HUDDINGE, Sweden, May 13, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Bo Oberg, Nils-Gunnar Johansson and certain of their colleagues at Medivir have sold a total of 1,062,285 subscription rights to Handelsbanken Capital Markets, due to personal economic matters. Bo Oberg and Nils Gunnar Johansson will utilize all proceeds from the sales, after tax, for the purchase of new shares in Medivir. The sold subscription rights correspond to 531,142 shares or 4,1 percent of the capital, or 2,8 percent of votes, presuming that the ongoing new share issue is fully subscribed. Handelsbanken Capital Markets has simultaneously lent the corresponding number of shares and placed them with Swedish and foreign institutional investors through a bid procedure. The share loan will be wound up as the acquired subscription rights are exercised for subscription.
"It is positive for Medivir that its institutional ownership is broadened with this placement," said Lars Adlersson, Medivir's President and CEO.
Medivir's ongoing new share issue is preferentially directed to existing shareholders, who receive one subscription right to a series B Medivir share for every two series A or series B shares in their possession. The subscription period extends from 3rd to 25th May 2004, at a subscription price of SEK 75.
The proceeds from the ongoing share issue should amount to over SEK 322 million, before issue costs, and will be used to secure resources to drive a more offensive strategy. This includes taking the cathepsin S and K projects further into the clinical phase than the Company previously entertained. The goal of driving these projects in to clinical development is to thereby substantially increase Medivir's share of the commercial value of the projects. Increased resources will also give the capacity to strongly push its wholly owned ME-609 herpes project, as well as other clinical projects with the greatest value for the Company. The intention is use the larger part of the proceeds for these goals. The share issue will also create the financial flexibility to enable the partial or complete replacement of up-front payments when entering future partnerships in favour of sales rights to specialist products.
For more information, please contact:
Rein Piir, CFO/IR Telephone: +46 708 537292
About Medivir
Medivir is an innovative and specialised research company which develops drugs with a view to becoming a profitable pharmaceutical company with real staying power. The company has offices in Huddinge, Sweden and Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Medivir's research focuses on the development of new drug substances based on polymerases and proteases as target enzymes. The group consists of Medivir AB, with its subsidiaries Medivir UK Ltd. and Medivir Personal AB. At the end of March 2004, the group employed 120 staff. Medivir was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1996, and since 1 July 2003 shares in the company have been traded on the Attract40 segment of the O-list.
The company's research portfolio includes projects relating to HIV, hepatitis, shingles, sores around the mouth, brittle bones, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), asthma and multiple sclerosis (MS). Medivir is running five separate projects in the clinical development phase, all with a unique clinical profile. The company's broad portfolio of preclinical research projects includes five defined projects and ten or so activities in various preclinical phases.
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