Category: Finance
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RNA Therapies Company Gains $450M in Venture Funds
5 January 2015. Moderna Therapeutics, a developer of medications that use genetic material to produce therapeutic proteins in the body, raised $450 million in its third announced venture financing round. The Cambridge, Massachusetts biotechnology company says existing investors AstraZeneca and Alexion Pharmaceuticals joined with new participants Viking Global Investors LP, Invus, RA Capital Management, and…
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Project Aims to Boost Ebola Drug Production
31 December 2014. A research team at University of California in Davis aims to find new ways of boosting production capacity of the experimental Ebola drug ZMapp. The 1-year project, led by UC-Davis chemical engineering and materials science professor Karen McDonald, is funded by a $200,000 rapid-response grant from National Science Foundation. The current Ebola…
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Juno Therapeutics Raises $265 Million in IPO
19 December 2014. Juno Therapeutics, a biotechnology company spun-off from research labs in Seattle and New York, raised some $265 million yesterday in its initial public stock offering. The Seattle enterprise developing cancer therapies that harness the immune system issued 11 million shares of common stock priced at $24.00, and trades on the Nasdaq exchange…
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Autoimmune Therapy Developer Raises $23M in Early Funds
18 December 2014. Padlock Therapeutics, a biotechnology company creating treatments for diseases where the immune system attacks the body, gained $23 million in its first venture funding round. Financing for the Cambridge, Massachusetts enterprise was led by Atlas Venture, with participation from Index Ventures, MS Ventures, and Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, the company’s venture…
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University Prof to Commercialize 3-D Printed Cell Platforms
15 December 2014. A biomedical engineer at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston plans to develop a commercial platform for three-dimensional printing of artificial cells in research, education, and industrial applications. Mark DeCoster, an engineering faculty member at Louisiana Tech, received a $50,000 National Science Foundation I-Corps grant to further develop the idea into a marketable…
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Nanomedicine Developer Secures $7.5M Venture Funds
15 December 2014. Cristal Therapeutics, a developer of medications formulated as nanoscale particles, raised more than €6 million ($7.5 million) in early-stage venture funds. The financing round for the company, based in Maastricht, The Netherlands, was led by Chemelot Ventures, with current seed investors Thuja Capital, BioGeneration Ventures, Nedermaas, Utrecht University Holding, and Beheer Innovatiefonds…
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Merck Buys Antibiotic Maker in $9.5 Billion Deal
8 December 2014. The pharmaceutical company Merck agreed today to acquire Cubist Pharmaceuticals, a developer of antibiotics, in a deal valued at $9.5 billion. Under the agreement Merck will pay Cubist stockholders $102 a share in cash — the stock closed at about $74 a share on Friday — equaling $8.4 billion, as well as…
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Challenge Seeks Spinal Cord Solutions, Offers $50K Awards
5 December 2014. The Conquer Paralysis Now challenge is looking for new treatments for spinal cord injuries, as well as ideas to help patients with these injuries perform everyday functions that fully abled people can do unaided. The first round competition awards grants of $50,000 in six categories, with a deadline of 1 April 2015…
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NIH Grant Funds Review for New Brain Cancer Diagnostics
2 December 2014. National Cancer Institute, an agency of National Institutes of Health (NIH), awarded a grant to HealthTell Inc. to validate the company’s technology for development of a simple test to diagnose brain cancers, including glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive and malignant form of the disease. The $225,000 grant to HealthTell funds an early-stage study…
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Cardiologists, Incubator Partner on Health Challenge
13 November 2014. American College of Cardiology is taking part in an international challenge to find start-ups developing breakthrough technologies, sponsored by 1776, an incubator and investment fund in Washington, D.C. The Challenge Cup, as the competition is called, takes place in 16 cities in 11 countries, with a total prize package of $650,000. Challenge…