pharma down11% [Jul 23, 10]

Eli Lilly has completed the purchase of Alnara Pharmaceuticals, a Boston-area biotech startup whose promising lead drug could help people with cystic fibrosis. [Indianapolis Star, Jul 23, 10]

Last November, GE acquired Naverus, (Kent, WA; no SBIR) which has pioneered the use of satellite technology and on-board aircraft avionics to design precise pathways in the sky to guide airliners to their destination.... Fulton, a former Alaska Airlines pilot, co-founded Naverus after working with the technology in the 1990s at Alaska. The company designs precise paths for specific planes into specific airports. [Dominic Gates, Seattle Times, Jul 24, 10]

ViaSat said it has received an initial order of $37.7 million for terminals as part of the Army’s next generation battlefield command and control satellite communications system.  The order is part of a $477 million contract that the Carlsbad company won to provide equipment for ground vehicles and aircraft, network operations equipment, integration and engineering. [signonsandiego.com, Jul 24, 10]

"The optimal response to uncertainty if you're a firm is to do nothing, but if everyone does nothing, the economy tanks."   [Nicholas Bloom, quoted in Business Week.com, Jul 22] That's conventional wisdom for real companies with uncertain markets.  SBIR junkies, fortunately for them and unfortunately for the US economy, don't have that problem; they just keep sending proposals to the government and getting free money to do R&D service that they know best.  And since the government agencies that fund SBIR proposals don't care about the economy either, the mill just keeps grinding.

the Obama administration has championed giving loans and awards to innovative companies through programs such as the Department of Energy's ARPA-E. But it is not a simple journey from funding these programs to actually creating jobs.

Government to compete with industry.  A government program focusing on rare diseases has launched five pilot projects that are taking the NIH in a new direction: developing drugs.  The NIH Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) program was established last year with $24 million of funding. ...will work together with scientists, advocates and others to do the required research and testing on drugs before a compound can be tried in humans in a clinical trial. Promising new drugs discovered through basic research often flounder during this stage. [AD Marcus, Wall Street Journal, Jul 24]

The DoD issued its 2010.3 SBIR pre-release ...closes September 15.

Novelos Therapeutics reports it has raised $1.5 million through a private placement of stock and warrants to fund the company through the second quarter of 2011, and move its breast cancer and hepatitis drug candidates forward.  [Rodney Brown, Mass High Tech, Jul 22, 10]

A merger and a $24 million Series A funding has landed life sciences startup Euthymics Bioscience (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR). ... to complete the purchase of New Jersey firm DOV Pharmaceutical Inc. which it announced at the beginning of July.  [Rodney Brown, Mass High Tech, Jul 22, 10]

DayStar Technologies up 96% [Jul 22, 10] announced it is pursuing a strategy for offshore manufacturing of its CIGS solar modules.  [Tech Trader Daily, Jul 22, 10] After $1M SBIR, economics takes over any nationalistic idea of American manufacturing.

American Science and Engineering said it has received a $23 million order for a significant quantity of its SmartCheck Inspection Systems that will be used by an "undisclosed government agency."  [Boston Globe, Jul 22, 10]

Skyonic (Austin, TX; no SBIR) that plans to build an industrial carbon capture plant in San Antonio has won a $25 million [DOE stimulus] grant ....the second of its kind that Skyonic has received ... founded in 2005 and has been supported largely by California investor Carl Berg. Berg also is founder of and a major investor in Valence Technology Inc., an Austin-based maker of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.  [Brian Gaar, Austin American Statesman, Jul 22, 10]

Infinera up 10% [Jul 22, 10]

Cleveland BioLabs up 13% [Jul 22, 10]

Trubion Pharma up 11% [Jul 22, 10]

Cara Therapeutics (Shelton, CT; no SBIR) has closed on $15 million in a Series D financing [which] will mostly go toward further development of its painkiller CR845 ... has raised more than $43 million since it was launched in 2004 in Tarrytown, N.Y.  It moved to Shelton in 2007 after receiving a a $4 million loan from Connecticut Innovations’ BioScience Facilities Fund to fund the relocation [Mass High Tech, Jul 21, 10]

Progenics Pharma  up 13% [Jul 21, 10]

Cubist Pharmaceuticals is a turnaround story. After sustaining losses each year from 1994 through 2006, it broke into the black in 2007. Last year its earned about $80 million on sales of $562 million. Its sole drug so far is the antibiotic Cubicin, and another antibiotic, CXA-201, is in the pipeline. [John Dorfman recommending stocks at PE 10, Bloomberg Opinion, Jul 18, 10]

Sangamo Biosciences  up 13% [Jul 20, 10]

Dyax said that it has launched a newly enhanced product website, www.KALBITOR.com, that features the company's financial assistance program. KALBITOR is approved for the treatment of acute attacks of hereditary angioedema, or HAE, in patients 16 years of age and older. [Boston Globe, Jul 19, 10]

Kitware (Clifton Park, NY; $11M SBIR)  that builds open source platforms and develops advanced research software, has received a $13.8 million [DARPA] contract  .... will develop software that will be used to detect potential threats and perform forensic analysis. [The Business Review (Albany), Jul 19, 10]

InfraScan (Philadelphia, PA; $1M SBIR) has signed a $2 million  [SBIR Commercialization Pilot Program] contract with the U.S. Marine Corps to create a portable device to detect traumatic brain injuries on battlefields and other operational environments. Head wounds, according to military officials, lead to nearly 50 percent of combat deaths. .... The Infrascanner has obtained European marketing clearance and is marketed in Russia, Italy, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Panama, Turkey and India. An application to sell the product in the United States is currently under FDA review   [John George, Philadelphia Business Journal, Jul 19, 10]

Dell is buying Ocarina Networks (San Jose, CA; no SBIR) a 3-year-old company that compresses computer data in order to reduce storage costs. ... for an undisclosed price before the end of July.  .....  Ocarina, Dell said, has groundbreaking technology that helps companies cut their data storage spending by minimizing redundant data. [Austin American Statesman, Jul 19, 10]

EndoStim (St. Louis, MO; no SBIR) startup that makes medical devices to treat gastrointestinal and urological neuro-muscular disorders, said it raised $6 million in Series B equity financing.... to continue clinical trials and pursue FDA approval for a new treatment for sphincter-related disorders such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and urinary urge incontinence. .... In April, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman hailed EndoStim as a new kind of venture-capitalist-backed company that relies on technology to operate worldwide. [Kelsey Volkmann, St Louis Business Journal, Jul 19, 10]

 AVI BioPharma (Bothell, WA; $1.3M SBIR in Corvalis, OR) said it’s signed a deal with the DOD that could be worth up to $291 million [Puget Sound Business Journal, Jul 16, 10]

Cell Therapeutics said it’s signed a five-year deal with NerPharMa DS that will have the Nerviano, Italy, pharmaceutical company manufacture the Seattle biotech’s Pixantrone drug. [Puget Sound Business Journal, Jul 14, 10]

Arena Pharma  up 13% [Jul 19, 10]  continued gaining ground after last week’s negative recommendation by [FDA] advisory panel against competitor Vivus.  [AP, Jul 19]

Adolor said it is laying off 30 workers, or nearly 30 percent of its work force. [Philadelphia Business Journal, Jul 15, 10]

Endo Pharmaceuticals completed its $223 million acquisition of HealthTronics (one SBIR) [Philadelphia Business Journal, Jul 15, 10]

DOE said that $30 million will be made available to qualified small businesses to support the commercialization of promising new technologies [for]  projects that include developed technologies with a strong potential for commercialization and impact on U.S. manufacturing and job creation.  ... up to $3 million over 3 years to research, develop and deploy new technologies. apply by Aug 4 [SBIR alerting service, Jul 16] apply by Aug 4.  Oh sure, first they give SBIR to the companies that serve DOE needs and then they pretend that more money will create commercialization.  Why cannot they start by giving the SBIR money to great ideas and market-driven companies, instead of  making lemonade from the best mediocre lemons?  Because feeding DOE programs comes first and the SBIR law gives them unilateral authority to fund anything at any small company they please. DOE won't worry about the problem because Congress doesn't care enough to hold them accountable for SBIR results.

Arena Pharma  up 19% [Jul 16, 10] Of three diet drugs, Arena's lorcaserin is considered to have the strongest safety profile. [MarketWatch]

Progrnics Pharma  down 10% [Jul 16, 10]

NIH has contracted with Foresight Science and Technology to perform Technology Niche Analyses (TNAT) for 100 NIH SBIR Phase I awardees funded in fiscal years 2010 and 2011. For each eligible SBIR Phase I project, the TNAT will assess potential uses of the technology and then provide a report that addresses the end-user needs, current and emerging competing technologies, the market dynamics, and the technology's competitive advantage. For a full description of the program, check  (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-112.html).  [SBIR alerting service, Jul 16]  Oh great, the government will hire a consulting firm to tell SBIR awardees how good their their technology will be in market competition. Why didn't the government think to ask the companies that before giving them the money?   Actually, NIH does ask them such questions but mostly ignores the answers. Which must somehow be OK because NIH awardees are producing a lot of real commercialization.

Surface Logix (Brighton, MA; no SBIR) has raised $4 million of a planned $4.6 million funding round, according to federal documents. ... focused on using its Pharmacomer platform — small chemical groups that can be incorporated into certain types of groups to improve their effectiveness and durability in the body.  [Mass High Tech, Jul 16, 10]

Novalar Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) and its partner Sanofi-Aventis have filed papers seeking permission to sell Novalar’s dental anesthesia reversal therapy in Britain, Germany, Italy, France and Spain. [Keith Darce, signonsandiego.com, Jul 17, 10]

Number of the day 53% That's how much U.S. venture-capital investments jumped in the second quarter from a year earlier.[Bloomberg briefing, Jul 17]

The Germans just want to run surpluses—and if everybody tries to run a surplus, we end up in a depression. The other part of the story is frankly the hypocrisy of the Germans on the subject of the Greek crisis. The reality is that it was the German and French banks that got bailed out because they were the principal holders of all that dodgy Greek debt. [Niall Ferguson, Business Week, Jul 16]

A Pony in there Somewhere.   Computer and software stocks have slumped to their lowest valuations in two decades, a sign to some analysts that they are poised for a rebound. ... As a group, tech stocks trailed the S&P 500 for seven of nine years through 2008. This year they're down 4.6 percent, vs. the S&P 500's 1.8 percent drop [Business Week, Jul 16]

Wherever he looks in the past, Ridley finds that unencumbered commerce has sparked innovation and betterment, while bureaucracy and regulation have stifled creativity and led to stagnation. He ranges nimbly from the excesses of the Ming Dynasty to Walmart merchandizing to the business strategies of sardine fishermen of southern India, and each lesson points him to exuberant optimism about where human society is heading. [Wray Herbert reviewing Ridley's The Rational Optimist, Washington Post, Jul 18]

What's more popular than corn? after receiving subsidies for 30 years... The once-popular ethanol industry is scrambling to hold onto billions of dollars in government subsidies, fighting an increasing public skepticism of the corn-based fuel and wariness from lawmakers who may divert the money to other priorities. [Martha Lalonick, AP, Jul 16]  Moonshine!

I can't tell you how hard it has been for the Senate staffers to construct a compromise that they feel retains the integrity of the program, and gives some additional access to the powerful VC and BIO community.  Without some sort of compromise there will be no reauthorization in this congress.  Rick Shindell, SBIR Insider, Jul 15]  Stay tuned for the resolution of how much VC is just right for SBIR.

 Opnet Technologies fell 12% after trimming its first-quarter revenue outlook. said seasonal customer patterns were more pronounced in the quarter than the company anticipated.  [Wall Street Journal, Jul 16, 10]

American Science and Engineering  said it received a $7.3 million order from the US government for vans that provide mobile screening systems.  [Boston Globe, Jul 16, 10]

Sepracor perhaps best known for its Lunesta sleep aid, will be renamed Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. in the United States following its recent purchase by Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. Ltd. of Japan. [Boston Globe, Jul 15, 10]

Tech companies of many different stripes are emerging as the business stars of 2010, reporting sharply higher revenues, thanks to customers who are either replacing old equipment or buying new products that do more. [Boston Globe, Jul 16]

VC investing in Austin companies rose 64 percent during the second quarter compared with the same quarter a year ago, ...  Austin software companies received the most investment dollars [Austin American Statesman, Jul 16] Triangle companies that rely on venture capital feasted on more than $112.2 million in new funding in the second quarter, [Raleigh News &m Observer, Jul 16]

Metamark Genetics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR, founded 2007), a molecular diagnostics firm, has taken in a $22 million Series B round of financing, which it intends to direct toward research, development and clinical testing, as well as its commercial establishment.  [Michelle Lang, Mass High Tech, Jul 14, 10]

Apple is shedding its conservative ways and is on something of a buying binge, reportedly notching its sixth buy in the last year. The latest pickup is a Canadian mapping startup called Poly9 Group, which creates 3-D global maps.  ...  Almost all of Apple's most recent acquisitions involve mobile technology and are presumably meant to help Apple outpace its rivals, most notably Google, which has been picking up companies at a fast rate. [Ryan Kim, SF Chronicle, Jul 16, 10]

Synthetic Genomics (LaJolla, CA; no SBIR) announced the opening of a greenhouse next to its La Jolla headquarters where it will grow algae strains it hopes will lead to a revolution in motor fuels...  The company is working with ExxonMobil on developing fuels that can be harvested from algae [Onell Soto, San Diego Union Tribune, Jul 16, 10]

Stealthy clean energy startup XL Hybrids (Somerville, MA; no SBIR, founded 2008) has bumped up its initial funding round from $850,000 it reported in February to $1.58 million, according to federal documents  [Rodney Brown, Mass High Tech, Jul 14, 10]

Femta Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA; no SBIR)  raised $2.2 million in equity and options financing ... to develop antibody drugs with super-high affinity, meaning they bind tightly to their chosen target on cells, and can be effective at tiny doses  [Luke Timmerman, signonsandiego, com, Jul 15, 10]

Metabolix has set up a $300m facility in Iowa with Archer Daniels Midland, an agribusiness giant.  .... Industrial biotech seems to have been relatively unscathed by the financial crisis. ...  Another reason industrial biotech is taking off, after several false starts, is that the technologies involved are now mature enough to be scaled up from laboratory curiosities to full commercialisation.   [The Economist, Jul 3]

New England energy stimulus money for small biz:  $2.2 million for an energy storage project at Beacon Power  .... $2.1M for Proton Energy (Wallingford, CT; $1.7M SBIR) and Penn State University aim to develop an advanced energy storage device that incorporates a regenerative fuel cell  ....  General Compression, (Newton , MA; no SBIR)  $750K for a novel compressed air energy storage process [Kyle Alspach, Mass High Tech, Jul 13, 10]

AnaptysBio (San Diego, CA; no SBIR, founded 2005) could receive up to $1.5 million from [DARPA] to improve sensors the military would use to detect biological attack.  ... creates heat-stable antibodies [Gary Robbins, San Diego Union Tribune, Jul 13, 10]  the leader in the use of somatic hypermutation, or SHM, for antibody discovery and optimization. [company website]

Omeros  up 11% [Jul 13, 10]

Sequenom  up 11% [Jul 13, 10]

Ultralife  up 11% [Jul 13, 10]

RXi Pharmaceuticals (Worcester, MA; no SBIR) won an Advanced Technology $600K [NIH]grant [for] pre-clinical development of RNAi therapeutics.   ... founded in 2006 by University of Massachusetts researcher [Nobel laureate] Craig Mello  [Michelle Lang, Mass High Tech, Jul 13, 10]

Self-heating food package maker HeatGenie (Austin, TX, founded 2007 as Ironbridge Technologies; one SBIR) has received $400,000 of a planned $450,000 round of funding. ... Its business model is to generate revenue by licensing the technology to container companies and heat manufacturers  [Austin Business Journal, Jul 6, 10] got $1M from TX Emerging Tech fund

Uptake Medical, (Seattle, WA; no SBIR, founded 2004) developing a medical device for the treatment of emphysema, has scored $17.5 million in a second round of financing. [John Cook, Puget Sound Business Journal, Jul 7, 10]

General Electric announced that it will pledge $200 million to fund new research and development projects that can produce a more efficient electric grid. From now until Sept. 30, budding smart-grid entrepreneurs will be able to submit their proposals. GE and four venture capital firms will work together to evaluate submissions for technological savvy and commercial viability. [Investor Guide Daily, Jul 13]

TiE, a networking organization originally founded as The Indus Entrepreneurs, is expanding its mission to connect startup founders to potential "angel" investors. .... have formed TiE Angels, which intends to provide initial funding and advice on strategy and operations to promising entrepreneurs. [Frank M Russell, San Jose Mercury News, Jul 13]

Businesses [while loaded with cash] seem short of ideas about how to grow. Technology is not the must-have item it was during the last big investment boom in the late 1990s.  [The Economist, Jul 3]

Is SBIR popular?  Did you ever notice that when government programs are labeled “popular,” it is always by their beneficiaries, e.g. "for the second time in two years, the state universities are weighing whether to limit or even get rid of the popular AIMS scholarship, which waives tuition and fees for thousands of college students."   Since most similar government programs consist of giving people something of value for free or at least for a below-market price, aren’t they always going to be popular with their recipients?  ... The only meaningful definition of “popular” vis a vis a public program should be “popular with those who fund it.”  [Warren Meyer, coyoteblog.com, Jul 12]

Cree and ABB, the Cary-based heavy electrical equipment maker, won $7.9 million in [Energy stimulus] grants to develop miniature components and to advance energy-storage technology.  Cree employs 4,500 people worldwide  [John Murawski, Raleigh News & Observer, Jul 13, 10]  Cree should be the poster child for SBIR. Four guys spun out of NC State U and got about 20% of their starting capital from SBIR (BMDO and ONR).  If the government had taken equity, its ROI would be fantastic.  If and when Congress ever takes an interest in SBIR as an economic growth program, instead of a political handout program, it might look at some variation of ROI calculation as a figure-of-merit for program evaluation overall and in individual agencies. 

Cool pork for Wisconsin.    Astronautics Corp. of America (Milwaukee, WI; no SBIR) will work to develop a next-generation air-conditioning system using magnetic refrigeration technology, under a $2.9 million energy research grant funded through the federal stimulus package. ... now moving into a civilian application for the technology ... Astronautics has been conducting research into magnetic refrigeration technology for U.S. Navy ships for years, with the aid of federal funding. U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) has supported $7.5 million in funding in recent years, said Bill Murat, Baldwin's chief of staff. Another $4 million earmark remains pending. [Thomas Content, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jul 13, 10]

ViaSat has been awarded a $10 million contract from the National Security Agency (formerly No Such Agency or Never Say Anything) to enhance its line of network encryption technology. [San Diego Union Tribune, Jul 12, 10]

Genomatica (San Diego, CA; $6M SBIR) says it has successfully scaled up technology that uses genetically engineered microbes to make 1,4-butanediol (BDO)—a solvent and industrial chemical usually made from crude oil or natural gas ... The venture-backed company founded in 2000 is using biotechnology and renewable raw materials to eliminate energy-intensive industrial processes and petrochemicals in making the key intermediate chemical. ...  has raised a total of $38.5 million (including $15 million in March) from investors   [Bruce Bigelow, signonsandiego.com, Jul 13, 10]

biotech startup Visterra Inc., formerly known as Parasol Therapeutics, (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) has landed $6 million in its first round of funding ... develops technology to “interrogate how pathogens interact with human cells,” which is used to develop diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics   [Mass High Tech, Jul 12, 10]

"Search" funds, small pools of money that seek to buy and manage small companies, are drawing a record number of would-be entrepreneurs and a new crop of investors, though they have realized few successes.  Roughly 50 search funds were launched in the last three years  ...  One or two prospective entrepreneurs round up between $200,000 and $750,000 from friends, family and outside investors to finance the hunt for an attractive business, a process that typically takes 18 months. If a deal is reached with the owners, the search-fund principals seek second rounds of financing from their initial investors to buy the company—typically for between $5 million and $10 million.     [Kyle Stock, Wall Street Journal, Jul 12]

We’ve been mired in debates over macroeconomic models recently. But maybe the real issue is how we are going to light a fire under the country’s loners, its contrarians and its narrow, ambitious outsiders.  [David Brooks, New York Times, Jul 13] If the big mission agencies keep shuffling SBIR money to safe performers, the disruptive innovation of the outsiders will continue to depend solely on the private sector.  Which is fine by the agencies since they never wanted or believed in SBIR from the beginning.

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals (one SBIR 2005) was, until recently, the golden child of anti-aging research. ... GlaxoSmithKline was so impressed that it spent $720 million to buy Sirtris in 2008.  David Stipp's new book The Youth Pill traces this meteoritic rise and other events in the history of anti-aging research, detailing how the science and personalities came together at just the right moment to create the successful company. ... Thomas Perls, for one, thinks it's reckless to suggest that science is anywhere close to such a drug.  [Karen Weintraub, MIT Tech Review, J/A10]

Sequenom  up 11% [Jul 9, 10]

ViaSat awarded a $5.75 million contract for tactical data links and other satellite communications gear from the [Navy]. [signonsandiego.com, Jul 9, 10]

WaferGen Biosystems  (Fremont, CA; no SBIR) closed a $7.2 million registered direct offering that includes $1 million from the company's chairman ...  developer of genomic analysis systems, said it will use the funds to expand manufacturing, marketing, and sales of the SmartChip Real-Time PCR System.  [San Francisco Business Times, Jul 8, 10]  it raised about $6.2 million in Sept 09

In its third round of venture funding, AqueSys (Irvine, CA; no SBIR) raised $35 million.  ...  makes implanted devices to treat glaucoma.   [Stephen Brown, San Francisco Business Times, Jun 29, 10]

American Science and Engineering said that it has received a $8.3 million award for its Z Backscatter Vans from a Latin American customs agency. [Boston Globe, Jul 8, 10]

Quincy Bioscience (Madison, WI; no SBIR, founded 2004) said it has received a patent on its use of a protein derived from jellyfish that it uses for products to fight the aging process.  The patent covers the use of aequorin-related compounds for preventing and alleviating symptoms and disorders related to calcium imbalance [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jul 8, 10]

Optimer Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA; $5.3M SBIR) working on a new treatment for respiratory infections, received a $500,000 payment from its partner Cempra Pharmaceuticals after the drug successfully completed a phase 1 clinical trial. [San Diego Union Tribune, Jul 8, 10]

a Sustainable Defense Task Force of defense analysts that has recommended $1 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade. ... stopped production of the ultra-expensive F-22 fighter jet, cut back on some missile-defense programs he thought unrealistic, and killed an Army combat vehicle considered out of sync with today's counter-insurgency warfare. The reaction in Congress: revolt.    [Gerald Seib, Wall Street Journal, Jul 9]  Basic criterion: a good defense program is one that puts money in my district.

Portland ranks high nationally for its rate of entrepreneurship, as measured by things like self-employment and the number of small businesses. ... Oregon’s labor force grew because people kept coming. The livability crowd led the way: young, white, well-educated people drawn to an outdoor — and local — lifestyle. [William Yardley, New York Times, Jul 9]

Sweet technology, but..  It's all so familiar. A technological disaster, then a presidential commission examining what went wrong. And ultimately a discovery that while technology marches on, concern for safety lags. ...  The common thread — which the new presidential oil spill commission will be looking for — often is technological arrogance and hubris. It's the belief by those in charge that they're the experts, that they know what they're doing is safe. Add to that the human weaknesses of avoidance, greed and sloppiness, say academics who study disasters.  [Seth Borenstein, AP, Jul 11]

Energy Conversion Devices  up 11% [Jul 7, 10]

Affymetrix down 27% [Jul 7, 10] said it now sees second-quarter revenue coming in at $71 million to $72 million, down from its previous forecast of $80 million to $82 million. [Val Kennedy, MarketWatch, Jul 7]

XenoPort down 27% [Jul 7, 10]  after the biopharmaceutical developer and U.K. health-care giant GlaxoSmithKline reported that their migraine drug failed a mid-stage trial. ... said its treatment gabapentin enacarbil "did not demonstrate a statistically significant improvement compared to placebo as a prophylactic treatment for migraine headaches" during a Phase IIb study.  [MarketWatch, Jul 7]

Excelimmune (Woburn, MA; one SBIR) has taken in $4.5 million of a planned $8.9 million equity financing, according to [SEC] filing ... develops therapies using human recombinant polyclonal antibodies (HRPA). Its Staphguard drug candidate, used to treat methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), has gone through preclinical studies on mice and awaits an investigational new drug filing.  [Michelle Lang, Mass High Tech, Jul 7, 10]

Bio2 Technologies (Woburn, MA; no SBIR) has taken in $1.1 million in equity financing, according to [SEC] filing. ..... makes tissue engineering scaffolds, intended for orthopedic use, based on its cross-linked microstructure (CLM) that Bio2 licenses from Geo2 Technologies (no SBIR). [Mass High Tech, Jul 7, 10]

MC10 (Cambridge, MA; one SBIR) which is developing a form of silicon for circuity that can be stretched, bent and twisted, has bumped up its Series A funding from $5.7 million to $6 million, according to new federal documents. [Mass High Tech, Jul 7, 10]

Molecular Templates (Georgetown, TX; no SBIR) has signed a deal with ImClone Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Eli Lilly & Co., to collaborate on researching and developing cancer drugs. .. received $2.5 million in venture funding last year in a round led by Sante Ventures in Austin. The company was founded in Canada but moved its headquarters last year to the Texas Life-Sciences Collaboration Center in Georgetown, which provides wet-lab space for biotech startups  [Austin American Statesman, Jul 7, 10]

Zacharon Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA; $1.9M SBIR) startup that got $3.5 million in venture capital and a $2.2 million research grant in 2008, has raised another $500,000 ... developing small molecule drugs to block the production of complex carbohydrates known as glycans, which can alter the function of proteins  [Bruce Bigelow, signonsandiego, Jul 8, 10]

Two rivals in the rapidly expanding LED lighting sector -- Cree [up 8%] and electronics giant Philips -- announced that they have agreed to an intellectual property deal that they say will accelerate the market's growth. The two companies have agreed to cross-license a broad range of patents related to their LED businesses. [David Ranii, Raleigh News & Observer, Jul 7, 10]

One of the world’s largest drug makers, Sanofi-Aventis SA, is planning a $65 million expansion in Cambridge that will create about 300 jobs, making it the latest foreign pharmaceutical giant to invest in Massachusetts. [Boston Globe, Jul 8] Enriching the nurturing soil for tech entrepreneurs.

Beacon Power said it had reached a deal to sell up to $25 million worth of its shares to a Chicago-based investment fund over the next 26 months. ... Founded in 1997, Beacon Power spun out of SatCon Technology  [Mass High Tech, Jul 6, 10]

Arena Pharma  down 10% [Jul 6, 10]

businesses are holding back. Right now they are sitting on more cash than they know what to do with, thanks to strong profits, depreciation that exceeds new investment and meager spending on researching, developing and marketing new products. Business investment as a percentage of economic output is at its lowest level in more than 40 years, while hiring continues to lag behind growth in output ... financial markets have become particularly risk-averse, ready to punish any company that makes investments in long-term growth that might negatively impact short-term profits. ...  if corporate executives are looking for someone to blame for weak job growth, they should take their eyes off Washington and try looking in a mirror.  [Steve Pearlstein, Washington Post, Jul 7]

Opponents say Congress, which is deeply divided on the issue, should have responsibility for regulating greenhouse gases. [Science, Jun 18] Congress has enough knowledge for politics and law, but detailed science? Those "opponents" don't want government to regulate anything, except  abortion and unions.

Alnara Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR, founded 2008). has agreed to be acquired by Eli Lilly, bringing the Indianapolis pharmaceutical giant an inroad into enzyme replacement therapy, used to treat diseases such as cystic fibrosis. [Mass High Tech, Jul 2, 10]

Mira Dx (New Haven, CT; no SBIR) startup that is making gene-based lab tests for disease susceptibility and response to various therapies, has taken in $1 million from Connecticut Innovations, as part of a $4 million Series A round.  ... using discoveries licensed from Yale University in the field of microRNA (miRNA) to develop their tests, which will provide individualized information on the likelihood of disease occurrence and response to certain types of therapy.  [Rodney Brown, Mass High Tech, Jul 2, 10]

Endece (Mequon, WI; no SBIR) is prepared to begin clinical trials next year on a compound he says could potentially turn off any kind of cancer cell.  ... James Yarger with his wife, Jean, started Endece four years ago. The company has a staff of five. ... With help from $12 million of investor funding and a $250,000 loan from the state's Technology Venture Fund  [Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jul 1,10]

ViaCyte (formerly Novocell; San Diego, CA), which is developing the implant as a treatment for type 1 diabetes, is now beginning the safety testing required for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before human testing can start.  [Emily Singer, MIT Tech review, Jun 28, 10]

Nereus Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA; $800K SBIR) says it has secured as much as $20 million in commitments for additional funding from its existing investors to fund a mid-stage trial of a drug candidate for treating non-small cell lung cancer. ... specializes in developing drugs from marine microbes, says it has enrolled 170 patients in its study of NPI-2358 (plinabulin). As Luke reported last year, Nereus previously raised $125 million. [Bruce Bigelow, signonsandiego.com, Jul 3, 10]

Ceregene (San Diego, CA; $1.1M SBIR) which is developing gene therapy treatments for Parkinson’s and other ailments, says it is getting $2.5 million from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. [Bruce Bigelow, signonsandiego.com, Jul 3, 10]

Accelrys (San Diego,CA; no SBIR)  life sciences software company, said that it has completed the purchase of Symyx Technologies in an all-stock deal valued at about $180 million. [signonsandiego.com, Jul 1, 10]

Zacharon Pharmaceuticals, (San Diego, CA; $2M SBIR)  that got $3.5 million in venture capital and a $2.2 million research grant in 2008, has raised another $500,000 in additional funding that includes debt, securities, and warrants or rights, according to a [SEC filing]. ... intends to raise $1.9 million. ... developing small molecule drugs to block the production of complex carbohydrates known as glycans, which can alter the function of proteins. [Bruce Bigelow, signonsandiego.com, Jul 2, 10]

Dendreon dropped 6.8% after the U.S. government said it would begin a coverage analysis on whether the company's immunotherapy treatment for prostate cancer is "reasonable and necessary."  [Wall Street Journal, Jul 2, 10]

Arena Pharma up 16% after the company joined with Japanese drug maker Eisai to sell its experimental weight-loss drug lorcaserin in the U.S., assuming it is approved by the FDA. [Wall Street Journal, Jul 2, 10]

Cell Therapeutics said it made a deposit [$39.3 million in cash] to cover the costs of all of its convertible debt coming due in 2010.[AP, Jul 1, 10]

Nereus Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, CA; $800K SBIR) says it has secured as much as $20 million in commitments for additional funding from its existing investors to fund a mid-stage trial of a drug candidate for treating non-small cell lung cancer. The company, which specializes in developing drugs from marine microbes  [Bruce Bigelow, signonsandiego.com, Jul 1, 10]

Paris-based pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis agreed Wednesday to pay up to $560 million for TargeGen (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) biotech company that is developing a drug to treat leukemia, lymphoma and other blood disorders. Investors have put more than $100 million into TargeGen since its founding in 2001 said its chairman  [Onell Soto, signonsandiage.com, Jun 30, 10]

NSF released the beta version of a new Research.gov, a website designed to provide information by state, congressional district, and science field on research sponsored by NSF and certain other federal agencies.  ... to promote transparency and highlight outcomes and impacts of agency-funded grants.  Currently, NASA, the Army Research Office, and the National Institute for Food and Agriculture are also providing selected services on the website. [AAAS, Jun 30]

MELA Sciences  down 10% [Jun 30, 10]

ArgonST  up 40% [Jun 30, 10]

[Illinois has] a new tax credit to encourage angel investment and extending the state's R&D tax credit one more year. The Innovation Development and Economy Act (Senate Bill 2093) allows eligible angel and early-stage institutional investors to take a 25 percent tax credit on investments in small, technology firms. [SSTI, Jun 30]

When in doubt, re-organize.  Glaxo has carved its research group into dozens of small units, with a goal to turn a sluggish, bureaucratic staff into specialized teams capable of discovering cutting-edge drugs  [Wall Street Journal, Jul 1]

Boeing agreed to buy defense-equipment maker Argon ST for about $775 million, with the deal coming as the sector shuffles operations amid belt-tightening. Read more  [Wall Street Journal, Jun 30, 10]

Edison perfected the incandescent bulb and devised a system of electrical current to serve homes and businesses. Then came the hard part ...The invention of the phonograph made Edison world-famous--but it took him years to understand what it did best ... He and his talented team didn't just invent machinery for the movies--they invented the magic [Time, Jul 5]

The Obama administration has forced [Emcore, based in New Mexico makes components for fibre optics and solar panels] to abandon a planned joint venture with China’s Tangshan Caofeidian Investment Corporation because it believes the tie-up would threaten national security.  ... the second time in less than a year that the administration has sought to block a transaction involving a Chinese company because of security concerns.  [Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Financial Times, Jun 29, 10]  If China can't use American money to buy American assets, why should they take it or keep it? Are we still the big dog that makes the rules?

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals said that three European countries have cleared it for early-stage clinical testing of a potential treatment for a hereditary disease caused by a genetic mutation. [Boston Globe, Jun 29, 10]

Calistoga Pharmaceuticals (Seattle, WA; no SBIR) has landed $40 million in fresh venture capital to fund its drugs' advance through clinical trials. ... has raised nearly $100 million since it was founded in 2006.  [Jason Bacaj, Seattle Times, Jun 30, 10]

Javelin Pharmaceuticals  surged 58% after large-cap Hospira, a maker of medical devices and injectable drugs, said it would complete its offer to buy out the Cambridge, Mass., company at the end of the month in a deal valuing the company at about $141 million. [Wall Street Journal, Jun 30, 10]

Hope and money aren't enough. Mr Kissinger added that fighting the Taliban until it was reduced to impotence “would take more time than the American political system would permit”.   [Daniel Dombey, Financial Times, Jun 29, 10] Congress always wants something by the next election cycle and lectures the generals on strategy.

American Science and Engineering received a $6.7 million order from the U.S. government for its ZBV military trailers. [Mass High Tech, Jun 28, 10]

small-molecule therapeutics developer Forma Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) has partnered with Emerald BioStructures for the structure-based development of potential cancer drug targets.The partnership uses Bainbridge Island, Wash.-based Emerald BioStructures’ X-ray crystallography in combination with Forma Therapeutic’s Diversity Oriented Synthesis (DOS) chemistry.  [Michelle Lang, Mass High Tech, Jun 28, 10]

BIND Biosciences, (Cambridge, MA; one SBIR) biopharmaceutical company that looks to use a proprietary medicinal nanoengineering platform to develop new drugs, said it has secured a $12.4 million Series C-1 financing.  [Boston Globe, Jun 29, 10]

Cardica said in a [SEC] filing that it received a delist warning from Nasdaq...  because it doesn't meet the minimum market value of $50 million  [Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal, Jun 25, 10]

Emerald BioStructures (Bainbridge, WA; $2M SBIR) and FORMA Therapeutics, (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) drug discovery company, announced the signing of a strategic partnership for the structure-based design of cancer drug candidates for FORMA's pipeline.[Boston Globe, Jun 28, 10]

Tolerx (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) biopharmaceutical company that looks to develop drugs by modulating T cell activity, announced the start of a confirmatory Phase 3 clinical trial to further evaluate the drug candidate otelixizumab as a potential treatment for autoimmune new-onset type 1 diabetes.[Boston Globe, Jun 28, 10]

Southwall Technologies (Palo Alto, CA; one SBIR long ago) said it was awarded a $1.43 million stimulus grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. ... to develop solar-reflective films and glass for super insulating windows.  [Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal, Jun 23, 10]

Medical device company Baxano (San Jose, CA, no SBIR) said it closed a third round of funding with $30 million....  focuses on products to restore spine function and preserve healthy tissue. It makes a system for decompression during spinal surgery.  [Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal, Jun 22, 10]

Orexigen Therapeutics (La Jolla, CA; no SBIR) shares jumped 18% after the alif., biopharmaceutical company presented data on its lead experimental weight-loss drug, Contrave, that pleased investors. [Wall Street Journal, Jun 29, 10]

Patenting still foggy.  The Supreme Court on Monday loosened the limits on the kinds of inventions that are eligible for patent protection in a case that was closely watched for its impacts on innovation ... rejected a lower court's reasoning that only inventions involving machinery or physical "transformations" are eligible for patents. ...  Although the court was unanimous in rejecting the claims of the inventors in the [business finance method] case, the justices differed over why, issuing three separate opinions that sparred over what types of inventions should be eligible for patent protection. [Pete Whoriskey, Washington Post, Jun 29]

Breast-beating time again.  Pentagon officials said Monday that they plan to try to cut as much as $100 billion over the next five years out of the billions of dollars spent annually in buying weapons systems and other services from outside contractors. [Dana Hedgpeth, Washington Post, Jun 29]  As the Pentagon staffers regularly write to themselves, "in these times if limited resources," .... Look for more fantasies about "cost saving" as members of Congress protect their local industries.

Boston-Power won a new round of venture capital worth $60 million, which will help the company to grow its operations in Massachusetts  [Kyle Alspach, Mass High Tech, Jun 25, 10]

CGI Pharmaceuticals (Branford, CT; no SBIR) a small-molecule-focused biotech  has signed a deal to be acquired by Gilead Sciences  for up to $120 million.  [Michelle Lang, Mass High Tech, Jun 25, 10]

Spiration (Redmond, WA; no SBIR, 50-employees) medical device company, has agreed to be acquired by one of its investors, Olympus Medical Systems of Japan. ...  sells in Europe a minimally invasive device for patients whose lungs suffer from emphysema or air leaks resulting from surgery. The company's IBV Valve System is in clinical trials for emphysema in the U.S., and is approved for limited use to control prolonged air leaks following certain lung surgeries....  has raised more than $94 million from venture and strategic investors since its founding in 1999  [Seattle Times, Jun 25, 10]  Before Congress writes the next long term SBIR law, it should ask what can be learned about what works for American innovation before blindly handing out federal money to a politically protected class of companies.

Acceleron Pharma (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR, founded 2004) has raised $8.4 million of a planned $11.5 million securities offering, according to [SEC filing] ... develops novel therapeutics that modulate the growth of cells and tissues, including muscle, bone, fat, red blood cells and the vasculature.  ... raised $11 million in equity financing in December.  The financing was preceded by a $31 million Series C round in 2007.  [Mass High Tech, Jun 25, 10]

Trius Therapeutics (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) developer of antibiotics, said today it has agreed with the FDA on a special protocol assessment that establishes the design for a pivotal clinical trial. The clarity from the FDA is vital to Trius and its lead drug candidate, torezolid phosphate. The company postponed its IPO plans in March after it learned of new FDA guidelines that altered its plans for a pivotal antibiotic study. [Luke Timmerman, signonsandiego.com, Jun 28, 10]

KVH up 12% [Jun 25, 10]

 Microvision up 10% [Jun 25, 10]

Immersion up 10% [Jun 25, 10]

Omeros up 17% [Jun 25, 10]

Siga up 12% [Jun 25, 10]

Dems at commercialization, again. DOUGLAS P. HART, a [MIT] professor of mechanical engineering who sold his last start-up for a tidy $95 million, is already on to his next big thing. On Tuesday, he expects to lock up $1.5 million in funding for his new start-up, Lantos Technologies. ... developed a 3-D scanner that it hopes will streamline the current generation of earphones and hearing aids by precisely fitting them to the dimensions of the ear canal, right up to the eardrum....  able to bring his hearing aid concept closer to reality with $50,000 in backing last year from the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, an M.I.T. entity originally funded by two private investors, Jaishree Deshpande and her husband, Gururaj. ...  A proposal from the Obama administration would experiment with all of this by allocating $12 million among several institutions next year in what proponents hope will be a continuing effort to support and study proof-of-concept centers. If successful, supporters say, universities could spread the model faster. But the idea represents a shift in thinking about the federal government’s role in stewarding the more than $50 billion it gives to university researchers annually. Until now, that money has been for the discovery, not commercialization, of scientific breakthroughs.    [Bob Tedeschi, New York Times, Jun 27, 10]  Can the federal government do commercialization decently?  Probably not!  Where is any evidence that it ever succeeded with its host of programs? After nearly three decades of SBIR, for example, where's the economic evidence of success? Government understands science and technology, but not business, and has no incentive for agencies to succeed at business. The political cycle also works against any long-term plan as whenever the Republicans own the White House, the commercialization programs get canned. Then when the Democrats regain and re-start them, the cycle repeats.

Policy and job turmoil.  Workers at Bastion Technologies (no SBIR) and elsewhere are caught in a growing conflict between Congress, which has banned NASA from canceling any part of Constellation, and agency leaders who have directed program managers to scale back their work while preserving the parts that would fit into the new space policy proposed by President Obama. [Kenneth Chang, New York Times, Jun 26]  The usual Congressional response: cut the deficit somewhere else. NASA SBIR junkies could feel the pinch also. Somewhere, somehow, lots of folks have to lose jobs if the deficit finance is to be fixed without raising revenue (not on our watch, say the Republicans).

Recycling. Chinese investment funds are tiptoeing into the U.S. stock market, raising their holdings of U.S. companies as they seek diversification from their volatile home market and see better prospects in the U.S. than elsewhere in the world. [Wall Street Journal, Jun 28] From you to Wal-Mart to China and back to buying US companies.  In the long run, who will own whom? Meanwhile, the USG puts its innovation money into companies that don't want to share any development risk. 

Despite the theory that SBIR was intended to supplement private R&D, the DOE beneficiaries don't want to contribute anything to post-SBIR development.  In a White Paper on Phase III, the SBTC writers want DOE to waive normal cost-share rules for contracting with mainline DOE funds. Apparently the SECEnergy has the authority to waive the cost-share and the governing statue exempts SBIR anyway.  The two paragraphs on the subject don't delve into whether the  department's insistence on cost-share has actually prevented any contract, whether the Secretary has issued any detailed guidance, and whether such insistence made good sense in light of SBIR being only a supplement.  Ah well, DOE asked a lobbyist for a solution and get the natural answer - send us more money. One solution for DOE is to choose a better class of company for its SBIR awards. If it wants post-SBIR success, pick companies most likely to be pointed in that direction. Look beyond the criteria of "scientific and technical merit" and realize that there is a wide choice among companies with about the same technical merit. 

results that showed his tiny start-up company Avid Radiopharmaceuticals (Philadelphia, PA; $2.5M SBI) might have overcome one of the biggest obstacles in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease. It had found a dye and a brain scan that, he said, can show the hallmark plaque building up in the brains of people with the disease. The findings, which will be presented at an international meeting of the Alzheimer’s Association in Honolulu on July 11, must still be confirmed and approved by the FDA  [Gina Kolata, New York Times, Jun 24]

ImmunoGen said it will receive a $1 million milestone triggered by the start of a clinical trial by sanofi-aventis, a global drug maker. [Boston Globe, Jun 25, 10]

Osiris Thera up 13% [Jun 24, 10]

SustainX   (West Lebanon, NH; $600K SBIR) a startup developing energy storage technology based on compressed air, announced it has finalized a $5.4 million award by the U.S. Department of Energy.[Mass High Tech, Jun 23, 10]  And what, pray tell, was so innovative about compressed air that made it high technical risk suitable for SBIR, and not just an ordinary business risk with calculable ROI that belongs in the competitive marketplace? Small is only a necessary condition for SBIR, not a sufficient condition.

Acceleron Pharma (Cambridge, MA; no SBIR) has raised $8.4 million of a planned $11.5 million securities offering, according to [SEC filing] .... develops novel therapeutics that modulate the growth of cells and tissues, including muscle, bone, fat, red blood cells and the vasculature.... raised $11 million in equity financing in December.  The financing was preceded by a $31 million Series C round in 2007   [Mass High Tech, Jun 23, 10] 

Regulus Therapeutics (Carlsbad, CA; no SBIR) landed an investment of at least $35 million for drug discovery and development from French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis, with the initial work targeting fibrosis.  The development alliance has a potential value of $750 million if certain milestones are met, making it the largest partnership in Regulus’ biotechnology specialty, known as microRNA. .... 45 employees, was founded by Isis Pharmaceuticals and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. The companies each put about $20 million into Regulus, then stocked its staff and board with some of the leading experts in the microRNA field, Simeonidis said.  [Mike Freeman, signonsandiego.com, Jun 23, 10]

GlucaGo, (West Lafayette,   IN; no SBIR) founded through Purdue University’s Biomedship Program, is among 16 finalists in a Global Business Plan Competition sponsored by Cisco and venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson.... makes a Chapstick-sized drug injector that is easy to use and allows unstable drugs or vaccines to maintain their stability at room temperature.  [Erika Smith, Indianapolis Star, Jun 23, 10]

Seahorse Bioscience’s (no SBIR) local expansion has been so successful, the company made a second in-state acquisition, of BioProcessors (Woburn, MA; $500K SBIR) in March 2009. The Woburn company creates an instrument that helps biologic makers decide how to design their manufacturing process to maximize cell yield.... Founded in 2001, [Seahorse] has grown from around 60 employees two years ago to about 100 now, through hiring and acquisitions.... acquisition of  Innovative Microplate (Chicopee, MA; no SBIR). five years ago has led to continued hiring through the recession and an expansion of the manufacturing facility there, to 25,000 square feet from 14,000 square feet. Seahorse’s lead product is a bench-top scientific instrument that measures the energy production activity of cells.  [Julie Donnelly, Mass High Tech, Jun 23, 10]

Neoprobe (Dublin, OH; no SBIR) medical device developer says it could be on its way to joining a major national stock exchange after striking a debt-to-equity swap with its largest investor. ... 12 years ago failed to clinch approval for the cancer-detecting drug upon which it was founded, called Rigscan. It was a devastating blow that led to the departure of its CEO and delisting from NASDAQ. More than a decade later, Neoprobe has rebooted its efforts on Rigscan and is moving closer to commercialization on Lymphoseek, a product executives have said could have a $370 million market potential. [Business First of Columbus, Jun 23, 10]

Cisco All In. Cisco Systems today announced a $1 billion initiative to drive entrepreneurship and innovation in Russia ..."Simply put, we're all in," Cisco CEO John Chambers told Medvedev. ... increase the number of Cisco networking academies in Russia to 300 ... make Skolkovo an advanced Internet-connected city using Cisco technology. ... a second global headquarters of Cisco's Emerging Technology Group ... $175,000 in prize money to winning entrepreneurial teams in Russia  [Pete Carey, San Jose Mercury News, Jun 23]  Cisco should consult BP about partnering with Russia.

Otonomy (San Diego, CA; no SBIR) has collected an initial round of $10.5 million in venture capital. ...  [has] clearance to start its first clinical trial in people with Meniere’s disease [of the inner ear].  [Luke Timmerman, signonsandiego.com, Jun 22, 10]

Affymax up 2% after the company said it received a $30 million milestone payment from a Japanese partner for an investigational drug that treats anemia. The stock had plunged 69% Monday on negative study results for its Hematide treatment of anemia. [Wall Street Journal, Jun 23, 10]

Russia's [President] Dmitry Medevedev visits Silicon Valley for the first time, eager to reinvent his country's outmoded, oil-dependent economy - and lure talent and money from the high-tech capital..... knows he needs to attract some of the best minds and investors in the United States. [Nataliya Vasliyeva, AP, Jun 23] Why would smart people and capital go where there is no rule of law and no protection for private property?

Dyax has partnered with Sigma-Tau SpA subsidiary Defiante Farmaceutica S.A. of Portugal on the development and commercialization of DX-88, an under-the-skin treatment for hereditary angioedema (HAE), in Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Russia. The deal will bring a total of $5 million to Dyax in upfront payments, with the potential to earn more than $100 million in milestone payments.  [Mass High Tech, Jun 21, 10]

BioSense Technologies, (Woburn, MA; $2.2M SBIR) five-person biotech company to get just under $2 million in [stimulus] funding from the NIH ... developing a technology that will help detect bacteria in blood platelets, reducing the incidence of bacterial infections and sepsis in patients who have blood transfusions.   [Julie Donnelly, Mass High Tech, Jun 21, 10]  too late for any political gain since the stimulus opponents long ago claimed it a failure when unemployment didn't immediately drop dramatically.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals focused on using RNA interference technology to develop drugs, said it is in line to receive a $1.8 million payment from Regulus Therapeutics a California company it helped form with Isis Pharmaceuticals in 2007. [Boston Globe, Jun 22, 10]

LeCroy up 14% [Jun 21, 10]

MELA Sciences (formerly Electro-Optical Sciences) up 15% [Jun 21, 10]  said the FDA's General and Plastic Surgery Devices Panel will review its MelaFind device, aimed at detecting melanoma, on Aug. 26  [AP, May 26, 10]

The genetic engineers at Aqua Bounty (Waltham, MA; three SBIRs) have taken a different route [to GM fish species] using a different species. They are trying to grow supersize salmon by tinkering with the genes for growth hormone. ...a fish that reaches marketable size in 18-24 months, as opposed to 30 months for the normal variety. ...  says it has been petitioning [FDA] for more than a decade and which published guidelines for approving genetically engineered animals in 2009.  [The Economist, Jun 12, 10]

The Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot is known, of course, by its acronym: EATR. It is the brainchild of Robotic Technology  (Potomac, MD; $900K SBIR) ....  could, for instance, forage for biofuel while an [Army] unit on a long-endurance mission rested. It could then be used to recharge their electrical devices, carry some of their equipment or even transport the soldiers. ...  Robert Finkelstein, Robotic Technology’s president, estimates that about 68 kilograms (150 pounds) of vegetation would provide enough electricity for the machine to travel around 160km (100 miles).  [The Economist, Jun 12, 10]

Blobbot   DARPA giving $3.3m to iRobot  for the robot was that it had to fit through an opening half its full diameter. .... blob-like Chembot, which moves by deforming one side. To achieve this, iRobot’s engineers used a concept called “jamming”, which takes advantage of the fact that some particulate materials are quite stiff when compressed but, given space, flow like liquids  [The Economist, Jun 12, 10]

Satcon Technology has taken on $12 million in debt under a new subordinated debt facility ... Satcon’s new chief financial officer [says] the company has a backlog as of early May of more than $80 million in orders for its power systems, driven largely by the growth in utility-scale solar installations around the world. ... As of March, Satcon reported approximately 225 employees.   [Mass High Tech, Jun 18, 10]

Oorja Protonics (Fremont, CA; no SBIR) has sold 15 methanol fuel cells to power materials handling vehicles at a Martin-Brower food distribution warehouse in Stockton. ... Sanjiv Malhotra founded Oorja Protonics in 2005. Since then it’s raised about $25 million from venture capitalists, plus seed funding from Toyota  [Lindsey Riddell, San Francisco Business Times, Jun 17,10]

In its first round of venture funding, medical test maker Incelldx (Menlo Park, CA; no SBIR) raised $3 million. ... led by CEO Bruce Patterson, M.D., who started it after about a decade of research at both Northwestern and Stanford universities. [Stephen EF Brown, San Francisco Business Times, Jun 8,10]

Quark Pharmaceuticals (Fremont, CA; no SBIR) raised $10 million in venture funding....  working on drugs for two eye disorders: wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. It’s also developing a treatment for use with kidney transplantation. [Stephen EF Brown, San Francisco Business Times, Jun 17,10]

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