Funding roundup: Announcements that got away

Although I try to stay on top of events in the life sciences, announcements do sometimes manage to slip through the cracks. Some days, in fact, I end up triaging. Because the roots of this site — not to mention many of its readers — are in Silicon Valley, Bay Area events are a priority. Then come announcements from the rest of the U.S., then Asia, then Europe. Also, smaller or partial fundings tend to take a backseat.

Looking back over my notes — it’s the only way I keep anything straight — I see quite a few of these orphans have piled up. So for the sake of completeness, I’m inaugurating this occasional feature to recap the fundings, mergers and IPOs that got away from me. I’ll put all the details below the fold, so only forge ahead if you’re really interested. RSS subscribers, unfortunately, are going to get the whole thing anyway.

Ixico, a London medical-imaging company, raised $4.8 million (£2.44 million). Investors included Imperial Innovations Group and the Capital Fund. (5/18/07)

Prolacta Bioscience, a Monrovia, Calif., company dedicated to improving human milk and neonatal nutrition, raised over $12 million. Investors included Alta Partners, DFJ Frontier, Arcturus Capital, DFJ Mercury, Funk Ventures, Phillip Capital, Gideon Hixon Fund, and Draper Associates. (5/23/07)

PNP Therapeutics, a Birmingham, Ala., biotech developing cancer treatments, raised $925,000 in a second round. The Birmingham Technology Fund contributed the funding. (6/7/07)

Innovention Technologies, a robotic surgery company, raised $500,000 and moved to Middletown, R.I., according to VentureWire (subscription required). The Slater Technology Fund provided the funding. (6/12/07)

Phytomedics, a Jamesburg, N.J., biotech developing botanical therapeutics, raised $9 million in a second round. Investors included Inventages Venture Capital Investments and Burrill & Co. (6/11/07)

Bionica, a Providence, R.I., hearing-aid developer, raised $250,000 from the Slater Technology Fund, VW reported. (6/27/07)

Cellutions, an Atlanta medical-device company focused on eliminating dimples caused by cellulite, raised $7 million in a second round, VW reported. Investors included Versant Ventures, SV Life Sciences, Accuitive Medical Ventures and Carlyle Venture Partners. (6/27/07)

Serenex, a Durham, N.C., drug developer focused on cancer and treatment side effects, raised $31 million in a fourth round (PDF). Investors included Cornell Capital Partners, Pearl Street Ventures, MC Life Science Ventures, Pac-Link Bio Venture Capital, Ritchie Capital, Intersouth Partners, Lilly Ventures, Mediphase Venture Partners, Takeda Research Investment and Seaflower Ventures. (6/28/07)

ActoGeniX, a Belgian biotech developing treatments for autoimmune disease, received a $4.2 million government (€3 million) grant (PDF) through the Institute for Promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders. (7/12/07)

OptiVia Medical, a Winston-Salem, N.C., device maker focused on gynecology and orthopedics products, raised $500,000 of a planned $1.5 million second round, VW reported. Individual investors provided the funding. (7/13/07)

VitreoRetinal Technologies, an Irvine, Calif., ophthalmic drug developer, raised a $9 million first round, VW reported. Investors included De Novo Ventures and individuals. (7/13/07)

AllTranz, a Lexington, Ky., developer of pain treatments, raised $860,000 in a first round, VW reported. Investors included the Kentucky Seed Capital Fund, the Bluegrass Angels Venture Fund and the Commonwealth Seed Capital Fund. (7/16/07)

NexGenix Pharmaceuticals Holdings, a New York developer of therapies for neurofibromatosis and sporadic tumors, raised $3.9 million in a second round. Angel investors provided the funding. (7/13/07)

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, a Bethesda, Md., developer of drugs based on prostones — a class of compounds derived from fatty acids — priced its IPO and plans to raise as much as $69 million. (7/17/07)

Immune Targeting Systems, a London developer of synthetic vaccines, raised $7.1 million (£3.5 million) in a first round, VW reported. Investors included the Novartis Venture Fund, Truffle Capital, HealthCap and the London Technology Fund. (7/17/07)