David P. Hamilton
David Hamilton has been writing for VentureBeat LifeScience since April 2007. He formerly spent 14 years as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in its San Francisco and Tokyo bureaus. Prior to that, he spent several years as a reporter at Science Magazine and as a reporter/researcher for the New Republic, both in Washington.
Recent Posts
Life-science briefing: Thursday, March 27, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Breathe Tech raises $15M for respiratory disease (release)
Protein-drug maker Pieris takes in €25M (release)
Apthera takes in $2.1M toward cancer vaccine (VentureWire)
Breathe Tech raises $15M for respiratory disease – Breathe Technologies, a Fremont, Calif., medical device maker, raised $15 million in a second round of funding…. Continue Reading
Heart diagnostic startup Aviir gets another $1.5M
See our story about this stealthy Palo Alto, Calif., startup in today’s daily briefing at VentureBeat LifeScience.
Fast, cheap gene-scanner BioNanomatrix gets $5M
BioNanomatrix, a Philadelphia developer of genome-analysis systems, raised $5.1 million in a first funding round. Investors included Battelle Ventures, Innovation Valley Partners, KT Venture Group, Ben Franklin Technology Partners and21Ventures.
BioNanomatrix is developing a single-molecule imaging and analysis system that the startup says is ideal for reading DNA sequences. The startup still… Continue Reading
OptiMedica takes in $16M for eye-treatment laser
See our story on this Santa Clara, Calif., medical-device maker in today’s daily briefing at VentureBeat LifeScience.
Life-science briefing: Wednesday, March 26, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
OptiMedica takes in $16M for eye-treatment lasers (release)
Genome analyzer BioNanomatrix raises $5M (release)
Heart diagnostic startup Aviir gets another $1.5M (VBLS exclusive)
Pharmaca, integrative-pharmacy chain, draws $20M (release)
LifeWatch, cardiac-monitoring device maker, withdraws IPO (IPOhome)
Jerry DeVries, Steven Whitlock join PTV Sciences as venture partners (VentureWire)
OptiMedica takes… Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Tuesday, March 25, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Antibody-discovery startup Adimab raises new funding (release)
Lung-device maker Spiration gets $19M (release)
Sample-prep startup Protein Discovery pulls in $10M (release)
Inogen takes in $13M for portable oxygen device (VentureWire)
Healthcare IT concern Medaptus raises $11M for expansion (VentureWire)
Contract lab Synexis raises $14M (peHUB)
Medical-device VC firm BioStar Ventures takes… Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Monday, March 24, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Trius Therapeutics raises $30M for new antibiotics (release)
Genomas gets $1.2M grant for genomic side-effect tests (release)
Provasculon receives $500K, enters Biogen Idec incubator (VentureWire)
Animal diagnostics firm Quadraspec aims for $5M round (VentureWire)
MPM Capital names two executive partners (release)
Trius Therapeutics raises $30M for new antibiotics – Trius… Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Friday, March 21, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Cancer-vaccine maker MabVax gets $8M (release)
“Needle-free” drug maker Zogenix files for $86M IPO (Edgar)
“Needle-free” drug maker Zogenix files for $86M IPO — Zogenix, a San Diego developer of “needle-free” drug-delivery systems, has become the latest drug startup willing to brave the headwinds of the… Continue Reading
ImmunoNewco: The background story emerges
Just over six weeks ago, we broke the news that 5AM Ventures had plunked $3.3 million into a stealthy biotech it was calling ImmunoNewco, and a few weeks later speculated further that the startup might be engaged in a pharmacogenomic “rescue” of immune-modulating drugs acquired… Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Thursday, March 20, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Vantia Thera spins out of Ferring, raises £19M (PDF release)
Third Eye gets $150K for intracranial-pressure monitor (release)
Diabetes tester Oculir closes doors, returns capital (VentureWire)
Catalyst Health Ventures raising $60M fund (VentureWire)
Vantia Thera spins out of Ferring, raises £19M – Vantia Therapeutics, a U.K. spinout of Ferring… Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Wednesday, March 19, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Paris-based Stentys takes $18M for “bifurcated” stents (release)
Blood analyzer IntelliDx raises $22M (PDF release)
Cancer-test biotech Calderome changes name to VeraCyte (VentureWire)
Predictive Biosciences names Peter Klemm as CEO (release)
Paris-based Stentys takes $18M for “bifurcated” stents – Stentys, a Paris-based medical device maker, raised $18 million in… Continue Reading
A heart-device startup braves the IPO waters
(UPDATED: See below.)
It’s been a rough few months for life-science IPOs, what with all the collapsed offerings and, often enough, miserable post-offering performance for those startups that have managed to inch their way across the finish line.
Yet the lure of the public markets remains strong, even… Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Tuesday, March 18, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Luminous Medical raises $24M for automated glucose monitoring (release)
Alimera Sciences gets $30M for eye-disease drug (release)
Vaccine maker LigoCyte draws $28M (release)
Heartbeat tracker CardioNet trims IPO, aims for listing today (IPOhome)
Axial Biotech takes in $6M for spinal diagnostics (release)
Insulin bioengineer enGene receives $6.4M (release)
GlucoLight raises… Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Monday, March 17, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Defibrillator maker Cameron Health takes in $14M (VBLS exclusive)
Miramar Labs gets $20M for “aesthetic” devices (VBLS exclusive)
Nellix raises $6.5M for aneurysm grafts (VBLS exclusive)
Vessel-clog remover Chestnut Medical pulls in $7.8M (VBLS exclusive)
Consumer genetics tester DNA Direct receives $7M (PDF release)
Precision Thera again prowling for… Continue Reading
Exclusive news on life-science start-up fundings: Cameron, Nellix, Miramar, Chestnut
We’ve just posted a number of exclusive life-science fundings over at VentureBeat LifeScience. Click on the following links for news on:
Cameron Health (San Clemente, Calif.), a maker of implantable defibrillators
Nellix (Palo Alto, Calif.), a device-maker focused on aneurysms
Miramar Labs (Menlo Park, Calif.), a… Continue Reading
Vessel-clog remover Chestnut pulls in $7.8M
Chestnut Medical Technologies, a Menlo Park, Calif., medical-device maker, raised $7.8 million against an anticipated $10 million third funding round, I’ve learned. An SEC document (PDF link) the company filed with the California Department of Corporations disclosed the funding.
Chestnut makes a device best described as… Continue Reading
Miramar Labs gets $20M for “aesthetic” devices
Miramar Labs (no Web site), a Menlo Park, Calif., medical-device maker, raised $20.3 million in a second funding round, I’ve learned. There isn’t a huge amount of public information about the company, although it appears that the company is working on electromechanical devices of some… Continue Reading
Nellix raises $6.5M for aneurysm grafts
Nellix Endovascular, a Palo Alto, Calif., medical-device maker, raised $6.5 million in a third funding round, I’ve learned. The startup is developing a new treatment for repairing blood-vessel flaws in the chest and abdomen.
Those flaws, known as aneurysms, are thin-walled “bubbles” in blood vessels that… Continue Reading
Defibrillator maker Cameron Health takes in $14M
Cameron Health, a San Clemente, Calif., medical-device maker, has raised $14.1 million of a planned $50 million fifth funding round, I’ve learned. The company is working on a new type of implantable defibrillator that’s designed to be easier to implant and program than existing models.
Implantable… Continue Reading
Cantimer takes in $2M for dehydration diagnostics
See our story about this Menlo Park, Calif., diagnostics-device maker in today’s daily briefing at VentureBeat LifeScience.