Medical Device Daily Associate

LeMaitre Vascular (Burlington, Massachusetts), a company developing medical devices for the treatment of peripheral vascular disease, has filed a registration statement with the SEC for an initial public offering of its common stock valued at up to $69 million, according to the filing.

The company said it intends to use the net proceeds of the offering primarily to hire additional sales personnel, fund clinical studies and expand its manufacturing and research and development capabilities.

Application has been made for quotation of the company's common stock on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol LMAT.

LeMaitre manufactures both disposable and implanted devices used by vascular surgeons such as catheters, clips, stents, and vein strippers. Its products are sold under such brands as AnastoClip, EndoFit, Flexcel, InvisiGrip, and Pruitt-Inahara.

The company was founded in 1983 by vascular surgeon George LeMaitre, MD, 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 its direct sales force.

Since 1998, the company has raised $16.4 million of equity capital with which it completed six acquisitions for an aggregate consideration of $14.9 million in cash and stock.

In its SEC filing the company said the number of shares of common stock to be outstanding after the offering is based on 9,770,621 shares of common stock outstanding as of March 31.

Financial risks associated with the company include an audit from the IRS in February 2006, requesting materials relating to the company's 2004 federal tax return. The company said it expects the IRS to complete its audit by June.

The company is also the subject of a California sales tax audit that was initiated in 2005. The company said it had not previously paid sales tax in California because it mistakenly believed its customers to be exempt from sales tax in that state and therefore did not collect sales tax.

In addition, the company said it may become subject to interference proceedings conducted in the United States Patent Office or opposition proceedings conducted in foreign patent offices challenging the priority of invention or the validity of its patents. It said that in 2005, Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) initiated an opposition proceeding in the European Patent Office to oppose the company's granted European patent number 1,202,682, related to an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene, or ePTFE, intraluminal device such as certain of its EndoFit stents.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. will act as sole book-running manager, and CIBC World Markets, Cowen & Co. and JMP Securities will act as co-managers.

OrbiMed Advisors (New York), an investment management firm focused on the healthcare sector, said it has closed Caduceus Private Investments III (CPI III), with $500 million in limited partner commitments.

Consistent with OrbiMed's previous venture funds, the firm said that CPI III will invest primarily in U.S. mid- and late-stage private life science companies engaged in the discovery and development of biopharmaceutical products or medical technologies, including medical devices, diagnostics, and discovery tools.

OrbiMed said the fund also will invest in public small capitalization biopharmaceutical and medical technology companies via privately negotiated transactions.

The fund is expected to be invested over a four- to six-year period with individual investments ranging from $12 million to $50 million.

OrbiMed has more than $6 billion in assets under management.

In other financing activity: MediCor (Las Vegas), which bills itself as the world's third largest manufacturer and distributor of breast implants, reported raising $50 million in a private placement.

The financing involved the sale of senior secured convertible notes and warrants to purchase common stock.

Concurrently, Sirius Capital, a private equity investment fund affiliated with Donald McGhan, the company's founder and chairman, converted $37.5 million of outstanding loans to the company into a subordinated convertible note, with similar terms as the senior secured convertible notes, and a warrant to purchase common stock.

Certain of the company's remaining debt was subordinated to the new senior notes.

MediCor develops products for medical specialties in the aesthetic, plastic and reconstructive surgery and dermatology markets. Products include surgically implantable prostheses for aesthetic, plastic and reconstructive surgery and scar management products, sold worldwide to hospitals, surgery centers and physicians through a combination of distributors and direct sales personnel.