Recent Posts
Stealthy device maker ExploraMed raises $18.5M
See our post on this stealthy Mountain View, Calif., medical-device startup over at VentureBeat LifeScience.… Continue Reading
Stealthy device maker ExploraMed raises $18.5M
Stealthy Mountain View, Calif.-based ExploraMed NC4 has raised $18.5 million of an expected $20 million first funding round, I’m told. The medical-device startup doesn’t have a Web site, and doesn’t even seem to have its own address yet.
Instead, ExploraMed NC4 — the name is a placeholder intended to obscure the startup’s strategy — is still housed at ExploraMed, a medical-device incubator backed by New Enterprise Associates, among others. ExploraMed was founded in 1995 by … Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Friday, April 11, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Stent maker IDev Tech raises $25M (VentureWire)
Xytis gets $15M for brain-injury drugs (VentureWire)
Diagnostic maker Iris Biotech plans to go public, launch breast-cancer test (Edgar)
RiverVest Venture Partners raises $75M life-science fund (release)
Concentric Medical names Maria Sainz CEO (release)
[Note: I'm a little sad to announce that this will be my last life-science briefing at VentureBeat, although with luck, it won't be the end of my time here. Starting Monday, … Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Thursday, April 10, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
HealthExtras buys venture-backed PBM HospiScript for $100M (release)
Urological device-maker NeoTract adds $7.4M (VentureWire)
RNAi-drug startup Intradigm seeks $35M (VentureWire)
Israel’s Arbel Medical raises $3.5M for tumor cryotherapy (release)
HealthExtras buys venture-backed PBM HospiScript for $100M — HospiScript Services, a Montgomery, Ala., prescription-benefits manager, agreed to be acquired by HealthExtras of Rockville, Md. HealthExtras will pay $100 million in cash for the venture-backed firm, which services the hospice industry.
HospiScript had raised at … Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Wednesday, April 9, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Stemline Therapeutics, cancer stem-cell startup, gets $13M (release)
Eye-disease biotech Potentia Pharma raises $12M (release)
Sample-prep toolmaker Arcxis aims for $8M to $10M (VentureWire)
Synvascular names Drew Hoffman as CEO (VentureWire)
ArtusLabs gets $2.6M for life-science software and services (release)
Cancer-drug maker Inotek loses CEO, Genentech partnership (release)
GTESS, health-plan IT startup, names James Bradley CEO (release)
Antibiotic developer Tetraphase Pharma names Guy MacDonald CEO (release)
Stemline Therapeutics, cancer stem-cell startup, gets $13M … Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Tuesday, April 8, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
AGI Dermatics takes in $5M for skincare products (release)
Myconostica raises £3.9 for fungal diagnostics (GenomeWeb)
Germany’s Noxxon gets €1M grant for aptamer drugs (release)
AGI Dermatics takes in $5M for skincare products – Freeport, N.Y.-based AGI Dermatics, a startup concentrated on skincare products, raised $5 million in a new funding round. Investors included Trevi Health Ventures and Spring Mountain Capital.
AGI makes cosmetic ingredients and is working on developing topical pharmaceutical lotions … Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Monday, April 7, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Quark Pharma gets $27M for RNAi drugs (release)
TargetRx takes in $9.6M for physician-prescribing data (release)
D-Pharm raises more than $3M for fat-like drugs (release)
Vortex Medical raises $2.3M for medical devices (VentureWire)
Specialty pharma Ascio takes in $3M (VentureWire)
Keraderm gets $1.7M for antifungal drugs (VentureWire)
Contract researcher CTMG raises $500K toward $1M round (VentureWire)
Singapore’s Progeniq raises seed funding for life-science computing (release)
Acrongenomics scuttles Molecular Vision acquisition (peHUB)
Michael Gutch
Life-science briefing: Friday, April 4, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
IlluminOss Medical gets $11M for bone-fracture devices (peHUB)
Contract researcher Crown Bioscience takes in funding (release)
IlluminOss Medical gets $11M for bone-fracture devices — East Providence, R.I.-based IlluminOss Medical, a medical-device startup, raised $11 million in a second funding round, peHUB reports. Backers included New Leaf Ventures and Foundation Medical Partners.
The company’s Web site is barely more than a stub that describes IlluminOss as a device company “pioneering new frontiers in orthopedic … Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Thursday, April 3, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Mirna Thera spins out of Asuragen with $3M (release)
Stroke-therapy startup CoAxia raises $12M (release)
Stealthy device maker Synvascular gets $6.5M (peHUB)
AndroScience seeks $3.5M for anti-testosterone drugs (VentureWire)
Austria’s ProtAffin takes in €1.1M grant (release)
Singapore’s Moleac receives $3.5M for Chinese medicine (release)
Alethia Bio gets C$2.4M for antibody drugs (release)
Alba Thera names Bruce Peacock as CEO (release)
SkinMedica names Mary Fisher as CEO (release)
Mirna Thera spins out of Asuragen … Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Wednesday, April 2, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
ProGenTech takes in $21M for DNA purification systems (release)
Diabetes-drug maker Phenomix raises $18M while seeking IPO (Edgar)
Genome-tool maker BioTrove gets $23M in preparation for IPO (Edgar)
Sweden’s DermaGen pulls in more than €1M for dermatitis (release)
Digital health-record co. Medsphere receives $3M bridge (VentureWire)
CareAnyware, healthcare IT provider, takes $2M in debt (release)
Health B2B community CompareNetworks raises funding (release)
ActivBiotics assets sold for $3.5M (release)
ProGenTech takes in $21M for … Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Tuesday, April 1, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Oxford NanoLabs takes in £10M for sequencing tech (PDF release)
Alure Medical raises $4.5M for plastic-surgery implants (release)
Bone-disease biotech Therosteon spins out of research institute, raises funds (PDF release)
Genome-analysis toolmaker BioTrove files for $75M IPO (Edgar)
RNAi developer Tekmira acquires Protiva, ends litigation (release)
Oxford NanoLabs takes in £10M for sequencing tech – U.K. based Oxford NanoLabs, yet another startup developing high-speed genome-sequencing technology, raised £10 million in a new funding … Continue Reading
Stent maker CardioMind starts trial, gets $22M
CardioMind, a Sunnyvale, Calif., developer of artery-opening stents, said it launched the first human tests of its experimental product. That milestone triggered the release of $22 million — a second tranche of a $33 million funding the company initially reported last July.
The CardioMind stents are designed to treat blockages in smaller blood vessels. The company claims that its Sparrow system is 70 percent smaller in diameter than any stents currently on the market, potentially … Continue Reading
Stent maker CardioMind starts trial, gets $22M
See our story about this Sunnyvale, Calif., medical-device maker at VentureBeat LifeScience.… Continue Reading
Triage Wireless gets $20M for vital-signs monitors
See our story about this San Diego medical-device startup in today’s daily briefing at VentureBeat LifeScience.… Continue Reading
Boston Scientific spinout TriVascular2 takes in $65M
See our story about this reborn Santa Rosa, Calif., medical-device startup in today’s daily briefing at VentureBeat LifeScience.… Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Monday, March 31, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Boston Scientific spinout TriVascular2 takes in $65M (release)
Inhaled-drug startup Transave raises $35M (release)
Triage Wireless gets $20M for vital-signs monitors (release)
Tryton Medical receives $14M for “bifurcation” stents (release)
Synthetic bio startup Codon Devices adds $11M (release)
Tracon Pharma takes in $4.5M against cancer and eye disease (VentureWire)
Antibody maker f-star swaps in equity stake by TVM (PDF release)
Drug packager MonoSol Rx withdraws IPO (IPOhome)
GE Healthcare acquires portable-ventilator maker VersaMed
Aerovance gets $20M in venture debt for respiratory disease
See our story about this Berkeley, Calif., biotech in today’s daily briefing at VentureBeat LifeScience.… Continue Reading
VaxGen, Raven Bio terminate merger agreement
See our story about these two South San Francisco, Calif., biotechs in today’s daily briefing at VentureBeat LifeScience.… Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Friday, March 28, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
VaxGen, Raven Bio terminate merger agreement (release)
Aerovance gets $20M in venture debt for respiratory disease (release)
EKOS raises $5M for ultrasound catheters (peHUB)
Intelligent Bio-Systems draws $353K for high-speed genome sequencing (peHUB)
Quintessence Bio takes in $5M for cancer-directed proteins (VentureWire)
7 Health Ventures adds three members to investment team (release)
Contract manufacturer Cytovance names Darren Head CEO (release)
VaxGen, Raven Bio terminate merger agreement – A weirdly structured, always hard-to-understand merger … Continue Reading
Breathe Tech raises $15M for respiratory disease
See our story about this Fremont, Calif., medical-device firm in Thursday’s daily briefing at VentureBeat LifeScience.… Continue Reading
























