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Cardialen Closes $17 Million Series B Financing for Heart Rhythm Therapy

Cardialen is developing a low-energy implantable defibrillation therapy designed to more gently restore normal heart rhythm

Minneapolis, Oct. 10, 2018 – Cardialen, Inc., a medical device company developing a low-energy implantable defibrillation therapy designed to more gently restore normal heart rhythm, announced today the closing of a $17 million Series B investment led by RiverVest Venture Partners, along with Qiming Venture Partners, HBM Healthcare Investments and Cultivation Capital. The financing will be used to advance Cardialen’s clinical program with further human testing of its unpinning termination (UPT) therapy and begin development of an implantable device.

OncoResponse Raises $40 Million in Series B Financing

— Adds RiverVest Venture Partners, Qatar Investment Authority and Redmile Group to List of Financial Backers
— Proceeds Will Advance Growing Portfolio of Therapeutic Candidates for Various Cancers

SEATTLE, Washington – September 11, 2018 – OncoResponse, an immunotherapy company developing a portfolio of novel antibodies to high-value targets for the treatment of cancer, today announced the completion of a $40 million series B equity financing. Participants in the round, which was led by RiverVest Venture Partners, included new investors Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Redmile Group, and existing investors Alexandria Venture Investments, ARCH Venture Partners, HT Family Office, Canaan Partners, Helsinn Investment Fund and William Marsh Rice University.

Allakos Announces Closing of Initial Public Offering and Full Exercise of Underwriters’ Option to Purchase Additional Shares

SAN CARLOS, Calif., July 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Allakos Inc. (NASDAQ:ALLK), a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of antibodies for the treatment of various eosinophil and mast cell related diseases, today announced the closing of its initial public offering of 8,203,332 shares of its common stock, sold by the Company at a public offering price of $18.00 per share.

Allakos Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering

SAN CARLOS, Calif., July 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Allakos Inc., (Nasdaq:ALLK), a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of antibodies for the treatment of various eosinophil and mast cell related diseases, today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 7,133,333 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $18.00 per share, for total gross proceeds of approximately $128.4 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses.

RiverVest Venture Partners’ Portfolio Company Securus Sold to Boston Scientific

Represents 9th Exit from RiverVest Venture Fund II

ST. LOUIS and CLEVELAND (April 3, 2018) – RiverVest Venture Partners today announced portfolio company Securus Medical Group, Inc., has been sold to Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX). Boston Scientific has been an investor in Securus since 2016, and the transaction price for the remaining stake not already owned consists of $40 million in cash up-front, as well as up to $10 million in contingent payments based on regulatory achievements and commercial milestones.

Boston Scientific Announces Acquisition of Securus Medical Group, Inc.

Acquisition strengthens electrophysiology cardiac ablation portfolio with thermal monitor

MARLBOROUGH, Mass., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) today announced the acquisition of Securus Medical Group, Inc., a privately-held company that has developed a thermal monitoring system for the continuous measurement of esophageal temperature. Boston Scientific has been an investor in Securus since 2016, and the transaction price for the remaining stake not already owned consists of $40 million in cash up-front, as well as up to $10 million in contingent payments based on regulatory achievements and commercial milestones.

Allakos Secures $100 Million In Series B Financing

— Proceeds will support advancement of AK002 in five disease areas —

— Lead clinical program evaluating AK002 in eosinophilic gastroenteritis, an inflammatory gastrointestinal disease —

SAN CARLOS, Calif., December 13, 2017– Allakos Inc., a private, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of antibodies for the treatment of allergic, inflammatory and proliferative diseases, today announced the successful completion of a $100 million Series B equity financing.

Spruce Biosciences Receives FDA Orphan Drug Designation for SPR001 for the Treatment of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

Spruce Biosciences Receives FDA Orphan Drug Designation for SPR001 for the Treatment of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

Clinical-stage biotech granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of CAH, a rare endocrine disease

San Francisco – December 4, 2017 – Spruce Biosciences, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel therapies for rare endocrine disorders, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation for SPR001 for the treatment of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH).

RiverVest Venture Partners Expands Scientific Advisory Board

ST. LOUIS, MO (Oct. 25, 2017)—RiverVest Venture Partners announced today that Ronald T. Borchardt, Ph.D. and Jared Rutter, Ph.D. have joined the life science venture capital firm’s Scientific Advisory Board. Comprised of leaders in medical research, RiverVest’s Scientific Advisory Board provides expert guidance to the venture firm as it identifies and invests in promising biopharmaceutical and medical device companies.

Ronald T. Borchardt, Ph.D.
Ronald T. Borchardt, Ph.D.

Dr. Borchardt is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at The University of Kansas-Lawrence. Borchardt’s contributions to the development and validation of cell cultures for studying drug transport across the intestinal mucosa and the blood-brain barrier have been particularly significant. His pioneering work led to the introduction of a cell culture model now widely used by scientists in pharmaceutical/biotechnology companies and in academic and government laboratories worldwide.

Borchardt received his B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from The University of Kansas-Lawrence. After serving as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health, Borchardt returned to The University of Kansas where he was promoted through the ranks to the position of Solon E. Summerfield Distinguished Professor, a position he held for 34 years until his retirement in 2015. From 1983-1998, Borchardt served as chairman of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the School of Pharmacy at The University of Kansas.

Throughout his academic career, Borchardt received numerous awards and honors for his teaching and research accomplishments. He is the author of more than 500 scientific publications and has had editorial responsibility for several scientific journals.

Jared Rutter, Ph.D.
Jared Rutter, Ph.D.

Drawn to the fundamental mechanisms that cells use to sense their surrounding environment, Dr. Rutter is an outstanding researcher and professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Utah and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Rutter and his research group study how cells monitor nutrients, metabolic conditions and hormonal environments.  Since mitochondria serve as a major metabolic sensor, unfolding the mitochondrial proteome, of which roughly one-third is uncharacterized, will identify keys to understanding and treating diseases like cancer, heart failure and neurodegeneration (Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s).  Rutter received a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University, Utah, and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

“We are truly honored to have these two pioneering researchers join our team,” said RiverVest Managing Director John McKearn, Ph.D. “They will bring invaluable insight to our work identifying and working with high potential biopharmaceutical and medical device advances.”

Borchardt and Rutter join current RiverVest Scientific Advisory Board members:

  • Floyd E. Bloom, M.D., professor emeritus in the Molecular and Integrative Neuroscience Department at The Scripps Research Institute.
  • John F. DiPersio, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Division of Medical Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine and the Virginia E. and Samuel J. Golman Professor of Medicine.
  • William A. Peck, M.D., co-director of Washington University in St. Louis’ Center for Health Economics and Policy and former executive vice chancellor for medical affairs at Washington University in St. Louis, dean of the School of Medicine and president of the Medical Center.

About RiverVest Venture Partners

RiverVest Venture Partners is a venture capital firm focused on identifying and shaping early-stage life science companies to create significant shareholder value. Because of its extensive operating expertise, RiverVest is able to help entrepreneurs achieve near-term objectives that position their companies for exit.

Established in 2000, RiverVest has funded 39 and exited or taken public 20 innovative life science companies. The venture capital firm has assets under management of $315 million. Follow on Twitter: @RiverVest.

 

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Media Contact:

Callaway Zuccarello

314.862.4300

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