[Editor's note: Look for a roundup of notable financings reported by the editors of IN VIVO about every other week in "The Pink Sheet" DAILY. For comprehensive tracking of biopharma financings and deal-making, see Elsevier Business Intelligence's Strategic Transactions database.]

Shield Therapeutics: Switzerland has become a hot spot for Series A financings in Europe this year. Four Swiss companies have raised Series A money totaling about $60 million since the start of the year, with the latest funding going to Shield.

The Wollerau-based company has raised $12 million, to be released in two equal tranches over the next two years, to support the Phase II/III development of its oral iron deficiency product, ST10-021. This contains ferric iron tightly bound to sugar carrier molecules, with the iron being taken up from the gastrointestinal tract by a specific ferric iron carrier. Any iron that is not absorbed is excreted unchanged from the body because of the tight binding to the carrier, which is a key property of ST10-021, says Shield CEO Carl Sterritt. In contrast, in competing oral iron products that contain ferrous rather than ferric iron, any non-absorbed iron can dissociate from its carrier and cause side effects.

Only one venture capital firm, Inventages Venture Capital, was involved in the Shield financing, but Sterritt said he preferred it that way to keep the board as simple as possible. Life-science specialist Inventages has backing from Swiss conglomerate Nestle and more than 30 companies in its portfolio. Shield had previously raised €6 million from private investors, Sterritt said. Shield plans to evaluate ST10-021 first in patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease in Europe, and it is currently drawing up plans for U.S. development.

The other three Swiss A-round recipients this year are Vaxxim, Anergis and Delenex Therapeutics, which topped off its previously disclosed Series A with a $19 million tranche.

Cyterix Pharmaceuticals: Spun out of the University of Dundee in Scotland last year, oncology drug discovery firm Cyterix has set up shop in San Francisco with $9.2 million in Series A money from two U.S.-based investors. The Column Group supplied an initial installment of funding in February, and SV Life Sciences followed with a second tranche to close the round in April.

Cyterix aims to develop new prodrugs activated by specific versions of cytochrome P450 enzymes that exist outside the liver and are over-expressed in tumor cells. By combining that activation mechanism with known "warheads" - well-studied cytotoxic or molecularly targeted compounds - Cyterix hopes to create new drugs that solve toxicity issues by administering lower doses that affect tumors without harming healthy tissue.

While the company is aiming for proof-of-concept in one or two compounds of its own, it also may partner with pharmas to develop new versions of drugs that have stalled in development due to toxicity issues. Former University of Dundee professor Steve Everett will lead the virtual company, alongside UCSF professor and CYP enzyme specialist Paul Ortiz de Montellano; a third co-founder, longtime Genentech clinical development executive and Threshold Pharmaceuticals CMO John Curd, passed away unexpectedly in April.

Intrexon: Blacksburg, Va.-based synthetic biology startup Intrexon said May 31 it completed a $100 million Series E round of funding intended to support its industrialized transgenetic manufacturing technology. The round includes company founder Randal Kirk, his investment firm Third Security, and an unspecified number of institutions and high-net-worth individuals; new investors accounted for more than half the round.

The company now has raised $259 million since its inception in 1998, including a $67 million Series D round accumulated through several closings in 2010 and early 2011. The company is commercializing its UltraVector technology, which senior vice president Robert Beech says is a high-throughput manufacturing technique that allows mass production of complex synthetic DNA with sophisticated control capabilities. The company is engaged in multiple areas, including agricultural biology, animal science and industrial products.

To date, Intrexon has announced two biopharma partnerships. The most recent was announced earlier this week, a license of Halozyme Therapeutics' recombinant human hyaluronidase for use in Intrexon's formulation of a subcutaneous alpha 1-antitrypsin for patients with genetic defects that lead to deficiencies of the protein and potentially lung and liver diseases.

Kirk, a longtime major investor in the company, was the majority stakeholder in New River Pharmaceuticals, the developer of ADHD drug Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate), prior to its acquisition by Shire for $2.6 billion in cash in 2007 and a large shareholder of Clinical Data Inc., bought by Forest Laboratories this year for $1.2 billion.

Constellation Pharmaceuticals: GlaxoSmithKline continues to fuel competition in the epigenetics space, with Constellation adding $15 million to a Series B round that it began last year with a $22 million tranche led by GSK's SR One venture arm. All current investors, including SR One, Third Rock Ventures and The Column Group, participated in the extension.

It's quite a haul for a firm with no publicly declared compounds in the clinic, and underscores how even in risk-averse times a handful of venture investors, often with a lot of help from pharma venture groups, are placing big bets on cutting-edge platforms. GSK is double-dipping in epigenetics, having signed a potentially lucrative R&D partnership with EpiZyme in January that gives GSK access to small number of undisclosed histone methyltransferase targets, with EpiZyme doing the preclinical discovery work and handing off development candidates to the larger partner.

The rapidly evolving field of epigenetics revolves around molecular modifications affecting the packaging of DNA into chromosomes, which allows individual cells to dial up or down the activities of different genes in a highly specific manner. Misregulation of epigenetic enzymes are thought to result in disease, particularly cancer, metabolic disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.

-Alex Lash (a.lash@elsevier.com), John Davis (j.davis@elsevier.com) and Paul Bonanos (p.bonanos@elsevier.com)

Financings Of The Fortnight: Shield Therapeutics Reveals Switzerland As Series A Hot Spot

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