VentureBeat

Featured companies: Adenosine Therapeutics, Allylix, Caprotec BioAnalytics, Equipois, F-Star, Insightec, MedNets.com, Renal Solutions, Transport Pharmaceuticals, VeriCare Management

UPDATED: Expanded items on Transport Pharmaceuticals, InSightec and VeriCare Management.

Transport Pharma aims for $35M for cold-sore treatment — Framingham, Mass.-based Transport Pharmaceuticals, a dermatology-focused biotech developing a new treatment for cold sores, is looking to raise $35 million in a fifth funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Hillman Co., Quaker BioVentures, Carlyle Group and EGS Healthcare Capital Partners have pledged $15 million in the round, which the company expects to close in February.

Transport’s leading product candidate is device that uses a low-voltage electrical current to improve the absorption of drugs through the skin. The handheld device, which the company calls the Solovir electrokinetic transdermal system, delivers a reformulated version of the antiviral drug acyclovir directly to cold sores in a ten-minute treatment. The company has so far raised roughly $36 million in venture funding.

InSightec takes in $30M for ultrasound surgery — Israel’s InSightec, a developer of ultrasound-based surgical systems, raised $30 million in a new funding round. Investors included Elbit Imaging, GE Capital Equity Holdings, MediTech Advisors and directors and managers of the company.

InSightec’s system combines MRI scanning and focused ultrasound in order to attack tumors in a non-invasive fashion. The device has been approved in the U.S. for treatment of uterine fibroids, which are non-cancerous tumors of the female reproductive system. InSightec is currently studying ways to apply the system to brain, liver and bone tumors as well.

VeriCare Management gets $9.5M for mental healthcare services — San Diego’s VeriCare Management, a provider of mental-health care to the elderly, raised $9.5 million (MS Word document) in a second funding round. Investors included HLM Venture Partners, Salix Ventures, Acacia Venture Partners and Aetna Ventures.

This is sort of an interesting investment, as VCs haven’t traditionally been all that interested in healthcare providers. In the release, Aetna managing director Adam Grossman notes that the investment is aimed specifically at improving the quality of healthcare, which suggests that some VCs, at least, are starting to view quality improvements as financially rewarding. The logic isn’t entirely clear to me, but it seems to parallel the effort that David Brailer’s new outfit, Health Evolution Partners, is just getting off the ground. (See our coverage of Health Evolution here.)

HEADLINES OF NOTE:

• Adenosine Thera gets $4.5M for a grab-bag of drugs (release)
• Caprotec BioAnalytics raises $6.6M for protein-analysis tools (GenomeWeb News)
• Ergonomic-arm maker Equipois raises $1.5M (VW)
• F-Star adds $4.5M for engineered antibodies (release)
• Healthnostics acquires med-info portal MedNets.com (release)
• Flavor and fragrance producer Allylix raises $3.4M (release)
• Renal Solutions acquired by Fresenius Medical for $190M (release)

Featured companies: Bravo Health, InfraReDx, MedAssets, Prestwick Pharmaceuticals

Prestwick Pharma raises $20M for neuro drugs — Specialty pharma Prestwick Pharmaceuticals, a Washington, D.C., firm that acquires cast-off drug candidates to treat neurological conditions, raised $20 million from existing investors, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Among those participating in the funding were Atlas Venture, Sofinnova Ventures, Vivo Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Warburg Pincus and Pequot Ventures.

Prestwick said it raised the funds to acquire additional drug candidates. The company filed to go public in 2005, but pulled its filing in December of that year.

InfraReDx aims for $40M to detect artery plaque — Burlington, Mass.-based InfraReDx aims to raise $40 million in a “mezzanine” financing to launch its artery-plaque diagnostic system, VentureWire reports. The company is talking to existing and potential new investors, including VC firms and hedge funds.

InfraReDx is developing a near-infrared spectroscopy system for the detection of arterial plaque, which can rupture and create blood clots that could lead to a heart attack. The company expects to complete a clinical trial in October that could lead to approval of the device.

Bravo Health raises undisclosed sum for acquisition — Bravo Health, a venture-backed provider in the Medicare prescription-drug coverage plan formerly known as Elder Health, raised an undisclosed sum in an eighth funding round, VentureWire reports. The funding covers the company’s recent acquisition of a Philadelphia Medicare provider called Senior Health.

Investors included all backers from the company’s previous funding round, a group that includes New Enterprise Associates, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, CCP Equity Partners, Salix Ventures, Alpha Partners, Coleman Swenson Hoffman Booth, Franklin Venture Capital, Frontenac Co., GE Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Riggs Capital Partners, Sprout Group, Wasatch Venture Fund and Woodbrook.

MedAssets, healthcare IT provider, aims for $230M IPO — MedAssets, an Alpharetta, Ga., provider of healthcare IT and consulting services, filed to raise up to $230 million in an initial offering. The company aims to help community hospitals increase “revenue capture” and “cash collections” and to manage “non-labor expense categories.”

Oddly, MedAsset doesn’t appear to have yet maximized its own revenue capture, as it posted a net loss of $23.8 million last year on revenues of $177.9 million.