Avinger and PDL BioPharma close structured financing and royalty transaction

Avinger, Inc. and PDL BioPharma, Inc. (PDL) (NASDAQ: PDLI) announced today the closing of a structured financing and royalty transaction on April 18, 2013, in which PDL will provide Avinger with up to $40 million of mezzanine financing. PDL is providing $20 million at closing and up to an additional $20 million upon achievement of certain future revenue milestones. In exchange, PDL will receive interest on the principal amount outstanding and a low, single-digit royalty on Avinger's revenues through April 2018. The funds will be used to support the continued commercialization of Avinger's lumivascular technologies, which currently consist of the Ocelot family of products and Lightbox, and further development of Pantheris™, the company's next-generation lumivascular atherectomy device. Lumivascular procedures employ a catheter system that incorporates light-based, radiation-free, intravascular imaging technology within the actual interventional device. This provides physicians with live, real-time, video-rate images of the inside of an artery during treatment, offering a variety of benefits for patients, physicians and hospitals.

“Our thorough diligence confirmed that he and the Avinger team continue to revolutionize the total occlusion and atherectomy space. We are excited to support their efforts.”

Founded and led by the visionary cardiologist and medical device entrepreneur Dr. John Simpson, Avinger develops and markets interventional devices incorporating intravascular imaging, and is a pioneer of the lumivascular approach to treating peripheral artery disease (PAD). PAD is an under-recognized epidemic that affects between eight and 12 million adults in the U.S. and 30 million people globally, and causes upwards of 150,000 leg amputations a year.

"This financing provides us with the critical resources to continue our mission to radically improve the treatment of vascular disease," said Dr. Simpson. "We're pleased to have partnered with PDL in order to raise this capital without diluting existing shareholders, something we find very valuable."

"We are extremely impressed with the depth and breadth of experience in Dr. Simpson and his team," said John P. McLaughlin, president and chief executive officer of PDL. "Our thorough diligence confirmed that he and the Avinger team continue to revolutionize the total occlusion and atherectomy space. We are excited to support their efforts."