Barosense bags $27M for obesity treatment
Barosense, maker of a device to treat obesity without invasive surgery, has brought in $27 million of a targeted $30 million fourth round of funding that it plans to use to commercialize its product, reports PE Hub. It kicked off the round in March, and said it had commitments from its existing investors.
This turned out to be true, with the Redwood City, Calif. company tapping previous backers Delphi Ventures, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, Invesco Private Capital,… Continue Reading
Sans IPO, Bayhill secures $350M in Genentech licensing deal
Months after giving up on its IPO hopes last year — when the market was especially brutal for lifescience companies — Bayhill Therapeutics has landed a licensing deal worth $25 million in upfront cash and equity with Genentech. It could bring in as much as $325 million more if it hits certain sales and regulatory milestones, joining the ranks of several biotech firms that ditched public offerings for lucrative equity deals, VentureWire reports (citing Elixir… Continue Reading
Lead Therapeutics captures $3M for cancer treatments
Lead Therapeutics, developer of medications for cancer and other infectious diseases, has roped $3 million of an expected $7 million round of debt and rights, reports VentureWire. Based in San Bruno, Calif., it previously brought in $17 million in a first round of venture funding in 2007 from Mustang Ventures, Pappas Ventures and ProQuest Investments. The company conducts most of its research and operations in China.
CeNeRx takes $15M to fight depression
CeNeRx BioPharma recently raised $15 million in a second round of funding contributed by Aisling Capital, L Capital Partners and Pappas Ventures. The Cary, N.C. company specializes in treatments for central nervous system disorders. It plans to use the money to push its lead drug candidate, Tyrima — intended for treatment of severe depression — through the second phase of clinical trials.
This is CeNeRx’s first round of funding since 2005, when it raised $18.5 million…. Continue Reading
Anthera Pharmaceuticals raises $19M for anti-inflammatory drugs
Anthera Pharmaceuticals has raised $19 million in a second round of funding led by Caxton Advantage Life Sciences Fund and HBM BioCapital. Existing investors VantagePoint Venture Partners, Sofinnova Ventures, Pappas Ventures and Mitsubishi International Corporation also participated.
The San Mateo, Calif. company is developing treatments for inflammatory diseases and autoimmune disorders. told VentureWire that its lead treatment, Varespladib, is directed at cardiovascular patients and has completed two Phase II tests. Anthera raised $36 million in 2006.
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: Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
RNAi developer PhaseRx gets $4M of a pledged $19M (Seattle Times)
TyRx Pharma, drug-device combo maker, raises $25M (release)
Agennix aims at $40M for cancer drugs (VentureWire)
Starr Life Sciences goes after $1.6M for small-animal vital-signs scanner (VW)
CardioNet sets IPO terms, aims to raise $96M (IPOhome)
RNAi developer PhaseRx gets $4M of a pledged $19M – Investor interest in RNA interference, an ancient cellular mechanism for silencing dangerous genes, continues apace. PhaseRx, a Seattle biotech, has raised $4 million… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Aptamer-drug maker Archemix withdraws its $72.5 million IPO (Edgar)
OraMetrix raises $20M for robotic orthodontic systems (peHUB)
Microarray maker TeleChem goes public via reverse merger (release)
BioVascular pulls in $11M for platelet-disease treatments (release)
Cequent Pharma adds $4.5M for for RNAi drugs (VentureWire)
CareSeek, online medical-rating service, gets $575K, looks for $5M (VentureWire)
Satiogen takes in $700K for obesity treatment (VentureWire)
Dilon Tech appoints Robert Moussa as CEO (release)
Aptamer-drug maker Archemix withdraws its $72.5 million IPO – I’ve expanded this news into… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Nov. 12, 2007
(UPDATED: See below.)
Featured companies: Anaptys Biosciences, Arterial Remodeling Technologies, Cambria Biosciences, CaseNet, ChemoCentryx, Ensemble Discovery, MediQuest, Piedmont Pharmaceuticals, Raven Biotechnologies, Sensys Medical, Verus Pharmaceuticals, Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals
UPDATED: Expanded items on Anaptys, Arterial Remodeling, Raven Biotech, Sensys and MediQuest. Moved ChemoCentryx and Xanodyne to a separate item.
Antibody-drug maker Raven Biotech merges with VaxGen — Raven Biotechnologies, a South San Francisco biotech developing antibody drugs, is merging with the troubled, publicly held vaccine maker VaxGen. The confusingly worded release is here.
Although… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007
Featured companies: Ganeden Biotech, Glenveigh Medical, Lab21, Lead Therapeutics, Navigenics, Pacific Data Designs, PharMEDium Healthcare, Sloning BioTechnology, VistaGen
UPDATED: Expanded items on Lead Therapeutics, Glenveigh Medical and Sloning BioTech, and moved the Navigenics news to a separate item here.
Lead Therapeutics raises $17M for China-based work in cancer and immunology — San Bruno, Calif.-based Lead Therapeutics, a drug-development startup that plans to do most of its research and development in China, raised $17 million in a first funding round…. Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Aug. 31, 2007
Featured companies: Aryx Therapeutics, FlowCardia, Graftcath
FlowCardia raises $30M for artery roto-rooters — Sunnyvale, Calif.-based FlowCardia, a medical-device maker building catheter systems that bore holes in blood clots, raised $30 million in a third funding round. Investors included Gilde Healthcare Partners, Life Sciences Partners, Hambrecht & Quist Capital Management, New Science Ventures, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, JP Morgan Partners, Pappas Ventures, Rockport Venture Partners and Gold Hill Capital. The funding is intended to speed commercialization of the company’s… Continue Reading
Gentis raises $10M for spine-injected implants
Gentis, a Philadelphia developer of an injectable spinal implant, raised $10 million in a first round of funding. Pappas Ventures and Easton Capital led the round, joined by Ivy Capital Partners and Matignon Technologies.
The company is at work on an implant designed to restore function to a degenerated spinal disk by bolstering or replacing the gel-like tissue at its center. The implant, called DiscCell, can be injected into the disk, where it hardens in… Continue Reading
Cequent Pharma raises $9 million for RNAi
Cequent Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, Mass., developer of drugs based on a new gene-silencing technology, raised $9 million in a first-round funding. The round was led by the Novartis Option Fund, joined by Ampersand Ventures, Nexus Medical Partners, and Pappas Ventures.
Cequent is developing new treatments based on RNA interference, a Nobel Prize-winning technology that “silences” gene outputs using short stretches of RNA. Its first candidates, none of which have been tested in humans, are aimed at… Continue Reading
Cleveland biotech Athersys raises $65M with reverse-merger
Athersys, a Cleveland, Ohio biotech, went public via reverse merger and raised $65 million in a private placement. The company’s release is here.
Founded in 1995, Athersys is active in a bewildering number of areas. Its lead product candidate is an appetite-suppressing drug that acts on a serotonin receptor in the brain called 5HT2c, and in general the company describes itself as focused on metabolic and neurological conditions. But it is also at work on an… Continue Reading
Forest Labs aquires pharma company, Cerexa, for up to $580M
Forest Laboratories said it has acquired Cerexa, a venture-backed biopharmaceutical company in Alameda, Calif., for $480 million. It will pay $100 million more if certain milestones are met.
That’s a quick buy for Cerexa, which was spun out of another company, Peninsula Pharmaceuticals in August 2005.
It is not clear how much money investors made. A group of investors gave $50 million to Cerexa after the spin-out, but presumably Cerexa already carried some worth, and so investors… Continue Reading