Zila to pocket $40 million from financing; MonoGen secures C$18.53 million from stock offering

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Nov. 13 - Heading up private placement activity to kick off the week was a $40 million financing from Zila, Inc.

The offering, comprised of stock and convertible notes, sent the company's stock down 7 cents, or 3.52%, to end at $1.92 (Nasdaq: ZILA).

"This financing is a critical step toward transforming Zila into a dominant company in the early detection of oral cancer," said Douglas Burkett, the company's chief executive officer, in a statement released late Monday. "The proceeds will enable us to complete our planned acquisition of a dental products company on or about Nov. 28, while providing us a strong balance sheet to complete the OraTest regulatory effort and grow our ViziLite Plus business.

"I am appreciative of the strong participation by many of our existing institutional shareholders as well as the support of new investors."

The company secured agreements from mostly existing accredited investors for 9.1 million shares at $1.75 each, a $12,075,000 short-term unsecured convertible note and a $12 million senior secured convertible note.

The unsecured note is due May 2007, bears interest at 12% annually and is convertible at $2.21 each.

The senior secured convertible note bears interest at 6% annually, matures in three years and is convertible at $2.20 each.

The investors will receive, for all of the securities, warrants for a total of 7.31 million shares, all exercisable at $2.21 each through Nov. 9, 2011. The investors may receive warrants for another 3.1 million shares upon shareholder approval.

Proceeds from the shares will be used for the completion of an acquisition and for working capital.

Phoenix-based Zila is a cancer diagnostic company focused on developing technologies to detect oral cancer.

MonoGen to raise C$18.5 million

In other biotech news, MonoGen, Inc. announced its plans to seal an C$18,535,000 private placement of stock.

The non-brokered offering includes 33.7 million shares at C$0.55 apiece. The price per share is a 29.5% discount to the company's C$0.78 closing stock price on Friday.

The company's stock edged up 2 cents on Monday to close at C$0.80 (Toronto: MOG).

The deal is expected to close Tuesday.

Also, MonoGen said it plans to complete a stock consolidation in the range of 1-for-10 to 1-for-15 before Sept. 30, 2007.

Proceeds from the financing will be used to accelerate the commercialization of the company's MonoPrep product used to collect samples during Pap tests for cervical cancer and to develop new products.

Based in Montreal, MonoGen is a medical device company focused on products to collect samples for medical testing.

RemoteMDx raises $6 million

In other PIPE news, RemoteMDx, Inc. watched its stock drop by more than 9.7% to kick off the week after the tech company pocketed $6 million from a private placement of its stock with Vatas Holding GmbH.

The stock gave up 20 cents to end the session at $1.85 (OTCBB: RMDX).

After the offering was announced Monday morning, volume of RemoteMDx shares traded Monday was elevated a bit with 667,175 shares traded compared with the average 499,152 shares.

In the placement, the company sold 3 million shares to Vatas. The investor has the option buy up to another 7 million shares at the same price and may fund another financing for up to $30 million in the next six months.

Proceeds will be used to deploy 20,000 units of the company's security and tracking products by the end of the year.

"The majority of the 20,000 units have not been promised to our customers until early in the first quarter of 2007, we want to stay ahead of the ever-growing order demand," said RemoteMDx president Jim Dalton in a news release.

"The cash infusion allows the company to set up, through its contract manufacturer, additional lines in Calgary and Toronto. The financial commitment of Vatas will accelerate production of 20,000 units that will generate recurring monitoring revenues of $8.00 per day per unit for annualized revenues in excess of $50 million. In addition, it will allow the company to meet its growth objectives for 2007 domestically and internationally."

Chief financial officer Michael Acton did not return calls for additional comment on the offering by press time Monday.

Based in Sandy, Utah, RemoteMDx develops wireless technologies used by law enforcement agencies to monitor neighborhoods. The company also produces wireless monitoring devices used by the elderly in the event they have a medical emergency.

HQ's $5 million deal

Elsewhere, HQ Sustainable Maritime Industries, Inc. wrapped a private placement of convertible promissory notes for $5 million.

The notes were sold to The Tail Wind Fund Ltd. and Solomon Strategic Holdings, Inc.

The 6.5% notes are due Nov. 1, 2009 and are convertible into common shares at $0.25 each.

The investors received warrants for 4 million shares, exercisable at $0.25 each for five years.

Proceeds from the deal will be used to construct a 100,000-ton toxin-free feed plant.

"The potential collapse of ocean fisheries, if realized, is a terrible event if current practices go unchecked," said HQ CEO Norbert Sporns in a statement. Expanding HQ's toxin-free aquaculture is important to relieve the pressure on our oceans. We believe that the construction of this feed mill brings strong growth synergies with the other components of HQ's business [and] is accretive to our shareholders and important in the fight to save our oceans."

On Monday, the company's stock dipped by a penny to close at $0.26 (OTCBB: HQSM).

Seattle-based HQ Sustainable Maritime develops nutraceuticals used as fish feed.

Miramar prices offering

Moving to the Canadian resources market, Miramar Mining Corp. negotiated a C$15,000,027 private placement of flow-through shares.

The company intends to sell up to 2,040,820 shares at C$7.35 each, a 22.7% premium to the company's C$5.99 closing stock price on Friday.

The company released the terms on the deal Monday morning, and by the end of the day, the stock had dropped 25 cents, or 4.17%, to close at C$5.74 (Toronto: MAE).

The deal, which is being offered through an unnamed Canadian underwriter, is set to close Nov. 29.

Proceeds will be used for the company's 2007 work program at its Hope Bay project, including drilling and exploration.

Located in Vancouver, B.C., Miramar is a gold exploration company focused on the Hope Bay project in Nunavut.

Metanor stock climbs 5.5%

In other gold news, after wrapping the first tranche of a private placement for C$2,064,538 on Friday, Metanor Resources Inc. watched its stock gain 5.45% on Monday.

The stock climbed 3 cents to end the day at C$0.58 (TSX Venture: MTO). On Monday, when the deal closed, the stock remained unchanged at C$0.55.

In the placement, the company issued units of one share and one half-share warrant at C$0.50 each, a 9% discount to the company's C$0.55 closing stock price on Thursday.

The whole warrants in the deal are exercisable at C$0.55 each.

The company plans to sell another 500,000 units in the offering, which is set to close Thursday.

Val-d'Or, Quebec-based Metanor is a gold exploration company.

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