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BOCA RATON, Fla., July 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — First Wave BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:FWBI) (“First Wave BioPharma” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of targeted, non-systemic therapies for gastrointestinal diseases, today announced the pricing of a public offering of 3,285,000 shares of its common stock (or pre-funded warrants in lieu thereof) and warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 6,570,000 shares of its common stock at a combined public offering price $0.64 per share (or pre-funded warrant in lieu thereof) and associated warrants. Each share of common stock (or prefunded warrant in lieu thereof) is being sold together with two warrants, each to purchase one share of common stock. The warrants will have an exercise price of $0.64 per share, are exercisable immediately upon issuance, and will expire five years following the date of issuance. The closing of the offering is expected to occur on or about July 21, 2023, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Roth Capital Partners is acting as the exclusive placement agent for the offering.

The gross proceeds to the Company from the offering are expected to be approximately $2.1 million, before deducting the placement agent’s fees and other offering expenses payable by the Company. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and general corporate purposes.

The securities described above are being offered pursuant to the Company’s registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-272404) originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on June 5, 2023, and which became effective on July 17, 2023. The public offering is being made only by means of a prospectus, which is part of the effective registration statement. When available, electronic copies of the final prospectus may be obtained for free on the SEC’s website located at http://www.sec.gov and may also be obtained by contacting Roth Capital Partners, LLC at 888 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach CA 92660, or by phone at (800) 678-9147 or e-mail at [email protected].

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other 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 other jurisdiction.

About First Wave BioPharma, Inc.

First Wave BioPharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of targeted, non-systemic therapies for gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. The Company is currently advancing a therapeutic development pipeline with multiple clinical stage programs built around its two proprietary technologies – the biologic adrulipase, a recombinant lipase enzyme designed to enable the digestion of fats and other nutrients, and niclosamide, an oral small molecule with anti-inflammatory properties. For more information visit www.firstwavebio.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain certain statements relating to future results which are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties including, among other things, the completion of the public offering, the satisfaction of customary closing conditions related to the public offering and the intended use of proceeds from the public offering. It is possible that the Company’s actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition indicated in these forward-looking statements, depending on factors including risks and uncertainties related to market conditions; whether results obtained in preclinical and nonclinical studies and clinical trials will be indicative of results obtained in future clinical trials; whether preliminary or interim results from a clinical trial will be indicative of the final results of the trial; the size of the potential markets for the Company’s drug candidates and its ability to service those markets; the effects of the First Wave Bio, Inc. acquisition, the related settlement and their effect on the Company’s business, operating results and financial prospects; and the Company’s current and future capital requirements and its ability to raise additional funds to satisfy its capital needs. Additional information concerning the Company and its business, including a discussion of factors that could materially affect the Company’s financial results are contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 under the heading “Risk Factors,” as well as the Company’s subsequent filings with the SEC. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release, and we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or correct any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur or of which we hereafter become aware.

For more information:
First Wave BioPharma, Inc.
777 Yamato Road, Suite 502
Boca Raton, FL 33431
Phone: (561) 589-7020
[email protected]

Media contact:
Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.
David Schemelia
(609) 468-9325
[email protected]

RENO, Nev., July 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQMS) (“Aqua Metals” or the “Company”), a pioneer in sustainable lithium-ion battery recycling, today announced it has entered into a strategic partnership with Yulho Co., Ltd. (“Yulho”), an innovative storage solution and battery materials company based in South Korea. By aligning global partnerships and shared expertise, Aqua Metals and Yulho aim to drive innovation in lithium battery recycling and set a new standard for a low-carbon, circular supply of the critical minerals that power an electrified future.

Initiating the partnership, Yulho will make a strategic equity investment of $5 million in Aqua Metals, underscoring Yulho’s confidence in Aqua Metals’ transformative technology and demonstrated results at its pilot-scale facility. The parties have entered into a securities purchase agreement and expect to close on the investment on or about August 4, 2023. In addition to the capital investment, the companies have entered into an agreement to negotiate and execute a definitive license agreement whereby Aqua Metals will grant Yulho a license to deploy Aqua Metals’ patented AquaRefining™ technology in South Korea in its own facilities.

“We believe our recently announced public equity raise, alongside our strategic financing and proposed partnership with Yulho, signifies a transformative moment for Aqua Metals,” said Steve Cotton, President & CEO, Aqua Metals. “We expect this to be a pivotal step in our long-term vision for global growth, accelerating our commercial operations here in the United States, and bringing our AquaRefining technology to South Korea, a region of technological leadership and one of the largest markets for critical minerals, to address the increasing demand for sustainable battery materials in Asia.”

This strategic partnership is intended to capitalize on the respective strengths of Aqua Metals and Yulho. With 25 years of experience in South Korea’s advanced technology sector, Yulho possesses the expertise and established relationships with the country’s largest lithium battery and electric vehicle companies to rapidly scale operations to meet the growing demand for recycled materials in Asia. Through its subsidiary, Yulho Materials, the company collects and processes battery manufacturing scrap and spent lithium-ion batteries into hard-to-acquire ‘black mass’ — the mixture of lithium, nickel, cobalt, and other valuable battery materials that Aqua Metals recovers.

Yulho Materials previously completed the pilot demonstration of its own proprietary black mass process and has provided exceptional quality material samples to Aqua Metals. Yulho is currently building a high-purity black mass facility with an annual capacity of 8,000 metric tonnes, the largest in South Korea, and expects to commence production later this year, with plans to expand to 24,000 tonnes of capacity in the future.

Aqua Metals currently operates the first sustainable lithium battery recycling facility in the US, establishing itself as a leader in low-carbon, circular supply of critical battery materials. Using its cutting-edge AquaRefining technology, Aqua Metals recovers the metals and minerals contained in lithium battery black mass without the use of polluting furnaces or intensive chemical processes that produce excessive carbon emissions and chemical waste.

Yulho’s CEO Jeong-Nam Lee stated, “Since April, both companies have been engaged in confidential negotiations after signing a non-disclosure agreement. Given that each company excels in pre-processing and post-processing fields, we anticipate significant synergy resulting from this partnership.”

He further added, “We aim to expand our business model beyond a simple technology swap and joint venture establishment. Together, both companies will pursue collaborative ventures, elevating our business model.”

For the equity investment, Yulho has agreed to the purchase of approximately 4.5 million shares of common stock at a purchase price of $1.10 per share in a registered direct offering, totaling $5 million gross proceeds. The initial licensing agreement with Aqua Metals is expected to allow for up to 100,000 tonnes of materials processed per year in South Korea, and both companies anticipate the relationship expanding beyond Asia to the European Union as well. This deal was arranged by Network 1 Financial Securities and Nexpedia Holdings Co., Ltd.

Earlier today, Aqua Metals also announced the pricing of a firm commitment underwritten offering of more than 15 million shares of common stock at an offering price of $1.10 per share, bringing the total combined gross proceeds of the two offerings to approximately $22 million. The two capital raises are expected to fortify Aqua Metals’ balance sheet, enabling the Company to fund and pursue debt solutions for the first phase of development of its 10,000 tonnes per year commercial-scale recycling facility in Reno, NV, and achieve positive cash flow.

Additional Resources & Partnership Information

Learn more about Aqua Metals’ and Yulho’s partnership, and what this means for the future of lithium battery recycling at https://aquametals.com/industry-partners/

About Aqua Metals

Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQMS) is reinventing metals recycling with its patented AquaRefining™ technology. The company is pioneering a sustainable recycling solution for materials strategic to energy storage and electric vehicle manufacturing supply chains. AquaRefining™ is a low-emissions, closed-loop recycling technology that replaces polluting furnaces and hazardous chemicals with electricity-powered electroplating to recover valuable metals and materials from spent batteries with higher purity, lower emissions, and minimal waste. Aqua Metals is based in Reno, NV and operates the first sustainable lithium battery recycling facility at the company’s Innovation Center in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center.

To learn more, please visit www.aquametals.com

Aqua Metals Social Media

Aqua Metals has used, and intends to continue using, its investor relations website (https://ir.aquametals.com), in addition to its Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube accounts at https://twitter.com/AquaMetalsInc (@AquaMetalsInc), https://www.linkedin.com/company/aqua-metals-limited and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvxKNWcB69K0t7e337uQ8nQ respectively, as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.

Safe Harbor

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Aqua Metals, Inc. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that contain words such as “expects,” “contemplates,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes”, “estimates”, “potential” and variations of such words or similar expressions that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes, or that do not relate to historical matters. The forward-looking statements in this press release include our ability to recycle lithium-ion batteries and the expected benefits of recycling lithium-ion batteries. Those forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially. Among those factors are: (1) the risk that we may not be able to successfully negotiate and conclude a definitive license agreement with Yulho, (2) even if we are to conclude a definitive license agreement with Yulho, the risk that we may not achieve the expected benefits form such relationship; (3) the risk that we may not be able to close on the $5 million investment by Yulho; and (4) those other risks disclosed in the section “Risk Factors” included in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on May 4, 2023. Aqua Metals cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur, except as required by law.

Contact Information:

Investor Relations

Bob Meyers & Rob Fink
FNK IR
646-878-9204
[email protected]

Media

Jennifer Johnson Avril
Warner Communications
917-982-9012
[email protected]

Source: Aqua Metals