SANTA ANA, Calif., April 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NKGen Biotech, Inc. (Nasdaq: NKGN) ("NKGen" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative autologous, allogeneic, and CAR-NK natural killer cell therapeutics, today announced that it has closed $5 million in second lien convertible loan funding with a term of 30 months, augmenting approximately $4.75 in gross cash proceeds from prior 2024 funding to date. Outstanding or issuable securities that may deliver additional cash to the company over time, or on large share and volume moves, after their pending issue and/or registration, include over two million forward purchase shares and our expectation of over ten million warrants with a cash strike price set, or expected to be reset, at $2.00 per share.
"This $5 million in funding is a statement of confidence and support for NKGen, our team, and our story in a challenging market. This provides breathing room for us to execute our plans, continue to pursue larger funding opportunities with both financial and strategic investors, and capitalize on our outstanding structured securities upon registration of the underlying shares. It will help fund our clinical trials and operations, filing of our annual report on Form 10-K, and filing of an amended registration statement on Form S-1 soon thereafter. This will help us to achieve additional value-creating milestones across both our neurodegenerative and oncology clinical programs and repay certain bridge funding liabilities," said Paul Y. Song, MD, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NKGen Biotech.
Dr. Song continued, "We are intently focused on our upcoming Phase 2 Alzheimer's clinical trial and recently submitted an IND for Parkinson's disease while streamlining our resources for maximum efficiency. Accordingly, we have successfully reduced our monthly burn rate for operations and clinical trials by almost 50%. In addition, we have several catalysts expected this year including data readouts (both safety and cognitive) for the Phase 1 portion of our moderate Alzheimer's trial and the initiation of Phase 2."
