A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

Primera Biosystems (Mansfield, Massachusetts), a molecular diagnostics company with assay programs in infectious disease and oncology, said it closed on $21 million of Series B financing, led by Abingworth and joined by Interwest Partners. Existing investors Malaysian Technology Development Corporation, MPM Capital, Burrill & Company and the Invus Group also participated in the round.

“Primera plans to use this financing to complete development of our instrument system, reagent kits for disease-specific clinical research, future diagnostic tests as well as support ongoing research and development efforts,” said Martin Verhoef, president/CEO of Primera. “With help from our new and existing investors, we will stay ahead of the field by developing molecular diagnostics that have significant impact on patient management and deliver real benefits for doctors, patients and payers.”

Primera is developing a nucleic acid analysis system, STAR (Scalable Target Amplification Routine), which it said combines in a single bench-top system the best features of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction with true multiplexing of 60 or more targets. The technology was invented by Vladimir Slepnev, PhD, Primera’s chief scientific officer and co-founder.

The company says this technology can be applied for gene expression, DNA/RNA analysis, micro RNA analysis, mutation analysis and methylated DNA analysis.

In other financing news:

• Helicos BioSciences (Cambridge, Massachusetts) reported that it has closed a $20 million senior secured credit facility with GE Healthcare Financial Services. Helicos said it will use the facility to support working capital and commercialization efforts.

Helicos received $10 million under the new credit facility on Dec. 31 and can draw down the remaining $10 million by June 30. The initial $10 million will be amortized over 36 months with interest-only payments for the first 12 months. No warrants are associated with the deal.

“This additional loan will provide flexibility as we scale up our manufacturing and build inventory to meet customer demand in 2008 and beyond,” said Steve Lombardi, president/COO of Helicos.

Helicos develops genetic analysis technologies for the research, drug discovery, and diagnostic markets.

• Paradigm Medical Industries (Salt Lake City), maker of glaucoma diagnostic and management devices, reported acquiring $1 million in funding through a group of institutional investors, headed by NIR Group (New York).

Paradigm said that “a significant portion” of the proceeds will be used to fund the imarketing of new ophthalmic instruments and systems the company plans to launch during the first half of 2008.

“We will also use proceeds to grow our domestic sales force, to increase direct and distributor sales force training, and to increase inventories,” said Paradigm’s CEO, Raymond Cannefax. “Marketing our redesigned LD 400 Visual Fields and Blood Flow Analyzer (BFA) products and introducing new devices and systems into the ophthalmic market is one of our primary areas of focus in 2008.”

Cannefax said that the company already is filling an order for LD 400s for one of the largest optical chains in the UK and has written commitments for additional LD 400 Perimeters from the same chain.

“We had a threefold increase in our sales organization in late 2007 and will have a presence in additional metropolitan areas. The new funding will allow us to introduce new and updated diagnostic products and have a trained and highly competent sales force to market and distribute them in 2008,” Cannefax said.

The funding involves the purchase of $1 million in secured convertible notes by the investing group. The notes are to be purchased in traunches, with the first traunche of $250,000 and then monthly traunches of $100,000 each until a total of $1 million in notes have been purchased. Paradigm received the first $250,000 upon the signing of definitive agreements on Dec. 24. The company also is required to issue warrants to the noteholders to purchase a total of 15 million shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.001 a share.

• Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp; Burlington, North Carolina) reported that its zero coupon subordinated liquid yield option notes due 2021 (LYONs) and zero coupon convertible subordinated notes, due 2021 (zero coupon notes), may be converted.

The LYONs are convertible into common stock of LabCorp at the conversion rate of 13.4108 per $1,000 principal amount at maturity of the LYONs. The zero coupon notes are convertible into cash and common stock of LabCorp, if any, subject to the terms of the zero coupon notes and the indenture, dated as of Oct. 24, 2006 between LabCorp, the trustee and the conversion agent.

LabCorp develops diagnostic technologies and offers clinical assays ranging from routine blood analyses to HIV and genomic testing.

• Gemino Healthcare Finance (Philadelphia) provided funding to 12 healthcare companies with total credit facilities exceeding $45 million in 2007, following its March launch. It also opened offices in Dallas and Los Angeles.

The deals include providing Advanced Diagnostic Group (Tampa, Florida) a credit facility of $3.45 million for expanding number of diagnostic imaging centers.