Apricus Biosciences Closes $3.7 Million Registered Direct Offering

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 28, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Apricus Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:APRI), a biopharmaceutical company advancing innovative medicines in urology and rheumatology, today announced that it has closed a registered direct offering of shares of common stock with institutional investors for gross proceeds of approximately $3.7 million.  Based on feedback from the Nasdaq stock market, Apricus and the investors mutually agreed to revise the size of the offering such that fewer shares of common stock were issued than previously announced. The purchase price per share remained the same.

The Company issued approximately 10.8 million registered shares of common stock at a purchase price of $0.345 per share.  Concurrently in a private placement, for each share of common stock purchased by an investor, such investor received from the Company an unregistered warrant to purchase 0.75 shares of common stock.  The warrants have an exercise price of $0.45 per share, will be exercisable six (6) months following the closing date and will expire 5 years from the initial exercise date.

Rodman & Renshaw, a unit of H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC, acted as the exclusive placement agent in connection with this offering.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes.

The sale of shares of common stock and warrants was made pursuant to a securities purchase agreement, dated September 27, 2016, by and among the Company and the investors.  The Company and the investors terminated the previously announced securities purchase agreement, dated September 22, 2016, prior to the closing in order to complete an at the market offering for purposes of the Nasdaq listing rules. 

The shares of common stock described above (but not the warrants or the shares of common stock underlying the warrants) are being offered pursuant to a shelf registration statement (File No. 333-198066).  Such shares of common stock may be offered only by means of a prospectus, including a prospectus supplement, forming a part of the effective registration statement.

The warrants and the shares of common stock underlying the warrants issued in the offering have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended or applicable state securities laws. Accordingly, the warrants and underlying shares of common stock may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and such applicable state securities laws.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein. There shall not be any offer, solicitation of an offer to buy, or sale of securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offering, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. On September 28, 2016, the Company filed a prospectus supplement with the SEC relating to such shares of common stock, and copies of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus relating to this offering may be obtained at the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov, or from H.C. Wainwright & Co. by e-mailing placements@hcwco.com.

About Apricus Biosciences, Inc.
Apricus Biosciences, Inc. (APRI) is a biopharmaceutical company advancing innovative medicines in urology and rheumatology. Apricus’ commercial product, Vitaros®, for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, is approved in Canada and certain countries in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East and is being commercialized in several countries in Europe. In September 2015, Apricus in-licensed the U.S. development and commercialization rights for Vitaros from Allergan. Apricus’ marketing partners for Vitaros include Recordati Ireland Ltd. (Recordati), Ferring International Center S.A. (Ferring Pharmaceuticals), Laboratoires Majorelle, Bracco S.p.A., Mylan NV and Elis Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Apricus currently has one active product candidate, RayVa™, its product candidate for the treatment of the circulatory disorder Raynaud’s phenomenon.

For further information on Apricus, visit http://www.apricusbio.com.

*Vitaros® is a registered trademark of NexMed International Limited. Such trademark is registered in certain countries throughout the world and pending registration in the United States.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, as amended. Statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things: Apricus’ expectations on the anticipated use of proceeds from the offering. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to a variety of reasons that are outside the control of Apricus, including, but not limited to: Apricus’ dependence on its commercial partners to carry out the commercial launch or grow sales of Vitaros in various territories and the potential for delays in the timing of commercial launches in additional countries; competition in the erectile dysfunction market and other markets in which Apricus and its partners operate; Apricus’ ability to obtain FDA and other requisite governmental approval for Vitaros; Apricus’ ability to comply with Nasdaq listing requirements; and other  risks and uncertainties inherent in Apricus’ business, including those described in the Company’s periodic filings with the SEC and the prospectus supplement and related prospectus for this offering filed with the SEC. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and Apricus assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Readers are urged to read the risk factors set forth in Apricus’ most recent annual report on Form 10-K, subsequent quarterly reports filed on Form 10-Q, and other filings made with the SEC. Copies of these reports are available from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or without charge from Apricus.

CONTACT: Investor Relations Contact:

Matthew Beck
mbeck@troutgroup.com
The Trout Group
(646) 378-2933

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