HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwired - February 16, 2018) - Moleculin Biotech, Inc., MBRX ("Moleculin" or the "Company"), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development of anti-cancer drug candidates, some of which are based on license agreements with The University of Texas System on behalf of the MD Anderson Cancer Center ("MD Anderson"), today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with institutional investors for a registered direct offering of securities with gross proceeds of approximately $9 million. The closing of the offering is expected to take place on or about February 21, 2018, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

In connection with the offering, the Company will issue 4.29 million registered shares of common stock at a purchase price of $2.10 per share. Concurrently in a private placement, for each share of common stock purchased by an investor, such investor will receive from the Company an unregistered warrant to purchase 0.5 of a share of common stock. The warrants have an exercise price of $2.80 per share, will be exercisable six months from the date of issuance, and will expire five years from the initial exercise date.

Roth Capital Partners served as sole placement agent for the offering. National Securities Corporation served as financial advisor to the Company.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds of this offering for its planned clinical trials, preclinical programs, for other research and development activities and for general corporate purposes.

The shares of common stock described above (but not the warrants or the shares of common stock underlying the warrants) are being offered pursuant to a shelf registration statement (File No. 333-219434) which became effective on August 21, 2017. Such shares of common stock may be offered only by means of a prospectus, including a prospectus supplement, forming a part of the effective registration statement.

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. The Company will file a prospectus supplement with the SEC relating to such shares of common stock, and following such filing, copies of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus relating to this offering may be obtained from Roth Capital Partners, 888 San Clemente Drive, Suite 400, Newport Beach, CA 92660, (800) 678-9147 or by accessing the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. The warrants and the shares of common stock underlying the warrants issued in the offering have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended or applicable state securities laws. Accordingly, the warrants and underlying shares of common stock may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and such applicable state securities laws.

About Moleculin Biotech, Inc.

Moleculin Biotech, Inc. is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development of anti-cancer drug candidates, some of which are based on discoveries made at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Our clinical stage drugs are Annamycin, an anthracycline being studied for the treatment of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia, more commonly referred to as AML, and WP1066, a modulator of hard-to-target tumor cell signaling mechanisms intended to attack tumor activity directly while also recruiting the patient's own immune system. We are also engaged in preclinical development of additional drug candidates, including compounds targeting the metabolism of tumors.

For more information about the Company, please visit http://www.moleculin.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, whether the offering will close as expected and any unanticipated costs and expenses related to the offering. These statements relate to future events, future expectations, plans and prospects. Although Moleculin Biotech believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date made, expectations may prove to have been materially different from the results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Moleculin Biotech has attempted to identify forward-looking statements by terminology including ''believes,'' ''estimates,'' ''anticipates,'' ''expects,'' ''plans,'' ''projects,'' ''intends,'' ''potential,'' ''may,'' ''could,'' ''might,'' ''will,'' ''should,'' ''approximately'' or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, including those discussed under Item 1A. "Risk Factors" in our most recently filed Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and updated from time to time in our Form 10-Q filings and in our other public filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this release speak only as of its date. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release to reflect events or circumstances occurring after its date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.