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Friday, April 10, 2009
Weekly Update: Vehicle inventions, battery deals, new launches and drug lawsuits
By Mass High Tech staff
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Segway teams with GM on new PUMA electric urban vehicle
New Hampshire-based personal transportation company Segway Inc. announced a deal with General Motors Corp. to produce a two-wheeled, electric-powered urban transportation vehicle.
GM and Bedford-based Segway demonstrated the PUMA (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility) vehicle at the New York Auto Show. While no financial details of the deal were released, Segway will provide the lithium-ion batteries and the gyro-stabilization technology, while GM provides the body design, navigation and communication technology and the manufacturing capability.
The PUMA is a two-seat vehicle that balances on two wheels, not unlike balancing a wheelchair. It is designed to be a lower cost urban transporation vehicle, according to the companies, with a planned range of approximately 35 miles and a top speed of 35 miles per hour.
By using the vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems and transponder technology GM pioneered with its OnStar service, the companies say the goal is to eventually have cities full of connected vehicles that don’t crash and drive themselves.
Privately held Segway landed a $5 million Series D venture funding in August of 2008. Segway was founded by N.H.-based inventor Dean Kamen, who developed the device and its SmartMotion balancing and control technology.
Epix raises money via sale of notes, Vasovist rights
Lexington-based biopharmaceutical Epix Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported that it has sold U.S., Canadian and Australian rights to MS-325, a blood pool magnetic resonance angiography agent, for $28 million to North Billerica-based Lantheus Medical Imaging Inc. Epix (Nasdaq: EPIX) also said that it has begun an exchange offer for $100 million in convertible senior notes.
Epix will retain rights to the drug MS-325 — called Vasovist — in Europe and elsewhere, outside of the U.S., Canada and Australia.
Epix president and CEO Elkan Gamzu said the net proceeds of the Vasovist sale will apply to the company’s exchange offer of all of its 3 percent senior convertible notes in exchange for common stock shares and a cash payment.
Epix, in the notes related to the offering, stated, “If Epix is unable to restructure its obligations under the Notes, it may be forced to seek protection under the United States bankruptcy laws.”
A123Systems to provide electric car battery tech to Chrysler
A123Systems Inc., a Watertown-based maker of advanced lithium-ion battery systems, has been selected by Chrysler LLC to be included in the automaker’s electric vehicle systems.
The agreement means A123Systems is expected to provide the energy storage systems for Chrysler’s first-generation ENVI range-extended electric vehicles and battery-only electric vehicles. At the recent auto show in Detroit, Chrysler unveiled five models using the electric drive system, including the Dodge Circuit EV, Jeep Wrangler EV, Jeep Patriot EV, Chrysler Town & Country EV and the Chrysler 200C EV concept.
Financial terms of the agreement were not provided. A123Systems expects to manufacture the batteries at its plant in Michigan, a new federally funded plant that A123 announced earlier this year.
Last year, the company closed deals with General Motors Corp. for inclusion in the Chevy Volt, Chinese automaker SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd. and Norwegian electric car manufacturer Think.
Simeonov leaves Polaris, launches advisory FastIgnite
Simeon Simeonov has left his technology partner position at Waltham-based venture capital firm Polaris Venture Partners to start his own company, FastIgnite Inc., which the company’s website describes as an adviser to startups.
“I had co-founded or helped start up four companies Polaris invested in and the pull to become more entrepreneurial grew stronger over time,” Simeonov said in a post to his blog.
Prior to joining Polaris seven years ago, Simeonov was vice president of emerging technologies and chief architect at Macromedia Inc., prior to its acquisition by Adobe Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: ADBE) in 2005. Earlier, he was chief architect and co-founder at Allaire Corp., bought by Macromedia in 2001 for $360 million.
At Polaris, he has helped found Plinky Inc., Archivas Inc., Meridio Inc. and Veracode Inc.
Genzyme sues generic kidney drug maker Impax
Cambridge biotech giant Genzyme Corp. is suing Impax Laboratories Inc., a generic drug maker in California, over a Genzyme drug for dialysis patients, Renvela.
Renvela is intended to control serum phosphorous levels for patients receiving dialysis treatment following kidney failure.
Impax is looking for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to commercialize a generic version of Renvela, which began selling in 2008. Genzyme (Nasdaq: GENZ) holds a patent on Renvela through 2014 and is seeking court approval to block the FDA generic drug approval until its patent expires.
Genzyme officials have said that Renvela will replace its previous kidney medicine Renagel, which also prompted a lawsuit from Genzyme against Impax for generic production of the drug. Renagel also has a Genzyme patent through 2014.
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