The cancer products portfolio that DARA BioSciences (NASDAQ:DARA) has been building by acquisition now has more than $9 million in fresh capital to help bring those products to market.
The pharmaceutical company has completed a securities offering of preferred stock and warrants, according to securities filings. Raleigh, North Carolina-based DARA sold 10,250 shares of preferred stock, convertible to 10.25 million shares of DARA common stock at an exercise price of $1. The company also sold warrants to purchase more than 5.1 million shares of DARA common stock at an exercise price of $1.25.
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Net proceeds from the offering were approximately $9.2 million. But more than securing capital to commercialize DARA’s cancer products, the offering also addresses one of the Nasdaq Stock Market’s concerns about the company’s listing. Last November, the stock market notified DARA that the company did not meet the minimum stockholders’ equity requirement and that its securities could face delisting. Stockholders’ equity measures the equity stake that a company’s shareholders have in a company. DARA appealed the finding and the market gave the company until April 18 to show compliance with the Nasdaq listing requirement. With the latest securities offering, DARA said that it has exceeded the $2.5 million threshold for continued listing on the Nasdaq. But the company added that it is still waiting for the market to confirm the company’s compliance status.
Now that the offering is complete, DARA can focus on using proceeds from the securities offering to commercialize the company’s new cancer products. The company acquired three cancer products in the first quarter. In January, DARA acquired U.S. rights to breast cancer treatment Soltamox. The company licensed cancer drug gemcitabane in February. Last month, DARA acquired U.S. rights for Bionect, a topical product to treat radiation and chemotherapy burns.
The deals gave DARA market-ready products. DARA has been studying two compounds from its own drug pipeline. But those compounds, treatments for type 2 diabetes and neuropathic pain caused by chemotherapy, are still in clinical development. DARA said in securities filings that it plans to launch Bionect in the second quarter, which would give the company its first revenue from product sales.
