A Medical Device Daily

Skyline Ventures (Palo Alto, California), a venture capital firm that focuses on healthcare and life sciences investing such as medical devices and therapeutics, reported closing Skyline V, a $350 million venture capital fund. Skyline said it began raising the fund in late June and closed on its hard cap of investor commitments in late October. In a separate announcement, Skyline said that it co-led an investment in Dicerna Pharmaceuticals (Babraham, UK) as its first commitment for the new fund.

The fund will target nearly 15 investments with $15 million to $35 million per portfolio company. The fund will continue the approach Skyline has been using since raising its third fund in 2001 of hands-on investing in early-stage, mid-stage and later-stage companies.

John Freund, managing director at Skyline, said the fund closing, “marks a very successful year for Skyline. Over the past 12 months, three of our portfolio companies were sold — Avidia to Amgen in late 2006, and NimbleGen to Roche and NovaCardia to Merck this year. In addition, four portfolio companies went public... . We also expanded our team, opening an office in the Boston area in May, and that part of the country will continue to be a major focus for our investing.”

Skyline says that its areas of expertise include small molecule and protein therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics and technologies that facilitate drug discovery and life science research. Skyline has about $800 million under management, including Skyline V.

Labnow (Austin, Texas) reported securing $20 million in a Series B round of funding to further develop a device to help treat HIV in patients.

The company makes the point-of-care analyzer and CD4 BioChip, which tests the white blood cell count of HIV patients. Determining the levels of white blood cell can make HIV patients in Africa and other parts of the world eligible for free medical care, according to the company.

The toaster-size device, costing about $10,000, will enable healthcare workers in remote locations to test patients and get them medicine quickly, according to the company. It also allows patients to be tested months later to determine whether treatment is working.

The $20 million round was led by Sammons Enterprises with other money from local investors and Austin Ventures. The company has raised a total of $34 million.

Labnow said the funds will pay for product development and design and clinical trials. The company said it hopes the product is ready for distribution in 12 to 14 months.

In other financings:

• Affymetrix (Santa Clara, California) reported an agreement to sell $275 million of unsecured 3.50% Senior Convertible Notes, due 2038, and it has granted the underwriter an over-allotment option to purchase up to $41.25 million of additional notes.

The notes will be convertible into Affymetrix common stock at an initial conversion rate of 33.1991 shares per $1,000 principal amount of notes, subject to adjustment. This conversion rate is equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately $30.12 per share. This represents a 39% premium to the last reported sale price of Affymetrix’ common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on November 13, 2007.

The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes and repurchases or redemption of all or a portion of its 0.75% Senior Convertible Notes due 2033.

• Techne (Minneapolis) reported that its board authorized the repurchase of up to $150 million of the company’s common shares.

The company may repurchase shares from time to time on the open market or in private transactions, including purchases pursuant to one or more 10b5-1 plans or structured transactions. The share repurchase will be funded with a portion of the company’s existing cash and available-for-sale investments. At Sept. 30, the company had cash and available-for-sale investments of approximately $279 million, no long-term debt and shareholders’ equity in excess of $466 million. The company’s prior share repurchase program, authorized in October 2002, has been terminated.

Techne has two operating subsidiaries: Research and Diagnostic Systems, (R&D Systems; Minneapolis) and R&D Systems Europe (R&D Europe; Abingdon, England).

• Hopewell Ventures (Chicago) a regional $110 million venture capital fund said it has taken an equity stake in Symbios Holdings (Indianapolis), the amount of the stake not disclosed.

Symbios manufactures pain management devices, specializing in disposable pumps used to treat postoperative pain. It said it will will use the Hopewell funding to expand its product line and domestic distribution efforts.

“These devices address a rapidly growing market for products that more effectively manage an individual’s pain which facilitates shorter hospital stays, faster rehabilitation and higher patient satisfaction ratings,” said Craig Overmyer, Hopewell partner. “This investment allows Symbios to continue to expand its product line, while adding additional sales staff and distributors.”

The market for disposable pain pumps currently exceeds $200 million and has grown at an annual rate of 35% over the last four years, according to Jeff Alholm, Symbios Holdings president, and is expected to surpass $500 million within five years.