SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 9, 2016--
Jaguar Animal Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAGX) (“Jaguar” or the “Company”), an
animal health company focused on developing and commercializing
first-in-class gastrointestinal products for companion and production
animals, foals, and high value horses, announced today that it has
entered into a $15 million common stock purchase agreement (the
“Agreement”) and a registration rights agreement with Aspire Capital
Fund, LLC ("Aspire"), a Chicago-based institutional investor.
Immediately upon the execution of the Agreement, Aspire purchased
222,222 shares of Jaguar common stock for $500,000.
After a registration statement related to the transaction has been filed
and declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,
Jaguar will have the right to sell up to the remaining $14.5 million of
its common stock to Aspire under the Agreement over a 30-month period,
at prices based on prevailing market prices at the time of each sale,
and Aspire has the obligation to purchase common stock from Jaguar in
amounts and timing determined by Jaguar in its sole discretion. The
Agreement does not contain any financial covenants, restrictions on
future financings, rights of first refusal, limits to the use of any of
the proceeds, participation rights or penalties. Jaguar can terminate
the Agreement at any time without any penalty.
“This Agreement provides Jaguar with added balance sheet strength and
flexibility to support our ongoing clinical activities and the expected
commercialization of our drug product candidates, and we welcome Aspire
as a stockholder,” commented Lisa Conte, Jaguar’s president and CEO.
“Additionally, we expect that this Agreement may serve as an important
asset as Jaguar continues discussions regarding potential business
development and M&A activity.”
Jaguar and Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Napo”) have been engaged in
exploratory discussions since February 2016 regarding a potential merger
and/or other ways to cooperate with their respective business endeavors.
San Francisco-based Napo owns 26.3% of the outstanding shares of Jaguar
Animal Health, Inc. Napo took over ownership of the new drug application
(“NDA”) and commercial rights for human applications of crofelemer last
month from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., which acquired
those rights from Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in April 2016.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy any securities nor will there be any
sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which
such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration
or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other
jurisdiction.
For additional information about the common stock purchase agreement and
registration rights agreement with Aspire, refer to the current report
on Form 8-K filed on June 9, 2016 with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
About Jaguar Animal Health, Inc.
Jaguar Animal Health, Inc. is an animal health company focused on
developing and commercializing first-in-class gastrointestinal products
for companion and production animals, foals, and high value horses.
Canalevia™ is Jaguar’s lead prescription drug product
candidate, intended for the treatment of various forms of diarrhea in
dogs. SB-300 is Jaguar’s prescription drug product candidate for the
treatment of gastrointestinal ulcers in horses. Canalevia™
and SB-300 contain ingredients isolated and purified from the Croton
lechleri tree, which is sustainably harvested. Neonorm™
Calf and Neonorm™ Foal are the Company’s lead
non-prescription products. Neonorm™ is a standardized
botanical extract derived from the Croton lechleri tree. Canalevia™
and Neonorm™ are distinct products that act at the same last
step in a physiological pathway generally present in mammals. Jaguar has
nine active investigational new animal drug applications, or INADs,
filed with the FDA and intends to develop species-specific formulations
of Neonorm™ in six additional target species, formulations of
SB-300 in horses, and Canalevia™ for cats and dogs.
For more information, please visit www.jaguaranimalhealth.com.
About Aspire Capital Fund, LLC
Aspire Capital is an institutional investor based in Chicago, Illinois,
with a focus on making direct investments in publicly traded companies
in a broad range of industries and investment structure. The company
offers innovative investments designed for companies whose prospects are
bright, but who need additional capital to fuel growth.
Important Safety Information:
Crofelemer is currently FDA approved only for symptomatic relief of
non-infectious diarrhea in adult patients with HIV/AIDS on
antiretroviral therapy. Rule out infectious etiologies of diarrhea
before starting crofelemer, in order to avoid the risk of potential
worsening of disease due to delay of appropriate therapy. The most
common adverse reactions (incidence > 3%) seen with crofelemer in the
registrational trial for US approval were upper respiratory tract
infection, bronchitis, cough, flatulence and increased bilirubin.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking
statements.” These include statements regarding Jaguar’s ability to sell
shares to Aspire under the terms of the agreement with them, whether the
registration statement related to the financing with Aspire will become
and remain effective with the SEC, the expected commercialization of the
Company’s drug product candidates, Jaguar’s expectation that the
Agreement with Aspire may serve as an important asset as the Company
continues discussions regarding potential business development and M&A
activity, Jaguar’s intention to develop formulations of SB-300 in horses
and species-specific formulations of Neonorm™ in additional
target species, and the Company’s plan to develop formulations of
Canalevia™ for cats and dogs. In some cases, you can identify
forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,”
“expect,” “plan,” “aim,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “target,”
“project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential”
or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar
expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are only
predictions. Jaguar has based these forward-looking statements largely
on its current expectations and projections about future events. These
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and
are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, some of
which cannot be predicted or quantified and some of which are beyond
Jaguar’s control. Except as required by applicable law, Jaguar does not
plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements
contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future
events, changed circumstances or otherwise.
Jaguar-JAGX
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160609005338/en/
Source: Jaguar Animal Health, Inc.
KCSA Strategic Communications
Garth Russell, 212-896-1250
grussell@kcsa.com
