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: AgraQuest, BridgeHealth, CardioMems, Collegium Pharmaceutical, Emergin, Entegrion, gDiapers, Precision Therapeutics, PregLem

UPDATED: Expanded items on Entegrion, Collegium, and gDiapers. Added CardioMems item. New items posted on AgraQuest (link), BridgeHealth (link) and Precision Therapeutics (link).

Entegrion draws $4.7M for bleeding control — Entegrion, a Research Triangle Park, N.C., biotech focused on products that stop bleeding, raised $4.7 million in a second funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription req’d). Investors included BD Ventures, Catalysta Partners and unnamed individuals.

Entegrion’s main product is Stasix, a formulation derived from human platelet cells that promote blood clotting. Those cells are processed and freeze-dried into a powder, which can be applied directly to wounds or reconstituted and infused throughout the body. The U.S. military has picked up the tab for much of the product’s development, courtesy of congressional earmarks arranged by the North Carolina delegation.

Specialty drug maker Collegium Pharma nets $2.5M — Collegium Pharmaceutical, a Cumberland, R.I., specialty pharma developing drugs for neurological, respiratory and skin disorders, raised $2.5 million from insiders, VentureWire reports. Westfield Life Sciences Fund and Boston Millennia Partners provided the funding.

Like most specialty pharmas, Collegium licenses cast-off or failed drugs from other companies and pushes them through clinical testing. The company, which already markets drugs for acne and wound healing, said it may seek a fourth funding round depending on its 2008 sales. Collegium hopes to request marketing approval for a new allergy early next year.

CardioMems closes $33M funding for wireless heart sensors — Atlanta’s CardioMems, a device maker focused on wireless heart sensors, raised $33 million in a fifth funding round. Investors included Arcapita Ventures, Boston Millennia Partners, Medtronic, Easton Capital Partners, Foundation Medical Partners, Arboretum Ventures, Deerfield Capital Management, Vision Capital Advisors, Aperture Venture Partners and Rockport Venture Securities.

CardioMems’ first product is a sensor that can detects the pressure within an aneurysm, a weakened section of an arterial wall that is susceptible to rupture. We previously covered the company here.

Eco-friendly gDiapers pulls in new funding — Portland, Ore.-based gDiapers, a maker of biodegradable, flushable baby diapers, raised a second funding round. The company didn’t disclose how much it raised. 2x Consumer Products Growth Partners provided the funding. (For the amusing tale of a columnist who tried these diapers — complete with a mildly panicked online comment apparently from the gDiapers CEO — see this NJ Star-Ledger piece.)

HEADLINES OF NOTE:

• AgraQuest raises $20M for biotech pesticides (release)
• Precision Thera drops IPO, goes public via reverse merger (release)
• Women’s health co. PreLem raises CHF 36M (release)
• Entegrion draws $4.7M for bleeding control (VentureWire, sub req’d)
• Specialty drug maker Collegium Pharma nets $2.5M (VW)
• Medical tourism firm BridgeHealth raises $1M+ (release)
• Eco-friendly diaper co. gDiapers raises funding (VW)
• Wireless hospital-alarm co. Emergin acquired by Philips Electronics (release)

(UPDATED at 7:40pm PT: See below.)

Featured companies: Adnexus Therapeutics, BioForm Medical, Confirma, Cardiovascular Systems, Mirabilis Medica, Neuromed Pharmaceuticals, PlaCor, Seno Medical Instruments, Vibrynt

BioForm Medical files $115M IPO for “medical aesthetics” — BioForm Medical, a San Mateo, Calif., developer of wrinkle fillers and other products for cosmetic procedures, filed to raise $115 million in an initial offering. BioForm’s major customers are plastic surgeons and dermatologists.

BioForm, however, takes pains to describe itself differently on its Web site. There, BioForm says it is “a privately-held medical device company developing and commercializing injectable implant products for soft and hard tissue augmentation.” It goes on to note that its main product, Radiesse, is marketed for “radiographic tissue marking, vocal cord insufficiency, craniofacial augmentation, and outside of the U.S for facial soft tissue augmentation.”

That all sounds pretty serious — nothing like expensive wrinkle treatments, right? But in its IPO filing, where stretching the truth could get it in trouble with the SEC, BioForm describes itself straightforwardly as “a medical aesthetics company focused on developing and commercializing products that are used by physicians to enhance a patient’s appearance.” As for Radiesse, it notes that “[w]e obtained FDA pre-market approval, or PMA, for our key commercial application of Radiesse, the correction of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds in December 2006.”

BioForm is not profitable, and its losses have widened over the past three years, although sales have increased over that period. The company accumulated a net loss of $35.2 million from 2005 to 2007 (its fiscal year ends June 30).

Stealthy Vibrynt raises $16M for medical devices — Vibrynt, a Mountain View, Calif., medical-device maker that has just spun out of the ExploraMed device incubator, raised $16 million in a first funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required), citing regulatory filings. Investors included New Enterprise Associates and Delphi Ventures; NEA backs ExploraMed.

The financing closed in April. Vibrynt doesn’t have a Web site and hasn’t yet disclosed details about its technology.

Cardiovascular Systems raises $12.5M against peripheral artery disease — Cardiovascular Systems, a St. Paul, Minn., device maker focused on the removal of arterial plaque, raised $12.5 million in a still-open extension of its first funding round, VentureWire reports. The funding reportedly came from “some” of the company’s original investors, a group that includes Easton Capital Group, Maverick Capital, Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners and ITX Institutional Holdings.

Cardiovascular Systems has developed a device that essentially “sands” artery-blocking deposits known as plaque from the inside surfaces of blood vessels. The catheter-based device uses a rotating, diamond-coated head to scrub plaque from arteries. The company told VentureWire it is anticipating FDA clearance of the device within the next few weeks.

Mirabilis Medica gets $10.5M for fibroid treatment — Seattle’s Mirabilis Medica, a medical-device company focused on women’s health, raised $10.5 million in an extension to its first funding round. Investors included Arboretum Ventures, Split Rock Partners, Dow Venture Capital, and an individual investor.

Mirabilis Medica uses high-intensity, focused ultrasound to destroy tumors such as uterine fibroids by denaturing cellular proteins and causing cells to collapse into piles of goo. The company says the device may ultimately useful in other applications as well, but hasn’t yet specified them.

Confirma gets $2 million for medical-image analysis — Bellevue, Wash.-based Confirma, a maker of computer systems that automate the interpretation of medical images, raised $2 million in bridge financing on its way to a potential $15 million third round, VentureWire reports. Fluke Venture Partners provided the funding. Confirma’s first product analyzes MRI breast scans, and the company plans to launch a similar system for prostate MRIs later this year.

PlaCor receives $3.5M for blood diagnostics — Plymouth, Minn.-based PlaCor, which just named a new CEO yesterday (see the last item in our briefing here), has also raised $3.5 million in a second funding round, VentureWire reports. Funding was provided by “accredited angel investors,” the company told VentureWire. PlaCor develops diagnostic tests of platelet reactivity, which can help physicians monitor patient response to blood-thinning drugs that help prevent or break up clots.

Neuromed raises $53M, some from mystery investors – Vancouver’s Neuromed Pharmaceuticals, battered earlier this month after it discontinued work on a new pain drug in collaboration with Merck (see our coverage in the third item of this daily briefing), raised $53.3 million in a fifth funding round. The company didn’t disclose the lead investors or new investors in the round, acknowledging only “significant participation” from existing investors including MPM Capital, James Richardson & Sons, Neuro Discovery LP, GrowthWorks Capital (Working Opportunity Fund), BDC Venture Capital, CMDF, and the Royal Bank of Canada.

Neuromed, whose partnership with Merck continues, also recently licensed another experimental pain drug from a J&J subsidiary. BioWorld has more here.

Adnexus files for $86M IPO to develop new targeted biologics — Adnexus Therapeutics, a Waltham, Mass., biotech working on a new class of drugs it calls “Adnectins,” filed to raise as much as $86.25 million in an IPO. The company’s Adnectin drug candidates are engineered proteins derived from human fibronectin, a natural protein that plays a role in wound healing and binding cell receptor proteins.

Adnexus has seven drug candidates in development, only one of which has proceeded to human testing. The company intends to target cancer and other conditions such as autoimmune and neurodegenerative disease. (See our earlier coverage of the company in the fourth item of this daily briefing.)

Seno receives $2M for early cancer detection — Seno Medical Instruments, a San Antonio, Tex., device maker focused on early cancer detection, received $2 million from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. Seno is developing “opto-acoustic” technology designed to indicate the presence of new blood vessels that feed tumors.

UPDATE (10:15am PT): Added items on Mirabilis Medica, Confirm and PlaCor.

UPDATE REDUX (7:40pm PT): Added items on Neuromed, Adnexus and Seno.

(UPDATED at 6:40pm PT: See below.)

Featured companies: Nereus Phramaceuticals, KFx Medical, NeuroMed Pharmaceuticals, Adnexus Therapeutics, Masimo, Biofisica, Aegera Therapeutics, LymphoSign, InfuScience, Palmetto Infusion Services

Nereus Pharma raises $45M for ocean-derived cancer drugs — San Diego’s Nereus Pharmaceuticals, a biotech that searches for cancer drugs in marine microbes, raised $45 million in a follow-on to its fourth funding round.

The company features an all-star lineup of investors, which includes BankInvest, Roche Venture Fund, Astellas Venture Management, Boston Life Science Venture Corporation, Taiwan Global Biofund, Eminent Venture Capital, HBM BioVentures, Alta Partners, Forward Ventures, Advent International, GIMV, InterWest Partners and Pacific Venture Group.

From the press release:

The proceeds from the financing will be drawn down in two tranches and used to complete Phase I and begin Phase II clinical trials for Nereus’ two drug candidates. The first compound, NPI-2358, is being evaluated for the treatment of solid tumors and lymphomas in Phase I clinical trials. It is a potent, selective tumor vascular disrupting agent (VDA), a class of compounds that represents a novel approach to disrupting the intrinsic tumor blood flow, which leads to tumor cell death. NPI-2358 has favorable preclinical characteristics, such as a longer duration of action on tumor blood flow, activity against multi-drug resistant tumor cell lines and a favorable preclinical toxicology profile. The compound is one of 200 analogues that were produced after finding activity and novel chemistry from a marine fungal extract.

Nereus’ proteasome inhibitor NPI-0052 is in Phase I trials for solid tumors, lymphomas and multiple myeloma. Preclinical studies indicate that this next generation compound may be superior to Velcade(R), with broader target inhibition, faster onset of action, higher potency, oral and intravenous availability, and activity against myeloma cells resistant to Velcade(R) (bortezomib, Millennium), Thalomid(R) (thalidomide, Celgene Corporation), Revlimid(R) (lenalidomide, Celgene Corporation) and steroid therapy. NPI-0052 was derived from a marine-obligate gram-positive actinomycete (Salinispora tropica).

Rotator-cuff specialist KFx Medical raises $10M — San Diego’s KFx Medical, a Carlsbad, Calif., developer of minimally invasive repair systems for rotator-cuff injuries, raised $10 million in a second funding round. Investors included Alloy Ventures, Charter Life Sciences, Arboretum Ventures, Montreux Equity Partners, and MB Venture Partners.

It’s pretty difficult for a non-surgeon to figure out exactly how KFx’s system works better than current medical practice, but if you’re interested in a look, check it out here.

NeuroMed Pharma drops Merck work on pain drug, raises $36M — Vancouver-based NeuroMed Pharmaceuticals, a biotech focused on new pain meds, discontinued Merck-funded work on an experimental pain drug called MK-6721. The Merck collaboration, valued at as much as $475 million, will continue.

Separately, NeuroMed has raised $36 million toward a fifth funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). That round isn’t yet complete, and the investors haven’t been disclosed. The funding is designed to pay for completing late-stage human trials of a separate pain drug the company recently licensed from a J&J subsidiary.

Adnexus raises $15.5M against cancer — Adnexus Therapeutics, a Waltham, Mass., biotech developing a new class of drugs against cancer and other diseases, raised $15.5 million in a third funding round. Investors included HBM BioVentures (Cayman), Atlas Venture, Flagship Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners and Venrock. The company intends to use the proceeds to further clinical development of its lead candidate, Angiocept, which is currently in early-stage trials in cancer.

Masimo IPO raises $233 million, jumps 23% on first day — Irvine, Calif.-based Masimo, a major developer of non-invasive patient monitors, priced its IPO in the middle of its predicted range of $16 to $18 per share, raising as much as $232.9 million — just shy of the quarter-million-dollar mark we discussed here. Since the offering involved a hefty chunk of shares sold by existing shareholders, however, the company can only pocket up to $55.9 million of the proceeds. Investors received the offering warmly, pushing the stock up to $20.90 yesterday, a rise of 23 percent.

Biofisica raises $2M in venture debt for wound healing — Atlanta’s Biofisica, a medical-device maker focused on wound healing, raised $2 million in debt financing from Leader Ventures. The company makes an electrical-stimulation device designed to speed the healing of wounds, and currently sells it in the United Kingdom.

Aegera acquires LymphoSign, uniting two Canadian oncology biotechs — Aegera Therapeutics, a Montreal biotech focused on cancer, acquired Toronto’s LymphoSign, another cancer-specialized biotech, for undisclosed terms. Several shareholders also made additional investments in Aegera’s previously announced third funding round.

InfuScience acquires Palmetto Infusion Services — InfuScience, a Chicago provider of drug-infusion therapy, acquired Palmetto Infusion Services of Beaufort, S.C., for an undisclosed sum.

UPDATE (6:40pm PT): Added KFx Medical item.

Thermocure, a new Sunnyvale, Calif., medical-device company, raised $125,000 in a first funding round, VentureWire reports. The funding came from Arboretum Ventures.

There doesn’t seem to be a great deal of information about what Thermocure is working on; VentureWire appears to have gotten the heads-up from an SEC filing that’s available only on paper. As they write:

According to the filing, Amir Belson, chief technology officer and co-founder of endoscopy device maker NeoGuide Systems Inc., is an officer and director at Thermocure. Maurice Werdegar, investment partner at Western Technology Investment, is also a director.