Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPXA), a company developing Tcelna™, a
novel T-cell therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), today announced that
it has received a letter from The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC notifying the
Company that it has regained full compliance with the NASDAQ Capital
Market's minimum bid price continued listing requirement.
The letter noted that as of December 31, 2012, the Company evidenced a
closing bid price of its common stock in excess of the $1.00 minimum
requirement for at least ten consecutive trading days. Accordingly, the
Company has regained compliance with NASDAQ Marketplace Rule 5550(a)(2)
and NASDAQ considers the matter closed.
The Company has submitted its plan to regain compliance with NASDAQ’s
minimum stockholders’ equity listing standard set forth in listing rule
5550(b)(1), and NASDAQ is currently reviewing the plan. If the Company’s
plan is accepted, NASDAQ may grant an extension until May 25, 2013 for
the Company to regain compliance with the minimum stockholders’ equity
standard.
About Opexa
Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. is dedicated to the development of
patient-specific cellular therapies for the treatment of autoimmune
diseases such as MS. The Company’s leading therapy, Tcelna™, is a
personalized cellular immunotherapy treatment that is in late stage
clinical development for MS. Tcelna is derived from T-cells isolated
from peripheral blood, expanded ex vivo, and reintroduced into the
patients via subcutaneous injections. This process triggers a potent
immune response against specific subsets of autoreactive T-cells known
to attack myelin and, thereby, reduces the risk of relapse over time.
For more information visit the Opexa Therapeutics website at www.opexatherapeutics.com.
Cautionary Statement Relating to Forward-Looking Information for the
Purpose of "Safe Harbor" Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended. The words “expects,” “believes,” “hopes,”
“anticipates,” “estimates,” “may,” “could,” “intends,” “exploring,”
“enable,” “enhance,” “evaluating,” “progressing,” “proceeding” and
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute
guarantees of future performance. Investors are cautioned that
statements in this press release which are not strictly historical
statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the
development of the Company’s product candidate, Tcelna, constitute
forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject
to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those anticipated, including, without
limitation, risks associated with: our capital position, the rights and
preferences provided to the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock and
investors in the convertible secured notes issued by the Company in July
2012 (including a secured interest in all of our assets), the ability of
the Company to enter into and benefit from a partnering arrangement for
the Company's product candidate, Tcelna, on reasonably satisfactory
terms (if at all), our dependence (if partnered) on the resources and
abilities of any partner for the further development of Tcelna, our
ability to compete with larger, better financed pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies, new approaches to the treatment of our targeted
diseases, our expectation of incurring continued losses, our uncertainty
of developing a marketable product, our ability to raise additional
capital to continue our development programs (including to undertake and
complete any ongoing or further clinical studies for Tcelna) including
in this regard our ability to satisfy various conditions required to
access the financing potentially available under the purchase agreements
with Lincoln Park (such as the minimum closing price for our common
stock, the registration of the underlying shares of common stock under
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the requirement for an
ongoing trading market for our stock), our ability to regain and
maintain compliance with NASDAQ listing standards, the success of our
clinical trials, the efficacy of Tcelna for any particular indication,
such as for relapsing remitting MS or secondary progressive MS, our
ability to develop and commercialize products, our ability to obtain
required regulatory approvals, our compliance with all Food and Drug
Administration regulations, our ability to obtain, maintain and protect
intellectual property rights (including for Tcelna), the risk of
litigation regarding our intellectual property rights or the rights of
third parties, the success of third party development and
commercialization efforts with respect to products covered by
intellectual property rights that the Company may license or transfer,
our limited manufacturing capabilities, our dependence on third-party
manufacturers, our ability to hire and retain skilled personnel, our
volatile stock price, and other risks detailed in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date made. We assume no obligation or
undertaking to update any forward-looking statements to reflect any
changes in expectations with regard thereto or any change in events,
conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. You
should, however, review additional disclosures we make in our reports
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.
