Patients' tales, biotech legends add weight to BayBio awards

Genentech co-founder Herb Boyer.

When two or more biotechs are gathered, you hear the usual phrases, including the old standby, “We're serving patients with unmet medical needs.”
Box checked, move on to other things and the phrase quietly floats away.

BayBio, Northern California’s life sciences industry trade group, has been beating the “for the patients” drum for the past couple of years especially -- and it didn’t stop at the organization’s annual Pantheon event Thursday night. Problem is, when you hear rote phrases so often, they start to bounce off of you.
That is, until something like this year’s Pantheon ceremony. Many of the companies winning BayBio's DiNA awards brought patients with them to accept their plaques; some actually let patients tell their stories.
Putting patients in front of corporate slide decks is needed by the biotech industry, which has been wringing its collective hands over cuts in research funding and the drought of venture capital cash. Telling those stories, or actually helping patients tell their own stories outside of industry settings, could win over leery legislators and a weary public that feels bombarded with stories of unsafe drugs and failed clinical trials.

Antibody drug maker Igenica, with Dave Goeddel at the helm, raises $33 million

In its third round of venture funding, Igenica Inc. raised $33 million.

The Burlingame business, run by former Genentech Inc. scientist David Goeddel, seeks to develop antibody-based cancer medicines. It has raised $55 million total since it started in early 2009.

Third Rock Ventures, a new investor, led this round, while the Column Group, Orbimed Advisors and 5AM Ventures also gave money. Carl Gordon of Orbimed and John Diekman of 5AM Ventures work on Igenica's board of directors.

Transcent Medical's $51M leads life science funding roundup

Transcend Medical leads a list of recent financing action by Bay Area life sciences companies.
Transcend closed a $51 million Series B round, including a previously announced $35 million.

Biotech startup Cyterix raises $9.2M Series A

Biotech startup Cyterix Pharmaceuticals Inc. raised $9.2 million from The Column Group and SV Life Sciences in a Series A financing.
The San Francisco company, founded by academics Steve Everett and Paul Ortiz de Montellano and the late biotech entrepreneur John Curd, is working to discover and develop drugs that target certain enzymes that are highly over-expressed in many cancers. Specifically, it targets extra-hepatic cytochrome P450 enzymes.