Semprius absorbs $6M for cheaper, printed solar cells
Semprius is one of a few companies focused on thin, printed solar modules — a relatively new technology that could save a tremendous amount of solar cell waste if widely implemented. The modules are considered “printed” because they consist only of a very thin layer of active solar cells stripped off the top of a normal solar wafer. Based in Durham, N.C., the company has raised $6.4 million in a second round of funding to… Continue Reading
Athenix raises $10M for biofuels and specialty chemicals
Athenix, a Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based maker of processes and products for agricultural and bioenergy applications, has raked in $10 million from existing investors Hunt Ventures, Intersouth Partners and Polaris Venture Partners, reports PEHub.
The company sells genes and enzymes that can be used to convert biomass sources, such as corn stover, straw and various agricultural by-products into cellulosic ethanol. It has also developed a process to efficiently extract and ferment sugars from cellulose and… 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
Mixx, social news competitor to Digg, raises another $2 million
Many startups have tried to take on social news site Digg. Mixx is one of them, but it has a few additional features that lets users fine-tune what stories they see on the site — and it’s made some deals with big newspapers. The company has shown enough progress since launching in October that it has brought back existing investor Intersouth Partners for a $2 million round.
Similar to Digg and competitors, Mixx lets you submit… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Feb. 4, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
PEAK Surgical takes in $21M for electrosurgical tools (release)
CellGate acquired by Australian cancer biotech ProGen for $2.5M (release)
Traversa raises $2M for RNAi-delivery technologies (release)
RemitDATA, Web-based healthcare-service co., takes in $5.5M (bizjournals.com)
Spinal-implant maker Archus Orthopedics gets $10M venture loan (release)
Promedior pulls down another $5.5M for fibrotic disease (release)
Acrongenomics takes 11 percent stake in Molecular Vision (release)
Hepatitis drug-developer Biolex withdraws IPO (IPO Home)
Employee drug screener eScreen gets Carlyle investment (release)
NovaMin raises $2.5M for dental-care products (VentureWire)
Cardious… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Dec. 14, 2007
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
AcryMed, wound-healing specialist, sells itself to I-Flow for $25M (release)
Stent maker Devax pulls $85M IPO filing (Edgar)
Cempra Pharma gets $10M for anti-infective drugs (TechJournal South)
Genesis Genomics takes in C$312K for DNA-based diagnostics (GenomeWeb)
AcryMed, wound-healing specialist, sells itself to I-Flow for $25M — AcryMed, a Beaverton, Ore., device maker focused on bleeding control and wound healing, agreed to sell itself to I-Flow, a publicly traded maker of drug-delivery systems, for $25 million in cash. The… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Oct. 1, 2007
Featured companies: Abiant, CellXplore, Diffusion Pharmaceuticals, WMR Biomedical, Zosano Pharmaceuticals
Diffusion Pharma raises $4.5M for vascular-disease and brain-cancer drug — Charlottesville, Va.-based Diffusion Pharmaceuticals, a biotech focused on drugs that enhance oxygen diffusion, raised $4.5 million in a private placement. Angel investors provided the funding, which brings Diffusion’s take to $10.2 million in equity and $2.6 million in government R&D grants.
Diffusion’s lead drug candidate — trans sodium crocetinate, or TSC — is designed to increase oxygen levels… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007
Featured companies: Aldagen, LDR, Lyten Endoscopy, MachLabs, Permatox, TeleMedicine Clinic, ThromboVision
Spinal-implant maker LDR raises $25M — Austin, Texas-based LDR, a maker of spinal implants, raised $25 million in a third funding round. Investors included Telegraph Hill Partners, Austin Ventures, Rothschild Private Equity and PTV Sciences.
LDR sells spinal-fusion devices, artificial disks and other spine-related devices in more than 30 countries, and plans to use the funds for further expansion.
Aldagen adds $9M for adult stem-cell work — Aldagen,… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007
Featured companies: Cyntellect, Lectus Therapeutics, NeoMatrix, Nexstim, Pearl Therapeutics, Proteon Therapeutics, SupplyScape
(UPDATED at 10am PT: See below.)
Airway-disease specialist Pearl Therapeutics raises $15.5M — Redwood City, Calif.-based Pearl Therapeutics, a drug-formulation company focused on respiratory disease, raised $15.5 million in a first funding round. Investors included New Leaf Ventures, Clarus Ventures and 5AM Ventures.
Pearl doesn’t appear to have a working Web site yet, but according to its release, the company aims to treat unspecified airway diseases using “particle… 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
Argolyn draws on $16M for neurological drugs
Argolyn Bioscience, a Charleston, S.C.-based developer of drugs for neurological problems, raised $15.8 million in a first financing round. The funding was led by Intersouth Partners and Quaker BioVentures, joined by Amgen Ventures.
Argolyn is at work on new peptide-based drugs, which are made from short stretches of protein, for schizophrenia and pain. Neither of its lead candidates have yet entered clinical trials, although the company said the new funding will allow it to begin human… Continue Reading
Viamet raises $4M for metalloenzyme-targeting drugs
Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based Viamet raised $4 million in a first round of funding. The round was co-led by Hatteras Venture Partners and Intersouth Partners.
Viamet is developing drugs that target metalloenzymes — a diverse group of catalyst molecules that include metal atoms — in infectious disease, inflammation and cancer. The company was founded in 2005.
Biolex Therapeutics raises $30M for multiple-sclerosis treatment
Biolex Therapeutics, a Pittsboro, N.C., developer of technology for improving the properties of monoclonal antibodies, raised $30 million in a third funding round.
Biolex specializes in producing proteins that are difficult to make with existing bioengineering processes and in optimizing the biological properties of monoclonal antibodies. It is also pursuing its own experimental drug candidates, and said the proceeds of this round will serve primarily to advance Locteron, an experimental time-release form of interferon alfa, into… Continue Reading