VentureBeat

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 for face lifts and “skin rejuvenation.” The company says the ultrasound can penetrate and remove — “microabrades,” in its terminology — skin tissue that is several layers deep without disturbing the surface, or epidemis. Deeper treatment supposedly triggers a “natural healing effect,” which Ulthera’s CEO claims will lead to a “gradual lifting and tightening of skin tissue in and around the face.”

The product can produce ultrasound images of the area to be treated as well. Ulthera has regulatory clearance to sell its device in Europe and expects FDA approval soon as well. The company will use the funds it raised for global commercialization, product development and to conduct additional trials to expand the use of its technology.

Senexis raises £2.9M for Alzheimer’s drugs — Senexis, a Cambridge, U.K., biotech working on drugs for Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions related to aging, received £2.9 million ($5.7 million) from the Wellcome Trust. The funding came from the Wellcome’s “Seeding Drug Discovery” program, and and augments £700,000 Senexis raised last year from BTG, a London specialty pharma. BTG and the Wellcome had previously invested £2.4 million in Senexis.

The company is developing small-molecule drugs intended to prevent the misfolding of amyloid proteins, which clump together in plaques around nerve fibers. Many scientists believe that these amyloid plaques cause inflammation that ultimately kills nerve and brain cells in Alzheimer’s patients, although dissenters still argue that plaques may be a distraction or even a defensive reaction to the disease. At this point, no one can say for certain exactly what causes the disease.

Still, most Alzheimer’s drugs now under development target the clumping amyloid proteins, and Senexis is no exception. One of its two lead candidates is a small molecule designed to inhibit the misfolding and aggregation of amyloid proteins in Alzheimer’s patients. The other is intended to tamp down brain inflammation. Both are still in animal testing. Senexis also hopes to treat diabetes by inhibiting aggregation of an amyloid protein that the company appears not to have identified.

Elixir Pharma postpones IPO — Elixir Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, Mass., biotech focused on anti-aging and obesity drugs, postponed its IPO. The company had most recently planned to raise as much as $92 million in its offering.

It’s not entirely clear why Elixir, which I figured would follow in the footsteps of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals‘ successful IPO (our coverage here), chose to delay the offering — which is almost always code for pulling it entirely. One possible reason might be that Elixir co-founder Leonard Guarente, a MIT professor sometimes tipped as a future Nobel laureate, decamped from Elixir for Sirtris in November.

You can see our previous coverage of Elixir here and here.

Featured companies: Adnexus Therapeutics, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cellerix, Elixir Therapeutics, GenomeQuest, Intronn, JapanBridge, JenaValve, VirXsys, Ysios Capital

[NOTE: This item is a catchup daily briefing originally posted on 9/27/07. I've edited the item's timestamp to preserve the chronological order of the briefings. --D.P.H.]

Adnexus Thera cancels IPO, sells itself to Bristol-Myers for $430M — Waltham, Mass.-based Adnexus Therapeutics, a biotech pursuing drugs against cancer and other diseases, said it would cancel plans for its IPO and instead sell itself to Bristol-Myers Squibb for $430 million in cash, or a net purchase price of $415 million once adjusted for the biotech’s cash balance. Adnexus shareholders may also receive another $75 million assuming particular developmental milestones are met.

You can find our earlier coverage of Adnexus, which filed for its IPO just last month, here and here. Adnexus is the second biotech I’m aware of that’s recent chosen an acquisition offer over facing vicissitudes of the biotech IPO market. (The other was NovaCardia; you can find our coverage here.)

Elixir Pharmaceuticals seeks $86.3M IPO — Elixir Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, Mass., biotech focused on anti-aging, obesity and metabolic diseases, filed to raise as much as $86.3 million in an IPO. Elixir is best-known for its work with sirtuins, a class of chemicals that appear to mimic the anti-aging effects of calorie-restricted diets. A similar company founded by a competing set of researchers, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, raised $60 million in an IPO last May. (See our coverage here.)

Neither company, however, emphasizes its work with the potentially anti-aging molecules, and instead play up their interest in treating a cluster of diseases such as diabetes, obesity and other metabolic disorders. Elixir’s two leading candidates on that front treat diabetes, and were licensed from Japan’s Kissei Pharmaceutical.

Interestingly enough, Elixir’s SEC filing also lists “healthcare reform measures” as a risk that could “hinder or prevent” the company’s success. For what it’s worth, Elixir also thinks patent reform poses a threat.

“Adult” stem-cell company Cellerix raises €27.2M — Spain’s Cellerix, a company aiming to use so-called adult stem cells as a treatment for skin regeneration and autoimmune-related defects known as fistulas, raised €27.2 million ($32 million). Investors included Life Sciences Partners, Ventech, Ysios Capital Partners, Roche Venture Fund, Novartis Venture Fund, Genetrix, Grupo A&G, Spanish investor Jose Antonio Matji and Cellerix management.

Celletrix was spun out of the Spanish biotech company Genetrix, which remains its majority shareholder. Celletrix has two products in clinical tests. One uses stem cells derived from the patient’s own fatty tissue to treat fistulas, which are abnormal connections between organs and skin or between different organs. The other treats a blistering skin condition known as epidermolysis bullosa using a combination of cells — although apparently not stem cells — from the patient and a universal donor.

Ysios Capital seeks €65M for life-science fund — Spanish venture-capital firm Ysios Capital Partners is looking to raise €65 million ($91 million) for its first life-sciences fund. (Their PDF release is here.)

The firm envisions making investments of between €500,000 and €4 million in early-to-late-stage companies in biotech, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and medical technology. Ysios plans to make the majority of its investments in Spanish companies, but expects it may devote up to 30 percent of the fund outside of Spain.

Heart-device maker JenaValve pulls in an extra €10M — Munich-based JenaValve, makers of a minimally invasive replacement for aortic heart valves, raised an additional €10 million ($14 million) in order to win European approval of the device, VentureWire reports. Investors included Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, NewMed Management and Atlas Venture.

The company said it hopes to begin marketing the device by mid-2009, after which it may seek U.S. approval as well. Prior to that, however, JenaValve is likely to seek potential acquirers, the company’s chief financial officer told VentureWire.

JapanBridge raises $6.5M for in-licensed cancer drugs — Tokyo’s JapanBridge, a specialty pharmaceutical company founded last year by Itochu and MPM Capital, raised $6.5 million in an additional first funding round. Investors included MPM Capital, Itochu and Kyowa Hakko.

The funding is intended for building its infrastructure and identifying two to four cancer drugs for in-licensing to Japan. Separately, JapanBridge said it struck a partnership with Kyowa Hakko to collaborate on cancer-drug development.

Genetic-search company GenomeQuest raises $4M — GenomeQuest, a Westborough, Mass., developer of a Web-based genetic search engine, raised $4 million in a second funding round. Investors included Mosaix Ventures, Cross Atlantic Partners, Milestone Venture Partners, and Société Générale Asset Management Alternative Investments.

GenomeQuest describes its service as a Web-based system that makes it possible for corporate researchers to search for genetic and biological information across a variety of public and private databases. In that sense, it sounds generally similar to the service offering by NextBio, which raised $7 million in June. See our previous coverage of that company here.

Gene-therapy company VirXsys acquires Intronn’s assets — Gaithersburg, Md.-based VirXsys, a gene-therapy company hoping to treat AIDS and genetic disease, acquired the core assets and preclinical programs of fellow Gaithersburg biotech Intronn. Terms of the all-stock deal weren’t disclosed. Intronn’s technology aims to reprogram gene expression by inserting genetic code at the RNA level to repair mutations or repair other damage.