A Medical Device Daily

ATS Medical (Minneapolis), a manufacturer of cardiac surgery products, reported closing of a $20 million equity financing with Essex Woodlands Health Ventures.

In connection with the financing, ATS issued and sold to Essex Woodlands 8,510,639 shares of its common stock for $2.35 a share, and warrants to purchase 2,533,192 shares of common stock for $2.475 a share during the first year after the closing, $2.85 per share during the second year, and $3.10 thereafter.

The company also reported the settlement of its lawsuit with CarboMedics (Austin, Texas), initiated in 2007 and related to its supply agreement with Carbomedics for certain mechanical heart valve components (Medical Device Daily, Jan. 30, 2007).

ATS will pay CarboMedics $3 million on Dec. 29, and another $4.5 million on April 30, 2009. Under the terms of the settlement, ATS maintains all rights to manufacture, market and sell its ATS Open Pivot mechanical heart valve.

“With this financing, we have significantly strengthened our balance sheet and added one of the most respected healthcare investors in the United States to our shareholder base,” said Michael Dale, president/CEO of ATS. “In addition, this financing will allow the company to settle a longstanding dispute and related litigation on terms we believe serve the best interest of shareholders. We are pleased to be eliminating the uncertainty and distraction of ongoing litigation.”

In other financing news, Helicos BioSciences (Cambridge, Massachusetts) said it has agreed with certain investors to raise about $18.6 million in gross proceeds through the sale of shares of its common stock and warrants.

Helicos, a life science company focused on genetic analysis technologies for the research, drug discovery, and diagnostic markets, estimates net proceeds from the offering of about $17.9 million, after deduction of placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses.

The company said it plans to use the proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Helicos has agreed to sell a total of 42,753,869 units, each unit consisting of one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase 0.6 shares of common stock at 45 cents a share, for a price of about 44 cents a unit, representing the closing bid price, plus an additional amount for the warrants.

Units will not be issued or certificated. The shares of common stock and warrants are immediately separable and will be issued separately. The warrants will have a five-year term and will be exercisable immediately following close of the transaction.

The company said it expects the deal to close this week.

Leerink Swann was placement agent for the offering. Institutional investors and certain current investors, which include Flagship Ventures, Atlas Venture, Highland Capital and Versant Ventures, provided the financing.

Helicos describes its True Single Molecule Sequencing technology as allowing direct measurement of billions of strands of DNA, “enabling scientists to perform experiments and ask questions never before possible.”