IN VITRO DIAGNOSTICS

Asuragen Inc.

Series D round brings $15mm to Asuragen

Asuragen Inc. (mRNA- and miRNA-based molecular diagnostics for cancer and genetic diseases) raised $15mm from 15 undisclosed investors in what appears to be the company's Series D round. (Mar.)

Curetis AG

Series B leads to €12.5mm for Curetis NV

Molecular diagnostics firm Curetis NV raised €12.5mm ($16.3mm) in its Series B financing led by first-time backer HBM Partners, which contributed €6mm and takes a board seat. Returning shareholders Aeris Capital, Life Sciences Partners, Forbion Capital, BioMedInvest, Roche Venture Fund, CD-Venture, and KfW Bankengruppe were joined by Curetis’ management, several company founders, board members, and private investors. Curetis will use the proceeds for US trials and the eventual commercialization of its Unyvero system for pneumonia and antibiotic resistance testing. (The product was launched in Europe, the Middle East, and Russia last year.) The company raised a total of $49.7mm in its three-tranche Series A financing that commenced in late 2009 and was completed in October 2011. (Apr.)

Provista Diagnostics Inc.

Provista raises $6mm through new sale of Series A shares

Provista Diagnostics Inc. (blood-based cancer diagnostics) raised $6mm through the sale of its Series A preferred shares to new and existing investors. In 2012, a total of $7.5mm was realized through Series A placements. According to the company, the most recent sale--while it is of the same type of securities--is being considered a separate round. Proceeds will go towards clinical trials of Provista's breast cancer test dtectDx-Breast (formerly known as BT Test), and will also support expansion of the rest of the company's pipeline. (Apr.)

T2 Biosystems Inc.

Series E leads to $40mm for T2 Biosystems

T2 Biosystems Inc. (blood and infectious disease diagnostics) raised $40mm through its Series E financing led by first-time backer Goldman Sachs, which was joined by returning investors Flagship Ventures, Polaris Partners, Aisling Capital, Flybridge Capital Partners, Physic Ventures, Arcus Ventures, Partners Healthcare, Camros Capital, and WS Investments. The company will use the funds for ongoing clinical trials and commercialization of its T2Candida molecular diagnostic for identifying species-specific Candida fungal infections from whole blood, and to develop sepsis and other diagnostics. (Mar.)

MEDICAL DEVICES

Altura Medical Inc.

Altura Medical brings in $10mm through its Series B round

Altura Medical Inc. (developing a stent graft for abdominal aortic aneurysms) has raised $10mm through its Series B venture round. There were four undisclosed investors. The company closed its Series A at $20mm last year. (Apr.)

ALung Technologies Inc.

Series C brings in $15mm for ALung Technologies

Respiratory device developer ALung Technologies Inc. has raised $15mm through what is believed to be its Series C venture round. There were 33 undisclosed investors. (Mar.)

AtheroMed Inc.

AtheroMed brings in $6mm through late venture round

Cardiovascular device developer AtheroMed Inc. has raised $6mm through what is believed to be its Series E venture round. There were 19 undisclosed investors. AtheroMed is developing an atherectomy system for patients with peripheral artery disease. The company has raised over $21mm since its 2006 inception. (Mar.)

Avinger Inc.

Avinger gets $40mm through its mezzanine financing

PDL BioPharma Inc. (cancer and immune therapeutics) has agreed to provide cardiovascular device developer Avinger Inc. with up to $40mm in a mezzanine financing. Avinger gets $20mm at closing and the remainder when it achieves certain revenue milestones. In exchange, PDL gets interest on the principal amount outstanding and a low single-digit royalty based on Avinger’s revenues through April 2018. The money will be used to continue developing and eventually commercialize Avinger’s Ocetlot and Lightbox lumivascular technologies, and to develop Pantheris, its next-generation lumivascular atherectomy device. Avinger’s technologies provide intravascular imaging within an interventional cardiovascular device. A physician is then able to view real-time images of the inside of an artery. Last July Avinger brought in $33mm through its Series D round. (Apr.)

BioVentrix Inc.

BioVentrix brings in $7mm through late-stage venture round

BioVentrix Inc. (cardiovascular device company that is also doing business as CHF Technologies Inc.) has raised $7mm through a late-stage venture round, possibly its Series G financing. There were eight undisclosed investors. The company has developed the Revivent myocardial anchoring system to reduce enlarged left ventricles in patients with heart failure. (Apr.)

Cheetah Medical Inc.

Cheetah Medical brings in $24mm through its Series C venture round

Cheetah Medical Inc. has raised just over $24mm through what is believed to be its Series C venture round. There were nine undisclosed investors. The company sells the NICOM noninvasive cardiac output monitor with Guided Fluid Management. It is used in intensive care, anesthesia, and peri-operative step-down units and emergency departments to provide instant hemodynamic status as well as fluid and drug responsiveness. (Mar.)

dBMEDx Inc.

Series A round provides $1.1mm for dBMEDx

Wireless imaging firm dBMEDx Inc. has raised $1.1mm through its Series A venture round. There were 34 undisclosed investors. (Apr.)

Formed in 2010, dBMEDx has developed a hand-held, battery-operated device that may enable health care workers to wirelessly take 3D ultrasound images. The company is first focused on developing the Benchmark Bladder System to automate bladder volume measurement without the need for catheters, which are invasive and can lead to infection. DBMEDx has also developed the StatCVP for measuring central venous pressure and total blood volume. The company brought in $500k through its seed funding in October 2012.

DC Devices Inc.

DC Devices brings in $9mm through early venture round

Corvia Medical Inc. (structural heart devices) has raised $9mm through an early venture round. New backer Lumira Capital participated (and will contribute a board member) and was joined by current shareholders Third Rock Ventures and General Catalyst. (Mar.)

Four-year-old DC will use the new money to continue developing and for clinical evaluation of what the company says is the first trans-catheter device for diastolic heart failure (DHF) (also known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction; HFpEF). Its InterAtrial Shunt Device relieves increased left atrial pressure, the main cause of DHF/HFpEF symptoms, by placing an implant in the atrial septum.

electroCore LLC

Neuromodulation company electroCore completes $40mm Series A financing

electroCore LLC, which is targeting nerve signal imbalances via neuromodulation, completed a $40mm Series A financing from Merck Global Health Innovation LLC (operated by Merck & Co. Inc.) and private equity firms Easton Capital and Core Ventures II. (Apr.)

Founded in 2005, electroCore will use the Series A money to fund the launch of its newest product gammaCore, a portable hand-held device for the treatment and prevention of migraine, cluster headache, and medication overuse headache. GammaCore has received clearances in Canada, Europe, South Africa, India, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, and some South American countries. ElectroCore is still conducting US studies in several indications, with results expected in late 2013. GammaCore is placed underneath the chin on the neck and allows patients to self-administer mild electrical signals to the right cervical branch of the vagus nerve. In clinical trials, the vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) has been dosed in 90-second intervals, 15 minutes apart, twice a day. The idea for the device stemmed from a 2005 study by Alexander Mauskop, MD, in which six patients with disabling chronic cluster and migraine headaches were implanted with VNS, leading to improvements in symptoms. GammaCore presents a noninvasive/nonsurgical and less expensive alternative to implanted VNS. Results from a recent study showed that it was effective and well tolerated, and provided pain relief at two hours. ElectroCore plans to conduct additional testing in primary headache, and investigate vagal nerve-stimulating devices in other neurological and psychiatric indications, potentially depression, anxiety, and epilepsy. Besides the CNS area, electroCore has also used VNS in respiratory disease. The company’s marketed device alphaCore addresses symptoms of reactive airway disease including asthma, COPD, and exercise-induced bronchospasm.

EndoEvolution LLC

Series C brings in $5mm for EndoEvolution

EndoEvolution LLC (automated suture devices) has raised $5mm through its Series C venture round led by existing shareholder Spring Bay Companies. Concurrent with the financing, the company announced it hired Ron Rudowsky as its president and CEO. (Apr.)

iRhythm Technologies Inc.

Series D brings in $16mm for iRhythm Technologies

Cardiovascular device firm iRhythm Technologies Inc. has raised $16mm through its Series D venture round. Norwest Venture Partners led and was joined by current shareholders New Leaf Ventures, Synergy Life Science Partners, and Kaiser Permanente Ventures. Funds will go towards further commercialization of iRhythm’s Zio patch, a single-use cardiovascular monitor that has been FDA-cleared for use for up to 14 continuous days. (Apr.)

Minimally Invasive Devices Inc.

Minimally Invasive Devices raises $9mm through Series B round

Minimally Invasive Devices Inc. (MID) has raised $9mm through its Series B round. Canaan Partners led (and takes a seat on the company's board), and was joined by returning backer Charter Life Sciences. MID developed the FloShield laparoscopic vision system, a series of devices that prevent lens obstruction and vision field loss during minimally invasive surgeries. (Mar.)

nContact Surgical Inc.

Series E venture round brings in $13mm for nContact Surgical

nContact Inc. has raised $13mm through what is believed to be its Series E venture round. There were ten undisclosed investors. The company is developing an endoscopic heart ablation device for atrial fibrillation patients. (Mar.)

ReVision Optics Inc.

Series F brings in $15mm for ReVision Optics

ReVision Optics Inc. (corneal implant to improve vision) has raised $15mm through what is believed to be its Series F venture round. There were eight undisclosed investors. (Apr.)

SuperSonic Imagine SA

SuperSonic Imagine raises €28mm through Series D round

French ultrasound company SuperSonic Imagine SA raised €28mm ($35.9mm) through what appears to be its Series D round. (The firm closed a Series C financing in November 2010). FSI (French Investment Fund) contributed €14mm, and was joined by a syndicate of other buyers including new investors Alto Invest and Kuwait Life Sciences Co., and returning backers Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, Auriga Partners, Omnes Capital (formerly Credit Agricole Private Equity), CDC Enterprises, NBGI Ventures, Wellington Partners, iXO Private Equity, and Merieux Developpement. Proceeds will fund international marketing and commercialization for SuperSonic’s flagship product Aixplorer, which combines ultrasound wave and shear wave in one imaging machine. (Apr.)

Taragenyx Ltd.

Seed round leads to £1.3mm for Taragenyx

Taragenyx Ltd., which is developing regenerative orthopedic and dental implant coatings, raised £1.3mm ($2mm) in its seed financing from Kelvin Capital, Lancaster Capital, and the Scottish Investment Bank (the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise). (Mar.)

Formed in late 2012, Taragenyx has created a titanium implant coating technology that provides faster healing with reduced pain and inflammation. The biologic coatings have osteostimulatory characteristics for use in fractures and dental implants, and can be applied to any implant such as fixation plates and screws. In addition, the platform can enable the delivery of a range of drug and biologic therapies within the implant coatings themselves.

Taris Biomedical Inc.

Taris Biomedical brings in $12.5mm through its Series C venture round

Taris Biomedical LLC (bladder disease treatments) has raised $12.5mm through what is believed to be its Series C venture round. Current shareholders Flagship Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Polaris Partners, and Third Rock Ventures participated. The company will use the money to continue developing LiRIS (Lidocaine Releasing Intravesical System) for interstitial cystitis patients. Concurrent with the financing, Taris announced that it had dosed its first patient with LiRIS in a second Phase II study. The company has raised almost $50mm since its 2009 inception. (Apr.)

Topera Medical Inc.

Topera Medical brings in $24.9mm through its Series C venture round

Cardiovascular imaging company Topera Medical Inc. has raised $24.9mm through its Series C venture round. There were 38 undisclosed investors, including new backer New Enterprise Associates (which contributes one board member) and company management. (Apr.)

Topera gained FDA clearance for its RhythmView system of mapping catheters and analyzers to identify arrhythmias, including atrial flutter, atrial tachycardia, ventricular tachycardia, and atrial fibrillation. The system provides doctors with a 3D display of right and left atrial electrical activity, enabling the detection of abnormal heart rhythms. The new money will be used to launch RhythmView and the FIRMap catheter in the US and Europe later this year. Topera has raised almost $33mm since its formation in 2010.

Vapotherm Inc.

Vapotherm brings in $26.4mm through its Series G venture round

Vapotherm Inc. has raised $26.4mm through what is believed to be its Series G venture round. There were ten undisclosed investors. The company is developing humidification devices for patients with asthma, COPD, and other respiratory diseases. (Mar.)

PHARMACEUTICALS

Achaogen Inc.

Achaogen brings in $30.7mm through its Series D venture round

Achaogen Inc. (antibiotics) has raised $30.7mm through what is believed to be its Series D venture round. There were 15 undisclosed investors. (Mar.)

advanceCOR GMBH

Series A brings in €6.5mm for advanceCOR GMBH

Cardiovascular therapeutics developer advanceCOR GMBH has raised €6.5mm ($8.4mm) through what is believed to be its Series A venture round. MIG led and was joined by Bayern Kapital, Bio-M, Hightech-Grunderfonds, and KfW Bank. (Mar.)

AdvanceCOR was established to develop CorImmun GMBH’s product portfolio that was not acquired by Johnson & Johnson last year. The company will use the new money to establish proof-of-principle for its platelet inhibitor Revacept. The Phase II drug candidate inhibits arterial thrombosis for acute coronary syndromes and stroke patients. AdvanceCOR is also working on Revacept for plaque imaging, COR2 to prevent stroke or ACS, and COR3 to prevent restenosis, stroke, or ACS (all preclinical).

Allecra Therapeutics GMBH

Series A generates €15mm for Allecra

Infectious disease-focused start-up Allecra Therapeutics GMBH has raised €15mm ($19.6mm) in its Series A financing co-led by Forbion Capital Partners and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, which were joined by EMBL Ventures. (Apr.)

Allecra was founded earlier this year by its CEO Nicholas Benedict, Indian firm Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Forbion, and Edmond de Rothschild. The Series A funds will support clinical trials of two injectable antibiotic candidates--partnered with Orchid--aimed at multi-drug-resistant gram-negative infections including hospital-acquired pneumonia, complicated intra-abdominal infections, and complicated urinary-tract infections. Phase I studies are expected to begin this year and the money should last through Phase IIa proof-of-concept.

Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Series C brings in $18mm for Aquinox Pharmaceuticals

Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc. (inflammation therapeutics) has raised $18mm through its Series C venture round. Returning investor Johnson & Johnson Development Corp. led and was joined by new backer Augment Investments Ltd. as well as current shareholders Pfizer Venture Investments, Ventures West Capital, and Baker Brothers Investments. Aquinox will use the money to conduct Phase IIa studies of AQX1125 in asthma patients and in healthy volunteers. The company plans to conduct two additional Phase II studies later this year; one to see if AQX1125 reduces the severity and duration of exacerbations in COPD patients, and another to determine its efficacy in reducing inflammation and pain in patients with bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis. The funding will also enable Aquinox to complete chronic toxicity studies and large-scale manufacturing of the drug candidate. (Apr.)

Beat BioTherapeutics Corp.

Beat BioTherapeutics gets seeded with $2.5mm

CET Capital Partners, the W Fund, and 19 other undisclosed investors have seeded gene therapy firm Beat BioTherapeutics Corp. with $2.5mm through the sale of debt. CET will contribute one board member. (Apr.)

Formed in 2008, Beat BioTherapeutics has used technology exclusively licensed from the University of Washington (based on research by Charles Murry, MD, PhD) to develop its first drug candidate, which is focused on improving cardiac muscle contraction in heart failure patients. The company has been funded by several federal grants from the National Institutes of Health.

GenSight Biologics

GenSight Biologics SA completes its Series A round

GenSight Biologics SA (ophthalmic gene therapies) has raised €32mm ($41.4mm) through its Series A venture round. Novartis Venture Fund, Abingworth, Versant Ventures, and Index Ventures co-led. (Apr.)

The company will use the money to continue developing a gene replacement therapy for Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), which is set to enter the clinic later this year, as well as an optogenetic treatment for retinitis pigmentosa. Both conditions can lead to blindness. GenSight’s lead drug candidate was developed by Corral-Debrinsky, MD, and Jose Sahel, MD, at the Vision Institute using IP licensed from Novartis (which quietly seeded the company in early 2011). GenSight has a unique approach to targeting the mitochondria in LHON; it uses an adeno-associated virus to deliver the human ND4 gene, which is frequently mutated in LHON patients. Company CEO Bernard Gilly and two other member of GenSight’s management come from Fovea (acquired by Sanofi in 2009 for €370mm). GenSight’s Series A comes just five months after the EMA approved uniQure NV’s liproprotein lipase deficiency treatment Glybera, the first gene therapy to get marketing authorization in the EU or US.

Genticel SA

Genticel SA raises €18.2mm via private placement

Genticel SA (developing human papillomavirus vaccines) raised €18.2mm ($23.7mm) in its Series C financing round. New backer Wellington Partners, which led and adds a board member, was joined by returning shareholders IDInvest Partners, Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, InnoBio Fund (managed by CDC Enterprises), Institut Régional de Développement Industriel, and Amundi Private Equity Funds. Genticel will use the funding for ongoing clinical trials of its lead HPV vaccine candidate ProCervix, which will soon enter Phase II, and for work on a CyaA-based multivalent HPV vaccine with additional virus subtype coverage. (Apr.)

InfaCare Pharmaceutical Corp.

Series C brings in $21.6mm for InfaCare Pharmaceutical

InfaCare Pharmaceutical Corp. (specialty pharmaco focused on neonatal and pediatric therapeutics) has raised $21.6mm through what is believed to be its Series C venture round. There were six undisclosed investors. (Mar.)

MedDay Pharmaceuticals

MedDay receives €8mm Series A investment from InnoBio and Sofinnova

InnoBio (managed by CDC Entreprises) and Sofinnova Capital VII have participated in an €8mm ($10.5mm) Series A round for MedDay Pharmaceuticals, a 2011 start-up that is being incubated at Paris’ l’Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epiniere (the Brain and Spinal Cord Institute). Chahra Louafi from CDC and Rafaele Tordjman from Sofinnova were the representatives from each investor. (Apr.)

MedDay is working with a neuro-metabolic disease platform created by company founder and La Pitie Salpetriere Hospital neuroscientist Frederic Sedel, MD, PhD, who has specialized in inborn errors of metabolism (IEM), including diagnosis of late-onset neurological forms of IEM. Dr. Sedel’s work could have potential in treating rare hereditary metabolic disorders and neuropsychiatric diseases. MedDay estimates the current investment will fund its three candidates through 2016. Lead compound MD1003 is in Phase IIb/III for progressive multiple sclerosis; this therapeutic, which had previously been explored in a different formulation for an orphan metabolic disease, is covered by patents invented at the Assistance Publique des Hospitaux de Paris. In addition, MedDay’s pipeline includes MD1103, which has proven efficacy and tolerability in human testing for refractory schizophrenia, and MD1105 for Alzheimer’s. The company is also planning an R&D partnership with the Institute of Biology and Technology Saclay’s metabolomics unit.

Novaliq GMBH

Fifth round brings in €13.9mm for Novaliq

Topical drug delivery firm Novaliq GMBH has raised €13.9mm ($18.1mm) through its fifth financing round to returning shareholder Dievini Hopp Bio Tech Holding GMBH & Co. KG. Novaliq will use the money to move its lead candidate, CyclASol (cyclosporine A) for dry eye, into clinical trials, and to advance other pipeline projects. (Apr.)

Reviva Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Reviva Pharmaceuticals grosses $12mm in convertible promissory notes offering

In a promissory notes sale, Reviva Pharmaceuticals Inc. (chemical genomics platform for drug development) has raised $12mm from 82 undisclosed buyers. The notes convert into Series 3 preferred shares, which change into common stock. (Mar.)

Created in 2006, Reviva is developing new chemical entities in neurology, cardiology, metabolism, and inflammation areas. Lead candidate RP5063, an oral dopamine-serotonin stabilizer, recently completed Phase II trials for schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. (In 2010, the US Department of Health and Human Services awarded Reviva a $250k grant to fund the compound.) The company says RP5063, which was tested in studies against aripiprazole (BMS/Otsuka’s Abilify), has patent coverage through at least September 2030. Reviva is also investigating the compound in major depressive disorder, manic-depressive bipolar disorder, Parkinson’s- and Alzheimer’s-related psychosis, Tourette’s syndrome, autism, and ADHD. In addition, the company is working on research- and preclinical-stage programs for obesity, depression, dyslipidemia, pain, Alzheimer’s, and GERD. Prior to this current debt financing, Reviva raised $7.6mm in another convertible promissory notes offering, and has received backing from angel investors (including medical doctors and pharma/high tech professionals) and the company’s CEO Laxminarayan Bhat, PhD.

Seraxis Inc.

Seraxis brings in undisclosed amount via Series A and commences operations

Cell therapy company Seraxis Inc. has commenced operations in the US and concurrently raised an undisclosed amount in its Series A financing led by East West Capital Partners. GRI Fund, ASAP Venture, and angel investors also participated. (Apr.)

An industry source said the Series A was a multi-million dollar round. Seraxis will focus on using its cell culture technology to create human pancreatic cell therapies for insulin-dependent (Type I) diabetes. The company is partnering with a firm that manufactures a device to help the cells function in a diabetes patient without being recognized by the immune system.

Syros Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Syros Pharmaceuticals raises $30mm through Series A round

Syros Pharmaceuticals Inc., a newly established company that aims to develop therapies targeting the switches that control genes, has launched and raised $30mm through its Series A round. Company co-founders Arch Venture Partners and Flagship Ventures led, and were joined by WuXi PharmaTech Corporate Venture Fund and other private investors. (Apr.)

Syros was formed around the research of three gene regulation and translational medicine researchers: Richard Young, PhD, of MIT’s Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research; James Bradner, MD, of Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Center, and the Broad Institute; and Nathanael Gray, PhD, of Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber. The group discovered gene control regulators called Super-Enhancers, or master switches on genes that are the root cause of disease. Syros has exclusively licensed the Super-Enhancer technology and methods from Whitehead and Dana-Farber, and intends to use the IP--along with a suite of assay technologies and bioinformatics tools--to develop therapies that can modulate gene control regulators. Syros’ initial focus is on cancer, but the company recognizes the potential of the platform in other disease areas.

Recent Financings Of Private Companies, May 2013

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