A Medical Device Daily

Sientra (Santa Barbara, California), a company focused on plastic surgery and aesthetics medicine, reported the close of an $85 million Series B financing, which it said is one of the largest private funding rounds ever in the medical device sector.

The company also reported that it has acquired the assets of Silimed (Dallas), a developer of plastic surgery implants for both cosmetic and reconstructive surgery for an undisclosed sum.

OrbiMed Advisors led the transaction, which was financially co-led by Clarus Ventures, and included Goldman Sachs and TIAA-CREF.

Sientra said it plans to use the proceeds to finance the Silimed acquisition, scale-up its commercial organization, advance product development and fund ongoing operational expenses.

"Our vision is to become a leading player in the expanding aesthetics and plastic surgery markets and these two transactions will accelerate our timeline to achieve our goals," said Hani Zeini, founder and CEO of Sientra.

AcuNetx (Torrance, California) reported that it had purchased and retired 598,978 shares of its common stock. The shares were purchased from a single shareholder in a privately negotiated transaction.

The move was viewed as an anti-dilution measure which benefits all AcuNetx shareholders by decreasing the outstanding shares and increasing each shareholder's percent ownership in the company.

Speaking for AcuNetx, Ronald Waldorf, president/CEO, commented, "This action was taken because the company's management and board of directors firmly believe the company's shares are significantly undervalued. Further, we want the investment community to know we are mindful of our stock's performance and are taking steps so that the share value more closely mirrors the company's overall health and management's performance."

AcuNetx markets a line of diagnostic, analytical and therapeutic tools to audiologists, neurologists, otolaryngologists and physical therapists as well as hospitals, clinics, law enforcement agencies and extended care facilities.

In other financing news, International Isotopes (II: Idaho Falls, Idaho) said it entered into a share purchase agreement with Randall O'Kane, one of the owners and founders of RadQual (Concord, New Hampshire), which makes control devices for the medical imaging field.

II has purchased units representing about 6% of RadQual and has an option to purchase additional units totaling just over 20% of RadQual. The purchase was completed for an undisclosed amount of cash and II common stock.

RadQual markets a wide range of nuclear medicine reference and calibration standards under the trademark name of Benchmark. It develops quality control products for the nuclear medicine and PET imaging communities. II has been the sole contract manufacturer of Benchmark products since 2001.

International Isotopes manufactures a full range of nuclear medicine calibration and reference standards, high purity fluoride gases, and a variety of cobalt-60 products such as teletherapy sources. The company also provides a wide selection of radioisotopes and radiochemicals for medical devices, calibration, clinical research, life sciences, and industrial applications and provides a host of analytical, measurement, recycling, and processing services on a contract basis to clients.