A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

Oculir (San Diego), which is developing what it said is the first true non-invasive glucose testing system for people with diabetes, said it has raised $7.3 million in a Series A preferred financing.

This first round of venture capital investment was led by Onset Ventures and CHL Medical Partners. Other investors include Canaan Partners, Three Arch Partners, Shepherd Ventures and Windamere Venture Partners.

“Since its initial seed funding two years ago, Oculir has developed and demonstrated an innovative product concept that has the potential to provide significant benefits to the large population of people with diabetes,” said Leslie Bottorff, general partner with Onset Ventures. “This type of innovation represents exactly what we seek for companies in our portfolio.”

Dr. John Burd, president and CEO of Oculir, said, “Oculir is very pleased to have such strong financial backing to assure our continued rapid progress to bring our novel non-invasive glucose testing product to fruition. The funds from this financing will be used to continue the development of our commercial device and perform expanded human clinical trials.”

He added: “People with diabetes have been waiting for a true non-invasive glucose testing system for over 20 years, and we are eager to deliver such a system.”

Oculir was founded in 2003 with seed funding from its founders and Windamere Venture Partners to develop a non-invasive glucose testing system. In addition to glucose, the testing platform being developed by the company has the potential to non-invasively measure a variety of important medical analytes.

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp; Burlington, North Carolina) said that it plans to sell up to $250 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2015. The notes will be senior unsecured obligations and will rank equally with all of LabCorp’s other existing and future senior unsecured debt.

The company said it intends to use the net proceeds of the senior notes, together with cash on hand, to repay borrowings under its senior credit facility, which will be used to repurchase shares of LabCorp’s common stock.

LabCorp is the second-largest independent clinical laboratory company in the U.S. based on 2004 net revenues. Through its national network of laboratories, the company offers a range of clinical laboratory tests used by clinicians in routine testing, patient diagnosis and the monitoring and treatment of disease.

In addition, LabCorp has developed specialty and niche businesses based on certain types of specialized testing capabilities and client requirements, such as oncology testing, HIV genotyping and phenotyping, diagnostic genetics and clinical research trials.

The notes will bear interest at the rate of 5.625% per annum from Dec. 14, payable semi-annually on June 15 and Dec. 15, commencing on June 15, 2006. The closing of the offering is expected to occur on Wednesday, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

LabCorp said it intends to use the net proceeds of the senior notes, together with cash on hand, to repay borrowings under its senior credit facility that will be used to repurchase shares of LabCorp’s common stock.

LabCorp is the second-largest independent clinical laboratory company in the U.S. based on 2004 net revenues. Through its national network of laboratories, the company offers a range of clinical laboratory tests which are used by the medical profession in routine testing, patient diagnosis, and in the monitoring and treatment of disease.

Duska Therapeutics (Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania) reported that it has begun a private offering of up to $2 million of its common stock. The shares will be offered at a price of 25 cents each and will initially only be offered to persons who are both existing shareholders of the company and who are “accredited investors,” as defined in Regulation D under the Securities Act of 1933.

If subscriptions for more than $2 million are received from existing shareholders, the company will allocate the shares among the subscribing shareholders. If the offering is not fully subscribed from the existing shareholders, the company may offer the unsold shares to a limited number of other qualified accredited investors.

The net offering proceeds will be used for general and administrative expenses, and depending on the amount of proceeds raised, to fund the further development of the company’s drug candidates, and a portion of the costs associated with the pending acquisition of a small molecule that could be used as a drug candidate.

Duska is focused on the development of diagnostic and therapeutic products related to ATP (adenosine 5’-triphosphate) and ATP-related P2 receptors.

The company said ATP is a natural compound found in every cell of the human body, terming it “the source of energy that fuels all bodily functions.” Outside cells, it regulates the functions of different cell types in various tissues and organs, including the heart, lung, intestine and kidney, by activating cell surface receptors called P2 receptors.

Duska said drugs that exploit the characteristics of ATP and P2 receptors have the potential to diagnose and treat a wide range of human disorders, including cardiovascular, pulmonary, neural and renal diseases.

The company owns or has exclusive license rights to a number of diagnostic and therapeutic applications, four of which are currently in various stages of development in the fields of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (including emphysema) and cough, syncope (fainting), male infertility and glaucoma.