Our Recent Financing and Warrant Buy-back.
Now that we have closed the transactions involving our recent financing and offer to buy back warrants, I am slightly less limited in communicating about what we are doing and where I see the company going.
First, let me explain our silence during this period. An offer to buy back warrants is considered a private offering by securities regulators. During such an offering, companies are severely constrained on what they can communicate and to whom. Promotional or forward looking public comments can be construed as an attempt to condition the market and that can create SEC regulatory problems. Our policy is to obey all government regulations, so we went into a sort of “quiet period” which has now ended.
The strategy to buy back about 70 million out of the 120 million warrants was in conjunction with our financing. We had about 120 million warrants outstanding and they represented about $30 million in unexecuted capital. That was money we wanted to tap into to finance the further growth of the company.
However, warrant holders only execute warrants when the stock price is high or when there is another good opportunity, and of course when they have the cash available to do so. The financing created that opportunity and gave us the funds to buy back warrants. We believe it was a very good proposition for the warrant holders who got cash and shares in exchange for their warrants. The company got working capital and the security of a stronger equity base for the future.
This was made possible by the financing we negotiated with Vatea Fund. I believe they are the kind of investor that an early-stage company needs. The Fund invested $5 million and is committed to investing up to an additional $15 million, if we attain certain milestones. This commitment indicates Vatea Fund is a long-term investor. Any additional funding the company receives will allow us to move forward with our strategy and development plans. I discuss more about the financing with Vatea Fund in a video that is available on our website. Just click the play button on the image from the video and it will play on your computer.
A big next step in our development plans would be the start of our Phase II TBI trial in Switzerland and Israel. We are making very good progress toward approval by Swissmedic and the Israel Department of Health. We will make a public announcement as soon as there is something definite.
Many people await the launch of our topical cosmetic gel and we plan to make an announcement soon on when it will be available and how. When our cosmetic gel launches, it will be the first time ever that a commercial form of Oxycyte will be made available to the public for sale.
Finally, you may have noticed that we have revised our company website with the intent of providing more information about the company and product portfolio. Among the new items on the site are a series of videos by Dr. Bruce Spiess in which he explains our technology and its potential in the indications we are exploring. Let me know what you think.