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… 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… 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… Continue Reading
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… 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… 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… 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… 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,… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… Continue Reading