treat epilepsy and depression.
—DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, awarded a $6.8 million contract to San Diego’s Aethlon Medical to advance technology that could be used to reduce the incidence of sepsis, a potentially fatal bloodstream infection. Aethlon has been developing dialysis-like blood purification equipment.
—Carlsbad, CA-based Life Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LIFE]]) CEO Greg Lucier visited the company’s plant in Renfrewshire, Scotland, earlier this month to tell managers there that Life is considering building a factory there. Renfrewshire is vying with prospective sites in the United States and China for a Life plant that would be in the tens of millions of dollars, according to a BBC report.
—San Diego-based CalciMedica has raised a $4 million round of debt, options, warrants and rights, according to a report in VentureWire. CalciMedica, which is developing a drug for treating plaque psoriasis, closed on a $6 million financing tranche earlier this year from.
—San Diego-based Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NBIX]]) said it received a $20 million milestone payment from Abbott. The two companies are collaborating in the development of a new drug for treating endometriosis, and Neurocrine indicated it is ready to begin late-stage trials.
—Square 1 Bank, based in Durham, NC, said it provided a $6 million loan to San Diego-based CoDa Therapeutics, which is developing drugs for wounds that heal poorly, including venous leg and diabetic foot ulcers. The company arranged the financing after closing on a $19 million funding round in April.