Life-science briefing: Monday, March 24, 2008

Life-science briefing: Monday, March 24, 2008

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

Trius Therapeutics raises $30M for new antibiotics (release)
Genomas gets $1.2M grant for genomic side-effect tests (release)
Provasculon receives $500K, enters Biogen Idec incubator (VentureWire)
Animal diagnostics firm Quadraspec aims for $5M round (VentureWire)
MPM Capital names two executive partners (release)

Trius Therapeutics raises $30M for new antibiotics – Trius… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008

Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

Adnavance pulls in C$3.7M for molecular diagnostics, names new CEO (release)
“Personalized medicine” co. Proprius sells to Cypress Bio for up to $75M (release)
Vaccinex raises $25M in wake of GSK deal for antibody drugs (VentureWire)
Cianna Medical receives $9M for breast-cancer radiation treatment (release)
Electron-microscope image provider… Continue Reading

23andMe makes genomics personal — and slick

23andMe makes genomics personal — and slick

(UPDATED: See below.)

As I discussed a few weeks ago with respect to deCODEme — a “personal genomics” service hurriedly launched last November by Iceland’s deCODE Genetics in an apparent attempt to beat 23andMe to market (it succeeded by a day or so) — these sorts of… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

Compact ultrasound maker Zonare Medical raises $30M (VentureWire)
TherOx raises $30M for hypersaturated-oxygen devices (peHUB)
Accumetrics, antiplatelet-drug diagnostic maker, raises $29M (release)
Population Genetics takes in £3.8M for massively parallel genome studies (GenomeWeb)
“Brain fitness” trainer Dakim raises $11M (release)
BioIQ, home-diagnostics maker, takes in $2.5M (release)
Hospital med-tracker Sabal… Continue Reading

23andMe: Will the personal-genomics company need Big Pharma to make money?

23andMe: Will the personal-genomics company need Big Pharma to make money?

23andMe held its official launch today, as expected, and in the process managed to address a few of the nagging questions that remained after I reviewed its service over the weekend. “Addressed” is definitely the operative word here, though, because firm answers are still in… Continue Reading

Big Pharma’s personalized-medicine consortium: Is it for real?

Big Pharma’s personalized-medicine consortium: Is it for real?

Medical treatment that’s tailored to your individual genetic profile — “personalized medicine,” for short — has been a long, long time in coming, as I’ve noted here and here. Part of the reason, of course, is that personalizing medicine cuts against the economic interests of… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007

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… 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 in a fifth funding… Continue Reading

The FDA’s big personalized-medicine push

The FDA’s big personalized-medicine push

(UPDATED: See below.)

Personalized medicine — the idea that doctors will one day tailor your medical care based on your genetic profile — has been a long time coming, as I’ve previously written. As it turns out, that’s no fault of the Food and Drug Administration, which… Continue Reading

Personalized medicine takes a (tiny) step forward

Personalized medicine takes a (tiny) step forward

(UPDATED: See below.)

For at least a decade, biotech futurists have been predicting that the genomics revolution will lead to medical treatments tailored to the genetic quirks of individuals. And for at least as long, we’ve all been waiting for evidence that this “personalized medicine” revolution is… Continue Reading