VentureBeat

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

• Antibody-discovery startup Adimab raises new funding (release)
• Lung-device maker Spiration gets $19M (release)
• Sample-prep startup Protein Discovery pulls in $10M (release)
• Inogen takes in $13M for portable oxygen device (VentureWire)
• Healthcare IT concern Medaptus raises $11M for expansion (VentureWire)
• Contract lab Synexis raises $14M (peHUB)
• Medical-device VC firm BioStar Ventures takes in $24M of $80M fund (peHUB)
• Halsa Pharma gets $250K for “natural” obesity-control treatment (release)
• Diagnostics provider Lab21 acquires NPTech (peHUB)
• Galil Medical names Martin Emerson CEO (release)

Antibody-discovery startup Adimab raises new funding – Lebanon, N.H.-based Adimab, a biotech working on new ways to discover antibody drugs, has raised a second round of funding. The company didn’t disclose the size of the round.

Adimab, which raised $6 million last July, is one of several startups looking to design new antibody drugs in bioengineered yeast cells, as we wrote at the time. (Alder Biopharmaceuticals, which raised $40 million in January, is another.) The technique promises to be much faster — and freer of patent restrictions — than current methods. When Adimab completes its current manufacturing facility in the second quarter, it claims it will be able to produce a panel of human antibodies against a particular target in just 90 days, instead of the year or more traditional methods can require.

Investors included Polaris Venture Partners and SV Life Sciences, who also invested in the company’s first round.

Lung-device maker Spiration gets $19M – Spiration, a Redmond, Wash., medical-device startup, raised $18.5 million in a seventh funding round. Investors included Versant Ventures, Olympus Medical Systems, New Enterprise Associates, New Leaf Venture Partners, InterWest Partners, Investor Growth Capital and Three Arch Partners.

Spiration has now raised a total of $97 million. It is developing a set of one-way valves for emphysema that can be implanted in the lung’s airways via a minimally invasive procedure. These valves are designed to shunt air away from diseased portions of the lung and redirect it to healthier areas. The company said the funding would support commercialization of its device in Europe and to complete studies for regulatory approval in the U.S.

Other startups working on similar technology include Emphasys Medical, Pulmonx and Broncus Technologies.

Sample-prep startup Protein Discovery pulls in $10M – Knoxville, Tenn.-based Protein Discovery, a biotech with new laboratory technology for protein identification, raised $10 million in a third funding round. Investors included Santé Ventures, Memphis Biomed Ventures, the Southern Appalachian Fund, and the Nashville Capital Network.

The startup is developing technology that aims to “simplify” the process of preparing biological samples for protein analysis. The details are probably too much for anyone who’s not a lab technician themselves, but feel free to check out the company’s explanation if you dare.)

Inogen takes in $13M for portable oxygen device – Inogen, a Goleta, Calif., medical-device maker, raised $12.6 million in its fifth funding round, VentureWire reports. Investors included Accuitive Medical Ventures, Arboretum Ventures, Avalon Ventures, Novo A/S, Numenor Ventures and Versant Ventures.

The company makes and sells portable oxygen-delivery systems for patients suffering from a lung problem called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The product has been on the market for several years, and Inogen says it believes it might take several more before it’s in a position to be acquired or to go public.

Featured companies: AxoGen, Cognition Therapeutics, Ester Neurosciences, Gene Security Network, HealthTalk, MPM Capital, Revolution Health, SparkPeople

UPDATING: Expanded items on AxoGen, Ester and Cognition. Posted full items on MPM (link) and Gene Security Network (link).

AxoGen raises $12M for nerve regeneration — AxoGen, an Alachua, Fla., biotech focused on developing grafts for damaged “peripheral” nerves, raised $12.1 million in a third funding round. Investors included Accuitive Medical Ventures, Cardinal Partners, De Novo Ventures and Springboard Capital II.

AxoGen develops tissue grafts designed to preserve or restore the function of damaged nerves in the body’s periphery — areas such as the limbs, face or genitals. The company’s technology aims to “cleanse” nerve-graft tissue of substances that might inhibit nerve growth and regeneration — particularly one known as chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan — while preserving other factors that promote regrowth and integration of the grafted nerve.

The company launched its first peripheral-nerve graft product in July. AxoGen says the new funding will allow it to promote the product more vigorously.

Ester Neurosciences acquired by Amarin for $15M — Israel’s Ester Neurosciences, a biotech developing treatments for neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis, sold itself to Amarin of the U.K. for an upfront payment of $15 million plus up to $17 million in contingency payments. The release is here.

Ester’s lead program consists of a gene-silencing “antisense” drug for the neurodegenerative condition myasthenia gravis, which is now in a mid-stage test involving 18 patients. The company is also working with Pharmacopeia of the U.S. to develop small-molecule drugs that target variants of the AChE neurotransmitter that appear to be related to behavioral abnormalities or cognitive and motor degeneration.

HEADLINES OF NOTE:

• AxoGen raises $12M for nerve regeneration (release)
• Ester Neurosciences acquired by Amarin for $15M (release)
• Alzheimer’s drug developer Cognition Therapeutics raises $200K (release)
• RevolutionHealth acquires HealthTalk, invests in SparkPeople (release)
• MPM Capital looks for Indian life-science investments (VentureWire, sub req’d)
• Gene Security Network gets $4M for molecular diagnostics (release)

Although I try to stay on top of events in the life sciences, announcements do sometimes manage to slip through the cracks. Some days, in fact, I end up triaging. Because the roots of this site — not to mention many of its readers — are in Silicon Valley, Bay Area events are a priority. Then come announcements from the rest of the U.S., then Asia, then Europe. Also, smaller or partial fundings tend to take a backseat.

Looking back over my notes — it’s the only way I keep anything straight — I see quite a few of these orphans have piled up. So for the sake of completeness, I’m inaugurating this occasional feature to recap the fundings, mergers and IPOs that got away from me. I’ll put all the details below the fold, so only forge ahead if you’re really interested. RSS subscribers, unfortunately, are going to get the whole thing anyway.

Read the rest of this entry »

WaveTec Vision Systems of Aliso Viejo, Calif., raised $13 million in a second round of funding, PEHub reports. The company is developing a system to improve patient outcomes in intraocular lens replacement surgeries. The deal was led by Accuitive Medical Ventures and De Novo Ventures, who were joined by existing investor Versant Ventures.