Roundup: Everything You Need to Know About MetroWest

Boston Scientific Corp. of Natick is launching a new product designed to help with the retrieval of urinary stones.

BackStop Gel forms a plug behind the stone, preventing the migration of fragments after it's broken up. Stone migration can result in increased procedure time and the need for secondary procedures, the company said.

The gel is a water-soluble polymer that can be injected into the patient, and it's designed to dissolve after the procedure is completed.

Office space along the Interstate 495 corridor saw some growth in occupancy rates in the first quarter of the year, though not as much as in other parts of Greater Boston, according to a report by Richards Barry Joyce & Partners.

The area saw an increase in occupancy of 0.7 percent, resulting in a 20-percent vacancy rate. For the entire Greater Boston area, the growth rate was 2 percent and the vacancy rate ended up at 15.3 percent.

The report noted that asking rents in the I-495 area have been falling, and it noted a particularly strong renters' market in Marlborough, where space is available at $17.72 per square foot. It also pointed to a strong market in the Acton/Boxborough/Littleton area, where the vacancy has fallen to 18.2 percent from 23.3 percent over the past four quarters.

Acton-based multi-screen video software provider SeaChange International said acquisition and restructuring costs helped lead to a net loss of $4 million for the fiscal year ending Jan. 31.

The company earned $29.4 million during the previous fiscal year, which included a $27.1 million pre-tax gain on the sale of the company's equity investment in Casa Systems and InSite One.

Revenue for fiscal 2012 was $197.7 million compared to $201.6 the year before.

For the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, SeaChange lost $4.8 million compared to a profit of $10.9 million the year before. Revenues were $51.6 million, down from $57.8 million.

The decrease during the quarter was led by lower service revenues in the company's software business and fewer server shipments, the company said.

GlassHouse Sheds Israeli Subsidiary

GlassHouse Technologies, a Framingham-based provider of data center consulting and managed services focusing on cloud computing, announced the sale of its Israeli subsidiary to Taldor Group.

Taldor is one of Israel's three largest IT business and technology solutions firms that also specializes in consulting and outsourcing services for business units and IT.

GlassHouse said the sale is expected to be completed within a few weeks and that it's divesting itself of the subsidiary in order to execute a strategy that will “maximize profitability and positive cash flows, and focus the company on being the leader in vendor-independent strategic consulting and operational services,” GlassHouse said in a statement.

Dover Saddlery Inc., of Littleton, reported an increase in revenues for the fourth quarter of 2011 as well as the full year.

The equestrian retailer said revenues for the fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31, increased 1.3 percent to $23.8 million, compared to $23.5 million in the same period the year before. Store revenues rose by 18.5 percent to $9 million, driven by the addition of two stores and an increase in same-store sales. However, lower direct sales accounted for a drop in quarterly profits, bringing them to $641,000 compared to just more than $1 million in the same period the year before.

While total revenue for the year rose 3.4 percent to $80.8 million, up from $78.2 million, the company's profits dropped from $2 million to $1.7 million, or 31 cents per share. Stephen L. Day, president and CEO, said profits were lower due to pre-opening expenses of new stores and softer sales in the fourth quarter.

Dover is planning to open four to six new retail stores in 2012, adding to its current 14. The first of those will be in Warrington, Pa., and is slated to open in late spring.

A123 Systems, the Waltham battery maker with operations in Westborough and Hopkinton, is jumping to fix problems caused by defective prismatic cells.

The company said it is spending about $55 million to replace battery modules and packs that may contain defective cells produced at its plant in Livonia, Mich. It expects to spread the cost over the next several quarters.

A123 said the defective cells can cause premature battery failure, but are not believed to be a safety issue. It said cells made outside the Michigan plant, including those made in China for transportation purposes, are not affected.

The company said it's also taking action to improve its operations, including its recent hiring of a new chief operating officer, Ed Kopkowski, who has spent more than more than 25 years in global management and operation leadership positions in the manufacturing industry.

Information infrastructure technology giant EMC Corp. has purchased a San Francisco-based company that provides software development services and tools, the company announced.

Hopkinton-based EMC, the second-largest private employer in Central Massachusetts, said it will invest to expand Pivotal Labs' reach on a global scale.

Pivotal's project management tool, called Pivotal Tracker, is used by more than 240,000 developers, EMC said in a statement.

The acquisition adds to EMC's portfolio of software development tools for customers building “Big Data” applications, which store and analyze data sets too large for traditional IT infrastructures, the company said.

Framingham-based Staples Inc. is one of nine New England organizations to receive an Energy Star award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy this year.

Staples was honored as a Partner of the Year for its energy efficiency programs. The company also won Energy Star awards in 2009 and 2011.

Ian's Natural Foods, a Framingham-based manufacturer of allergy-friendly and gluten-free products using sustainable food sources, has a new name after merging with, Blue Horizon Wild, a California seafood supplier.

The companies are now doing business under the name Elevation Brands LLC, and Ian's general manager, Chuck Marble, is the new company's CEO.

The merger was led by Renewal2, a social investment fund and majority shareholder of Blue Horizon. Claridge Group in Montreal, a minority shareholder in Blue Horizon, will hold a minority stake in Elevation Brands, Marble said.

Blue Horizon uses environmentally responsible fishing techniques and sourcing, according to its website.

Ian's Framingham facility, a 33,000-square-foot space containing a fry line, nitrogen tunnel and packaging equipment, will package Blue Horizon's seafood products.

“We've doubled our capacity in the facility in the past 12 months,” Marble said. “This gives us volume for the facility.”

Both Ian's and Blue Horizon are already sold in supermarkets across the country, and Ian's also sells in Canada.

AB SCIEX, a Framingham life science firm, said it's expanding its operations in Brazil to support that nation's growing market for food safety testing, environmental analysis, drug development and other scientific analysis.

AB SCIEX offers mass spectrometry services, a method of discovering the elemental composition of materials and the chemical structures of molecules.

The expansion will include a new customer training center in São Paulo and an expansion of its demo facility to include new laboratory products. The company is also building a direct sales and support structure in Brazil, replacing the indirect distribution system it previously used there.

Biotechnology firm Advanced Cell Technology of Marlborough posted a loss of nearly $72.8 million last year, deeper than its loss for 2010, although it cited clearance for clinical trials for a drug developed to treat eye ailments, according to its annual report filed yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Advanced Cell also saw a year-over-year drop in revenue. It took in $506,419 in 2011, down from $725,044 in 2010. Its 2010 loss was just under $54.4 million.

The company, which develops cellular therapies for the treatment of diseases, said it received the go-ahead for clinical trials of stem cell-derived treatments for dry age-related macular degeneration and Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy in the United States and Europe.

The Central Massachusetts Mail Processing Center in Shrewsbury is among more than 200 in the United States that the U.S. Postal Service plans to close later this year.

The postal service said the closings are part of a larger, comprehensive plan to reduce operating costs by $20 billion by 2015 and return it to profitability. Closing the Shrewsbury site would save more than $15 million, according to postal service spokesman Dennis Tarmey. The facility has 517 employees, Tarmey said, most of whom are covered by a union contract that guarantees they will remain employed since nearly all of that group have been with the postal services for at least six years. But some may choose to retire, Tarmey added.

A 25-percent drop in First Class mail since 2006 has led to significant declines in revenue, according to a USPS statement. “The dramatic decline in mail volume has resulted in an enormous amount of excess capacity within the network, creating significant opportunity for consolidation,” the USPS said.

Operations now conducted at the Shrewsbury facility would be split between similar facilities in Boston and North Reading.

Psychemedics Corp. of Acton reported a 20-percent increase in revenue and 34-percent jump in net profit for 2011.

The company, which makes drug-testing technology, also announced its 62nd consecutive quarterly dividend, increasing the dividend to 15 cents per share in the fourth quarter of last year.

Revenue for the year came in at $24.1 million, while net profit was $3.5 million.

UTest, a Southborough-based software testing firm, is trying to break into the European, Middle Eastern and African markets with a new partnership.

Tesnet Group, a global quality assurance and testing company with a number of offices in Europe and the Middle East, is acting as a reseller of uTest's services.

UTest calls its services “in the wild” testing, meaning that it uses testers working in real-world conditions with a variety of devices rather than in lab settings. It says it has a community of more than 50,000 testers in 180 countries who can try clients' web, mobile and desktop applications.

The company was founded in 2007. According to its website, it has raised $37.5 million in venture funding.

Marlborough Laser Firm Gets Army Contract

Marlborough-based Block MEMS has received an Army contract to enhance its LaserScan Analyzer product to recognize chemical warfare agents.

The Army Small Business Innovative Research Phase II Enhancement Contract comes on the heels of a commercialization pilot program the company received for LaserScan.

LaserScan is a spectrometer that uses quantum cascade lasers to detect and measure substances from a distance of six inches to two feet. Applications of the technology include detecting explosive materials and chemical and biological agents.

Block MEMS is affiliated with laser manufacturer Block Engineering LLC. The two companies share a headquarters in Marlborough and have a common ownership.

Two MetroWest firms are among the recipients of the latest round of Massachusetts Life Sciences Center funding.

The center's board of directors has awarded $21.2 million in new tax incentives to 28 life sciences companies, including $220,000 to Boston Heart Diagnostics Corp. of Framingham and $636,636 to LightLab Imaging Inc. of Westford.

As part of the funding, the companies have promised to create 940 jobs in the state this year.

Boston Heart Diagnostics, formerly known as Boston Heart Lab, provides risk assessment tests for coronary heart disease. It plans to create 31 new jobs this year.

LightLab Imaging Inc. uses laser technology for coronary artery imaging. It has pledged to create 26 new jobs.

Maynard-based RapidBuyr, a B2B firm offering daily deals to email subscribers, has signed a partnership agreement with M2Media360. The partnership is the result of the company reaching out to RapidBuyr following a presentation it made at a business publications conference last fall, said Kevin Wells, executive vice president of market development.

M2Media360 joins about 1,000 other vendors that have partnered with RapidBuyr since it was founded in 2011, Wells said.

The Park Ridge, Ill., company offers a great fit with his firm, said Wells, who founded RapidBuyr with Tom Aley, president and CEO, and Darr Aley, chief marketing officer. "Our offering is really focused on business products," he said. "We were excited about their demographics."

Framingham-based retailer TJX Companies Inc. said its sales and profits increased during its fiscal fourth quarter and for the year.

Net sales grew 6 percent to $23.2 billion for the fiscal year ended Jan. 28. For the final quarter, the company's sales were $6.7 billion, up from $6.3 billion during the fourth quarter of 2010.

For the year, profits were $1.49 billion, up from $1.34 billion in 2010. For the fourth quarter, profits were $475.3 million, up 42 percent from $334.4 million a year ago.

TJX also announced plans to repurchase up to $1.3 billion of its stock, which represents about 8 percent of outstanding shares. The company also plans to increase its dividend in May to 11.5 cents per share.

The company opened 46 new stores during 2011.

Framingham energy management company Ameresco is working with the Philadelphia Water Department on a wastewater biogas-to-energy plant.

The $47.5-million plant will be fueled mostly by biogas produced by the wastewater system and will produce electricity and thermal energy for use on site. Ameresco said it's expected to generate 5.6 megawatts of power and reduce the plant's energy costs by more than $12 million over 16 years.

Ameresco will design, build and maintain the plant. The project will be partially funded through an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant, with financing from Merrill Lynch's energy services unit.

Framingham-based energy efficiency company Ameresco is taking on one of its biggest projects yet: a $3.6-million contract with a school district in western Nevada. Ameresco will be upgrading 23 buildings in Lyon County, the state's fourth-largest school district, the company said in a statement.

Over 15 years, the improvements Ameresco will make to the district's school buildings are expected to save it $345,000, the company said.

Allen Sehrt, director of project development engineering for Ameresco, said school districts are a big part of Ameresco's customer base. “As a company, the K-12 school district market is just a good fit overall for performance contracting,” he said. “It's a good vehicle for school districts (to save money overall). We're using an existing budget to do capital improvements.”

After submitting a contract bid, Ameresco was selected to do the project in 2010, said Sehrt. Following a comprehensive study of the buildings - 19 schools and four administration buildings totaling 1.2 million square feet - the upgrades began, and should be completed by fall, he said.

Specifically, Ameresco will be installing vending machine controls with occupancy sensors to conserve power, said Sehrt. “It detects if people are around the machine,” he said, “Beverages are kept cold, but if no one's around, the lights go out and the temperature goes up a few degrees.”

Trash compactors are also in the plan for the buildings, Sehrt said. They do use power, he said, but will save money overall as the district is charged per pickup.

Genzyme, the biotechnology company with operations in MetroWest, has submitted a new drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of a genetic cardiovascular disease.

The drug, mipomersen sodium, was originally developed by Isis Pharmaceutical Inc. of California. FDA acceptance of the application would trigger a $25 million milestone payment from Genzyme to Isis under a 2008 licensing agreement.

Genzyme plans to market the drug to patients with a condition known as homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia under the name KYNAMRO.

PLC Systems Inc. of Milford has received approval from the Brazilian government to market the RenalGuard System, which helps protect patients from a dangerous condition that sometimes results from cardiac and vascular imaging procedures.

PLC won the approval through its exclusive distributor in Brazil, Discomed Comercio de Produtos Hospitalares Ltda. Discomed is now beginning to stock the product and market it to medical professionals.

PLC President and CEO Mark R. Tauscher said in a statement that the approval is especially important because Brazil is often the first nation in South America where new medical technologies are demonstrated.

The company also launched the product in Israel earlier this month, and it's already being marketed in Europe and elsewhere. It's still undergoing FDA trials in the U.S.

Marlborough-based Block MEMS has won a contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to demonstrate its LaserScan products for possible adoption by the department's threat detection program.

LaserScan promises to offer a way to detect chemical threats in a standoff situation. Using lasers, the device detects and measures substances on surfaces from distances between six inches and two feet.

The contract was awarded by the DOD's Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense. Block MEMS is affiliated with Block Engineering, also of Marlborough.

SeraCare Life Sciences Inc. of Milford has agreed to be acquired by Linden Capital Partners of Chicago for $82 million, or about $4 per share.

Linden is a private equity firm focused on health care and life sciences companies.

The deal received unanimous approval from SeraCare's board of directors and is now waiting on shareholder approval. Assuming it's approved, and barring any problems with regulatory approvals, it's expected to close in the second quarter of this year.

SeraCare, a human diagnostics and therapeutics company, has been exploring “strategic alternatives” including a possible sale for months. In June, MSMB Capital Management of New York, already a significant shareholder in SeraCare, made an unsolicited offer to buy all outstanding shares of the company.

Last week, SeraCare announced a $1 million profit and an 8.6-percent jump in revenue in the first quarter of its new fiscal year following a turbulent 2011. The first-quarter profit was down 36 percent year over year. Revenue was $11.3 million, up from $10.4 million in 2010.

Financial advisory firm Lazard Ltd. has been helping SeraCare's board of directors evaluate possible actions.

Read more

Southborough's uTest Acquires Polish Firm