Generex Biotechnology Corporation (www.generex.com) (OTCBB: GNBT) today provided an update on the status of the previously announced spinout of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Antigen Express, Inc. (www.antigenexpress.com).
The Company is in the midst of a detailed and comprehensive review of several transaction opportunities, including both shell companies and operating biotech companies with synergistic intellectual properties, in each case Securities and Exchange Commission registrants and Depository Trust Company eligible companies, into which Antigen Express will be merged.
"We are undertaking our due diligence examination of available alternatives with a view to identifying an appropriate transaction for the Antigen Express spinout," stated Mark Fletcher, Generex President & Chief Executive Officer. "We will proceed with expedition to negotiate an agreement with the target company, complete the merger of Antigen Express into that company, and conduct an initial fund raising. If the merger and the initial fund raising are successful, we will then seek a listing of the merged company's stock on a national stock exchange."
Generex will provide further updates as the transactions progress.
Mr. Fletcher has previously stated regarding the spinout: "The transformation of Antigen Express into a separate, publicly traded entity is the centerpiece of the Generex strategic development plan. For too long, Antigen Express and its promising immunotherapeutic vaccine technologies have been overshadowed by the Generex buccal drug delivery platform technologies. We believe this spinout will help to unlock the true value of this dynamic company for our stockholders as it creates a pure play in immunotherapeutic vaccines for which we have already received an appraisal of over $300 million for the current status of our development program for breast cancer treatment alone. It will also allow Generex to benefit from its controlling interest in a publicly traded Antigen Express while allowing the Company to focus on maximizing the vast opportunities for its buccal drug delivery platform."
Generex intends to issue one or more dividends of Antigen Express stock to Generex stockholders. The record dates in respect of such dividends are yet to be determined and will be announced in due course. The stock dividends will enable Generex stockholders to directly participate in the promising future of Antigen Express as well as create a large shareholder base that could create an environment for liquidity required by new investors.
Following the issuance of stock dividends, Generex expects to retain a controlling interest in Antigen Express, but the exact proportion of the shares to be held by Generex has not yet been determined.
Subject to market conditions and the satisfaction of regulatory requirements, it is expected that the Antigen Express spinout will occur in 2011 or early 2012.
Innovative CAR T cell therapy targets two proteins to combat aggressive brain tumor growth