SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VaxGen Inc. , a biopharmaceutical company, today reported its year end financial results and more recent cash balance, with a view to ensuring that stockholders have the most current financial information ahead of voting on the company's proposed merger with Raven biotechnologies inc. VaxGen's Board of Directors has set March 28, 2008 as the date for the Special Meeting of Stockholders to vote on the proposed merger.
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"VaxGen's management and Board are looking forward to the upcoming stockholder vote and are optimistic about the potential of the combined company. We believe the merger represents the best opportunity for our stockholders," said James P. Panek, VaxGen President and CEO. "Some stockholders have suggested liquidation as an alternative to the proposed merger with Raven. However, the expenses and liabilities associated with terminating operations, including the termination of the nearly nine years of remaining facility lease obligation, would greatly diminish the amount of cash available for return to stockholders. Moreover, any potential liquidation proceeds would only be returned following a very extensive and time consuming process, one which could take one to two years to complete. We strongly encourage stockholders to vote in favor of the merger."
About VaxGen
VaxGen is a biopharmaceutical company based in South San Francisco, California. The company owns a state-of-the-art biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility with a 1,000-liter bioreactor that can be used to make cell culture or microbial biologic products. For more information, please visit the company's web site at http://www.vaxgen.com.
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About Raven
Raven biotechnologies, inc. is a privately held biotechnology company focused on the development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics for treating cancer. Raven's lead product candidate, RAV12, targets adenocarcinomas and is in clinical development for the treatment of gastrointestinal and other cancers. Raven, which is based in South San Francisco, California, has identified multiple candidate therapeutic MAbs for many cancer indications including lung, colon, pancreatic, prostate, breast, brain, and ovarian cancer. Please visit http://www.ravenbio.com for more information about Raven biotechnologies inc.
Note: This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the benefits of the proposed merger, the business potential of the combined company as well as any potential non-cash impairment charge related to VaxGen's facility. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those anticipated. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors is contained in VaxGen's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, the most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form10-Q and the Form S-4 filed on February 6, 2008. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date of this release. VaxGen and Raven undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events, or circumstances after the date of this release except as required by law.
Additional Information and Where to Find It
VaxGen has filed a registration statement on Form S-4, and a related proxy statement/prospectus, in connection with the merger. Investors and security holders are urged to read the registration statement on Form S-4 and the related proxy statement/prospectus because they will contain important information about the merger transaction. Investors and security holders may obtain free copies of these documents (when they are available) and other documents filed with the SEC at the SEC's web site at http://www.sec.gov. In addition, investors and security holders may obtain free copies of the documents filed with the SEC by contacting VaxGen Investor Relations at the email address: ir@vaxgen.com.
This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
VaxGen, Raven and their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of VaxGen in connection with the merger transaction. Information regarding the special interests of these directors and executive officers in the merger transaction is included in the proxy statement/prospectus described above. Additional information regarding the directors and executive officers of VaxGen is also included in VaxGen's definitive proxy statement for its 2007 Annual Meeting of Stockholders which was filed with the SEC on November 21, 2007 and its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, which was filed with the SEC on August 30, 2007. These documents are available free of charge at the SEC's web site at http://www.sec.gov and from Investor Relations at VaxGen as described above.
CONTACT: Matthew Pfeffer of VaxGen, Inc., +1-650-624-2400
Web site: http://www.vaxgen.com/
http://www.ravenbio.com/
