Planet Technologies Announces Completion of Antigen Laboratories Acquisition
09 November 2007 - 3:23PM
PR Newswire (US)
RIDGEFIELD, Conn. and LIBERTY, Mo., Nov. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- Planet Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLNT), a specialty
pharmaceutical company focused on providing products for allergy
and asthma sufferers, today announced that it has completed the
acquisition of Antigen Laboratories, Inc. (Antigen), a
privately-held FDA licensed manufacturer of allergenic extracts for
immunotherapy. "As announced in September, the acquisition of
Antigen's allergenic extract immunotherapy business complements our
existing allergen avoidance product business. The Antigen
transaction continues to deliver on our strategy to acquire and
build specialty allergy businesses, focused on marketing
value-added products to allergy sufferers through allergy-related
physicians in the United States," said Ed Steube, Chief Executive
Officer and President of Planet. Antigen will operate as a wholly
owned subsidiary of Planet. Physicians use Antigen's allergenic
extracts for immunotherapy, which historically have been
administered to patients in controlled doses by subcutaneous
injections ("SCIT"). Antigen provides allergenic extracts to over
1,500 physicians in the United States annually. Importantly, upon
completion of the acquisition, the company intends to commence a
sublingual immunotherapy ("SLIT") clinical development program.
SLIT is the administration of immunotherapy through drops of
allergenic extract being placed under the tongue, versus the
traditional SCIT route of administration. The company believes that
an FDA-approved SLIT product will substantially expand the U.S.
market for allergen immunotherapy, as allergy-related physicians
will have the enhanced option of offering either SCIT or SLIT based
immunotherapy for their patients. "We also are pleased to announce
that the company completed a private placement of approximately
$19.9 million of its preferred stock. The financing was led by
Aisling Capital, a leading private equity health care investor,
which supplied capital to fund the acquisition, the prospective
costs associated with the SLIT clinical development and regulatory
approval program, capacity expansion at Antigen and incremental
working capital," said Mr. Steube. "We look forward to continuing
to execute our strategy, working closely with Aisling Capital to
build our position as a market leader." When convertible, the
preferred stock will be convertible into common stock at the
conversion price of $2.25 per common share, subject to adjust upon
the occurrence of certain events. As part of the preferred stock
financing, the company agreed to file a Form 15 with the SEC to
deregister the company common stock under Section 12 of the
Security Exchange Act of 1934. As a result, once filed, the company
will no longer file annual or quarterly reports with the SEC and
the Company's common stock will likely stop trading on the OTC
Bulletin Board. The shares frequently do not trade and the average
daily trading volume has recently been below the 200 shares per day
at prices ranging from $1 to $5 per share. The infrequency of
trading and wide fluctuation in prices has led management to
believe the company would be better situated for future
opportunities as a private, non-reporting company. Concurrently
with the closing of the acquisition of Antigen and preferred stock
financing, Ellen Preston, Eric Freedus, H. Mac Busby, Mike Trinkle
and Michael Walsh agreed to step down as directors of Planet. Tom
Willoughby, the President of Antigen Laboratories, Inc., and Andrew
Schiff and Brett Zbar, both affiliated with Aisling Capital were
appointed to the Board of Directors. "We thank very much our former
directors for their dedicated services and are pleased Tom, Andrew
and Brett have agreed to join the Planet Board, "said Ed Steube.
Forward-Looking Statement This press release contains
"forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are
based on management's current expectations and involve risks and
uncertainties, which may cause results to differ materially from
those set forth in the statements. The forward-looking statements
may include statements regarding product development, product
potential or financial performance. No forward-looking statement
can be guaranteed, and actual results may differ materially from
those projected. Planet undertakes no obligation to publicly update
any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. Forward-looking statements
in this press release should be evaluated together with the many
uncertainties that affect Planet's business. Contact: Planet
Technologies Edward Steube Chief Executive Officer (203) 438-9580
DATASOURCE: Planet Technologies, Inc. CONTACT: Edward Steube, Chief
Executive Officer of Planet Technologies, +1-203-438-9580 Web site:
http://www.planettechinc.com/
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