A Medical Device Daily

Cadent Holdings (Carlstadt, New Jersey), a developer of digital technology and services for use in the orthodontic and dental markets, said it has completed a $25 million equity financing.

STAR Ventures led the transaction. The company's existing investors, including JP Morgan Partners, Apax Partners, SV Life Sciences and Pitango Venture Capital, also participated.

The company said that proceeds would be used to expand its orthodontic business and accelerate completion and prepare for launch of its dental market digital-technology.

Miravant Medical Technologies (Santa Barbara, California), a pharmaceutical development company specializing in PhotoPoint photodynamic therapy (PDT), reported that it has finalized a convertible debt line-of-credit agreement for up to $15 million with a long-standing Miravant investor.

The funds will be available at the company's discretion in increments of up to $1 million a month, with any unused monthly borrowings to be carried forward. The borrowings are convertible into shares of common stock based on a premium of 110% of the average monthly closing price of the month preceding each borrowing request.

Additionally, the company said it would issue a warrant to purchase one-quarter of a share of common stock for each convertible share of common stock issued. The exercise price of each warrant will also be equal to 110% of the average monthly closing price of the month preceding the borrowing request.

Gary Kledzik, PhD, chairman and CEO, said, "This line of credit will provide funding for the Photrex confirmatory Phase III clinical trial for age-related macular degeneration, in which we expect to begin patient enrollment next quarter."

Miravant specializes in the development of pharmaceuticals and devices for photoselective medicine, developing PhotoPoint PDT for potential markets in ophthalmology, dermatology, cardiovascular disease and oncology.

PhotoPoint PDT uses light-activated drugs to selectively target diseased cells and blood vessels.

The company has collaborative and securities purchase agreements with Guidant (Indianapolis) in support of PDT applications in cardiovascular disease, including atherosclerosis and vulnerable plaque.

In other financing activity:

Universal Health Services (UHS; King of Prussia, Pennsylvania) said it has replaced its $400 million unsecured line of credit that was scheduled to expire on Dec. 13, 2006, with a new $500 million unsecured line of credit effective March 4.

The new $500 million line of credit bears interest at the London Inter-Bank Offer Rate (LIBOR) plus a spread of 40 to 100 basis points, including a facility fee which is determined based on our credit ratings from Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service.

Based on its current credit ratings, UHS pricing is LIBOR plus 62.5 basis points, which results in a 62.5 basis point improvement in pricing compared to the previous $400 million line of credit.

JP Morgan Chase Bank serves as administrative agent, Bank of America serves as syndication agent and ABN AMRO Bank, SunTrust Bank and Wachovia Bank serve as co-documentation agents.

UHS is one of the nation's largest hospital companies, operating acute-care and behavioral health hospitals, ambulatory and radiation centers nationwide, in Puerto Rico and in France.