VentureBeat

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

• Mauna Kea Tech raises $30M for in-vivo cellular imaging (release)
• Knopp Neuro takes in $10M for Lou Gehrig’s drug (release)
• Cardiovascular Systems, arterial-plaque device maker, files for $86M IPO (Edgar)
• Diagnostics maker BG Medicine withdraws IPO (release)
• Signature Genomics Labs sells stake to Ampersand Ventures (release)
• Cambridge Temp raises £375K for new ovulation detector (release)

Mauna Kea Tech raises $30M for in-vivo cellular imaging — Mauna Kea Technologies, a Paris, France, developer of cellular-imaging technology, raised $30 million in a new financing round. Investors included the U.S.-based Psilos Group, France-based Seventure and Creadev.

Mauna Kea makes and sells instruments that image living tissue at the microscopic level, making possible minimally invasive examination of the gastrointestinal tract and lungs in a way that may make some tissue biopsies unnecessary. The funding will allow the company to expand its commercial operations and pursue clinical trials aimed at establishing its technology’s usefulness in diagnosing problems in the esophagus, colon, stomach and bile duct.

Knopp Neuro takes in $10M for Lou Gehrig’s drug — Pittsburgh-based Knopp Neurosciences, a company developing a drug for Lou Gehrig’s disease, raised $10 million in a second funding round. Investors included Saturn Partners II, Kramer Capital Partners and LaunchCyte.

The latest financing involved the exercise of milestone-based callable warrants held by existing investors. Knopp anticipates calling another $10 million in the second round once it begins mid-stage human tests of its lead drug candidate, KNS-760704.

Knopp is developing that drug as a potential treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, an irreversible and eventually fatal neurodegenerative disease. KNS-760704, however isn’t exactly a new drug — it’s an “enantiomer,” or mirror-image copy, of an existing neurological drug sold as Mirapex, a treatment for so-called restless-legs syndrome. Knopp claims that its version of that drug may help protect nerve cells from the relentless destruction they face in ALS, but without side effects that it says limit the use of Mirapex in this way. The drug has completed early “phase I” human tests in healthy volunteers and plans to launch a mid-stage safety study in ALS patients this year.

Cardiovascular Systems, arterial-plaque device maker, files for $86M IPO — St. Paul, Minn.-based Cardiovascular Systems, a developer of medical devices for the treatment of arterial plaque, filed to raise $86.3 million in an initial offering. The company makes and sells a sort of minimally invasive “rotary sander” with a diamond-head bit that grinds away artery-blocking deposits, or plaques, from peripheral blood vessels in the limbs.

Depending on who you believe, Cardiovascular has raised either $11 million (according to peHUB) or $12.5 million (according to VentureWire) over the past several months. The company’s artery-clearing device received FDA approval last September, but as of Sept. 30, 2007, it hadn’t generated significant sales, unsurprisingly. The startup has an accumulated deficit of $72 million since its formation in 1989. See our previous coverage of the company here (third item).

Diagnostics maker BG Medicine withdraws IPO — Waltham, Mass.-based BG Medicine, a developer of molecular diagnostics, withdrew its attempted IPO filing, citing market conditions. The company had previously dropped its expected share-price range by close to 40 percent (see our coverage here), but apparently failed to draw enough interest even at the lower price. That wasn’t the only setback BG Medicine faced — it had previously made plans to list its shares on Amsterdam’s EuroNext exchange, but apparently never followed through.

As a result, the startup is apparently in dire need of fresh investment. According to a December amendment to its IPO filing, BG Medicine had only $622,000 in cash and equivalents, plus another $5.3 million in “restricted” cash and short-term investments, on hand as of Sept. 30.

Featured companies: Ablynx, Bind Biosciences, Maas Biolab, Oriel Therapeutics, ThromboVision, Xcellerex

(UPDATED: See below.)

Contract biomanufacturer Xcellerex pulls in $31M — Marlborough, Mass.-based Xcellerex, a startup that provides contract “bioprocess” development and manufacturing, raised $31 million in a third funding round. Investors included VantagePoint Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, and SCG Investments.

Xcellerex develops modular “turnkey” manufacturing systems for complex biomolecules such as the proteins, peptides, antibodies and nucleic acids used in biotech drugs and vaccines. The company doesn’t, however, appear to name any of the corporate partners for which it is presumably providing these services.

Maas Biolab receives $2.1M grant for potential Lou Gehrig’s treatment — Maas Biolab, an Albuquerque, N.M., company focused on turning the older immunosuppressive drug cyclosporine into a treatment for Lou Gehrig’s disease, received a $2.1 million grant to further its work. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke provided the funding.

Maas believes that cyclosporine is a neuroprotective drug and says that it extends the lives of mice with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the technical name for Lou Gehrig’s disease. The company’s experimental drug Mitogard is a proprietary form of cyclosporine specifically intended for adminstration into cerebrospinal fluid. It’s not clear from the Maas Web site if it developed Mitogard or licensed it from elsewhere. The drug is not yet in clinical trials; Maas says the drug will undergo “dose escalation” and “pharmacokinetics” studies — that is, work to ascertain its dose-effectiveness and the way it is distributed and then broken down and eliminated by the body — in order to enable an application for human tests.

Nanopartical startup Bind Biosciences hooks $2M award for targeted drugs — Bind Biosciences, a Cambridge, Mass., biotech developing nanoparticles capable of ferrying drugs to specific locations in the body, received a $2 million grant to further its work. NIST provided the funding.

Bind Biosciences is one of several startups hoping to tailor the biological, physical and chemical properties of nanoparticles in ways that will cause them to hone in on particular tissues or protein targets. By attaching drug molecules to these nanoparticles, it should theoretically be possible to turn them into a new version of “smart-bomb” targeted therapies. Other startups at work in this space that we’ve written about include Tempo Pharmaceuticals and Carigent Therapeutics (see our coverage here and here).

Oriel Therapeutics raises undisclosed sum for new drug inhaler — Oriel Therapeutics, a Research Triangle Park, N.C., device maker focused on a new form of inhaler, raised an undisclosed sum in a third funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). The investment was lead by New Leaf Venture Partners; the company declined to disclose other investors or the amount. Oriel claims to be developing a new type of “active” inhaler for drugs for asthma or lung disease.

OTHER HEADLINES OF NOTE:

• Houston’s ThromboVision gets $1.5M grant for personalized-medicine diagnostics (Houston Business Journal)
• Infusion-services firm Critical Homecare Solutions files for $125M IPO (Edgar)
• Belgium’s Ablynx, maker of mini-antibodies from llamas, plans IPO later this year (Reuters)

UPDATE: Expanded items on Xcellerex, Maas Biolab, Bind Biosciences, and Oriel Therapeutics.

Featured companies: Atritech, Avalon Partners, Ensemble Discovery, Hyperion Therapeutics, LifeBond, ReShape Medical, SafeStitch, Trophos, UltraShape

Hyperion Therapeutics raises $40M against GI and kidney disease — Hyperion Therapeutics, a South San Francisco, Calif., specialty pharmaceutical company, raised $40 million in a second funding round. Investors included Sofinnova Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates and WRF Capital.

Hyperion, which buys the rights to test and market drug candidates from other companies, said the proceeds will allow it to complete a licensing agreement with Medicis Pharmaceutical’s Ucyclyd subsidiary, build out its management team and advance its clinical trials. The company’s two leading candidates address a genetic disease called urea cycle disorder, in which toxic ammonia builds up in the blood stream, and hepatic encephalopathy, a neurological complication of cirrhosis.

Atritech raises $22M for clot-prevention device — Plymouth, Minn.-based Atritech, a developer of a device designed to prevent dangerous blood clots, raised $22 million in a fourth funding round. Investors included SightLine Healthcare Vintage Fund, Prism Venture Partners and other existing investors.

Atritech’s device, which it calls the Watchman system, is essentially a tiny mesh basket designed to be implanted in the opening to the heart’s left atrial appendage, a small pouch on the top of the heart. That pouch is often the source of blood clots in patients with atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the heart’s upper chambers beat too fast. Ideally, the implanted basket will catch clots that threaten to escape into the bloodstream, where they could cause a stroke.

The funding will allow Atritech to finish enrolling patients in a late-stage trial of the Watchman device, which is being tested against a blood thinner typically given to prevent clots from forming.

UltraShape gets $15.1M for “body contouring” — UltraShape, an Israeli developer of ultrasound systems designed to break down fat cells for cosmetic purposes, raised $15.1 million in a fifth funding round. Investors included Meritech Capital Partners, Israel Seed Partners and Polaris Venture Partners. The company’s non-invasive device isn’t approved for use in the U.S.

Trophos raises $11.6M for neurological drugs — Trophos, a Marseille, France, biotech focused on developing new drugs for neurological conditions, raised $11.6 million (€8.5 million) in a third round of funding. Investors included OTC Asset Management, CM-CIC Capital Privé, Society General Asset Management (SGAM), Viveris Management, Turenne Capital Partners, Blue Medical and the Association Française contre les Myopathies.

Trophos develops drugs that it believes will promote the survival of neurons threatened by degenerative neurological diseases such as Huntingdon’s disease. Its leading candidates target neuropathic pain and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

SafeStitch goes public in reverse merger, raises $4M in debt — SafeStitch, a Miami medical-device maker without a Web site, went public in a reverse merger with the defunct firm Cellular Technical Services. The company will list its shares on the American Stock Exchange. As part of the deal, SafeStitch raised a $4 million line of credit from the Frost Group, a private-equity firm, and also takes control of $3 million in cash held by CTS. The company makes devices for minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgery.

NationsHealth acquires Diabetes Care & Education for $3M — NationsHealth, a Sunrise, Fla., provider of medical products and insurance-related services, acquired Diabetes Care & Education, a provider of insulin pumps and related supplies for diabetics. NationsHealth will pay $3 million, $2.5 million in cash and $500,000 in unregistered common stock.

Obesity-device maker ReShape Medical pulls in $3M — ReShape Medical, a Lake Forest, Calif., developer of minimally invasive medical devices to treat obesity, raised $3 million in a follow-on to its first funding round, PE Hub reported, citing a regulatory filing. Investors included New Leaf Venture Partners and SV Life Sciences. The company was previously known as Abdominis, and has now raised a total of $8 million.

Avalon Ventures raises $84 million in eighth fund — Avalon Ventures, a La Jolla, Calif., venture-capital firm specializing in life-science and wireless-technology companies, raised $84 million in an eighth fund, VentureWire reports (subscription required), citing a regulatory filing. Avalon previously raised $75 million for its seventh fund, which closed in 2005.

LifeBond gets $1.5M for new surgical bandages — LifeBond, a Jerusalem-based device company, raised $1.5 million. Investors included GlenRock Israel and the Zitelman Group.

LifeBond is developing a bandage that exudes a sticky gel when it comes into contact with blood, presumably creating a barrier that minimizes blood loss.

Ensemble Discovery , a Cambridge, Mass., biotech, named former Pfizer vice president Michael Taylor as its CEO. Ensemble is developing new drugs and tests based on large, repetitive molecules called macrocycles.

Ensemble raised $17 million in a first funding round in 2004, and in February VentureWire reported that the company was closing a second round in the “tens of millions.”