TARPON SPRINGS, FL--(Marketwired - August 12, 2013) - Matinas BioPharma Holdings, Inc., an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of omega-3 fatty acid-based prescription therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular conditions, announced today the closing of a $15.0 million private placement financing. Aegis Capital Corp. acted as the exclusive Placement Agent in this Offering.
Matinas BioPharma raised gross proceeds of $15.0 million, of which $6.0 million represent an over-allotment, from a significant number of accredited investors through the sale of an aggregate of 15 million shares of its common stock and warrants to purchase an additional 7.5 million shares of the Company's common stock, at a price of $1.00 for one share and one-half a warrant. The warrants are exercisable at $2.00 per share of common stock and have a five-year term, subject to the Company's right to call the warrants under certain conditions including the trading of its common stock at a price of $5.00 or more for 20 consecutive trading days. If all of the investor warrants as well as 5.5 million of other outstanding warrants were to be exercised because of a call or otherwise, Matinas BioPharma could realize additional gross proceeds of $26 million to fund its product development program.
Herbert Conrad, Matinas BioPharma's Chairman of the Board, commented, "We are very pleased to have consummated this financing and with the tremendous interest from investors in Matinas BioPharma. We have assembled a highly-experienced management team with strong pharmaceutical development and commercialization expertise and a track record of developing intellectual property specifically in the omega-3 space."
Roelof Rongen, Matinas BioPharma's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "The closing of this financing provides us the opportunity to focus our team's efforts on aggressively advancing our lead product candidate, MAT9001. We have leveraged our deep scientific and development experience in the omega-3 area to design and optimize MAT9001 for the treatment of severe hypertriglyceridemia and mixed dyslipidemia (elevated levels of both triglycerides and cholesterol). Therefore, we believe our novel product will ultimately be successful in penetrating a large, well established and growing market by addressing what we believe is currently a significant unmet medical need."
About MAT9001
Matinas BioPharma is developing MAT9001 for therapeutic applications, with severe hypertriglyceridemia (TG > 500 mg/dL) and mixed dyslipidemia (TG 200-499 mg/d with concomitant statin therapy) as the lead indications. Based on promising early data, the Company is preparing to file an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and conduct a human study in early 2014. Assuming positive data from this study, Matinas BioPharma anticipates commencing the first of its pivotal Phase 3 registration studies in the first half of 2014. The Company believes that the composition of MAT9001 represents a significantly differentiated lipid profile, providing unique clinical benefits.