OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals to Raise $9.5 Million Through Sale of Co...( BOTHELL WA and VANCOUVER July 20 / On...)

BOTHELL, WA and VANCOUVER, July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OGXI) announced today it has entered into purchase agreements with certain institutional investors for the sale of 475,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $20 per share through a registered direct offering. The transaction is expected to provide gross proceeds of $9.5 million to OncoGenex before deducting costs associated with the offering, and will be used primarily for manufacturing activities and general corporate purposes. The parties expect to close the transaction on or about July 24, 2009.

The shares of common stock offered by OncoGenex in this transaction will be issued pursuant to the Company's existing shelf registration statement on Form S-3, which was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 17, 2009. There was no placement agent in this transaction.

"These funds strengthen our balance sheet, substantially extending our runway and assisting our advancement toward our primary objective to secure a co-development and commercialization partner for our OGX-011 program," said Scott Cormack, President and CEO of OncoGenex. "It also allows us to continue our planned manufacturing readiness activities to ensure that our phase 3 trials initiate as planned once a partnership for OGX-011 is secured."

This press release shall 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 state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any state or jurisdiction.

About OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals

OncoGenex is a biopharmaceutical company committed to the development and commercialization of new therapies t
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