Prosetta takes $5M from angels for anti-viral drugs
San Francisco drug developer Prosetta announced that it brought in $5 million in second-round funding to begin clinical trials on its lead compounds. All of the contributors were individuals, reports VentureWire.
So far, the company has resisted raising venture capital, relying solely on angel investors to cushion itself from the economic downturn. Most of its projects remain secretive, but it says its currently working on small molecules that could disrupt the synthesis of the protein… Continue Reading
Nancy Pelosi’s biotech earmarks
(UPDATED: See below.)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi apparently has a warm place in her heart for two San Francisco life-science companies. Buried inside a story on how the Democrat-led Congress seems almost as enthusiastic as its scandal-ridden Republican predecessor about “earmarks” that direct federal money to projects favored by individual legislators, Bloomberg News notes that two of fifteen earmarks Pelosi inserted in a defense-funding measure steer millions of dollars to Prosetta, a Mission Bay biotech, and Bioquiddity,… Continue Reading
Prosetta, antiviral-drug developer, raises $2M
Prosetta, a San Francisco developer of new antiviral therapies, raised $2 million in early financing, VentureWire reports (subscription required). The company termed the funding a “series AAA” round that has the same terms as its earlier $1 million “series A” and $5 million “series AA” financings, but different valuations. Individual investors provided the entire funding, which values the company at over $20 million.
Prosetta, founded by Vishwanath Lingappa, Jaisri Lingappa and other UCSF academics, is working… Continue Reading