Medical device company Smith & Nephew has launched a spinoff in Durham, N.C., called Bioventus. The company was formerly Smith & Nephew’s biologics division.Private equity firms Essex Woodlands, Pantheon Ventures, Spindletop Healthcare Capital, Alta Capital Partners, Ampersand Capital Partners, and White Pine Medical, are investing $118M to acquire 51% of Bioventus. PRESS RELEASE: Essex Woodlands [...]

Smith & Nephew, Europe’s artificial hip and knee maker, is to spin off its biologics business into a new U.S.-based joint venture that will be majority owned by healthcare private equity firm Essex Woodlands, writes Reuters. The move provides long-term funding for research in the high-tech area at a time when the British company has [...]

California-based IntegenX Inc., maker of DNA identification technology, raised a $40 million Series C round led by new investor Essex Woodlands. Domain Associates, QuestMark Partners, Greenspring Associates, Cross Creek Capital, RONAholdings LLC, Samsung Ventures, and strategic partner In-Q-Tel also participated in the funding. Joining the company’s Board of Directors are Ronald Eastman of Essex Woodlands and Ben Shapiro of QuestMark Partners, the statement said.

Entellus Medical Inc., a medical device company focused on treatments for chronic sinusitis, has inked $35 million in fresh capital. Covidien Ventures led the round, which included existing investors SV Life Sciences, Essex Woodlands, Split Rock Partners and Greenspring Associates. The money will help Entellus continue efforts to commercialize the company’s products.

Healthcare Brands International has sold its Antula Healthcare to specialty pharma company Meda AB for about $288 million. Healthcare Brands International was formed in 2006, and has raised capital from investors including Essex Woodlands, MVM Life Science Partners, Sofinnova Partners and Abingworth. The company bought Antual Healthcare in late 2007.

Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) has agreed to acquire ATS Medical Inc. (Nasdaq: ATSI) for approximately $370 million, or $4 per ATS share. Sellers include Alta Partners, which bought 9.8 million shares of ATS in at $1.65 per share, and which also holds an ATS board seat. Also selling would be Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, which in late 2008 invested $20 million for 8.5 million common shares at $2.35 per share, plus another 2.5 million warrants.

Essex Woodlands Health Ventures has committed up to $50 million for the formation of White Pine Medical, a growth equity acquisition platform focused on the medical device sector. White Pine will be led by Dan Lemaitre, former president and CEO of CoreValve (acquired by Medtronic in April 2009).

Molecular Partners AG, a Swiss developer of DARPins as protein therapeutics, has raised CHF40 million (US$45m) in Series B funding. Essex Woodlands Health Ventures led the round, and was joined by return backers Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., BB Biotech Ventures and Endeavour. The company has now raised CHF64.5 million.

Complete Genomics expected to complete its $45 million funding round two quarters ago, but had the bad luck of starting out last September on the day Lehman Brothers failed. There was a “general freeze” in private equity investing, said Chairman and CEO Cliff Reid. “I didn’t see it coming.”

Still, the company was able to raise as much money as it wanted to raise and was not materially damaged, he said. Its commercial gene sequencing center is now due to open in January and is expected to take the price of sequencing a genome down from $20,000 to $5,000.

Essex Woodlands Health Ventures has closed its eighth fund with $900 million in capital commitments. It will focus on growth equity investments in life sciences companies, across North America, Europe and Asia.