Life-science briefing: Wednesday, April 2, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
ProGenTech takes in $21M for DNA purification systems (release)
Diabetes-drug maker Phenomix raises $18M while seeking IPO (Edgar)
Genome-tool maker BioTrove gets $23M in preparation for IPO (Edgar)
Sweden’s DermaGen pulls in more than €1M for dermatitis (release)
Digital health-record co. Medsphere receives $3M bridge (VentureWire)
CareAnyware, healthcare IT… Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Tuesday, March 18, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Luminous Medical raises $24M for automated glucose monitoring (release)
Alimera Sciences gets $30M for eye-disease drug (release)
Vaccine maker LigoCyte draws $28M (release)
Heartbeat tracker CardioNet trims IPO, aims for listing today (IPOhome)
Axial Biotech takes in $6M for spinal diagnostics (release)
Insulin bioengineer enGene receives $6.4M (release)
GlucoLight raises… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Jan. 25, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Health-info site HealthCentral Network pulls in $50M (paidContent)
BrightHeart Vet corrals $29M to acquire animal hospitals (release)
AviaraDx raises $8M for cancer diagnostics (peHUB)
Valor Medical aims for $15M for brain-aneurysm treatment (VentureWire)
IPC, inpatient-care provider, raises as much as $56M in IPO (IPO Home)
Phenomix, diabetes and hepatitis… Continue Reading
Tethys predicts your potential diabetic future
Suppose a simple blood test were to tell you that you’ve got a better than 50 percent chance of developing “type 2″ diabetes — a form of the disease long associated with age and obesity — within the next five years. Would you make the… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Israel’s Alma Lasers files for $86M IPO (Edgar)
Allscripts acquires hospital-management software co. ECIN for $90M (release)
AgaMatrix, glucose-sensor maker, raises $24M (PE Hub)
Israel’s Alma Lasers files for $86M IPO — Alma Lasers, an Israeli maker of lasers for cosmetic procedures, filed to raise $86.3 million… Continue Reading
Pelikan Tech to push “finger friendly” diabetes testing
One of the constant but unavoidable challenges in trying to control diabetes is the frequent need to test blood-sugar levels by sticking a needle into a fingertip — a step that tells diabetics when they need a snack (to raise blood glucose) or a shot… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007
Featured companies: American Aerogel, Clinicient, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, Genome Diagnostics, RadPharm, RainDance Technologies, Vivacta
UPDATED: Expanded items on Vitae, RadPharm, Vivacta and Genome Diagnostics. Intelligent Bio-Systems is now covered in a standalone item here.
Vitae Pharma takes in $15M for blood pressure, diabetes drugs — Vitae Pharmaceuticals, a Fort… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Nov. 26, 2007
Featured companies: Biospace Med, Carbylan BioSurgery, GVK BioSciences, IntraSafe Medical, InViragen, Medingo, ParadigmHealth, Precimed, SV Life Sciences
UPDATED: Expanded items on Carbylan, Medingo, and GVK Biosciences.
Carbylan raises $20M for arthritis, sinusitis drug implants — Palo Alto, Calif.-based Carbylan BioSurgery, a medical-device maker focused on polymer-based drug-delivery technologies, raised… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Oct. 19, 2007
Featured companies: DirectFlow, Direvo, Indigo Biosystems, MacroGenics
Direct Flow raises $27M for heart-valve implants — Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Direct Flow Medical, a startup developing heart implants, raised $27 million in a second funding round. Investors included Johnson & Johnson Development, Foundation Medical Partners, VantagePoint Venture Partners, ePlanet,… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007
Featured companies: American Oriental Bioengineering, Guangxi Boke, Inspired Technologies, Nanosphere, Patton Medical Devices
UPDATED: Expanded items on Nanosphere and Patton Medical Devices.
Molecular-diagnostics firm Nanosphere sets IPO range, now expects $129M — Northbrook, Ill.-based Nanosphere, a maker of nanotech-derived molecular diagnostics, now expects to raise up to $129 million… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007
Featured companies: BioMicro Systems, Diasome Pharmaceuticals, FitLinxx, FitSense, Novartis, Radius Health
[NOTE: This is a catchup briefing, posted on 9/29/07. I’ve adjusted the item’s timestamp to keep the briefings in chronological order. Good news is that this should be the last one. –D.P.H.]
Diasome names new CEO, aims… Continue Reading
Novocell: With diabetes study pending, investors pony up another $25M
Novocell, a San Diego embryonic stem-cell company, raised $25 million in a third round of funding. That’s presumably a bit of a letdown for the company, which had previously hoped to pull in as much as $35 million in the round. I wrote earlier about… Continue Reading
Amgen snaps up another biotech startup, Alantos Pharma, for $300M
Amgen suddenly has a voracious appetite for startups. In its second deal this week, the biotech giant acquired Cambridge, Mass., biotech Alantos Pharmaceuticals for $300 million in cash. (The release is here.)
Founded in Heidelberg, Germany in 1999, Alantos changed its name from Therascope in… Continue Reading
Roundup: Genetic links to breast cancer, Avandia under attack, death and the drug official, and more
More genetic links for breast cancer – Whole-genome association studies that tease out links between minute genetic variations and the likelihood of disease are definitely building momentum. Over the last several days, researchers reported six new variations that increase the risk of breast cancer for women… Continue Reading
Sirtris Pharma raises $60M in IPO
Cambridge, Mass., based Sirtris Pharmaceuticals raised at least $60 million in an initial offering, after pricing six million shares in the middle of its anticipated range of $9 to $11 apiece. The company is developing drugs that aim to mimic the health benefits of calorie-restricted… Continue Reading
Insulet, insulin-management device maker, raises $116M in IPO
Insulet, a Bedford, Mass, developer of continuous insulin-infusion devices for diabetics, sold 7.7 million shares in an IPO, raising approximately $115 million before fees. The offering was priced at $15 per share, in the middle of Insulet’s range of $14 to $16. Insulet shares rose… Continue Reading
Marcadia Biotech pulls in $15M for hypoglycemia drug
Marcadia Biotech, an Indianapolis biotech focused on diabetes and obesity, raised $15 million in a first round of funding led by Frazier Healthcare Ventures and founding investor 5AM Ventures. Founding investor Twilight Venture Partners also joined the round. The company’s announcement is here.
Marcadia, founded by… Continue Reading
Needles emerge from the genomic haystack
Scientists yesterday reported finding seven new gene variants linked to diabetes, a sign that the disease-gene hunt may have finally attained a sort of critical momentum.
Researchers have been looking for genes related to particular disorders for more than 30 years, and have been frustrated in… Continue Reading
Brazil’s great stem-cell experiment
[Editor’s note: David Hamilton, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, has covered the biotech sector for years and we’re delighted to have him as a contributor on news and trends in biotech, health and science (we’ve already run a few of his pieces). Biotech and… Continue Reading
Brazil’s great stem-cell experiment
(Note: This item has been copied over to the Life Sciences page from its original location on the VentureBeat main page. To view it in its original context, with comments, click here.)
[Editor’s note: David Hamilton, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, has covered the biotech… Continue Reading