VentureBeat

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

• BrainCells raises $30M for neuroregeneration drugs (release)
• EKR Therapeutics takes in $50M plus $95M in debt for pain, heart drugs (release)
• Wright Medical acquires Berkeley’s Inbone Tech for $24M (release)
• Argolyn Bioscience names Nixon Ellis as CEO (release)

BrainCells raises $30M for neuroregeneration drugs – San Diego’s BrainCells, a startup focused on drugs intended to stimulate the growth of new neurons, raised $30 million in a second funding round. Investors included MedImmune Ventures, Bay City Capital, Oxford Bioscience Partners, Technology Partners, Pappas Ventures and Neuro Ventures.

BrainCells set out several years ago to discover drugs that stimulate neuron growth, following pioneering discoveries at the Salk Institute that revealed mechanisms by which the brain itself regrows its primary cells under certain circumstances. The startup, which raised $17.7 million in a 2004 first round, has been screening experimental compounds against neural stem cells to identify ones that had the previously overlooked property of promoting the growth of new brain cells.

The company’s lead drug candidate, BCI-540, which it licensed from Mitsubishi Pharma, will soon be mid-stage, phase II trials as a potential treatment for depression and anxiety disorder. (Mitsubishi had previously tested as a possible Alzheimer’s therapy, so it’s already been taken by 700 patients and is considered safe.) A follow-up compound, also licensed from a Japanese company — Taisho Pharmaceutical — remains in animal testing at the moment.

EKR Therapeutics takes in $50M plus $95M in debt for pain, heart drugs – Cedar Knolls, N.J., specialty pharma EKR Therapeutics raised $50 million in a fourth funding round that also included $95 million in debt. Investors in the equity round included MPM Capital, LLR Partners, Quaker BioVentures, the Garden State Life Sciences Venture Fund, NewSpring Capital and ESP Equity Partners. GE Healthcare Financial Services provided the debt financing.

EKR, like most specialty pharmas, acquires or licenses cast-off drugs from other companies, usually in hopes of finding new uses for them. Although the release doesn’t say so specifically, this funding will likely cover the company’s recent purchase of several drugs from the rapidly disintegrating PDL BioPharma; last month, EKR said it had raised an undisclosed amount of funding for that deal, in which it agreed to pay $85 million up front and another $85 million in potential milestone payments.

The company also has the distinction of using that deal to “re-acquire” several drugs that an earlier incarnation known as ESP Pharmaceuticals handed to PDL in a 2005 acquisition, an interesting turn of events we covered here.

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

• Health-info site HealthCentral Network pulls in $50M (paidContent)
• BrightHeart Vet corrals $29M to acquire animal hospitals (release)
• AviaraDx raises $8M for cancer diagnostics (peHUB)
• Valor Medical aims for $15M for brain-aneurysm treatment (VentureWire)
• IPC, inpatient-care provider, raises as much as $56M in IPO (IPO Home)
• Phenomix, diabetes and hepatitis drug maker, files for $86M IPO (Edgar)
• TVM Capital promotes Keiarasch “Kia” Parssanedjad to principal in life sciences (release)

BrightHeart Vet corrals $29M to acquire animal hospitals — BrightHeart Veterinary Centers, an Armonk, N.Y., operator of veterinary hospitals, raised $28.5 million in a funding round intended to further the chain’s expansion. Investors included LLR Partners and Caltius Mezzanine.

BrightHeart currently runs facilities in New York, Connecticut, Illinois and Alberta, Canada, two of which it acquired just last week. The company intends to continue growing via acquisition.

AviaraDx raises $8M for cancer diagnostics — AviaraDx, a Carlsbad, Calif., developer of molecular cancer diagnostics, raised $8 million in a first funding round, peHUB reports, citing a regulatory filing. AviaraDx was spun out of the former Arcturus Bioscience, whose other assets were mostly acquired by Molecular Devices in 2006.

AviaraDx sells tests that identify tumors by their molecular “fingerprints” and predice which breast-cancer tumors are most likely to recur following surgery. The company isn’t providing much detail on its future development plans.

Valor Medical aims for $15M for brain-aneurysm treatment — Valor Medical, a San Diego device maker developing a new polymer-based treatment for brain aneurysms, is seeking $15 million in a second funding round, VentureWire reports. The company’s Neucrylate is a substance designed for use as a “filler” in aneurysms, which are dangerous arterial swellings that can rupture unexpectedly. Valor intends to begin clinical testing this year.

Phenomix, diabetes and hepatitis drug maker, files for $86M IPO — San Diego-based Phenomix, a biotech developing new drugs for diabetes and hepatitis, filed to raise $86.3 million in an initial offering. The company aims to be a “fast follower” that develops new drugs that address biological mechanisms that have been “validated” by successful drugs elsewhere.