Pearl Therapeutics gathers $8M to treat breathing disorders

Pearl Therapeutics, a Redwood City, Calif.-based developer of inhaled drugs to treat respiratory diseases like COPD and asthma, just landed $8 million in venture debt from Oxford Finance and Silicon Valley Bank to expand its product line.

The company licensed particle-based technology from San Carlos, Calif.-based Nektar Therapeutics to improve inhaled drug targeting and lung distribution, cutting down on negative side effects. So far, it has not disclosed whether its products are in clinical trials or… Continue Reading

Pearl Therapeutics ups its first round funding

Pearl Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company, has upped its first round of funding to $33.5 million after an additional $18 million investment, according to VentureWire.

New investor Nektar Therapeutics joins all of the company’s previous investors including Clarus Ventures, New Leaf Ventures and 5AM Ventures in this raise.

The Redwood City, Calif.-based Pearl Thera now has $36.4 million including debt funding.

Life-science briefing: Friday, April 4, 2008

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

IlluminOss Medical gets $11M for bone-fracture devices (peHUB)
Contract researcher Crown Bioscience takes in funding (release)

IlluminOss Medical gets $11M for bone-fracture devices — East Providence, R.I.-based IlluminOss Medical, a medical-device startup, raised $11 million in a second funding round, peHUB reports. Backers included New Leaf Ventures and Foundation Medical Partners.

The company’s Web site is barely more than a stub that describes IlluminOss as a device company “pioneering new frontiers in orthopedic surgery.” peHUB offers the… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007

Featured companies: Aveo Pharmaceuticals, Aviir, deltaDot, Origen Therapeutics

Heart-diagnostic maker Aviir raises $11.3M — Palo Alto, Calif.-based Aviir, a biotech developing cardiovascular diagnostics based on Stanford research, raised $11.3 million of an expected $25 million second funding round, PE Hub reports. The news is presumably from one of those paper-based SEC filings that are supposed to be digitized before long.

Investors include Bay City Capital, Aberdare Ventures and New Leaf Ventures. Aviir hasn’t said much about its technology… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007

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