Cartilix, maker of tissue repair treatments, sells to Biomet
Cartilix, a Foster City, Calif.-based biotech firm that makes substances capable of repairing human tissues in joints, has sold to Biomet, an Indiana-based seller of tools and products used to help surgeons, according to PE Hub. Neither company disclosed financial terms. Cartilix previously received $6.5 million in first-round venture funding from De Novo Ventures.
InSound raises capital to the tune of $2.8M to sell hearing aids
InSound Medical, a manufacturer of invisible hearing aids that can be worn for extended periods of time, has brought in $2.8 million of a targeted $4.5 million round of debt and rights, according to a filing with the SEC. Past investors in the Newark, Calif. company include the Stanford Group, CMEA Capital, De Novo Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., Psilos Group, Sightline Partners and Gund Investment.
The company claims that its product, called the Lyric,… Continue Reading
Sans IPO, Bayhill secures $350M in Genentech licensing deal
Months after giving up on its IPO hopes last year — when the market was especially brutal for lifescience companies — Bayhill Therapeutics has landed a licensing deal worth $25 million in upfront cash and equity with Genentech. It could bring in as much as $325 million more if it hits certain sales and regulatory milestones, joining the ranks of several biotech firms that ditched public offerings for lucrative equity deals, VentureWire reports (citing Elixir… Continue Reading
iScience sees $20.5M for eye surgery instruments
iScience Interventional, maker of surgical tools for eye operations, has closed a prolonged sixth round of funding at $20.5 million after facing a bit more of a challenge due to the economic climate. The money will be used to commercialize its line of micro-catheters used to remove fluid from or deliver medication to the back region of people’s eyes. It hopes to have them on the market by the end of 2010 at the latest,… Continue Reading
InSound raises $13 million more for hearing aids
Newark, Calif. hearing aid producer InSound Medical tacked $13 million more onto a fifth round of funding (now totaling $43 million). The tranche came from new investor Stanford Group, in addition to existing contributors, and is likely to be the company’s last fundraising effort, reports VentureWire.
The money will be used to expand commercial sale of its “invisible” Lyric hearing device, which is designed to be insterted directly into the ear canal by a physician. The… Continue Reading
EBR Systems gets $35 million for new style pacemaker
EBR Systems, which develops cardiac pacing devices, has raised a $35 million third round of financing. This money will help it take its product to clinical trials, according to VentureWire.
Delphi Ventures led this round, with existing investors De Novo Ventures, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, Split Rock Partners and SV Life Sciences joining in.
The Sunnyvale, Calif-based EBR has raised $27 million in its previous two rounds.
Sierra Surgical raises $14.5M for female sterilization
Sierra Surgical, a medical device company in stealth mode, has raised $14.5 million in a second round of funding, according to VentureWire. Existing investors Alta Partners and De Novo Ventures providing the financing.
The only information the Palo Alto, Calif. startup has provided is that its in the female sterilization field. Sierra Surgical raised $7.1M last August.
MyoScience raises $10.4M for aesthetic medicine
MyoScience, a stealth-mode medical company based in Redwood City, Calif., has taken $10.4 million in a second funding for continuing clinical trials.
The company has not yet disclosed exactly what use its aesthetic devices will have, although CEO Lisa Elkins hinted that aging eyes and skin might be the target to VentureWire, which first reported the funding.
The funding was led by Nexus Medical Partners, with participation from Accuitive Medical Ventures, De Novo Ventures and Saratoga Ventures…. Continue Reading
Tria Beauty raises $30M to remove your excess back hair
Tria Beauty (formerly known as SpectraGenics), the Pleasanton, Calif. maker of a device that uses lasers for hair removal, has raised $30 million in its fifth round of financing.
Unlike similar devices, Tria’s hair removal system has been cleared for home use. While it has been sold for some time in Japan and some European countries, the device was also recently approved for the United States by the FDA.
To date, laser hair removal has been an… Continue Reading
Life-science briefing: Tuesday, March 18, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Luminous Medical raises $24M for automated glucose monitoring (release)
Alimera Sciences gets $30M for eye-disease drug (release)
Vaccine maker LigoCyte draws $28M (release)
Heartbeat tracker CardioNet trims IPO, aims for listing today (IPOhome)
Axial Biotech takes in $6M for spinal diagnostics (release)
Insulin bioengineer enGene receives $6.4M (release)
GlucoLight raises funding for, well, glucose monitoring (release)
Germany’s InflaRx gets seed funding for sepsis work (release)
Cell imager Amnis pulls in $3.5M (VentureWire)
Korea Bone Bank gets funding for bone transplants (release)
Luminous Medical raises… Continue Reading
InSound Medical takes in $11M for “invisible” hearing aids — albeit ones that have been on the shelf for a while
InSound Medical, a medical-device startup in Newark, Calif., wants to let people with hearing loss regain that sense without having to wear a conspicuous hearing aid. Instead of clipping around the ear or fitting precariously into the opening of the auditory canal, the company’s Lyric hearing aid is implanted deeper into that canal, where it can remain for up to four months.
The device uses an extended-wear battery and is implanted in a non-surgical procedure in… Continue Reading
Medical imager Point Biomedical recaps with $25M
Point Biomedical, a San Carlos, Calif., developer of new biomedical-imaging products, raised $25 million in a recapitalization, peHub reports. Such recapitalizations often amount to a kind of “reset button” for existing investors and lenders, and usually suggest that a startup has run into some kind of significant — but not insurmountable — obstacle.
Investors in the recap round include new investor Vedanta Opportunities Fund and existing investors William Blair Capital Partners, De Novo Ventures, Institutional Venture… 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, Dec. 5, 2007
Featured companies: AxoGen, Cognition Therapeutics, Ester Neurosciences, Gene Security Network, HealthTalk, MPM Capital, Revolution Health, SparkPeople
UPDATING: Expanded items on AxoGen, Ester and Cognition. Posted full items on MPM (link) and Gene Security Network (link).
AxoGen raises $12M for nerve regeneration — AxoGen, an Alachua, Fla., biotech focused on developing grafts for damaged “peripheral” nerves, raised $12.1 million in a third funding round. Investors included Accuitive Medical Ventures, Cardinal Partners, De Novo Ventures and Springboard Capital II.
AxoGen develops tissue… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Nov. 1, 2007
Featured companies: Asteres, HemaQuest Pharmaceuticals, Nanosphere, Novalar Pharmaceuticals, Tranzyme Pharma
(UPDATED: Expanded items for Nanosphere, HemaQuest and Transzyme. Moved Novalar to a separate item here.)
Diagnostic maker Nanosphere prices IPO at low end of range, raises up to $113M — Nanosphere, a Northbrook, Ill., biotech focused on nanotech-derived diagnostics, priced its IPO at $14 a share, at the low end of its estimated range. The company, which could sell as many as eight million shares, stands to raise up… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007
(UPDATED at 5:55pm PT: See below.)
Featured companies: Sierra Surgical Technologies, HerbalScience Nutraceuticals, Topigen Pharmaceuticals, EKR Therapeutics, Molecular Partners, Celsense, Glucose Sensing Technologies, Falcon Genomics, Waters, Calorimetry Sciences, Parion Sciences, Gilead Sciences, Isto Technologies, Fluidnet, NABsys
Sierra Surgical raises $7.1M — Palo Alto, Calif.-based Sierra Surgical Technologies, a developer of female sterilization technology, raised $7.1 million in a first funding round, PE Hub reports, citing a regulatory filing. Alta Partners and De Novo Ventures provided the funding.
Singapore’s HerbalScience raises… Continue Reading
Funding roundup: Announcements that got away
Although I try to stay on top of events in the life sciences, announcements do sometimes manage to slip through the cracks. Some days, in fact, I end up triaging. Because the roots of this site — not to mention many of its readers — are in Silicon Valley, Bay Area events are a priority. Then come announcements from the rest of the U.S., then Asia, then Europe. Also, smaller or partial fundings tend to… Continue Reading
Stent maker CardioMind raises $33M
CardioMind, a secretive Sunnyvale, Calif., developer of stents designed to prop open blocked arteries, raised $33 million in a third round of funding, VentureWire reports (subscription required). From the VentureWire story:
CardioMind, with 30 employees, is developing small-diameter drug-eluting stents and delivery devices for cardiovascular and neurological indications and has been largely operating in stealth mode for the past five years.
SV Life Sciences and De Novo Ventures led the round, joined by InterWest Partners, Latterell Venture… Continue Reading
WaveTec Vision Systems takes in $13M for intraocular lens replacement
WaveTec Vision Systems of Aliso Viejo, Calif., raised $13 million in a second round of funding, PEHub reports. The company is developing a system to improve patient outcomes in intraocular lens replacement surgeries. The deal was led by Accuitive Medical Ventures and De Novo Ventures, who were joined by existing investor Versant Ventures.
Talima Therapeutics raises $19M for site-specific drugs
Talima Therapeutics, a Santa Clara, Calif., developer of techniques that limit drug delivery to specific parts of the body, raised $19 million in a second funding round. The company’s release is here.
The company is at work on localized drug-delivery techniques that could serve as alternatives to systemic drugs, potentially improving their effectiveness while limiting side effects. Its initial focus lies in dermatology, a field in which “local application” — that is, ointments, creams and lotions… Continue Reading