Featured companies: Enobia, F-star, N Spine, Omni Life Science
Enobia splints together $38M for bone disorders -- Montreal's Enobia, a biotech focused on aiming drugs specifically at bone diseases, raised C$40.1 million ($38 million) in a second funding round. Investors included OrbiMed Advisors, CTI Life Sciences Fund, the Fonds de solidarite FTQ, Desjardins Venture Capital, Lothian Partners and T2C2/Bio 2000.
Enobia intends to deliver bone-related drugs directly to bone tissue in order to reduce both dosages and possible side effects. Its first drug candidate targets hypophosphatasia, a genetic disease in which bones fail to absorb minerals correctly because an enzyme called alkaline phosphatase is mutated and fails to work properly. The condition can cause stunted growth and weak or deformed bones, and in its most severe forms can be fatal.
Enobia's drug is a bone-targeted form of alkaline phosphatase designed to make up for the defective form of the enzyme. The company said the new funding will allow it to take its experimental drug through mid-stage clinical trials.
Orthopedics-device maker Omni Life Science raises $5M in debt -- Raynham, Mass.-based Omni Life Science, a maker of hip- and knee-replacement implants, raised $5 million of a planned $12 million convertible-note round, VentureWire reports (subscription required), citing a regulatory filing. Investors including Apex Partners provided the funding.
Omni was founded in 1998 as an orthopedics-device company, but the products it currently sells mostly appear to have originated with Apex Surgical, which Omni acquired in 2005. VentureWire notes that Apex Partners is also located in Raynham, Mass., and is not related to a Florida firm of the same name.
Antibody maker F-star gets €6M -- Vienna-based F-star, a developer of "modular" synthetic antibodies for use as drugs, raised €6 million ($8.3 million) in a first funding round. Aescap Venture and Atlas Venture provided the funding.
All told, F-star has raised €10 million to date. The company uses a vast library of antibody features to engineer the large molecules in new ways, potentially yielding smaller antibody fragments that retain the functionality of their larger counterparts or adding additional features to existing antibodies. There's more here, if you're into antibody-structure engineering.
N Spine raises $1M for device commercialization -- San Diego's N Spine, a maker of spinal fusion and stabilization devices, raised $1 million in bridge funding, VentureWire reports. Individual investors provided the funding.
From the VentureWire story:
The new funding comes as N Spine has been building a market presence for the NFix II dynamic pedicle screw and rod system, which received 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration in February. "Our product has been used clinically for a year," [chief technology officer Jude Paganelli] said. "And in the U.S., we have been selling since March."