CeNeRx takes $15M to fight depression
CeNeRx BioPharma recently raised $15 million in a second round of funding contributed by Aisling Capital, L Capital Partners and Pappas Ventures. The Cary, N.C. company specializes in treatments for central nervous system disorders. It plans to use the money to push its lead drug candidate, Tyrima — intended for treatment of severe depression — through the second phase of clinical trials.
This is CeNeRx’s first round of funding since 2005, when it raised $18.5 million…. Continue Reading
Tria Beauty raises $30M to remove your excess back hair
Tria Beauty (formerly known as SpectraGenics), the Pleasanton, Calif. maker of a device that uses lasers for hair removal, has raised $30 million in its fifth round of financing.
Unlike similar devices, Tria’s hair removal system has been cleared for home use. While it has been sold for some time in Japan and some European countries, the device was also recently approved for the United States by the FDA.
To date, laser hair removal has been an… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Feb. 15, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Q Thera takes in $15M for neural stem-cell treatments (release)
Stroke clotbuster Concentric Medical withdraws IPO (IPOhome)
Avera recaps with $9M to relaunch human tests of GI drug (VentureWire)
Tissue repairer Nerites raises $5.7M (release)
Semafore Pharma aims for $7.5M to launch new cancer-drug trials (VentureWire)
Triage Wireless gets $6.7M for “cuffless” blood-pressure monitors (peHUB)
MAKO Surgicals prices IPO, falls in first day of trading (WSJ)
ImmunoCellular acquires assets of Molecular Antibody Technology (release)
Q Thera takes in $15M for neural stem-cell… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2007
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Teva acquires protein-therapeutic maker CoGenesys for $400M (release)
ViewRay takes in $25M for MRI radiation-therapy guidance (release)
NovaMed, Chinese clinical-research outfit, receives $14M (release)
Progentix Ortho raises first funding round (release)
Medical imaging co. Point Biomedical recaps with $25M (VentureWire)
Lumidigm takes in $7M for optical-fingerprint ID systems (VW)
Medical-software co. Compressus aims to close $14M round (VW)
Channel Medical Partners aims for $150M med-tech fund (VW)
Spinal-implant maker Scient’x names Michael Huggins as CEO (release)
Specialty pharma Cardiokine names Manuel Worcel as… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Dec. 14, 2007
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
AcryMed, wound-healing specialist, sells itself to I-Flow for $25M (release)
Stent maker Devax pulls $85M IPO filing (Edgar)
Cempra Pharma gets $10M for anti-infective drugs (TechJournal South)
Genesis Genomics takes in C$312K for DNA-based diagnostics (GenomeWeb)
AcryMed, wound-healing specialist, sells itself to I-Flow for $25M — AcryMed, a Beaverton, Ore., device maker focused on bleeding control and wound healing, agreed to sell itself to I-Flow, a publicly traded maker of drug-delivery systems, for $25 million in cash. The… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Dec. 3, 2007
Featured companies: CoMentis, ForHealth Technologies, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, QuantomiX, Progenitor Cell Therapy, River Diagnostics, Topaz Pharmaceuticals
UPDATED: Expanded items on CoMentis, Topaz and ForHealth.
CoMentis gets $12M for eye, Alzheimer’s treatments — South San Francisco’s CoMentis, a biotech pursuing treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and macular degeneration, raised $12 million in a third funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Wellington Management provided the funding.
The company’s lead drug candidate, ATG003, is an eye drop designed to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007
(UPDATED at 5:55pm PT: See below.)
Featured companies: Sierra Surgical Technologies, HerbalScience Nutraceuticals, Topigen Pharmaceuticals, EKR Therapeutics, Molecular Partners, Celsense, Glucose Sensing Technologies, Falcon Genomics, Waters, Calorimetry Sciences, Parion Sciences, Gilead Sciences, Isto Technologies, Fluidnet, NABsys
Sierra Surgical raises $7.1M — Palo Alto, Calif.-based Sierra Surgical Technologies, a developer of female sterilization technology, raised $7.1 million in a first funding round, PE Hub reports, citing a regulatory filing. Alta Partners and De Novo Ventures provided the funding.
Singapore’s HerbalScience raises… Continue Reading
Antibiotic maker BioRelix gets $26M
BioRelix, a New Haven, Conn., developer of new antibiotics, raised $25.75 million in a first funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). The round included New Leaf Venture Partners, Aisling Capital, CHL Medical Partners, Novartis Venture Fund, Elm Street Ventures and Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
BioRelix is developing antibiotics that target what the company says are common stretches of bacterial RNA that control many functions essential for bacterial survival. The funding should allow the company to push… Continue Reading