Thursday, December 4, 2008

Alnylam, Brightcove, Phase Forward named ‘Tech Pioneers’

By Mass High Tech Staff

The World Economic Forum, an international body that aims to tap business and cultural leaders to improve worldwide conditions, has named its 2009 Technology Pioneers, and three Massachusetts companies are on the list.

Biotech company Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge, Waltham-based life sciences product development services firm Phase Forward Inc. and Cambridge online video company Brightcove Inc. were honored by the WEF, which recognized 34 companies. No other New England companies  were on the list.

Alnylam (Nasdaq: ALNY) was recognized for its work in the promising science known as RNA interference, or RNAi, an area that has the potential for the creation of a broad new class of human therapeutics. In recognizing Phase Forward (Nasdaq: PFWD), the forum said that its software helps pharmaceutical and medical device companies “bring better, safer therapies to market more efficiently and cost effectively.” Brightcove was selected in part, the forum said, because it “empowers video producers and programmers to build broadband businesses while giving viewers more choices and control over their use of video and television.”

Founded in 1971, and based in Geneva, the World Economic Forum is a nonprofit entity whose member companies typically are global enterprises with more than $5 billion in turnover. Among its backers and participants are Bill Gates of Microsoft Corp. and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.