Intuitive Surgical buys NeoGuide for less invasive surgical tech

Intuitive Surgical, provider of large robotic surgical equipment, announced its acquisition of NeoGuide Systems, a San Jose, Calif., company that makes minimally invasive surgical devices. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Intuitive says it doesn’t have a specific application for NeoGuide’s technology yet but is most interested in devices that access the body through the mouth, reports VentureWire.

NeoGuide was backed by Advent Venture Partners, Angels Forum, Halo Fund, Arboretum Ventures, 3i Group,… Continue Reading

BAROnova pulls in funds for weight-loss tech

Medical technology company BAROnova announced today that it brought in $7.5 million in a second round of funding led by pharmaceutical firm Allergan. It plans to use the money to continue developing a weight loss device called the TransPyloric Shuttle.

Basically, the shuttle is installed at the pylorus, the opening of the small intestine located at the bottom of the stomach (it’s inserted endoscopically). The goal of the mechanism is to cause users to feel full… Continue Reading

Life-science briefing: Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Life-science briefing: Tuesday, March 25, 2008

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,… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007

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… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007

(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…. Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007

(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… Continue Reading

Stealthy device maker Thermocure pulls in $125,000

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… Continue Reading