Tag Archives: Small Times Magazine

NUCRYST Pharma prices IPO


December 22, 2005

(Update: Trading in NUCRYST Pharmaceuticals shares began at about 12 p.m on the Nasdaq. The symbol was changed from NCST to NCSTV.)

Dec. 22, 2005 — NUCRYST Pharmaceuticals Corp., a Wakefield, Mass., maker of medical products that fight infection and inflammation based on nanocrystalline silver technology, announced an initial public offering of 4.5 million common shares at a price of $10 per share.

The company said its common shares are slated to trade on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol NCST and on the Toronto Stock Exchange (in Canadian dollars) under the trading symbol NCS. It did not say when public trading on either exchange was expected to begin.

The shares are being offered by an underwriting syndicate led by Jefferies & Company Inc. and co-managed by Adams Harkness Inc., GMP Securities L.P., and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

NUCRYST has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 675,000 additional shares to cover over-allotments, if any.

Net proceeds from the offering are expected to be approximately $39.9 million (or $46.1 million if the underwriters exercise the over-allotment) after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses.

The company said it plans to use approximately $35 million of the net proceeds for capital expenditures, research and development and other general corporate purposes.

It will use the remaining proceeds of $4.9 million to $11.1 million to repay part of a $46.5 million debt to The Westaim Corp., NUCRYST’s parent company.

Westaim has agreed to allow NUCRYST to pay off the additional debt remaining after the cash payment with NUCRYST shares. After the offering, Westaim will continue to own a majority equity position in NUCRYST.

– David Forman

Dec. 21, 2005 — Nanogen Inc. of San Diego and Spectral Diagnostics Inc. of Toronto announced the signing of a definitive agreement whereby Nanogen will acquire Spectral’s rapid cardiac immunoassay test business, including the cardiac STATus, Decision Point and i-Lynx product lines.

Nanogen will assume related sales, marketing and manufacturing activities. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2006 and is subject to approval by Spectral’s shareholders and other standard closing conditions.

The total amount of the transaction is $10.54 million, comprised of $6.62 million in cash and $3.92 million in Nanogen common shares.

Dec. 21, 2005 – Oxonica plc (AIM:OXN), a nanomaterials developer and provider, announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Nanoplex Technologies Inc., a developer of novel encoded nanoparticles. Nanoplex will be renamed Oxonica Inc. and will be headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., where Nanoplex has been based.

Combining the two companies is intended to help spur the development of detection technologies and the creation of new diagnostic tools, according to an Oxonica release. Such tools would be intended to bridge the healthcare market from drug discovery to the clinical laboratory and point-of-care.

Whereas the Oxford, England-based Oxonica has commercialized nanomaterials for use in cosmetics and as fuel additives, Nanoplex is known for its surface enhanced raman scattering nanotags and nanobarcodes nanoparticles.

The acquisition, said David Browning, chief executive of Oxonica Healthcare, in a prepared statement, “complements our core strength in multiplexed biolabeling while providing us a base from which to develop sales of the Group’s product portfolio in the United States.”

Under the terms of the acquisition, Michael Natan will be named president of Oxonica Inc., reporting directly to Kevin Matthews with operational direction from David Browning, CEO of Oxonica Healthcare. Additionally, Nanoplex Chairman Gordon Ringold will join the board of directors of Oxonica plc.

“Nanoplex’s longstanding goal has been to develop valuable products based on our metal particle nanotechnologies, with an emphasis on the diagnostics and brand security markets,” said Michael Natan, founder of Nanoplex, in a prepared statement, “…Adding Oxonica’s management expertise and sales and marketing infrastructure to Nanoplex’s IP base and know-how in nanomaterials, bioassays, optical engineering, and software will allow us to develop better products in a shorter time frame and with greater global reach.”

Under the agreement, Oxonica plc will pay up to 7,538,440 million shares — equivalent to about 17 percent of the new, combined company. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of January.

The transaction is slated to take place in three steps. An initial payment will be made at the time the deal is completed. Secondly, $4 million worth of Oxonica shares will be issued during the 18 months after completion of the deal, contingent upon meeting certain revenue milestones. Finally, 753,844 shares will be issued 12 months after completion, contingent on the company meeting other requirements.

– David Forman

Dec. 20, 2005 — Synopsys Inc., a Mountain View, Calif., maker of semiconductor design software, announced that NEC Electronics has adopted its phase-shift mask (PSM) technology for production of its 65-nanometer processor and logic chips.

The company said the technology is intended to help enhance yields, decrease leakage current, and maximize chip performance by virtue of critical dimension control over the lithography process.

Dec. 20, 2005 – Measurement Specialties, Inc., has sold its consumer division. The designer and manufacturer of sensors and sensor-based systems sold its Cayman Island subsidiary, Measurement Limited (ML), to Fervent Group Limited (FGL), a BVI company controlled by the owners of River Display Limited, Measurement Specialties’ long time partner and primary supplier of consumer products in Shenzhen, China.

Under the terms of the agreement announced earlier this month, FGL acquired Measurement Limited for up to $17.5 million, which may be reduced by up to $5 million if ML does not meet certain performance criteria within the first year.

SUSS nets Chinese MEMS order


December 19, 2005

Dec. 19, 2005 — SUSS MicroTec AG announced that it received an order from a Chinese company worth $3 million dollars. The equipment, including mask aligners, coater/developers, bonders and a probe system, will be used to develop new MEMS devices.

The order was received in November and the machines are due for installation in the second quarter of 2006. Li Gong, general manager of SUSS in China, said in a prepared statement that China’s interest in MEMS is growing and that the company expects to be well positioned to supply process and test tools.

IMT forms biosensor division


December 19, 2005

Dec. 19, 2005 — Innovative Micro Technology, a Santa Barbara, Calif., maker of MEMS devices, announced the formation of a division to develop new biosensor technologies using MEMS. The division’s initial aim is to develop resonating beam sensors in partnership with Professor Scott Manalis of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The company said the work will be funded by a $2 million grant awarded by the Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies, a partnership among universities, industrial partners and the Army. The three-year project will focus on detecting pathogens at extremely high sensitivities for food safety applications.

U.S. Genomics names Canepa CEO


December 16, 2005

Dec. 16, 2005 — U.S. Genomics, a developer of single molecule analysis technologies for life science and biodefense applications, announced that John Canepa has been promoted to president, chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors.

Canepa originally joined U.S. Genomics as chief financial officer. During his tenure as CFO, Canepa saw the company through the development and launch of its Trilogy 2020 platform and Direct miRNA assays and through two phases of a multi-million-dollar biodefense contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Prior to joining U.S. Genomics, Canepa served as vice president, finance & administration, and chief financial officer of Winphoria Networks Inc., a venture capital-backed telecommunications company.

Dec. 16, 2005 — Tegal Corp. (Nasdaq:TGAL), a designer and manufacturer of plasma etch and deposition systems used in the production of integrated circuits and nanotechnology devices, announced the sale of several 900 and 980ACS plasma etch systems to four different customers in the U.S. and Europe. The company said the total value of the orders was approximately $1.5 million.

Tegal says more than 1,500 of the 900 Series systems have been installed worldwide. They are used for etching a variety of films used to manufacture MEMS, silicon ICs, telecommunications and optoelectronics devices, flat panel displays and thin film magnetic heads.

Dec. 15, 2005 — Hymite, a manufacturer of silicon-based packaging products for MEMS and electronic devices, announced the availability of its HyCap S — QFN/SON, a packaging product that offers a small, hermetic MEMS and IC package that is conformant with standard specifications for high volume applications.

The company said its silicon encapsulation technology enables manufacturers in markets like handheld devices to integrate MEMS with electronic components and passives into one compact package, shortening development cycles and cutting fabrication time and cost.