Mesh coated stent developer InspireMD Ltd. has completed its reverse merger with a stock market shell on the Over the Counter Bulletin Board in New York, raising $9.7 million at a company value of $100 million, after money. Trading in the shares will begin in a few days under the ticker "NSPR".
InspireMD merged with Saguaro Resources Inc., a company with no business activity or debts. InspireMD shareholders will own 80% of the company when the deal is completed. After the merger, InspireMD held a private placement, managed by Palladium Capital Advisors LLC. InspireMD said that investors included specialty and general US funds.
InspireMD had $4.9 million in sales in 2010, 44% more than in 2009, its first year of sales. Net loss rose 26% to $3.4 million in 2010. At the end of 2010, the company had $900,000 in cash and cash equivalents.
In addition to InspireMD's founders - CEO Ofir Paz and president Dr. Asher Holzer - the company's main shareholders include Yuli Ofer through a personal investment (not through Ofer Hi Tech Ltd.).
InspireMD's MGuard is based on a stent which is wrapped with an expandable, MicroNet mesh made of a single knitted PET fiber that it is attached only to the proximal and distal edges of the stent
Most of InspireMD's sales are currently in Europe. It will use proceeds from the IPO to complete controlled clinical trials of its MGuard stent. The trial will include 400 patients, and the company expects to publish the results in a year. The second, longer, trial will be used to apply to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for marketing certification under a Premarket Approval (PMA) protocol. Paz believes that the amount raised in the IPO will suffice for both procedures.
InspireMD has conducted five trials of the MGuard to date, which found that the stent halved the risk of severe cardiology events within two years compared with current stents.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 11, 2011
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