Week in Review: Boni’s Big Decision, Putney Joins the Team, and Tengion Blooms with Flora
Posted by | October 7, 2011
Apple dominated the headlines this week with the release of its new phone, the iPhone 4S. The show-stopper was Siri, a revolutionary voice activated assistant which can understand and interpret natural language with surprising accuracy. Apple highlighted the new feature as a groundbreaking step in mobile device interaction. And with the world reacting to the passing of Steve Jobs, we are reminded how important innovation can be.
The team at Safeguard realizes not only the importance of Jobs’ innovation, but also the importance of making that innovation accessible and understandable. In fact, in a recent article in imPact Times, our President and CEO, Peter J. Boni, talked about how groundbreaking achievements aren’t always a result of innovative technology, but rather the repositioning of technology to make life easier for consumers. Boni discussed how Safeguard helped a former partner company, Clarient, reposition its cellular imaging technology as a key differentiator in developing a cancer diagnostics service business.
We also welcomed a new life sciences partner company into the Safeguard family—Putney. We led a $21 million Series C financing for the Portland, ME-based specialty pharmaceutical company—focused on providing high quality, cost effective generic medicines for pets.
Putney was one of the partner companies that we highlighted at our 2011 Investor Day. We had a great turn out, with investors meeting executives from Putney and several of our other partner companies, including: AdvantEdge Healthcare Solutions, Bridgevine, MediaMath, NuPathe, and PixelOptics. Be sure to visit our Investor Day microsite for webcasts and presentations in case you missed the action.
In other company news:
- NuPathe (Nasdaq: PATH) announced positive top line results from its second 12-month, repeat use safety trial for its migraine patch (NP101 or Zelrix). Consistent with the findings from previous studies, the incidence of adverse effects such as chest tightness, flushing and feelings of pressure and numbness was very low, reported by only 0.8 percent of patients over the course of the 12-month study.
- Tengion (Nasdaq: TNGN) announced the appointment of Scott Flora, an industry veteran, to its board of directors. Flora brings to Tengion more than 20 years of experience building and managing successful wound healing and surgical device businesses. He spent five years at Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products, where he led one of its largest units and significantly grew its business through new product development and strategic mergers and acquisitions.
The National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, hosted by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), and presented by MasterCard Worldwide in association with Kathryn W. Davis, took place on October 6, 2011 in New York City. NFTE Philadelphia’s student entrepreneurs Bianca Nieves and Viktor Vabishevich presented their business plans to local judges to compete for a total of $18,500 in Venture Capital funding and a $5,000 Coleman Entrepreneurial Scholarship. Although they did not “win”, we are so proud of their conviction and determination. Please stay up-to-date on NFTE Philadelphia by “Liking” it on Facebook.
To read more of our “Week in Review” series, please use the following feed:safeguardscientifics.com/WeekInReview. Have a great weekend!
