Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal • August 1, 2016 www.wbjournal.com UMass finds ALS gene using Ice Bucket challenge funds A professor from UMass Medical School in Worcester played a leading role in a new study funded by the social media sensation Ice Bucket Challenge that discovered a gene linked to ALS which could put scientists on the track to new therapies for the disease. Dr. John Landers headed up an inter- national team of researchers along with Dr. Jan Veldink of University Medical Center Utrecht, in The Netherlands, according to a release from The ALS Association. The duo coordinated the largest-ever study of familial ALS, involved contributions from over 80 researchers in 11 countries, in an effort that was funded by money from the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge donations. TV pilot filming at Heywood Hospital A television pilot based on a book by a Chelmsford doctor is being filmed at Heywood Hospital in Gardner this week, according to the hospital. Filming for the independent "Death's Door," based on the book "At Death's Door: End of Life Stories from the Bedside," by Dr. Sebastian Sepulveda, a primary care doctor and nephrologist, took place in July in a currently unused acute care unit in Heywood's Favor building. The Favor building, which is registered with the Massachusetts Film Office, has been underutilized since the 2010 opening of Heywood's Watkins building. Sepulveda, the author, is a colleague of Win Brown, CEO of Heywood Healthcare, according to Heywood spokesperson Amanda McFadgen. The doctor and his director, Jack Skyyler, wanted to keep pilot production local and found the Favor building to be a good fit, McFadgen said. Boston Scientific buys Mass. chronic pain firm Boston Scientific has announced its acquisition of chronic pain treatment firm Cosman Medical, as the Marlborough company keeps its eyes set on non-opioid treatments. The acquisition of the private Burlington company is a natural fit with Boston Scientific's current portfolio that includes its own spinal cord stimulator systems that can be used in the place of opioids to combat chronic pain. Cosman Medical's lineup includes radiofrequency ablation (RFA) systems that have been done in outpatient set- tings for 50 years, according to Boston Scientific. No financials were released related to the acquisition. Colleges, bars top Worcester's Uber destinations As Uber continues its Central Massachusetts expansion, it has released the most requested locations in Worcester, with the city's colleges and bars rounding out the list. According to Uber, anonymous trip data has revealed that the College of the Holy Cross is the most requested point in the city, followed by the Compass Tavern and Worcester State University. Leitrims Pub, Assumption College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Mahoney's Pub and the Perfect Game bar round out the city's top Uber requests. According to Uber, it is not surprising to find bars and schools are the top destinations in Worcester. "The college population is a big demographic for us. And they are using it to get around safely," said Cathy Zhou, Uber's New England expansion general manager. Uber is expanding in Central Massachusetts. Proposed $1.2B rail program calls for Worcester, Springfield lines A proposed rail program that would add two new routes connecting Boston to both New Haven and Montreal through Worcester could bring more than $1.2 billion in infrastructure improvements to the Northeast. The Northern New England Intercity Rail Initiative study, which examined high-speed rail in the Northeast, pro- poses to restore service between Boston and New Haven through Springfield and Hartford and add new service between Boston and Montreal. It has received clearance from the Federal Railroad Administration for states and the federal government to invest in these rail services. MetroWest nurse accused of 107 illicit pill prescriptions A former nurse practitioner at MetroWest Medical Center has been arraigned in court in connection with allegedly illegally prescribing thousands of painkillers to her family members and friends across the state, Attorney General Maura Healey announced. Roberta Regan, 51, has been arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on six counts of illegally prescribing Oxycodone. At the arraignment, Regan pleaded not guilty to the charges. Suffolk Superior Court Clerk Magistrate Anne Kaczmarek released Regan on her own personal recognizance. This case is the result of an investiga- tion by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that began after Regan was terminated from her employ- ment as a nurse practitioner at MetroWest Medical Center after alleg- edly misusing hospital prescription pads, according to a release from Healey's office. J uly 22, 2015: Hopkinton software firm EMC Corp. lowered its outlook for the year in a row despite an increase in revenue, with President and CEO Joseph Tucci saying business as usual is … rarely a good strategy. This left the Central Massachusetts community wondering what would become of the firm and its 9,400 local employees. Oct. 12: Texas' Dell Inc. announced it will acquie EMC for $67 billion. The merger would take the data storage com- pany private but leave its cloud-storage subsidiary VMware to be traded on the public market. The takeover's price tag soared above the then record-holding tech buy of $25 billion Hewlett-Packard paid for Compaq Computer in 2002. Dell CEO Michael S. Dell said the computer company would put its server business into EMC, bringing the facility's revenue to a $30-billion-plus business. Dec. 14: The tech buy passed its first major hurdle, after the "go shop" period passed with no other buyout proposals. Jan. 27: The underlying concerns about layoffs rear their head with the announcement that VMware would lay off 800 employees, mostly in California. The company announced Jonathan Chadwick, VMware's chief operating officer and executive vice president, was leaving the company. Feb. 22: The purchase received U.S. Federal Trade Commission approval. Feb. 29: The European Union officially approves- dthe acquisition. March 2: The president and COO of VMware stepped down to join California venture capital firm Sequoia Capital in a con- tinuing exodus from the company. June 2: With regulatory approvals either in line or expected to come through, Denali Holding Inc., the parent company of Dell, raises $20-billion that will go towards Dell's $67-billion pur- chase of EMC. June 7: EMC announced a special shareholders meeting for July 19 that will finalize the purchase on EMC's end. July 6: As the merger vote date approached, Glass Lewis, an independent proxy advisory firm, released a statement encouraging investors to vote for the merger. It cited the strong price for the stocks and the ability to continue to par- ticipate in the future of VMware. July 19: EMC's shareholders vote to approve the acquisition. The vote by approximately 74 percent of shareholders was 98 percent in favor of the merger. The combined company will continue to be called Dell. Regulatory approval from China remains the final hurdle for the merger of the companies. n REGIONAL BRIEFS Verbatim "The access to advice and ideas from a highly suc- cessful business founder adds a new dimension to the growing number of entrepreneurial activities at the school." Michael Ginzberg, dean of WPI's Foisie School of Business, on the school naming Yael Schwartz as the university's entrepreneur-in- residence >> "When Airbnb was kind of a small, little and interesting idea, it wasn't that big a deal, but there's now a level-playing- field issue." Gov. Charlie Baker, on imposing the hotel tax on short-term rentals from services like Airbnb, in which he ultimately reversed his position >> "It's not rocket sci- ence. There are not a lot of new con- cepts… We're putting together, in a more clearly defined and expressly defined bill, a lot of what people have been talking about as necessary to end the gender-pay gap." State Sen. Karen Spilka (D-Ashland), on a joint pay equity bill agreed on by the Senate and House >> In Review CENTRALMASS EMC's $67B merger with Dell, a timeline BY SAM BONACCI Worcester Business Journal Digital Editor >> Continued on next page Joseph Tucci, president and CEO of EMC Corp.

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