Micromet Closes $40 Million Private Equity Placement
October 03 2008 - 7:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Funding Proceeds to Support R&D Efforts and Clinical Trials
Advancing the BiTE Therapeutic Antibody Platform BETHESDA, Md.,
Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Micromet, Inc. (NASDAQ: MITI)
("Micromet" or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company
developing novel, proprietary antibodies for the treatment of
cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases, today announced that
it has closed its previously announced $40 million private
placement financing. Participants include leading biotechnology
investors Index Ventures Growth, Abingworth, DAFNA Capital
Management, LLC, and Merlin Nexus, among others. Certain Micromet
board members and affiliated entities also participated in the
offering. The transaction was announced on September 30 and closed
on October 2. Micromet's President and CEO, Christian Itin stated:
"We are very pleased to have completed this financing under these
challenging market conditions, and we were gratified by the strong
support of Micromet and the significant interest of the investors
in this private placement. The proceeds from this financing will be
used to advance our clinical antibody programs and to broaden our
BiTE antibody pipeline." Under the terms of the financing, Micromet
sold 9.4 million shares of common stock and warrants to purchase
2.8 million shares of common stock at a total purchase price of
$4.25 per unit, with each unit consisting of one share of common
stock and a warrant to purchase 0.30 shares of common stock. The
warrants are exercisable at $4.63 per share and will expire five
years after the date of grant. This news release is not an offer to
sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities
discussed herein. These securities have not been registered under
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities
laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent
registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or
an applicable exemption from the registration requirements.
Micromet, Inc. has agreed to file a registration statement with
respect to the shares on or before November 3, 2008. This news
release is being issued pursuant to and in accordance with Rule
135c under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. About Micromet,
Inc. Micromet, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing
novel, proprietary antibodies for the treatment of cancer,
inflammation and autoimmune diseases. Four of its antibodies are
currently in clinical trials, while the remainder of the product
pipeline is in preclinical development. The BiTE(R) antibody
blinatumomab (MT103/MEDI-538) is in a phase 2 clinical trial for
the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and in
a phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. BiTE antibodies represent a new class of
antibodies that activate a patient's own cytotoxic T cells,
considered the most powerful "killer cells" of the human immune
system, to eliminate cancer cells. Micromet is developing
blinatumomab in collaboration with MedImmune, Inc., a subsidiary of
AstraZeneca plc. MT110 is the second BiTE antibody in clinical
trials, and is being developed by Micromet in a phase 1 clinical
trial for the treatment of patients with lung or gastrointestinal
cancer. The third clinical stage antibody is adecatumumab, also
known as MT201, a human monoclonal antibody that targets epithelial
cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM)-expressing solid tumors. Micromet is
developing adecatumumab in collaboration with Merck Serono in a
phase 1b clinical trial evaluating adecatumumab in combination with
docetaxel for the treatment of patients with metastatic breast
cancer. The fourth clinical stage antibody is MT293 which is
licensed to TRACON Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and is being developed in
a phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with cancer.
Three additional BiTE antibodies, targeting CD33, CEA and MCSP,
respectively, are in preclinical development. In addition, Micromet
has established a collaboration with Nycomed for the development
and commercialization of MT203, a human antibody neutralizing the
activity of granulocyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor
(GM-CSF), which has potential applications in the treatment of
various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid
arthritis, psoriasis, or multiple sclerosis. Forward-Looking
Statements This release contains certain forward-looking statements
that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to be materially different from historical results or from
any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements include statements
regarding the application of the funds received in the private
placement, the efficacy, safety and intended utilization of our
product candidates, the development of our BiTE antibody
technology, the conduct, timing and results of future clinical
trials, expectations of the future expansion of our product
pipeline and collaborations, and our plans regarding future
presentations of clinical data. You are urged to consider
statements that include the words "ongoing," "may," "will,"
"believes," "potential," "expects," "plans," "anticipates,"
"intends," or the negative of those words or other similar words to
be uncertain and forward-looking. Factors that may cause actual
results to differ materially from any future results expressed or
implied by any forward-looking statements include the risk that
product candidates that appeared promising in early research,
preclinical studies or clinical trials do not demonstrate safety
and/or efficacy in subsequent clinical trials, the risk that
encouraging results from early research, preclinical studies or
clinical trials may not be confirmed upon further analysis of the
detailed results of such research, preclinical study or clinical
trial, the risk that additional information relating to the safety,
efficacy or tolerability of our product candidates may be
discovered upon further analysis of preclinical or clinical trial
data, the risk that we or our collaborators will not obtain
approval to market our product candidates, the risks associated
with reliance on outside financing to meet capital requirements,
and the risks associated with reliance on collaborators, including
MedImmune, Merck Serono, TRACON and Nycomed, for the funding or
conduct of further development and commercialization activities
relating to our product candidates. These factors and others are
more fully discussed in Micromet's Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, filed with the SEC on
March 14, 2008, as well as other filings by the company with the
SEC. Any forward-looking statements are made pursuant to Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and, as such,
speak only as of the date made. Micromet, Inc. undertakes no
obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
DATASOURCE: Micromet, Inc CONTACT: US Media: Andrea tenBroek/Chris
Stamm, +1-781-684-0770, ; US Investors: Susan Noonan,
+1-212-966-3650, ; European Media: Ludger Wess, +49 (40) 8816 5964,
; European Investors: Ines-Regina Buth, +49 (30) 2363 2768, Web
Site: http://www.micromet-inc.com/
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