Life-science briefing: Friday, April 11, 2008
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Stent maker IDev Tech raises $25M (VentureWire)
Xytis gets $15M for brain-injury drugs (VentureWire)
Diagnostic maker Iris Biotech plans to go public, launch breast-cancer test (Edgar)
RiverVest Venture Partners raises $75M life-science fund (release)
Concentric Medical names Maria Sainz CEO (release)
[Note: I’m a little sad to announce that this will be my last life-science briefing at VentureBeat, although with luck, it won’t be the end of my time here. Starting Monday, I’ll be blogging regularly on the drug industry and… Continue Reading
The storm over stents hits venture firms, as Devax yanks $85M IPO filing
Devax, a Lake Forest, Calif., maker of artery-opening stents, withdrew its filing for an IPO that the company estimated would raise $85 million. The company filed for its IPO in May, but until its withdrawal hadn’t filed any revisions to that preliminary document since.
The withdrawal is the latest bad news for stent makers. Big makers of the devices have been battered by a raft of sometimes contradictory studies that have nevertheless raised fears that stents… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007
Featured companies: Algorithme Pharma, Bacchus Vascular, Botaneco, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Ikonisys, Healthcare Management Systems, Illumigen Biosciences, Kilmer Capital Partners, Medical Specialties Distributors, Metastatix, Microphage, Orthosoft, Thomas McNerney & Partners, TranS1, TriReme Medical, Wren Medical, Zimmer
UPDATE: Expanded TriReme Medical, Ikonisys and TranS1 items.
UPDATE REDUX: Added MicroPhage item.
Stent-maker TriReme Medical sails off with $15.6M — Pleasanton, Calif.-based TriReme Medical, a device maker developing a new type of artery-opening stent for blood-vessel junctions, raised $15.6 million in a third funding… Continue Reading
Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2007
(UPDATED at 3:10pm PT: See below.)
Featured companies: Agendia, EndoGastric Solutions, FlowCo, Gentris, MedManage Systems, ParagonDx, Presidio Pharmaceuticals, Xoova
Presidio Pharma raises $26M for viral treatments — San Francisco’s Presidio Pharmaceuticals, a biotech developing new antiviral drugs, raised $26 million in a second funding round. Investors included Panorama Capital, Baker Brothers Investments, Bay City Capital, Ventures West Capital, Nexus Medical Partners, Sagamore Bioventures, George Rathmann Fund and Peninsula Overview Partners.
Presidio’s lead drug candidates take aim at HIV, hepatitis… Continue Reading
Micell: A materials chameleon tackles drug-coated devices
For Micell Technologies, a Raleigh, N.C., materials company that recently reinvented itself as a developer of drug-releasing stents, perhaps the third time will be the charm.
Founded in 1995, Micell specializes in the use of supercritical fluids, which are highly compressed gases that exhibit both gas and liquid properties. The company initially marketed liquefied carbon-dioxide systems to dry cleaners as an ecofriendly alternative to a solvent known as perchloroethylene. Its machines, however, were expensive, and Micell… Continue Reading
Stent maker CardioMind raises $33M
CardioMind, a secretive Sunnyvale, Calif., developer of stents designed to prop open blocked arteries, raised $33 million in a third round of funding, VentureWire reports (subscription required). From the VentureWire story:
CardioMind, with 30 employees, is developing small-diameter drug-eluting stents and delivery devices for cardiovascular and neurological indications and has been largely operating in stealth mode for the past five years.
SV Life Sciences and De Novo Ventures led the round, joined by InterWest Partners, Latterell Venture… Continue Reading