Just days after calling off its planned acquisition of Patheon, reducing earnings guidance and announcing cost-cutting plans, Lonza has acquired the Belgian biotech contract research organisation, Algonomics. The price paid was not disclosed. Algonomics strengthens Lonza in protein design technology.

Each month, Start-Up presents a comprehensive review of young, private life science companies that have received venture funding during the month, including companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic and research instrumentation & reagent sectors.

Summarizing the month in European dealmaking.

{In Vivo} summarizes the technologies of several medical companies founded recently, including Belgium's [AlgoNomics NV], a new entrant in the biocomputing and bioinformatics arena. [CoPharma Inc.]'s mission is to develop drug and biological products through joint ventures with discovery firms. Launched in February 2000 with $2 million from Sanderling, Alta Partners and Graystone, [Cythera Inc.] will develop therapies based on the transplantation of functional human cells grown{ in vitro}, offering an alternative to the use of donated human tissues. [Embolic Protection Inc.] has developed a device, consisting of a guide wire and filter mechanism, to remove embolic debris. Denmark's [NsGene A/S] is a joint venture of NeuroSearch A/S and the University of Lund. [WebEBM] will offer evidence-based clinical guidelines for 400 diseases or conditions on its website.