New York, Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Univest Securities, LLC, a member of FINRA and SIPC, is a full-service investment bank and securities broker-dealer firm based in New York, today announced the closing for the acquisition of Somulation, Inc. by its client Marizyme, Inc. (OTC:MRZM) (“Marizyme” or the “Company”), and closing of the private placement for $7,000,240 to which Univest Securities, LLC. acted as the exclusive investment bank and sole-placement agent.
Marizyme has completed the acquisition of Somahlution, Inc. and all of Somahlution, LLC assets including their DuraGraft® intellectual property, Somaceutica intellectual property and derivative works. DuraGraft is a CE-marked and patented product that protects vascular grafts against ischemic injury and is the only product registered and indicated for graft protection and preservation during bypass and other vascular surgeries including Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) and Peripheral Bypass surgery. Marizyme has issued 10 million shares of restricted common stock to the Somahlutions shareholders and a warrant to purchase 3 million shares of restricted common stock at a strike price of $5 per share. After the acquisition, Dr. Satish Chandra will be joining Marizyme as President and COO and Dr. Catherine Pachuk will be joining as Chief Science Officer.
In addition, Univest Securities, LLC was able to raise in a private placement offering with common shares only for Marizyme a total of 5,600,192 shares at $1.25 per share representing $7,000,240 in gross proceeds before fees and expenses were sold in this offering. Marizyme plans to use the proceeds to expand sales of DuraGraft in Europe and to begin to seek US FDA approval in the United States.
Mr. Edric Yi Guo, Director of Investment Banking of Univest Securities, commented, “We are very grateful to the Marizyme team for trusting us and launching this project in an unprecedented time for all of us. We are also pleased that we can deliver the value we promised and was able to complete this private placement in this manner and on time. It is another important step for Univest to build our brand as a fundamental-driven, adventurous bank who doesn’t shy away from heavy lifting situations and getting hands on with our clients in order to deliver value. We believe the Company is in a unique position to grow significantly with now having the capital it takes and will continue to work with the Marizyme team to keep building value for our investors and other shareholders of the Company.”
Mr. James Sapirstein, Marizyme, Executive Chairman, also commented, “We are excited to complete this transaction and most importantly bring on the seasoned technical leadership of the Somahlution’s team. In addition, we are grateful to Univest Securities and our new investors for the trust they are placing in us to deliver strong shareholder value for Marizyme. Somahlution’s platform technology has enabled the development of a robust product pipeline with the potential to address unmet medical needs and reduce disease burden not only in vascular grafting indications but also indications involving tissue and fat grafting and organ transplant. DuraGraft protects graft tissue from harvesting through anastomosis and is used as a treatment to maintain the structural and functional integrity of free vascular grafts. The use of DuraGraft is associated with reductions of post-CABG complications associated with graft disease and failure: Myocardial Infarction, Repeat Revascularization and other Major Adverse Cardiac Events.”
Dr. Satish Chandran, Marizyme, President and COO, added, “We are enthusiastic about being a key element of Marizyme’s strategy. DuraGraft has undergone extensive and rigorous clinical testing and has been cleared for use throughout the EU and several other countries around the world.”
Univest Securities, LLC. acted as the exclusive investment bank and placement agent to this offering. Bevilacqua PLLC acted as counsel to the Company, and Sullivan & Worcester LLP acted as counsel to the underwriters in connection with the Offering.
The shares are being offered and sold only to institution investors and persons who qualify as “accredited investors,” in reliance on exemptions from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, which we refer to as the Securities Act, including, without limitation, Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act and/or Rule 506(b) of Regulation D under the Securities Act. The securities sold in the private placement have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state or other applicable jurisdiction's securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state or other jurisdictions' securities laws. The Securities and Exchange Commission has not passed upon the merits of or given its approval to the common stock, the terms of the private placement or the accuracy or completeness of any private placement materials. The common stock sold in the private placement are subject to legal and contractual restrictions on transfer. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of, these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. Additional details regarding the private placement are included in two Form 8-Ks filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 28th, 2020 and on August 05th, 2020.
About Univest Securities, LLC.
Registered with FINRA since 1994, Univest Securities, LLC. provides a wide variety of financial services to its institutional and retail clients globally including brokerage and execution services, sales and trading, market making, investment banking and advisory, wealth management. It strives to provide clients with value-add service and focuses on building long-term relationship with its clients. For more information, please visit: www.univest.us .
About Marizyme, Inc.
Marizyme, Inc. is a development-stage company dedicated to the commercialization of innovative therapies that address the urgent unmet needs relating to higher mortality and costs in the acute care space. Specifically, Marizyme will focus its efforts on expanding the applications for its technologies to dental care, wound healing, thrombosis and other tissue preserving uses. For more information, visit www.marizyme.com or www.somahlution.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements, including those relating to the Company’s product development, clinical and regulatory timelines, market opportunity, competitive position, possible or assumed future results of operations, business strategies, potential growth opportunities and other statements that are predictive in nature. The Company has made every reasonable effort to ensure the information and assumptions on which these statements are based are current, reasonable and complete. However, a variety of factors, many of which are beyond the Company’s control, affect the Company’s operations, performance, business strategy and results and there can be no assurances that the Company’s actual results will not differ materially from those indicated herein. Additional written and oral forward-looking statements may be made by the Company from time to time. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking expressions, including, but not limited to, “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “estimate,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. These statements relate to future events or our financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, including those risks set forth in the Company’s risk factor disclosure in its Registration Statement on Form 10K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC File No. 000-53223), uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Investor and Media Contact
Univest Securities, LLC.
Edric Guo
375 Park Avenue #1502
New York, NY 10152
Phone: (212) 343-8888
Email: info@univest.us