Cardio drug maker Portola Pharmaceuticals takes $60M extension
San Francisco-based drug company Portola Pharmaceuticals has taken a $60 million extension to its third round of funding to see it through Phase II trials for betrixaban, a drug intended to prevent blood clots.
The company is also working on an antiplatelet agent called PRT060128. If its drugs do well in trials, the company will likely head to an IPO, as we reported alongside its last $70 million fundung.
Managing Application Performance by Understanding Applications Learn more,… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007
Featured companies: AngioScore, Forsight Labs, Genoptix, Metastatix, Optherion, QLT
UPDATED: See below.
Artery opener AngioScore pulls in $30M — AngioScore, a Fremont, Calif., maker of balloon catheters used to open up clogged arteries, raised $30 million in a fifth funding round. Investors included Telegraph Hill Partners, Psilos Group Management, QuestMark Partners, L.P., UV Partners, California Technology Ventures and Innomed Ventures.
AngioScore’s balloon catheters, which inflate inside blocked blood vessels to restore blood flow, are designed to overcome problems that sometimes… Continue Reading
Cardiovascular biotech Portola Pharmaceuticals raises $70M, eyes IPO
Portola Pharmaceuticals, a South San Francisco, Calif., biotech aiming to develop treatments for blood clots and other heart-related problems, raised $70 million in a third round of financing dominated by late-stage and public-market investors.
Among new investors in the round were Brookside Capital; AllianceBernstein; Teachers’ Private Capital, the private investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan; Goldman Sachs, T. Rowe Price, IBTM and CIDC. They were joined by existing investors Abingworth, Alta Partners, Advanced Technology Ventures,… Continue Reading
Intradigm, a gene targeting co., raises $16M
Intradigm, a Palo Alto biotech company that is using a technology called “RNA interference” (RNAi) to target genes while providing oncology medical treatments, has raised $16 million in a first round of funding.
It has also moved to Palo Alto, from Rockville, Maryland, driven by the need for better research and development talent, it said.
The round, which occurred in May 2006 was co-led by Alta
Partners and Frazier Healthcare Ventures. Existing investors Emerging Technology Partners (ETP) and… Continue Reading
Portola Pharma gets $20M debt financing
Portola Pharmaceuticals, a South San Francisco biotech company developing cardiovascular and vascular disease therapies, has raised $20 million in debt financing from Hercules Technology Growth Capital.
Portola is already backed by venture firms Abingworth, Alta Partners, ATV, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, MPM Capital, Prospect Ventures and Sutter Hill Ventures.
The company said it has two drug candidates in clinical development: 1) an oral Factor Xa inhibitor in a Phase II trial for the prevention of Deep Vein Thrombosis… Continue Reading