A Medical Device Daily
Cell Biosciences (Palo Alto, California), a provider of nanoproteomic analysis systems to life science researchers, said it has closed a $10 million Series C financing led by its largest shareholder, the Wellcome Trust. Existing investors Domain Associates, Latterell Venture Partners, Novo A/S, Mitsui Ventures, Royal Bank of Canada and The Vertical Group also participated in the financing.
The company said the investment should allow it to bring its proteomics technology to the broad life sciences market.
"We are very happy to announce this financing in the current economic environment and we believe it represents a strong vote of confidence by our investors in the potential of the technology and team at Cell Biosciences," said Tim Harkness, president/CEO of Cell Biosciences.
The Cell Biosciences platform is an ultrasensitive nanofluidic immunoassay system designed to analyze proteins in extremely small biological samples. According to the company, researchers use its products to discover subtle details about phosphoprotein signaling in a wide variety of biological systems.
Cell Biosciences has sold systems and established direct distribution organizations in North America and Europe. This month the company will launch its next generation protein analysis system, the CB1000, at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in Denver.
"We continue to believe that the Cell Biosciences platform is an important enabling technology for biomarker discovery and ultimately can make a real difference in patient care," said Julie Eskay-Eagle, a board member and the head of healthcare investments for the Wellcome Trust.
Cell Biosciences says its products enable researchers to, among other things, help identify new prognostic and diagnostic disease biomarkers.
In other financing activity:
• Cardiola (Winterthur, Switzerland) said it has raised $2.02 million (2.3 million Swiss francs) from existing investors. The cash infusion represents the first tranche of an ongoing $7.02 million (8 million Swiss francs) Series E financing round, the company said. The proceeds are being used to commercialize in Europe the company's m.pulse device designed to treat chronic heart failure (CHF), non-surgically, in a patient's home.
The m.pulse device, based on Muscular CounterPulsation (MCP) technology, is approved in Europe for treating CHF as a nonsurgical, at-home therapy. Battery-powered m.pulse, the size of a cell phone that the patient attaches to his belt for about 45 minutes per treatment, is synchronized to his cardiac cycle to stimulate the muscles of the calves and thighs to make them contract counter to the heart's beating, the company said. This counterpulsation action results in increased blood flow to the heart muscle while decreasing the heart's workload. According to the company, counterpulsation was previously only available in a clinical setting. Now, m.pulse is the only device enabling CHF patients to receive MCP therapy at home, Cardiologa said.
• Alpha Pro Tech (Nogales, Arizona), a maker of products designed to protect people, products and environments, including disposable protective apparel and building products, reported that its board has authorized an additional share repurchase program of the company's common stock for up to $2 million beyond the current share repurchase program already in place. The company said it anticipates repurchasing shares in open market purchases or through privately negotiated transactions.
To date in 2009, the company has repurchased 520,000 shares at an average price of 92 cents per share for a total of $501,000. Alpha Pro Tech will retire the 520,000 shares repurchased to date in 2009, bringing the total repurchased and retired to a total of 5,158,900 shares since 1999 through eight repurchase authorizations by the board.
During 2008, the company repurchased and retired 1,732,800 shares of its common stock at a cost of $2,125,000. The company had about 23.8 million shares outstanding as of Dec. 31, 2008.