Biotechnology reporter Brad Wong has a report today on former Dendreon Chief Financial Officer Martin Simonetti's appointment as chief executive of VLST Corp. -- an early-stage biotechnology company being incubated in the South Lake Union offices of Accelerator Corp.

VLST also recently attracted Seattle biotech pioneer Steven Gillis, who is joining the board as executive chairman. Gillis, co-founder of Immunex and Corixa, is a new partner in the Seattle office of Arch Venture Partners. Arch, along with Amgen Ventures, MPM Capital, OVP Venture Partners and others, are financial supporters of Accelerator.

Wong also reported that VLST is nearing the completion of a second round of financing, an event that would lead to the 9-person company to leave Accelerator for its own office space.