Biotech IPOs are white-hot for the first time in a decade. In the Boston area, Epizyme and Bluebird Bio are among the newly public companies, and Agios Pharmaceuticals is expected to follow suit. What they have in common is they all formed early R&D partnerships with Celgene, the New Jersey cancer drugmaker. Locally, Celgene also has deals with Forma Therapeutics and Concert Pharmaceuticals. It’s an important trend to watch as drug companies are finding new ways to access biotech startups, while maintaining a safe working distance.
In other innovation news…
-A couple of new acquisitions by EMC. The Hopkinton-based IT giant has bought Israeli and Californian startup ScaleIO in data storage and Waltham-based Aveksa, in security software. Both deals are rumored to be in the several-hundred-million-dollar range.
-In movers and shakers, former Millennium Pharmaceuticals CEO Deborah Dunsire has landed a new gig as CEO of EnVivo Pharmaceuticals. That’s a Watertown startup targeting diseases of the central nervous system.
-And lastly, Boston University has filed a series of lawsuits against Apple, Amazon, Samsung, and other companies, alleging that the iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire, and other devices violate two semiconductor patents issued to a BU professor. So, if the charges hold up in court, we can also blame BU for making us live our lives in little screens.
