Shell buys bigger stake in biofuel enzyme co. Codexis
In an effort to commercialize next-generation biofuels by 2013, Royal Dutch Shell has taken a bigger stake in Redwood City, Calif. biofuel technology company Codexis. The two companies struck a five-year deal in 2007 that infused Codexis with $30 million and gave Shell a seat on its board. This new deal is said to be roughly the same and nabs Shell another seat.
Codexis doesn’t actually make the biofuels itself. Rather, it engineers the super enzymes… Continue Reading
Pelikan closes $25M for handheld diagnostics
Pelikan Technologies, maker of medical devices for diagnosing and monitoring diabetes, just brought in $25 million from undiclosed investors, reports VentureWire. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., the company spun out of Agilent Technologies in 2001 with the launch of its Pelikan Sun line, an electronic lancing device used to test blood sugar.
This round of capital brings its total raised to $145 million (it last raised $89 million at the end of 2007). Past investors (that… Continue Reading
Broncus inhales $38M to treat lung disease, eyes IPO
Broncus Technologies, developer of devices to treat emphysema and other lung ailments, may make a second run at going public after bringing in $38 million in seventh-round funding to break even, reports VentureWire. The Mountain View, Calif. company first filed for a $75 million IPO last November, but withdrew in June due to the flagging lifescience market.
Resuscitated in July with $10 million in debt financing from Western Technology Investment, Broncus plans to release two cancer-fighting… Continue Reading
Pelikan scoops up $12.5M for diabetes diagnostics
Pelikan Technologies, maker of diagnostic and health-monitoring devices that can be used by regular people, nabbed a $12.5 million tranche of an expected $25 million seventh round of funding, according to VentureWire. Its flagship product, the handheld diabetes tester Pelikan Sun, is already on the market and is even being targeted for children.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company has raised $145 million to date. Its most recent round amounted to $69 million last December. Contributors to… Continue Reading
Revance absorbs $8M for topical Botox
Aesthetic drug developer Revance Therapeutics has landed $8 million in venture debt financing from Leader Ventures and Horizon Technology Finance. The money will be used to push its lead compound, a topical form of botulinum toxin type A (popularly known as Botox), through clinical stage trials.
While the injected form of the chemical has gained notoriety in the media, in reality, only about 10 percent of the targeted market (about 25 million women) has used it…. Continue Reading
S*BIO takes $26M for cancer therapeutics
Pharmaceutical company S*BIO announced today that it raised $26 million in second-round funding to help push two new cancer treatment candidates through a second phase of clinical trials. Aravis Venture Associates and Bio*One Capital led the round, which also included Lacuna Apo BioTech and Zurcher Kantonalbank.
The Singapore-based company, which also has offices in Redwood City, Calif., has raised a total of $100 million since its inception in 2000. It received seed funding from Singapore Economic… Continue Reading
Pelikan Tech to push “finger friendly” diabetes testing
One of the constant but unavoidable challenges in trying to control diabetes is the frequent need to test blood-sugar levels by sticking a needle into a fingertip — a step that tells diabetics when they need a snack (to raise blood glucose) or a shot of insulin (to lower it). “Lancing” fingers several times a day can render the tips so tender that it restricts ordinary activity — playing the piano, for instance — for… Continue Reading