CytoDyn Completes Non-dilutive $15 Million Convertible Note Financing with Conversion Rate at $4.50 Per Share without Warrants

VANCOUVER, Washington, March 31, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CytoDyn Inc. (OTC.QB: CYDY), (“CytoDyn” or the “Company"), a late-stage biotechnology company developing leronlimab (PRO 140), a CCR5 antagonist with the potential for multiple therapeutic indications, announced today that it completed a new non-dilutive convertible debt offering with an institutional investor, which provides $15 million of immediately available capital.  The note, has a two-year maturity, bears interest at the rate of 10% per annum and is secured by all assets of the Company, excluding its intellectual property.  During the first six months following the issue date, the investor may convert principal into common stock up to 1 million shares per month after which all or any part of the outstanding balance of the note is convertible into common stock.

Craig S. Eastwood, Chief Financial Officer of CytoDyn, stated, “We are pleased to close on this round of funding as we begin our journey towards commercialization. Non-dilutive capital of this nature gives us the momentum we need to forge ahead with our therapeutic indications and provides a foundation to bring leronlimab to market, which is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2020.”

About Leronlimab (PRO 140)
The FDA has granted a “Fast Track” designation to CytoDyn for two potential indications of leronlimab for deadly diseases. The first as a combination therapy with HAART for HIV-infected patients and the second is for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. Leronlimab is an investigational humanized IgG4 mAb that blocks CCR5, a cellular receptor that is important in HIV infection, tumor metastases, and other diseases, including NASH. Leronlimab has completed nine clinical trials in over 800 people, including meeting its primary endpoints in a pivotal Phase 3 trial (leronlimab in combination with standard antiretroviral therapies in HIV-infected treatment-experienced patients).

In the setting of HIV/AIDS, leronlimab is a viral-entry inhibitor; it masks CCR5, thus protecting healthy T cells from viral infection by blocking the predominant HIV (R5) subtype from entering those cells. Leronlimab has been the subject of nine clinical trials, each of which demonstrated that leronlimab could significantly reduce or control HIV viral load in humans. The leronlimab antibody appears to be a powerful antiviral agent leading to potentially fewer side effects and less frequent dosing requirements compared with daily drug therapies currently in use.