New England biotechs helped make some deals headlines in the last week, while other startups have been a bit quieter surrounding the holiday weekend.
—Boston-based cancer drug developer Acetylon Pharmaceuticals nabbed $27 million in Series B financing from individual investors, bringing its funding pot $40 million, including a mix of federal grants, private financing, and money from nonprofits. Acetylon was founded based on work done at Harvard University and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Dana-Farber supporters Marc Cohen, the tech entrepreneur, and New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft are among Acetylon’s backers.
—Cambridge, MA-based Lotus Tissue Repair pinned down $26 million in Series A funding, led by Boston-based Third Rock Ventures, to put toward developing its treatment for a rare, genetic disease called dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa.
—Chiasma, a Newton, MA-based biotech focused on protein drug delivery technology, secured $5.1 million in equity- and rights-based funding.
—Spirus Medical, a Stoughton, MA-headquartered endoscopy technology developer, was acquired for an undisclosed sum by Olympus Medical, which plans to incorporate its own endoscopic systems with Spirus’ technology.
—San Francisco-based social and mobile game developer Zynga, which has a presence in Cambridge via its acquisition of Conduit Labs last year, filed paperwork with the SEC indicating it is preparing for an initial public offering, Zynga, whose largest shareholders include firms such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Institutional Venture Partners, Foundry Group , Avalon Ventures, DST Group, and Union Square Ventures, hopes to raise $1 billion in the initial sale of its common stock.
—The Boston Globe reported that Cambridge-based Brightcove signed a deal for a new 10-year lease in Boston’s seaport neighborhood, which has also attracted the likes of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Heartland Robotics. Brightcove, a digital media and video hosting firm, has 280 employees and plans to bump that number up to 400 to fill out the new 82,000 square foot space.
