Category: Finance
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Gene Therapy Biotech Raises $60M in Venture Funds
13 April 2015. Voyager Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing gene therapies for central nervous system disorders, raised $60 million in its second venture financing round. Financing for the 1 year-old enterprise in Cambridge, Massachusetts was led by new investors Brookside Capital and Partner Fund Management, with participation by Wellington Management Company and Casdin Capital, also…
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Mobile Diabetes Device Maker Lands $20M in Venture Funds
7 April 2015. Livongo Health, a developer of mobile devices to help people with chronic disorders manage their conditions, raised $20 million in its second venture financing round. Funding for the Mountain View, California start-up, founded 7 months ago, was led by venture capital company Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, with participation from DFJ Ventures and…
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Bristol-Myers Squibb Licensing Gene Therapies in $2.3B Deal
6 April 2015. Drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb is licensing gene therapies from biotechnology company uniQure N.V. in a deal with a total potential value of $2.3 billion, including an equity stake in uniQure. The agreement gives Bristol-Myers Squibb exclusive access to as many as 10 disease programs being developed by uniQure, including a treatment for…
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Kaiser Permanente to Study Autism Genetics
1 April 2015. The managed-care provider Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California is collecting genetic and environmental data from 5,000 of its members to better pinpoint causes of autism spectrum disorder. The 3 year project, which includes establishing a databank for further research into autism, is funded by a $4.6 million grant from the Simons Foundation…
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$150 Million Raised for NYC Life Science Start-Ups
1 April 2015. A consortium of public and private funding sources raised $150 million to invest in new life science companies located in New York City. The Early Stage Life Sciences Funding Initiative exceeded its original $100 million goal by half, and seeks to start 15 to 20 new businesses in New York by 2020,…
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Novartis, Aduro Biotech Partner on Cancer Immunotherapy
30 March 2015. The pharmaceutical company Novartis is licensing cancer immunotherapy technology from Aduro Biotech in Berkeley, California. The collaboration could earn Aduro as much as $750 million, including an equity stake, for access to its work on cyclic dinucleotides, still in preclinical study, but considered promising as a cancer treatment. Cyclic dinucleotides are naturally…
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New Processes to Manufacture Food Sought in Challenge
27 March 2015. Sponsors of a new challenge on InnoCentive are seeking new manufacturing processes for making food and snacks. The competition has a total prize purse of $10,000 and a deadline of 23 April 2015 for submissions. InnoCentive in Waltham, Massachusetts conducts open-innovation, crowdsourcing competitions for corporate and organization sponsors. The sponsor, in this…
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Stem Cell Biotech Gains $44M in First Venture Round
24 March 2015. A biotechnology start-up developing a stem-cell technology to replace missing beta cells that produce insulin for patients with type 1 diabetes, secured $44 million in its first venture funding round. Funding for Semma Therapeutics in Cambridge, Massachusetts was led by MPM Capital, with participation by Fidelity Biosciences, ARCH Venture Partners, and Medtronic.…
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U.K. Govt, Pharmas Form Dementia Research Fund
17 March 2015. A coalition of the United Kingdom government, five pharmaceutical companies, and the foundation Alzheimer’s Research UK are creating a $100 million fund to finance early research into treatments and cures for dementia. The U.K. health minister Jeremy Hunt is scheduled to unveil the Dementia Discovery Fund at a World Health Organization meeting…
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Immunotherapy Biotech Raising $45 Million in IPO
12 March 2015. Genocea Biosciences Inc., a biotechnology company developing immunotherapies to treat genital herpes and other diseases, is raising $45 million in its initial public offering of stock. The Cambridge, Massachusetts enterprise is issuing 5,454,545 shares priced at $8.25. The company trades on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol GNCA. As of 12:00 pm…