AVI BioPharma Completes $22 Million Private Financing.Business Editors, Health/Medical Writers PORTLAND, Ore.--(BW HealthWire)--March 26, 2002 AVI BioPharma Inc. (Nasdaq:AVII) (Nasdaq:AVIIW) (Nasdaq:AVIIZ) announced today that the company has closed a private equity financing Equity Financing The act of raising money for company activities by selling common or preferred stock to individual or institutional investors. In return for the money paid, shareholders receive ownership interests in the corporation. for approximately $22 million with several institutional investors. AVI (Audio Video Interleaved) A Windows multimedia video format from Microsoft. It interleaves standard waveform audio and digital video frames (bitmaps) to provide reduced animation at 15 fps at 160x120x8 resolution. Audio is 11,025Hz, 8-bit samples. sold approximately 2.94 million shares of common stock at $7.50 per share, representing a discount of approximately 10 percent to Monday's closing price. Investors also received a warrant for the purchase of approximately 585,000 common shares for $10.50 per share. UBS UBS Union Bank of Switzerland UBS United Bible Societies UBS United Blood Services UBS United Buying Service UBS Used Bookstore UBS University Business Services UBS Universal Building Society (UK) UBS Ulaanbaatar Broadcasting System Warburg acted as the exclusive placement agent on the transaction. The proceeds of the financing will be used to fund AVI's ongoing clinical trials and operations. AVI has two technologies in clinical trials, cancer immunotherapy and NEUGENE(R) antisense antisense, DNA or RNA manipulated in a laboratory so that its components (nucleotides) form a complementary copy of normal, or "sense," messenger RNA (mRNA; see nucleic acid). technology, which are both focused in applications for the treatment of life-threatening diseases. Initial applications in cancer and cardiovascular restenosis are currently in later-stage clinical trials. "We are pleased to complete this financing in an admittedly difficult market," said Denis Denis, king of Portugal: see Diniz. R. Burger, Ph.D., AVI's chief executive officer. "In addition to securing another year of cash for the company, we have significantly broadened our exposure to important institutional investors going forward. This broadened exposure will serve us well as our proprietary technologies continue to prove themselves in the lab and the clinic." About AVI BioPharma AVI BioPharma develops therapeutic products for the treatment of life-threatening diseases using two technology platforms: NEUGENE antisense drugs and cancer immunotherapy. Its lead cancer agent, AVICINE(R), a therapeutic cancer vaccine, has completed three Phase II trials in colorectal and pancreatic cancer and is in a Phase III pivotal trial in colorectal cancer. The first application of its NEUGENE compounds, Resten-NG(TM), is designed to treat cancer, cardiovascular restenosis and other cell proliferation disorders by inhibiting the production of a cellular transcription factor, the oncogene oncogene Gene that can cause cancer. It is a sequence of DNA that has been altered or mutated from its original form, the proto-oncogene (see mutation). Proto-oncogenes promote the specialization and division of normal cells. c-myc. It is currently in Phase II trials for restenosis and in Phase I/II trials for cancer and polycystic kidney disease Polycystic Kidney Disease Definition Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is one of the most common of all life-threatening human genetic disorders. . More information about AVI is available on the Company's Web site at http://www.avibio.com/. "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995: The statements that are not historical facts contained in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the results of research and development efforts, the results of preclinical and clinical testing, the effect of regulation by the FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. and other agencies, the impact of competitive products, product development, commercialization and technological difficulties, and other risks detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. |
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