VentureBeat

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.

Tempo Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, Mass., developer of new-drug formulations, raised $12.1 million in a first funding round. The company, which touts itself as a “nanopharmaceutical” maker, aims to improve the safety and effectiveness of existing drugs using engineered nanoparticles designed to home in on particular organs or tissues, then release two or more drugs in sequence. Tempo initially plans to focus on cancer.

Venrock and Polaris Venture Partners led the round, joined by Lux Capital and William Rastetter, former chairman of Biogen Idec. The company’s release is here; VentureWire has more here (subscription required).

(UPDATED with minor editing changes.)

Venrock Associates, the venerable Rockefeller-founded VC firm in Menlo Park, Calif., plans to expand its investments in publicly traded biotechs, VentureWire reports (subscription required).

The venture firm, which allocates roughly one-third of its funds to healthcare-related investing, said it will set aside about 10 percent of its latest $600 million fund for public-company investments in biotech. Venrock backed four public biotechs in its last fund, and now plans to invest in as many as three public biotechs every year over the next three years.

From VentureWire:

[General partner Anders] Hove, who is leading the effort, said there are many public biotech companies with promising products but relatively little cash….

The firm typically looks to fund clinical-stage companies with market capitalizations in the $300 million- to $350 million-range. The partners generally don’t want to take board seats on public companies, he said. Since the company’s fortunes – and the firm’s investment – are tied to the success of clinical trials, there’s not much a board member can do to help the company, he said.

Venrock has been bringing in new blood to work on public deals, and also plans to have William Rastetter, the former executive chairman of Biogen Idec who joined the VC firm last year, evaluate such investments.