NEWARK, Calif., April 29, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StemCells, Inc. (Nasdaq:STEM) today announced that it has closed its previously announced offering of common stock and warrants. The Company sold a total of 35,715,000 shares and warrants to acquire 26,786,250 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $0.70 per unit for a fixed combination of one share of common stock and a warrant to purchase three-quarters of a share of common stock. The Company also issued warrants to purchase an additional 4,017,938 shares of common stock pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters' option to acquire additional warrants to cover over-allotments. The Company received total proceeds, net of offering expenses, underwriting discounts and commissions, of approximately $23.35 million. The warrants have an exercise price of $0.85 per share, are exercisable immediately, and will expire five years from the date of issuance. If the warrants are exercised in full, StemCells, Inc. will receive additional proceeds of approximately $26.2 million. The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 5,357,250 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments.
Maxim Group LLC acted as sole book-running manager and Chardan Capital Markets, LLC acted as co-manager for the offering. Meyers Associates, L.P. and IFS Securities, Inc. acted as financial advisors for the offering.
About StemCells, Inc.
StemCells, Inc. is currently engaged in clinical development of its platform technology, HuCNS-SC® cells (purified human neural stem cells) as a potential treatment for disorders of the central nervous system (CNS). Interim data from the Company's Phase I/II clinical trial in thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI) show measurable gains involving multiple sensory modalities and segments, including the conversion of 2 of 7 patients enrolled in the study with complete injuries (AIS A) converting to incomplete injuries (AIS B), post-transplant. Enrollment has recently commenced in the Company's Phase II clinical trial in cervical SCI. StemCells, Inc. has also completed enrollment and treatment in its Phase I/II clinical trial in geographic atrophy of age-related macular degeneration (GA-AMD), the most severe form of dry AMD, which is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. Based upon interim results for subjects with twelve months data, the Company reported a 70 percent reduction in the rate of disease progression as compared to the control (untreated) eye and a 65 percent reduction in the rate of disease progression as compared to the expected natural history of the disease. In a Phase I clinical trial in Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD), a fatal myelination disorder in children, the Company showed preliminary evidence of progressive and durable donor-derived myelination in all four patients transplanted with HuCNS-SC cells.