U.S., Norwegian, Irish biotechs raise millions

There's a slate of new biotech investments on the wires this morning.

  • Abingworth has led an investment group which is injecting $35 million into Norway's Algeta. And the bulk of the money will go to current Phase III clinical trial with Alpharadin and such other studies that are required to secure marketing authorization in major markets for the use of Alpharadin in treating skeletal metastases of prostate cancer origin, initiation and completion of trials to validate potential label extensions for Alpharadin in metastatic prostate cancer, initiation of trials to validate the use of Alpharadin in treating skeletal metastases in breast cancer patients, and further advance the company's R&D pipeline.
  • Ireland's Opsona Therapeutics, a developer focused on autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, has completed a $23 million Series B financing round which will allow it to expand both at an operational and clinical level. Novartis Venture Fund, Fountain Healthcare Partners, Inventages Venture Capital and Seroba Kernel Life Sciences all participated in the funding.
  • A group of VCs has opted on the early injection of $10 million into Kythera Biopharmaceuticals as part of its $40 million Series C. Versant Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Prospect Venture Partners, BBT Capital Management/Apothecary Capital, JAFCO, PFM, and Altitude Life Science Ventures put up the cash. "This additional investment commitment, combined with our existing cash reserves, increases Kythera's financial strength and enables us to advance the clinical development of Kythera's two clinical stage compounds and pre-clinical pipeline. Additionally, this early exercise of the option is a clear acknowledgement of the promising data recently announced from the Phase II trials on our lead product candidate, ATX-101," said Keith R. Leonard, Kythera's CEO.

- here's Algeta's release
- see Opsona's statement
- take a look at the release from Kythera