Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008
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…. Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007
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… Continue Reading
EnteroMedics and its risky obesity device, the latest victims of the IPO haircut
(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… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007
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… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Friday, Oct. 26, 2007
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… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007
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,… Continue Reading
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 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… Continue Reading
Satiety pulls in $30M for obesity device
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.