VentureBeat

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 drugs in fixed doses in order to reduce side effects. The company’s lead candidate, CGT-2168, combines the blood thinner clopidogrel with omeprazol, a treatment that reduces gastrointestinal side effects. Cogentus is one of several specialty pharmaceutical companies pursuing this strategy, which does have the potential drawback that doctors may simply prescribe the drugs separately instead of paying extra for the combined formulation. We covered Horizon Therapeutics, which is doing the same thing with pain drugs, here.

Corthera draws $23M for heart-failure drug — San Mateo-based Corthera, a biotech developing a heart drug based on the hormone relaxin, raised $23 million in a third funding round. Investors included Caxton Advantage Life Sciences Fund, Domain Associates and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers.

Corthera, formerly known as BAS Medical, hopes to use synthetic relaxin to treat acute heart failure and preeclampsia, a complication of pregnancy. We previously covered the company here.

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 typically rise during pregnancy, boosting heart and kidney function. Bas Medical figures that the hormone may be useful in treating disorders such as acute heart failure and preeclampsia, a dangerous pregnancy complication involving high blood pressure and kidney failure. The company is currently carrying out mid-stage human tests of the peptide in both conditions.

Bas Medical also announced that it hired Stan Abel as its new CEO. Abel previously served as CFO for both Peninsula Pharmaceuticals and its spinout, Cerexa.

Juvaris BioTherapeutics takes in $16M for immunotherapy — Juvaris BioTherapeutics, a Pleasanton, Calif., biotech developing new vaccines and immunity boosters, raised $15.9 million in a first funding round, PE Hub reports. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers led the round, which involved $13.8 million in equity and the remainder in debt and convertible notes.

Juvaris is developing vaccines against infectious disease and cancer using adjuvants — substances that enhance immune response, and thus the activity of vaccines — made from complexes formed by out of complexes of DNA and fatty molecules called lipids. We previously covered the company here.

HEADLINES OF NOTE:

• Phama-services co. Medavante draws $7M (VentureWire)
• India’s Trivitron draws $11M for medical devices (release)
• Respiratory-care device developer Vapotherm gets $11.25M (PE Hub)
• Ascent Thera receives $8M for cancer, inflammation drugs (PE Hub)
• Fundamental Applied Biology raises $4.8M for protein drugs (PE Hub)
• Bikam Pharma pulls in $3.6M (PE Hub)