Financings roundup: Avid ‘C’ round raises $26 million; Novadaq boosts funding to $30M
A Diagnostics & Imaging Week
Avid Radiopharmaceuticals (Philadelphia), a developer of molecular imaging products for neurodegenerative diseases, reported it has raised a $26 million Series C financing round.
The round was led by Safeguard Scientifics, which provided $7.3 million. Safeguard co-led the round with AllianceBernstein Venture Fund, with additional funding provided by Pfizer Strategic Investments Group, Lilly Ventures, RK Venture Group, and BioAdvance.
Avid is a clinical-stage company developing molecular imaging products with the potential to revolutionize early diagnosis and monitoring of brain disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB). Avid said it intends to use the proceeds from this financing to advance its pipeline of molecular imaging agents.
Collectively, AD, PD and DLB represent nearly 80% of the memory disorders that affect patients in the U.S., the company said.
As part of this transaction, Gary Kurtzman, MD, VP of Life Sciences at Safeguard, has joined Avid’s board.
The company has a collaboration with Bayer Schering Pharma (Berlin) to develop its first PET molecular imaging agent for AD. In addition, Avid is currently conducting clinical studies on a pipeline of next generation PET and SPECT agents.
The company also has collaborative relationships with leading molecular imaging researchers at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor).
Novadaq Technologies (Toronto), a developer of imaging systems and image-guided therapies for the operating room, reported increasing its previously reported private financing to about $30 million.
The syndicate of agents led by RBC Dominion Securities and including Blackmont Capital and Versant Partners, will offer about 4 million shares at $7.50 a share. The company originally reported a placement of 2 million common shares at $7.50 a share for proceeds of about $15 million.
Novadaq said the offering proceeds will be used to fund ongoing R&D, sales and marketing and recent acquisitions.
Closing of the offering is expected on or about May 23, subject to customary conditions, including approval by the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Novadaq’s proprietary imaging platform is used to visualize blood vessels, nerves and the lymphatic system during surgery.
• SpectraScience (San Diego) reported completing a placement of common shares to accredited investors, raising $1,135,000.
Jim Hitchin, company CEO, said, “The funding will be used to complete a clinical trial, seek FDA approval and initiating sales to gastrointerologists worldwide for our patented and proprietary WavSTAT Optical Biopsy System. The device will be used by physicians to diagnose tissue to determine if it is normal, pre-cancerous, or cancerous within one second.
The WavSTAT System is approved by the FDA for use in detecting cancer in the colon. The company said that a new application for detecting pre-cancers in the throat, called Barrett’s esophagus, is being tested in a clinical trial.
Cancer of the esophagus is more than 90% fatal and may develop as a result of chronic heartburn or GERD.
• Alliance Imaging (Anaheim, California), a healthcare services provider of diagnostic imaging services, reported the underwritten public offering of 1,443,065 shares of its common stock by Viewer Holdings, a fund controlled by an affiliate of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Alliance Imaging will not receive any proceeds from this transaction.
Alliance had 494 diagnostic imaging systems, including 326 MRI systems and 77 PET or PET/CT systems, and served more than 1,000 clients in 43 states at March 31.