BioLogix bags $6M for oncology drug, names new CEO
Biopharm company BioLogix raised $6 million in first-round equity and debt financing from Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and New Science Ventures. The money will be used to continue development of its top cancer-fighting compound, but a second round is already in the works.
So far the Palo Alto, Calif.-based firm has brought in $40 million. It hopes to take enough in its next fund-raising effort by early 2009 to push the drug into clinial testing, setting… 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
Life-science briefing: Monday, March 10, 2008
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,… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007
Featured companies: Advanced Bio-Surfaces, Ambit Biosciences, EnteroMedics, Molecular Vision, Skyline Ventures
UPDATED: Expanded items on Skyline Ventures, Ambit, and Molecular Vision, and moved EnteroMedics to a new item here.
Skyline Ventures raises $350M life-sciences fund — Skyline Ventures, a Palo Alto, Calif., VC firm, closed a $350 million fund for healthcare and life-sciences investments. The fund is Skyline’s fifth.
Skyline is unquestionably coming off a hot streak. As it notes in its release, three of its portfolio companies were acquired… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007
Featured companies: BioVex, Cavadis, Innovention, Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Phase Bioscience, Reliant Pharmaceuticals, Xencor
UPDATED: Expanded Paratek and Xencor items.
Paratek Pharma raises $40M for new antibiotics — Boston’s Paratek Pharmaceuticals, a biotech working on new antibiotics to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections, raised a first tranche of a $40 million eighth round of funding. The company’s release is here, VentureWire (subscription required) has more details here.
Investors in this funding included Aisling Capital, D.E. Shaw, Boston Life Science Venture Corporation, Nomura Phase4… 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
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Aug. 23, 2007
(UPDATED at 6:30am PT on Friday: See below.)
Featured companies: DNA2.0, Globus Medical, Inotek Pharmaceuticals, Operon Biotechnologies, PleuraFlow
Globus Medical raises $110M for spinal implants — Globus Medical, an Audubon, Pa., developer of spinal implants, raised $110 million in a fifth financing round. Investors included Clarus Ventures, AIG SunAmerica and other large, institutional private-equity funds.
Some have called this the largest venture-capital funding of the year — by a grand total of $1.65. That’s one dollar and sixty-five cents. No… Continue Reading
Vaccine co., VaxInnate, raises $40 from Canaan & others
VaxInnate, of Cranbury, NJ said it has raised $40 million in a Series C financing for its development of vaccines for pandemic and seasonal influenza. It is the latest in a series of investments in the sector, as concern rises about the risks of a global pandemic.
The company says its platform has the potential to improve vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy while greatly reducing manufacturing costs.
The funds raised will be used for the continued development… Continue Reading
Amgen to buy inflammation drug co. Avidia for up to $380M
Biotech giant Amgen said it has agreed to buy Mountain View-based Avidia for up to $380 million.
Under the accord, expected to be completed this year, Amgen of Thousand Oaks will pay $290 million in cash and up to $90 million more if Avidia meets certain milestones developing its drugs.
Avidia has only 37 employees, and at $380M, that means each employee is responsible for more than $10M, if they do get the full price. The company… Continue Reading