Company Announces $10 Million in New Financing
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Aviron (Nasdaq: AVIR),
today announced that Dennis M. Fenton, Ph.D., and Wayne T. Hockmeyer, Ph.D.,
have been elected to the company's Board of Directors, effective immediately.
Their appointment increases the size of Aviron's board to eight.
Dr. Fenton has been with Amgen since 1983, where he is currently executive
vice president. Throughout his career at Amgen, Dr. Fenton has held
increasingly senior positions in clinical manufacturing, process development,
pilot plant operations, facilities, research and sales and marketing. Prior to
joining Amgen, Dr. Fenton worked in new product development with Pfizer
Central Research. Dr. Fenton received his Ph.D. from Rutgers University, and
his bachelor's degree from Manhattan College in New York. He serves on the
Board of Directors of the National Health Foundation.
Dr. Hockmeyer is chairman and chief executive officer of MedImmune, Inc.,
a biopharmaceutical company he founded in 1988. From 1986 to 1988, Dr.
Hockmeyer served as vice president, research and development of Praxis
Biologics, Inc. From 1980 to 1986, Dr. Hockmeyer served as chairman of the
department of immunology of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Prior
to his business career, Dr. Hockmeyer authored more than 70 papers and
articles on vaccine development and immunology. He is internationally
recognized for his research on malaria vaccines. Dr. Hockmeyer received his
Ph.D. from the University of Florida and his bachelor's degree from Purdue
University.
"The addition to our board of two outstanding senior biotechnology
executives with substantial operating experience and particular expertise in
vaccines and biological manufacturing will provide enormous value to Aviron as
we proceed towards our BLA submission for FluMist(TM) later this year," said
C. Boyd Clarke, president and chief executive officer of Aviron.
$10 MILLION IN NEW FINANCING
Aviron also announced that it has sold 253,935 shares of its Common Stock
registered under its Registration Statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-87185) to
Acqua Wellington Asset Management LLC ("Acqua Wellington") for an aggregate
price of $8,000,000, or $31.50 per share. The share price for this sale is
calculated based on a discount to the volume weighted average price (VWAP) of
Aviron Common Stock between February 7 and March 2, the 18 business days prior
to closing.
In a separate private transaction, pursuant to the company's agreement
with Wyeth Lederle Vaccines, a business unit of Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, the
pharmaceutical division of American Home Products Corporation (AHP), Aviron
has sold 121,212 shares of its Common Stock to AHP for an aggregate price of
$2,000,000 or $16.50 per share. Aviron agreed to this transaction in
December 1999, and the share price is based on the company's share price at
that time. Aviron has agreed to register these shares for resale within
180 days.
The company did not pay any fees or other compensation in connection with
these transactions. Net proceeds from the sales will be used to fund
operating costs, capital expenditures and working capital needs, which may
include costs of FluMist(TM) regulatory filings and the manufacturing and
commercialization of FluMist(TM) in its current formulation; development of a
second-generation formulation of FluMist(TM); research and development of
other pipeline products; development of the infrastructure necessary to
support these activities; and other general corporate purposes.
Aviron is a biopharmaceutical company based in Mountain View, California,
focused on the prevention of disease through innovative vaccine technology.
Actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements
contained in this release. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
include, but are not limited to, failure to validate the manufacturing
process, facilities or equipment for the company's nasal influenza vaccine,
and the assessment by regulatory agencies that the company's future license
applications for its nasal influenza vaccine are incomplete or inadequate to
approve the product for marketing to one or more target populations.
Additional information concerning factors that could cause such a difference
is contained in Aviron's SEC filings, including its shelf S-3 Registration
Statement, Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998,
and subsequent Forms 10-Q.
To receive an index and copies of recent press releases, call Aviron's
News-On-Call toll-free fax service, 800-758-5804, extension 114000.
Additional information about the company can be located at
http://www.aviron.com.
SOURCE Aviron
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Related links:
http://www.aviron.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/114000.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 114000
CONTACT:
media, Claudette Hibbert of
Fleishman-Hillard, 212-453-2000, for Aviron; or Karen Gilbert,
650-919-6578, or investors, John Bluth, 650-919-3716, or Fred
Kurland, 650-919-6666, all of Aviron
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