Life sciences briefing: Friday, Oct. 12, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Oct. 12, 2007

Featured companies: CeraPedics, Lab21, Incisive Surgical, Orasi Medical, Transoma Medcal, ZyGem
(UPDATED: Expanded items on Transoma, Lab21 and Orasi.)
Medical-device maker Transoma files for $75M IPO — St. Paul, Minn.-based Transoma Medical, a developer of implantable wireless diagnostic sensors, filed to raise $75 million in… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007

Featured companies: 20/20 GeneSystems, Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Cumbre Pharmaceuticals, Dara BioSciences, Enterprise Partners Venture Capital, Fermentas, International, Iasis Medical, New Leaf Venture Partners, Point Therapeutics, Power Medical Interventions, Rules-Based Medicine, Spinal Restoration, Still River Systems, Targanta Therapeutics
(UPDATED: See below.)
[NOTE: In the interests of getting… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007

Featured companies: AngioScore, Forsight Labs, Genoptix, Metastatix, Optherion, QLT
UPDATED: See below.
Artery opener AngioScore pulls in $30M — AngioScore, a Fremont, Calif., maker of balloon catheters used to open up clogged arteries, raised $30 million in a fifth funding round. Investors included Telegraph Hill… Continue Reading

IPO roundup: MAP Pharma’s mixed reception, other recent filings

IPO roundup: MAP Pharma’s mixed reception, other recent filings

MAP Pharmaceuticals, the Mountain View, Calif., specialty pharma, had a mixed reception to its IPO Friday. The company priced its shares at $12, below its anticipated range of $14 to $16, raising up to $69 million — substantially less than the $92 million it might… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Sept. 28, 2007

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… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007

Featured companies: Ablynx, Cardiosolutions, Carigent Thereapeutics, Elusys, Genome Corp., GlobeImmune, Novazone, Targanta Therapeutics, Waterfront Media
UPDATED at 5:45am on 9/27/07
GlobeImmune raises $41M for immune-system therapies — GlobeImmune, a Louisville, Colo., biotech focused on new forms of immunotherapy to treat viral infections and cancer, raised… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Sept. 24, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Sept. 24, 2007

Featured companies: Adnexus Therapeutics, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cellerix, Elixir Therapeutics, GenomeQuest, Intronn, JapanBridge, JenaValve, VirXsys, Ysios Capital
[NOTE: This item is a catchup daily briefing originally posted on 9/27/07. I've edited the item's timestamp to preserve the chronological order of the briefings. --D.P.H.]
Adnexus Thera cancels… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Sept. 21, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Sept. 21, 2007

Featured companies: CG Therapeutics, Complete Genomics, ConforMIS, Flexible Medical Systems, LeMaitre Vascular, MAP Pharmaceuticals, ParaPro, Vascular Architects, Zars Pharma
(UPDATED on 10/1/07: See below.)
[NOTE: Posting has been slow recently for personal reasons. I'll be doing my best to catch up today.]
Complete Genomics raises… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007

Featured companies: Allergan, Athenahealth, Atria Genetics, Celera, Esprit Pharmaceuticals, Vida Diagnostics
(NOTE: This item was posted on Friday, 9/21/07. I’ve backdated its timestamp to preserve the chronological order of the briefings.)
Celera buys Atria Genetics for $33M — Rockville, Md.-based Celera, the onetime genomics pioneer… 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 —… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Aug. 31, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Aug. 31, 2007

Featured companies: Aryx Therapeutics, FlowCardia, Graftcath
FlowCardia raises $30M for artery roto-rooters — Sunnyvale, Calif.-based FlowCardia, a medical-device maker building catheter systems that bore holes in blood clots, raised $30 million in a third funding round. Investors included Gilde Healthcare Partners, Life Sciences Partners, Hambrecht… 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… Continue Reading

The credit crunch: A capital bypass for life sciences?

The credit crunch: A capital bypass for life sciences?

Over at VentureBeat proper, Matt highlights a theory advanced by venture capitalist Keith Benjamin, who argues that the credit crunch now threatening the private-equity boom may have the unexpected effect of boosting returns in technology investments. (Keith puts this all down in his own words… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Aug. 24, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Aug. 24, 2007

(UPDATED at 11am PT on Sunday, 8/26/07: See below.)
Featured companies: Clinical Data, Epidauros Biotechnologie, Precision Therapeutics, UMD, Zars Pharma
UMD to close $8M for menstrual pain and osteoporosis — Cincinnati’s UMD, a developer of vaginal drug-delivery technologies, expects to close up to $8 million… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007

(UPDATED at 7:40pm PT: See below.)
Featured companies: Adnexus Therapeutics, BioForm Medical, Confirma, Cardiovascular Systems, Mirabilis Medica, Neuromed Pharmaceuticals, PlaCor, Seno Medical Instruments, Vibrynt
BioForm Medical files $115M IPO for “medical aesthetics” — BioForm Medical, a San Mateo, Calif., developer of wrinkle fillers and other… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Aug. 20, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Aug. 20, 2007

(UPDATED at 7:10pm PT: See below.)
Featured companies: NeurAxon, VytronUS, Avila Therapeutics, CardioNet, Ventana Medical Systems, CytoLogix, PlaCor
NeurAxon raises $32M for pain drugs — You have to hand it to Waltham, Mass.-based NeurAxon — the company certainly knows how to keep itself in the… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Aug. 17, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Aug. 17, 2007

Featured companies: Concentric Medical, Vertebration, Vision RT, Kemeta
Clotbuster Concentric Medical files for $69M IPO — Mountain View, Calif.-based Concentric Medical, which makes and markets devices for removing dangerous blood clots from the brains of stroke patients, filed to raise up to $69 million in… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007

Featured companies: Reliant Technologies, Leptos Biomedical, Calidora Skin Clinic
Reliant Tech seeks $95M IPO for dermatology lasers — Mountain View, Calif.-based Reliant Technologies, a developer of medical lasers for “skin rejuvenation” treatment, filed to raise as much as $95 million in an initial offering. The… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Aug. 13, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Aug. 13, 2007

(UPDATED: See below.)
Featured companies: FoldRx Pharmaceuticals, Ophthotech, Pevion Biotech, Restoration Robotics, Glide Pharma, Reliant Pharmaceuticals, Nanosphere, SurModics, BioFX Laboratories
FoldRx Pharma to receive $22M against cystic fibrosis — Cambridge, Mass.-based FoldRx Pharmaceuticals, a biotech focused on diseases that result from misfolded proteins, will get… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007

(UPDATED at 6:40pm PT: See below.)
Featured companies: Nereus Phramaceuticals, KFx Medical, NeuroMed Pharmaceuticals, Adnexus Therapeutics, Masimo, Biofisica, Aegera Therapeutics, LymphoSign, InfuScience, Palmetto Infusion Services
Nereus Pharma raises $45M for ocean-derived cancer drugs — San Diego’s Nereus Pharmaceuticals, a biotech that searches for cancer drugs… Continue Reading