Exit watch, week of April 21, 2008

Roche taps into Piramed

has acquired Piramed, a U.K.-based drug company focused on disease progression and resistance to chemotherapeutics in cancer cells. The deal included a $160 million up-front cash payment, and up to $15 million in clinical milestone payments. Piramed had raised more than $17 million in VC funding since 2003 from Panorama Capital and Merlin Biosciences.

IBM acquires FilesX

(NYSE: IBM) has agreed to acquire FilesX, a provider of continuous data protection and recovery software for enterprises and remote/branch offices. No financial terms were disclosed. Newton, Mass.-based FilesX had raised about $21 million in VC funding from Benchmark Capital, Genesis Partners and Index Ventures.

AOL buys Sphere

AOL has acquired Sphere, a San Francisco-based provider of contextual search tools that offers content to online publishers. No financial terms were disclosed. Sphere was founded in 2005, and has raised just over $4 million in VC funding from True Ventures, Trident Capital and Hearst Corp. Individual backers included Doug Mackenzie, David Mahoney, Kevin Compton, Mike Winton, Phil Black, Vince Vannelli and Will Hearst.

Vignette buys Vidavee for $6.6M

(Nasdaq: VIGN) has agreed to acquire Vidavee, a New York-based provider of online video management software. The deal is valued at $6.6 million in cash. Vidavee had raised just over $2 million in VC funding from Trident Capital.

Farecast sells for $75M to mystery buyer

Farecast Inc., a Seattle-based developer of data mining techniques to predict prices in the travel industry, has been sold for $75 million, as first reported by The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. No buyer was named. Farecast has raised just over $20 million in VC funding from such firms as Madrona Venture Group, Greylock Partners, Pinnacle Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures and WRF Group.

Radio One dials up Community Connect

. has paid $38 million to acquire Community Connect Inc., a New York-based operator of ethnicity-focused social networks. The deal was valued at $38 million, with Rothschild advising Radio One and Bear Stearns advising Community Connect. Community Connect had raised VC funding from such firms as Comcast Interactive Capital, Dominion Ventures, ConnectCapital and Jump Ventures.