- Nano Precision Medical’s lead program (NPM-119) is a tiny
subdermal implant of a GLP-1 receptor agonist to treat patients
with Type 2 diabetes
- Second Sight will issue 134M shares to acquire full ownership
of Nano Precision Medical. Second Sight shareholders will own ~23%
of the combined company.
- Second Sight shareholders join NPM shareholders, including
AstraZeneca which has been a strategic investor since 2016
- Second Sight currently has over $69M to enable the advancement
of NPM-119 through clinical proof of concept into a pivotal
clinical trial and continued exploration of the visual prosthesis
business opportunity
- Investor Conference Call Scheduled for Tuesday, February 8,
2022, at 9:00 am EST, accessible here:
https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1527993&tp_key=b16592ee32
Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: EYES) (the
“Company” or “Second Sight”) and Nano Precision Medical, Inc.
(“NPM”), today announced that they have entered into a definitive
agreement under which privately held NPM will merge with a wholly
owned subsidiary of Second Sight in an all-stock transaction. NPM
will be the surviving company and owned by Second Sight. The
resulting company will focus on development of innovative drug and
device medical implants that treat chronic diseases with high unmet
medical need.
Nano Precision Medical, leveraging its proprietary NanoPortalTM
drug implant technology, is creating a portfolio of new drugs that
address medication non-adherence, a leading reason for poor
clinical outcomes. The NanoPortal implant system combines
innovative drug development, engineering and nanotechnology that
can deliver minimally fluctuating drug release profiles across a
wide range of small molecules, peptides, and monoclonal antibodies.
NPM’s lead program, NPM-119, is a near clinical stage GLP-1
receptor agonist which is being developed to treat patients with
Type 2 diabetes for up to 6 months with a single, tiny subdermal
implant. Completion of non-clinical studies to support an
Investigational New Drug Application (IND), filing the IND with the
Food and Drug Administration and initiation of the First-in-Human
clinical study, also known as the LIBERATE-1 trial, are anticipated
by late 2022. Upon closing of the transaction, the combined company
will be under the leadership of NPM’s co-founder, CEO and Chairman,
Adam Mendelsohn, Ph.D.
According to Second Sight Chairman of the Board Gregg Williams,
“The merger with NPM aligns with our expanded vision to become a
top device and drug implant company, allows us immediate access to
NPM’s experienced executive leadership team, and provides the two
companies with a myriad of opportunities to leverage potential
synergies.” NPM’s Dr. Adam Mendelsohn added, “At NPM we are very
excited about the proposed merger with Second Sight, which will
enable NPM to accelerate development activities for its internal
pipeline and also engage with Second Sight in the continued
exploration of their visual prosthesis business opportunity.”
In addition to advancing NPM’s drug implant portfolio, the
company will continue to explore opportunities intended to create
artificial forms of useful vision for the profoundly blind. Second
Sight is currently developing the Orion® Visual Cortical Prosthesis
System, an investigational device intended to bring artificial
vision to individuals who are blind due to a wide range of causes,
including glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, optic nerve injury or
disease, or forms of cancer and trauma. Orion is currently being
studied in an early feasibility study at UCLA and Baylor College of
Medicine. Second Sight’s legacy product, the Argus® II, was
approved by the FDA for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa and
was the world’s first FDA and CE Mark approved device that provides
artificial vision to individuals with bare to no light perception.
Since the Orion bypasses the optic nerve and directly stimulates
the visual cortex of the brain, it has the potential to treat a
much larger patient population than that associated with the Argus
II.
Prior to the merger, Second Sight is providing NPM with $8
million for working capital and to enable acceleration of pipeline
programs. The Boards of both companies voted to support the
proposed merger agreement. If the proposed merger is consummated,
Second Sight shareholders will join NPM shareholders, including
AstraZeneca which has been a strategic investor in NPM since 2016.
The parties anticipate completion of the merger in 2Q/3Q 2022.
ThinkEquity is serving as financial advisor to Second Sight in
connection with the merger. In addition, the law firms of Venable
and Golenbock are providing legal support for Second Sight and NPM,
respectively.
Transaction Overview
Second Sight will issue approximately 134 million shares of its
common stock to acquire full ownership of NPM. Second Sight
shareholders will acquire approximately 23% equity of the combined
company. The transaction is expected to close in the second/third
quarter of 2022 and is subject to stockholder approval and other
customary closing conditions.
Additional information about the proposed transaction, including
a copy of the merger agreement and investor presentation, will be
provided in a Current Report on Form 8-K filed by Second Sight
today with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and
available at www.sec.gov.
Investor Presentation Information
Management of Second Sight and NPM will host an investor
presentation on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, at 9:00 am EST to
discuss the proposed transaction. You may preregister for the event
by visiting
https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1527993&tp_key=b16592ee32.
A copy of the presentation can be accessed via an 8-K filed with
the SEC today, February 7, 2022.
Shareholders and other interested parties may also participate
in the conference call by dialing 1-877-407-9208 (U.S. Toll-Free)
or 1-201-493-6784 (International) a few minutes before the 9:00
a.m. ET start time.
About Second Sight Medical Products, Inc.
Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. (Nasdaq: EYES) develops
implantable visual prosthetics that are intended to deliver useful
artificial vision to blind individuals. A recognized global leader
in neuromodulation devices for blindness, the Company is committed
to developing new technologies to treat the broadest population of
sight-impaired individuals. The Company’s headquarters are in Los
Angeles, California. More information is available at
secondsight.com.
About Nano Precision Medical Products, Inc.
Nano Precision Medical. Inc is a privately held
biopharmaceutical company developing drug implants by leveraging
the company’s proprietary NanoPortal drug implant technology. These
drug implants, designed to deliver minimally fluctuating drug
profiles, will address drug non-adherence which is one of the top
reasons for sub-optimal clinical benefit associated with oral and
injectable products that treat chronic disease. The company’s lead
product, NPM-119, is a GLP-1 receptor agonist under development to
treat patients with Type 2 diabetes. The Company’s headquarters are
in Emeryville, California. More information is available at
www.nanoprecisionmedical.com.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements”
within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the US
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements can be identified by words such as: “target,” “believe,”
“expect,” “will,” “may,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “would,”
“positioned,” “future,” and other similar expressions that predict
or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of
historical matters. Examples of forward-looking statements include,
among others, statements made in this press release regarding the
proposed merger, including the benefits of the proposed business
combination, integration plans, expected synergies and
opportunities, the expected management and governance of the
combined company, and the expected timing of the proposed
transactions contemplated by the definitive merger agreement.
Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor
assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on
Second Sight’s and NPM’s current beliefs, expectations, and
assumptions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the
future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and
changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of
which are outside of our control. Actual results and outcomes may
differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking
statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these
forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause
actual results and outcomes to differ materially from those
indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others,
the following: (1) the occurrence of any event, change or other
circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Merger
Agreement or could otherwise cause the merger transaction to fail
to close; (2) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be
instituted against Second Sight or NPM following announcement of
the Merger, (3) the inability to complete the Merger, including due
to failure to obtain approval of the shareholders of Second Sight
or NPM, or inability to satisfy any of the other conditions to
closing in the merger agreement, (4) the receipt of an unsolicited
offer from another party for an alternative business transaction
that could interfere with the business combination; (5) the
inability to obtain the listing of the shares of common stock of
the post-merger company on the Nasdaq Stock Market following the
merger; (6) the risk that the announcement and consummation of the
business combination disrupts current plans and operations; (7) the
ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the merger
combination, which may be affected by, among other things,
competition, the ability of the combined company to grow and manage
growth profitably and retain its key employees; (8) costs related
to the merger transactions, (9) changes in applicable laws or
regulations; (10) the possibility that Second Sight and/or NPM may
be adversely affected by other economic, business, regulatory,
and/or competitive factors; (11) the impact of COVID-19 on Second
Sight’s and/or NPM’s business; and (12) our ability to obtain
adequate financing to fund our business operations in the future;
and (13) other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time
in the proxy statement to be filed relating to the business
combination, including those under “Risk Factors” therein and in
Second Sight’s other filings with the SEC. Some of these risks and
uncertainties may in the future be amplified by the COVID-19
outbreak and there may be additional risks that Second Sight
considers immaterial or which are unknown. A further list and
description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Second
Sight’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 16, 2021, and as
thereafter amended, and Form 10-Q filed November 12, 2021. Any
forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based
only on information currently available to Second Sight and speaks
only as of the date on which it is made. Second Sight undertakes no
obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement,
whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time,
whether as a result of new information, future developments or
otherwise, except as required by law.
The information contained on, or that may be accessed through,
the websites referenced in this press release is not incorporated
by reference into, and is not a part of, this press release.
Non-Solicitation
This press release does not constitute a solicitation of a
proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or
in respect of the proposed transaction. This press release also
does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an
offer to buy any securities, nor will there be any sale of
securities in any states or jurisdictions in which such offer,
solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or
qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
No offering of securities will be made except by means of a
prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220207005922/en/
Second Sight Medical Products Dave Gentry RedChip
Companies, Inc. 1-800-RED-CHIP (733-2447) or 407-491-4498
EYES@redchip.com
Nano Precision Medical, Inc. Don Dwyer Nano Precision
Medical, Inc. 1-302-379-0184 don@nanoprecisionmedical.com
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