Metabolex takes $8.6M to treat diabetes
Metabolex, maker of treatments for Type 2 diabetes, has raised $8.6 million in a fifth round of funding to fund trials on its newest product. Based in Hayward, Calif., the company is backed by Alta Partners, Bay City Capital, Birchmere Ventures, Charter Ventures, Merlin Biomed, Novo Ventures, Next Chapter Holdings, VantagePoint Venture Partners, Venrock and Versant Ventures.
Aviir pumps up with $1M for heart diagnostics
Aviir, the Palo Alto, Calif. company that turned Stanford research into technology used to diagnose heart conditions, has brought in $1 million in equity, debt, rights and securities, according to a filing with the SEC. It adds this amount to $1 million raised in August and $7.8 million in bridge financing secured in January from Aberdare Ventures, Bay City Capital and New Leaf Venture Partners. Before that it raised funds in March 2008 amounting to… Continue Reading
Hyperion raises $60M to battle urea cycle disorders
Hyperion Therapeutics, developer of treatments for urea cycle disorders and illnesses, has brought in $60 million in a third round of financing from Bay City Capital, Panorama Capital, Highland Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates and Sofinnova Ventures.
Based in South San Francisco, the company recently completed phase-two clinical trials for its lead drug candidate and says the new capital will be used to push it through phase three. This therapy is targeted at patients who are… Continue Reading
VIA Pharmaceuticals nabs loan for cardiovascular treatment
Public biotech company VIA Pharmaceuticals secured a loan of up to $10 million from Bay City Capital to fuel further development of its lead drug candidate for cardiovascular disease, reports VentureWire. Bay City was the company’s only backer before it went public in 2007.
Based in San Francisco, the company makes a pill that reduces the inflammation of blood vessels that leads to heart attacks or strokes. It is currently in phase-two clinical trials. VIA has… Continue Reading
Public biotech firms Cadence, Affymax draw $128M from bargain-hunting VCs
Much has been written about how the IPO market froze out biotech companies in 2008, but it looks like times are also tough for those who went public before the economy soured. Cadence Pharmaceuticals has seen a dip in stock price from $9 to $7.53 and drug-maker Affymax has dropped from $25 to $14.12 a share since their IPOs in 2006. But VCs hunting for bargains just agreed to infuse the two companies with $86.6… Continue Reading
Aviir pumps in $7.8M for heart diagnostics
Stealthy biotech firm Aviir just raised a $7.8 million bridge round of financing to last it through the rest of 2009, according to VentureWire. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., the company hasn’t released much information about its actual products — only that its methods may eventually be used to detect early warning signs of heart disease, heart attacks or strokes on the molecular level.
Born out of research conducted in Stanford University labs, the technology will… 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 treatment, dutogliptin, which is currently in its third phase of clinical trials. The deal represented $75 million for the company up front, with potentially more to come as the drug… Continue Reading
Nevro raises $22 million for pain therapy
Nevro Corp. has raised $22 million in a first round of funding. The Palo Alto, Calif. company is conducting clinical trials for its neuromodulation therapy for chronic pain. New investor Accuitive Medical Ventures joined return investors Aberdare Ventures, Bay City Capital, Mayo Clinic, MPM Capital and Three Arch Partners. Nevro raised a $5.5 million seed round in 2006.
Life-science briefing: Friday, April 11, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Stent maker IDev Tech raises $25M (VentureWire)
Xytis gets $15M for brain-injury drugs (VentureWire)
Diagnostic maker Iris Biotech plans to go public, launch breast-cancer test (Edgar)
RiverVest Venture Partners raises $75M life-science fund (release)
Concentric Medical names Maria Sainz CEO (release)
[Note: I’m a little sad to announce that this will be my last life-science briefing at VentureBeat, although with luck, it won’t be the end of my time here. Starting Monday, I’ll be blogging regularly on the drug industry and… Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Wednesday, April 2, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
ProGenTech takes in $21M for DNA purification systems (release)
Diabetes-drug maker Phenomix raises $18M while seeking IPO (Edgar)
Genome-tool maker BioTrove gets $23M in preparation for IPO (Edgar)
Sweden’s DermaGen pulls in more than €1M for dermatitis (release)
Digital health-record co. Medsphere receives $3M bridge (VentureWire)
CareAnyware, healthcare IT provider, takes $2M in debt (release)
Health B2B community CompareNetworks raises funding (release)
ActivBiotics assets sold for $3.5M (release)
ProGenTech takes in $21M for DNA purification systems – ProGenTech, an “East-West” tool and equipment maker,… Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Monday, March 10, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
BrainCells raises $30M for neuroregeneration drugs (release)
EKR Therapeutics takes in $50M plus $95M in debt for pain, heart drugs (release)
Wright Medical acquires Berkeley’s Inbone Tech for $24M (release)
Argolyn Bioscience names Nixon Ellis as CEO (release)
BrainCells raises $30M for neuroregeneration drugs – San Diego’s BrainCells, a startup focused on drugs intended to stimulate the growth of new neurons, raised $30 million in a second funding round. Investors included MedImmune Ventures, Bay City Capital, Oxford Bioscience Partners,… 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: Monday, Jan. 7, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Surgical-device maker Aragon Surgical receives $25M (release)
Tacere Therapeutics strikes RNAi deal with Pfizer for up to $145M (release)
Benvenue Medical raises $15M for spine-repair devices (release)
Genome-association co. Genizon BioSciences draws C$31M (release)
Contract research organization Inclinix pulls in $10M (release)
EPocrates, healthcare IT developer, gets strategic investment from Goldman Sachs (release)
ZyGem closes first funding round (release)
Onset Ventures names John Ryan partner (release)
Retired Scripps immunologist Richard Ulevitch joins 5AM Ventures (release)
SV Life Sciences promotes Darren Black to partner… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007
Featured companies: Aveo Pharmaceuticals, Aviir, deltaDot, Origen Therapeutics
Heart-diagnostic maker Aviir raises $11.3M — Palo Alto, Calif.-based Aviir, a biotech developing cardiovascular diagnostics based on Stanford research, raised $11.3 million of an expected $25 million second funding round, PE Hub reports. The news is presumably from one of those paper-based SEC filings that are supposed to be digitized before long.
Investors include Bay City Capital, Aberdare Ventures and New Leaf Ventures. Aviir hasn’t said much about its technology… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2007
(UPDATED at 3:10pm PT: See below.)
Featured companies: Agendia, EndoGastric Solutions, FlowCo, Gentris, MedManage Systems, ParagonDx, Presidio Pharmaceuticals, Xoova
Presidio Pharma raises $26M for viral treatments — San Francisco’s Presidio Pharmaceuticals, a biotech developing new antiviral drugs, raised $26 million in a second funding round. Investors included Panorama Capital, Baker Brothers Investments, Bay City Capital, Ventures West Capital, Nexus Medical Partners, Sagamore Bioventures, George Rathmann Fund and Peninsula Overview Partners.
Presidio’s lead drug candidates take aim at HIV, hepatitis… Continue Reading
Vivaldi Biosciences scoops up $2M for flu vaccines
Vivaldi Biosciences, a San Francisco developer of flu vaccines and therapies, raised $2 million in a first round of funding, VentureWire reports (subscription required). The initial funding was raised through Bay City Capital.
Vivaldi is reportedly working on live attenuated vaccines for influenza and a potential drug for treating the flu. The company plans to push some of its candidates into the clinic by the middle of next year, and plans to focus on the elderly,… Continue Reading
Inflammation drug maker Conatus Pharma completes $27.5M round
Conatus Pharmaceuticals, a San Diego developer of drugs for inflammation and liver disease, closed a $22 million private placement that brings its first round of funding to $27.5 million. Investors included Aberdare Ventures, Advent Venture Partners, Bay City Capital, and Gilde Healthcare Partners.
Conatus was founded by former executives of Idun Pharmaceuticals in mid-2005 after Pfizer acquired their company. The funding will support mid-stage clinical trials of its lead compound, CTS-1027, for liver disease. The first… Continue Reading
Metabolex raises $32 million for metabolic disease treatment
Hayward, Calif.’s Metabolex, a biotech company developing treatments for diabetes and related metabolic disorders, said it has raised $32 million in a fourth round of financing.
It was led by MPM BioEquities. New investors AllianceBernstein, Deerfield Management and T. Rowe Price also participated in the round, joined by existing investors Alta Partners, Bay City Capital, Biotech Turnaround Fund, Birchmere Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, KBC Funds, Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch, Pictet Funds (LUX) – Biotecho,… Continue Reading
SF venture firm Bay City Capital out to raise $425 million
San Francisco-based venture firm Bay City Capital is looking to raise a fifth fund with a $425 million target, according to PE Wire. Its most recent fund, raised in 2004, totaled $350 million. The usual creep.
MAP Pharma raises $50M for respiratory and CNS disease treatments
MAP Pharmaceuticals, a Mountain View, Calif, developer of treatments for respiratory and central-nervous-system diseases, said it raised $50 million in a fourth round of venture funding.
See statement here.
New investor, the D.E. Shaw group, joined previous investors, including Perseus-Soros Biopharmaceutical Fund, Pequot Ventures, Brookside Capital, Bay City Capital and Skyline Ventures.
MAP recently completed the second phases of clinical trials for its treatments for pediatric asthma and migraine. The company plans to use the new funds… Continue Reading