A Medical Device Daily

Two medical device companies reported the pricing of their initial public offerings yesterday, adding to a small but growing list of companies choosing to employ the IPO exit strategy this year.

The two newest arrivals are Asthmatx (Mountain View, California), which is developing a treatment for asthma, and cardiovascular device maker LeMaitre Vascular (Burlington, Massachusetts).

Asthamtx reported that it has set its planned IPO at 5 million shares for between $11 and $13 each, to raise up to $65 million.

The company is developing a device called the Alair, which uses a catheter with a heated tip to reduce the amount of smooth muscle in the airways of asthma patients in a procedure called bronchial thermoplasty. Asthma attacks occur when smooth muscle in the airways constricts.

The Alair device is currently in clinical trials.

The company said it plans to use $20 million of the proceeds to finance clinical trials and other R&d expenses, and $20 million for building infrastructure and a sales force. Remaining proceeds will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Asthmatx, which plans to be listed with the symbol AZMA on the Nasdaq, said that Piper Jaffray and Bear Stearns & Co. are acting as joint book running managers, and First Albany and Jefferies & Co. are acting as co-managers.

In the other IPO, LeMaitre Vascular, which manufactures both disposable and implanted devices such as catheters, clips, stents, and vein strippers, priced an offering of 6 million shares at $8 to $10 a piece, which could give the company proceeds of up to $60 million.

The company, whose products are sold under such brands as AnastoClip, EndoFit, Flexcel, InvisiGrip and Pruitt-Inahara, said it plans to use the proceeds to reduce debt, to hire more sales reps and for clinical trial work.

Goldman Sachs is acting as lead underwriter with CIBC World Markets, Cowen & Co. and Thomas Weisel Partners acting as co-managers.

The company, which plans to trade under the ticker symbol LMAT on the Nasdaq, books about $33 million in annual revenue.

LeMaitre was founded in 1983 by vascular surgeon George LeMaitre who, with the help of an engineer, developed a valvulotome used to prepare veins for arterial bypass. The company has since expanded its offerings to include a device to create dialysis access sites and another to treat aortic aneurysms. Its products are sold to hospitals in Europe, Japan and the U.S. through a direct sales force.

In other financing news:

Validity Sensors (San Jose, California), a privately held biometric company specializing in advanced durable fingerprint sensors, reported closing an over-subscribed round of $20 million with what it called a "substantial investment" from Qualcomm Ventures.

The financing was led by TeleSoft Partners and closed with a final investment from Qualcomm Ventures, a developer of chipsets for mobile handsets. Other key investors include VentureTech Alliance, Ram Shriram, Marc Benioff and Atiq Raza.

Validity's line of LiveFlex fingerprint sensors are designed to eliminate the need to remember multiple usernames and passwords by allowing users to simply swipe their finger over a durable plastic surface.