Virdante extends financing

Virdante Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) raised an undisclosed amount in an extension of a series A round, bringing the total raised in the round to $47.8 million. New investor Thomas, McNerney led the extension, which also included new investor Osage Partners and existing investors Clarus; Venrock; MedImmune Ventures; and Biogen Idec New Ventures. The company, which was founded in 2007, announced its board for the first time, with L. Patrick Gage as executive chairman. Gage was previously president of Wyeth's Wyeth Research and chairman of PDL BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:PDLI). Thomas, McNerney's Eric Aguiar also joined the board. ...