pancreatic precursor cells encapsulated in a proprietary, immune-protective medical device. Once implanted under the skin, the cells are supposed to differentiate into various types of endocrine cells that regulate blood sugar in roughly the same manner as a normal pancreas.
—As we reported Tuesday, the new venture capital firm HealthQuest Capital has raised $110 million to invest in patient care products and medical technologies where innovation can lower healthcare costs as well as improve patient care. Former Sofinnova Ventures partner Garheng Kong founded HealthQuest Capital, which is sharing office and back office resources with Sofinnova in Menlo Park, CA.
—San Diego-based Celladon (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CLDN]]) raised $43.7 million in gross proceeds from a secondary public offering that sold 4.6 million shares of common stock at $9.50 a share. The company plans to use net proceeds to fund R&D related to its lead product candidate, which uses genetic enzyme replacement therapy to treat systolic heart failure and to develop commercial manufacturing capabilities, and other general corporate purposes.
—Palo Alto, CA-based Nirmidas Biotech said Monday it has raised $2 million in seed funding from the Stanford-StartX fund and unnamed venture and angel investors to boost its diagnostic research technology, which is dubbed pGOLD. The Stanford University spinout is part of StartXMed, a subset of the Stanford-affiliated StartX accelerator program. The company is commercializing a nanoscale gold coating for biomedical testing that could help researchers and doctors amplify and detect otherwise faint traces of pathogens and other biological material.
—Fremont, CA-based Zosano Pharma, a biotech developing a transdermal delivery system to treat osteoporosis, plans to raise $70 million by offering 6.4 million shares at a price range of $10 to $12. At the midpoint of the proposed range, it would command a market value of $139 million. Zosano, which was founded in 2007, booked $3 million in collaboration revenue over the last 12 months. The company plans to list on the NASDAQ under the symbol ZSAN. Wedbush PacGrow, Ladenburg Thalmann and Roth Capital are the joint bookrunners on the deal.
—Batu Biologics, a San Diego startup developing a lung cancer vaccine, said it raised $100,000 in philanthropic donations through an Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign. The company said the funding would be used to complete preclinical studies needed to support the submission of an Investigational New Drug application to the FDA in the first quarter of 2015.
—SupraMed, a San Diego-based provider of health record systems and practice management software for private practice surgeons, told Xconomy that it has raised $1 million from over 25 angel investors. SupraMed was founded in 2011 by two plastic surgeons who saw a need for practice-specific software to manage their offices and patient information. SupraMed recruited San Diego serial entrepreneur Bob Nascenzi as CEO in May, and it plans to expand its product line and add new sales and marketing initiatives.
Xconomy San Diego Editor Bruce V. Bigelow contributed to this report.
