Sunesis, Aspire Capital Enter $15.5M Share Purchase Agreement

Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has entered into a Common Shares Purchase Agreement of as much as $15.5 million with Aspire Capital Fund, LLC. Sunesis will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including working capital.

Aspire Capital has made an initial investment in Sunesis via a purchase of $500,000 worth of common shares and has committed to purchasing up to an additional $15 million. Under the terms of the agreement, Sunesis will control the timing and amount of the further sale of common shares to Aspire Capital.

“We are delighted to enter into this transaction with Aspire Capital and are happy with the control this arrangement gives us in our fundraising,” said Willie Quinn, chief financial officer of Sunesis. “This facility gives us another strategic and flexible financing tool which can efficiently support the advancement of our kinase inhibitor pipeline, led by the novel, non-covalent BTK inhibitor vecabrutinib.”

“We are excited to invest in Sunesis and to be providing additional financial support with this Agreement, as we believe the company’s lead asset, vecabrutinib, has the potential to become an important new treatment option for patients with CLL,” said Steven G. Martin, Managing Member of Aspire Capital. “We are impressed with the Sunesis team and the work they have done to understand the science behind non-covalent BTK inhibition and what that can mean for patients. We look forward to seeing clinical validation for vecabrutinib.”