Burrill hirings build out life sciences investment banking unit

Burrill & Co.'s G. Steven Burrill.

The hiring of two research analysts by Burrill & Co. builds out the life sciences-centric financial services firm’s investment banking business. Burrill, based in San Francisco, said Wednesday that it hired Reni Benjamin and Elemer Piros, formerly of Rodman & Renshaw, as managing directors of research. They join Jason Zhang, who came to Burrill last year from BMO Capital Markets.

Burrill Report: Innovating in the new austerity

Steve Burrill, CEO of life sciences venture capital and private equity firm Burrill and Co., made a large number of declarations, mostly negative, about the state of the industry at a BIO panel designed to drum up interest in buying his influential Burrill Report, which costs $519 for access to both the print and digital editions.

Burrill, considered to be something of an oracle in biotech circles, said that despite the pressures on the industry, biotech raised $63 billion overall in the past year. But he pointed to tender points for biotech including the increasingly murky landscapes for both patent protection and regulatory approval, and downward pressure on prices as part of a “new austerity.”

No place like home: Moscone expansion helps Bay Area biotech prospects

How local is this week’s Biotechnology Industry Organization convention in Boston?

While riding the hotel elevator this morning,Reg Kelly, the director of QB3 at theUniversity of California, San Francisco, stepped on the elevator. Among the sponsors are South San Francisco-basedGenentech; San Francisco-based life sciences financial services firm Burrill & Co.; and Novato’s BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.

In all, there are at least a half-dozen other sponsors here with some sort of San Francisco Bay Area connection and scores of attendees from the Bay Area.

Imagine if, instead of Boston, BIO and its 15,000 attendees landed again in San Francisco.

Medical device maker AliveCor raises $10.5 million

AliveCor, a San Francisco-based maker of a mobile electrocardiogram device, said Monday it's raised $10.5 million in Series B venture funding.

Existing investor Burrill & Co. and new investor Khosla Ventures led the round, with participation from Series A investor Qualcomm Inc. and the Oklahoma Life Sciences Fund, the company said. Total financing to date is now $13.5 million.

Big shift ahead for biotech

Technology could completely redefine how the American public handles health care, and it could happen a lot sooner than you might expect.
The shift could start within a decade, panelists said at a discussion on “what will biotech look like in 10 years?” Friday at Calbio 2012.
See also: Biotech's battle: Rebuild industry for next wave of drugs

Burrill launches new life sciences fund, targets $500M by mid-2012

Burrill & Co. launched a life sciences fund — aiming at a $500 million goal by mid-2012 — to invest in a wide range of early- to late-stage companies.
Burrill Capital Fund IV LP initially aimed for $300 million in capital commitments, Steven Burrill, CEO of the San Francisco-based life sciences financial services firm, said in a press release. It launched at $313 million. Some $200 million in the fund is supplied by a Russian-owned corporation named Rusnano, according to MedCityNews.

Burrill hires merchant banking CEO

Burrill & Co., a finance business for life science companies, hired Stephen Hurly as CEO of its merchant banking operation.
Hurly takes a job that has been vacant for several months since Shawn Cross left for a healthcare investment banking job at Wells Fargo.

Taiwan lands $30M commitment from Burrill, promise from Impax

When Christina Liu, minister of Taiwan’s Council for Economic Planning & Development, came through the Bay Area on a whirlwind U.S. tour last month, it was anything but a getting-to-know-you session.
San Francisco life sciences merchant bank Burrill & Co. agreed to invest $30 million, according to Taipei Times. Likewise, Hayward-based Impax Laboratories Inc., which has a production facility in Chunan Science Park, promised further investments, the newspaper said.

XDx heart transplant test wins 'medically necessary' tag from Aetna

Molecular diagnostics company XDx Inc. won an important victory as national insurance provider Aetna Inc. determined that the Brisbane company’s heart transplant test is “medically necessary” more than one year after a transplant.
Aetna’s (NYSE: AET) decision would likely help validate the AlloMap test further, and that has an impact on cash flow and the bottom line. Notably, 89-employee XDx often has to appeal each test when insurers initially say they won’t pay for it. Sometimes that goes all the way to an administrative judge.

Biotech IPO market off to busy start