Novalar gets $30m D round to launch NV-101.(Friday, Nov. 2)

Novalar Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, raised $30 million in a Series D financing to launch NV-101, a dental anesthetic reversal agent currently under FDA review. The round brings Novalar's financing total to date to $66 million, including a $27 million Series C round closed in 2005, a $5 million Series B round closed in 2003 and a $4 million Series A round closed in 2002. Proceeds primarily will support the U.S. launch of NV-101, which the company said could occur in the third quarter of 2008, assuming FDA approval in the first or second quarter. Novalar submitted a new drug application in April, which was accepted for review by the agency in June. NV-101 is an injectable formulation of phentolamine mesylate, a vasodilator that has been in use for more than 50 years. Novalar's formulation, packaged in prefilled cartridges that fit existing dental syringes, is designed to reduce numbness and restore feeling after a dental procedure.