MPM Capital

VC: Alder raises $40M

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 06:59:52 -0500

Alder raises $40M

VENTURE CAPITAL
COMPANY	AMOUNT/ROUND	LEAD INVESTORS	DESCRIPTION
Alder Biopharmaceuticals Bothell, WA	$40M Third	Delphi Ventures and TPG Biotech	Alder identifies, develops, and manufactures antibody therapeutics to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. "
Bridge Laboratories Gaithersburg, MD	$18M Second	Unnamed	Bridge Laboratories will be expanding a toxicology lab in Beijing, China, and continue to grow U.S. operations.
Novamed China	$13.8M Second	Fidelity Asia Ventures and Fidelity Biosciences	The company will use the proceeds to finance the in-licensing of new molecules for China, expand sales and distribution operations and strengthen medical research and development capacity.
Caprotec Bioanalytics Germany	$8.8M Round	Creathor Venture, IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft, ERP Startfonds and private investors	The money will be used to further development and marketing of its platform technology for analyzing complex protein mixtures.
PeptImmune Cambridge, MA	$8.2M Fourth	New Enterprise Associates, MPM Capital, Hunt Ventures L.P., Boston Medical Investors and Silicon Valley Bank Capital	The funding will be used to advance clinical development of Peptimmune's multiple sclerosis treatment, PI-2301.

PeptImmune land $8.2M in series D

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 06:59:56 -0500

Cambridge, MA-based PeptImmune has garnered $8.2 million in a fourth round of funding. New Enterprise Associates, MPM Capital, Hunt Ventures L.P., Boston Medical Investors and Silicon Valley Bank Capital led the round. The funding will be used to advance clinical development of Peptimmune's multiple sclerosis treatment, PI-2301. Additional funding, and a new, unnamed investor, are expected in the second quarter of 2008.

"The Series D investment will provide the necessary capital to complete two clinical trials by the end of 2008...The completion of these two studies will offer proof of principal for PI-2301, which is a second generation copolymer targeted at treating patients with relapsing and remitting multiple sclerosis," noted PeptImmune's CEO Thomas P. Mathers.

- see PeptImmune's release
- read this Mass High Tech report for more

SPOTLIGHT: Xanodyne files IPO

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:59:53 -0500

After garnering a total of $232 million in venture funds to buy aaiPharma's pharmaceutical division out of bankruptcy, Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals--which has three products in development in addition to a number of marketed pharmaceuticals--is now planning to go public, filing an $86.2 million IPO. Apax Partners, MPM Capital, AIG, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, HealthCare Ventures, Aisling Capital and Blue Chip Venture all have a stake in the company. Release

Seattle start-up gains $30M in second venture round

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:59:56 -0400

Another biotech graduate of the Seattle incubator Accelerator Corp. has won a significant round of venture backing. Allozyne says that it has garnered a $30 million Series B, enough money to take a preclinical candidate for multiple sclerosis through Phase I. In an interview with the Seattle Times, CEO Meenu Chhabra says that early-stage data should be available around 2010, making it ripe for a partnership with a big pharma company. If so, that would make it one exceptionally promising compound. Most of the significant partnership money doesn't become available until Phase II is well underway or completed. Allozyne is also studying a new therapy for diabetes and is looking for its own headquarters facility, which will allow the biotech to double its 10-person payroll. MPM Capital led the round with participation by OVP Venture Partners, Amgen Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners and Alexandria Real Estate Equities.

- here's the article on Allozyne from the Seattle Times

VC: Neuromed lands $53.3M in fifth round

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 06:59:52 -0400

Neuromed lands $53.3M in fifth round

VENTURE CAPITAL
COMPANY	AMOUNT/ROUND	LEAD INVESTORS	DESCRIPTION
Neuromed Pharmaceuticals Canada	$53.3M Fifth	MPM Capital, James Richardson & Sons, Neuro Discovery, GrowthWorks Capital, BDC Venture Capital, CMDF, and the Royal Bank of Canada	Much of that money is earmarked for clinical trials, including a late-stage study of a newly licensed pain drug.
Nereus Pharmaceuticals San Diego, CA	$45M Fourth	BankInvest Biomedical Venture	The money will be drawn down in two tranches and used to complete Phase I and begin Phase II clinical trials for Nereus' two drug candidates.
NeurAxon Waltham, MA	$32M Second	Delphi Ventures and OrbiMed Advisors	The money is earmarked for advancing the developer's pain therapies.
Ophthotech Princeton, NJ	$36M First	SV Life Sciences	Ophthotech is off and running with a first round of $36 million
Pevion Biotech Germany	$30.2M First	BZ Bank Aktiengesellschaft	The company said it will use the funds to push a hepatitis C and breast cancer vaccines into Phase II. It will also fund preclinical vaccine candidates against RSV and Candida infections into clinical development.
Topigen Pharmaceuticals Canada	$25M Third	NovaQuest and MMV Financial	The investment is earmarked for Phase II clinical programs relating to its lead products, TPI 1020, a small-molecule drug in development for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and TPI ASM8, its RNA-inhibiting therapeutic for asthma.
FoldRx Cambridge, Mass.	$22M	Cystic Fibrosis Foundation	FoldRx has snagged $22 million from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to develop and commercialize new drugs for the condition.

Neuromed banks $53.3M in venture funds

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 06:59:58 -0400

Neuromed Pharmaceuticals has garnered a whopping $53.3 million in Series E funds, bringing its total take in venture capital to $126 million. Much of that money is earmarked for clinical trials, including a late-stage study of a newly licensed pain drug. MPM Capital, James Richardson & Sons, Neuro Discovery LP, GrowthWorks Capital (Working Opportunity Fund), BDC Venture Capital, CMDF, and the Royal Bank of Canada all participated in the round.

"Funding from this round will allow Neuromed to accelerate the development of its promising drugs to treat pain, including NMED-1077, our recently in-licensed product for chronic pain in Phase III clinical development," said Dr. Christopher Gallen, Neuromed's president and CEO. "We have three programs aimed at addressing the underserved pain market and we believe this investment reflects the confidence that our investors have in Neuromed's potential to develop new treatments for the millions of people worldwide suffering from pain."

- check out the release on the latest round

Related Articles:
Merck inks $475M deal with Neuromed. Report
Neuromed lands pain therapy in $30M deal. Report
Neuromed raises $25M. Report
Merck, Neuromed abandon potential Vioxx successor. Report

KaloBios gains $20M in third round

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 06:59:56 -0400

KaloBios Pharmaceuticals has garnered $20 million in its third round, with much of that earmarked to advance its clinical development work. Lehman Brothers led the round with MPM Capital, Sofinnova Ventures, Alloy Ventures, 5AM Ventures, Singapore Bioinnovations, and Lotus BioScience Ventures taking part. Palo Alto, CA-based KaloBios has an ongoing clinical program for KB002 in rheumatoid arthritis. The company also recently initiated Phase 1 studies of KB001, which will be investigated for the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections.

"We expect these new funds to support the development of our two lead product candidates, KB001 and KB002 into Phase II development, as well as the advancement of a third therapeutic program into clinical trials," said KaloBios CEO David Pritchard.

- here's the release for more information

ALSO: Nuon Therapeutics raised $5 million and named Ronald Pearlman, former CEO at Saegis, as its new CEO. Release

Related Article:
Pritchard tapped to run KaloBios. Report

VC: Kalypsys gains $100M in third round

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:01:32 -0500

Kalypsys gains $100M in third round

VENTURE CAPITAL
COMPANY	AMOUNT/ROUND	LEAD INVESTORS	DESCRIPTION
Kalypsys San Diego, CA	$100M Third	Tavistock Life Sciences	Kalypsys' pipeline includes KD3010 for metabolic disorders.
Concert Pharmaceuticals Boston	$48M Second	Flagship Ventures	The company will explore its technology and advance its pipeline into clinical evaluation.
Elixir Pharmaceuticals Cambridge, MA	$46M Third	MPM Capital	The money will be used to support its program for Glufast, a small molecule for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, and other programs
Xanthus Pharmaceuticals Cambridge, MA	$25M Second	Oxford Bioscience Partners, HealthCare Ventures, GeneChem, GIMV, Hambrecht & Quist Capital Management, Still River Fund, Neomed, Kestrel Ventures, CDP Capital, CDIB BioScience Ventures, and Yasuda	Xanthus has five oncology therapies in its pipeline.
Cara Therapeutics Tarrytown, NY	$19M Third	MVM Life Science Partners and Alta Biopharma Partners	The money will get its next two drugs into the clinic.
Alimera Sciences Atlanta, GA	$15.9M Second	BA Venture Partners, Domain Associates, Intersouth Partners, Polaris Venture Partners and Venrock Associates, and several individual investors	The additional resources will be used to further develop Medidur, Alimera Sciences' Phase III-stage treatment for diabetic macular edema (DME).
Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals Towson, MD	$14.5M First	The Aurora Funds and New Enterprise Associates	Much of the money will go to developing its nitroxyl donor program for the treatment of acute decompensated heart failure.
Quinnova Pharmaceuticals Newtown, PA	$13.6M First	Thomas, McNerney & Partners, H.I.G. Ventures and an investor syndicate led by Omnivest	The company will accelerate the development of its pipeline and introduce its first dermatological prescription drug products to market in 2007.
AmpliMed Tucson, AZ	$8.5M Second	Insight Ventures	The new funds will be used to complete Phase I and II trials of Amplimexon.
Aushon BioSystems Burlington, MA,	$7.78M First	North Bridge Venture Partners	Aushon provides microarray-based tools, instrumentation and services.

Press Release: Elixir Pharmaceuticals Raises $46 Million

Maureen Martino — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 12:14:17 -0500

Elixir Pharmaceuticals Raises $46 Million

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Nov 28, 2006 - Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced today the Company has closed a Series C and venture debt financings, raising a total of $46 million. The financing included $31 million in equity funding and $15 million in venture debt placement.

William K. Heiden, Elixir's President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "The Series C financing reflects the continued advancement of Elixir and its product portfolio. These funds provide us with the opportunity to advance our leadership position in the innovation and development of next-generation therapeutics for the treatment of major metabolic disorders, as well as to treat and prevent a broader range of age-related diseases."

The Series C funds will be used to support:

-- clinical and regulatory activities supporting a US registration for Glufast(R), a small molecule for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes

-- pre-clinical activities to support an IND filing for EX-1314, a small molecule ghrelin agonist for a variety of metabolic disorders

-- lead-optimization and IND-enabling pre-clinical studies for a small molecule ghrelin antagonist for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes and obesity

-- research and discovery efforts focused on a number of novel targets in aging and metabolism

Mr. Heiden continued, "We have several significant milestones that we expect to achieve over the coming months, each of which will add value for Elixir and its shareholders. I am particularly enthusiastic about the progress being made in our internally developed ghrelin antagonist program, one of the most exciting targets currently being studied for the treatment of metabolic disease."

The financing was led by MPM Capital with participation from current investors including ARCH Venture Partners, and Oxford BioScience Partners, as well as new investors CDIB, JAFCO, and YFY Bioscience. The venture debt was provided by Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. (NASDAQ: HTGC).

Ansbert Gadicke, M.D., Founding General Partner of MPM Capital, commented, "Elixir continues to be one of the most promising of the MPM portfolio companies, and we are pleased to be leading this round of financing. Under the leadership of Bill Heiden and his senior management team, Elixir has made tremendous progress, over the past two years. Bill and his team have expanded the product portfolio, continued advancing internal programs, and are making and publishing key insights regarding the links between aging and metabolic disease. The global wave of baby boomers will bring more and more attention to the enormous potential impact of Elixir's discoveries and therapeutics on our society and healthcare."

About Elixir Pharmaceuticals

Elixir is a Cambridge, MA-based biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing drugs to treat and prevent metabolic disease, prevent age-related diseases, extending the quality and length of human life. The Company is working across a number of targets implicated in the control of human lifespan and metabolism, such as SIR T1 where the Company has brought experience and IP.

Elixir is advancing a novel proprietary potent, orally available ghrelin antagonist through lead optimization and is preparing to nominate a clinical candidate. Compounds are currently being evaluated in in-vivo models of Type 2 diabetes and obesity, both of which represent exciting drug development targets in metabolic disease and multi-billion dollar product opportunities.

Leveraging its knowledge of ghrelin biology and pharmacology, Elixir licensed a small molecule ghrelin agonist (designated EX-1314) from Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in April 2005. This compound is a novel, orally available agent that stimulates the body's release of growth hormone, mimicking the body's naturally occurring ghrelin by binding to the growth hormone secretagogue (GHS) receptor. An orally acting GHS agonist has the potential to enhance the body's own growth hormone-releasing pattern, thus affording a wide range of potential therapeutic applications, including cancer cachexia (as an initial indication), other cachexias, and gastroparesis.

In March 2006, Elixir in-licensed North and South American rights to Glufast(R) (mitiglinide calcium hydrate), an insulin secretagogue, which lowers post-meal glucose levels by improving the body's own ability to produce insulin. Already marketed in Japan, Glufast has undergone extensive clinical development demonstrating the product's ability to safely and effectively treat Type 2 diabetes.

VC: Santaris leads with a $48.3M round

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 19:01:32 -0500

Santaris leads with a $48.3M round

VENTURE CAPITAL
COMPANY	AMOUNT/ROUND	LEAD INVESTORS	DESCRIPTION
Santaris Pharma Denmark	$48.3M Unspecified	ABN AMRO Capital Life Sciences	Santaris has specialized in developing RNA Antagonist drugs based on Locked Nucleic Acid.
Helicos BioSciences Cambridge, MA	$40M Unspecified	Flagship Ventures, Atlas Ventures, Highland Capital, MPM Capital, and Versant Ventures	The money will support of the company's development of the company's "true Single Molecule Sequencing" technologies and techniques.
Egalet Denmark	$27.6M Unspecified	Atlas Venture and Index Ventures	Egalet is a delivery company focused on developing oral controlled-release products.
BioXell Italy	€10.5M Third	TVM Capital	The funds will support the company's development schedule.
APT Pharmaceuticals Tucson, AZ	$9M First	Charter Life Sciences and Research Corporation Technologies	The capital will be used to accelerate the company's pulmonary and nasal clinical development programs.