VentureBeat

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

• Paris-based Stentys takes $18M for “bifurcated” stents (release)
• Blood analyzer IntelliDx raises $22M (PDF release)
• Cancer-test biotech Calderome changes name to VeraCyte (VentureWire)
• Predictive Biosciences names Peter Klemm as CEO (release)

Paris-based Stentys takes $18M for “bifurcated” stents – Stentys, a Paris-based medical device maker, raised $18 million in a second funding round. The company is developing “bifurcated” stents intended to prop open clogged arteries at blood-vessel junctions.

The startup said the funding will allow it to complete clinical trials of its stents and to win European regulatory approval for them. Stentys doesn’t seem to have given any indication whether or when it might seek approval in the U.S. or other markets as well.

Scottish Equity Partners and Sofinnova Partners provided the funding.

Blood analyzer IntelliDx raises $22M –It’s starting to look like Diabetes Week here at VentureBeat LifeScience.

IntelliDx (no Web site), a Boston Santa Clara, Calif., startup with a new type of blood-sugar analyzer for hospitalized diabetics, raised $21.5 million in a fourth funding round (PDF link). Investors included HLM Venture Partners, 3i Ventures, Giza Ventures, Ascend Ventures, Aurum Ventures, Sequel Venture Partners and Hunt BioVentures.

IntelliDx makes a chemical sensor-based blood analyzer for use in hospital intensive-care units. Much like the Luminous Medical spectroscopic blood-glucose analyzer we covered yesterday, the IntelliDx device aims to monitor blood sugar hourly in diabetic patients. The idea, again, is to keep a closer eye on hyperglycemia in a critical-care setting, since runaway blood glucose often increases the chance of complications and lengthier hospital stays.

Cancer-test biotech Calderome changes name to VeraCyte – Calderome, a stealthy cancer-test startup in South San Francisco, has changed its name to VeraCyte (no Web site), VentureWire reports. The new name presumably reflects the company’s focus on cell-based cancer diagnostics, as we described last week.

The VentureWire story goes on to reprise VeraCyte’s $12 million fundraising, which we also covered last week. VeraCyte has two employees, and recently extended job offers to three other individuals, the news service reported.

CORRECTED: The IntelliDx item initially located the company in Boston, not Santa Clara. The company’s release was datelined Boston because it originated with HLM Ventures. Apologies for the error.

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

• Satoris gets $5M for Alzheimer’s test (VentureWire)
• Endotis Pharma pulls in €25M for clot-busting and cancer drugs (release)
• Germany’s Direvo Biotech strikes drug-development pact with MedImmune (release)
• OrthoAccel gets $1.3M for device to speed orthodonture (VW)
• Medical-management software co. Accuro Healthcare files for $144M IPO (Edgar)
• Psilos Group raises more than $250M in third life-science fund (VW)
• Softscope Medical Tech names John Schellhorn as CEO (release)

Endotis Pharma pulls in €25M for clot-busting and cancer drugs — Endotis Pharma, a French specialty pharma focused on drugs for treating blood clots and cancer, raised €25 million ($36.8 million) in a second funding round. Investors included the Wellcome Trust, Endeavour Vision, NIF SMBC Ventures and Sofinnova Partners.

Endotis specializes in complicated chemistry related to natural sugar molecules called glycans that attach to proteins in ways that alter their function. The startup is developing small, synthetic versions of these molecules designed to tackle and “defuse” disease-related proteins, such as clotting factors (which can lead to blood clots) and cancer-related molecules.

OrthoAccel gets $1.3M for device to speed orthodonture — Houston-based OrthoAccel, a dental-device maker developing a removable mouthpiece designed to speed the work of orthodontic braces, raised $1.3 million to begin clinical trials, VentureWire reports. The funding includes $500,000 in first-round cash from angel investors and $750,000 from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund that will convert into second-round financing later this year.

The OrthoAccel device, called Celerect, is similar to a mouthpiece or retainer, and works in conjunction with standard orthodontic braces. Wearing it for just 10 minute to 20 minutes a day is supposed to provide some sort of pulsating force that accelerates the process of reshaping bones. A company official claims that in animal models, the Celerect may speed tooth movement by 50 percent.

The company envisions marketing the device for adults, who are particularly self-conscious about wearing braces. The VentureWire story says the device may boost the cost of braces, currently around $5,000, by 40 percent to 50 percent.

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

• Fovea Pharma sees €30M for eye drugs (release)
• Ascendis Pharma raises €18M for time-release drugs (PDF release)
• Arcion draws $9M for topical pain drugs (VentureWire, sub req’d)
• Saladax Biomedical raises $8M for chemotherapy diagnostics (VW)
• MedAssets prices IPO at top of range, raises up to $221M (IPO Home)
• Pequot spin-off Longitude seeks $250M for life-science investments (VW)
• Third Rock Ventures adds three new partners (release)
• Ultrasound surgical co. ProRhythm files for bankruptcy protection (release)
• The Hartford Financial Services Group acquires healthcare-benefit administrator TopNoggin (release)
• Healthcare IT provider MedAptus names Doug Percy as new CEO (release)
• VivoMetrics appoints Howard Baker as new CEO (release)

Fovea Pharma sees €30M for eye drugs — Paris-based Fovea Pharmaceuticals, a biotech focused on eye disease, raised €30 million ($44 million) in a second funding round. Investors included Forbion Capital Partners, Sofinnova Partners, Abingworth, GIMV, the Wellcome Trust and CAPE.

Fovea’s lead drug candidates address a variety of ophthalmic conditions, including chronic allergic conjunctivitis and two types of macular edema. The company said the proceeds will allow it to begin mid-stage, phase II human tests of three drugs for these conditions.

Ascendis Pharma raises €18M for time-release drugs — Ascendis Pharma, a Danish specialty pharma with a new trick for making time-release versions of existing drugs, raised €17.6 million ($25.8 million) (PDF) in a first funding round. Investors included Sofinnova Partners, Gilde Healthcare Partners and Zweite TechnoStart Ventures Fonds.

Ascendis also announced the acquisition of Complex Biosystems, a German biotech with technology for enhancing the effectiveness of protein-based drugs. Complex Biosystems will apparently become the research arm of Ascendis, which sort of raises the question of what sort of research the company was conducting prior to the acquisition.

The startup has developed what it calls a novel chemical “linkage” technology that reversibly binds and disables a “carrier” molecule. Apparently that linkage degrades in a predictable fashion, effectively releasing active drug in a time-controlled fashion. Ascendis hasn’t said much about its drug candidates except to note that they address a wide range of disease, including diabetes, neurological disorders and heart disease.

Zurich’s GlycoVaxyn, a biotech developing new “conjugated vaccines”, raised a $9.3 million first funding round. Sofinnova Partners and Index Ventures supplied the investment.

The company will use the funding to push forward with the development of vaccines for bacterial infections, and plans to begin clinical trials by 2009.

Noxxon Pharma, a Berlin-based biotech, raised 37 million euros ($50 million) to help push its first aptamer-based drug candidates for kidney and eye disease into clinical trials.

The main new investors included TVM Capital, Sofinnova Partners, and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners.

Aptamers are short stretches of DNA or RNA — generally known as oligonucleotides — that are designed specifically via an evolution-style process to latch onto a specific protein or other biological target. Because their drug properties could rival those of antibodies — currently used in hit drugs such as Genentech’s Avastin — while being far easier to make, aptamers have drawn a fair amount of excitement over the years. But the first aptamer-based drug, Eyetech Pharmaceutical’s Macugen for age-related macular degeneration, has been a disappointment in the marketplace — in part because a Genentech antibody-based drug appeared to demonstrate superior results.

Check out Noxxon’s release here (HTML) or here (PDF).