Private placement nets $7.7 million for Interferon Sciences

Interferon Sciences Inc. (ISI), a New Brunswick, New Jersey-based biopharmaceutical company, has raised approximately $7.7 million from a private placement. The placement involved the sale of 11,635,451 units—each unit represents one share of common stock and a warrant to purchase an additional share of common stock (by April 2005) at $1.50 per share.

The company has also filed to sell $4.8 million of tax benefits under New Jersey's corporation business tax benefit certificate transfer program. The actual amount ISI can sell will depend upon the allocation among qualifying companies of an annual pool established by the State of New Jersey; the allocated pool for this year is $40 million. Last year, ISI received $2.34 million from the sale of tax benefits under the program.

ISI will use the proceeds from the placement and tax benefits sale to fund existing projects in its interferon-related operations, and also to finance new initiatives. The company plans to use its existing infrastructure and expertise to assist a number of early stage companies developing new technologies, specifically in the areas of cytokine biology, infectious diseases, immunology, and oncology. Under such agreements, ISI would provide funding and/or services to help companies move their programs along more rapidly; in return, ISI would receive equity participation and/or rights to manufacture and commercialize successful products.

Interferon Sciences Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the study, manufacture, and sale of pharmaceutical products based on its highly purified, natural-source, multispecies alpha interferon.

For more information: Stanley G. Schutzbank, President, Interferon Sciences Inc., 783 Jersey Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08901. Tel: 732-249-3250, ext. 502.

Edited by Jim Pomager
Assistant Editor, Drug Discovery Online and Pharmaceutical Online