THE WOODLANDS, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPXA), a company developing Tovaxin®, a novel T-cell therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), today announced that it has completed its registered direct offering with several institutional investors to sell 2,550,000 units, each unit consisting of one share of Opexa common stock, a five-year Series A warrant to purchase 0.35 of an additional share of Opexa common stock, and a one-year Series B warrant to purchase 0.15 of an additional share of Opexa common stock.

The price of the securities sold was $2.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $5.1 million. Pursuant to a securities purchase agreement between Opexa and the investors in this offering, the warrants are exercisable at $2.55 per share and are first exercisable on June 15, 2010. The Series A Warrants expire on June 15, 2015 and the Series B Warrants expire on June 15, 2011.

As previously announced, Opexa intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including activities related to further clinical development of Tovaxin® and for other working capital and operational purposes. This financing increases the Company’s current cash position to approximately $9 million.

The shares and warrants were sold by Opexa pursuant to a shelf registration statement declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 23, 2009 and an automatically effective amendment to that registration statement on December 9, 2009.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC, a subsidiary of Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: RODM - News), acted as exclusive placement agent for the offering.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities may only be offered by means of a prospectus, including a prospectus supplement, forming a part of the effective registration statement. Copies of the final prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus can be obtained at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

About Opexa

Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. is dedicated to the development of patient-specific cellular therapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. The Company’s leading therapy, Tovaxin®, is an individualized cellular immunotherapy treatment in Phase IIb clinical development for multiple sclerosis (MS). Tovaxin is derived from T-cells isolated from peripheral blood, expanded ex vivo, and reintroduced into the patients via subcutaneous injections. This process triggers a potent immune response against specific subsets of autoreactive T-cells known to attack myelin, believed to be a primary cause of MS attacks and nervous system damage.

For more information visit the Opexa Therapeutics website at www.opexatherapeutics.com.