With the proxy battle for control of San Diego’s Amylin Pharmaceuticals coming to a crucial shareholder vote next Wednesday (and with a similar fight at Biogen Idec coming to a head on June 3), we decided it was an opportune time to launch a life sciences news roundup at Xconomy San Diego. We’ve also wrapped up funding deals and other biotech developments for your reading pleasure.
—San Diego’s Nanogen has agreed to sell its assets to Elitech of Paris, France, for $25.7 million as part of a pre-packaged bankruptcy filing. The bankruptcy court will likely approve the deal unless another buyer comes forward with a better offer for Nanogen, which makes molecular diagnostic kits and chemical reagent lab supplies.
—San Diego’s Victory Pharma just raised $45 million in a secondary venture round less than three months ago. Now Sciele Pharma, an Atlanta, GA, company owned by Japan’s Shionogi & Co., is acquiring Victory for $150 million in a deal intended to get Victory’s line of pain-killing drugs and drug candidates.
—San Diego-based Anaphore is an example of a new trend among venture-backed startups. The biotech founded last year recently extended its existing venture funding round instead of raising funds in a separate round. Anaphore, which is developing a new class of protein thereapeutics, said the $13 million it raised recently brings its total venture capital funding to a total of $38 million.
—James Sweeney, a San Diego serial entrepreneur who has started eight healthcare companies, said it’s becoming crucial for healthcare startups to prove that new technologies can save money for their prospective customers. Sweeney, who was a keynote speaker at a
