Published on December 5, 2007
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Contacts:
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Media:
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Corporate:
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GendeLLindheim
BioCom Partners
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Steven
D. Rubin
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Barbara
Lindheim
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305
575 6000
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212
918-4650
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THE
FROST GROUP INVESTS $20 MILLION IN OPKO HEALTH
MIAMI,
FL - December 5, 2007-
OPKO
Health, Inc. (AMEX: OPK) today announced that the members of The Frost Group,
a
private investment group controlled by Dr. Phillip Frost, Chairman and CEO
of
OPKO Health, have made a $20 million investment in OPKO. Under the terms
of the
investment, OPKO will issue 10,869,565 shares of the Company’s common stock, at
$1.84 per share, representing an approximately 40% discount to the five-day
average trading price of the stock on the American Stock Exchange. The shares
issued in the investment will be restricted securities, subject to a two
year
lock-up, and no registration rights have been granted. The Frost Group also
includes Dr. Jane Hsiao, Vice Chairman and Chief Technical Officer of OPKO,
Dr.
Rao Uppaluri, Chief Financial Officer of OPKO, and Steven D. Rubin, Executive
Vice President-Administration of OPKO.
"We
are
pleased to make this investment during this important phase of OPKO’s product
development efforts, with our lead drug candidate bevasiranib in Phase III
trials and the recent launch of our breakthrough diagnostic imaging system,
“said Phillip
Frost, M.D., Chairman and CEO of OPKO. “This
financing transaction shows our continued commitment and confidence in the
success of OPKO and provides OPKO with additional financial resources to
support
its ongoing efforts to bring its rich pipeline of novel ophthalmic drugs
and
products to the market.”
The
proceeds from the investment will be used to fund research and development
efforts, including the ongoing Phase III trial for bevasiranib and for general
working capital. Following
this investment, members of the Frost Group will collectively be deemed to
beneficially own in the aggregate approximately 62% of OPKO’s outstanding common
stock.
Bevasiranib
is a first-in-class small interfering RNA (siRNA) drug designed to silence
the
genes that produce vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), believed to
be
largely responsible for the vision loss of wet AMD. Bevasiranib is the first
therapy based on the Nobel Prize-winning RNA interference (RNAi) technology
to
advance to Phase III clinical trials.
About
OPKO Health, Inc.
Miami-based
OPKO is a specialty healthcare company. Its lead investigational drug, the
pioneering gene silencing agent bevasiranib, has entered a pivotal Phase
III
trial after successfully completing Phase II trials for wet age-related macular
degeneration and diabetic macular edema. OPKO is developing a preclinical
pipeline of novel agents for ophthalmic diseases and we market diagnostic
systems that complement our therapeutic products. For more information visit
the
company’s website at www.opko.com.
This
press release contains "forward-looking statements,” as that term is defined
under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA), which
statements may be identified by words such as “expects,” “plans,” “projects,”
“will,” “may,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “should,” “intends,” “estimates,” and
other words of similar meaning, including statements about our product
development efforts, and our ability to develop a preclinical pipeline of
novel
agents for ophthalmic diseases, as well as other non-historical statements
about
our expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding our business, technologies
and
products, financial condition, strategies or prospects. Many factors could
cause
our actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities
and
results anticipated in forward-looking statements. These factors include
those
factors described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
as
well as risks inherent in funding, developing and obtaining regulatory approvals
of new, commercially-viable and competitive products and treatments, including
the risks that enrollment of patients for the Phase III clinical trial for
bevasiranib, may not be successful, that the Phase III clinical trial itself
may
not be completed on a timely basis or at all, that any of our compounds under
development, including bevasiranib, may fail, may not achieve the expected
results or effectiveness and may not generate data that would support the
approval or marketing of products for the indications being studied or for
other
indications. In addition, forward-looking statements may also be adversely
affected by general market factors, competitive product development, product
availability, federal and state regulations and legislation, the regulatory
process for new products and indications, manufacturing issues that may arise,
patent positions and litigation, among other factors. The forward-looking
statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date the
statements were made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update
forward-looking statements. We intend that all forward-looking statements
be
subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the PSLRA.
####