Life-science briefing: Wednesday, March 26, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
OptiMedica takes in $16M for eye-treatment lasers (release)
Genome analyzer BioNanomatrix raises $5M (release)
Heart diagnostic startup Aviir gets another $1.5M (VBLS exclusive)
Pharmaca, integrative-pharmacy chain, draws $20M (release)
LifeWatch, cardiac-monitoring device maker, withdraws IPO (IPOhome)
Jerry DeVries, Steven Whitlock join PTV Sciences as venture partners (VentureWire)
OptiMedica takes in $16M for eye-treatment lasers – OptiMedica, a Santa Clara, Calif., medical-device maker, raised $16 million in a third funding round. Investors included Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Alloy Ventures and… 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 funding for, well, glucose monitoring (release)
Germany’s InflaRx gets seed funding for sepsis work (release)
Cell imager Amnis pulls in $3.5M (VentureWire)
Korea Bone Bank gets funding for bone transplants (release)
Luminous Medical raises… Continue Reading
Secretive Oraya raises more funds for eye devices
Oraya, a secretive Menlo Park, Calif., medical-device startup, has struck again. The company raised $18 million in what is presumably a second funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Investors included Synergy Life Science Partners (see yesterday’s coverage of this newish VC firm here) and Essex Woodlands Health Ventures. We covered Oraya’s first round of funding last June.
VentureWire says the company is working on some sort of unspecified ophthalmology device, which is certainly more than we… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Fovea Pharma sees €30M for eye drugs (release)
Ascendis Pharma raises €18M for time-release drugs (PDF release)
Arcion draws $9M for topical pain drugs (VentureWire, sub req’d)
Saladax Biomedical raises $8M for chemotherapy diagnostics (VW)
MedAssets prices IPO at top of range, raises up to $221M (IPO Home)
Pequot spin-off Longitude seeks $250M for life-science investments (VW)
Third Rock Ventures adds three new partners (release)
Ultrasound surgical co. ProRhythm files for bankruptcy protection (release)
The Hartford Financial Services Group acquires healthcare-benefit administrator… Continue Reading
Genentech takes a step back from the dark side, delays Avastin restrictions
(UPDATED: See below.)
Almost two weeks ago, Genentech angered doctors and elderly patients when it announced plans to restrict access to Avastin, a cancer drug that doubles as an unapproved, but quite inexpensive, treatment for eye disease. In those conditions, which can lead to encroaching blindness when left untreated, Avastin competes with a much more costly Genentech drug called Lucentis. (For background and our take on the situation, click here.)
Now the giant biotech appears to be taking… Continue Reading
Alacrity Biosciences takes $4.9M as bridge to tackle eye disease
Alacrity Biosciences, a Laguna Hills, Calif., biotech developing eye treatments, raised $4.9 million in bridge financing while it gathers clinical data in support of a larger first round later this year, VentureWire reports (subscription required). The funding was provided by unidentified hedge funds and private individuals; the same group invested $8.5 million as a bridge financing in January.
Alacrity focuses on eye conditions such as dry-eye disease, glaucoma and retinal disease. The company’s lead compound, ALTY-501,… Continue Reading