Los Gatos, Calif., Aug.  02, 2023  (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTC: ARDS), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel anti-infective therapies for treating life-threatening infections, today announced the pricing of an offering of 10,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock (or pre-funded warrants in lieu thereof) and accompanying warrants to purchase up to 10,000,000 shares of common stock at a combined offering price of $0.20 per share of common stock (or pre-funded warrant) and accompanying warrant. Each warrant will have an exercise price per share of $0.20, will be exercisable immediately and will terminate on the five year anniversary of the date of issuance. The closing of the offering is expected to occur on or about August 4, 2023, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

H.C. Wainwright & Co. is acting as the exclusive placement agent for the offering.

The gross proceeds to the Company from the offering are expected to be $2 million, before deducting the placement agent's fees and other offering expenses payable by the Company. Aridis Pharmaceuticals currently intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes.

The securities described above are being offered pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-272128) originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on May 22, 2023 and declared effective on August 1, 2023. The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus, which is part of the effective registration statement. A preliminary prospectus relating to the offering has been filed with the SEC. Electronic copies of the final prospectus, when available, may be obtained on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov and may also be obtained by contacting H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC at 430 Park Avenue, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10022, by phone at (212) 856-5711 or e-mail at placements@hcwco.com.

The Company also has agreed that certain existing warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of (i) 2,473,778 shares of the Company's common stock that were previously issued in August 2021, as amended, at an exercise price of $2.00 per share and (ii) 7,207,208 shares of the Company's common stock that were previously issued in October 2022, at an exercise price of $1.11 per share, will be amended effective upon the closing of the offering, such that the amended warrants will have a reduced exercise price of $0.20 per share and a termination date on the five year anniversary of the closing date of the offering.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Aridis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. discovers and develops anti-infectives to be used as first-line treatments to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and viral pandemics. The Company is utilizing its proprietary ʎPEX and MabIgX technology platforms to rapidly identify rare, potent antibody-producing B-cells from patients who have successfully overcome an infection, and to rapidly manufacture mAbs for therapeutic treatment of critical infections. These mAbs are already of human origin and functionally optimized by the natural human immune system for high potency. Hence, they are already fit-for-purpose anddo not require further engineering optimization to achieve full functionality.

The Company has generated multiple clinical stage mAbs targeting bacteria that cause life-threatening infections such as ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) and hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP), in addition to preclinical stage antibacterial and antiviral mAbs. The use of mAbs as anti-infective treatments represents an innovative therapeutic approach that harnesses the human immune system to fight infections and is designed to overcome the deficiencies associated with the current standard of care, which is broad spectrum antibiotics. Such deficiencies include, but are not limited to, increasing drug resistance, short duration of efficacy, disruption of the normal flora of the human microbiome and lack of differentiation among current treatments. The mAb portfolio is complemented by a non-antibiotic novel mechanism small molecule anti-infective candidate being developed to treat lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients. The Company's pipeline is highlighted below:

Aridis' Pipeline

AR-301 (VAP/HAP/CAP). AR-301 is a fully human IgG1 mAb currently in Phase 3 clinical development targeting gram-positive S. aureus alpha-toxin in ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP), ventilated hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP), and ventilated community acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients.

AR-501 (cystic fibrosis). AR-501 is an inhaled formulation of gallium citrate with broad-spectrum anti-infective activity being developed to treat chronic lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients. This program is currently in a Phase 2a clinical study in CF patients.

AR-320 (VAP). AR-320 is a fully human mAb targeting S. aureus alpha-toxin for prevention of VAP. Statistically significant Phase 2 data in the target population of those ≤ 65 years of age was published in the September 2021 Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. The Company has completed discussions with the EMA and FDA on study design and recently launched the Phase 3 study.

AR-701 (COVID-19). AR-701 is a cocktail of fully human mAbs discovered from convalescent COVID-19 patients that target multiple sites on the spike proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

AR-101 (HAP). AR-101 is a fully human IgM mAb in Phase 2 clinical development targeting Pseudomonas aeruginosa liposaccharides serotype O11, which accounts for approximately 22% of all P. aeruginosa HAP cases worldwide. This program is licensed to the Serum Institute of India and Shenzhen Arimab.

AR-201 (RSV infection). AR-201 is a fully human IgG1 mAb directed against the F-protein of diverse clinical isolates of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). This program is licensed exclusively to the Serum Institute of India.

AR-401 (blood stream infections). AR-401 is a fully human mAb preclinical program aimed at treating infections caused by gram-negative Acinetobacter baumannii.