Revascular adds $3M to clear arteries

Revascular Therapeutics, maker of a device that helps doctors clear blockages in major arteries, has tacked on $3 million to a second round of funding, bringing its total to $11 million, reports VentureWire. The Sunnyvale, Calif., company hopes to add $1 million more to fully fund a study on its lead product.

Revascular’s device — which combines light and sound to guide physicians through vein-clearing procedures — is under testing in Europe expected to finish in… Continue Reading

New $32M round helps APT battle lung transplant rejection

APT Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today that it has raised $32 million in its second round from a flock of investors led by Three Arch Partners, and including InterWest Partners, Pinnacle Ventures, Charter Life Sciences, Great Point Partners, Versant Ventures and Vivo Ventures.

APT, headquartered in Burlingame, Calif., develops drugs to combat lung diseases. Currently, the spotlight is on a compound that could prevent lung transplant rejection. The company plans to use the $55 million brought in… Continue Reading

XLumena raises $6.15M for endoscopic devices

XLumena, a Mountain View, Calif. maker of endosurgical devices, has raised $6.15 million for a new line of endoscopic examination tools, according to VentureWire.

The company develop and sell ultrasound devices that are capable of clearly viewing internal organs.

Prism VentureWorks led the round, and was joined by Ascent Biomedical Ventures and Charter Life Sciences. XLumena was founded in 2007.

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007

Featured companies: 23andMe, APT Pharmaceuticals, Hyperion Therapeutics, Isis Biopolymer, Virogenomics

UPDATED at 10:30am PT.

APT Pharma raises $22M for transplant and heart drugs — Burlingame, Calif.’s APT Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharma currently focused on a drug to fight organ-transplant rejection, raised $22 million in an extension of its first funding round. Investors included Versant Ventures, Great Point Partners, Vivo Ventures and Charter Life Sciences.

APT, which acquires its drug candidates instead of developing them itself, has raised a total of… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Aug. 24, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Aug. 24, 2007

(UPDATED at 11am PT on Sunday, 8/26/07: See below.)

Featured companies: Clinical Data, Epidauros Biotechnologie, Precision Therapeutics, UMD, Zars Pharma

UMD to close $8M for menstrual pain and osteoporosis — Cincinnati’s UMD, a developer of vaginal drug-delivery technologies, expects to close up to $8 million in a fifth funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). The company has backing from an undisclosed new investor, and expects former investors Charter Life Sciences and Asset Management to join the round.

UMD is developing… 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