- Announces Sale of $15 million in Common Stock and
Warrants to State of Wisconsin Investment Board -
LA JOLLA, Calif., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc.
(Nasdaq: ATIS) today announced the completion of a $15 million public offering
of units sold by the Company to the State of Wisconsin Investment Board.
Under the offering, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board purchased
3,750,000 units at $4.00 per unit. The units separated immediately upon
issuance into 3,750,000 shares of Advanced Tissue Sciences' common stock (one
share per unit) and warrants to purchase an additional 1,750,000 shares of
common stock at $4.00 per share. This investment increases the State of
Wisconsin Investment Board's beneficial ownership to over 16%.
Approximately $10 million of the proceeds will be used to fund existing
operations, while approximately $5 million must be reserved by the Company to
exercise its existing right to redeem the Company's remaining outstanding
Series B Convertible Preferred Stock should such shares be submitted for
conversion at or below $3.58 per share. The warrants are exercisable at any
time over the next three years and could potentially yield up to an additional
$7.0 million to the Company. The Company terminated its $50 million equity
line in conjunction with the sale of the units.
"We are happy to make this additional investment in Advanced Tissue
Sciences. We continue to be impressed with the caliber of people and the
research progress achieved by the Company," said John Nelson, Investment
Director for the State of Wisconsin Investment Board. "This investment
provides additional financial resources for the Company to continue progress
in the development of its promising product pipeline." The State of Wisconsin
Investment Board manages investments of over $60 billion on behalf of over
450,000 government employees and retirees.
"We are certainly pleased that the State of Wisconsin Investment Board,
our largest and longest term institutional investor, continues to support the
Company's plans for the future. This investment enables us to further the
commercialization and applications of our Dermagraft(R) and TransCyte(TM)
products," said Arthur J. Benvenuto, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
"In addition, we are continuing to advance our human-based core technology
into other product indications, including orthopedic cartilage,
cardiovascular, aesthetic, urological and various reconstructive
applications."
Advanced Tissue Sciences is a tissue engineering company utilizing its
proprietary core technology to develop and manufacture human-based tissue
products for tissue repair and transplantation. The Company has two joint
ventures with Smith & Nephew. The first covers the application of Advanced
Tissue Sciences' tissue engineering technology for skin wounds and includes
Dermagraft(R) for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, TransCyte(TM) for the
temporary covering of second and third-degree burns and future developments
for venous ulcers, pressure ulcers, burns and other non-aesthetic wound care
treatments. The second joint venture is developing tissue-engineered
orthopedic cartilage, initially focusing on the repair of cartilage in knee
joints. The Company also has a strategic alliance with Inamed Corporation for
the development and marketing of several of Advanced Tissue Sciences'
human-based, tissue-engineered products for aesthetic and certain
reconstructive applications. In addition, the Company is developing products
for cardiovascular applications.
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical may be
"forward-looking" statements which involve risks and uncertainties. No
assurances can be given that the Company will successfully develop or
commercialize its products, complete clinical trials, obtain regulatory
approvals (or that any such approvals will be obtained on a timely basis), be
able to manufacture or successfully commercialize such products. Actual
results may differ from those described in this press release due to risks and
uncertainties that exist in the Company's operations, including, without
limitation, the ability to obtain additional financing to continue operations
when needed, a history of operating losses and accumulated deficits, the
Company's reliance on collaborative relationships, and uncertainties related
to clinical trials, the ability to obtain the appropriate regulatory
approvals, patent protection, and market acceptance, as well as other risks
detailed from time to time in publicly available filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including without limitation, Advanced Tissue
Sciences' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998 and
Advanced Tissue Sciences' most recent Registration Statement on Form S-3 filed
on July 12, 1999, as amended. The Company undertakes no obligation to release
publicly the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements to
reflect events or circumstances arising after the date hereof.
SOURCE Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc.
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Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/532975.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 532975
CONTACT:
Jana Stoudemire, Senior Director, Corporate
Communications, of Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc., 858-713-7802
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