Avenue Therapeutics Announces Exercise of Warrants for $4.4 Million in Gross Proceeds

MIAMI, April 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avenue Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATXI) (“Avenue” or the “Company”), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of neurologic diseases, today announced the entry into definitive agreements for the immediate exercise of certain outstanding warrants to purchase an aggregate of 689,680 shares of the Company’s common stock. The exercised warrants are comprised of warrants to purchase shares of common stock originally issued by Avenue on October 11, 2022, each having an exercise price of $116.25 per share, Series A and Series B warrants to purchase shares of common stock originally issued by Avenue on November 2, 2023, each having an exercise price of $22.545 per share, and warrants to purchase shares of common stock originally issued by Avenue on January 9, 2024, each having an exercise price of $22.545 per share. The warrant holders agreed to exercise these warrants for cash at a reduced exercise price of $6.20 per share. The shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are registered pursuant to effective registration statements on Form S-1 (File Nos. 333-267206 and 333-274562) and Form S-3 (No. 333-276671). The gross proceeds to Avenue from the exercise of the warrants are expected to be approximately $4.4 million, prior to deducting placement agent fees and offering expenses. The closing of the warrant exercise transaction is expected to occur on or about May 1, 2024, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

H.C. Wainwright & Co. is acting as the exclusive placement agent for the offering.

In consideration for the immediate exercise of the warrants for cash, the Company will issue new unregistered Series C warrants to purchase up to 689,680 shares of common stock and new unregistered Series D warrants to purchase up to 689,680 shares of common stock for a payment of $0.125 per new warrant. The new Series C and Series D warrants will have an exercise price of $6.20 per share. The new Series C warrants will be exercisable immediately upon issuance for a period of five years from the date of issuance and the Series D warrants will be exercisable immediately upon issuance for a period of eighteen months from the date of issuance.

The new warrants described above were offered in a private placement pursuant to an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”) and, along with the shares of common stock issuable upon their exercise, have not been registered under the 1933 Act, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration with the SEC or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. Avenue has agreed to file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) covering the resale of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the new warrants.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein, nor shall 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 the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

About Avenue Therapeutics

Avenue Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATXI) is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of neurologic diseases. It is currently developing three assets including AJ201, a first-in-class asset for spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, BAER-101, an oral small molecule selective GABA_A α2, α3 receptor positive allosteric modulator for CNS diseases, and IV tramadol, which is in Phase 3 clinical development for the management of acute postoperative pain in adults in a medically supervised healthcare setting. Avenue is headquartered in Miami, FL and was founded by Fortress Biotech, Inc. (Nasdaq: FBIO). For more information, visit www.avenuetx.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains predictive or “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of current or historical fact contained in this press release, including statements that express our intentions, plans, objectives, beliefs, expectations, strategies, predictions or any other statements relating to our future activities or other future events or conditions are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “will,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections made by management about our business, our industry and other conditions affecting our financial condition, results of operations or business prospects. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements due to numerous risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause such outcomes and results to differ include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties arising from: the ability to satisfy the closing conditions related to the warrant inducement transaction and the overall timing and completion of such closing and the use of the net proceeds of the warrant inducement transaction; the fact that we currently have no drug products for sale and that our success is dependent on our product candidates receiving regulatory approval and being successfully commercialized; the possibility that serious adverse or unacceptable side effects are identified during the development of our current or future product candidates, such that we would need to abandon or limit development of some of our product candidates; our ability to successfully develop, partner, or commercialize any of our current or future product candidates including AJ201, IV tramadol, and BAER-101; the substantial doubt raised about our ability to continue as a going concern, which may hinder our ability to obtain future financing; the significant losses we have incurred since inception and our expectation that we will continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future; our need for substantial additional funding, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all, which unavailability of could force us to delay, reduce or eliminate our product development programs or commercialization efforts; our reliance on third parties for several aspects of our operations; our reliance on clinical data and results obtained by third parties that could ultimately prove to be inaccurate, or unreliable, or unacceptable to regulatory authorities; the possibility that we may not receive regulatory approval for any or all of our product candidates, or that such approval may be significantly delayed due to scientific or regulatory reasons; the fact that even if one or more of our product candidates receives regulatory approval, they will remain subject to substantial regulatory scrutiny; the effects of current and future laws and regulations relating to fraud and abuse, false claims, transparency, health information privacy and security, and other healthcare laws and regulations; the effects of competition for our product candidates and the potential for new products to emerge that provide different or better therapeutic alternatives for our targeted indications; the possibility that the government or third-party payors fail to provide adequate coverage and payment rates for our product candidates or any future products; our ability to establish sales and marketing capabilities or to enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell our product candidates; our exposure to potential product liability claims; related to the protection of our intellectual property and our potential inability to maintain sufficient patent protection for our technology and products; our ability to maintain compliance with the obligations under our intellectual property licenses and funding arrangements with third parties, without which licenses and arrangements we could lose rights that are important to our business; the fact that Fortress Biotech, Inc. controls a majority of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock and has rights to receive significant share grants annually; and those risks discussed in our filings which we make with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this press release, except as required by applicable law. Investors should evaluate any statements made by us in light of these important factors.

Contact:

Jaclyn Jaffe
Avenue Therapeutics, Inc.
(781) 652-4500
ir@avenuetx.com

Released April 29, 2024