Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Combinent brings in $3M in first funding round

Cambridge-based startup Combinent BioMedical Systems Inc. has landed $3 million in its Series A round of funding from investors VIMAC Ventures, Commons Capital, and Marlborough-based Cytyc Corp. through its Cytyc Development Co. LLC subsidiary.

According to chairman and CEO Sena Biswas, the financing will be used primarily to fund clinical trials of the company's novel vaginal drug delivery platform for delivering a combination of drugs, now given orally and intravenously, in a single device.

Combinent was founded by spinout titan Robert Langer, professor of chemical engineering at MIT, and William Crowley Jr., chief of the reproductive endocrine unit of the department of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.

John McDonough, president of Cytyc Development, will join the Combinent board of directors, which will also include Langer and Sena Biswas from VIMAC Ventures. Crowley will serve as chair of the clinical advisory board, Biswas said.

Biswas, with VIMAC, is currently serving in his top officer roles while the company seeks a new CEO, he said. Combinent will be moving its headquarters to Lexington soon, he said, and is looking to initiate Phase 1 trials of the device.