Corthera adds $10M for heart failure medication
Pharmaceutical company Corthera just took $10 million to close a $23 million third round of funding but is already looking to raise $40 to $50 million in a new fourth round by March to support clinical trials of a drug that could ease symptoms of heart failure, reports VentureWire. Poised for phase three clinical trials, the drug, called Relaxin, is actually a hormone capable of relieving the lung fluid congestion and hypertension that accompany heart… Continue Reading
InterKrin raises $18.5M for continued work on diabetes drug
Palo Alto, Calif.-based InterKrin is developing an anti-diabetes drug. It has raised an $18.5 million in a not-yet-closed third round of funding, according to VentureWire. The round was led by Amgen and Skyline Ventures and joined by existing backers Sofinnova Ventures, OrbiMed Advisors, Asset Management, Sears Capital Management and Vivo Ventures.
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Nov. 2, 2007
Featured companies: Ascent Therapeutics, Bas Medical, Bikam Pharmaceuticals, Fundamental Applied Biology, Juvaris BioTherapeutics, Medavante, Trivitron, Vapotherm
UPDATED: Expanded items on Bas Medical and Juvaris.
Bas Medical raises $20M for heart-failure drug — San Mateo, Calif.-based Bas Medical, a biotech developing drugs based on a hormone called relaxin, raised $20 million in a third funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Investors included Domain Associates, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sears Capital Management.
Relaxin is a natural peptide hormone whose levels… Continue Reading
InteKrin, a co. that fights diabetes and obesity, raises $23M
InteKrin Therapeutics, Inc., a Palo Alto company developing products to counter diabetes, metabolism and obesity, said it has raised $23 million in venture financing.
The financing was led by Sofinnova Ventures and included Orbimed Advisors and Vivo Ventures, as well as earlier investors Asset Management and Sears Capital Management. The round will fund the clinical development of InteKrin’s lead drug candidate, INT131, targeting type II diabetes, the company said.
(This story first posted 1/12)
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