Eiger snaps up $7.1M to treat hepatitis
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, developer of treatments for strains of hepatitis, announced that it brought in $7.1 million in first-round funding from InterWest Partners and Vivo Ventures. The Palo Alto, Calif. company will use the new money to push its lead compound — which targets hepatitis C — through its pipeline. It is also working on treatments for hepatitis D and various other viruses, it says.
Eiger spun out from research conducted on hepatitis C at Stanford University…. Continue Reading
Nora Pharma reels in $25M for women’s health
Nora Pharmaceuticals, developer of women’s reproductive health drugs and devices, brought in $25 million in first round financing from Burrill & Co., Prospect Venture Partners and Vivo Ventures. The San Francisco-based company is still pretty stealthy (it doesn’t even have a website). It did release that it has some products, but did not specify further.
There is a lot of investor interest in this area of healthcare right now, reports VentureWire. Swiss startup Lumavita, for example,… Continue Reading
New $32M round helps APT battle lung transplant rejection
APT Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today that it has raised $32 million in its second round from a flock of investors led by Three Arch Partners, and including InterWest Partners, Pinnacle Ventures, Charter Life Sciences, Great Point Partners, Versant Ventures and Vivo Ventures.
APT, headquartered in Burlingame, Calif., develops drugs to combat lung diseases. Currently, the spotlight is on a compound that could prevent lung transplant rejection. The company plans to use the $55 million brought in… 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.
Tria Beauty raises $30M to remove your excess back hair
Tria Beauty (formerly known as SpectraGenics), the Pleasanton, Calif. maker of a device that uses lasers for hair removal, has raised $30 million in its fifth round of financing.
Unlike similar devices, Tria’s hair removal system has been cleared for home use. While it has been sold for some time in Japan and some European countries, the device was also recently approved for the United States by the FDA.
To date, laser hair removal has been an… Continue Reading
Capnia, a CO2-through-nose treatment company, raises $16.3M
Capnia, a Palo Alto, Calif., company that delivers carbon dioxide through a patient’s nose to treat things like migraines and rhinitis, has raised $16.3 million of a potential $19 million third round of funding.
Backers include existing investors Vivo Ventures, Asset Management and Teknoinvest, as well as individuals including chief executive Ernest Mario, according to VentureWire, which first reported the news.
The company said the money will help the company finish the second phase of trials for… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Topical Botox maker Revance gets $43M, option to be acquired by Medicis (release)
Reva Medical draws $42M for resorbable stents (release)
AccentCare raises $8M for senior home-care services (VentureWire, sub req’d)
Light Dimensions aims for $6M for light-based skin treatment (VW)
Carigent pulls in $2M for nanoparticle drugs (release)
Celtic Pharma shoots for $1.5B in two drug-investment funds (VW)
Topical Botox developer Revance gets $43M, option to be acquired by Medicis — Mountain View, Calif.-based Revance Therapeutics, a developer of… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Monday, Nov. 26, 2007
Featured companies: Biospace Med, Carbylan BioSurgery, GVK BioSciences, IntraSafe Medical, InViragen, Medingo, ParadigmHealth, Precimed, SV Life Sciences
UPDATED: Expanded items on Carbylan, Medingo, and GVK Biosciences.
Carbylan raises $20M for arthritis, sinusitis drug implants — Palo Alto, Calif.-based Carbylan BioSurgery, a medical-device maker focused on polymer-based drug-delivery technologies, raised $20 million in a second funding round. Investors included Vivo Ventures, Alta Partners and InterWest Partners.
Carbylan is developing a biomaterial-based drug-delivery system in which drug-impregnated polymers of hyaluronic acid… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007
Featured companies: 23andMe, APT Pharmaceuticals, Hyperion Therapeutics, Isis Biopolymer, Virogenomics
UPDATED at 10:30am PT.
APT Pharma raises $22M for transplant and heart drugs — Burlingame, Calif.’s APT Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharma currently focused on a drug to fight organ-transplant rejection, raised $22 million in an extension of its first funding round. Investors included Versant Ventures, Great Point Partners, Vivo Ventures and Charter Life Sciences.
APT, which acquires its drug candidates instead of developing them itself, has raised a total of… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Sept. 28, 2007
Featured companies: Imalux, Sagent Pharmaceuticals, Sequel Pharmaceuticals, Sinexus, TranS1, U.S. Spinal Technologies
Sagent Pharmaceuticals draws in $53M for injectable generics — Sagent Pharmaceuticals, proving that there’s still life in the apparently lucrative but boring specialty-pharmaceuticals business, raised $53 million in a first funding round. Vivo Ventures led the round for the Schaumburg, Ill., company.
Like other specialty pharmas, Sagent essentially picks up abandoned or cast-off drugs from other companies and tries to make them work in new ways…. Continue Reading
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 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… Continue Reading
Vivo Ventures aims for Asia investment with $275M fund
Vivo Ventures plans its first in Asian life-science investments now that it has closed a new fund, VentureWire is reporting (subscription required). The Palo Alto, Calif., outfit, formerly known as BioAsia Investments due to its former association with Asian investors, just closed a $275 million healthcare fund, its sixth.
From the VentureWire story:
Vivo expects to invest this fund in 14 to 18 companies, with a particular emphasis on those with drugs or medical devices in clinical… Continue Reading
Insomnia drug company, TransOral, raises $40M more
TransOral Pharmaceuticals, a Pt. Richmond, Calif. developer of a drug that treats insomnia, has raised $40 million in a fourth round of funding.
See the company’s announcement here.
The investor syndicate was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and included follow-on investments by New Leaf Venture Partners, Montreux Equity Partners, InterWest Partners, Hamilton BioVentures, Vivo Ventures, Peninsula Equity Partners, and Hercules Technology Growth Capital.
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)