Outpatient Dialysis Provider Starts Up With Large Venture Round
(January 17, 2008)

Pelikan Technologies raised the largest venture round announced by a health care company during December, with a $69 million Series F financing provided by Clarus Ventures, HBM BioVentures, Global Life Science Ventures, Mannheim Holdings and Bio*One Capital. Pelikan is a medical device company, initially focused on glucose monitoring and diabetes management, and is launching a product for automated, one-step blood glucose testing and measurement. Pelikan’s technology platform may eventually be used for the development of products for a variety of other medical conditions that involve blood screening and monitoring. The next-largest deal of the month was announced by a pharma company, Cogentus Pharmaceuticals. Cogentus is currently establishing sites and recruiting patients for the first phase III clinical trial of its lead compound, which contains both clopidogrel (sold as Plavix) and omeprazole, a gastroprotectant, in a single pill, designed to reduce gastrointestinal side effects associated with dual antiplatelet therapy. Keffi Group, Prospect Venture Partners, Ridgeback Capital, Apothecary Capital and Pinnacle Ventures invested $62.5 million in the Series C financing for Cogentus. One health care services company made the top five this month, with its initial round. Reliant Renal Care, a provider of outpatient dialysis services to patients with chronic kidney failure (end-stage renal disease), secured $50 million in equity financing in conjunction with the formation of the company and its acquisition of a majority interest in four dialysis centers in central Michigan. The financing was provided to Reliant Renal Care by Ferrer Freeman & Company, McLaren Healthcare Corporation and DW Healthcare Partners. Two biopharmaceutical companies announced large venture deals that round out the top five deals for the month. Forbion Capital Partners, Sofinnova Partners, Abingworth Management, GIMV, The Wellcome Trust and CAPE invested $43.8 million in Fovea Pharmaceuticals’ Series B financing. Fovea Pharmaceuticals is developing therapeutic treatments for ophthalmic diseases, and is using this funding to continue advancing its programs in chronic allergic conjunctivitis and in acute and diabetic macular edema; all three are expected to enter phase II clinical trials in 2008. Revance Therapeutics secured $43.2 million in Series C financing from investors including Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, Vivo Ventures, Technology Partners, Shepherd Ventures and Palo Alto Investors. The round also includes $20 million of equity that Medicis invested in Revance, which focuses on developing aesthetic medicine and personal wellness products and has technology for delivering large macromolecules across skin. As part of the deal, Medicis secured a purchase option to acquire Revance or license exclusively in North America Revance’s topical botulinum toxin type A product.
 

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