EDISON, N.J., Feb. 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEPA), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapeutic drugs for the treatment of liver disease arising from non-alcoholic steatohepatitis ("NASH"), today announced the pricing of its underwritten public offering of 44,200,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $2.00 per share, for gross proceeds of $88.4 million before deducting underwriting discounts, commissions and other offering expenses. All of the shares of common stock are being offered by the Company.
ThinkEquity, a division of Fordham Financial Management, Inc., is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering.
The offering is expected to close on February 18, 2021, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
Hepion intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund research and development activities, as well as for working capital and other general corporate purposes.
About Hepion Pharmaceuticals
The Company's lead drug candidate, CRV431, is a potent inhibitor of cyclophilins, which are involved in many disease processes. CRV431 is currently in clinical-phase development for the treatment of NASH, with the potential to play an important role in the overall treatment of liver disease - from triggering events through to end-stage disease. CRV431 has been shown to reduce liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma tumor burden in experimental models of NASH; and has demonstrated antiviral activities towards HBV, HCV, and HDV through several mechanisms, in preclinical studies.
Hepion has created a proprietary AI platform, called AI-POWR™, which stands for Artificial Intelligence - Precision Medicine; Omics (including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, transcriptomics, and lipidomics); World database access; and Response and clinical outcomes. Hepion intends to use AI-POWR™ to help identify which NASH patients will best respond to CRV431, potentially shortening development timelines and increasing the delta between placebo and treatment groups. In addition to using AI-POWR™ to drive its ongoing Phase 2a NASH program, Hepion will use the platform to identify additional potential indications for CRV431 to expand the company's footprint in the cyclophilin inhibition therapeutic space.
