Exact Sciences Corp. inked a licensing deal with Hologic Inc. that will see it integrate one of its colorectal cancer screening technologies with the Bedford, Mass.-based women’s health firm’s Invader molecular detection platform.
Oncology
Nuclea Biotherapies snares $3.4 million
Nuclea Biotherapies LLC, an oncology diagnostics company with offices in Pittsfield and Worcheser, Mass., wrapped up a $3.4 million funding round, according to regulatory documents filed Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In July the company said it had closed on $1 million in new financing through the sale of preferred stock units. Since that time, three additional investor groups came aboard, including New York’s Private Equity Investors Fund.
Allegro Diagnostics lands $3 million SBIR grant
Allegro Diagnostics landed a $2.8 million SBIR grant from the National Cancer Institute to fund a clinical trial of its molecular lung cancer diagnostic test.
The Boston-based firm said the 800-patient, 12-site study of its BronchoGen device in the U.S. will examine whether the product can help with early detection of lung cancer.
FDA warns Baxter over cancer treatment device
Baxter International Inc. earned a warning letter from the Food & Drug Administration over the labeling and manufacture of its Isolex device used to treat cancer.
The FDA letter, sent to Baxter chairman, president and CEO Robert Parkinson Jr. Sept. 10, said the label on the device is misleading and the manufacturing process for the product doesn’t meet federal requirements.
Augmenix lands $6.1 million in Series B round
Augmenix, the latest life science venture from serial hydrogel entrepreneur Amar Sawhney, landed a second, $6.1 million tranche for a Series B funding round to develop its SpaceOAR radiation oncology polymer product.
Waltham, Mass.-based Augmenix is working on clinical trials for the product, an injectable, degradable polyethylene glycol-based hydrogel designed to temporarily position the anterior rectal wall away from the prostate during radiotherapy for prostate cancer.
Still River Systems execs change the signs on their doors
Still River Systems Inc. tapped an electrical engineer and serial entrepreneur, Joseph Jachinowski, as its new CEO and named him to its board of directors.
Jachinowski, who replaces Mark Buntaine in the Littleton, Mass.-based company’s corner office, got his start with Varian Medical Systems in 1981, before co-founding protective relays maker SEL Products in 1983. He went back to Varian in 1985, where he led the design team for its medical linear accelerator.
Hologic shares slide on analyst’s downgrade
Hologic Inc. shares slid 2.7 percent today to $15.75 on a Canaccord Adams analyst’s downgrade, just a day after the Bedford, Mass.-based women’s health products maker posted a big Food & Drug Administration win, The Associated Press reported.
Canaccord Adams analyst Matthew Scalo downgraded shares to “hold” from “buy” but reaffirmed a $16 target price, according to the news service.
Hologic wins FDA nod for MammoSite ML radiation therapy system
Hologic Inc. landed 510(k) approval from the Food & Drug Administration for its MammoSite ML radiation therapy system, saying it plans to bring the device to market during the first quarter of fiscal 2010, which begins in October.
The Bedford, Mass.-based women’s health products maker said the device’s multi-lumen design gives radiation oncologists the ability to shape the dose for breast cancer patients, delivering targeted radiation therapy directly to the area where cancer is most likely to recur.
Exact Sciences posts immense Q1 sales increase, but net loss jumps more than 50 percent
Exact Sciences Corp. managed to increase its first-quarter sales by nearly 1,861 percent (mostly on the strength of a deal with Genzyme Corp.), but still saw its net loss widen 52 percent.
The Marlborough-based molecular diagnostics firm, which is developing tests for colorectal cancer, posted sales of $1 million for the three months ended March 31, compared with $51,000 during the same period last year.
Charles River Labs to buy N.C. oncology R&D shop
Charles River Laboratories International Inc. agreed to acquire Piedmont Research Center LLC from PPD Inc. for $46 million in cash.
Wilmington, N.C.-based PRC provides preclinical discovery services in oncology and other therapeutic areas.
The Wilmington, Mass.-based lab services provider said the deal, expected to close during the second quarter, expands its reach into the pharmaceutical and biotech oncology treatment sphere.