This newsletter will be on hiatus tomorrow, June 18th. The next issue will be published Monday, June 21st.
California
Metabasis IPO raises $35 million, June 17, 2004, San Diego Union-Tribune
Metabasis Therapeutics followed in the largely lackluster steps of other recent initial public offerings yesterday with a discounted pricing and a disappointing trading debut. (San Diego)
StemCells adds $20M in equity financing, June 17, 2004, San Jose Business Journal
Biotechnology company StemCells, Inc., of Palo Alto, says it's entered into a definitive agreement with institutional and other accredited investors for the private placement of approximately 13,158,000 shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $1.52 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $20 million.
ChemoCentryx Raises $33 Million in Private Financing, June 17, 2004, Business Wire
ChemoCentryx, Inc. today announced that it has closed a private financing round raising gross proceeds of $33 million. HBM BioVentures and Alta Partners acted as significant new investors in the round. Additional participants included new investors GIMV and Hanseatic, as well as returning investors Techne Corporation, OrbiMed Advisors, HealthCap, and Pictet. (San Carlos)
Sadra Medical Raises $9 Million In Series A Financing; Company Seeks to Transform Heart Valve Therapy with Innovative Technology, June 16, 2004, Business Wire
Sadra Medical, a privately-held, development-stage Silicon Valley firm dedicated to developing innovative new therapies for aortic valve disease, has recently completed a $9M Series A round of funding. Pequot Ventures co-led the financing, along with the company's original seed investors Onset Ventures and Schroder Ventures.
Cougar Biotechnology Licenses Rights to Emory University's Noscapine Patent Portfolio, June 15, 2004, Business Wire
Cougar Biotechnology, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company, today announced that it has licensed the worldwide, exclusive rights to Emory's intellectual property portfolio for noscapine and analogs of noscapine. (Los Angeles)
Indiana
Biotech forum brings together science, industry for networking, June 17, 2004, Indianapolis Star
Stirring the pot usually carries a negative connotation. But this week's Indiana Health Innovention conference is intended to do just that -- bring the players in the state's burgeoning life sciences sector together in one place and see what collaborative ideas emerge
Commitment to Excellence funding spent to support life sciences, IU officials announce, June 16, 2004, Indiana University
Indiana University officials said today (June 16) that, contrary to published reports, the university did not use Commitment to Excellence tuition funds to cover losses associated with the Indiana Genomics Initiative (INGEN) on the Bloomington campus.
Israel
Given Imaging set for $83m offering, June 16, 2004, Globes
Given Imaging will raise $83 million on Wall Street tomorrow after the close of trading. The company, which produces a camera-in-a-pill endoscopy device for diagnosing problems of the small intestine, will issue 1.5 million new shares, which will give it some $49 million. Existing shareholders will sell 1.05 million shares, and pocket $33 million.
Massachusetts
UMass makes organization for nanotech, June 17, 2004, Boston Herald
When it comes to scientific advances, a number of researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst are thinking small - tiny tools to slow the release of drugs; miniature storage units for tech devices; and a new generation of microprocessors to help shrink laptop computers.
Graduate life science study to be unified, June 16, 2004, Harvard University Gazette
Harvard's disparate graduate programs in the life sciences will be unified under a single programmatic umbrella beginning in July in a reorganization that aims to increase coordination between the individual courses of study and allow greater student mobility and programmatic versatility.
Minnesota
Arizant bought by Citigroup Venture Capital, June 17, 2004, Twin Cities Business Journal
Eden Prairie-based Arizant Inc., formerly known as Augustine Medical, has agreed to be acquired by a New York-based venture capital firm.
New York
Eyetech completes drug application, June 17, 2004, Crain's New York Business
Manhattan-based biotech firm Eyetech Pharmaceuticals said it completed its drug application for Macugen, the product it is developing with Pfizer to treat macular degeneration, the leading cause of age-related blindness.
Texas
Kinetic Concepts, Inc. Announces Pricing of Follow-On Public Offering, June 17, 2004, Business Wire
Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (NYSE: KCI) today announced that it has priced a follow-on public offering of 14,000,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $47.50 per share, before underwriting discounts and commissions. The offering will consist solely of secondary shares to be offered by selling shareholders named in the prospectus. Some of the selling shareholders have granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 2,100,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any. The offering is expected to close on June 22, 2004.
UK
Cambridge vaccine helps cocaine addicts kick the habit, June 15, 2004, Business Weekly
A vaccine which could help cocaine addicts beat their dependence has been developed by Xenova Group, the Cambridge and Slough based pharma company, and earned promising trial results in the US.
General
Durbin bill seeks federal review of genetically modified foods, June 17, 2004, St. Louis Business Journal
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced new legislation Thursday that he said would increase consumer confidence in the safety of genetically modified foods.
PROGRESS: Battelle analysis shows growth in biosciences, June 17, 2004, Farm & Dairy
Employment and other economic activity in the biosciences have grown dramatically in the past three years, and states working to attract bioscience companies are learning that success means specializing in specific sub-sectors, according to a new study by the Battelle Memorial Institute and the State Science and Technology Institute.
EU grant for 3D genomics research, June 16, 2004, DrugResearcher.com
The European Union has awarded funding worth €2.2 million to the group of academic institutes behind the 3DGENOME research programme, which is exploring how the genome functions in health and disease.
Medical Device & Diagnostics Industry Executives See Growth and Refilling R&D Pipelines as Top Challenges Today, June 14, 2004, PR Newswire
Medical device and diagnostics companies executives say that their biggest challenges are aggressively growing top-line revenue, followed closely by defending their margins, and filling their R&D pipelines with new products, according to a survey to be released tomorrow by Tunnell Consulting at the Medical Design & Manufacturing East Conference and Exposition in New York.
Drug Discovery and Delivery Applications of Nanotechnology and Commercial Opportunities to be Featured at October Conference, June 14, 2004, Strategic Research Institute
The broad based application of nanotechnology as a discovery platform, as well as in drug delivery and diagnostic tools will be featured as part of a two-day forum to be held in Cambridge, MA, focusing on commercial and scientific aspects, announces Strategic Research Institute.