VentureBeat

Featured companies: Ganeden Biotech, Glenveigh Medical, Lab21, Lead Therapeutics, Navigenics, Pacific Data Designs, PharMEDium Healthcare, Sloning BioTechnology, VistaGen

UPDATED: Expanded items on Lead Therapeutics, Glenveigh Medical and Sloning BioTech, and moved the Navigenics news to a separate item here.

Lead Therapeutics raises $17M for China-based work in cancer and immunology — San Bruno, Calif.-based Lead Therapeutics, a drug-development startup that plans to do most of its research and development in China, raised $17 million in a first funding round. Investors included Pappas Ventures, ProQuest Investments and Mustang Ventures.

We’ve previously noted a few biotech startups with strong connections to China, although for the most part these have tended to be companies founded by Chinese expatriates who raise much of their funding from Asian sources. (See, for instance, our coverage of AutekBio here and of MicuRx here.) Lead Therapeutics, by contrast, raised much of its money from traditional U.S. venture firms and will be run by a GlaxoSmithKline veteran, Peter Myers, although unsurprisingly enough, several of the company’s other executives appear to have ties to Asia. (See a list here.)

Lead Therapeutics says it has “several” drug-discovery programs going in infectious disease and cancer, but hasn’t disclosed any details to the best of my knowledge.

Glenveigh Medical to pull in $10M for spinning out a device maker — Glenveigh Medical, a Durham, N.C., holding company focused on technologies for obstetrics and fetal care, said it will raise $10 million in a first funding round in order to spin out a new medical-device company, VentureWire reports (subscription required). The spinout company, still unnamed, will develop several medical devices with an eye toward launching two of them by early 2009.

One of the devices, called a pelvic pack, is designed to control heavy bleeding that can result from obstetrical procedures. Another is an implantable plug designed to control fluid loss and prevent infection in cases where the cervix tears prematurely during pregnancy. A third device is a meter designed to measure the onset of labor and related issues via changes in the cervix itself.

Sloning BioTech receives €4.7M for DNA synthesis — Munich-based DNA synthesizer Sloning BioTechnology said it raised €4.7 million ($6.8 million) in a fifth funding round. Investors included LBBW Venture Capital, HBM BioVentures, KfW Bankengruppe and Deutsche Effecten-und Wechsel-Beteiligungsgesellschaft.

Sloning is one of several companies making a business out of generating customized strands of DNA for customers in the nascent field of “synthetic biology,” which involves making artificial genes for industrial purposes. (See also our coverage of DNA2.0 here.) The company claims that its particular method is the only one capable of generating any sequence of DNA “letters,” or nucleotides; for biochemical reasons, other methods are sometimes limited in their ability to produce particular nucleotide sequences.

Navigenics raises $25M, launches personal-genomic pre-orders — See our in-depth story here.

OTHER HEADLINES OF NOTE:

• Navigenics raises more than $25M, launches personal-genomics business (release)
• PharMEDium Healthcare raises undisclosed sum of private equity(PE Hub)
• U.K.’s Lab21 appoints Graham Mullis as CEO (release)
• Pacific Data Designs draws undisclosed sum in private equity (PE Hub)
• Ganeden Biotech pulls in $12M for probiotic dietary supplements (release)
• VistaGen gets $1.2M grant for CNS drug studies (release)

(CORRECTED: See below.)

Featured companies: VistaGen Therapeutics, MindWeavers, Cutanea Life Sciences, Heptares Therapeutics

VistaGen raises $3.75M for stem-cell based drug discovery — South San Francisco, Calif.-based VistaGen Therapeutics, a biotech that uses human embryonic stem cells to discover new drugs, raised $3.75 million in a bridge financing as it prepares to raise up to $20 million in a fourth round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Montaur Capital Partners provided the funding.

VistaGen, founded in 1998, isn’t your typical stem-cell company. Where companies ranging from Geron and Advanced Cell Technology to Novocell aim to use the controversial cells — which must be derived from five-day-old embryos in a destructive process — directly as therapies to help regenerate damaged organs, VistaGen merely grows stem-cell cultures in its labs and uses those cultures to discover and run preliminary safety tests on drug candidates.

The embryonic cells are capable of “differentiating” into any type of cell in the body, which VistaGen says makes them valuable for determining how an experimental drug molecule will interact with living human tissue. The company uses its stem-cell “screens” to identify promising small-molecule drugs (that is, compounds that can be swallowed rather than injected) and to determine what side effects they might cause once ingested. Over time, VistaGen suggests, it might develop screens for drugs that trigger stem cells’ regenerative powers, potentially inducing cellular repair in conditions such as heart disease or diabetes.

For now, however, VistaGen’s lead drug candidate is a relatively prosaic compound called AV-101 that the company plans to begin testing against epilepsy later this year. AV-101 is a “prodrug” — a molecule that’s converted into an active form by the body’s natural metabolism — that turns into a neuroinhibitor once it reaches the brain. In addition to epilepsy, VistaGen suggests that the drug may also have uses in stroke, neuropathic pain and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. For more detailed info, see the company’s Web site here and here.

Oxford’s MindWeavers raises $1.1M for mind-altering software — MindWeavers, an Oxford, England-based software company that develops software designed to improve mental function, raised $1.1 million (£558,000) through City and Merchant Group. Next year, the company hopes to raise up to £1 million with a listing on London’s Plus Markets electronic exchange.

MindWeavers develops its programs based on neuroscience research from Oxford University, which spun out the company in 2000. Its first product was Phonomena, a interactive game for children that the company says builds auditory discrimination and language skills. Several other programs are designed to improve “neuroplasticity” and to stimulate brain activity in middle-aged and elderly people in order to ward off age-related cognitive decline. VentureWire has more.

Skin-care firm Cutanea raises “millions” in convertible debt — Cutanea Life Sciences, a Cambridge, Mass., specialty pharmaceutical company focused on dermatology, raised a “multi-million” dollar round of convertible debt, VentureWire reports. Institutional investors such as Nexus Medical Partners provided the funding. Cutanea licenses neglected or cast-off experimental drugs from universities or other companies and runs them through human tests.

Heptares Therapeutics spins out of Britain’s MRC — The MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology has spun out a new company, Heptares Therapeutics, with undisclosed seed funding from MVM Life Sciences Partners. The company will focus on drugs for diseases of the nervous system and metabolism. (Hat tip: PE Hub.)

CORRECTION: Due to incorrect information supplied by VentureWire, the VistaGen Therapeutics item originally stated that Montreux Equity Partners provided funding. In fact, Montaur Capital Partners led the funding. The VentureWire correction is here.