A Medical Device Daily

NeuroMetrix (Waltham, Massachusetts) reported that it has completed its private placement of common stock and warrants (Medical Device Daily, Sept. 10, 2009). Gross proceeds from the offering were nearly $18.7 million. The company said that the primary use of the capital will be to expand its direct U.S. sales force, increase its international presence, fund certain clinical outcome studies, advance its lead potassium channel blocker compound to a Phase I milestone, as well as for other general working capital purposes.

The company issued an aggregate of 8,816,521 newly-issued shares of common stock and warrants to purchase up to 8,792,726 additional shares of common stock (including warrants issued to the placement agents). NeuroMetrix expects to receive net proceeds of about $17.3 million after deducting placement agent fees and other offering expenses.

The financing was led by Deerfield Management (New York), an existing investor, with participation by Cummings Bay Advisors (Stamford, Connecticut) Delphi Ventures (Menlo Park, California), Great Point Partners (Greenwich, Connecticut), Gruber & McBaine Capital Management (San Francisco), New Enterprise Associates (Baltimore), and Symmetry Capital Management (Waltham).

In other financing activity, BioMarker Strategies (Baltimore) reported that it has raised $1.7 million in a private placement funding round that occurred in conjunction with the Maryland Biotechnology Investment Incentive Tax Credit Program. BioMarker Strategies is developing the patent-pending, SnapPath testing system to enable oncologists to determine the most effective drug treatment for their cancer patients. During this funding round, the largest investment came from the Abell Foundation (Baltimore), a charitable organization dedicated to the enhancement of the quality of life in Baltimore, Maryland, including the promotion of job growth in the region.

BioMarker Strategies is developing a novel automated tumor biopsy processing and testing system, called SnapPath, that is being designed to quickly test and analyze a patient's live solid tumor sample at the point of biopsy. The company is also developing a series of functional, pathway-based, ex vivo biomarker tests to help guide an oncologist's use of targeted cancer therapeutics. The SnapPath technology is also being designed to reduce patient waiting times for molecular diagnostic test results from several weeks to several hours.