RADNOR, Pa., Dec. 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRNS) announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 12,000,000 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $3.75 per share. The total public offering size is expected to be $45.0 million, before deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by the Company. The Company has granted to the underwriters participating in the offering a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,800,000 shares of common stock. The offering is expected to close on or about December 17, 2018, subject to customary closing conditions.

Marinus intends to use the net proceeds received from the sale of its common stock to advance the preclinical and clinical development of ganaxolone, including clinical trial expenses, including trials for postpartum depression and its rare pediatric refractory epilepsy program, and regulatory, research and development, pre-commercial, general and administrative and manufacturing expenses and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Jefferies LLC and Leerink Partners LLC are acting as joint bookrunning managers for the offering. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. is acting as lead manager for the offering, and Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated is acting as co-manager.

About Marinus Pharmaceuticals

Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of ganaxolone, which offers a new mechanism of action, demonstrated efficacy and safety, and convenient dosing to improve the lives of patients suffering from epilepsy and neuropsychiatric disorders. Ganaxolone is a positive allosteric modulator of GABA_A that acts on a well-characterized target in the brain known to have anti-seizure, anti-depressant and anti-anxiety effects. Ganaxolone is being developed in three different dose forms (IV, capsule and liquid) intended to maximize therapeutic reach to adult and pediatric patient populations in both acute and chronic care settings. Marinus has initiated the first ever pivotal study in children with CDKL5 deficiency disorder, a rare form of epilepsy, and is currently conducting studies in patients with postpartum depression and refractory status epilepticus.