Pain treatment maker TorreyPines saved by Raptor merger
TorreyPines Therapeutics, maker of pain management medication, has skirted failure through a $1.4 million merger deal with Raptor Therapeutics. The deal dictates that Raptor will become a full subsidiary of TorreyPines, which is publicly traded on the Nasdaq, but the new entity will take on… Continue Reading
Aerovance inhales $38M for asthma drugs
Aerovance, developer of asthma medications, just brought in $38 million in a post-recapitalized third round of funding to push its lead drug candidate through a second phase of clinical trials. The company has already received $20 million, with the option of claiming the remaining $18… Continue Reading
Sanarus raises $3M to battle breast cancer
Sanarus Medical, maker of a device used to diagnose and treat breast cancer, brought in $3 million in convertible note funding from existing investors, reports VentureWire. It’s currently working on a product that uses ultrasound technology to detect the early stages of the disease.
The Pleasanton,… 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
Dogster still has its bite despite the downturn
Dogster, the social network for dogs and their owners, just converted $425,000 in bridge funds into additional first-round financing, reports VentureWire. After a profitable 2008, raising a second round isn’t as pressing, the company says — citing a broader trend of success for sites catering… Continue Reading
Intradigm closes $21.4M for cancer therapeutics
Biotech firm Intradigm has tacked an additional $2.9 million onto its second round of funding, bringing its total to $21.4 million. The new money will be used to advance its RNA interference-based line of therapeutics used to treat cancer.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company says it… Continue Reading
Arete nabs $16.7M more to treat metabolic disorders
Biotech company Arete Therapeutics brought in $16.7 million in the final tranche of a first round of funding that now totals $51 million. The Hayward, Calif.-based company will use the money to push its lead treatment for metabolic syndrome through a second phase of clinical… Continue Reading
Cancer drug developer ChemoCentryx cancels IPO
Mountain View, Calif.-based biotech firm ChemoCentryx announced that it withdrew its filing to go public, citing (as per usual) unfavorable market conditions. The company, which develops drugs to treat cancer and autoimmune ailments like Crohn’s disease, raked in $50 million from its partner GlaxoSmithKline just… Continue Reading
Oracle scoops up Tacit’s intellectual property
Oracle announced yesterday that it has purchased intellectual property rights from Tacit Software for an undisclosed amount. The smaller, Palo Alto, Calif.-based company makes applications for sharing knowledge across companies.
Its KnowledgeMail product, for instance, culls information from employees’ email accounts, and other sources to determine… Continue Reading
Phenomix cancels IPO, finds new lab partner
Biopharmaceuticals company Phenomix withdrew its filing to go public yesterday and right away announced a $340-million collaboration deal with Forest Laboratories. The IPO, intended to raise $86.3 million, had been pending since January.
Forest will aid the San Diego-based firm in the development of its diabetes… Continue Reading
Intradigm lands $18.5M to advance oncology treatment
Intradigm, a biotech company that develops RNA interference treatments for cancer, announced today that it took $18.5 million in a second round of financing that included new investors Lilly Ventures, Roche Venture Fund, MP Healthcare Venture Management, and existing investors Alta Partners, Frazier Healthcare Ventures,… Continue Reading
Xelerated raises $13 million for fast networking chips
Xelerated, a maker of networking chip sets for carriers, has raised a $13 million round from its existing investors.
Sixth Swedish National Pension Fund led the round. Others included Accel Partners, Alta Partners, Amadeus Capital Partners and Atlas Ventures.
The company said in a news release that… Continue Reading
Sierra Surgical raises $14.5M for female sterilization
Sierra Surgical, a medical device company in stealth mode, has raised $14.5 million in a second round of funding, according to VentureWire. Existing investors Alta Partners and De Novo Ventures providing the financing.
The only information the Palo Alto, Calif. startup has provided is that its… 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
Vaccsys raises $9 million for vaccine research
Vaccsys, a company that does vaccine research, has raised $9 million of a planned $18 million round from Alta Partners, Versant Venture Capital and The Column Group.
Vaccsys’s web site is here, although it’s still under construction.
Update: As part of the new funding, Vaccsys is relaunching… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, March 5, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Precision Thera merger with “blank check” Oracle Healthcare collapses (release)
Sleep Solutions takes in $21M for sleep-apnea diagnostics (release)
Trevena takes in $24M for drugs targeting G-proteins (release)
“Specialty biotech” PanGenetics gets €23M for antibody drugs (release)
Cancer-drug maker Unibioscreen pulls in €5M (release)
Danish contract manufacturer CMC Biologics… Continue Reading
Agami Systems takes $45M for network storage
Agami, a Sunnyvale-based storage company, has raised a further $45 million in funding, coming near to the $50 million we reported the might be seeking in November.
The company also has an option to extend the funding round, its third. Advanced Equities led, and was joined… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Feb. 1, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Taligen Therapeutics raises $65M for novel anti-inflammatory drugs (release)
Dental-implant maker Biohorizons acquires Implant Logic (release)
MAKO Surgical sets IPO terms, seeks $94M for knee implants and robots (Edgar)
Canada’s Medical Ventures acquires two Israeli device startups (release)
CRO Chiltern acquires Drug Development Solutions (release)
Taligen Therapeutics raises $65M… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Jan. 31, 2007
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
5AM Ventures puts $3.3M into stealthy ImmunoNewco (VBLS exclusive)
NewLink Genetics raises $17M for cancer vaccine, immune drugs (VBLS exclusive)
Biochip, stem-cell biotech Minerva Bio ousts CEO Jim Czirr and sues (release)
Sonexa Therapeutics takes $30M for Alzheimer’s treatment (release)
Tissue regenerator Healionics pulls in $1.7M (release)
EGeen, clinical… Continue Reading
The fundamental biology of making biotech proteins without cells, courtesy of Fundamental Applied Biology
Biotechnology owes its birth as an industry to the discovery of recombinant DNA, which allowed researchers to make particular proteins by tinkering with cellular genomes. Inserting the gene for human insulin into a bacterial cell, for instance, turns it into an insulin factory. The same… Continue Reading