Abeona Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: ABEO), a fully-integrated leader in gene and cell therapy, today announced the closing of its underwritten public offering, with a gross offering size of approximately $103.5 million, which includes the full exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase 5,400,000 additional shares of common stock, at a public offering price of $2.50 per share. In addition, as part of the offering, Abeona sold to Great Point Partners ("GPP"), an existing investor, pre-funded warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 9,017,055 shares of common stock at a purchase price of $2.4999 per pre-funded warrant, which equals the public offering price per share of the common stock less the $0.0001 per share exercise price of each pre-funded warrant.
The Company has granted to affiliates of GPP the right to nominate two Board members to Abeona's Board of Directors, including a new Executive Chairman, due to GPP's considerable investment in the transaction. As a result, Steven H. Rouhandeh will step down as Executive Chairman and will retain a seat on the Board, while Mark J. Alvino and Richard Van Duyne will exit the Board. These changes will be effective upon the Board's qualification and election of GPP's nominees. Such replacement members will be independent of GPP.
"Today's event strengthens our financial position, providing cash runway into 2021 and resources that will allow us to fund continued clinical development of pipeline products, including the initiation and enrollment of the EB-101 pivotal Phase 3 VIITALTM study, and achieve critical near-term milestones," said João Siffert, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Abeona. "On behalf of the Board and all Abeona employees, I am grateful to our outgoing members for their service and dedication to the company, and particularly to Steven, who has served as Chairman of our Board of Directors for a number of years. Finally, I would like to thank our shareholders and new investors for their ongoing support and confidence in our pipeline and the Abeona team."
"We are excited to lead this recapitalization of Abeona," said David Kroin, Managing Director of Great Point Partners. "The Company is one of the world leaders in gene therapy technology, developing products using retrovirus, adeno-associated viruses and next generation capsids with potentially improved tropism profiles for a variety of devastating diseases. This funding greatly enhances Abeona's financial position, and we believe it can now reach its full potential, as other gene therapy companies in which Great Point Partners has invested have been able to do. We intend to recruit the highest caliber people to guide the Company at the Board level in order to unlock the potential of a fully functioning manufacturing facility in Cleveland, Ohio, a late stage pivotal program in Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa that has BreakThrough and RMAT Designations from the FDA, a pipeline of exciting neurology programs, and a wonderful team of professionals."
Concurrently, the Company announced that its review of strategic options announced on September 3, 2019 has been completed. The Board of Directors concluded that it is in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders to develop its pipeline products independently, and with the additional funding and planned leadership nominations announced today. While the Board determined that this pathway was the best course of action to advance the Company's mission and maximize stakeholder value, it was not due to a lack of interested partners, and Abeona continues to entertain strategic alternatives consistent with standard industry practices.
Jefferies LLC and SVB Leerink LLC acted as joint book-running managers and underwriters for the offering.
The securities described above were offered pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-224867) that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on May 11, 2018 and amended on June 1, 2018, and that was declared effective by the SEC on June 7, 2018. The offering was made only by means of the written prospectus and prospectus supplement that form a part of the registration statement. The preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus that form a part of the regist...
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