The past week brought news of clinical trials and funding from drugmakers, as well as a look at venture investing strategy in health IT, and an update on the Genzyme-Sanofi buyout rumors. Catch up on those stories and more below:
—With its recently closed $523 million fund, SV Life Sciences plans to put a greater focus on investments in the health IT space, Ryan wrote. The venture firm, which has offices in Boston and the Bay Area, has so far invested in six companies developing software for the healthcare sector, including Waltham, MA-based Phase Forward (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PFWD]]). Managing partner Eugene Hill sees promise in the $17 billion that the U.S. government has pledged toward helping healthcare providers update to electronic medical records.
—Waltham-based Avedro, a biotech startup developing technology for using thermal energy in vision correction, raised $4.6 million of a planned $5 million equity, debt, and options offering. The company’s CEO was among those who pioneered the Lasik laser eye surgery technology. Avedro’s system, which doesn’t require surgery, gained European market clearance earlier this year.
—In her column this week, Sylvia took a look at the process in which the media handles news from major clinical trials and scientific breakthroughs.
—Casenet, a Bedford, MA-based maker of health management software, pulled in a $2 million debt- and options-based financing. The company raised $5 million in a similar financing last year, and nabbed a $7.5 million Series B round led by HLM Venture Partners in 2007.
—PerkinElmer, a Waltham-based research and diagnostics technology provider, acquired Bedford-based VisEn Medical. No financial details of the transaction were revealed. Company CEO Kirkland Poss and Ralph Weissleder, the director of the Center for Systems Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital, founded VisEn, which develops in vivo fluorescence imaging products.
—Ryan wrote about Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ potential blockbuster drug telaprevir, initially developed through a partnership with Eli Lilly (NYSE: [[ticker:LLY]]). The hepatitis C treatment showed
