| July 11, 2003 |
| HEMISPHERX COMPLETES $ 5,500,000 PRIVATE PLACEMENT |
Second $ 5.5 Million Transaction in 4 Months to Accelerate Market Development and Additional Commercial Approvals
Philadelphia, PA, Friday, July 11, 2003: Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (AMEX: HEB) announced today that it completed an approximately $ 5,500,000 transaction through an offering of senior convertible debentures due July 31, 2005. The debentures may be convertible into Hemispherx common stock at a price equal to the average closing price of the shares over the last seven days. The closing price of the stock on July 10 was $ 2.21. The Company also grants warrants to purchase an amount of shares of common stock equal to 20% of the shares issuable upon conversion of the debentures. The warrants are exercisable at a 15% premium over the conversion price.
The funds, with the diligent help of Cardinal Securities, LLC acting as placement agent, were raised through Ramius Capital Group (www.ramius.com) and Angelo Gordon and Co. (www.angelogordon.com). The Company has completed an identical transaction with these two institutional investors in March of this year.
The net proceeds of this transaction will go toward the further development and finalization of its clinical program with the experimental agent Ampligen® and the commercial program of Alferon®, approved by the FDA for genital HPV and currently the only FDA approved natural interferon therapy. The funds also give momentum to meet the Company’s year 2003 targets, including the commercial launch of Alferon N Injection® for genital HPV, securing strategic partners for sales and distribution of the Alferon® program worldwide, securing further licensing arrangements for the Ampligen® program in Europe, completion of the Phase III clinical trial with the experimental compound Ampligen® in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) by year’s end, finalization of the regulatory strategy for a NDA filing, acceleration of patient enrollment in the ongoing Phase IIb clinical studies for HIV, as well as further development of the Company’s Bioterror National Security program and finalization of the regulatory filings and planning of clinical trials for SARS.
About Hemispherx
Hemispherx Biopharma, based in Philadelphia, is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the manufacture and clinical development of new drug entities for treatment of viral and immune-based chronic disorders. Its flagship products include Alferon and the experimental immunotherapeutics/antivirals Ampligen and Oragens. These novel proteins, approved for a category of STD infection, and experimental nucleic acids are being developed for globally important chronic viral diseases and disorders of the immune system including HPV, HIV, CFS and Hepatitis. Its platform technology includes large and small agent components for potential treatment of various chronic viral infections. Hemispherx has approximately 400 patents comprising its core intellectual property estate, a fully commercialized product (Alferon N) and GMP certified manufacturing facilities for its novel pharma products. The Company plans global clinical trials in the SARS disease arena where it has a proprietary position and the disease represents a major threat to human welfare. For more information please visit www.hemispherx.net
Contact:
Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc.,
Dianne Will, Investor Relations
(518) 398-6222, Fax: (518) 398-6223
HEB's Web Site: www.hemispherx.net
Information contained in this news release other than historical information, should be considered forward-looking and is subject to various risk factors and uncertainties. For instance, the strategies and operations of Hemispherx involve risk of competition, changing market conditions, change in laws and regulations affecting these industries and numerous other factors discussed in this release and in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any specifically referenced investigational drugs and associated technologies of the company (including AmpligenÒ and Oragensä) are experimental in nature and as such are not designated safe and effective by a regulatory authority for general use and are legally available only through clinical trials with the referenced disorders. The forward-looking statements represent the Company's judgment as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims, however, any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Clinical trials for other potential indications of the approved biologic AlferonÒ do not imply that the product will ever be specifically approved commercially for these other treatment indications including SARS. The Alferon® asset for overseas sales for a category of STD is currently being acquired by the Company as part of a multi-step purchase contract of inventory, intellectual property, commercial licenses and GMP approved facilities, which house the biological operations. |
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