JERUSALEM, Dec. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Intec Pharma Ltd.
(NASDAQ: NTEC) ("Intec" or "the Company") today announces that the
Company has entered into an Ordinary Shares Purchase Agreement for
$10.0 million with Aspire
Capital Fund, LLC ("Aspire Capital"), a Chicago-based institutional investor. Under
the terms of the Agreement, Aspire Capital is committed to purchase
up to $10.0 million of Intec Pharma's
ordinary shares over a 30-month period extending into 2022, subject
to certain terms and conditions. There are no warrants,
derivatives, or other share classes associated with this
agreement. Proceeds from the Agreement will be used to fund
the Company's research and development activites, for working
capital and for general corporate purposes.
"We are delighted to partner with Aspire Capital under this
Agreement. Aspire Capital has been a long-term institutional
shareholder in Intec Pharma and this Agreement gives us the
flexibility to access capital when and if we need
it. Moreover, we believe this commitment strengthens our
negotiating position with any potential partners for our
Parkinson's disease program and/or for new research
collaborations," stated Jeffrey A.
Meckler, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Intec
Pharma. "Controlling the timing and amount of ordinary shares
being sold is key, as we can use this Agreement to
opportunistically strengthen our balance sheet without unnecessary
dilution as we seek to advance our AP platform programs to key
inflection points in 2020. We appreciate Aspire Capital's continued
support."
"To us, the AP represents a major advance in drug delivery
especially considering the significant number of approved and
development-stage drugs that possess great therapeutic promise but
remain hamstrung by either poor bioavailability or a PK profile
that promotes adverse outcomes. Backed by a highly experienced
management team, robust manufacturing capabilities and strong,
supportive evidence from multiple clinical and non-clinical
studies, the AP platform has proven to be an elegant solution for
addressing these widespread drug delivery challenges. The available
data, including those from the recent ACCORDANCE study, clearly
demonstrate the APs ability to enhance the PK profile of drugs that
have notoriously challenging absorption rates and short upper
gastrointestinal residence times without sacrificing tolerability
and ultimately, patient quality of life," said Steven G. Martin, Managing Member of Aspire
Capital.
"The company's collaborations with leading pharma companies such
as Merck and Novartis further enhance our confidence in the AP
platform's broad applicability beyond Parkinson's disease, where
the company has already demonstrated proof-of-concept and gives us
optimism about additional potential partnerships. As a result, we
are thrilled to be expanding our longstanding interest and
investment in Intec with this transaction," added Mr.
Martin.
Under the terms of the Agreement with Aspire Capital, Intec
Pharma retains full control over the timing of any stock sales made
under the Agreement and the amount of stock sold to Aspire Capital.
The agreement contains no restrictions on the use of proceeds,
financial covenants or restrictions on future financings and no
rights of first refusal, participation rights, penalties or
liquidated damages. Intec Pharma maintains the right to terminate
the agreement at any time, at its discretion, without any
additional cost or penalty.
As consideration for Aspire Capital's obligations under the
Agreement, Intec Pharma also agreed to issue 612,520 ordinary
shares to Aspire Capital as a commitment fee. Intec Pharma also
entered into a Registration Rights Agreement with Aspire Capital in
connection with its entry into the purchase agreement that requires
Intec Pharma to file a registration statement regarding the shares
sold to Aspire Capital.
For more information on the Agreement, please refer to Intec
Pharma's report on From 8-K filed today with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission, which can be found on the Company's
website at
https://ir.intecpharma.com/financial-information/sec-filings.
Intec Pharma has filed a prospectus supplement to its Form S-3
shelf registration statement (File No. 333-230016), which was
declared effective on March 28, 2019
by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, qualifying the
offer and sale of ordinary shares to Aspire Capital. A copy of the
Prospectus Supplement is available on EDGAR at www.sec.gov or may
be obtained upon request to Intec Pharma.
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 Intec Pharma Ltd.
Intec Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
focused on developing drugs based on its proprietary Accordion Pill
platform technology. The Company's Accordion Pill is an oral drug
delivery system that is designed to improve the efficacy and safety
of existing drugs and drugs in development by utilizing an
efficient gastric retention and specific release mechanism. The
Company's product pipeline includes two product candidates in
clinical trial stages: Accordion Pill Carbidopa/Levodopa, or
AP-CD/LD, which is in late-stage development for the treatment of
Parkinson's disease symptoms in advanced Parkinson's disease
patients, and AP-cannabinoids, an Accordion Pill to deliver either
or both of the primary cannabinoids contained in Cannabis sativa,
cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for various pain
indications. In addition, the Company has a feasibility agreement
for the development of a custom-designed Accordion Pill for a
proprietary compound with Novartis Pharmaceuticals and a research
collaboration with Merck & Co.
For more information, visit www.intecpharma.com. Intec Pharma
routinely posts information that may be important to investors in
the Investor Relations section of its website.
About Aspire Capital Fund, LLC
Aspire Capital Fund, LLC is a Chicago-based, long-only investment fund
focused on making open market and direct equity investments in
publicly traded companies. Aspire Capital Fund, LLC is managed by
Aspire Capital Partners, LLC. Aspire Capital invests in a broad
range of industries with emphasis in healthcare and technology.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward looking statements about our
expectations, beliefs and intentions. Forward-looking statements
can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as
"believe", "expect", "intend", "plan", "may", "should", "could",
"might", "seek", "target", "will", "project", "forecast",
"continue" or "anticipate" or their negatives or variations of
these words or other comparable words or by the fact that these
statements do not relate strictly to historical matters. These
forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and assessments
made in light of management's experience and perception of
historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments
and other factors believed to be appropriate. Forward-looking
statements in this press release are made as of the date of this
press release, and we undertake no duty to update or revise any
such statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees
of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties,
many of which are outside of our control. Many factors could cause
our actual activities or results to differ materially from the
activities and results anticipated in forward-looking statements,
including, but not limited to, the following: our limited operating
history and history of operating losses, our ability to continue as
a going concern, our ability to obtain additional financing, our
ability to successfully operate our business or execute our
business plan, our ability to enter into collaborative, licensing,
and other commercial relationships and on terms commercially
reasonable to us, the timing and cost of our clinical trials, the
completion and receiving favorable results in our clinical trials,
our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our
product candidates, our ability to protect and maintain our
intellectual property and licensing arrangements, our ability to
develop, manufacture and commercialize our product candidates, the
risk of product liability claims, the availability of
reimbursement, and the influence of extensive and costly government
regulation and our ability to remain listed on the Nasdaq Capital
Market. More detailed information about the risks and uncertainties
affecting us is contained under the heading "Risk Factors" included
in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with
the SEC on February 27, 2019, and in other filings
that we have made and may make with the Securities and
Exchange Commission in the future.
Intec Pharma Investor Contact:
Anne Marie Fields
VP-Corporate Communications & Investor Relations
646-200-8808
amf@intec-us.com
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SOURCE Intec Pharma Ltd.