The recently launched venture capital firm has partnered with J&J Innovation to manage its new European life sciences incubator. START-UP speaks with bioqube's managing partner Nico Vandervelpen.

Recent executive-level hires and director appointments at venture capital firms and biopharma and medtech start-ups.

Derived from Strategic Transactions, Elsevier Business Intelligence’s premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Recent Financings Of Private Companies column provides a comprehensive monthly review of emerging life science companies that have received venture funding, including companies within the In Vitro Diagnostics, Medical Device, and Pharmaceuticals sector. This month’s column covers deals announced August through September 2013.

The capital drought that hit life science companies the past three years worked its way upstream in 2011, as several venture firms said they wouldn’t either continue in the life sciences or raise new funds. But our annual tally of life science Series A rounds presents a surprising twist: Series A rounds are up, not in blockbuster numbers by any stretch, but the downward trend of the recession years has finally been reversed. Among the year's nearly 100 Series A rounds we found plenty of oncology and peripheral vascular disease start-ups, as well as big bets on rare disease, along with some considerable nods to emerging markets.