A Medical Device Daily

BioTime (Alameda, California) reported that two of its shareholders have completed the funding of the second tranche of their equity investments in BioTime following the exercise of their rights to purchase additional shares and warrants under the terms of their May 2009 stock and warrant purchase agreements. Broadwood Partners and George Karfunkel have each purchased an additional 1.1 million BioTime common shares and 1.1 million stock purchase warrants. BioTime received $4 million from the sale of the additional shares and warrants. The warrants, which are substantially the same as BioTime's publicly traded stock purchase warrants, entitle the investors to purchase additional common shares at an exercise price of $2 per share. The warrants will expire on Oct. 31, 2010 and may not be exercised after that date.

"The $8 million of new equity capital we have raised since May from these investors, plus our $4.7 million research grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, will be available to finance our strategic programs to build our product and technology portfolios in the emerging fields of stem cell research and regenerative medicine," said Michael West, PhD, BioTime's CEO.

BioTime develops research products in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine through its wholly owned subsidiary Embryome Sciences. In addition to its stem cell products, BioTime has developed blood plasma volume expanders and related technology for use in surgery, emergency trauma treatment, and other applications. BioTime's lead product, Hextend, is a blood plasma expander manufactured and distributed in the U.S. by Hospira (Lake Forrest, Illinois) and in South Korea by CJ CheilJedang Corp. under exclusive licensing agreements.

In other financing news, Accuri Cytometers (Ann Arbor, Michigan) reported the completion of a $4 million Series D financing. The financing included current investors Fidelity Biosciences, Flagship Ventures, Baird Venture Partners and Arboretum Ventures, as well as the InvestMichigan! Program co-managed by Credit Suisse.

Accuri said it will use the proceeds to provide additional working and growth capital to support the rapid market acceptance of the Accuri C6 flow cytometer system, a product designed to bring the power of flow cytometry analysis to the laboratory of every life science researcher, and the recently introduced Accuri CSampler, an optional accessory that adds user-friendly automation to the C6 system.

"With our first two products experiencing rapid market acceptance and our European operations newly underway, we have secured additional capital to build out our manufacturing and customer support capabilities in Michigan and to continue to expand our commercial presence globally," said Jennifer Baird, CEO of Accuri.