Rights Issue to be carried out by keeping the authorization by the Annual General Meeting, resolves Tripep

The Board of Directors of Tripep AB (publ)(STO:TPEP) has on the 27th of November 2009, based on the authorization by the Annual General Meeting resolved to carry out a rights issue. Every existing share entitles to subscribe for one new share during the period 7 – 21 December 2009 at the subscription price SEK 0.50. If the rights issue is subscribed in full it will give the company a capital injection of SEK 17.8 m (before transaction costs which is estimated to SEK 0.7 m).

The Rights Issue aims to give Tripep the financial capacity the company needs for finalizing the ChronVac-C® study and continue the clinical development of a new generation of ChronVac-C® as well as a therapeutic vaccine against chronic hepatitis B virus-infection, ChronVac-B. If the rights offering is fully subscribed the money should last whole of 2010 including GMP production, safety testing and application to the Swedish Medical Product Agency for a phase I/II clinical study of the 2nd generation ChronVac-C® as well as ChronVac-B. Tripep has no cost for the ongoing clinical study on the wound healing project ChronSeal®. The results that are expected during the spring will decide whether Tripep shall recommend its shareholders to buy back ownership in this project. Such an acquisition would be dependent raising on further capital.

”Based on the successfully performed clinical study on ChronVac-C® we will now broaden our vaccine portfolio with the intent to apply for a clinical study with the Swedish Medical Products Agency during the 4th quarter of 2010. Our ambition is that the vaccine candidate, i.e. 2nd generation ChronVac-C® or ChronVac-B, which has first passed the preclinical studies shall be tested in a clinical phase I/II study during 2011. In parallel we follow with excitement the patients from the ChronVac-C® study who now receive standard of care with interferon and ribavirin. Thus we have a very exciting year ahead of us with a decisive focus on the further development of our therapeutic vaccines to become successful medicines”, says Anders Vahlne, CEO and Head of Research at Tripep.