EMERYVILLE, California and BRISBANE, Australia, 18 August 2008: Peplin, Inc. (ASX:PLI) today announced the successful arrangement of a private placement of common stock and warrants to raise approximately US$24.0 million (Placement). The financing will primarily fund Phase III clinical development of PEP005 (ingenol mebutate) for actinic (solar) keratosis (AK).
As of 30 June 2008, assuming the completion of the Placement and the recently announced acquisition of Neosil (each of which remains subject to shareholder approval), Peplin’s pro-forma cash position would be US$56.0 million. The Company expects this cash balance will be sufficient to fund phase III testing of Peplin’s lead product, PEP005 (ingenol mebutate) for AK on both the head and on the body. The Placement consists of approximately 4.0 million shares of unregistered common stock, equivalent to approximately 80 million CHESS Depositary Interests (CDIs), and warrants to purchase up to approximately 1.3 million shares of common stock.
The securities were sold as a unit (Unit), with each Unit consisting of three shares of common stock and a free four year warrant to purchase one share of common stock. Each Unit was sold for US$18.14, equivalent to A$0.35 per CDI which represents less than a two percent discount to the five day volume weighted price of Peplin CDIs trading on ASX to 15 August 2008 (A$0.356). The warrants will be exercisable into one share of common stock upon the payment of US$7.86, a 30% premium to the purchase price of the common stock. The Placement is subject to the approval of Peplin’s shareholders at a meeting expected to be held in October.
The Placement was led by GBS Venture Partners (GBS), an Australian-based, venture capital group focused on life science opportunities. Dr Joshua Funder, a representative of GBS will join Peplin’s Board of Directors following the closing. The additional investors under the Placement comprise certain of the Company’s existing shareholders, including MPM Capital, through its Bio Ventures IV fund, and New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA), a global venture capital firm with approximately US$8.5b in committed capital. Existing investors Asia Union Investments and Orbis Funds Management also participated.
