Fundraising

    RNS Number : 0540F
  Napo Pharmaceuticals Inc
  03 October 2008
   

 For immediate release  3 October 2008




    Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc
    ("Napo" or "the Company")
    FUNDRAISING
    South San Francisco, California, 3 October, 2008 - Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (LSE: NAPL and NAPU), is pleased to announce that, as
part of its ongoing fundraising activities, the Company has raised approximately US$500,000 (approximately GBP280,505) (the "Fundraising")
through the issue of convertible debt (the "Notes"). 
    The Notes are repayable on 20 June 2009 and bear interest at 8% per annum, payable in cash or the Company's common shares of US$0.0001
each ("Common Shares"). In most circumstances, the Notes are convertible after 90 days at the option of the holders into Common Shares, at
US$0.194163 per Common Share. This is the same US dollar conversion price as the convertible notes issued in June 2008 (see announcement
dated 23 June 2008). No warrants will be issued as part of the Fundraising.
    The maximum number of Common Shares that may be issued under a conversion at the Conversion Price is 2,575,155 Common Shares (the
"Conversion Shares"), representing approximately 4.8 per cent of the current issued share capital of the Company. The Company's issued share
capital is 54,206,383 Common Shares.
    At a meeting of the Company's shareholders on 17 September 2008 shareholders approved the delisting of the Company from the Official
List of the London Stock Exchange and certain other resolutions that subject to delisting, would enable the issuance of the Conversion
Shares. If required, application for the Conversion Shares to be admitted to listing on the Official List and to trading on the London Stock
Exchange's Main Market will be made at the relevant time however the Company expects that the listing of its shares on the London Stock
Exchange will have been cancelled prior to issue of the Conversion Shares. The issue of the Notes is not conditional on shareholder
approval. 
    The net proceeds of the Fundraising (the "Net Funds") are not sufficient to complete the Phase 3 adaptive design trial for CRO-HIV. The
Company expects the Net Funds to provide the Company with funds further into October 2008. The Net Funds, together with existing resources
and other funds which the Directors hope to raise through the out-license of certain rights to crofelemer including the indications of
CRO-HIV, CRO-IBS, CRO-ID and CRO-PED in the United States and other western territories, in exchange for a licensing fee(s), will be used
primarily for working capital purposes and to continue to finance the costs of the CRO-HIV Phase 3 US trial. Such licensing fees may need to
be supplemented with further debt or equity issuances in order for Napo to have sufficient funds to complete the CRO-HIV Phase 3 clinical
trial. 
    Lisa Conte, Napo's CEO, commented: "We are pleased to announce this fundraising and we are continuing our efforts to progress our
corporate licensing discussions."
    
For more information please contact: 

Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 
Lisa Conte, Chief Executive Officer 
1 + 650 616 1902 

Charles Thompson, Chief Financial Officer
1 + 650 616 1903

Buchanan Communications
+ 44 (0)20 7466 5000
Tim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson, Catherine Breen 

About Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 
    Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. focuses on the development and commercialisation of proprietary pharmaceuticals for the global marketplace in
collaboration with local partners. Napo was founded in November 2001, and is based in California, USA with a subsidiary in Mumbai, India. 
    Napo's late-stage proprietary gastro-intestinal compound, crofelemer, is in various stages of clinical development for four distinct
product indications, including a late-stage Phase 3 program: 
    *  CRO-HIV for AIDS diarrhoea, Phase 3 
    *  CRO-IBS for diarrhoea irritable bowel syndrome ("D-IBS"), Phase 2 
    *  CRO-ID for acute infectious diarrhoea (including cholera), Phase 2 
    *  CRO-PED for paediatric diarrhoea, Phase 1 
    The FDA has granted fast-track status to CRO-IBS and CRO-HIV. 
    On 17 September 2008, Napo's shareholders voted in favor of Napo cancelling its listing on the Official List of the London Stock
Exchange. It is anticipated that trading in the Company's stock on the London Stock Exchange will cease at the close of business on 15
October 2008, with the cancellation of the listing on the Official List taking effect at 8.00 a.m. on 16 October 2008. Following this
notification it is not anticipated that Napo shares will be traded on any public market.
    Crofelemer, a proprietary patented first in class agent, is extracted from Croton lechleri, a medicinal plant which can be sustainably
harvested from several countries in South America. Napo has exclusive worldwide rights to synthetic compounds in pre-clinical development
which act by the same mechanism of action. Napo also plans to develop an early clinical stage product, NP-500, for the treatment of insulin
resistant diseases of Type II diabetes and metabolic syndrome (Syndrome X; pre-diabetic syndrome) and has 4 issued patents for anti-cancer
agents in pre-clinical development. Napo has a plant library of approximately 2,300 medicinal plants from tropical regions and Napo has
entered two screening relationships associated with this collection. Currently, products are based on the chemical and biological diversity
derived from plants with medicinal properties, but future products may be in-licensed from other sources. 
    Napo has partnerships with Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited of India and AsiaPharm Group Ltd. of China. For more information please
visit www.napopharma.com. 
    This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating to Napo Pharmaceuticals and its products that involve risks and
uncertainties, including statements regarding future products and developments that are not historical facts. Such statements are only
predictions and the company's actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. These
statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believe," "expect," "may," "will," "should,'' "could,"
"project," "plan,'' "seek," "intend,'' or "anticipate'' or the negative thereof or comparable terminology and statements about industry
trends and Napo's future performance, operations and products. 


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
 
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