Life sciences briefing: Friday, Dec. 21, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Dec. 21, 2007

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

Cogentus Pharma raises $63M for blood thinners (release)
Corthera draws $23M for heart-failure drug (release)
Nanolymf seeks $2M for drug-delivery tech (release)
LineaGen pulls in $5.6M for molecular diagnostics (release)

Cogentus Pharma raises $63M for blood thinners — Menlo Park, Calif.-based Cogentus Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharma developing combined formulations of existing drugs, raised $62.5 million in a third funding round. Investors included Keffi Group, Prospect Venture Partners, Ridgeback Capital, Apothecary Capital and Pinnacle Ventures.

Cogentus aims to combine existing… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Nov. 2, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Nov. 2, 2007

Featured companies: Ascent Therapeutics, Bas Medical, Bikam Pharmaceuticals, Fundamental Applied Biology, Juvaris BioTherapeutics, Medavante, Trivitron, Vapotherm

UPDATED: Expanded items on Bas Medical and Juvaris.

Bas Medical raises $20M for heart-failure drug — San Mateo, Calif.-based Bas Medical, a biotech developing drugs based on a hormone called relaxin, raised $20 million in a third funding round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Investors included Domain Associates, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sears Capital Management.

Relaxin is a natural peptide hormone whose levels… Continue Reading