Tigris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Completes $6.5 Million Private Placement

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. and NEW YORK, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Tigris Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held drug development company, announced today that it has completed a private placement of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock resulting in gross proceeds of approximately $6.5 million.  The financing, which was led by Mr. Neil Flanzraich, also included current investors Wexford Spectrum Investors, LLC, and Sonostar Capital Partners, LLC and other institutional and individual investors.  Riverbank Capital Securities, Inc. acted as placement agent in connection with the financing.  

Tigris intends to use the proceeds from the financing primarily to advance the development of its clinical product pipeline, including its lead compound, Aminoflavone pro-drug (AFP-464), a novel anticancer agent.  A multi-center, Phase I, ascending dose clinical study of AFP-464 has been completed in Europe at Institut Gustave-Roussy, Villejuif, France and Jules Bordet Institute, Brussels, Belgium.  The company expects to initiate a multi-site phase II breast cancer study in 2010.  AFP-464's mechanism of action has shown that AFP-464 is converted to metabolites which bind covalently to DNA, resulting in p53 activation and apoptosis.  AFP-464 has shown a unique pattern of growth inhibitory activity in the tumor cell line screening, with breast, ovarian, lung and renal tumor cell lines exhibiting particular sensitivity to the compound.  In vivo antitumor activity of AFP-464 has been demonstrated in several Xenograft models in mice bearing breast and renal cancer.

Additionally, Tigris is currently conducting a multi-center Phase I dose escalation trial for GGTI-2418, another first-in-class agent, at Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania and Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center.  GGTI-2418 is a synthetic peptidomimetic inhibitor of geranylgeranyltransferase I (GGTase I) that appears to induce apoptosis by down-regulating several pivotal oncogenic and tumor survival pathways.

"We are extremely pleased to have completed this financing round, which will enable Tigris to proceed with the development of our two most advanced clinical compounds," stated Edmundo Muniz, MD, PhD, Tigris' President and Chief Executive Officer, adding, "we are honored to have the support of a group of high quality investors, who have demonstrated confidence in our clinical prospects and our management team."

"I am very excited about the opportunity to invest in and lead this financing round for Tigris Pharmaceuticals," said Mr. Flanzraich. "The combination of Tigris' pipeline potential, proven leadership performance, and its vision for the future holds great promise for patients and investors."

The securities were offered to accredited investors in reliance on an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1993 (the "Securities Act").  The offering has not been registered under the Securities Act or any state securities or "blue sky" laws and the shares may not be offered or sold absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws.

About Tigris Pharmaceuticals, Inc

Tigris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately held biopharmaceutical company that develops therapeutic technologies to treat oncology and other human diseases.  Tigris is currently initiating a Phase II trial for AFP-464, a novel anticancer agent in patients with breast cancer and is also conducting a multi-center Phase I dose escalation study for GGTI-2418, another first-in-class agent, at Abramson Cancer Center at The University of Pennsylvania and Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center.  

With a management team that has a proven track record in guiding molecules from the early stages of clinical development to successful worldwide approvals, Tigris offers large pharmaceutical drug development expertise in conjunction with the agility and speed of a small organization.

This news release contains forward-looking statements.  Such statements are valid only as of today, and Tigris disclaims any obligation to update this information.  These statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future experience and results to differ materially from the statements made.  These statements are based on current beliefs and expectations as to such future outcomes.  Drug development involves a high degree of risk.  Factors that might cause such a material difference include, among others uncertainties related to Tigris' ability to attract and retain partners for its technologies, the identification of lead compounds, the successful preclinical development thereof, the completion of clinical trials, the FDA review process and other governmental regulation, its pharmaceutical collaborator's ability to successfully develop and commercialize drug candidates from other pharmaceutical companies, product pricing and third party reimbursement.

SOURCE Tigris Pharmaceuticals, Inc.