Life sciences briefing: Monday, Feb. 11, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
PolyRemedy, developer of robotic wound care, takes in $25M (release)
Bacchus Vascular gets $15M for clot-busting device (VentureWire)
Protein-evolution company Modular Genetics gets $1.2M (VentureWire)
PharmatrophiX gets $300K for Alzheimer’s disease prevention drugs (release)
Light Sciences Oncology withdraws IPO (Edgar)
Arizona’s Translational Accelerator launches $20M life-sciences fund (bizjournals.com)
Cornea-reshaper Avedro gets $7M (VentureWire)
Gastrotech Pharma gets $6M in wake of Lilly deal (VentureWire)
Biomaterials maker MiMedx goes public via reverse merger (release)
Acrongenomics to complete acquisition of Molecular Vision by the end of… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Jan. 31, 2007
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
5AM Ventures puts $3.3M into stealthy ImmunoNewco (VBLS exclusive)
NewLink Genetics raises $17M for cancer vaccine, immune drugs (VBLS exclusive)
Biochip, stem-cell biotech Minerva Bio ousts CEO Jim Czirr and sues (release)
Sonexa Therapeutics takes $30M for Alzheimer’s treatment (release)
Tissue regenerator Healionics pulls in $1.7M (release)
EGeen, clinical research organization, receives $245K (VentureWire)
Barnvet Labs, HeMemics Bio get $75K apiece from Maryland gov’t (release)
5AM Ventures puts $3.3M into new immune-related startup – I’ve moved this item to a standalone post… Continue Reading
Satoris raises $5M, preps Alzheimer’s test for research use
Redwood City, Calif.-based Satoris, a biotech developing a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease, raised $5 million in a second funding round, VentureWire reports. The deal values Satoris at $13.8 million after the financings. The company had previously raised $1 million from individuals, and said it will seek another $15 million this year.
Satoris plans to use the funding to begin commercialization of its protein-based blood test for Alzheimer’s disease, which the company expects to make available… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Jan. 18, 2007
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Ulthera receives $23M for cosmetic ultrasound devices (release)
Senexis raises £2.9M for Alzheimer’s drugs (PDF release)
Elixir Pharma postpones IPO (IPO Home)
Cancer Therapeutics names Randall Riggs as CEO (release)
Ulthera receives $23M for cosmetic ultrasound devices — Ulthera, a Mesa, Ariz., startup developing ultrasound systems for cosmetic procedures, raised $22.5 million in a second funding round. Investors included New Enterprise Associates and 3i.
Ulthera, whose Web site is still a stub, aims to use its ultrasound devices… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007
Featured companies: AxoGen, Cognition Therapeutics, Ester Neurosciences, Gene Security Network, HealthTalk, MPM Capital, Revolution Health, SparkPeople
UPDATING: Expanded items on AxoGen, Ester and Cognition. Posted full items on MPM (link) and Gene Security Network (link).
AxoGen raises $12M for nerve regeneration — AxoGen, an Alachua, Fla., biotech focused on developing grafts for damaged “peripheral” nerves, raised $12.1 million in a third funding round. Investors included Accuitive Medical Ventures, Cardinal Partners, De Novo Ventures and Springboard Capital II.
AxoGen develops tissue… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Dec. 3, 2007
Featured companies: CoMentis, ForHealth Technologies, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, QuantomiX, Progenitor Cell Therapy, River Diagnostics, Topaz Pharmaceuticals
UPDATED: Expanded items on CoMentis, Topaz and ForHealth.
CoMentis gets $12M for eye, Alzheimer’s treatments — South San Francisco’s CoMentis, a biotech pursuing treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and macular degeneration, raised $12 million in a third funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Wellington Management provided the funding.
The company’s lead drug candidate, ATG003, is an eye drop designed to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a… Continue Reading
Satoris seeks $5M for Alzheimer’s test — with high errors
Satoris, a Redwood City, Calif., biotech developing a diagnostic test for Alzheimer’s disease, is close to raising $5 million in a second funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). The funds will allow the company to make its test available to outside researchers.
Satoris made a big splash in mid-October, when researchers identified 18 proteins they said could be used to identify people with Alzheimer’s disease via a simple blood test. What’s more, the test also appeared… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Oct. 12, 2007
Featured companies: CeraPedics, Lab21, Incisive Surgical, Orasi Medical, Transoma Medcal, ZyGem
(UPDATED: Expanded items on Transoma, Lab21 and Orasi.)
Medical-device maker Transoma files for $75M IPO — St. Paul, Minn.-based Transoma Medical, a developer of implantable wireless diagnostic sensors, filed to raise $75 million in an initial offering. The company is currently focused on the markets for heart patients and general biomedical research.
Transoma received FDA “clearance” for its first product on Oct. 1. That device, called the Sleuth ECG… Continue Reading
Best of the blogosphere on disease genetics
The thirteenth edition of Gene Genie, a biweekly collection of the blogosphere’s best posts on disease genetics, is up at the Genetic Geneologist, courtesy of proprietor Blaine Bettinger.
The roundup includes posts on:
the Personal Genome Project, George Church’s effort to sequence the genomes of ten volunteers;
the neurophysiological importance of ApoE4, a protein related to Alzheimer’s disease;
the potential involvement of viral infection in the development of multiple sclerosis;
a list of seven ways to stay… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Aug. 10, 2007
(CORRECTED: See below.)
Featured companies: VistaGen Therapeutics, MindWeavers, Cutanea Life Sciences, Heptares Therapeutics
VistaGen raises $3.75M for stem-cell based drug discovery — South San Francisco, Calif.-based VistaGen Therapeutics, a biotech that uses human embryonic stem cells to discover new drugs, raised $3.75 million in a bridge financing as it prepares to raise up to $20 million in a fourth round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Montaur Capital Partners provided the funding.
VistaGen, founded in 1998, isn’t your typical stem-cell company. Where… Continue Reading
Roundup: Anemia drugs under assault, stem-cell trial moves forward, medical interventions and poor “quality of death,” and more
Is the bell tolling for EPO? – The news keeps going from bad to worse for the wonder drugs of biotech — the anemia treatments known as ESAs or EPO, shorthand for “erythropoiesis stimulating agents” and “erythropoietin,” respectively. Earlier today, an FDA advisory panel recommended new warnings for the drugs, which stimulate the production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells, as well as fresh clinical studies on their safety. Recent studies in kidney-dialysis patients linked higher doses… Continue Reading
Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, maker of imaging reagents, raises $26M for clinical trials
Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, a Philadelphia-based maker of “molecular imaging agents” that help highlight diseased tissue in various medical scans, raised $26 million in a third round to develop early-detection products for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
AllianceBernstein and Safeguard Scientifics led the round. Previous investors including Pfizer Strategic Investments Group, the venture arm of Pfizer; Lilly Ventures, the venture arm of Eli Lilly; RK Venture Group; and BioAdvance also joined the round.
Avid’s development efforts are focused on new… Continue Reading