{"id":144363,"date":"2010-01-06T08:00:35","date_gmt":"2010-01-06T13:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/?p=57291"},"modified":"2010-01-06T08:00:35","modified_gmt":"2010-01-06T13:00:35","slug":"mullen-to-relinquish-biogen-idec-reins-joule-to-test-ethanol-tech-dicerna-to-team-with-kyowa-hakko-kirin-more-boston-area-life-sciences-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/144363","title":{"rendered":"Mullen to Relinquish Biogen Idec Reins, Joule to Test Ethanol Tech, Dicerna to Team with Kyowa Hakko Kirin, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Roundup<\/a>, Life Sciences<\/a>, people<\/a><\/div>\n

\t\tRebecca Zacks wrote:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve got a couple weeks’ worth of New England life sciences news to catch you up on, so let’s dive in.<\/p>\n

—Shares of Watertown, MA-based pSivida (NASDAQ: PSDV<\/a>) jumped more than 50 percent after the company reported its treatment for diabetic macular edema, an eye disorder, did well in a clinical trial<\/a>. The treatment employs an implant that is placed in the back of the eye and releases a steady dose of the corticosteroid drug fluocinolone acetonide.<\/p>\n

—Ryan caught up with Bill Sims, the CEO of Cambridge, MA-based Joule Biotechnologies<\/a>, which is out to produce fuels and chemicals with a process that mimics photosynthesis. Sims shared his firm’s plans to build a pilot ethanol production operation in the American southwest and to advance its process for making diesel without using food crops as feedstock or expensive refining techniques.<\/p>\n

—Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX<\/a>), the Natick, MA-based medical device giant, agreed to pay $22 million in a civil settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice<\/a>. The settlement ends the DOJ’s investigation of post-marketing surveys conducted by a Boston Scientific subsidiary, Guidant, before it was acquired by the Natick firm.<\/p>\n

—Watertown, MA-based drug developer Dicerna Pharmaceuticals inked a potentially mammoth deal with Japan-based Kyowa Hakko Kirin<\/a>. The agreement gives the Japanese firm access to use Dicerna’s RNA-interference-based drug technology against one undisclosed target on cancer cells, in return for $4 million upfront cash, $120 million in potential milestone payments, and royalties. Over time, the partnership could be expanded to cover as many as 10 more drug targets, each with the same financial terms.<\/p>\n

—Cambridge-based Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB<\/a>) announced that its CEO, James Mullen, will step down in June<\/a> after more than 20 years at the company. Mullen and the rest of the Biogen leadership have been the subject of blistering criticism from billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who launched a proxy battle for control of the company’s board last May. A spokesman said that pressure from shareholders was not a factor in Mullen’s decision to step down.<\/p>\n

—Ryan profiled the efforts of Newton, MA-based AesRx<\/a> to bring its experimental treatment for sickle cell disease into clinical trials. The startup’s founder, Stephen Seiler—the former CEO of Cambridge -based Idera Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IDRA<\/a>) has used his own money to support the company so far, and is now looking to raise about $10 million in venture capital.<\/p>\n

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Roundup, Life Sciences, people Rebecca Zacks wrote: I’ve got a couple weeks’ worth of New England life sciences news to catch you up on, so let’s dive in. —Shares of Watertown, MA-based pSivida (NASDAQ: PSDV) jumped more than 50 percent after the company reported its treatment for diabetic macular edema, an eye disorder, did well […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1189,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-energy","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1189"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144363\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}