Pacira adds $55M in venture funds

Hey, it's not all bad news out there. Despite the drumbeat of reports on the fallout from the credit crisis, two more biotechs report lining up new rounds.

A new regulatory filing reveals that Pacira Pharmaceuticals has extended its Series A round from the original $30 million to $85 million. MPM Capital, HBM BioVentures, OrbiMed Advisors and Sanderling Ventures were all involved in the round. The San Diego-based developer is currently in a Phase III program for DepoBupivacaine for postsurgical pain.

And Cambridge, MA-based ZafGen reported that it has raised $14 million in a Series B. Atlas Venture, which had helped raise $5.2 million in an earlier round, joined Third Rock in the round. The biotech is working on an obesity treatment based on the vascular targeting of adipose tissue.

- read the report [1] from Private Equity Hub on Pacira
- and here's PE Hub's report [2] on ZafGen

Related Articles:
Four companies gain VC funds [3]
Economic crisis hammers small, mid-sized biotechs [4]
Burrill: Biotech faces "a long down-turn" [5]