A Medical Device Daily

Amedica (Salt Lake City), a maker of orthopedic implants based on its ceramic technology platform, has successfully completed a private placement of its Series C convertible preferred stock, raising the full $16.8 million in gross proceeds it sought.

With the closing of this financing round, Amedica said it has raised over $31 million since November 2003.

Creation Capital served as the sole placement agent for the financing.

The company said it plans to use the proceeds to begin the rollout of its first products in 4Q06; continue the development and expansion of its manufacturing facilities for medical ceramics; continue advancing development of its product pipeline, including conducting clinical trials; hire additional key personnel; continue to pursue patent protection for its technologies and products; and for working capital purposes.

Based on Amedica's current operating plans, it anticipates that the proceeds of this round, together with existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, will be sufficient to enable it to conduct its planned operations through 2007.

“These funds will be instrumental in allowing us to aggressively advance our product development efforts toward commercialization, and we are excited to build on the momentum from the FDA clearance for our Arx ceramic spacer system,“ said Ashok Khandkar, president and CEO.

The company received clearance from the FDA for the Arx system last week (Medical Device Daily, March 3, 2006).

Ikonisys (New Haven, Connecticut), which is focused on the development of products for prenatal and cancer diagnosis and screening and fertility, reported the closing of a $10 million Series D private equity financing.

The round was led by Trevi Health Ventures, with a syndicate of existing and other new investors, including St. Simeon Lda, New Science Ventures, WHI Group and Lakeview Capital Management.

With this financing, Ikonisys said it expects to “rapidly advance“ its prenatal diagnostics program to FDA submission and further develop its oncology program.

“This financing will facilitate the completion of the clinical development of the fetal cell detection test, a test that could significantly impact the healthcare of its intended users and help position Ikonisys in the center of an exciting segment of the diagnostic market,“ said Petros Tsipouras, chairman and CEO.

The company has developed the Ikoniscope, a robotic microscopy system for fully automated and high-throughput rare cell detection and analysis. The fetal cell test will provide non-invasive prenatal diagnosis for chromosomal abnormalities by analyzing a small sample of maternal blood to detect circulating fetal cells. The company also is developing several oncology products based on the utilization of its robotic microscopy system.

In other financing news:

• Cardica (Redwood City, California said it has received a $500,000 payment from Cook (Bloomington, Indiana) after the successful completion of the first milestone in the development of the X-Port vascular access closure device, an automated device intended to be used to close holes in the femoral arteries after interventional vascular procedures.

“We believe that Cardica's design and micro-clip miniaturization expertise will lead to a significantly enhanced approach to vascular access closure,“ said Brian Bates, senior vice president, business development for Cook. “We are pleased with the progress we are making on this next-generation closure device.“

In December, the companies entered into an agreement to develop the X-Port device under which Cardica is responsible for design and preclinical development, which is being directed by a committee that includes representatives from both parties. Cook is responsible for clinical development and regulatory approval, and will have exclusive commercialization rights to market the X-Port device for medical procedures anywhere in the body.

Cardica is eligible to receive additional product development milestone payments of up to $1.5 million upon successful completion, as well as royalties on future worldwide sales.

Cardica recently reported closing its initial public offering, raising about $32.6 million, including an over-allotment exercise by the underwriters (MDD, March 1, 2006).

• BioForce Nanosciences (Ames, Iowa) has become a publicly traded company following its recently disclosed acquisition by Silver River Ventures, now known as BioForce Nanosciences Holdings (BFNH).BioForce will operate as the wholly owned subsidiary of BFNH.

The agreement was contingent upon the receipt of $2.5 million in escrow funds prior to finalizing the acquisition process. Opportunities remain for additional private placement capital and a secondary offering is anticipated to occur in late 2006, the company said.

BioForce, founded in 1994 by Eric Henderson, PhD, has sales pending in the U.S. and internationally.

“BioForce has followed the tried and true model of beginning with a vision, then working for funding through grants, seed capital and other sources to fund research on nascent technology,“ said Henderson, who will continue as CEO and chief science officer of the company. “After 11 years, we are now reaching our long-term goal of bringing the first wave of new and innovative products to market.“

BioForce's cornerstone technology, the NanoArrayer system, is a biomolecular printing tool poised to impact the arena of cell biology with applications in molecular and cellular detection in a variety of clinical and non-clinical installations. Other products include the ViriChip system, the company's ultra-micro-detection system for viruses, and consumable printing tools and print surfaces.