Opko Health Inc (OPK)

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MicroCap Daily on MabVax Private Placement Led by OPKO Health

All Hail to MABVAX THERAPEUTICS (OTCMKTS:MBVX)

MicroCap Daily
BY DAVE YOUNG ON APRIL 6, 2015

MABVAX THERAPEUTICS (OTCMKTS:MBVX) is a fascinating story developing in small caps that has a lot of Investors really excited. The stock has transformed in recent days from illiquid to one of the top most traded stocks on the entire bb exchange.

All the excitement on MBVX is about billionaire Dr. Phillip Frost $11.6 million investment in the Company; the man is a self-made billionaire with a keen eye on bb’s with big futures (check out COCP and DRNE) and he regularly receives national media attention from the likes of Bloomberg, CNBC and Barron’s.

MABVAX THERAPEUTICS (OTCMKTS:MBVX) is a cancer immunotherapy company focused on the development of vaccine and antibody-based therapies to address unmet medical needs in the treatment of cancer.

MabVax has the exclusive license to the therapeutic vaccines from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. MabVax has two cancer vaccines targeting recurrent sarcoma and ovarian cancer in proof of concept Phase II multi-center clinical trials, and a vaccine targeting neuroblastoma ready for Phase II clinical development.

The Company takes a unique approach to identifying the elusive cancer antigen proteins that are effective in fighting cancer. This is the holy grail of cancer research and cancer fighting monoclonal antibodies such as the ones that MBVX is creating have been some of the most significant biotechnology products in the last 10 years generating billions of dollars in sales with products such as Herceptin, Rituxan, and Avastin.

MabVax’s lead product is a monoclonal antibody called 5B1 and all results coming back have been highly promising thus far. 5B1 was derived from a patient with stage IV breast cancer who was vaccinated in 2008 and has remained disease free for over 5 years now. MBVX is quickly moving 5B1 forward as an imaging agent, a naked antibody therapeutic, and an antibody drug conjugate.

Also important to note here is that Juno Therapeutics, an oncology giant trading at a $3.5 billion plus market valuation has been evaluating MabVax’s antibody library for potential use in novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells.

On April 6 MBVX announced it has closed on gross proceeds of approximately $11.6 million in a private placement led by OPKO Health, Inc. and Dr. Phillip Frost, CEO and Chairman of OPKO Health.

Pursuant to the Private Placement, MabVax issued a total of 15,486,001 units at $0.75 per unit for total gross proceeds of $11,614,501 before issuance costs of approximately $500,000. Each Unit consists of one share of common stock and a 30-month warrant to purchase one-half of one share of common stock (the “Warrant”). The Warrants are exercisable at $1.50 per each whole share of common stock. Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd. acted as an advisor on the transaction.

Mabvax CEO David Hansen said ”This financing will provide MabVax with funds to advance our pipeline of clinical products through several key milestones, and allow us to pursue additional preclinical research programs in our pipeline of which several are partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. We are proud to have OPKO Health and biotech investor and entrepreneur, Dr. Phillip Frost, lead the financing. Their input will be invaluable as MabVax advances its business plan.”

Dr. Phillip Frost said “The target for MabVax’s first novel human antibody addresses important medical problems in need of better therapeutic solutions. The early data for its HuMab 5B1 antibody are encouraging and MabVax has a pipeline of dozens of novel antibody leads on its discovery platform from which it may select promising candidates to develop through clinical trials.”

Currently trading at a $5 million market valuation MBVX might just be the most exciting opportunity in small caps today. The Company takes a unique approach to identifying the cancer antigens that are the holy grail of cancer research. Continued success of MBVX lead product 5B1 and current valuation or anywhere near it could be history. Dr. Phillip Frost $11.6 million investment is another huge vote of confidence.

Disclosure: we hold no position in MBVX either long or short and we have not been compensated for this article.