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 between the failed vaccine biotech VaxGen and startup Raven Biotechnologies… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Sept. 21, 2007
Featured companies: CG Therapeutics, Complete Genomics, ConforMIS, Flexible Medical Systems, LeMaitre Vascular, MAP Pharmaceuticals, ParaPro, Vascular Architects, Zars Pharma
(UPDATED on 10/1/07: See below.)
[NOTE: Posting has been slow recently for personal reasons. I'll be doing my best to catch up today.]
Complete Genomics raises funding for high-speed sequencing — Complete Genomics, a Mountain View, Calif., developer of high-speed genome sequencing technology, said it raised an undisclosed sum in a second funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). The company said… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007
(UPDATED at 5:55pm PT: See below.)
Featured companies: Sierra Surgical Technologies, HerbalScience Nutraceuticals, Topigen Pharmaceuticals, EKR Therapeutics, Molecular Partners, Celsense, Glucose Sensing Technologies, Falcon Genomics, Waters, Calorimetry Sciences, Parion Sciences, Gilead Sciences, Isto Technologies, Fluidnet, NABsys
Sierra Surgical raises $7.1M — Palo Alto, Calif.-based Sierra Surgical Technologies, a developer of female sterilization technology, raised $7.1 million in a first funding round, PE Hub reports, citing a regulatory filing. Alta Partners and De Novo Ventures provided the funding.
Singapore’s HerbalScience raises… Continue Reading
MAP Pharma charts course for $86M IPO
MAP Pharmaceuticals, a Mountain View, Calif., developer of reformulated drugs for inhalation, filed to raise up to $86 million in an initial public offering. The company’s registration statement with the SEC is here.
MAP is the latest drugmaker to brave the IPO waters, which have been markedly unfriendly for pharmas and biotechs in recent months. The much-anticipated Jazz Pharmaceuticals IPO, for instance, was marked down twice, and even then the company’s shares traded down following the… Continue Reading
Asthma-device maker Asthmatx sells $50M stake to Olympus
Asthmatx, a Mountain View, Calif., developer of a bronchial device for asthma treatment, raised $50 million by selling a 15% stake to Olympus Medical Systems, a unit of Japan’s camera and precision-device maker Olympus.
Last October, Asthmatx withdrew an IPO at the last minute, citing a desire to pursue “alternative strategic options” — that is, better offers. And it seems to have found one; Dan Primack at PE Wire figures that Asthmatx’s current $280 million pre-money… Continue Reading