XDx names former Novartis Emeryville chief Peter Maag as president, CEO

Peter Maag.

Peter Maag, the former head of Novartis AG's Emeryville site, was named Monday as the new president and CEO of medical diagnostics company XDx Inc. Maag takes over at Brisbane-based XDx for Laura Brege, who had replaced Pierre Cassigneul only a few months ago but last week was named CEO of diagnostic test developer Nodality Inc. in South San Francisco.

Nodality picks Laura Brege as new president, CEO

New Nodality President and CEO Laura Brege.

Diagnostic test developer Nodality Inc. hired former Onyx Pharmaceuticals COO Laura Brege as its new president and CEO. The South San Francisco company, whose technology helps to show a drug maker why a drug does or does not work, said Brege led commercialization, strategic planning, corporate development and medical, scientific and government affairs at Onyx (NASDAQ: ONXX). She retired from South San Francisco-based Onyx at the end of last year.

Growing Nodality strikes drug-development deal with Pfizer

Nodality Inc. scored a deal Thursday to help Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drug maker, better develop drugs. The multi-year deal, financial terms for which weren't disclosed, initially will focus on autoimmune diseases, particularly lupus. Plus, Pfizer has an option to use Nodality's technology to develop companion diagnostics.

Nodality loses leader to NEA as diagnostics model morphs

Growing diagnostic test developer Nodality Inc. is losing its first CEO, but the venture capital world is gaining another experienced life sciences entrepreneur. Dr. David Parkinson will join New Enterprise Associates as a venture partner. He initially will be interim chief medical officer of NEA-backed Zyngenia Inc., a young Gaithersburg, Md., company targeting cancer and autoimmune diseases. Parkinson leaves Nodality -- named “Most Promising Company” at the Personalized Medicine World Congress last year -- as the 40-person South San Francisco company forges ahead with a hybrid strategy of selling its tests into clinics and striking deals with drug developers. In the face of changes in the medical diagnostics industry, it’s a model that just might be used by more companies.

Shrinking biotechs peddle space to deal-seekers

Sometimes the search for quality biotech real estate along the Peninsula is simply a waiting game.
As tight venture capital checkbooks, the weak economy and risk-averse capital markets continue to squeeze cash-intensive biotech companies, deals on subleases for even freshly built space can be found.
It’s the proverbial win-win for companies — one sheds costs, the other gets top-drawer space for a fraction of the market price.
Sublease deals are nothing new, but the amount of ready-to-move-in, biotech-centric sublease space is strong for companies jumping into the lease market.

Growing Threshold, Nodality sublease Exelixis space

Exelixis Inc. is unloading more than 53,000 square feet in South San Francisco to two up-and-coming companies.
Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL), which once had a workforce more than 600, said it will sublease 28,180 square feet at 170 Harbor Way to cancer drug maker Threshold Pharmaceuticals Inc. and 25,110 square feet in the same building to Nodality Inc., which is working on clinical tests that can predict cancer and autoimmune diseases.