Pharmasset Announces $45.5 Million Registered Direct Offering of Co...( PRINCETON N.J. Jan. 30 /- Pharmasset ...)

PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pharmasset, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRUS) announced today that it has entered into definitive agreements dated January 29, 2009 with a select group of institutional investors to sell 4,678,000 shares of its common stock in a "registered direct" offering. The investors have agreed to purchase the shares at a purchase price of $9.73 per share resulting in gross proceeds of approximately $45.5 million to Pharmasset, before deducting the placement agent's fee and estimated offering expenses. Leerink Swann LLC served as sole placement agent for the offering. Trout Capital provided advisory services for the offering.

The shares described above are being offered by Pharmasset pursuant to a registration statement previously filed and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 26, 2008. The transaction is expected to close on or about February 4, 2009, subject to customary closing conditions. Pharmasset intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of the shares for general corporate purposes, which include, but are not limited to, the funding of clinical trials, the funding of in-licensing agreements for product candidates, additional technologies or other forms of intellectual property and the acquisition of assets or businesses that are complementary to its existing business.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the 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 jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. Copies of the prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to this offering may be obtained at the SEC's website
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