WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Facing rising food costs and softening industry traffic, Sbarro, the world’s leading Italian quick service restaurant, turned to Affinnova, Inc., the global leader in marketing innovation software and services, to help strategically optimize its menu pricing. Understanding that traditional point-of-sale tracking data would not provide enough guidance, Sbarro used Affinnova’s technology to perform a holistic review of its pricing strategy. 

Boston, Mass. – January 17, 2012 – Novomer Inc., a new materials company pioneering a family of high-performance plastics and polymers using renewable feedstocks such as carbon dioxide, and Penford Corporation, a company with significant business and expertise in specialty starches and sustainable bio-products  announce that they have entered into a Joint Development Agreement that will leverage the two companies’ core technologies and expertise.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Breathable Foods announces the official launch of AeroShot Pure Energy in Boston and New York where it is now available to purchase in retail outlets. AeroShot is a first-of-its-kind, calorie-free breathable energy product that delivers an airborne shot of caffeine through a pocket-sized, single-use device. Offering consumers a unique way to get their caffeine, as little or as much as they need when they need it, this innovative supplement is revolutionizing the way people energize their lives.

WORLD FUTURE ENERGY SUMMIT – Abu Dhabi, UAE – January 17, 2012 – Joule today announced the closing of a $70 million third round of funding, supporting its aggressive timeline to commercialization and bringing its total to $110+ million raised to date. The round included investments from both new and prior undisclosed institutional and private sources that joined Flagship Ventures, Joule’s founding venture capital investor. The news was released in conjunction with Joule’s participation at the World Future Energy Summit, where President and CEO William J.

Amy DeStefano was a single mother juggling family life and a full-time job three winters ago when she caught what at first was just a persistent February cold. Then it spiraled into pneumonia and spread to her heart.
 
By last January, DeStefano, at 39, was on the waiting list for a heart transplant at Massachusetts General Hospital.
 
Her wait ended late last month when the social worker from Portsmouth, N.H., became the first patient in New England to receive an experimental “beating heart’’ transplant.

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 10, 2012 -- Receptos Inc. today announced the successful achievement of the technology transfer milestone under its license and technology transfer deal with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (formerly Ortho-McNeil Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), for Receptos' breakthrough GPCR crystal structure determination technology.

Cambridge, Mass. – Jan. 11, 2012 – Flagship Ventures, a leading venture capital firm focused on healthcare and sustainability, today announced the year-end 2011 close of its largest fund to date, raising $270 million for Flagship Ventures Fund IV L.P., exceeding its target of $250 million. Investors in Flagship Ventures Fund IV include pension funds, foundations, fund-of-funds, corporations and individuals. Joining prior fund investors were several new limited partners.

WALTHAM, Mass., Jan. 9, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BG Medicine, Inc. (Nasdaq:BGMD), a company focused on the development and commercialization of novel, biomarker-based diagnostics, announced today that its Board of Directors has appointed Eric Bouvier, Ph.D., as the company's new President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, effective as of January 9, 2012.

WATERTOWN, Mass., Jan 06, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Blend Therapeutics, a biotechnology company discovering and developing a new class of integrative combination medicines, announced the company's founding and strategic mission to develop innovative combination medicines with novel pharmacological profiles designed to target distinct disease pathways with optimal efficacy and safety.

Waltham, Massachusetts, USA, January 4, 2012 -- Avedro, Inc. announced today that the Company’s proprietary Lasik Xtra procedure has received CE Approval. Lasik Xtra is a two minute procedure used in conjunction with standard Lasik to restore the biomechanical integrity and strength to the cornea after a Lasik procedure. Lasik Xtra has been successfully used in thousands of Lasik surgeries outside the US.