Tampa biotech startup raises $6 million

A German pharmaceutical company has partnered with Barry Butler, a veteran of the ophthalmic industry, to create Betaliq Inc., a Tampa biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for glaucoma. Betaliq raised $6 million in an equity offering in the past month, a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said. The funding round is still open and additional investors are coming in, said Butler, who is Betaliq CEO. Betaliq plans to use the capital to fund the company and to conduct Phase 2 trials of two drug candidates. Butler previously was president and CEO of Sirion Therapeutics, a Tampa-based biopharma firm that sold in 2010. He next launched Point Guard Partners LLC to provide consultation and development services for the ophthalmic industry. After Point Guard wound down last year, Butler and others from Point Guard formed BLP Management Group in Tarpon Springs.