Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IMNP) Just Got A Ceplene Based Boost

Last week, we tried to figure out what might be next for New York based biotech company Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IMNP), with the reverse split in the rear view mirror. Our conclusion was that the company has plenty of potential for run room throughout 2017, given the multiple shots on goal in its pipeline, but that this potential had a caveat – Immune must maintain its PPS above the $1 threshold until May 1. Without this maintenance, we'd be looking at an almost certain delisting, and this would weigh almost terminally on sentiment for the rest of the year.We're not at May 1 yet, and as such, Immune is far from out of the woods. However, a recent announcement has all but ensured that the company should make it past the date in question – assuming management avoids one key action, which we'll get to shortly.Here's a look at what is happening.For those new to Immune, it’s a biotech play that has a number of irons in the development sector fire, with a focus on inflammation and oncology. The asset we focused on in our previous coverage is the company's lead development asset, called bertilimumab, and it’s trying to get said asset to market in the treatment of two initial conditions – ulcerative colitis (UC) and bullous pemphigoid (BP).It's this asset that we painted as likely serving up the major near term catalysts for Immune throughout 2017, and we stand by this suggestion. However, the most recent announcement, and the one that's going to be the focus of this discussion, isn’t bertilimumab related – it's rooted in a drug called Ceplene.It's a drug designed for administration as a combination therapy, with low dose interleukin-2 (IL-2), for maintenance of first remission in patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). It's already approved in Europe, and Immune is working towards an FDA approval in the US near term (one that we don't think it's going to have too much of a problem picking up, given the data to date and the fact that the European green light is in place).So what's new with Ceplene?Management announced on April 20 that the company has signed a letter of intent with a company called Pint Pharma, a Latin American pharmaceutical entity, that will see the latter take control of the marketing and commercialization/distribution efforts for Ceplene in said region, Latin America. The assumption is that the drug should have a pretty smooth route to registration in the region (as it's going to be rooted in the European approval, and the data is already in place), and once it's got a regulatory green light, Immune will be in line for certain royalty related benefits on sales. We don't have the exact terms yet – the deal is set to close over the next thirty days, so we're probably not going to get them until close time – but we know there's a $4 million upfront payment in it for Immune, which is earmarked (by way of a restricted use clause) for application to the company's oncology development suite.So as we say, there's not a great deal of insight on offer right now, but what we do know might go some way towards alleviating near term financing concerns. Above we noted that there's a bit of sentiment weight, and the potential for the company to take a real hit if management makes a certain move – that move is financing. If the company announces anything dilutive before May 1, it could be in trouble. With any luck, the $4 million that's set to hit balance on the back of the Pint closing will be enough to dissuade said management from pulling the trigger on a raise, but as shareholders will know all too well – we can't take anything for granted with this one.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on IMNP, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in IMNP and have not been compensated for this article.