Thanks for the alert, Mariah. Re PRXX, sure does seem like odd trading given what looks like a quite-good PR today (see below)...
Vagabond
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PROPOSED EQUITY INVESTMENT BY ROTHSCHILD BIOSCIENCE MANAGERS - A DIVISION OF THE GLOBAL ROTHSCHILD GROUP
CANBERRA, Australia, and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jul 9, 1999 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- -- Praxis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: PRXX) is extremely pleased to announce it intends to accept an offer of an equity investment from a fund advised by Rothschild Bioscience Managers Limited (RBML), a subsidiary of Rothschild Asset Management of the global Rothschild group, subject to Praxis shareholder approval, and approval by the RBML board. The company has seta record date as of the close of business of July 8, 1999 at its Annual General Meeting August 10, 1999 to approve the agreement.
The Rothschild Group The Rothschild group worldwide ranks among the world's leading merchant banking organizations. As business has become increasingly international, the Rothschild group has expanded beyond Europe to meet the more diverse needs of its clients. It has subsidiaries and affiliates in more than 20 countries and employs more than 2,000 people. In Australia, Rothschild Australia Asset Management Limited has nearly $8 billion under management. It has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, and also works closely with other Rothschild asset management companies, especially in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. Rothschild & Sons (Australia) Limited offers a full range of merchant banking services, and has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. A unittrust managed by (RBML) has $42.5 million for investment in the Australian bioscience sector. Rothschild has been selected on the basis of its strong international links, specialized technological expertise and established core management team. Coupled with an established global network of alliances and expertise, it provides the management team with a strong internationalpresence.
Rothschild has been involved in the start-up financing of many successful biotechnology ventures including Amgen Inc., Chiron Corp., Genentech Inc., Genzyme Corp. and Applied Biosystems. Less advanced companies being funded currently include SUGEN Inc., Cell Therapeutics Inc., Ribozyme, Centocor Inc., Eos Biotechnology, Inflazyme and Creative Biomolecules Inc.
Terms of the Equity Investment RBML will provide $2,000,000 Aust. (approx. 1.4 million US) for approximately 18 months of therapeutic agent development through an investment in Praxis Pharmaceuticals Ltd., which is presently a wholly owned subsidiary of Praxis Inc. Praxis Inc. will retain 35% equity in the Australian subsidiary, which will be dedicated to the development of carbohydrate-based anti-inflammatory agents, which are to be registered as therapeutics. Praxis Inc. will retain the rights to all cosmetic and complementary medicine applications existing and under development and all drugs developed outside the area of carbohydrate-based anti-inflammatory agents. Assuming successful completion of progress milestones, a further round of funding is anticipated, in the order of $3,000,000-$4,500,000 Aust. (approx. $2-3 million US) to expand the clinical trial program after approximately 18 months.
Complete details of the terms of the agreement will be sent to shareholders for the Annual General Meeting. A definitive final agreement will be signed if the Praxis Shareholders approve of the deal. The agreement is subject to a final assessment by Rothschild of the Praxis patent situation, which is expected to be completed by mid-July, 1999. The company does not forsee any problems in this regard and has therefore begun the process to receive shareholder approval.
In Summary The Directors of Praxis Pharmaceuticals are extremely pleased with the terms of the proposed agreement. This will allow the company to further develop its core anti-inflammatories with a proven financial partner and will also allow the company to expand into other areas of development. This will further solidify the company's efforts to get a full Nasdaq listing.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Dr. Brett Charlton
President, Director
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This news release contains forward-looking statements. Allsuch forward-looking statements are, by necessity, only estimates of future results and actual results achieved by Praxis may differ materially from these statements due to a number of factors. Praxis assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting such statements. You should independently investigate and fully understand all risks before making investment decisions.
SOURCE Praxis Pharmaceuticals Inc. |
