BeatBio gets $2.5M for new ‘super fuel’ that boosts pumping power of heart muscles

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BeatBio, a Seattle life sciences startup led by former Vulcan Capital managing director Michael Kranda and former VieVax CTO Gregory Mahairas, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding from CET Capital Partners, the W Fund and others. The new funds will be used to move the company’s gene therapy product into clinical trials, an experimental… Read More…

Theraclone raises $14M to ID rare human antibodies that could be used to fight disease

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Seattle biotechnology company Theraclone Sciences has raised an additional $8 million in equity financing and $6 million in debt, bringing total investment in its series B funding to $50 million. Investors in the round included ARCH Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, MPM Capital, Healthcare Ventures, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Amgen Ventures, Versant Ventures and Zenyaku Kogyo. “Theraclone… Read More…

This ag science startup just scored cash to develop the apple tree of the future

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We write about a lot of high-tech stuff here at GeekWire. But here’s a new company that’s bringing a high-tech twist to one of the region’s oldest industries: agriculture. Phytelligence today announced that it has received an undisclosed investment from leading angel investors in the region to continue development on the apple and cherry tree… Read More…

Blaze Bioscience raises $8.5M to help surgeons pinpoint cancer cells with ‘tumor paint’

Jim Olson

Seattle biotechnology startup Blaze Bioscience has raised $8.5 million to continue developing technologies that  are designed to help surgeons more easily identify cancer cells in the body. Total funding in the company, with operations in the South Lake Union area of Seattle, now stands at $9.8 million. Blaze said that the money came from individual… Read More…

Former oil trader, Yankees part-owner invests in Kineta

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Seattle-based biotech upstart Kineta announced a new investment partnership with RLB Holdings, a Connecticut-based investment firm that partially owns the New York Yankees and is managed by a former Glencore international oil trader. Actual numbers weren’t released, but RLB invested in two of Kineta’s clinical stage drug programs: Kineta One LLC and Kineta Two LLC. Between Kineta… Read More…

Bill Gates backs cancer test startup to create a precise genomic tumor blueprint

Bill Gates

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is tossing his support behind a Cambridge, Massachusetts company by the name of Foundation Medicine which is developing new tests for cancer.  Gates is among the investors pumping $13.5 million into the company, bringing Foundation’s latest round of financing to $56 million. “Advances in understanding the human genome are having a… Read More…

Paul Allen’s Institute for Brain Science to move to Seattle’s South Lake Union area

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Seattle’s fast-growing South Lake Union neighborhood is getting another boost — this time from the guy who is largely responsible for its transformation. Paul Allen’s Institute for Brain Science announced today that they will relocate their headquarters from Fremont to Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood — the neighborhood that Allen’s Vulcan Real Estate has transformed over… Read More…

Resolve Therapeutics lands $5.8M to crack the code on Lupus

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Resolve Therapeutics, a 2-year-old Seattle biotechnology spin off from the University of Washington, has raised $5.8 million in new financing from  New Science Ventures, WRF Capital and Easton Capital. The company will use the funds to continue to develop therapeutics for the treatment of Lupus, a life-threatening autoimmune disease that affects 1.5 million people in the United… Read More…

Tech Moves: Amazon hires privacy officer; Blucora bolsters board; CTI’s new hire; and more

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TaxACT co-founder Lance Dunn has been appointed to the board of Blucora, the search and tax preparation company formerly known as InfoSpace. Blucora purchased TaxACT earlier this year for $287.5 million. “This is an exciting time to join the Blucora board as the Company is successfully executing on its strategy to diversify and grow its businesses,” said Dunn. “TaxACT is well… Read More…

Dendreon shares sink after plant closure, restructuring

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Dendreon, the once-promising Seattle biotechnology company, is taking it on the chin today after announcing a restructuring that will cost more than 600 people their jobs; the closure of its manufacturing facility in Morris Plains, New Jersey and other cost-cutting measures. “This restructuring sets a new course forward for Dendreon, accelerating our path to profitability and… Read More…