A Medical Device Daily

Henry Schein (Melville, New York) said that its board has authorized the repurchase of up to $200 million of shares of the company's common stock. This program is in addition to the $100 million repurchase program announced in Nov. 2010, which has been fully executed.

The company currently has about 91 million shares outstanding, and this new authorization represents approximately 3.5% of shares outstanding at the current stock price. Purchases may be made from time to time in the open market, or through negotiated transactions.

“During the first six months of the current fiscal year Henry Schein generated operating cash flow of approximately $185 million,“ said Stanley Bergman, Chairman/CEO of Henry Schein. “Our board has determined that buying back additional shares represents an attractive investment and is an appropriate means to continue building shareholder value.“

In other financings; BiO2 Medical (San Antonio) has raised nearly 90% of a $5.22 million offering, selling $4.57 million in equity to 66 investors.

Principals named in the filing by the San Antonio-based maker of medical devices are CEO Christopher Banas, President Paul Castella, co-founder Luis Angel and director Alan Dean.

BiO2, which previously was known as Artificial Airways, disclosed in its SEC filing that a portion of the proceeds are to be used to pay the salaries of named executive officers and directors.

The company develops and markets medical devices including a vena cava filter-catheter for the treatment of cardiovascular and pulmonary embolism.

The startup's lead investor is San Antonio-based Incyte Ventures' Targeted Technology Fund.

Last year, BiO2 raised a total of $7.67 million in two separate offerings. The company raised $2.6 million from 2007 through 2009.

BiO2 Medical has received $1 million in funding from the state of Texas through the Emerging Technology Fund for early-stage demonstration of a device concept.

It also was awarded an IRS tax grant under the Qualified Therapeutic Discovery Projects program launched by the Obama Administration. The value of that grant is estimated at $244,479 in nondilutive capital for research and development expenses.