Seattle upstart pockets $26.6M in VC

Biotech upstart VentiRx Pharmaceuticals, founded by former Anadys' vice president Michael Kamdar and former Dendreon chief medical officer Robert Hershberg, have raised $26.6 million in venture capital. That brings their first round total to $28.9 million. Frazier Healthcare Ventures, Arch Venture Partners and Domain Associates led the round, which Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter John Cook notes looks very similar to the round recently announced for Calistoga. Both of these Seattle biotechs are being launched with technology licensed from other developers, which their backers are hoping will give them a short cut to successful development programs.   

- see the release for more
- here's a report on VentiRx from John Cook's venture blog