12 September 2017 - - US-based biotechnology company MabVax Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBVX) has agreed to sell approximately 4m shares of its common stock for gross proceeds of approximately USD 2m, the company said on Tuesday

Each share of common stock is being sold at a price of USD 0.50 per share.

The shares were offered and are being sold to certain accredited investors in a registered direct offering. The net proceeds from the offering, after deducting estimated offering expenses, will be approximately USD 1.9m.

This offering is expected to close on or about September 14, 2017.

Laidlaw and company Ltd. acted as placement agent for the offering.

MabVax said it plans to use the net proceeds of the offering to fund continuing clinical development of its HuMab 5B1 antibody designated MVT-5873 in combination with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxal in first line therapy for the treatment of patients newly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

The company has treated two cohorts of patients for a total of six patients to date in this study; and these funds will enable the company to enroll an additional cohort of patients with the objective of confirming early observations.

This additional funding will also support the continued clinical development of the company's radioimmunotherapy product designated as MVT-1075 for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer patients.

MabVax initiated the phase I study of MVT-1075 in June 2017and intends to treat additional patients to continue to assess the safety and potential efficacy of this treatment. Funds will also be used for general corporate purposes.

The company has a fully human antibody discovery platform focused on the rapid translation into clinical development of products to address unmet medical needs in the treatment of cancer.

Its antibody MVT-5873, is a fully human IgG1 monoclonal antibody that targets sialyl Lewis A, an epitope on CA19-9, and is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials as a therapeutic agent for patients with pancreatic cancer and other CA19-9 positive tumors.

CA19-9 is expressed in over 90% of pancreatic cancers and in other diseases including small cell lung and GI cancers. CA19-9 plays an important role in tumor adhesion and metastasis, and is a marker of an aggressive cancer phenotype.