VC: Cerexa leads with $50M first round



Cerexa leads with $50 million in first round financing.

VENTURE CAPITAL

COMPANY

AMOUNT/ROUND

LEAD INVESTORS

DESCRIPTION

Cerexa
Alameda, CA

$50M
first round

Frazier Healthcare Ventures, New Leaf Venture Partners

A spin-off, Cerexa expects to initiate Phase II clinical trials with PPI-0903, a broad-spectrum cephalosporin antibiotic with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) coverage, in the second half of 2005.

Cerenis Therapeutics
Ann Arbor, MI

$30.5M
first round

Sofinnova Partners, HealthCap

Cerenis has been established with the objective of discovering, developing and commercializing breakthrough HDL-related drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

Alba Therapeutics
Baltimore

$30M
first round

SV Life Sciences, Alta Partners

Alba's lead molecule, AT-1001, is targeted toward the treatment of Celiac Disease and Type 1 Diabetes and is in the final stages of pre-human testing.

Protez Pharmaceuticals
Malvern, PA

$15M
second round

BioAdvance Ventures, Birchmere Ventures

Protez intends to use the proceeds from the financing to accelerate development of its lead compound SMP-601, an injectable antibiotic.

OncoGenex Technologies
Vancouver

$12.8M
second round add-on

Ventures West, H.I.G. Ventures

The money will be used for the development of the company's lead compound OGX-011 in multiple cancer indications and support the advancement of its second product candidate, OGX-427, into clinical development.

Alder Biopharmaceuticals
Seattle

$11.1M
first round

Sevin Rosen Funds

The money will be used to develop Alder's lead antibody therapeutic, broaden its product pipeline, and build on its proprietary antibody discovery and manufacturing technologies.