Startup Acton Pharmaceuticals Inc. has entered into a deal with French drug-making giant Sanofi for the exclusive U.S. rights to develop and market the prescription nasal steroid spray NASACORT HFA for allergy symptoms.

Startup Acton Pharmaceuticals Inc. has entered into a deal with French drug-making giant Sanofi for the exclusive U.S. rights to develop and market the prescription nasal steroid spray NASACORT HFA for allergy symptoms.

Cambridge medical device company OmniGuide Inc., which develops optical scalpels for various types of surgical procedures, has named former Covidien (NYSE: COV) executive Scott Flora as president, CEO and board member.

As part of each week's Startup Report, Mass High Tech highlights five startup companies and their business goals, that are profiled in the New England Tech Directory. Included in this week's Startup Report: BioMarketing Insight, Cellay, Energesis Pharmaceuticals, Telecardia and VoltDB.

MIT scientists have devised a technique to grow nerve connections in a lab dish with the hope that one day the discovery could lead to new drugs to treat neurological disorders including autism and Alzheimer’s disease, according to information provided by MIT.

Beverly's SiOnyx Inc. today released test results showing that its laser texturing technology known as Black Silicon has achieved efficiency gains in comparison with standard solar cells.

Just a week after closing an impressive $33.5 million first funding round, Foundation Medicine Inc. reports it has entered into a collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, which will use Foundation's clinical cancer genomic test to help develop cancer treatments.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $45 million grant to the New England Research Institutes, located in Watertown, to support its clinical research network, the Pediatric Heart Network.

The MassChallenge startup competition awarded cash prizes to 17 companies on Monday, including three that received $100,000 prizes, in the second year for the nationally-watched competition.

Sherin and Lodgen LLP partner Debra Squires-Lee: If former Red Sox GM Theo Epstein was privy to any proprietary, secret, statistical method for analyzing baseball talent, that method may well be a Red Sox trade secret under Massachusetts law. Can Epstein now put it to use to benefit the Cubs?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge said it has started a Phase 3b trial to evaluate a shorter treatment period for its Incivek (telaprevir) therapy combined with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin for patients with a specific type of hepatitis C.

Zygo Corp. has formed a contract deal with the University of Albany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and the chip-making association SEMATECH that will bring more than $9 million to the Middlefield, Conn., company.

PharmaSecure Inc., a medical technology firm based both in Lebanon, N.H., and in India, has closed a $3.9 million funding round, backed by Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors, Gray Ghost Ventures, Healthtech Capital and the TEEC Angel fund.

Genzyme, now operating as a business unit of French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, has named David Meeker as CEO, as of Nov. 1, 2011. He had been serving as chief operating officer since March 2010.

The Verizon Foundation has given Partners Healthcare Center for Connected Health a $25,000 grant to help middle school and high school students track their health and nutrition.

Following news last week announcing the acquisition, Oracle Corp. plans to pay $1.1 billion to acquire privately-held Endeca Technologies Inc., according to a document obtained by the Boston Business Journal related to the deal.

Less than a month after seeking European approval for linaclotide, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. has learned the U.S. FDA has accepted for review its New Drug Application for the drug candidate to treat irritable bowel syndrome with constipation and chronic constipation.

Eliassen Group's Tech Staffing division COO Mike McBrierty: Many economists have long viewed the state of contract hiring as a leading indicator of a region’s economic recovery. In the technology-heavy Massachusetts region, particularly in Boston, the surge in contract hiring our contract staffing firm has seen over the past year is very encouraging.

Software developer Hadapt Inc., which is working with open source data analytics tool Hadoop, reported this morning that it has closed a $9.5 million Series A round of financing, and is moving its operations from Stamford, Conn., to Cambridge.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. reports it plans to pay approximately $415 million to buy Pennsylvania pharmaceutical firm Adolor Corp. (Nasdaq: ADLR) in a deal that includes $190 million up front in cash.