Science and Enterprise

Tag: equity

  • VC Fund Gains $100M for University, Defense Lab Spinoffs

    Allied Minds, a venture capital (VC) company in Boston starting companies that commercialize research from university and U.S. federal labs, raised $100 million for its next series of investments. The company says closing this funding round brings its total assets to about $500 million. Allied Minds makes early-stage investments, sometimes soon after the point of…

  • Biotech Developing Genetics Therapies Gains $101M in IPO

    The biotechnology company bluebird bio in Cambridge, Massachusetts developing therapies for genetic disorders raised $101 million through its initial public offering (IPO) of 5.9 million shares priced at $17.00 a share. The company’s stock, trading on the NASDAQ under the code BLUE was priced at $26.00 a share at 11:00 am ET today. bluebird bio…

  • Kidney Disease Technology Start-Up Lands $9.5M Venture Funds

    TVA Medical Inc., a developer of devices in Austin, Texas to treat end-stage renal disease, secured $9.5 million in series B venture funds, the second round of financing after initial start-up. Austin-based S3 Ventures, an early-stage venture capital company, led the round with TriStar Technology Ventures and existing investor Santé Ventures. End-stage renal disease occurs…

  • AstraZeneca Acquires Respiratory Disease Therapy Developer

    The global pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is buying Pearl Therapeutics in Redwood City, California, a developer of treatments for chronic respiratory diseases. The deal is valued initially at $560 million, but has a total potential value of $1.15 billion, adding in subsequent milestone and royalty payments. The seven year-old Pearl Therapeutics develops small-molecule treatments for chronic…

  • St. Jude Medical Invests in Pain Therapy Device Developer

    Medical device manufacturer St. Jude Medical in St. Paul, Minnesota is investing $40 million in pain therapy systems developer Spinal Modulation Inc. in Menlo Park, California. The equity investment deal, says St. Jude Medical, includes an option for the outright purchase of the privately-owned Spinal Modulation. Under the agreement, St. Jude Medical becomes the exclusive…

  • Bill Gates, VC Finance Science Collaboration Network

    ResearchGate, an online network to encourage collaboration among scientists and sharing of research data, based in Berlin, closed a $35 million series C  financing round, the third cycle of venture funding after start-up. The round was led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and later-stage venture capital (VC) company Tenaya Capital. ResearchGate is a five-year old…

  • AstraZeneca Acquires Omega-3 Fatty Acid Drug Developer

    The global pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is buying the specialty pharmaceutical maker Omthera Pharmaceuticals in Princeton, New Jersey for $323 million, or $12.70 per share, an 88 percent premium over Omthera’s closing price of $6.75 per share on Friday. Omthera shareholders may also receive up to $4.70 per share in further milestone-achievement payments. Omega’s only product…

  • Airborne Wind Energy Systems Company Acquired by Google

    Makani Power Inc., a company in Alameda, California developing airborne wind energy systems that fly in the air like kites, was acquired by Google, according to the company’s Web site. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The company says its wind energy system operates like a wind turbine, but is flown from 250…

  • Nimbus, Shire Partner on Rare Genetic Disease Drug Discovery

    Nimbus Discovery, a biotechnology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts will discover and develop new small-molecule drug candidates to treat a set of rare genetic disorders, for the specialty pharmaceutical company Shire plc based in Ireland. Under the deal, Shire will provide Nimbus with periodic milestone payments, and while financial details of the agreement were not disclosed,…

  • Venture Funding Declines in Q1, Health Companies Buck Trend

    Venture capital funding in the U.S. declined in the first quarter of 2013, continuing a trend begun in 2011, but companies in the health care sector, particularly those based on scientific discovery, played a prominent role in the quarter’s venture transactions. VentureSource, a service of financial publishers Dow Jones, released the first quarter data today.…