A Medical Device Daily

NuVasive (San Diego), which is developing products for minimally disruptive surgical treatments for the spine, said it completed its previously disclosed follow-on public offering (Medical Device Daily, Feb. 3, 2006), netting proceeds of about $142.3 million

The company sold 7,829,120 shares and the selling stockholders sold 795,880 shares of common stock at the price of $19.25 per share, less underwriting discounts and commissions.

The number of shares sold by the company includes 1,125,000 shares sold pursuant to the underwriters' exercise of an option to purchase additional shares.

Banc of America Securities and Lehman Brothers were joint book-running managers for the offering, and Thomas Weisel Partners, William Blair & Co. and Stanford Group Company were co-managers.

This follow-on offering represents a substantial increase in valuation over the company's initial public offering in May 2004 (MDD, May 14, 2004) in which the company sold 6,882,991 million shares of stock at $11 a share, on the low end of its announced $11 to $13 range, for proceeds of about $70.4 million.

NuVasive's product portfolio is focused on applications in the $2.9 billion U.S. spine fusion market.

The company's current principal product offering includes a minimally disruptive surgical platform called Maximum Access Surgery, or MAS, as well as classic fusion implants.

MAS combines three categories of current product offerings – NeuroVision, a software-driven nerve avoidance system; MaXcess, a split-blade design retraction system; and specialized implants, such as the SpheRx pedicle screw system and CoRoent implants – that collectively minimize soft-tissue disruption during spine surgery while allowing maximum visualization and surgical reproducibility.

NuVasive's fusion portfolio is comprised predominantly of proprietary saline-packaged bone allografts and internal fixation products. The company said it also has a strong R&D pipeline emphasizing both MAS and motion preservation such as Total Disc Replacement and dynamic stabilization systems.

Accumetrics (San Diego), a privately held company that makes the VerifyNow family of diagnostic tests that measure platelet function, said it has raised $8.25 million in its Series C financing.

The syndicate of investors was led by RiverVest Venture Partners. Also participating in the round were new investor Kaiser Venture Partners and previous major investors, including Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, KB Partners, PTV Sciences and a private corporate investor.

"These proceeds give us the resources to build on the momentum of the recent FDA approval of the VerifyNow P2Y12 assay, advancing our efforts to raise awareness of the importance of measuring platelet function," said Robert Hillman, president and CEO of Accumetrics.

The company's VerifyNow family of diagnostic tests evaluate platelet function and patient response to antiplatelet drugs, including aspirin and Plavix (clopidogrel), two of the most widely-used therapies in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. In addition, there is a VerifyNow test for ReoPro (abcimixmab) and Integrilin (eptifibatide), both GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors, which are injectable antiplatelet drugs used in conjunction with coronary artery procedures.

The FDA-cleared tests are reimbursed by Medicare and can be performed in the hospital laboratory and physician's office.

Accumetrics' newest product, the VerifyNow P2Y12 test, was recently cleared by the FDA and measures the effects of Plavix.

Inverness Medical Innovations (IMI; Waltham, Massachusetts) reported that it has entered into definitive agreements with funds affiliated with 14 accredited institutional investors to sell 3.4 million shares of its common stock, $.001 par value per share, in a private placement.

The shares will be sold at $24.41 per share, a 7% discount off of the closing price of Inverness' common stock on Feb. 2, the date of pricing.

The company said it intends to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes including future acquisitions. The transaction is expected to close this week.

IMI is a supplier of consumer pregnancy and fertility/ovulation tests and rapid point-of-care diagnostics.