A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

InterGenetics (Oklahoma City), a genetic-based cancer risk testing and treatment company, reported that it has closed its $6 million private placement, with the majority of its investors residing in Oklahoma and Texas.

InterGenetics plans to launch OncoVue this fall, which it said is the first genetic-based breast cancer risk predictive test able to determine the lifetime and age-specific risk for developing breast cancer applicable to all women.

"The successful completion of our private placement offering achieves a major milestone and provides the funding to complete our lab diagnostic facility and commercially launch our first cancer risk test for breast cancer called OncoVue," said Dr. Craig Shimasaki, president and CEO.

The company said the test is simple for a woman to perform. First, she completes a brief medical questionnaire and then swishes a mouthwash and deposits the fluid into a tube. DNA from the woman's cheek cells are analyzed at Inter-Genetics' DNA Diagnostic Lab in Oklahoma City along with the data collected from the medical questionnaire to determine a numeric score. This score represents the patient's risk of developing breast cancer every five years of her life.

Assay Designs (Ann Arbor, Michigan) reported rece-iving a $5 million Series A investment from Ampersand Ventures (San Diego/Wellesley, Massachusetts), the sole investor in the round.

Assay Designs manufactures immunoassay (ELISA) kits, luminescent reagents, antibodies and proteins for the life sciences. It says that researchers use its products "to detect and quantify molecules that are important in cell regulation, signal transduction, oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis."

Dr. Russell Hart, company co-founder and president, said that the investment by Ampersand "allows us to go to the next level. We will get the ability to develop the company by its investment in our sales and marketing, research and manufacturing activities."

Ampersand's investments include those in Aclara Biosciences, Dynex Technologies, ESA, IBT Reference Laboratory, Medifacts International and Stressgen Bioreagents.

DOBI Medical International (Mahwah, New Jersey) reported that a registration statement on Form SB-2 filed with the SEC on April 25 covering the resale of 36,996,330 shares by certain stockholders has been declared effective by that regulatory body.

Of the 36,996,330 shares registered, 24,000,001 are currently issued and outstanding. DOBI Medical also registered 11,737,500 shares issuable in connection with the exercise of warrants; and 1,258,829 shares issuable in connection with the conversion of its Series A convertible preferred stock.

Of the 24,000,001 shares issued and outstanding, about 400,000 are held by the company's directors and executive officers. The company said it would not receive any of the proceeds from any shareholders who may sell their shares, except by those who may exercise warrants.

DOBI Medical is a medical imaging company working to create a new means for the improved diagnosis of cancer through the detection of abnormal vascularization associated with tumors.