TradeBeam raises $7M for trade management software

TradeBeam Holdings, a San Mateo, Calif.-based provider of software that manages global trade agreements online, has brought in $7 million to extend a $3 million round earmarked for expansion of its operations in China. Its product helps companies make sure they are complying with export… Continue Reading

Teachscape buys Edgenuity for teacher accountability software

Teachscape, a consultancy that provides online training to school teachers, has announced its purchase of Edgenuity, maker of software that helps schools craft instruction plans. The San Francisco-based firm plans to use its acquisition’s technology to build a web-based platform for school districts to measure… Continue Reading

Public biotech firms Cadence, Affymax draw $128M from bargain-hunting VCs

Public biotech firms Cadence, Affymax draw $128M from bargain-hunting VCs

Much has been written about how the IPO market froze out biotech companies in 2008, but it looks like times are also tough for those who went public before the economy soured. Cadence Pharmaceuticals has seen a dip in stock price from $9 to $7.53… Continue Reading

Medical imager Point Biomedical recaps with $25M

Medical imager Point Biomedical recaps with $25M

Point Biomedical, a San Carlos, Calif., developer of new biomedical-imaging products, raised $25 million in a recapitalization, peHub reports. Such recapitalizations often amount to a kind of “reset button” for existing investors and lenders, and usually suggest that a startup has run into some kind… Continue Reading

Amgen, Relypsa and the art of the biotech-spinout-startup-restart

Amgen, Relypsa and the art of the biotech-spinout-startup-restart

(UPDATED: See below.)

A common dilemma in biotech acquisitions is how to keep a startup’s entrepreneurial management happy and productive when they’ve just been assimilated by the Borg. The answer, often enough, is not to bother, and to let them spin out a new company with scientific… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Sept. 17, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Sept. 17, 2007

Featured companies: Bioptigen, Echo Therapeutics, Forest Laboratories, Intrinsic Therapeutics, Microbia, Phreesia, Sontra Medical, TransMedics, Xanthus Pharmaceuticals

[NOTE: This is a catchup briefing, posted on 9/28/07. I've adjusted the item's timestamp to keep the briefings in chronological order. --D.P.H.]

Patient-info digitizer Phreesia takes in $10.3M — Phreesia, a New York… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Aug. 27, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Aug. 27, 2007

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… Continue Reading

NeuroVista raises $33.8M for epilepsy devices

NeuroVista raises $33.8M for epilepsy devices

(CORRECTED: See below.)

Seattle-based NeuroVista, a developer of devices for the treatment of epilepsy, raised $33.8 million in a second-round funding and left behind its former name, BioNeuronics.

The company, founded in 2002 by whiz kid Daniel DiLorenzo, has been quiet about its technology and commercial direction. In… Continue Reading

Tibco to buy business intelligence software co., Spotfire, for $195M

Tibco, a Palo Alto, Calif. software company, said it has agreed to buy business intelligence software company Spotfire, of Somerville, Mass. for about $195 million in cash.

Tibco said its own software, which gives companies a way to manage their data infrastructure in “real time,” would… Continue Reading

Infinera, optical networking company, files for IPO, at long last

Infinera, the Sunnyvale, Calif. fiber-optic equipment company that says its technology is superior to existing offerings, has filed to go public, submitting its registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise about $150 million.

It isn’t profitable, but sales are showing momentum.

It brought in $44.3… Continue Reading

XDx looking to raise $25 million more for personalized medicine

XDx, a Brisbane, Calif. company that monitors the immune system with personalized medicine based on insights from the Human Genome Project, said it is raising up to $25 million more in cash.

The news, reported this morning by VentureWire (sub required) would be the company’s fifth… Continue Reading

Drug maker Affymax to issue shares, despite doubling losses

Affymax, a Palo Alto biotech company that makes synthetic peptide-based drugs to treat kidney diseases and cancer, is planning an initial public offering it hope could bring it as much as $84 million.

Its lead product, Hematide, is in Phase 2 trials in patients with… Continue Reading

Online health insurance co., eHealth, goes public

Online health insurance company eHealth raised $70 million in an initial public offering.

The 5 million share offering, which represents about a 24 percent stake in the company, priced at $14 per share compared with a $10 to $12 forecast.

The Mountain View company will trade on… Continue Reading