Biotechnology News

Monday, February 13, 2012

VBI Vaccines pulls in $2.2M debt round
Variation Biotechnologies (US) Inc., which now goes by the name VBI Vaccines, has raised $2.2 million in debt financing, federal documents show.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Zalicus, Hydra team up on pain treatment
Zalicus Inc., the biopharmaceutical company formerly known as CombinatoRx, has teamed up with Cambridge neighbor Hydra Biosciences Inc. to move forward Zalicus’ pain treatment candidates.
Ironwood stock offering aims for $80M
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. has priced a public stock offering aimed at bringing in just under $80 million to support the expected launch of its irritable bowel syndrome drug candidate, linaclotide.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Forsyth gets $750K grant from Gates Foundation
The Forsyth Institute said today that it will get a $750,000 grant to research tuberculosis (TB) biomarkers through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Grand Challenges in Global Health program, according to information provided by the institute.
NanoViricides nabs $5M to take flu fighter to IND
NanoViricides Inc., a Connecticut biotech focused on nanomaterials for antiviral therapy, has closed out a $5 million financing with a $2.5 million tranche from Florida firm Seaside 88 LP.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

AMAG adds board members amid 'strategic alternative' talks
Lexington biotech AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. has added Rajiv De Silva and Gino Santini as two new members to its board of directors, as the company continues to look at strategic alternatives for AMAG.
Navidea expands from Ohio into Andover office
Ohio life sciences company Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc. is opening a business office in Andover to help it commercialize an imaging agent to detect lymph-node cancer it plans to launch later this year.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Synchroneuron focuses new funds on movement disorder drug
Synchroneuron Inc., a biotech company that emerged from stealth mode Monday with a $6 million Series A financing, said it will use the funds to finish developing a new formulation for a chemical compound that is approved for other indications, company executives told Mass High Tech in an interview.
Rib-X lands $3M milestone pay from Sanofi deal
Rib-X Pharmaceuticals Inc. scored a $3 million milestone payment from French biotech giant Sanofi related to a license for the New Haven, Conn.-based company’s antibiotics to fight superbugs.
Radius Health files IPO, aims for $86M
Radius Health Inc., a Cambridge biotech that has raised at least $198 million in financing, on Monday filed to go public in an offering that could raise up to $86.2 million. The filing follows the completed IPO of another Cambridge biotech, Verastem, last month.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Stealthy Synchroneuron snaps up $6M in Series A round
Waltham biopharmaceutical Synchroneuron Inc. has raised $6 million in its Series A round of funding, the company said in a release.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Fraud charges dropped on Stryker ex-president Philip
The federal government has dropped fraud charges against former Stryker Biotech president Mark Philip. Philip received indictments in 2009 and 2011, alleging he was involved in marketing an unapproved mixture of products for strengthening human bone growth.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Nuclea adds $3.4M to funding round
Pittsfield cancer diagnostics firm Nuclea Biotechnologies Inc. continues to attract funding, most recently taking in $3.4 million to boost a Series B round to $9.8 million, the company said in a news release.
T2 Biosystems wins broad patent for NMR-based diagnostics
Medical diagnostics technology company T2 Biosystems Inc. has won a patent that broadly covers using nuclear magnetic resonance to detect analytes.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Sanofi hits Genzyme with layoffs
Genzyme Corp.'s research and development operations in Massachusetts have been cut by an unspecified number of positions, according to parent company Sanofi. The positions have been eliminated to avoid redundancy between Sanofi and Genzyme staff, the firm said.
Generex gets $2M investment boost
Generex Biotechnology Corp., maker of the Oral-lyn buccal insulin spray, is taking in a $2 million investment from a stock and warrants offering. The news comes on the same day that the company also announced a Japanese patent win for its wholly owned subsidiary Antigen Express Inc. of Worcester.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Curis gets $10M payment as FDA approves cancer drug
Yet another milestone payment has come in for partnering powerhouse Curis Inc., as Genentech gives it $10 million upon FDA approval of Erivedge (vismodegib) for the treatment of adult with the skin cancer known as basal cell carcinoma.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Mass. puts $14.6M into Fall River biomanufacturing plant
True to its word from a year ago, the state of Massachusetts has ponied up nearly $15 million for a new biomanufacturing plant tied to UMass Dartmouth.
Verastem IPO prices at $10 a share
Verastem Inc. will start trading on the Nasdaq, Friday, having completed an IPO that raises $55 million and values the one-year-old, venture-backed biotech at over $120 million, according to a filing with U.S. regulators.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

MassBio: Mass. biotechs raised most venture capital in 2011
Massachusetts had its best year to date for venture capital in 2011, beating the 2010 historic high, the head of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council told attendees at its policy leadership breakfast in Boston Wednesday.