Business
Spectral increases private placement financing to $19.5 million
Spectral increases private placement financing to $19.5 million
About this update from Spectral Medical Inc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nFeb. 3, 2010 (Canada NewsWire Group) -- TORONTO, Feb. 3 /CNW/ -- Spectral Diagnostics Inc. (TSX:SDI), a company developing products for the treatment of sepsis, today announced that it has increased its previously announced brokered private placement by an additional $5.5 million, bringing the total amount to be raised to $19.5 million (the \"Financing\"). The net proceeds of the Financing will be used to advance Toraymyxin(TM), a treatment for severe sepsis, towards regulatory approval and commercialization in the United States.\"This additional funding demonstrates the strong interest and support we were able to attract from new and existing investors based on the potential of the Toraymyxin(TM) therapy,\" said Mr. Anthony Businskas, Executive Vice-President and CFO of Spectral. \"With the completion of this financing, we will have sufficient funds to advance Toraymyxin(TM), combined with our EAA(TM) diagnostic, into the pivotal trial in the US, while retaining significant commercial opportunity for our shareholders.\"About Toraymyxin(TM), Endotoxin and SepsisSpectral's Endotoxin Activity Assay (EAA(TM)) is the only FDA cleared assay for the measurement of endotoxin in the bloodstream. Toraymyxin(TM) is a therapeutic hemoperfusion device that removes endotoxin from the bloodstream. The anticipated US pivotal trial will use Spectral's EAA(TM) to identify patients with severe sepsis who have elevated endotoxin in the blood and will most likely benefit from treatment with Toraymyxin(TM).Sepsis affects approximately 750,000 patients in the US each year. It accounts for approximately 1 in 10 ICU admissions at an annual cost to the US healthcare system of $17 billion. Sepsis is the 10th most common cause of death in the US, ahead of acute heart attacks and breast cancer.Results of a randomized controlled trial (the EUPHAS trial) were recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA. 2009; Vol. 301 No. 23, 2445-2452). The results demonstrated that Toraymyxin(TM) absorbs endotoxin from the bloodstream, and when added to conventional therapy, significantly improved hemodynamics and organ dysfunction, and reduced 28-day mortality in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock in comparison to those patients in the conventional therapy group.Terms of the FinancingUnder the terms of the Financing, the C...