Virdante Pharmaceuticals - Top 20 Biotech VC Deals of 2009

Company: Virdante Pharmaceuticals
Based: Cambridge, MA
Amount: $47.75 million

Investors: Thomas, McNerney & Partners, Osage Partners, Clarus Ventures, Venrock, MedImmune Ventures and Biogen Idec New Ventures

Scoop: Virdante Pharmaceuticals received a fresh injection of capital in October, raising its total Series A to $47.75 million. The money will be used to further its work on boosting the effectiveness of antibodies in reducing inflammation while keeping the immune system in shape to ward off infectious invaders. Virdante plans to use the technology to fine tune existing antibodies and advance new programs of its own.

Virdante's products incorporate a proprietary "sialic switch" technology to improve the anti-inflammatory properties of antibodies.  The company exclusively licensed the technology from The Rockefeller University and established a strategic research alliance with Professor Jeffrey Ravetch's laboratory.