Onyx Pharma set to buy Proteolix for up to $851M
Onyx Pharmaceuticals, developer of treatments for liver and late-stage kidney cancer, has moved to acquire Proteolix, provider of a technology that can accelerate the death of cancer cells, for as much as $851 million. Emeryville, Calif.-based Onyx says it wants to incorporate this component, which… Continue Reading
Visage Mobile returns from the dead to focus on corporate phone management
Visage Mobile, former maker of software for mobile virtual network operators, unraveled a while ago, selling off most of its assets despite raising upwards of $90 million in venture capital. But now it’s reemerged with a new $2 million and a new business plan —… Continue Reading
Coskata looks to stimulus to finish commercial biofuel plant
Even though cellulosic ethanol maker Coskata just brought in $40 million in a third round of funding in November, it needs more to finish off its new commercial-scale plant — and the government stimulus package for biofuels looks like just the ticket.
Chief executive Bill Roe… Continue Reading
CaliSolar shines with $60M for photovoltaic cells
CaliSolar, a Sunnyvale, Calif. maker of solar cells has brought in $60 million in equity, rights and securities, reports VentureWire. This is a good amount for a company that just landed $101.8 million in November. It plans to use the new financing for a plant… Continue Reading
Ardian pumps in $47M for high blood pressure device
Ardian , developer of a device that could help treat high blood pressure, has brought in $47 million in a third round of funding led by Medtronic and including Emergent Medical Partners , Advanced Technology Ventures , Morgenthaler Ventures and Split Rock Partners .
Based in… Continue Reading
Digital storage provider Omneon calls off IPO
Omneon, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based provider of digital content storage and data processing services for media companies, announced that it has canceled its $115 million filing to go public due to poor market conditions. Its application had been in the hopper since December 2006.
The company has… Continue Reading
Medical device maker Emphasys on the auction block
Emphasys Medical, maker of a valve that diverts air to only the healthy parts of lungs in emphysema patients, has put itself up for sale after the Food and Drug Administration rejected its lead product in December. This is the second relatively recent defeat for… Continue Reading
Ardian nabs $30M to treat heart failure
Ardian, maker of a device used to treat symptoms of congestive heart failure, just brought in $30 million of an anticipated $60 million third round of capital, according to peHUB. Backers of the Menlo Park, Calif. company include Advanced Technology Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures and St…. Continue Reading
Plexxikon teams up with Roche, eyes $335M to fight kidney disease
Pharmaceutical company Plexxikon has joined forces with health care giant Roche for at least $60 million to develop a treatment for polycystic kidney disease, commonly called PKD. Under the terms of the deal, Roche will have full global rights to commercialize and market the compound,… Continue Reading
Strengthened by partnerships, cellulosic ethanol maker Coskata raises more money
The cellulosic ethanol company Coskata has managed to pull in a $40 million third investment round despite the recession. The amount is a significant boost for the company, which last took money early this year.
Coskata is becoming something of a standout among the newest generation… Continue Reading
CaliSolar raises over $100M for planned “dirty” silicon cell factory
There’s a shortage of the pure silicon used to make solar cells, but Sunnyvale, Calif-based CaliSolar doesn’t care. There’s plenty of the less refined stuff — what’s called metallurgical grade silicon — that the company says it can use in its own proprietary cells to… Continue Reading
What to expect from cleantech in the downturn
[Editor's note: This is an Op-Ed piece by Todd Kimmel, a principal at venture capital firm Advanced Technology Ventures. Kimmel was previously an entrepreneur-in-residence at ATV, which led him to co-found Coskata, one of the most promising cellulosic ethanol startups on the market, in 2006.... Continue Reading
Anagran gets $8.6 million for network traffic management
Anagran, a Sunnyvale, Calif. company that builds “flow management” products to help handle traffic on Internet service provider (ISP) and corporate networks, has taken $8.6 million in a fourth funding round.
Fairly often, flow management simply means handling peer to peer (P2P) traffic between users. The… Continue Reading
Packet Design takes $12M, likely the final round
Network routing and traffic analysis equipment maker Packet Design has raised a fourth round of funding, according to VentureWire.
This round, which Packet Design expects to be its last, will be used expand internationally.
This $12 million round following a $7.5 million third round secured in late… Continue Reading
Proteolix raises $79M for cancer treatment
Proteolix, which is developing drugs to treat cancer by disrupting key cell functions, has raised $79 million in a third round of funding, according to VentureWire. That’s the third largest biotech funding this year.
Nomura Phase4 Ventures, a new investor, led the round, with participation from… Continue Reading
E-Commerce marketing co. ChannelAdvisor raises cash, trims staff
ChannelAdvisor, a company that lets online retailers manage product marketing across marketplaces such as eBay, Amazon.com, Overstock.com and a series of shopping comparison sites, has raised an additional $20 million, VentureWire reports. The company has also laid off 70 of the company’s 350 employees —… Continue Reading
Low cost, super-efficient solar cells? Newly funded, Wakonda Technologies says it’s possible
In the solar cell market, there are three broad categories. Thin-film manufacturers produce cells that convert little of the sun’s energy to electricity, but are dirt cheap. Opposite thin-film, companies like Spectrolab and Emcore make highly efficient, but very expensive cells. Between are the standard… Continue Reading
Nuventix raises $14M for LED and electronics cooling technology
Austin, Texas-based Nuventix, which makes low cost, energy-efficient cooling technology for LEDs and consumer electronics, has received $14 million in third round funding led by Advanced Technology Ventures. Braemar Energy Ventures also joined the round.
The firm will use the proceeds to expand its range of… Continue Reading
Cardio drug maker Portola Pharmaceuticals takes $60M extension
San Francisco-based drug company Portola Pharmaceuticals has taken a $60 million extension to its third round of funding to see it through Phase II trials for betrixaban, a drug intended to prevent blood clots.
The company is also working on an antiplatelet agent called PRT060128. If… Continue Reading
Motorola buys into industrial wireless with Apprion investment
Apprion, a Moffet Field, Calif. company that makes wireless integration systems for harsh environments like industrial plants, has raised a new round of funding led by a strategic investment from cellular giant Motorola.
Plants are a little different from your standard wireless environment — temperature extremes,… Continue Reading