MiCardia Raises $5M
MiCardia Corp., an Irvine-based medical device maker, said it has raised $5 million from insiders in a bridge round of financing with an eye on a larger third-series round next year amid “a tough fundraising environment.”
MiCardia was established in 2004. It’s working on implantable medical devices for treating late-stage congestive heart failure and mitral heart valve disease.
The company’s investors include the MedFocus Family of Funds and the Bio-Star Private Equity Fund LLC, which are connected to Michael Henson, a veteran OC device entrepreneur and investor. Henson is MiCardia’s chairman.
MiCardia’s chief executive, Paul Molloy, previously worked for Edwards Lifesciences Corp. when it was the cardiovascular unit of Baxter International Inc.
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Vita Reed
Terumo Moves HQ
Terumo Corp., a Japanese medical device maker, will move its MicroVention Inc. unit from Aliso Viejo to a Tustin facility that’s being vacated by Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corp.
MicroVention makes catheter-based medical devices to treat cerebral aneurysms, or a ballooning of blood vessels in the brain.
Terumo Cardiovascular is moving its research and development and manufacturing from Tustin to Ann Arbor, Mich., over a period of nine months.
Terumo Cardiovascular is planning to bring 65 jobs and $3.5 million in investment to its Ann Arbor operation under an incentive program by the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
Vita Reed
Amgen’s Drug Approved
Amgen Inc. won U.S. regulatory approval to market its new drug Nplate, beating other competitors to market with a therapy for a serious, but relatively rare bleeding disorder.
Nplate, given in a weekly injection, treats immune thrombocytopenic purpura, a disease that causes the immune system to attack plate-lets (which are used in blood clotting) in the blood, resulting in severe bleeding and bruising. The condition affects an estimated 60,000 Americans, or about 0.02% of the population.
Michael King, an analyst at Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group Inc., said Nplate is potentially a modest revenue generator for the Thousand Oaks-based biotech and may generate $117 million in sales next year. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval is a boost for Amgen, which has seen a decline in sales of its flagship anemia drugs since studies last year linked them to increased risk of heart attack and death.
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Deborah Crowe, Los Angeles Business Journal
Diabetes Drug Causes Deaths
In an Aug. 26 conference call, executives with Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. acknowledged four more deaths reported to the FDA,but not previously made public,associated with the diabetes drug Byetta.
The drug is co-marketed by San Diego-based Amylin and Eli Lilly and Co. of Indianapolis.
Recently, the FDA issued an alert warning of six new cases of pancreatitis, including two deaths associated with patients prescribed Byetta. Last year, the FDA cited 30 reports of the dangerous inflammation of the pancreas and said the drug was suspected in some cases.
Heather Chambers, San Diego Business Journal
