Dec. 12, 2008
Biotech has a new model: Nektar Therapeutics Inc.
A one-trick pony considered on the brink of disaster 14 months ago, Nektar now has a deep pipeline of early- and mid-stage drugs, less debt, more cash and a slimmed-down workforce.
That puts the San Carlos company in a good position to weather the credit and investment storm drenching other biotech companies today.
Showing posts with label 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2008. Show all posts
Friday, October 30, 2009
Looming debt conversions put small biotechs in a pickle
Nov. 14, 2008
Biotechs bet big on debt. They lost.
Now, with stock prices in the pennies and low levels of cash, many biotech companies are staring at looming maturity dates on convertible debt notes. That debt is dogging their efforts to raise cash and, at worst, may force some into bankruptcy.
“What they’re trying to figure out is what they’re going to do about it,” said Steve Engle, CEO of Berkeley drug developer Xoma Ltd., which paid off its convertible debt investors last year.
Convertible debt generally gives the holder the option to get repaid in cash, or to convert the debt to stock equity at a specified time. Earlier in the decade, it was among the most popular fundraising mechanisms for biotechs, based on the long-term bet that the companies would use the money to develop blockbuster drugs, and see their stock prices soar as a result. But with those notes coming due, many biotechs don’t have the hoped-for drugs, repayment money or stock at a price that is tempting for investors.
Meanwhile, some of those investors face their own cash shortages. As a result, some are willing to negotiate repayment of far less than they are owed.
Biotechs bet big on debt. They lost.
Now, with stock prices in the pennies and low levels of cash, many biotech companies are staring at looming maturity dates on convertible debt notes. That debt is dogging their efforts to raise cash and, at worst, may force some into bankruptcy.
“What they’re trying to figure out is what they’re going to do about it,” said Steve Engle, CEO of Berkeley drug developer Xoma Ltd., which paid off its convertible debt investors last year.
Convertible debt generally gives the holder the option to get repaid in cash, or to convert the debt to stock equity at a specified time. Earlier in the decade, it was among the most popular fundraising mechanisms for biotechs, based on the long-term bet that the companies would use the money to develop blockbuster drugs, and see their stock prices soar as a result. But with those notes coming due, many biotechs don’t have the hoped-for drugs, repayment money or stock at a price that is tempting for investors.
Meanwhile, some of those investors face their own cash shortages. As a result, some are willing to negotiate repayment of far less than they are owed.
Fat City: Are lipids ‘liquid gold’?
Sept. 26, 2008
Big Macs, Twinkies and Ho-Hos may be your salvation.
Scientists are studying fat from liposuction procedures — “liquid gold,” as one Stanford University researcher calls it — to rebuild cartilage, muscle and bone, and as potential therapies for heart attack patients or to unlock age secrets.
It’s all early-stage work. Studies have been carried out only in animals, and researchers aren’t sure if high concentrations of stem cells lumped in your love handles are the key. But the potential has created a cottage industry offering to bank fat to literally roll out again when — and if — treatments emerge.
Eventually, said Dr. Michael Longaker, director of children’s surgical research at the Stanford University School of Medicine, the research could lead to bedside tissue engineering. That could involve harvesting belly fat through liposuction, inducing stem cells to create bone, for example, and returning it to a scaffold in the knee that could form new cartilage over a year or two.
It’s the ultimate reduce, reuse, recycle.
Big Macs, Twinkies and Ho-Hos may be your salvation.
Scientists are studying fat from liposuction procedures — “liquid gold,” as one Stanford University researcher calls it — to rebuild cartilage, muscle and bone, and as potential therapies for heart attack patients or to unlock age secrets.
It’s all early-stage work. Studies have been carried out only in animals, and researchers aren’t sure if high concentrations of stem cells lumped in your love handles are the key. But the potential has created a cottage industry offering to bank fat to literally roll out again when — and if — treatments emerge.
Eventually, said Dr. Michael Longaker, director of children’s surgical research at the Stanford University School of Medicine, the research could lead to bedside tissue engineering. That could involve harvesting belly fat through liposuction, inducing stem cells to create bone, for example, and returning it to a scaffold in the knee that could form new cartilage over a year or two.
It’s the ultimate reduce, reuse, recycle.
Roche to ship jobs out of Palo Alto
Aug. 29, 2008
As it looks toward a marriage with Genentech Inc. and South San Francisco, Swiss drug maker Roche is filing for divorce from Palo Alto.
Roche plans to move its inflammation business from Palo Alto to Nutley, N.J. — no matter the fate of its plan to buy the rest of Genentech — and could shift its virology business from Palo Alto to South San Francisco. Meanwhile, Roche said it will move its U.S. pharmaceutical commercial operations from Nutley to South San Francisco.
Roche is not disclosing the exact number of jobs that would shift between Palo Alto, South San Francisco and New Jersey. This much, however, is sure: South San Francisco will gain hundreds of jobs, New Jersey will lose hundreds and the Palo Alto operations that employed 3,000 people before Roche took control likely will be shuttered.
As it looks toward a marriage with Genentech Inc. and South San Francisco, Swiss drug maker Roche is filing for divorce from Palo Alto.
Roche plans to move its inflammation business from Palo Alto to Nutley, N.J. — no matter the fate of its plan to buy the rest of Genentech — and could shift its virology business from Palo Alto to South San Francisco. Meanwhile, Roche said it will move its U.S. pharmaceutical commercial operations from Nutley to South San Francisco.
Roche is not disclosing the exact number of jobs that would shift between Palo Alto, South San Francisco and New Jersey. This much, however, is sure: South San Francisco will gain hundreds of jobs, New Jersey will lose hundreds and the Palo Alto operations that employed 3,000 people before Roche took control likely will be shuttered.
Life after Genentech: Kirk Raab re-engineers career as biotech mentor
July 11, 2008
The rehabilitation of Kirk Raab is complete.
Deposed as CEO of biotech giant Genentech Inc. in a conflict-of-interest affair more than a dozen years ago, Raab now is active in a handful of young, private biotech companies. He is a consultant, a been-there, done-that chairman or fill-in CEO. But mostly he's a mentor for the next generation of biotech executives.
"I help CEOs have less scar tissue than I do," he said.
Along the way, Raab has helped shape biotech success stories like Connetics Corp., the Palo Alto dermatology company that sold for $930 million in 2006, and up-and-coming ventures like sleep drug developer Transcept Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Point Richmond and East Coast hair regrowth startup Follica Inc.
He's been involved with more than 14 small biotech companies in all -- often in unpaid capacities. That's a long way from Raab's Genentech days.
The bottom line of bringing Raab on board is clear for young companies looking to make good impressions on would-be investors: Kirk Raab's name packs a punch and his connections open doors.
"He adds weight and credibility," said Chris Ehrlich, a partner at InterWest Partners and an investor in Transcept and Follica. "And when you go into discussions with larger companies, it's good to have him on your side."
The rehabilitation of Kirk Raab is complete.
Deposed as CEO of biotech giant Genentech Inc. in a conflict-of-interest affair more than a dozen years ago, Raab now is active in a handful of young, private biotech companies. He is a consultant, a been-there, done-that chairman or fill-in CEO. But mostly he's a mentor for the next generation of biotech executives.
"I help CEOs have less scar tissue than I do," he said.
Along the way, Raab has helped shape biotech success stories like Connetics Corp., the Palo Alto dermatology company that sold for $930 million in 2006, and up-and-coming ventures like sleep drug developer Transcept Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Point Richmond and East Coast hair regrowth startup Follica Inc.
He's been involved with more than 14 small biotech companies in all -- often in unpaid capacities. That's a long way from Raab's Genentech days.
The bottom line of bringing Raab on board is clear for young companies looking to make good impressions on would-be investors: Kirk Raab's name packs a punch and his connections open doors.
"He adds weight and credibility," said Chris Ehrlich, a partner at InterWest Partners and an investor in Transcept and Follica. "And when you go into discussions with larger companies, it's good to have him on your side."
Friday, October 09, 2009
How San Francisco caught Pfizer
Aug. 8, 2008
Over a restaurant table at Farallon last fall, Corey Goodman gave his new boss, the CEO of the world's largest drugmaker, his vision of Big Pharma's future.
It was the start of a 10-month journey, one that would lead from the upscale San Francisco financial district restaurant through San Francisco City Hall, UCSF's latest campus and, ultimately, to a dusty patch in Mission Bay -- across from the University of California, San Francisco -- with pilings sticking out of the dirt.
Over a restaurant table at Farallon last fall, Corey Goodman gave his new boss, the CEO of the world's largest drugmaker, his vision of Big Pharma's future.
It was the start of a 10-month journey, one that would lead from the upscale San Francisco financial district restaurant through San Francisco City Hall, UCSF's latest campus and, ultimately, to a dusty patch in Mission Bay -- across from the University of California, San Francisco -- with pilings sticking out of the dirt.
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