La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company Scores $10 Million Financing

SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - September 25, 2013) - La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (OTCBB: LJPC) (the “Company” or “La Jolla”) (http://www.ljpc.com/), a leader in the development of therapeutics targeting significant unmet life-threatening diseases, today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements related to a private placement of approximately 96 million shares of common stock at a price of $0.07 per share and 3,250 shares of Series F Preferred Stock priced at $1,000 per share. The transaction is expected to yield gross proceeds of approximately $10 million. The Series F Preferred Stock will be convertible into La Jolla’s Common Stock at a ratio of 14,285 shares of Common Stock for each share of Series F Preferred Stock, which equals a conversion price of $0.07 per share. The transaction is expected to close on or around September 27, 2013, subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions.

“We are delighted to announce this important capital raise, which should enable us to achieve important development milestones with our two lead products, GCS-100, for the treatment of chronic organ failure and cancer, and LJPC-501, for the treatment of hepatorenal syndrome,” stated George Tidmarsh, M.D., Ph.D. President and Chief Executive Officer of La Jolla. The proceeds of this offering will be used to complete the Company’s ongoing Phase 2 clinical study of patients with Chronic Kidney Disease and a planned Phase 1 proof-of-concept clinical study of LJPC-501 in hepatorenal syndrome.

Simultaneously, the Company entered into definitive agreements with its existing preferred stockholders to simplify the Company’s capital structure. As a result of the financing and capital restructuring, the Company will now have a fully diluted, as-converted share count of approximately 871 million shares, and continues to be debt-free.

MTS Securities, LLC, an affiliate of MTS Health Partners, L.P., acted as sole placement agent in the transaction.

This press release will not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

The securities sold in the private placement have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or 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 such registration requirements.

About La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative therapeutics for chronic organ failure and cancer. GCS-100, the Company’s lead product candidate, is a first-in-class inhibitor of galectin-3, a novel molecular target implicated in chronic organ failure and cancer. LJPC-501, the Company’s second product candidate, is a natural peptide for the treatment of hepatorenal syndrome. For more information on the Company please visit http://www.ljpc.com.

Forward Looking Statement Safe Harbor

This document contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to future events or our future results of operations. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results to be materially different from these forward-looking statements. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they were made. Certain of these risks, uncertainties, and other factors are described in greater detail in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), all of which are available free of charge on the SEC’s web site http://www.sec.gov. These risks include, but are not limited to, risks relating to the development of GCS-100 and LJPC-501, the success and timing of future preclinical and clinical studies of these compounds, and potential indications for which GCS-100 and LJPC-501 may be developed. Subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or to persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements set forth in the Company’s reports filed with the SEC. The Company expressly disclaims any intent to update any forward-looking statements.