Selecta Biosciences Announces $70 Million Private Placement

WATERTOWN, Mass., Dec. 19, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (NASDAQ: SELB), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on unlocking the full potential of biologic therapies based on its immune tolerance platform technology, ImmTOR™, today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements to sell securities in a private placement with a group of institutional investors and certain members of the Company’s Board of Directors. The lead institutional investors in the private placement were Vivo Capital LLC, Mangrove Partners, EcoR1 Capital LLC, BVF Partners L.P., and Boxer Capital LLC. The transaction is expected to result in gross proceeds to the company of approximately $70 million, before deducting placement agent fees and other offering expenses.

The Company plans to use the net proceeds from the financing primarily to fund the ongoing head-to-head Phase 2 COMPARE clinical trial of its lead product candidate, SEL-212, for the treatment of chronic refractory gout, its gene therapy programs, and for general corporate purposes.

Pursuant to the terms of the securities purchase agreement, the Company will issue 45,977,011 units at a price of approximately $1.5225 per unit. Each unit consists of approximately one share of common stock and a warrant to purchase 0.5 of a share of common stock at an exercise price of $1.46. Certain institutional investors have elected to receive pre-funded warrants to purchase common stock in lieu of a portion of their common stock. The closing of the offering is subject to certain conditions and is expected to occur on Monday, December 23, 2019.

Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. served as placement agent for the offering.

The offer and sale of the foregoing securities are being made in a transaction not involving a public offering and have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or applicable state securities laws, and will be sold in a private placement pursuant to Regulation D of the Securities Act. The securities being issued in the private placement may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. The Company has agreed to file a registration statement covering the resale of the securities acquired by the investors in the private placement.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state. Any offering of the securities under the resale registration statement will only be by means of a prospectus.

About Selecta Biosciences, Inc.

Selecta Biosciences, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on unlocking the full potential of biologic therapies based on its immune tolerance technology (ImmTOR) platform. Selecta plans to combine ImmTOR with a range of biologic therapies for rare and serious diseases that require new treatment options due to high immunogenicity. The company’s current proprietary pipeline includes ImmTOR-powered therapeutic enzyme and gene therapy product candidates. SEL-212, the company’s lead product candidate, is being developed to treat chronic refractory gout patients and resolve their debilitating symptoms, including flares and gouty arthritis. Selecta’s proprietary gene therapy product candidates are in preclinical development for certain rare inborn errors of metabolism and incorporate ImmTOR with the goal of addressing barriers to repeat administration. Selecta is based in Watertown, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit .

Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements in this press release about the future expectations, plans and prospects of Selecta Biosciences, Inc. (the “company”), including without limitation, the timing and completion of the offering and  the sufficiency of the company’s cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, and other statements containing the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “hypothesize,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “would,” and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, its  ability to continue as a going concern, substantial fluctuation in the price of its common stock, and other important factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of the company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2019, and in other filings that the company makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, any forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the company’s views only as of the date of its publication and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. The company specifically disclaims any intention to update any forward-looking statements included in this press release.

For Media:

Joshua R. Mansbach

Solebury Trout



 

For Investors:

Lee M. Stern

Solebury Trout