Medical device maker Halt Medical Inc. yesterday filed for chapter 11 protection after a key investor pulled the plug on a financing deal the company relied on to manage its operations, the Wall Street Journal reported. The California-based Halt developed a device called Acessa, which earned U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in 2012 to treat uterine fibroids. The company says that the treatment doesn’t require hysterectomy, or removal of the uterus, as is often prescribed, and is an outpatient procedure. The device is also approved in Europe, Canada, Mexico and Israel and has been used more than 1,500 times since its FDA approval, Halt said. Sales of the device totaled $1.1 million last year and $875,000 in 2015. But bringing a medical device to market and through a government-approval process is a costly endeavor and, as of Wednesday, the company said it has $156.3 million in liabilities. Virtually all of it, $155.7 million, is owed to bondholders. Much of that bond debt is held by American Capital Ltd., which has provided Halt financing since 2007. However, in January American Capital was acquired by private-equity firm Ares Capital Corp. Shortly after the acquisition, American Capital said that it would no longer be lending to Halt, the company said in court documents. Read more. (Subscription required.)
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