A Medical Device Daily

VisualSonics (Toronto) reported that it has finalized a $15 million senior secured loan agreement with Oxford Finance Corp., the principal lender, and Comerica Bank.

Both financial institutions are providers of senior debt to the life science community.

VisualSonics' technology, the Vevo 770, provides scientific professionals with a method for viewing extremely small physiological structures in their native state and is used for imaging living tissue and blood flow with near-microscopic resolution. Vevo 770 facilitates noninvasive preclinical research in cardiac and vascular disease, cancer, stem cell research and developmental biology, according to the company.

The company said it would use the funds to expand its sales and marketing efforts, launch new products and broaden its product portfolio.

Neurologix (Fort Lee, New Jersey), a biotech company engaged in the development of gene therapies for the brain and central nervous system, reported that it completed a private placement of an additional $5 million of Series D convertible preferred stock at a price of $35 per share. Each share of Series D stock is convertible into about 30.17 shares of common stock.

The sole purchaser in the transaction was Corriente Master Fund, a previous investor in Neurologix's Series D stock. In addition, the company issued warrants to purchase about 1,077,586 shares of its common stock at an exercise price of $1.39 per share.

The proceeds from the transaction, net of expenses, will be used to finance the further clinical development of the company's gene transfer technology for Parkinson's disease and other indications, and for corporate purposes.

"Most recently, we received clearance from the FDA to initiate our Phase II clinical trial, and we expect to commence such trial in the second quarter of this year," said President/CEO John Mordock. "These funds, along with the $15 million raised in November, provide the company with over $22 million to use towards completing that trial and taking the necessary steps to advance our Parkinson's indication toward commercialization, including further development of our manufacturing process, regulatory preparation for an anticipated Phase III pivotal trial, and building additional supporting infrastructure."

Each share of outstanding Series D stock is entitled to receive a semi-annual cash dividend at an annual rate of 7%, to be cumulative until paid. As part of this transaction, the purchaser, together with the other holders of Series D stock, have been granted certain additional demand registration rights. The warrants have a term of seven years and are automatically exercised at the end of the term if they are in the money.

Current company programs address such conditions as Parkinson's disease, epilepsy and Huntington's chorea.

In other financing news: CivaTech Oncology (Research Triangle Park, North Carolina), an early stage company developing a device for the treatment of prostate cancer, has raised $1 million in a Series B private financing round.

The product focus is on low-dose-rate brachytherapy, a type of radiation treatment for cancer using implanted radioactive sources to kill tumor cells. At present, this type of brachytherapy is used predominantly for prostate cancer and makes use of so-called "seeds," which are implanted in a minimally invasive surgical procedure.

Civatech's new device is more akin to a "radioactive string" that will replace the individual seeds and should provide more uniform and consistent radiation delivery to patients. Brachytherapy has been shown to be as effective as surgery and external beam radiation therapy in studies of long-term patient survival.

The company said it is in the final stages of collecting the data needed to submit a 510(k) application to the FDA for its first product. Concurrently, it is focusing on fine-tuning the production method.

The company was founded in 2006 by Robert Black, MD, and Claudia Black and Suzanne Babcock.

"We believe our product will become the gold standard," said Dr. Black, president of CivaTech. "Our approach will allow clinicians to provide a customized radiation source, which will help to ensure optimized patient treatment."