HOUSTON, March 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Marker
Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRKR), a clinical-stage
immuno-oncology company specializing in the development of
next-generation T cell-based immunotherapies for the treatment of
hematological malignancies and solid tumor indications, today
announced that the Company has entered into a Common Stock Purchase
Agreement (the "Agreement") of up to $30
million with Aspire Capital Fund, LLC ("Aspire"), a
Chicago-based institutional
investor and long-term Marker shareholder.
Under the terms of the Agreement, Aspire has committed to
purchase up to $30 million of the
Company's common stock at Marker's discretion from time to time
during a 30-month period at prices based on the market price at the
time of each sale. Marker will retain full control as to the timing
and amount of any sale of shares of common stock to Aspire, subject
to certain limitations specified in the Agreement.
There are no warrants, options, financing swaps, derivatives or
other securities associated with this Agreement. Additionally,
there are no financial covenants or restrictions on future
financings and there are no rights of first refusal, participation
rights, penalties or liquidated damages. Lastly, Marker maintains
the right to terminate the Agreement at any time, at its
discretion, without any additional cost or penalty. Proceeds from
the Agreement will be used to further advance the Company's
pipeline including its post-transplant acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
Phase 2 trial, which is expected to begin in 2020, as well as for
general corporate purposes.
"This Agreement with Aspire provides Marker with the opportunity
to access capital in an efficient manner," stated Peter L. Hoang, President and CEO of Marker.
"The financial flexibility provided by this transaction will
further support the advancement of our clinical programs including
the first Marker-sponsored clinical trial this year investigating
our novel MultiTAA cell therapy."
As consideration for Aspire's entering into the Agreement,
Marker issued 345,357 shares to Aspire as a commitment fee.
Additional detail regarding the Agreement is set forth in Marker's
Current Report on Form 8-K, filed today with the SEC.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or
the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities nor will there
be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction
in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior
to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any
such state or other jurisdiction.
About Marker Therapeutics, Inc.
Marker Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology
company specializing in the development of next-generation T
cell-based immunotherapies for the treatment of hematological
malignancies and solid tumor indications. Marker's cell therapy
technology is based on the selective expansion of non-engineered,
tumor-specific T cells that recognize tumor associated antigens
(i.e. tumor targets) and kill tumor cells expressing those targets.
This population of T cells is designed to attack multiple tumor
targets following infusion into patients and to activate the
patient's immune system to produce broad spectrum anti-tumor
activity. Because Marker does not genetically engineer its T cell
therapies, we believe that our product candidates will be easier
and less expensive to manufacture, with reduced toxicities,
compared to current engineered CAR-T and TCR-based approaches, and
may provide patients with meaningful clinical benefit. As a result,
Marker believes its portfolio of T cell therapies has a compelling
product profile, as compared to current gene-modified CAR-T and
TCR-based therapies.
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Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer
This release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of
the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this news release concerning the
Company's expectations, plans, business outlook or future
performance, and any other statements concerning assumptions made
or expectations as to any future events, conditions, performance or
other matters, are "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking
statements include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs,
projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations concerning,
among other things: our use of proceeds from any sales under the
Agreement; our research, development and regulatory activities and
expectations relating to our non-engineered multi-tumor antigen
specific T cell therapies; the effectiveness of the MultiTAA
programs or the possible range of application and potential
curative effects and safety in the treatment of diseases;
expectations regarding our supplier's delivery of the final
reagent, data and certificate of analysis required to advance the
MultiTAA program for AML; and expectations regarding, among other
things, the timing, design and success of our clinical trials,
including the AML trial, as well as clinical trials conducted by
our collaborators. Forward-looking statements are by their nature
subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause
actual results to differ materially from those stated in such
statements. Such risks, uncertainties and factors include, but are
not limited to the risks set forth in the Company's most recent
Form 10-K, 10-Q and other SEC filings which are available through
EDGAR at www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no obligation to update
our forward-looking statements whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this
press release.
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SOURCE Marker Therapeutics, Inc.