Life sciences briefing: Monday, Oct. 1, 2007
Featured companies: Abiant, CellXplore, Diffusion Pharmaceuticals, WMR Biomedical, Zosano Pharmaceuticals
Diffusion Pharma raises $4.5M for vascular-disease and brain-cancer drug — Charlottesville, Va.-based Diffusion Pharmaceuticals, a biotech focused on drugs that enhance oxygen diffusion, raised $4.5 million in a private placement. Angel investors provided the funding, which brings Diffusion’s take to $10.2 million in equity and $2.6 million in government R&D grants.
Diffusion’s lead drug candidate — trans sodium crocetinate, or TSC — is designed to increase oxygen levels… Continue Reading
Brownian motion: Personnel moves within the life sciences
Nile Therapeutics, a Berkeley, Calif., biotech hired Peter Strumph, formerly chief of operations for struggling heart-drug maker CV Therapeutics, as CEO. Nile is currently developing a second-generation natriuretic peptide, CD-NP, for the treatment of heart failure. Here’s hoping it fares better than the first-generation version of this drug, J&J’s Natrecor. The company’s release is here.
Macroflux, a Mountain View, Calif., spinoff from Alza, hired M. Cory Zwerling as CEO. The company is developing “needle-free” delivery of… Continue Reading
Drug delivery co., Macroflux, raises $75M
Macroflux Corp., a Mountain View developer of drug delivery technology using patches, has raised $75 million in first-round funding, as it spins out from Johnson & Johnson subsidiary ALZA Corp.
Nomura Phase4 Ventures led the deal, and was joined by New Enterprise Associates and HBM Partners. ALZA has a minority position of less than 20 percent in the spin-off, according to VentureWire (sub required), which first reported the news this morning.