A Medical Device Daily

Sicel Technologies (Raleigh, North Carolina), a manufacturer of implantable sensors and surface dosimeters reported the closing of its Series F preferred stock round of financing.

The amount of the funding was not disclosed.

Michael Riddle, Sicel's president/CEO said, “We were delighted that the company was able to significantly increase the size of the funding round as a result of the strong participation from our existing shareholders and were pleased with the level of interest from high quality new investors.” He added, “This is a key milestone for the company. It will allow us to execute on our commercialization plans and ensure that this cutting-edge sensor technology is made available to the oncology community.”

Burton Advisers acted as the exclusive advisor to the company in this offering.

Sicel also reported the launch of its Dose Verification System (DVS) at this week's annual meeting of The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (College Park, Maryland) which concluded yesterday in Orlando, Florida.

Dr. Gloria Beyer, vice president clinical operations for Sicel, said, “With DVS, we are providing radiation therapy clinics with a device which can be used as an adjunct to treatment planning to validate the prescribed dose by measuring absolute radiation dose within the treated or surrounding tissue for each treatment. In addition, the dosimeter can also be used as a marker to aid in tumor localization. We believe that this dual capability will enable Sicel to actively facilitate the trend toward image-guided adaptive cancer radiotherapy and give healthcare providers added confidence as they implement these advanced treatments.”

Beyer reported that DVS received an “enthusiastic response” from a large number of convention attendees and that the company received purchase orders and commitments “from several leading institutions and anticipates initiating device installations during August.”

Sicel, a private company with 31 employees, is focused on developing implantable products targeted at improving delivery of cancer treatments. The miniature DVSR sensor (20mm x 2mm) provides the capability of using the device both for tumor localization and to verify radiation dose actually delivered to the tumor and normal tissue. DVS was recently cleared to market by the FDA for use in breast and prostate cancer.

Staar Surgical (Monrovia, California), a manufacturer of minimally-invasive ophthalmic products, reported filing a shelf registration with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to sell up to $15 million of equity or debt securities.

“We do not have an immediate need to raise additional capital, and our current operating plan calls for us to retain positive cash balances going forward,” said David Bailey, president/CEO of STAAR. “The board and management are sensitive to investors' strong desire to minimize dilution. Therefore, any offering . . . will take place only after analysis of other alternatives by the board.”

In other financing activity:

• QLT (Vancouver) reported that it will mail an offer to purchase and issuer bid circular to its shareholders today in connection with a modified Dutch Auction tender offer for up to 13 million common shares, previously unveiled on July 27, with the company's most recent quarterly results. The circular is being filed with the securities regulatory authorities in the U.S. and Canada. The offer to purchase shares will expire on 5 p.m., EST, Sept. 8, 2006, unless extended.

Shareholders will have the opportunity to tender some or all of their shares at a price not less than $7 and not greater than $8 a share. Based on the number of shares tendered and the prices specified, QLT will determine the lowest per share price within the range that will enable QLT to buy up to 13 million shares, or such lesser number shares as are properly tendered. If more than 13 million shares are properly tendered at or below the determined price per share, QLT will purchase shares tendered at the determined price per share, on a pro rata basis. The tender offer is not contingent upon any minimum number of shares being tendered. The tender offer is subject to a number of other terms and conditions.

QLT will not purchase any shares tendered above the determined purchase price. If the tender is fully subscribed, 13 million common shares will be repurchased, representing about 14.75% of around 88.2 million shares outstanding as of July 26, the day before the tender offer was first announced.

Merrill Lynch & Co. and BMO Capital Markets will serve as dealer managers for the tender offer. Georgeson Shareholder Communications will serve as information agent, and Computershare Investor Services will serve as the depositary.

QLT develops treatments for eye diseases as well as dermatological and urological conditions, with two technology platforms: photodynamic therapy and Atrigel, to create products such as Visudyne and Eligard.