Visicu (Baltimore), developer of a remote monitoring system and support services for intensive care units (ICUs) in more than 80 hospitals nationwide, reported the pricing of its initial public offering (IPO) of 6 million shares of its common stock at $16 a share. Visicu has granted underwriters an option to purchase up to another 900,000 shares to cover over-allotments. If all the shares are exercised, this would give the offering a gross value of about $110.4 million.

The pricing was more than reported in the amended offering price of $11-$13 a share, first filed with the SEC in mid-March and $1 higher per share than the upper range of the $13-$15 revised pricing initially disclosed.

Founded in March 1998 by two intensivists affiliated with Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore), Visicu has developed the eICU Critical Care Program, an advanced remote monitoring system to improve patient treatment in the ICU by leveraging scarce critical care staff and enabling more frequent patient monitoring to provide earlier intervention when necessary.

An eICU Center consists of direct data, video and audio links with ICU patient rooms and an eCareManager suite of software products. In the eICU Center, intensive care physicians, or intensivists, and critical care nurses use multiple screens at eCareManager workstations to monitor real-time data, current visual status, care plan, diagnostic results and treatment history for each patient.

The company says that the program enables one intensivist and two critical care nurses to manage up to 100 patients and direct on-site caregivers, with the goal of improving compliance with current ICU best practices, shorten recovery times and length of stay, reduce costs and increase revenue.

It reports that use of the program by a customer reduced mortality rates in its ICUs by about 27% and reduced average length of ICU stay by about 16%. These improvements, it said, were shown to reduce costs-per-case by about 25% and increase the hospital's average contribution margin per case by about 56%.

The company provides its customers with a perpetual license of its software, clinical and technical implementation services and ongoing support services under a three-year support agreement. Customers pay license and implementation fees in installments prior to and within a short time following program implementation and pay support service fees throughout the three-year support agreement.

Renaissance Capital praised Visicu for helping hospitals grapple with a shortage of experts for ICUs.

"We believe that Visicu is an exciting emerging growth company ready to take off," Renaissance Capital said in its featured IPO column.

In its SEC filing the company noted among its key risks that a competitor, iMDsoft (Needham, Massachusetts), has requested that the U.S. Patent Office declare an interference and revocation of Visicu's single issued U.S. patent and a patent with identical claims issued to iMDsoft. Also, Cerner (Kansas City, Kansas) has filed suit against the company seeking invalidity of the company's patent.

The company has incurred about $34.9 million in accumulated debt as of Dec. 31, 2005.

Shares of the company's common stock will trade on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol EICU.

Morgan Stanley is acting as the sole book-runner and lead manager for the offering. Wachovia Capital Markets, Thomas Weisel Partners and William Blair & Co. are acting as co-managers.

In other financing news:

• CytoCore (Chicago) reported that it has secured more than $1 million in new financing from institutional sources through the issuance of common stock "at current market prices." The company said the funding will be used to implement its product development plans.

"This new funding … will be putting a number of key programs into motion," said CEO David Weissberg. "They include hiring key personal for our research laboratory with Dr. [George] Gorodeski and our product development laboratory with the AIPS project in Chicago, putting the e2 Collector into manufacturing development, and bringing together resources and people to develop the strategic distribution strategy for the Collector. We expect to have a string of positive developments to announce over the coming months."

CytoCore develops cancer screening systems used in a laboratory or at the point-of-care to assist in the early detection of cervical, endometrial, and other cancers.

• Owens & Minor (O&M; Richmond, Virginia) reported pricing a new public offering of $200 million in aggregate principal amount of 6.35% senior notes, due 2016. The company said it will use the proceeds of the offering to fund the purchase of its outstanding $200 million of 8-1/2% senior subordinated notes, due 2011, in accordance with a previously disclosed tender offer and consent solicitation for all of the existing notes.

The new notes will bear interest at an annual rate of 6.35% and be offered at a price of $999.39 per $1,000 note, under a registration statement filed with the SEC on Monday.

The company said it intends to use any net proceeds from the offering of new notes, together with cash on hand, to redeem or defease the existing notes under the terms of the indenture governing the existing notes.

Lehman Brothers is the sole book-running manager for the public offering of the new notes. Banc of America Securities, Citigroup and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey are senior co-managers for the offering of the new notes. JP Morgan, KeyBanc Capital Markets and Wachovia Securities are co-managers for the offering of the new notes.

O&M distributes name-brand medical and surgical supplies and is a healthcare supply chain management company serving hospitals, integrated healthcare systems, alternate care locations, group purchasing organizations, the federal government and consumers.