MacroChem Announces $10.1 Million Private Placement
2001-07-13 16:06 (New York)
Company will host webcast conference call from 9:30AM to 10:30 AM EDT Monday,
July 16
Dial 888-868-9083 to ask questions, calleci.com
to listen
LEXINGTON, Mass., July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- MacroChem Corporation
(Nasdaq: MCHM), a specialized pharmaceutical company, announced today that it
raised $10.1 million in gross proceeds from a private placement of its
securities to institutional investors.
MacroChem issued 1,566,047 shares of common stock at $6.48. The investors
also received five-year warrants to purchase 313,209 shares of the company's
common stock at $8.995 per share. MacroChem may call the warrants should the
closing price of its stock reach $17.990 for 15 consecutive trading days. The
company has agreed to file a registration statement on Form S-3 for the common
stock sold and the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants.
Mr. Palmisano and the company's chief financial officer will respond to
questions in a webcast conference call scheduled for 9:30AM to 10:30 AM EDT
Monday, July 16.
MacroChem specializes in formulating drugs that address large and unmet
medical needs. The company develops proprietary drugs based on its patented
absorption-enhancement technology, SEPA(R). SEPA temporarily neutralizes the
absorption-barrier effect of the outer lipid layer of mammal skin, known as
the stratum corneum. MacroChem recently completed a pivotal Phase III
clinical trial for Topiglan(R), a topical treatment for erectile dysfunction
with potential to treat the industrial world's more than 70 million men who
cannot or will not take Viagra(R), including those who have underlying heart
disease or the medications required to treat heart disease.
CEO cites expected Topiglan(R) licensing discussions as a reason for
financing
"This financing strengthens our position in negotiating with prospective
Topiglan(R) marketing partners when the results of our clinical trial are
available later this year," Mr. Palmisano said.
"This funding, combined with our current resources, provides us with the
flexibility to finance the second Phase III trial, and to submit an NDA either
in a partnership with a major pharmaceutical company, or on our own before
consummating a partnership or licensing deal," Mr. Palmisano explained.
"We believe this flexibility will allow us to maximize shareholder value,"
he said. "We executed this private placement now because the terms were
favorable, and the timing opportunistic, given our expected Topiglan(R)
negotiations," he said.
"At an appropriate point in the future, we are prepared to increase our
financial resources to meet the opportunities posed not only by Topiglan(R),
but also, by other investigational drugs in our pipeline," Mr. Palmisano said.
"At our recent annual meeting, I explained to shareholders that we are
firmly committed to building MacroChem into a strong partner, capable of not
only developing innovative medications for hard-to-treat patients, but also,
forming true partnerships with companies capable of marketing those products,"
Mr. Palmisano said.
Deal has favorable terms, CFO Patriacca says
According to MacroChem's vice president and chief financial officer,
Bernard Patriacca, the terms of the private placement compare well with
similar financings by comparable pharmaceutical companies between September
2000 and June 2001.
"The effect of this straightforward transaction on MacroChem's
capitalization is very clear," Mr. Patriacca said. "No additional shares will
be issued based on post-closing changes in the market price of the company's
stock."
"We believe that the improvement in terms from our October 2000 private
placement reflects the market's increased confidence in our company and its
prospects," Mr. Patriacca said.
Details of Monday conference call
To access the conference call via telephone, please dial 888-868-9083
(domestic callers) or 973-633-1010 (international callers).
To access the digital replay, (available through July 27, 2001) via phone,
please dial 973-341-3080 (PIN# 2711744)
To access the call via the World Wide Web, type
calleci.com into the URL field of your Web
browser, and hit "enter." Then scroll to MACROCHEM conference call. If your
computer does not have Windows Media Player, you can download without charge
audio player programs from links displayed on the Calleci.com site.
To the extent that this press release discusses matters relating to the
development of future products, these are forward-looking statements and are
subject to various risk factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. The
relevant risk factors are set forth in MacroChem's annual report on Form 10-K
as filed with the SEC ad include, without limitation, risks regarding product
development, clinical trials, dependence on third parties for development and
licensing arrangements, and risks involving regulatory approval of products,
and patents and licenses.
Visit our web site at: macrochem.com or mchm.com
Mike Seely of Investor Access Inc., 203-353-8200
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