Taris Biomedical, a specialty pharmaceutical company developing therapies to treat bladder diseases, has raised a fresh $12.5 million in funding from its existing investors, Flagship Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Polaris Partners, and Third Rock Ventures. With the new funding, Taris, based in Lexington, Mass., has raised $49.8 million altogether.

DC Devices Inc. has raised US$9 Million from a consortium of investors. Lumira Capital joined the financing along with existing investors Third Rock Ventures and General Catalyst. Gerry Brunk, managing director of Lumira, joined the company’s board of directors. Tewksbury, Mass.-based DC Devices, a medical device company for the treatment of congestive heart failure, has been venture-backed since 2009.

Medical device company Cibiem has appointed Ken Martin to president and chief executive officer. Martin will succeed Cibiem co-founder Howard R. Levin who will continue his active involvement within the company and as a member of its board of directors.The company is backed by SV Life Sciences and Third Rock Ventures.

Kala Pharmaceuticals has secured $11.5 million in Series A equity financing through new and existing investors. New and lead investor Crown Venture Fund the venture capital arm of the Crown family of Chicago, joined Kala’s existing investors including Lux Capital Management, Polaris Venture Partners and Third Rock Ventures.

Shire has signed an agreement to acquire Lotus Tissue Repair. The business is a private biotechnology company launched in 2011 by a team of biotechnology entrepreneurs and life sciences investor, Third Rock Ventures.

Blueprint Medicines, a Cambridge, Mass.-based company that’s developing cancer therapies, has made Chris Varma, its founding president and an entrepreneur-in-residence at Third Rock Ventures, its permanent president and CEO. The company has also named Daniel Lynch as executive chairman of its board. Lynch spent nearly five years at ImClone Systems, including as CEO and CFO.

California-based antibody biopharma company Igenica has raised $33 million in a Series C round led by new investor Third Rock Ventures. Existing backers The Column Group, Orbimed Advisors and 5AM Ventures participated in the round; Igenica has raised about $55 million to date. PRESS RELEASE: BURLINGAME, Calif., June 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Igenica, Inc., a [...]

Alcresta, a Newton, Mass.-based company that is developing enzyme-based nutritional products, has raised $10 million in Series A financing led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Frazier Healthcare and Third Rock Ventures. PRESS RELEASE: Alcresta, a company developing innovative enzyme-based nutritional products for infants, adults and patients battling acute or chronic conditions, today announced a $10 million Series [...]

Boston-based Third Rock Ventures today launched the genomic search engine start-up, Warp Drive Bio, as part of a partnership with the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi. Sanofi is investing $125 million into the company, which Third Rock — an venture firm as well as incubator — has been developing for the last two years. PRESS RELEASE: [...]

Seventh Sense Biosystems Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of technology for decentralized diagnostic testing, has sealed a $3.28 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Formed in 2008, the company is backed by investors including Flagship Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners and Third Rock Ventures.