Capital firm invests up to $10.6M in Soligenix

Soligenix, a development stage biopharmaceutical firm focused on treatments for serious gastrointestinal diseases among other goals, has agreed to a stock purchase agreement with Lincoln Park Capital Fund for up to $10.6 million, according to a company news release.

The agreement includes an initial investment of $600,000 for 285,714 shares of common stock. The per-share price matches the closing price of the stock the day before the agreement was executed.

The agreement also grants Soligenix sole discretion to sell up to $10 million of additional common stock to Lincoln Park at prevailing market prices, subject to certain conditions. Lincoln Park is required to make the purchase should Soligenix decide to sell at any time in the next 36 months, but Soligenix may cancel the agreement at any time without penalty, the release said.

“The ability to raise capital at or near market prices enhances our potential to pursue strategic alliances in a very efficient and opportunistic manner while staying committed to advancing our phase 2 studies with SGX942 for the treatment of oral mucositis in head and neck cancer and SGX203 for the treatment of pediatric Crohn’s disease,” Christopher J. Schaber, PhD, president and chief executive officer of Soligenix, said in the release.

Along with SGX203, the company is developing similar proprietary formulations of oral beclomethasone 17,21-dipropionate designed for the prevention and treatment of acute radiation enteritis (SGX201) and chronic graft-versus-host disease (orBec), according to the release.

The company also maintains a focus on biodefense vaccines and therapeutics, including a recombinant subunit vaccine designed to protect against ricin and a vaccine against anthrax.