By Karen Pihl-Carey

Boston Life Sciences Inc. has raised $8 million through the placement of convertible debentures with a single institutional investor.

The debentures, due Sept. 20, 2003, are convertible into common stock at a price of $5.25 and will accrue interest at 8 percent. The company may redeem the debentures in whole or in part after the first anniversary of the transaction.

About 1.7 million warrants were issued, which are exercisable to purchase 960,000 shares of Class A common stock at $5.75, and 720,000 shares of Class B common stock at $8.25.

With the offering, the company will stay afloat at least another two years, said Joseph Hernon, chief financial officer of the Boston-based company.

¿It positions us to go into the year 2000 with $18 million in cash,¿ Hernon said, ¿sufficient money to fund our initial trials for Troponin.¿

Troponin I, which the company expects to advance into clinical trials in early 2000, is the company¿s anti-angiogenesis agent for the treatment of solid tumor metastases.

The company¿s burn rate has been about $7 million a year, but that may increase in 2000 due to the progression of the company¿s programs, said the company¿s CEO and president, David Hillson, in a statement.

Part of the proceeds from the placement will be set aside to redeem the company¿s Series C preferred stock when market conditions are favorable.

The money also will contribute to the expansion of the company¿s cytokine regulation program under Laurie Glimcher, a Harvard Medical School professor, as well as to the company¿s development of Altropane, a radio-imaging agent, for the additional indication of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

¿Right now, Altropane is currently in Phase III trials for Parkinson¿s disease (PD), but the market for ADHD is probably five times the market for PD,¿ Hernon told BioWorld Today. ¿It significantly expands the market potential for Altropane.¿ n