.gen Technologies Inc.

And great backstory from xconomy.com in HCV and treatment similarities (including business model parallels) with HIV.

 http://www.xconomy.com/san-diego/2009/03/17/using-hiv-as-model-anadys-develops-drug-cocktail-ingredient-for-hepatitis-c/

It’s a hot week for Hepatitis C (HCV) treatment news. This morning local biotech Anadys was cleared by the FDA for more extensive trials of their non-nuc HCV treatment – which in early trials was shown to be extremely effective in reducing virus levels quickly.

 http://www.xconomy.com/san-diego/2009/07/30/anadys-cleared-to-start-hepc-trial/

For our next project, we will be building a serial interface sniffer component, enabling debugging and emulation of messaging between a .NET application on Windows Server 2003 and embedded software components. Contact us to find out if we can do something similar for your team!

More creative biotech funding, this time from Boston-based Vertex to develop and market their Hepatitis C protease inhibitor Telaprevir. Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma is putting $105M of its money where its mouth is for the rights to market this potential blockbuster in Asia.

 http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2009/07/30/vertex-grabs-105m-in-amended-telaprevir-deal-with-mitsubishi/

Further afield, AVI Biopharma ups roots in Corvallis OR to tap the larger life sciences talent pool in Seattle. Can’t help but wonder if they wouldn’t have found a more hospitable talent environment here in San Diego.

 Also interesting are the scrappy funding moves AVI has made this year, tacking with defense contracts and patient advocacy grants despite dry credit and venture capital markets. Creative finance is one of the things I find most fascinating about the biotech sector.

 http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2009/07/30/avi-biopharma-moves-headquarters-from-portland-to-seattle-to-tap-biotech-talent-pool/

A hefty stock float for local biotech Orexigen gives it an additional $70M to develop its experimental obesity drug.

 http://www.xconomy.com/san-diego/2009/07/23/orexigen-raises-70m/

More back story on Brain Cells Inc and their brain cell regrowth stimulators BCI-540 and BCI-838.

 http://www.xconomy.com/san-diego/2008/12/15/brain-cells-inc-no-dummy-raised-50m-before-recession-got-really-ugly/

Local biotech BrainCells reports strong results in a mid-sized clinical trial of their new depression therapy, which tackles depression by stimulating growth of new brain cells.

 http://www.xconomy.com/san-diego/2009/07/27/braincells-depression-drug-reaches-goal/

“The mindset of the entrepreneur has changed,” Gottesman says. “In IT, there’s more of a sense that you need to get to cash flow positive as quickly as possible. It’s a control-your-own-destiny mentality. That’s versus the attitude you might have seen in frothier times, which was that there’s always more money around the corner, so grow, grow, grow at all costs.” 

And from the big biofuels announcement this morning to stretchable silicon. Boston startup MC10 has received $5M in Series A funding to bring their new stretchable silicon technology to market. The technology has potential uses in flexible sensors, wearable computing and “always connected” biomedical devices.
 
Now why am I thinking about Major Motoko Kusanagi and Ghost in the Shell?
 
http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2009/07/13/mc10-tapping-founding-vc-north-bridge-venture-partners-to-advance-stretchable-silicon-business/