VentureBeat

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

• Follica pulls out $5.5M for hair loss (release)
• WuXi PharmaTech to acquire AppTec Lab for $151 million (release)
• U.S. Venture Partners names Laurence Lasky a venture partner (PDF release)
• Burrill & Co. promotes several life-science VCs (release)
• SV Life Sciences promotes Darren Black to partner (release)

Follica pulls out $5.5M for hair loss – Boston’s Follica, a biotech that aims to reverse hormone-related hair loss, raised $5.5 million in a first funding round. Investors included Interwest Partners and PureTech Ventures.

Follica was founded by a team of researchers from Harvard, UCSF and the University of Pennsylvania to commercialize a research finding reported last May. In that study, scientists found that rats could generate new hair follicles after suffering open skin wounds, a discovery that suggested the regenerative powers of skin cells may be much greater than previously believed when it comes to hair regrowth. (This Scientific American piece summarizes the finding.)

The startup hasn’t said exactly what approach it intends to take — heck, its Web site is still hosted on Puretech Ventures’ site — but presumably its scientists are looking into isolating the growth factors that encourage some skin cells to revert into follicular cells and incorporating them into some sort of topical salve or gel. It’s also not clear whether anyone trying this sort of product might have to abrade or otherwise injury their skin first, a requirement that might dampen enthusiasm for miracle hair regrowth. At the very least, it should give new meaning to the phrase, “It’s painful to be beautiful.”

WuXi PharmaTech to acquire AppTec Lab for $151 million – China’s WuXi PharmaTech, a publicly traded contract-research organization, agreed to acquire AppTec Laboratory Services of St. Paul, Minn., for roughly $163 million. The release is here.

The purchase price includes $151 million in cash plus the assumption of AppTech debt of roughly $11.7 million. AppTec does outsourced research, testing and manufacturing for life-sciences companies around the world.