VentureBeat

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

• Oxford NanoLabs takes in £10M for sequencing tech (PDF release)
• Alure Medical raises $4.5M for plastic-surgery implants (release)
• Bone-disease biotech Therosteon spins out of research institute, raises funds (PDF release)
• Genome-analysis toolmaker BioTrove files for $75M IPO (Edgar)
• RNAi developer Tekmira acquires Protiva, ends litigation (release)

Oxford NanoLabs takes in £10M for sequencing tech – U.K. based Oxford NanoLabs, yet another startup developing high-speed genome-sequencing technology, raised £10 million in a new funding round. The company said only that its backers included institutional and private investors.

Oxford is working on a so-called nanopore technique for DNA analysis, which typically involves chips laced with a lattice of tiny holes. The company says its process can identify the DNA “letters,” or bases, that compose the genetic code by passing DNA molecules through the pores. As each base slides past, it sticks temporarily to the side of the pore, interrupting electricity being conducted through the surface in a characteristic way that identifies whether the base is an A, C, G or T — the four letters of the DNA alphabet.

Of course, Oxford is entering a field crowded with established companies and other startups. In no particular order, we’ve recently covered fundraising and technology developments at BioNanomatrix, Intelligent Bio-Systems and Pacific Biosciences in recent months.

Alure Medical raises $4.5M for plastic-surgery implants – San Diego’s Alure Medical, a startup developing “soft-tissue” implants for cosmetic procedures, raised $4.5 million in a first funding round. Its backers include EDF Ventures and private investors.

The company is working on implants that lift sagging tissues in the breast, neck and elsewhere. Alure also named France Dixon Helfer, a former Medtronic executive and co-founder of Pegasus Biologics, as its new CEO.

Featured companies: Ablynx, Avant Immunotherapeutics, BioForm Medical, Celldex Therapeutics, Genomas, High-Throughput Genomics, Orchid Cellmark, ReliaGene Technologies, SarCode, TransMolecular, VisEn Medical

UPDATED: Expanded items on SarCode, Celldex/Avant and Ablynx.
UPDATE REDUX: Added items on BioForm Medical, High-Throughput Genomics and Orchid Cellmark/ReliaGene.

San Francisco’s SarCode draws down $7M for inflammation drugs — The two-year-old startup drew down $7 million as part of a $25 million first funding round the company arranged last December, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Investors in that round included Alta Partners and Clarus Ventures. The company’s post-investment valuation was $30 million in December.

SarCode is focused on developing new treatments for inflammation using technology it licensed from Sunesis Pharmaceuticals in January. The company can still draw another $13 million from its first round, and anticipates that existing funding will carry it through the end of 2009.

Cosmetic-surgery product maker BioForm sets IPO range, aims for $127M — San Mateo, Calif.-based BioForm Medical, a developer of skin fillers and other cosmetic-procedure products, set its sights on an IPO that could raise up to $126.5 million. BioForm now aims to sell as many as 11.5 million shares at a price of $9 to $11 apiece. Should it come in at the high end of that range, the offering would value the company at almost $500 million.

See our previous coverage of BioForm, which sometimes touts itself as more of a medical-device company than one focused on “medical aesthetics,” in the first item here. The company’s main customers are plastic surgeons and dermatologists.

Celldex goes public with $67M Avant acquisition — Privately held Celldex Therapeutics acquired a majority stake in publicly traded Avant Immunotherapeutics for $66.7 million in stock. The release is here.

The deal effectively takes Celldex public via a form of reverse merger. Although the combined company will be known as Avant, Celldex shareholders will own 58 percent of it. Avant’s current CEO, Una Ryan, will remain in that position in the combined company, which will be worth an estimated $115 million following the merger. The new Avant will pursue a number of immune-related treatments for cancer, infectious disease and autoimmune disease.

High-Throughput Genomics raises $10M for gene-expression tools — Tuscon’s High-Throughput Genomics, a biotech focused on tools that measure gene activity, raised $10 million in a third funding round. Investors included Merck Capital Ventures, Solstice Capital, Valley Ventures and Arcturus Capital.

HTS, founded a decade ago as a subsidiary of a combinatorial-chemistry company called Systems Integration Drug Discovery Company, spun out as an independent company in 2001. The company provides tools that let researchers study the activity of genes and proteins in laboratory samples.

Ablynx aims at €99.2 million IPO for “mini-antibodies” from llama DNA — Belgium’s Ablynx, a biotech focused on developing new therapies using miniature antibody molecules derived from llama DNA, said it hopes to raise as much as €99.2 million ($141.5 million) in an IPO. (Its release is here.)

The offering will be launched on Eurolist by Euronext Brussels. You can find our previous coverage of the company here and here.

OTHER HEADLINES OF NOTE:

• DNA-testing co. Orchid Cellmark acquires ReliaGene Technologies for $8.6M (release)
• VisEn Medical raises $7.5M for imaging (PE Hub)
• Genomas pulls in $2.5M for “DNA-guided medicine” (PE Hub)
• TransMolecular names Nicholas Nicolaides chairman (release)