NEW YORK, Dec. 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Relmada Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB: RLMD) ("Relmada" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage company developing novel therapies for the treatment of chronic pain, today announced that it intends to mail the following letter to stockholders:
December 7, 2015
Dear Fellow Relmada Stockholder:
On December 30, 2015, Relmada Therapeutics, Inc. (the "Company" or "Relmada") will hold its 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting in person, your vote is extremely important. We urge you to carefully read this letter and vote as soon as possible.
Your Board of Directors has undertaken a number of efforts to strengthen its composition through the addition of new, highly qualified independent directors. The newly strengthened Board comprises six directors, four of whom are independent, and we believe we now have the right Board to realize our objective of identifying, developing and commercializing product candidates with significant market potential that can fulfill unmet medical needs in the treatment of pain.
With our solid development pipeline, Relmada is in an even stronger position than when we entered 2015. To date, we have:
- Performed and completed a Phase I proof of concept pharmacokinetic study for our second-most-advanced novel version of a proven drug product, BuTab, which represents novel formulations for the treatment of both chronic pain and opioid dependence indications. The results are expected before the end of 2015.
- Progressed our most-advanced new chemical entity, d-Methadone, performing two successful clinical trials, a Single Ascending Dose (SAD) and a Multiple Ascending Dose (MAD), and we expect to start a Phase II proof of concept study in neuropathic pain in the first half of 2016.
- Received a patent from the U.S. Patent Office for LevoCap ER, our most-advanced novel version of a proven drug product for the management of pain severe enough for around-the-clock and long-term opioid treatment.
- Continued to prepare for our Phase III development program for LevoCap ER, and we are planning to submit an end of Phase II meeting request to discuss a final regulatory and clinical plan.
- Completed the formulation optimization work and the preclinical toxicology studies for MepiGel, a topical dosage form of the local anesthetic mepivacaine for the treatment of painful neuropathies, which has been granted two FDA Orphan Drug Designations. A Clinical Trial Application (CTA) is in preparation.
We are excited by these advances and will continue to develop these treatments to benefit patients and drive long-term stockholder value. We encourage you to VOTE the WHITE proxy card today to continue this progress.
In contrast to these positive developments, as you may be aware, Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd. ("Laidlaw"), the Company's historic investment banking firm, and its two principals, Matthew Eitner and James Ahern (together, the "Laidlaw Principals"), have recently announced their intent to launch a costly and disruptive campaign in an attempt to take effective control of your company without offering any control premium to Relmada stockholders.
Unlike other Relmada stockholders, Laidlaw has invested very little of its own capital in Relmada. In fact, the Laidlaw Principals received approximately 1,000,000, or more than 85%, of the 1,129,805 shares they beneficially own in the form of exercised or outstanding warrants as compensation for investment banking and consulting services provided to the Company.
We strongly believe that the objectives of Laidlaw are very different from your objectives and that the value of your investment is at risk if Laidlaw gains control of your company. We are writing to give you the facts about:
- Laidlaw's track record of disclosing and misusing Relmada's confidential, material and business-sensitive information;
- Laidlaw's dozens of customer complaints and related sanctioning by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA");
- Laidlaw's Managing Partner and Head of Capital Markets, Mr. Ahern, who has no record of graduating from college or obtaining any undergraduate degree; and
- Laidlaw's former hand-picked director nominee who failed to disclose litigation involving allegations of insurance fraud, performance of medically unnecessary tests, participating in a patient referral scheme and civil racketeering. When the claims relating to civil racketeering were disclosed to NASDAQ, it delayed and disrupted the process of having the Company's shares listed on NASDAQ. On October 14, 2015, after the Company urged Dr. Yazgi to resign from the Board to prevent this issue from permanently derailing the NASDAQ listing, Dr. Yazgi called Matthew Eitner and another representative of Laidlaw to inform them he was considering resigning from the Board, and both of them urged Dr. Yazgi not to resign. Since October 14, 2015, Remalda's share price has declined from $4.08 to $2.66 as of December 4, 2015.
We believe it is an egregious conflict of interest for Laidlaw, Relmada's investment banker, to use shares received as a result of its investment banking services and information gained through that engagement in an attempt to take effective control of Relmada. Laidlaw's actions represent a betrayal of Relmada's trust and the trust of our stockholders and call into question Laidlaw's motives.
Do not return any gold card sent to you by Laidlaw. We urge you to discard it immediately. Returning any materials sent to you by Laidlaw could result in Laidlaw and the Laidlaw Principals gaining effective control of your company. We believe Relmada stockholders can protect the value of their investment by voting "FOR" the election of your Board's experienced and highly qualified director nominees on the WHITE proxy card TODAY: Shreeram Agharkar and Maged Shenouda.
RELMADA'S BOARD AND MANAGEMENT TEAM HAVE A STRONG TRACK RECORD AND ARE TAKING ACTION TO ENHANCE STOCKHOLDER VALUE
Your Board of Directors and management team are executing on a strategy to establish Relmada as a leading specialty pharmaceutical company. Our goal is to develop novel dose forms of drug products approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and new chemical entities that could potentially address areas of high unmet medical need in the treatment of pain and drug addiction.
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