CEO news, clinical trials, startup financing, and boring biotech companies made up the New England life sciences news this week.
—Cambridge, MA-based Lantos Technologies, an MIT spinout working on 3D imaging technology for the ear, has pulled in $3.8 million of a $6.6 million equity offering, according to an SEC filing.
—West Bridgewater, MA-based Cardiosolutions received an $8 million investment from the Sorin Group, a global device company specializing in cardiovascular disease. Sorin also got the option to acquire the startup in the future.
—This week Xconomy national biotech editor Luke Timmerman rounded up what he considers some of the best boring companies in biotech. New England companies Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, and Cubist Pharmaceuticals made the cut, so read his column to find out why.
—ImmunoGen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IMGN]]) revealed it had kicked off clinical trials of its drug for treating ovarian cancer and other solid tumors, emerging a bit from the shadow of its decade’s worth of work with biotech giant Genentech. The Waltham, MA-based company also announced a secondary stock offering, selling 6.25 million shares at $16 apiece.
—Waltham, MA-based Kala Pharmaceuticals, which is developing drugs to penetrate the tough mucus membranes throughout the body, appointed Sanofi veteran Guillaume Pfefer as CEO yesterday. Kala came out of stealth mode in March with $6.2 million in funding from Lux Capital, Polaris Venture Partners, Third Rock Ventures, and Lighthouse Capital Management, and it hasn’t said much yet about what’s in the pipeline. But it did provide one hint yesterday when its co-founder, Justin Hanes, published a study in a scientific journal describing how the company’s technology platform might be applied to treating herpes. The company has also indicated it is looking into eye diseases, cystic fibrosis, and ulcerative colitis. Guillaume says Kala will be ready to disclose more details about its pipeline “in a couple of months.”
