Heart drug co. Relypsa gets $10M more to complete trials
Pharmaceutical company Relypsa announced that its investors extended its first round of funding by $10 million to a total $43 million to help it finish phase-two clinical trials on its lead drug candidate, a treatment that could alleviate symptoms of heart failure and chronic kidney disease.
Based in Santa Clara, Calif., Relypsa predicts the phase to close by the end of 2009 and already plans to raise new funds in 2010. The drug being tested treats… Continue Reading
Amgen, Relypsa and the art of the biotech-spinout-startup-restart
(UPDATED: See below.)
A common dilemma in biotech acquisitions is how to keep a startup’s entrepreneurial management happy and productive when they’ve just been assimilated by the Borg. The answer, often enough, is not to bother, and to let them spin out a new company with scientific “leftovers” that weren’t the point of the acquisition in the first place.
That’s more or less what Amgen has just done in launching Relypsa, a new Santa Clara, Calif., biotech just… 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
Roxro Pharma gets $21.65M commitment for pain management
Roxro Pharma, a Menlo Park developer of drugs for acute pain management, has won $21.65 million more in commitments to extend its second round of funding, VentureWire reports (sub required).
The financing came from the company’s existing Series B investors: Prospect Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, Thomas Weisel Healthcare Venture Partners, Mediphase Venture Partners, Voyager Funds and Fimei SpA, said Roberto Rosenkranz, chairman and chief executive of Roxro. The company raised an original $21.65 million in Series… Continue Reading