VentureBeat

Woburn, Mass.-based BioVex, a biotech working on new ways to attack cancer and infections, raised $22 million in a fifth funding round. Triathlon Medical Ventures led the round, joined by New Science Ventures, Forbion Capital Ventures, Avalon Ventures, Credit Agricole Private Equity, GeneChem Management, Innoven Partners and Scottish Equity Partners.

BioVex is developing so-called oncolytic viruses, which are designed to infect and destroy tumor cells — long a promising but never-proven anti-cancer technique. The company put an unusual twist on the concept by adding a gene to a herpes simplex virus that expresses GM-CSF (granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor), a molecule that stimulates a strong immune response. Ideally, this virus should infect tumor cells while leaving healthy cells alone, then hijack the tumor cells’ own internal machinery to manufacture GM-CSF, stimulating an immune response that should also be directed at the tumor cells.

That experimental drug, OncoVex GM-CSF, is currently in mid-stage human tests against skin cancer and early tests against head and neck cancer. BioVex is also developing a vaccine against genital herpes. The company had filed to go public last year, but withdrew its proposed offering last October.

The mobile TV market is expected to have more than 130 million customers by 2011, according to Screen Digest.

So DiBcom, a France-based semiconductor-for-mobile-tv company has received another $27 million in funding from its many investors, this time adding French bank NATIXIS. The company says it will use the money to continue improving its TV-streaming technology, and to spread faster internationally to phones, laptops, cars and other devices around the world.

We’re speculating that the company timed this round with the recent news that the European Union’s regulatory agency, the European Commission, has decided to favor the DVB-H (Digitial Video Broadcasting - Handheld) system, which rivals Qualcomm’s MediaFlo and South Korea’s DMB (Digital Media Broadcasting) systems. The three offer rival ways to stream remote data onto devices, which is especially important for telecoms trying to expand their mobile offerings. In contrast with the US and other countries, the EU agency favors a single-standard approach to decide how best to deliver mobile TV.

DiBcom has had a string of semiconductor innovations based around DVB-H, beginning in 2005. It has landed deals with mobile carriers in Europe, and with a broad range of consumer electronics firms. The company also says it has over 300 mobile TV trials underway across the world.

There will be stiffer competition in the US. DVB-H is prominently supported here through the Mobile DTV Alliance, which includes Nokia, Motorola, Microsoft, Intel and Texas Instruments. AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon, however, are using Qualcomm MediaFLO standard. The third rival, DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting), which was born out of a South Korean national IT project, is not as big in the US, but is also spreading around the world.

And mobile TV itself is still a risk. While it is fine for analysts to make their projections, the mobile TV market has yet to take off significantly. It’s unclear how many people are really wanting to watch full programming on their phones. Many may prefer user-generated content, like friends’ video clips. Indeed, as the parent company of DVH-H based Modeo said in a recent filing:

Modeo’s business has certain risk factors different from our core tower business, including an unproven business model, and may fail to operate successfully and produce results that are less than anticipated. In addition, Modeo’s business may require additional financing which may not be available.

Besides NATIXIS, investors include: 3i, Cipio Partners, Convergent Capital, Credit Agricole Private Equity, Intel Capital, Partech International, SGAM Alternative Investments, UMC Capital, and WI Harper.