Life sciences briefing: Monday, Oct. 22, 2007
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… Continue Reading
Ancestry.com launches DNA testing, gets $300M investment
updated
The Generations Network, operator of Ancestry.com has just received $300 million from Spectrum Equity Investors, a Silicon Valley buyout firm, which will take a majority stake in the company.
Ancestry.com has also just launched DNA testing of its 5 billion records, so that family members can resolve mysteries about their ancestors, i.e., find out for sure who they are and are not related to. This is smart, because it exploits peoples’ keen interest in their own… Continue Reading