Tag: investment
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Needleless Delivery Start-Up Lands $11M First-Round Funding
15 October 2014. Portal Instruments Inc., a new enterprise developing needless injections for biologic therapies and other medications, raised $11 million in its first round of venture funding. Financing for the Cambridge, Massachusetts company was led by the Sunrise division of drug maker Sanofi, venture capital company PBJ Capital, and an unnamed medical device manufacturer…
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Cancer Therapy Biotech Raises $24M in Early Funding
14 October 2014. Raze Therapeutics, a biotechnology company designing cancer therapies that stop mechanisms feeding the growth of cancer cells, raised $24 million in its first round of venture financing. The funding round was led Atlas Venture — that co-founded Raze and provided some of its seed capital — as well as MPM Capital Management,…
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Experimental Drug Kills Myeloma Cells in Lab, Trial Planned
13 October 2014. Medical researchers at Imperial College London in the U.K. developed an experimental drug that in lab and animal tests kills multiple myeloma cancer cells without the toxic side effects of other cancer drugs. The team led by Imperial medical professor Guido Franzoso published its findings today in the journal Cancer Cell, with…
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Drug-Error Analytics Service Raises $1M in Early Funding
2 October 2014. MedAware, a company harnessing big-data analytics to prevent erroneous drug prescriptions, raised $1 million in its first round of venture financing. The Ra’anana, Israel enterprise completed the funding round led by OurCrowd, an Israeli crowdfunding investment service, with contributions from GE Ventures. The company is the creation of CEO Gidi Stein, a…
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Johnson & Johnson Acquires Biotech Developing Anti-Virals
30 September 2014. The biotechnology company Alios BioPharma Inc., a developer of anti-viral medications, is being acquired by health care products enterprise Johnson & Johnson for $1.75 billion. The all-cash deal will add Alios BioPharma’s pipeline to the portfolio of Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a division of Johnson & Johnson. Alios BioPharma, in South San Francisco, California,…
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Investment Fund Launches to Support Stem Cell Ventures
29 September 2014. ReproCell Inc., a developer of stem cell lines for research and therapies in Yokohama, Japan, is starting an investment fund that aims to back new biotechnology companies bringing stem cell research to market. The fund, called Cell Innovation Partners, begins with ¥800 million ($US 7.3 million) in capital, provided by Shinsei Corporate…
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Sanofi, MyoKardia Partner on Genetic Heart Disorders
17 September 2014. The pharmaceutical company Sanofi and biopharmaceutical developer MyoKardia are collaborating on development and commercialization of three MyoKardia therapies for inherited heart diseases. The deal could earn MyoKardia as much as $200 million in milestone payments and equity investments from Sanofi. MyoKardia, in South San Francisco, California, designs small-molecule therapies for two types…
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Asthma/COPD Device Maker Lands $14.5M in Venture Funds
5 September 2014. Propeller Health in Madison, Wisconsin, developer of a system to track respiratory disorder medications in real time, secured $14.5 million in its second round of venture financing. The funding round was led by venture investment company Safeguard Scientifics, with participation by the Social+Capital Partnership, Propeller Health’s previous funding source. The Propeller Health…
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Calico, AbbVie Partner on Aging Disorder Therapies
3 September 2014. California Life Sciences LLC, better known as Calico, and the pharmaceutical company AbbVie Inc. are collaborating on discovery and commercialization of drugs for age-related diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. The partnership, which includes building a new research center, could result in a joint investment as high as $1.5 billion. Calico,…
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New Medical Technologies Investment Fund Raises $110M
19 August 2014. HealthQuest Capital, a spin-off investment firm, says it raised $110 million for funding in technology-based start-ups serving the health care industry. The company was spun off from Sofinnova Ventures in Menlo Park, California and founded by Garheng Kong, a Sofinnova general partner. HealthQuest plans to invest in companies developing medical devices, diagnostics, patient-care…