A Medical Device Daily

IPG Photonics (Oxford, Massachusetts) reported that it has filed for a proposed initial public offering that it valued at $81.8 million if the offering prices at its $14.50 a share midpoint.

IPG, which has proposed to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol IPGP, makes fiber-optic lasers which have applications in medicine and telecommunications. It also makes fiber-optic signal amplifiers and pump lasers, which are primarily used in materials processing.

The number of shares of common stock to be outstanding after the offering is based on 27,343,330 shares outstanding as of Sept 30, and includes 9,914,217 shares that will be issued upon conversion of the company’s outstanding preferred stock upon completion of the offering. The company will sell 6,241,379 shares and certain stockholders will sell 2,758,621 shares. The company will receive no profits from the private shareholders stock sale.

The company said it expects to use the proceeds from the offering to repurchase its Series B warrants, to repay certain outstanding debts and for general corporate purposes, such as working capital, expansion of manufacturing facilities, purchases of equipment and expansion of applications development and service capabilities.

Since the fiber laser market is relatively new when compared to the conventional laser market, the company said its success depends on the development and broader market acceptance of this technology. It noted that potential customers may be reluctant to adopt fiber lasers as an alternative to traditional lasers, such as CO2 and YAG, and non-laser methods, such as mechanical tools.

The company said it also is the subject of several “unresolved” patent lawsuits.

Valentin Gapontsev, company founder, CEO and chairman, owns nearly 63% of IPG, which was founded in 1990.

The lead managers for the offering are Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers.

In other financing news:

• Neoprobe (Dublin, Ohio), a developer of oncology and cardiovascular surgical and diagnostic products, reported signing agreement with Fusion Capital Fund II (Chicago) for the purchase of up to $6 million in common stock.

The sale of stock to Fusion Capital can occur over a 24-month period after the Securities and Exchange Commission has declared effective a registration statement relating to the transaction.

Neoprobe has the right to sell shares of its common stock to Fusion in amounts between $50,000 and $1 million up to $6 million. The price of the shares will be determined based upon the market price of the company’s shares at the time of each sale without any fixed discount, and Neoprobe will control the timing and amount of any sales of shares to Fusion Capital.

• BioMag (Orangevale, California) reported that it has completed a third private placement in the amount of $250,000, bringing the total funds raised since July 11, 2006, to $750,000.

The company said that the funds will be used for design concepts, rendering and verification of the company’s HTS-MTP technology as well as other operating expenses, it said.

BioMag, through its wholly owned subsidiary Biospectrum Technologies (also Orangevale), is developing diagnostic tests for viral infections. It hopes to collaborate with a Canadian biotechnology company to conduct clinical trials in China, and has an agreement with a diagnostic services company in Bangkok to obtain approval for clinical trials in Thailand.