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TODAY’S HEADLINES:

• Gelesis draws in $16M for obesity treatments (release)
• Tempo Pharma raises $8B for nanoparticle drugs (release)
• Calistoga Pharma receives additional $5M for cancer and inflammation drugs (release)
• Montreux Equity Partners closes $250M life-sciences fund (release)
• MTS Health Partners names Andrew Weisenfeld, Mark Epstein managing directors (release)
• T2 Biosystems names John McDonough as CEO (release)

Gelesis draws in $16M for obesity treatments — Gelesis, a stealthy Boston company working on “novel” obesity treatments, raised $16 million in a first funding round. Investors included Orbimed Advisors and existing investors.

According to this Boston Globe story, Gelesis is developing a capsule containing an undefined “substance” that would expand in the stomach once swallowed, creating a temporary sense of fullness. The substance, whatever it is, would later pass out of the body.

Tempo Pharma raises $8B for nanoparticle drugs — Cambridge, Mass.-based Tempo Pharmaceuticals, a biotech developing “nanoparticle” formulations for new and existing drugs, raised $8 million in a second funding round. Investors included Polaris Venture Partners, Venrock, Lux Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Alexandria Real Estate Equities and William Rastetter, the former chairman of Biogen Idec.

The funding is Tempo’s second in just seven months; last May, it raised $12.1 million in a first round. (See our coverage here.) Tempo says the round reflects a “significantly increased valuation.”

Like other nanoparticle-drug companies, Tempo aims to improve the safety and efficacy of existing drugs — here by packaging them together in tiny capsules that release two drugs sequentially, presumably maximizing their effectiveness while minimizing side effects. Other nanoparticle-based companies we’ve covered recently include Carigent Therapeutics (here) and Bind Biosciences (here).

Calistoga Pharma receives additional $5M for cancer and inflammation drugs — Seattle’s Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, a biotech focused on new cancer and inflammation drugs, raised an additional $5.2 million in its first funding round. That brings the total round to $26.2 million.

Current investors provided the new funds. Previous investors in the round included Frazier Healthcare Ventures, Alta Partners, Three Arch Partners, Amgen Ventures and Eli Lilly, according to this Fierce Biotech story.

Calistoga, which was spun out of Icos after its acquisition by Lilly, is developing drugs against a class of biochemical-signaling molecules known as phosphoinositide-3 kinase. It currently has two drug candidates in preclinical studies.

Montreux Equity Partners closes $250M life-sciences fund — The Menlo Park, Calif.-based VC firm Montreux Equity Partners closed a $250 million life-sciences fund. The firm said the fund exceeded a $200 million target.

Montreux said the fund has already invested in several pharmaceutical and medical-device startups, including Glaukos, Avantis Medical, Tobira Therapeutics and Sequel Pharmaceuticals. We previously noted their fundraising efforts here.

Featured companies: American Aerogel, Clinicient, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, Genome Diagnostics, RadPharm, RainDance Technologies, Vivacta

UPDATED: Expanded items on Vitae, RadPharm, Vivacta and Genome Diagnostics. Intelligent Bio-Systems is now covered in a standalone item here.

Vitae Pharma takes in $15M for blood pressure, diabetes drugs — Vitae Pharmaceuticals, a Fort Washington, Pa., biotech focused on new drugs for hypertension and metabolic disorders, raised $15 million in a fourth funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Boehringer Ingelheim, which struck a major partnership with Vitae in mid-October (PDF link), provided the funding.

That partnership calls for the two companies to co-develop Vitae drug candidates that inhibit a protein called 11beta-HSD1, an enzyme that helps regulate the hormone cortisol. The drugs may be useful in treating diabetes, obesity and hypertension. B-I agreed to pay Vitae $36.5 million in cash, research funding and an at-the-time unspecified equity investment, as well as up to $300 million in potential milestone payments.

Vitae’s other major drug program involves compounds that inhibit the protein renin, which regulates blood pressure and vascular function. Renin inhibitors, which could be useful in treating hypertension, have been a white whale of sorts for the drug industry over the past 30 years (see, for instance, this somewhat technical discussion of the history here).

UK’s Vivacta draws in $12M for medical diagnostics — Vivacta, a U.K. medical-diagnostic company formerly known as PanOpSys, raised $12 million in a second funding round. Investors included AGF Private Equity, HBM BioVentures, Spark Ventures and Viking.

Vivacta is developing a fast, “point of care” diagnostic system intended to deliver laboratory-quality test readings from drawn blood in doctors’ offices or at a hospital bedside. The technology is based on a “piezoelectric” film coated with antibodies to particular blood proteins. Piezoelectric devices produce current when compressed, so theoretically this approach should allow a direct measurement of blood proteins by generating current proportional to the density of antibodies that capture any particular blood protein.

RadPharm gets $10M for medical-image reviews — RadPharm, a Princeton, N.J., provider of medical-image review services, raised $10 million in a second funding round. Investors include Siemens Venture Capital, Ampersand Ventures, Adams Street Partners and Tang Capital Management.

RadPharm essentially provides outsourced analysis of medical images ranging from CAT scans to X-rays for clinical trials, whose outcomes can hinge on the way those images are read and analyzed. Trials of cancer drugs, for instance, frequently look at whether tumors shrink, stabilize or grow, and determining that requires someone to look at actual patient X-rays or other images and decide what they actually show. RadPharm’s service provides “centralized, independent, blinded interpretation” of such scans.

Genome Diagnostics, cancer-test maker, aims for $1.6M — Genome Diagnostics, a Pasadena, Calif., developer of cancer diagnostic tests, has raised several hundred thousand dollars toward an anticipated $1.6 million first funding round, VentureWire reports. B.C. Capital of Israel and several individual investors provided the funds.

According to VentureWire, the company aims to produce a diagnostic test for prostate cancer based upon gene variations detected by sequencing a patient’s entire genome. That sounds unlikely on several levels, the first of which is that “whole-genome sequencing” — VentureWire’s description of what the company is doing — is still incredibly expensive, with an estimated cost of $100,000 or more.

It seems far more likely that the company will do a rough-and-ready genome scan that samples only several hundred thousand of the genome’s three billion DNA “letters” that are known to vary between individuals — at least, that is, unless Genome Diagnostics is betting that the cost of whole-genome sequencing will drop to the fabled $1,000 or so by the time it gets its product to market. And maybe that’s exactly what the company is doing, although that would mean that its initial testing costs are going to be extraordinarily high.

It’s also far from clear exactly what sort of prognostic information the company hopes to obtain from a genome scan of either type, since most genetic-association studies can only show increases or decreases in the probability of disease, and with such a margin of error that it’s difficult to see how that information could possibly serve a diagnostic purpose. I’ll try to circle back to the company in order to get a better idea of what they’re up to for a future post.

OTHER HEADLINES OF NOTE:

• Clinicient receives $5M for healthcare revenue-management software (release)
• Genome sequencer Intelligent Bio-Systems raises funding (VW)
• American Aerogel raises $3.2M for biopharma gels (VW)
• Frazier Healthcare Ventures raises $600M life-sciences fund (Seattle P-I)
• RainDance Technologies appoints Christopher McNary as CEO (release)

(UPDATED: See below.)

(NOTE: This item was originally published as part of today’s life-sciences briefing.)

EnteroMedics, a St. Paul, Minn., device maker working on a neuromodulation implant for treating obesity, slashed its expected IPO pricing by half, lowering it to a range of $8 to $9 instead of its earlier estimate of $14 to $16. The company’s latest SEC fliing is here; under the new terms, EnteroMedics can raise at most $51.8 million, down from the $92 million it had previously planned on.

Needless to say, this sort of thing is never a good sign, particularly for a company whose potentially transformative technology still lacks convincing evidence that it really works. The EnteroMedics device, which it calls Maestro, is still in late-stage clinical trials in Australia, Mexico, Norway and Switzerland, but isn’t terribly far along yet. The company says it has so far implanted the Maestro device in 76 patients, of which it has followed 11 for a full year. Its “pivotal” late stage trial, however, only began in the third quarter and will involve 220 patients, all of whom will have the device implanted, although only 145 or so will have it turned on. In fact, EnteroMedics wants to expand the trial to 300 patients.

When EnteroMedics initially filed for its IPO, it wasn’t very clear about exactly how the VBLOC “neuroblocking” technology in the Maestro is supposed to work. In subsequent months it has launched a Web site and added diagrams (see, for instance, the thumbnail image at left; click it for a larger version) and other information to its filings in order to explain the technique in more detail.

EnteroMedics now describes Maestro as a device that uses short electrical pulses to interfere with signals along the vagus nerve, in turn — and in theory — limiting stomach expansion, reducing the intensity and frequence of stomach contractions and inducing feelings of fullness. The device involves an implanted, radio-controlled “neuroregulator” whose electrodes extend to the vagus nerve near the junction of the stomach and the esophagus. A separate external unit controls the pulse frequency and wirelessly recharges the neuroregulator.

Given the severity of the obesity “epidemic” and the desperation of many overweight people, you’d think investors would be falling all over themselves to invest in a technology like VBLOC, which — again, in theory — offers the advantages of gastric-bypass surgery with a much less invasive procedure. The obvious drawback, of course, is the possibility that the device doesn’t work or, worse, that it might actually harm patients. EnteroMedics says it has observed seven adverse events to date, but adds that all were resolved without surgery or permanent effects.

Of course, it doesn’t help that the experimental evidence that this sort of technique should work is in relatively short supply. EnteroMedics itself notes that severing the vagus nerve, or vagotomy, used to be a common treatment for ulcers, after which many patients temporarily absorbed fewer calories from fat, lost weight and had decreased appetite. VBLOC attempts to mimic these effects of vagotomy without blocking all signals, yet EnteroMedics cites no studies to suggest that the technique works, and doesn’t appear to have published any of its research to date in patient studies.

EnteroMedics, of course, isn’t the only startup to see investors turn up their noses during a roadshow. About a month ago, the adult stem-cell company Bioheart also halved its IPO terms, and hasn’t yet managed to get its offering off the ground. (See our recent coverage here and here.) Like EnteroMedics, Bioheart is pushing ahead with a risky, largely unproven technology that’s only tenuously grounded in hard scientific findings. Perhaps it’s no wonder that investors are starting to get cold feet in both cases now that they’re finally getting a better look at these companies’ underpinnings. Or maybe it’s just one more sign — as if we needed it — that risk of any sort, particularly given the subprime-mortgage meltdown, is increasingly out of favor.

UPDATE: EnteroMedics went public later in the day at a price of $8 a share, limiting the company’s maximum IPO take to $46 million. That’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, but generally speaking, still not so hot.

Featured companies: AerovectRx, Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Harmony Information Systems, Intelligent Hospital Systems, Merrion Pharmaceuticals, Syntaxin, SymBio Pharmaceuticals

UPDATED: Expanded items on Harmony Info, SymBio Pharma and Merrion Pharma, added Dicerna item.
UPDATE REDUX: Added Syntaxin item.

U.K. biotech Syntaxin raises £16M for pain and nervous-system drugs — Syntaxin, a U.K. biotech focused on drugs that affect cell secretion, raised £16 million ($33.2 million) in a second funding round. The company’s release is here.

Investors in the round included SR One, the venture capital arm of GlaxoSmithKline; Life Science Partners; Abingworth; Johnson & Johnson Development; and Quest for Growth. Syntaxin is developing drugs derived from bacterial toxins that block the release of chemicals known as neurotransmitters, which may be useful in treating pain, respiratory disease, neurological problems and obesity and related metabolic disorders.

Harmony Info, a healthcare IT provider, raises $28M to fund acquisition and expand sales — Reston, Va.-based Harmony Information Systems, a maker of healthcare software for government agencies and nonprofits, raised $28 million in a second funding round consisting of equity and debt. Investors included JMI Equity, Updata Partners, ORIX Venture Finance and Comerica Bank.

On Monday, Harmony announced the acquisition of rival Synergy Software Technologies for undisclosed terms. Harmony provides IT systems that handle electronic medical records, billing and insurance-claims management.

Japan’s SymBio Pharma closes in on ¥2B funding — Tokyo’s SymBio Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharma founded in 2005, is near closing a ¥2 billion ($17.4 million) third round of funding, VentureWire reports (subscription required). The company is focused on acquiring and developing drugs for cancer, blood disease and autoimmune conditions.

Co-founder Lowell Sears, a former Amgen CFO and now CEO of Sears Capital Management, has long been active in the Asian pharmaceuticals market. From VentureWire:

He was a founding investor, for instance, in Peninsula Pharmaceuticals Inc., an Alameda, Calif.-based company that licensed late-stage antibiotics from Japanese companies. Johnson & Johnson acquired Peninsula in 2005, and Forest Laboratories Inc. bought Peninsula spinout Cerexa Inc. in January.

Sears and Fuminori Yoshida, whom Sears once hired to be president of Amgen’s Japanese unit, started SymBio to do the reverse of Peninsula by acquiring Asian product rights.

Like JapanBridge, an MPM Capital-founded company we wrote about here, SymBio essentially aims to acquire drugs or drug candidates from elsewhere in order to win regulatory approval and sell them in Japan.

Irish specialty pharma Merrion slashes IPO range — Dublin’s Merrion Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharma we last checked in on over the weekend, sharply lowered its expected IPO range. The company, which had hoped to sell as many as 4.6 million shares (listed in the U.S. as American Depositary Shares) for $10 to $12, now expects only $6 to $7 per ADS.

That lowers Merrion’s maximum IPO take to $32.2 million, down from an earlier $55.2 million, and gives the company a post-offering market capitalization of up to $122.9 million. Merrion rejiggers existing drugs to make them easier to take by mouth.

New RNA-interference biotech Dicerna shoots for $13M, aims to work around RNAi patents — Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, a stealthy, Boston-based biotech in the field of RNA interference, aims to raise $13 million in a first funding round, the In Vivo blog reports. The company, co-founded by John Rossi of Duarte, Calif.’s City of Hope National Medical Center and Mark Behlke of Integrated DNA Technologies, is focused on making new drugs via the “gene-silencing” properties of RNAi while sidestepping a patent thicket that has grown up around the technology. The company expects to close its funding in November.

Unless you’re a nucleic-acid chemist (or a patent lawyer focused on same), the details of Dicerna’s strategy are most likely beside the point, although I’m sure the In Vivo folks would welcome your attention if you’re really interested. Suffice to say that the company’s founders believe they’re found a new way to build these gene-silencing molecules that isn’t covered by some of the fundamental patents in the field. If that’s true — and no one will really know for years, if ever — it could spark new attention from Big Pharma and other biotechs that have so far sat out the increasingly frantic, and expensive, race to make RNAi drugs.

As with any early-stage technology, it’s helpful to bear in mind that no one has yet demonstrated that RNAi molecules can even work as safe and effective drugs, much less that they’ll be the magic bullet that some have claimed. Still, a lot of money has been sloshing around the field recently (see our coverage in the third item here), and there’s little doubt that deep-pocketed folks still on the sidelines will want to at least check out Dicerna’s claims.

OTHER HEADLINES OF NOTE:

• IH Systems pulls in $7.6M for robot syringe-filler (release)
• AerovectRx names Ed Cannon as new CEO (release)

Featured companies: Allozyne, Arteriocyte Medical Systems, Arthrosurface, Bay City Capital, EnteroMedics, OncoVista, Novotech, Power Medical Interventions, Reliant Technologies

UPDATED: Expanded items on Allozyne, Reliant Tech, Power Medical and Bay City Capital.
UPDATE REDUX: Added item on EnteroMedics IPO.

Seattle’s Allozyne draws $30M for new interferon — Allozyne, a Seattle biotech focused on tweaking existing protein-based drugs to improve their properties, raised $30 million in a second round of financing. Investors included MPM Capital, OVP Venture Partners, Amgen Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners and Alexandria Real Estate Equities.

Allozyne’s twist on improving protein-based drugs — i.e., most biotech drugs — is to substitute “non-natural” amino acids into the proteins themselves. (Recall that a protein is essentially just a long chain of amino acids.) By swapping out natural amino acids with synthetic versions at key points in the protein, Allozyne hopes to improve the effectiveness and safety of protein drugs. The company’s description of it’s approach is here.

The company’s first drug candidate is a modified version of interferon beta, which is currently used to treat multiple sclerosis. The funding will support the first early-stage human trials of the drug, and will also “accelerate” development of a second candidate.

In addition, Allozyne will prepare to exit Accelerator, a Seattle biotech incubator connected with the Institute for Systems Biology. We previously wrote about Accelerator here.

Med-device maker Reliant Tech sets IPO terms, aims for $86M take — Not to be confused with Reliant Pharmaceuticals, which set its IPO terms yesterday, Mountain View, Calif.-based Reliant Technologies set its price range today and now hopes to raise up to $86.5 million in an offering of as many as 5.4 million shares. Reliant hopes to price those shares between $14 and $16 apiece.

Reliant makes medical lasers for “skin rejuvenation” treatments. Our previous coverage of the company is here.

Power Medical IPO falls short, raises up to $49M for robotic-surgery systems — Power Medical Interventions, a Langhorne, Pa., maker of computer- and power-assisted surgery tools, fell short of its IPO hopes and now stands to raise no more than $49 million from its offering. Its latest SEC filing is here.

The company priced its shares at $11 apiece, well under the $12 to $14 range it previously established. (Our coverage is here.) Power Medical could sell as many as 4.4 million shares in the offering.

The result is a sharp disappointment for Power Medical, which had originally hoped to raise as much as $100 million in its offering. The company’s lackluster start contrasts with the soaring welcome spinal-implant maker TranS1 received earlier this month (our coverage here). If it’s any consolation, though, Power Medical shares staged an early recovery, rising 60 cents, or 5.5 percent, to $11.60 in early trading today.

Bay City Capital closes $500M life-science fund — The San Francisco-based VC firm Bay City Capital, which focuses on life-science investments, closed a $500 million fifth fund, VentureWire reports (subscription required). The fund is significantly larger than its predecessor, which closed at $350 million in 2004.

Bay City intends to back 15 to 20 biotech, medical-device and diagnostics companies with the fund, which suggests it will tend to favor later-stage deals — now a long-standing VC trend. The firm told VentureWire that it will invest at all stages, including “seed-stage bets on start-ups launched in-house and structured investments in publicly traded companies.”

EnteroMedics sets IPO terms, looks for $92M to support obesity-control implants — St. Paul, Minn.-based EnteroMedics, a device company developing a neuromodulation implant designed to regulate appetite, set its IPO terms and now aims to offer up to 5.75 million shares at a price of $14 to $16 apiece. The offering could value the company at as much as $261 million while raising up to $92 million.

EnteroMedics is one of several companies angling to introduce new obesity treatments that don’t rely on drugs or invasive surgery. Although its technology is still being tested to assess its effectiveness, EnteroMedics has launched a spiffy new Web site with lots of pictures and animations to illustrate how it believes its implant will work. For our previous coverage of the company, see here and here.

OTHER HEADLINES OF NOTE:

• Arteriocyte Medical Systems spins out, gets $10M for med devices(release)
• Arthrosurface raising $5M for knee implants (VW)
• Contract researcher Novotech raises $8M for expansion(release)
• OncoVista goes public via reverse merger (release)

Featured companies: Aldagen, LDR, Lyten Endoscopy, MachLabs, Permatox, TeleMedicine Clinic, ThromboVision

Spinal-implant maker LDR raises $25M — Austin, Texas-based LDR, a maker of spinal implants, raised $25 million in a third funding round. Investors included Telegraph Hill Partners, Austin Ventures, Rothschild Private Equity and PTV Sciences.

LDR sells spinal-fusion devices, artificial disks and other spine-related devices in more than 30 countries, and plans to use the funds for further expansion.

Aldagen adds $9M for adult stem-cell work — Aldagen, a Durham, N.C., biotech developing regenerative therapies with “adult” stem cells, raised an additional $9 million (PDF link), bringing its third funding round to a total of $23 million. Investors in the additional financing include Tullis-Dickerson, CNF Investments, Harbert Venture Partners and Intersouth Partners.

The company’s most advanced experimental treatment uses stem cells derived from umbilical-cord blood to somehow improve the speed and effectiveness of cord-blood transplants in children, although the company doesn’t explain how. Nor has it revealed the results of an early-stage human test. Other treatments now entering clinical trials use stem or related progenitor cells isolated from a patient’s own bone marrow to treat heart failure or clot-related oxygen deprivation in the limbs.

The Triangle Business Journal has more.

ThromboVision raises $4M for personalized-medicine diagnostics — The Houston, Texas, biotech ThromboVision said it raised $4 million in a first funding round. Investors included the private-equity firm National Healthcare Services and private investors.

ThromboVision is developing new tests of platelet activity that may help doctors determine which patients are most likely to respond to low doses of blood thinners such as aspirin or Plavix, which are used to prevent clots that can cause heart attacks or strokes. This is similar — in concept, at least — to the FDA’s recent push to require the use of genomic tests to determine the proper dosing of warfarin, another blood thinner. (See our coverage here.)

MachLabs launches two device companies — MachLabs, a Redwood City, Calif., investor partnership founded by entrepreneurs Michael Laufer and John Lonergan, recently launched two medical-device startups, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Lyten is developing a minimally invasive treatment for obesity, while Permatox hopes to introduce a non-invasive alternative to Botox.

TeleMedicine Clinic receives €7M for radiology services — Barcelona-based TeleMedicine Clinic, a center for the outsourced analysis of medical images such as X-rays and MRIs, raised €7 million ($9.7 million), VentureWire reports. Investors included Kennet Partners, Active Capital Partners and an undisclosed European seed investor.

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 company currently markets two laser systems for skin treatment under the Fraxel brand name, and intends to launch a third one next year.

Oddly enough, Reliant Tech’s IPO filing comes just days after Reliant Pharmaceuticals filed for a $400 million initial offering (see our coverage in this daily briefing). That should certainly keep investors on their toes. Journalists, too — I almost didn’t cover this IPO because I thought I’d already written about it.

Although it has products on the market, Reliant Tech is not only still losing money, its losses are apparently continuing to mount. Total revenues have grown substantially, to $57.4 million in 2006 from $4.5 million in 2004, but its net losses have also kept pace, largely as a result of mounting sales and marketing expenses. Net losses in 2006 were $20.9 million, up from $13.3 million in 2004; for the first half of 2007, the company posted a loss of $10.9 million on $35.3 million in revenue.

Reliant Tech raised $37 million in its two most recent fundings, most recently drawing in $15 million in a fifth round, according to VentureWire (subscription required).

Neuromodulator Leptos raises $20M for obesity implant — Leptos Biomedical, a Brooklyn Center, Minn., developer of obesity-control implants, raised $20 million in a third funding round, VentureWire reports. Investors included Latterell Venture Partners, Spray Venture Partners, Thomas McNerney & Partners and Technology Partners.

Leptos is developing what it calls an “implantable pulse generator” designed to send electric signals into the sympathetic nervous system in order to suppress appetite and induce the burning of fat. The company has apparently already conducted a pilot trial of the device, which it says the new funding will allow it to extend. Leptos hasn’t disclosed additional details about its technology; on its Web site, the page devoted to approach is a two-paragraph stub filled with boilerplate.

I’ve written earlier about EnteroMedics, another company hoping to treat obesity using an implant that interferes with signals transmitted along the vagus nerve — you can read our previous coverage here. In general, the whole field of “neuromodulation” is heating up quite a bit these days, with companies hoping to use timed electrical pulses to the nervous system for treating everything from epilepsy to sleep apnea to hypertension — although it’s worth bearing in mind that almost all of these approaches are so far unproven. See our previous coverage of other companies in this space here, here, here, here, and here.

Founded in 2003, Leptos is the brainchild of serial physician-entrepreneur John Dobak, who previously founded hypothermia-inducer InnerCool Therapies and CryoGen, which developed a cryothermic technique for stanching uterine bleeding. Both companies have since been acquired — InnerCool for $6 million (after raising $49 million) and CryoGen for something between $40 million and $150 million (after raising roughly $60 million).

Skin-clinic chain Calidora raises $4M for SoCal expansion — Calidora Skin Clinic, a chain of four “medical-aesthetic” skin-care clinics in the Seattle area, raised $4 million in a first funding round to expand its operations into southern California. Roughly half the funding was provided by the company’s existing angel investors and insiders, with Fluke Venture Partners providing the rest.

From the release:

Courtion said the funding enables the completion of expansion plans underway in Manhattan Beach, Marina Del Ray, and Glendale, Calif., and other real estate and partnership opportunities on the near horizon. The company is working with Southern California based Caruso Affiliated, a leading retail developer, on two of the three properties, including the Americana at Brand, which is slated to open in downtown Glendale in Spring of 2008.

Satiety, a Palo Alto, Calif., device maker focused on obesity, raised $30 million in a fourth round of funding. Skyline Ventures led the round, joined by HLM Venture Partners, Pinnacle Ventures, Venrock, Three Arch Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures and Thomas Fogarty.

Satiety is developing a minimally invasive device for stomach-reduction surgery consisting of a stapling tool that can be passed down the throat into the stomach. The company was founded in 2001.