Five VCs share how the pandemic has changed investing
Months into the Covid-19 pandemic, the pace of new investments for startups has picked back up. Five VCs shared what's changed and how they're working in the midst of the crisis.
With $200M Series A, EQRx aims to tackle high drug prices
The startup, founded by a prominent health policy expert and a biotech industry executive, aims to bring down the cost of drugs by re-engineering and making less costly the process by which they are discovered and brought to patients.
Healthcare VC Arboretum Ventures closes fifth $250M fund
The new fund is the single largest ever raised in Michigan eclipsing the earlier $220 million Arboretum IV fund raised in 2015.
Care management startup SonarMD secures $10M in Series A funding
The company will use the $10 million from Blue Cross Blue Shield Venture Partners and Arboretum Ventures to add new team members who can help grow the business.
BioIQ raises $26.5M as population health tech company prepares to make acquisitions
The company is preparing to announce an acquisition next month and is positioned to look for other technology companies to grow and finetune its business.
VC’s advice to healthcare startups: Build your business in the Midwest, it’s cheaper
At a recent conference in Minneapolis, a panel discussing where the best medtech startup opportunities are located gave an answer sure to please the hometown crowd: the Midwest was singled out as a great location for starting new firms. “We love the Midwest,” said Jan Garfinkle, founder and managing director of Arboretum Ventures, a venture […]
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Lipitor co-developer’s rebooted startup gets $33M for trials of cholesterol-lowering drug
In its second wind as a company, Esperion Therapeutics (once owned by Pfizer) has just collected $33 million to continue with clinical trials of its cholesterol-lowering drug. Plymouth, Michigan-based Esperion is in phase 2 trials of ETC-1002, a once-daily oral drug designed to regulate abnormal lipid and carbohydrate metabolism without many of the side effects […]
Prostate treatment company NxThera gets millions, corporate partner
NxThera Inc., a Shoreview, Minnesota-based startup developing a thermal vapor prostate treatment, is bringing in millions of extra investment dollars, including from a corporate partner.
NxThera Inc. raises another $2M for prostate device
NxThera Inc. has raised $2 million from the sale of equity and warrants, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The startup based in St. Paul is developing ways to treat enlarged prostates by using vapor injections and thermal energy to kill tissue.
NxThera Inc. raises $1 million for prostate device
NxThera Inc. has raised $1 million from the sale of equity and debt, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The start-up, based in St. Paul, is developing ways to treat enlarged prostates by using vapor injections and thermal energy to kill tissue. CEO Robert Paulson formerly led Restore Medical Inc., a […]
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Delphinus Medical gets $8M for breast cancer detection device
Delphinus Medical Technologies Inc. has received $8 million in funding commitments to further develop an ultrasonic breast cancer detection device that could become an alternative to mammograms. The funding means that Delphinus can finally begin the process of commercializing its SoftVue device, which has undergone about 10 years of research and development. Unlike mammography, which […]
CerviLenz debuts inexpensive device to indicate preterm births
Obstetricians, nurse-midwives and labor and delivery nurses now have a powerful — and inexpensive — tool for assessing a woman’s risk of delivering a baby too early. CerviLenz. The disposable device made by CerviLenz Inc. — a Chagrin Falls, Ohio, startup — was introduced today at the American Academy of Obstetricians and Gynecologists annual meeting […]
Doctor-turned-venture capitalist excited about Midwest investing
Dr. Brian Duncan caught the business bug as the only clinician on a team of Cleveland Clinic researchers who set out in 2004 to develop a heart-assist pump for infants with heart failure. The Clinic wooed Duncan, a pediatric heart surgeon, and his cardiac anesthesiologist wife to Cleveland in 2001. A few years later, the […]
Michigan’s Esperion Therapeutics raises $5M for cardiovascular disease drug
Esperion Therapeutics Inc., a spin-off from Pfizer Inc., has raised an additional $5 million to develop drugs that treat cardiovascular and metabolic disease, according to a SEC filing. The regulatory document states that Esperion has raised $27.75 million in equity and debt, but that dollar figure likely includes a $22.75 million Series A fundraise the company announced in 2008 after the spin-off.
Michigan’s Aastrom Biosciences prices stock offering, shares tumble to 52-week low
Aastrom, which is developing therapies that use stem cells to treat cardiovascular diseases, priced its shares at 26 cents per unit and hopes to raise $10.9 million from the offering.