Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007
Featured companies: BioVex, Cavadis, Innovention, Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Phase Bioscience, Reliant Pharmaceuticals, Xencor
UPDATED: Expanded Paratek and Xencor items.
Paratek Pharma raises $40M for new antibiotics — Boston’s Paratek Pharmaceuticals, a biotech working on new antibiotics to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections, raised a first tranche of a $40 million eighth round of funding. The company’s release is here, VentureWire (subscription required) has more details here.
Investors in this funding included Aisling Capital, D.E. Shaw, Boston Life Science Venture Corporation, Nomura Phase4… Continue Reading
BioVex raises $22M for cancer-killing viruses
Woburn, Mass.-based BioVex, a biotech working on new ways to attack cancer and infections, raised $22 million in a fifth funding round. Triathlon Medical Ventures led the round, joined by New Science Ventures, Forbion Capital Ventures, Avalon Ventures, Credit Agricole Private Equity, GeneChem Management, Innoven Partners and Scottish Equity Partners.
BioVex is developing so-called oncolytic viruses, which are designed to infect and destroy tumor cells — long a promising but never-proven anti-cancer technique. The company put… Continue Reading
Medical co’s., Asthmatx and BioVex, pull IPOs — Vanguard’s rocky ride continues
Just three weeks after setting terms for its initial public offering, Mountain View medical device company Asthmatx has pulled its IPO filing.
It joins Woburn, Mass. drug maker BioVex, which also pulled its IPO. They are the latest in a string of withdrawals and postponements in the health care industry this month.
Asthmatx’s withdrawal, for one, will deal a blow to Vanguard, the struggling venture firm that has been hoping for a decent profit from its… Continue Reading