IMNR NEWS!!!!!!!
The Immune Response Corporation Receives $9.9 Million from Exercise of First Tranche of Warrants; Raising Aggregate $17.9 Million from 2006 Financing
Aug 10, 2006 07:00:31 (ET)
CARLSBAD, Calif., Aug 10, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Immune Response Corporation (IMNR, Trade ), an immuno-pharmaceutical company developing products to treat autoimmune and infectious diseases, announced it has raised $9.9 million in gross proceeds from investors exercising 495,552,100 warrants from the first tranche warrants that were issued in the Company's March 2006 private placement financing.
The total gross proceeds include an investment of $250,000 by Qubit, LLC, an affiliate of the Company's largest stockholder and director, Kevin Kimberlin, to exercise 12,500,000 warrants that were issued in conjunction with a February 2006 transaction related to the March 2006 financing.
In the March financing, the Company issued $8.0 million of secured notes convertible into 400,000,000 shares of common stock at $0.02 per share, accruing interest at 8% per year and maturing on January 1, 2008. Investors also received warrants to purchase an aggregate of 1,200,000,000 shares of common stock at $0.02 per share. The warrants were divided into two 600,000,000 warrant tranches, each generating a potential $12 million in gross proceeds.
The second tranche of warrants (600,000,000) will become exercisable October 16, 2006, and will expire on November 30, 2006. If fully exercised, the second tranche would generate an additional $12 million in gross proceeds for the Company.
Of the $8.0 million of secured notes, the holders have to date converted approximately $1.7 million into common stock.
The Registration Statement for the resale of common stock underlying the convertible notes and warrants issued in the Company's March 2006 private placement financing was declared effective June 13, 2006 by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"We are gratified that investors participating in the private financing showed support for the Company by exercising their warrants," said Michael K. Green, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. "This funding will allow the Company to continue moving forward on schedule and initiate Phase II clinical trials for multiple sclerosis (MS) this fall. The funding also allows us to continue our enrollment and initiation of Phase II clinical trials of our investigational HIV products. We are very pleased with the progress of our Phase II trials, financing strategies and the positive developments at our vaccine manufacturing facility in King of Prussia, PA."
About The Immune Response Corporation
The Immune Response Corporation (IMNR, Trade ) is an immuno-pharmaceutical company focused on developing products to treat autoimmune and infectious diseases. The Company's lead immune-based therapeutic product candidates are NeuroVax(TM) for the treatment of MS and IR103 for the treatment of HIV infection. Both of these therapies are in Phase II clinical development and are designed to stimulate pathogen-specific immune responses aimed at slowing or halting the rate of disease progression.
NeuroVax(TM), which is based on the Company's patented T-cell receptor (TCR) peptide technology, has shown potential clinical value in the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). NeuroVax(TM) has been shown to stimulate strong, disease-specific cell-mediated immunity in nearly all patients treated and appears to work by enhancing levels of FOXP3+ Treg cells that are able to down regulate the activity of pathogenic T-cells that cause MS. Increasing scientific findings have associated diminished levels of FOXP3+ Treg cell responses with the pathogenesis and progression of MS and other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis and Crohn's disease. In addition to MS, the Company has open Investigational New Drug Applications (IND) with the FDA for clinical evaluation of TCR peptide-based immune-based therapies for RA and psoriasis.
IR103 is based on the Company's patented, whole-inactivated virus technology, co-invented by Dr. Jonas Salk and indicated to be safe and immunogenic in extensive clinical studies of REMUNE(R), the Company's first generation HIV product candidate. IR103 is a more potent formulation that combines its whole-inactivated antigen with a synthetic Toll-like receptor (TLR-9) agonist to create enhanced HIV-specific immune responses. The Company is currently testing IR103 in two Phase II clinical studies as a first-line treatment for drug-naive HIV-infected individuals not yet eligible for antiretroviral therapy according to current medical guidelines.
NeuroVax(TM) and IR103 are in clinical development by The Immune Response Corporation and are not approved by any regulatory agencies in any country at this time. Please visit The Immune Response Corporation at www.imnr.com .
This news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often signaled by forms of words such as should, could, will, might, plan, projection, forecast, expect, guidance, potential and developing. Actual results could vary materially from those expected due to a variety of risk factors, including whether the Company will continue as a going concern and successfully raise proceeds from financing activities sufficient to fund operations and additional clinical trials of NeuroVax(TM) or IR103, the uncertainty of successful completion of any such clinical trials, the fact that the Company has not succeeded in commercializing any drug, the risk that NeuroVax(TM) or IR103 might not prove to be effective as either a therapeutic or preventive vaccine, whether future trials will be conducted and whether the results of such trials will coincide with the results of NeuroVax(TM) or IR103 in preclinical trials and/or earlier clinical trials. A more extensive set of risks is set forth in The Immune Response Corporation's SEC filings including, but not limited to, its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005, and its subsequent Quarterly Reports filed on Form 10-Q. The Company undertakes no obligation to update the results of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after today or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
REMUNE(R) is a registered trademark of The Immune Response Corporation. NeuroVax(TM) is a trademark of The Immune Response Corporation
