Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Resolvyx raises $25M; two join board

Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals Inc, a biotech firm focused on anti-inflammatory drugs, has raised $25 million in a Series B round of venture capital.

The Bedford-based biotech, which raised $17 million in a first round of VC in 2005, said the proceeds of its second round of funding will be used to advance its pipeline of drugs and enter multiple treatments into clinical trials this year.

The second round was led by funds managed by New York hedge fund QVT Financial LP. Boston-area investors in the round included Biogen Idec New Ventures, Atlas Venture and Flagship Ventures.

Radius Ventures LLC of New York and CHL Medical Partners of Stamford, Conn., also invested in the round.

In connection to the financing, Resolvyx has named George Milne, a venture partner at Radius, to the company's board of directors. Separately, Resolvyx appointed Timothy Barberich, chairman of Marlborough-based pharmaceutical firm Sepracor Inc., to its board.

Resolvyx, which employs 30 workers, is developing a class of drugs called resolvins, which are naturally occurring small molecules that protect healthy tissue when the immune system reacts to infection or injury with an inflammatory response. The molecules could be used to treat asthma, atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.