Life sciences briefing: Monday, Jan. 14, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Autonomic Technologies raises $3M for neurostimulators (PE Hub)
Canopy Financial raises $15M for outsourced healthcare management (release)
Cancer-drug developer AmpliMed draws $5M (PE Hub)
Caprotec Bioanalytics receives €6M for protein-analysis tech (release)
ProtAffin draws additional €1.4M for anti-inflammatory drugs (release)
Toxicology-services firm Bridge Labs takes in $18M (release)
Dental-compound maker NovaMin takes in $2.2M (TechJournal South)
Aushon Bio takes in $4M for microarrays (PE Hub)
Treatment Online receives $750K for Web behavioral healthcare (PDF release)
IPO the Hospitalist aims to raise $60M with… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
CyberHeart pumps in $9M for cardiac-arrhythmia treatment (release)
Incubator ForSight launches third device company with $6M funding (release)
Primera Biosystems raises $21M for molecular diagnostics (release)
Biogen Idec, PDL BioPharma take stakes in Ophthotech (release)
Technitrol acquires medical-device component maker Sonion for $385M (release)
DLJ Merchant Banking takes control of dentristy-product maker Den-Mat (release)
SV Life Sciences appoints Hamish Cameron as venture partner (release)
CyberHeart pumps in $9M for cardiac-arrhythmia treatment – CyberHeart, a Menlo Park, Calif., startup developing a non-invasive treatment… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
India’s Perfint, medical-device co., raises $3.5M (release)
Source MDx strikes Pfizer partnership to ID cancer, inflammation “fingerprints” (release)
Columbia River Resources acquires pharma RFID maker Traxxec (release)
India’s Perfint, medical-device co., raises $3.5M – Perfint, a Chennai, India-based producer of medical equipment, raised $3.5 million in a new funding round.
IDG Ventures India and Erasmus Venture Fund provided the cash. IDG supplied the bulk of the investment — $3 million — with Erasmus providing the rest.
Perfint’s first product,… Continue Reading
Cantimer, a nanosensor startup, names new CEO
Menlo Park, Calif.-based Cantimer, a stealthy developer of sensor technology with biomedical, biodefense and consumer applications, named Robin Stracey as its new CEO. The company’s release is here.
Cantimer’s Web site is still a stub, although it describes the company as “focusing on assessment of human hydration using effective and innovative sensor technology.” Cantimer’s founder and now former CEO, Ray Stewart, is a serial entrepreneur who previously worked as a principle at BayMaterials, a high-tech materials… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Dec. 10, 2007
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Fundamental Applied Biology pulls in $21M for proteins without cells (release)
Diagnostics maker Asuragen receives $19M (release)
Stroke-device maker Neurovasx raises $8.5M (release)
Cancer-vaccine maker ImmunoVaccine Tech buys Immunotope, seeks $15M (release)
Vascular imager CardioSpectra sells itself to Volcano for $25M (release)
Spinal-implant maker Altiva sells to Exactech for $25M (release)
U.S. Healthworks acquires Inland Industrial in occcupational-healthcare consolidation (release)
Private-equity group acquires American Laser Centers (release)
Diagnostics maker Asuragen receives $19M — Asuragen, an Austin, Tex., developer of molecular diagnostics for… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007
(UPDATED: Expanded items on LineaGen, BG Medicine. Pelikan Tech is described in a standalone item here.)
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Pelikan Tech raises $69M for diabetes glucose tests (release)
Utah’s LineaGen draws $6M for genetic diagnostics (VentureWire, sub req’d)
Beijing’s IKang Healthcare gets $25M for medical-service centers (VW)
BG Medicine drops IPO price range, seeks up to $52M (Edgar)
Sepragen completes acquisition of Cyto Biologic Tech (release)
Utah’s LineaGen draws $6M for genetic diagnostics — LineaGen (no Web site), a Salt Lake City biotech focused… Continue Reading
Gene Security Network aims to bolster IVF genetic tests
(UPDATED: See below.)
Many infertile couples undergoing in-vitro fertilization rely on genetic screening of their fertilized embryos to improve their chances of delivering a healthy baby. But that technique, known as preimplantation genetic screening, has recently taken some hits on the scientific level, with one recent study finding that it not only fails to improve fertility rates, but may actually worsen the odds for older women. (See this WSJ story for details.)
For one thing, the procedure itself,… Continue Reading
Precision Thera drops IPO, goes public via reverse merger
(UPDATE: The merger is dead.)
Pittsburgh’s Precision Therapeutics, a biotech working on diagnostics designed to identify the best chemotherapy for cancer patients, appears to have dropped its planned IPO and instead went public via a reverse merger with Oracle Healthcare Acquisition — a “blank check” acquisition firm that appears to be no relation of the database-software giant.
I was pretty hard on Precision when it filed its IPO, since its cancer diagnostic test not only struck me as… 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 Washington, Pa., biotech focused on new drugs for hypertension and metabolic disorders, raised $15 million in a fourth funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Boehringer Ingelheim, which struck a major… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Oct. 29, 2007
Featured companies: Azaya Therapeutics, Global Care Solutions, Oxford Immunotec, RealSelf.com, Sequoia Pharmaceuticals, Tactile Systems Technology, WellGen, Zeltiq Aesthetics
UPDATED: Expanded items on Oxford Immunotec, Zeltiq, Tactile Systems, RealSelf.com and Global Care.
Oxford Immunotec pulls in $40M for TB tests — Oxford Immunotec, a U.K. biotech focused on new diagnostic tests for infectious disease, raised $40 million in a third financing round. The company’s release is here (PDF). Investors included Clarus Ventures, Wellington Partners, Kuwait-based National Technology Enterprises Company, the… 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 by selling as many as eight million shares in an initial offering. The company’s latest SEC filing is here. Nanosphere intends to price its shares between $14 and $16 apiece.
The… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007
Featured companies: Algorithme Pharma, Bacchus Vascular, Botaneco, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Ikonisys, Healthcare Management Systems, Illumigen Biosciences, Kilmer Capital Partners, Medical Specialties Distributors, Metastatix, Microphage, Orthosoft, Thomas McNerney & Partners, TranS1, TriReme Medical, Wren Medical, Zimmer
UPDATE: Expanded TriReme Medical, Ikonisys and TranS1 items.
UPDATE REDUX: Added MicroPhage item.
Stent-maker TriReme Medical sails off with $15.6M — Pleasanton, Calif.-based TriReme Medical, a device maker developing a new type of artery-opening stent for blood-vessel junctions, raised $15.6 million in a third funding… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007
Featured companies: AngioScore, Forsight Labs, Genoptix, Metastatix, Optherion, QLT
UPDATED: See below.
Artery opener AngioScore pulls in $30M — AngioScore, a Fremont, Calif., maker of balloon catheters used to open up clogged arteries, raised $30 million in a fifth funding round. Investors included Telegraph Hill Partners, Psilos Group Management, QuestMark Partners, L.P., UV Partners, California Technology Ventures and Innomed Ventures.
AngioScore’s balloon catheters, which inflate inside blocked blood vessels to restore blood flow, are designed to overcome problems that sometimes… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007
Featured companies: Aveo Pharmaceuticals, Aviir, deltaDot, Origen Therapeutics
Heart-diagnostic maker Aviir raises $11.3M — Palo Alto, Calif.-based Aviir, a biotech developing cardiovascular diagnostics based on Stanford research, raised $11.3 million of an expected $25 million second funding round, PE Hub reports. The news is presumably from one of those paper-based SEC filings that are supposed to be digitized before long.
Investors include Bay City Capital, Aberdare Ventures and New Leaf Ventures. Aviir hasn’t said much about its technology… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007
Featured companies: Change:healthcare, Gemin X Biotechnologies, Ipsogen, the Practice
Change:healthcare raises $1M for health 2.0 sites — Nashville, Tenn.-based change:healthcare, a provider of Web-based health information, raised $1 million in a first funding round. The investment firm Solidus, also based in Nashville, provided the cash. There’s no release, but the Nashville Business Journal did run this story.
Change:healthcare operates two “health 2.0″ Web sites designed to empower individuals by helping them better navigate the healthcare system. FindYourDoc.com offers… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
Featured companies: Allergan, Athenahealth, Atria Genetics, Celera, Esprit Pharmaceuticals, Vida Diagnostics
(NOTE: This item was posted on Friday, 9/21/07. I’ve backdated its timestamp to preserve the chronological order of the briefings.)
Celera buys Atria Genetics for $33M — Rockville, Md.-based Celera, the onetime genomics pioneer still working to turn itself into a diagnostics company, agreed to pay $33 million to acquire Atria Genetics of South San Francisco, Calif. (Atria doesn’t seem to have a Web site, and if… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
Featured companies: Acceleron Pharma, AdvanDx, Altheus Therapeutics, BiPar Sciences, Coventina Healthcare Enterprises, ForteBio, Ganymed Pharmaceuticals, Mako Surgical, Nile Therapeutics, Novate Medical
[NOTE: This briefing was posted on Friday, 9/21/07; I've edited its timestamp to preserve chronological order among the briefings.]
Nile Therapeutics raises $20M, goes public in reverse merger — Berkeley, Calif.-based Nile Therapeutics, a developer of cardiovascular drugs, raised $20 million from new and existing investors and carried out a reverse merger that takes the company public…. Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007
Featured companies: Aldagen, LDR, Lyten Endoscopy, MachLabs, Permatox, TeleMedicine Clinic, ThromboVision
Spinal-implant maker LDR raises $25M — Austin, Texas-based LDR, a maker of spinal implants, raised $25 million in a third funding round. Investors included Telegraph Hill Partners, Austin Ventures, Rothschild Private Equity and PTV Sciences.
LDR sells spinal-fusion devices, artificial disks and other spine-related devices in more than 30 countries, and plans to use the funds for further expansion.
Aldagen adds $9M for adult stem-cell work — Aldagen,… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007
Featured companies: Berkeley HeartLab, Celera Group, the Foundry, Molecular Vision, Morgenthaler Ventures
Former genomics pioneer Celera Group buys Berkeley HealthLab for $195M — Rockville, Md.-based Celera Group, a one-time tie finisher in the race to decode the human genome, has agreed to acquire Berkeley HealthLab, a Burlingame, Calif., heart-related diagnostic company, for $195 million in cash.
Celera, once a high-flying genomics outfit, tried to reinvent itself as a drug-development company following the collapse of the “genomics bubble”… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007
Featured companies: Entelos, Firstsource Solutions, Helixis, Iconix Biosciences, MedAssist Holding, Songbird Hearing
Entelos pays up to $39M for Iconix Biosciences — In a rare all-Bay Area biotech transaction, Foster City, Calif.’s Entelos agreed to acquire Iconix Biosciences for up to $39.1 million in stock. The deal consists of an up-front payment of $14.1 million in Entelos shares and a potential “earn out payment” of $25 million if certain financial milestones are met. The acquisition is scheduled to… Continue Reading