LEIDEN, NETHERLANDS--(Marketwire - June 23, 2009) -
Leiden, The Netherlands, June 23, 2009. Biotech company Pharming Group NV (“Pharming” or “the Company”) (NYSE Euronext: PHARM) today presents an update on the continuing equity financing under the Standby Equity Distribution Agreement(SM) (“SEDA” or “the Agreement”) with YA Global Master SPV LTD (“YA Global”). This week, Pharming raised EUR 1 million in return for the issuance of approximately 1.7 million ordinary shares.
In April 2009, Pharming announced the Agreement with YA Global, under which Pharming has the right to request YA Global to buy shares up to a total of EUR 20 million at any time over a 36 month period. YA Global can place these shares in the market or accumulate them to a 4.99% maximum holding in Pharming. YA Global is committed not to short sell or enter into any hedging transactions related to Pharming stock.
In early June, Pharming announced the first tranches. Including today’s transaction, the total amount of cash raised over the last four weeks is now EUR 2.2 million. This last tranche increases the total number of outstanding ordinary shares to approximately 111.2 ordinary shares per today. This includes the issuance in April of 800.000 non-recurring commitment shares to YA Global.
Michael J. Nowak, Managing Director of Yorkville Advisors, LLC, said: “Yorkville is committed to providing Pharming the capital required through the SEDA instrument. We are proud that Pharming is our first Euronext-listed investment. Yorkville Advisors is a pioneer in the development of structured finance, particularly the Standby Equity Distribution Agreement(SM). The company manages assets of $900 million and provides innovative financing for public companies around the world.”
Chief Executive Officer of Pharming, Sijmen de Vries, commented: “As we have announced before, we continue to aim at improving our balance sheet by a combination of debt reduction and improving our cash position. In the light of our recent advances and upcoming milestones from the development of our products, I remain very positive about the growth opportunities for Pharming. With the strong support of YA Global, expected milestone payments by our corporate partners and other potential opportunities we plan to further strengthen the financial basis of the Company in order to continue to execute on our product development programs.”
About Yorkville Advisors, LLC
Yorkville Advisors, LLC was founded in 2001 and assists companies in addressing their financing needs. Their partners and professionals have a wide range of experience in the securities industry, including Energy, Healthcare, Renewables, Media, Technology, Real Estate, Telecommunications, Consumer Products and Natural Resources. YA Global introduced the Standby Equity Distribution AgreementSM to companies listed on exchanges such as the London Stock Exchange, Australian Stock Exchange, the EuroNext Pan European Exchange and are currently expanding their activities to Asia Pacific.
About Pharming Group NV
Pharming Group NV is developing innovative products for the treatment of genetic disorders, ageing diseases, specialty products for surgical indications, intermediates for various applications and nutritional products. Pharming has two products in late stage development - Rhucin® for Hereditary Angioedema and human Lactoferrin for use in food products and one product in early stage clinical development - Prodarsan® for Cockayne Syndrome. The advanced technologies of the Company include innovative platforms for the production of protein therapeutics, technology and processes for the purification and formulation of these products, as well as technology in the field of DNA repair (via DNage). Additional information is available on the Pharming website, http://www.pharming.com.
This press release contains forward looking statements that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward looking statements.
Contact:
Sijmen de Vries, Pharming Group NV, T: +31 (0)71 52 47 400
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