A Medical Device Daily

BioMed Realty Trust (San Diego), a real estate investment trust, has priced 9,075,000 shares of its common stock at $28.65 a share, reflecting an increase from its previously announced offering size of 8 million shares. The offering is expected to close on May 16, with gross proceeds of about $260 million.

BioMed also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,361,250 shares to cover over-allotments, if any.

BioMed said it expects to use the net proceeds of this offering to fund a portion of the purchase price of its previously announced acquisition of Human Genome Sciences ' large-scale manufacturing and headquarters office and laboratory facilities in Rockville, Maryland, for which BioMed has signed a purchase and sale agreement.

Raymond James & Associates is the sole book-running manager for the offering, with Citigroup Global Markets acting as co-lead manager and KeyBanc Capital Markets, a division of McDonald Investments, Wachovia Capital Markets, Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co., RBC Capital Markets, Stifel Nicolaus & Co. and BB&T Capital Markets acting as co-managers.

BioMed Realty is focused on providing real estate to the life science Industry, its tenants primarily being biotech and pharma companies, scientific research institutions, government agencies and others involved in the life sciences.

In other financing news:

• Neurologix (Fort Lee, New Jersey), a biotech company engaged in the R&D of gene therapies for the brain and central nervous system, reported completing a private placement of $12 million of its newly created Series C convertible preferred stock at $35 a share. Each share is convertible into 19.66 shares of common stock.

The purchasers were the General Electric Pension Trust, the DaimlerChrysler Corporation Master Retirement Trust and funds managed by ProMed Management. In addition, the company issued warrants to purchase 2,224,719 shares of its common stock for $2.05 a share.

Net proceeds will be used for working capital and corporate purposes.

Dr. Michael Sorell, president and CEO of Neurologix, said, “As we formally complete our landmark Phase I trial of gene therapy for Parkinson's disease this month, this transaction will facilitate further development of this program toward our eventual goal of bringing to market a gene therapy product for this devastating disorder. This funding will also help us to establish manufacturing arrangements for our Parkinson's disease product which will be necessary for a pivotal trial and, subject to FDA approval, for commercial sales.

“The financing will also allow us to advance our clinical gene therapy program in epilepsy and bring to completion the Phase I clinical trial for that program. This will also facilitate the expansion of our ongoing preclinical efforts in Huntington's disease and other neurological disorders.”

Neurologix is a development-stage company developing treatments for disorders of the brain and central nervous system, primarily utilizing gene therapies.

• Xtent (Menlo Park, California) reported closing a Series D financing, led by new investor Adams Street Partners. The amount of the financing was not disclosed.

Other investors include Advanced Technology Ventures, Latterell Venture Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures and Split Rock Partners, co-manager of St. Paul Venture Capital.

“Industry analysts estimate that the DES market will grow to more than $6 billion by 2008,” said Terry Gould, partner at Adams Street Partners. “Xtent's DES systems offer for the first time a fully customizable approach to treating coronary artery disease. We believe this will provide benefits to physicians, patients and hospitals and represents the future of stent interventions.”

Xtent develops stent systems for delivering multiple stents and drug-eluting stent devices of customizable length with a single catheter. It reported completing a $25 million round of financing in early March (Medical Device Daily, March 3, 2006).

• SurModics (Eden Prairie, Minnesota), a provider of surface modification and drug delivery technologies to healthcare, reported that it has granted Bausch & Lomb (B&L; Rochester, New York) an exclusive license to patents relating to the use of Genistein in the treatment and prevention of retinal diseases. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Technology for the use of Genistein was among the technologies acquired by SurModics in connection with the acquisition of InnoRx in January 2005. InnoRx had licensed patents covering inventions made by InnoRx founder and renowned retinal surgeon Eugene de Juan, Jr, MD.

Paul Lopez, president of the Ophthalmology Division at SurModics, termed B&L “ideally suited to develop Genistein into a successful product opportunity.”

Genistein is a soy isoflavone with strong anti-oxidant and anti-VEGF activity that has been shown to reduce retinal vascular leakage in diabetic animals. In patients, retinal vascular leakage with subsequent macular edema is one of the leading causes of blindness in the world.

In the U.S., diabetic macular edema afflicts about 500,000 people, with an additional 80,000 new cases diagnosed each year.

SurModics is a provider of surface modification technologies in the areas of biocompatibility, site specific drug delivery, biological cell encapsulation and medical diagnostics.

Recent collaborative efforts include the implementation of SurModics' Bravo drug delivery polymer matrix as a component of the first-to-market drug-eluting coronary stent. SurModics is also active in the ophthalmology market with the I-vation sustained drug delivery system, currently in human trials for treatment of retinal disease. A portion of SurModics' revenue is generated by royalties.