Monday, August 18, 2008

Novelos nabs $3M from private placement

By Mass High Tech Staff

Novelos Therapeutics Inc. of Newton reports bringing in $3 million from the sale of 4.6 million shares of its common stock to a pair of unnamed accredited investors.

Biopharmaceutical company Novelos (OTC: NVLT) sold the stock for 65 cents per share, according to company officials.

Harry Palmin, president and CEO of Novelos, said that the financing would fund the company’s current development programs through the end of the year. Those programs include the compound NOV-002, now in two Phase 2 trials in ovarian and breast cancers.

NOV-002 is also in Phase 3 development for lung cancer, with Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The compound acts as a booster for existing chemotherapy treatments.

A second compound, NOV-205, is in Phase 1b development for chronic hepatitis C non-responders. Both compounds have been approved for use in the Russian Federation where they were originally developed.

Novelos reported a 2007 net loss of $29.7 million with no revenue. The firm employs eight workers.