CHICAGO, Oct. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ronin Trading,
LLC and SW Investment Management LLC (together with the other
participants in their solicitation, "Ronin" or "we"), collectively
the largest stockholder of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
("Peregrine" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: PPHM), with aggregate
beneficial ownership of approximately 9.6% of the Company's
outstanding shares of common stock, today issued the following
statement with respect to Peregrine.
We are glad to announce our additional nominations of
Richard (Rick) B. Hancock, a
+30-year biologic contract design and manufacturing organization
("CDMO") veteran, and Joel McComb,
an entrepreneur and +25-year veteran of life sciences companies,
for election to Peregrine's Board of Directors (the "Board") at the
Company's 2017 annual meeting of stockholders (the "2017 Annual
Meeting"). We believe Mr. Hancock's prior experience as the
President and CEO of Althea Technologies, Inc. ("Althea"), a large
molecule CDMO that was acquired by Ajinomoto Co., Inc. in 2013 for
$175 million, as well as his years of
cGMP manufacturing experience prior to Althea, make him well
qualified for the Board. We believe Mr. McComb's decades of
experience in senior roles at major life sciences companies and
deep understanding of the processes and equipment used for analysis
and production during biologic drug discovery will make him a
valuable addition to the Board. Messrs. Hancock and McComb's
impressive qualifications, which are discussed in greater detail
below, make them great additions to our previously announced slate
of nominees – James J. Egan,
Gregory P. Sargen, Brian W. Scanlan and Saiid Zarrabian.
We remain confident that stockholders are eager for a wholesale
change to the composition of the Board and executive leadership
regardless of the Company's eleventh-hour actions. It is apparent
to us that the long-standing incumbent non-employee directors,
Carlton M. Johnson Jr., David H. Pohl and Eric
S. Swartz, continue to place their interests ahead of the
Company and its stockholders, most recently by disclosing an
amended non-employee director compensation program that pays a much
smaller cash retainer; yet, it is not applicable to Messrs.
Johnson, Pohl and Swartz as they are expected to "transition to the
new non-employee director compensation program over a period of
time,"1 whatever that means. We reiterate our demand for
the Company to promptly hold the 2017 Annual Meeting so
stockholders have the opportunity to elect representatives capable
of representing stockholders' best interests. With the Company
having its slate of directors in place, what excuse is left now for
failing to call the 2017 Annual Meeting?
Richard (Rick) B. Hancock
has worked in the biologic CDMO industry for over 30 years in
various operational and executive roles, serving most recently as
President and CEO of Althea, a large molecule CDMO producing a wide
range of biologics, vaccines and parenteral products. Mr. Hancock
was Althea's CEO at the time it was purchased in 2013 for
$175 million by multi-billion dollar
Japanese chemicals company Ajinomoto Co., Inc. Prior to joining
Althea in 1998, he was the Sr. Director of Operations at The Immune
Response Corporation where he was responsible for manufacturing,
process development, QA and related functions. He began his biotech
career at Hybritech Inc. (now part of Eli Lilly & Company), one
of the earliest pioneers in monoclonal antibodies where he was
responsible for manufacturing and process development of injectable
products. Mr. Hancock has made numerous technical presentations to
industry organizations and published extensively on topics ranging
from regulatory affairs and process and facility validation, to
managing contract manufacturing relationships. He is currently the
Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of Argonaut
Manufacturing Services, Inc., a CDMO focused on the biotechnology
and life sciences industries, and a director of each of Tempo
Therapeutics, Inc., a company focused on regenerative tissue
therapies using synthetic materials, and ALMA Life Sciences
Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to bringing effective and
inexpensive vaccines to those in need. Mr. Hancock received a BA in
microbiology from Miami University.
Joel McComb
is the CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder of BioSpyder Technologies,
Inc., an innovative life sciences company that develops molecular
profiling assay technology. From 2008-2010, Mr. McComb was a Senior
Vice President and General Manager of Illumina, Inc., a
$30 billion developer of genetic
analytic tools for use with sequencing, genotyping and gene
expression. From 2004-2007, Mr. McComb was the President of GE
Healthcare's Life Sciences and Discovery Systems division with over
$600 million in annual sales, and
from 2007-2008 he was the President of GE Healthcare's $700 million Interventional Medicine division.
Prior to GE Healthcare, Mr. McComb was the President, CEO and a
director of Innovadyne Technologies, Inc., a fluidics technology
company for drug discovery that was acquired in 2004 by
Gilson, Inc., a private life
sciences systems and equipment manufacturer. From 1995-2001 Mr.
McComb held various positions at Beckman Coulter, Inc., including
roles as General Manager of the Primary Care Diagnostic Division
and Director of Corporate Business Development, Diagnostics and
Bioresearch. Mr. McComb began his career in the Biotechnical
Services Division of Charles River Laboratories (at the time a
division of Bausch & Lomb Inc.) where he was a National
Business Manager for the company's monoclonal antibody CDMO
division. Mr. McComb previously was a director of Bio-Rad
Laboratories, Inc., a $6.5 billion
clinical diagnostics and instrumentation company, from July 2014 to April
2017, with its stock appreciating approximately 23.9%
annualized during his tenure. Mr. McComb earned a Bachelor of
Science degree in genetics from the University
of California, Davis and an MBA from Golden Gate University.
CERTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING THE
PARTICIPANTS
Ronin Trading, LLC, together with the other participants named
herein (collectively, "Ronin"), has filed a preliminary proxy
statement and an accompanying proxy card with the Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC") to be used to solicit votes for the
election of its slate of six highly qualified director nominees at
the 2017 annual meeting of stockholders Peregrine Pharmaceuticals,
Inc., a Delaware corporation (the
"Company").
RONIN STRONGLY ADVISES ALL STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY TO READ
THE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER PROXY MATERIALS AS THEY BECOME
AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. SUCH
PROXY MATERIALS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE ON THE SEC'S WEB
SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SEC.GOV. IN ADDITION, THE PARTICIPANTS IN THIS
PROXY SOLICITATION WILL PROVIDE COPIES OF THE PROXY STATEMENT
WITHOUT CHARGE, WHEN AVAILABLE, UPON REQUEST.
The participants in the solicitation are Ronin Trading, LLC
("Ronin Trading"), John S. Stafford,
III, SWIM Partners LP ("SWIM Partners"), SW Investment
Management LLC ("SW Management"), Stephen
White, Roger Farley,
James J. Egan, Richard B. Hancock, Joel
McComb, Gregory P. Sargen,
Brian W. Scanlan and Saiid Zarrabian.
As of the date hereof, Ronin Trading directly beneficially owned
3,310,652 shares of the Company's common stock, $0.001 par value per share ("Common Stock"),
including 137,260 shares of Common Stock that may be acquired upon
the conversion of 115,299 shares of the Company's 10.50% Series E
Convertible Preferred Stock, $0.001
par value per share ("Series E Preferred Stock"). Mr. Stafford, as
the Manager of Ronin Trading, may be deemed to beneficially own the
3,310,652 shares of Common Stock beneficially owned directly by
Ronin Trading. As of the date hereof, SWIM Partners directly
beneficially owned 510,333 shares of Common Stock, including 10,333
shares of Common Stock that may be acquired upon the conversion of
8,680 shares of Series E Preferred Stock. As of the date hereof, an
account separately managed by SW Management (the "SW Account") held
203,714 shares of Common Stock, including 3,714 shares of Common
Stock that may be acquired upon the conversion of 3,120 shares of
Series E Preferred Stock. SW Management, as the general partner and
investment adviser of SWIM Partners and the investment adviser of
the SW Account, may be deemed to beneficially own the 714,047
shares of Common Stock beneficially owned in the aggregate by SWIM
Partners and held in the SW Account. Mr. White, as the Manager of
SW Management, may be deemed to beneficially own the 714,047 shares
of Common Stock beneficially owned in the aggregate by SWIM
Partners and held in the SW Account. As of the date hereof, Mr.
Farley directly beneficially owned 301,190 shares of Common Stock,
including 1,190 shares of Common Stock that may be acquired upon
the conversion of 1,000 shares of Series E Preferred Stock. As of
the date hereof, Messrs. Egan, Hancock, McComb, Sargen, Scanlan and
Zarrabian did not beneficially own any securities of the
Company.
1 Peregrine Form 8-K
filed on October 23, 2017.
Investor Contact:
Stephen White
SW Investment Management LLC
(312) 765-7033
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ronin-trading-and-sw-investment-management-announce-additional-nominations-to-board-of-peregrine-pharmaceuticals-300544616.html
SOURCE Ronin Trading, LLC and SW Investment Management LLC