Lidak Pharmaceuticals said Thursday it raised about $8.8 million fromthe exercising of 3.9 million class B warrants. After payingcommissions and costs associated with redeeming unexercisedwarrants, the net was about $8.3 million for the La Jolla, Calif.,company.About 67 percent of the warrants were exercised at $2.25 per warrant,and the company now has 28 million shares of common stockoutstanding. Lidak (NASDAQ: LDAKA) stock closed Thursday at$2.50 per share, up 9 cents.Lidak now has about $17.1 million cash, and is burning $300,000 to$350,000 per month, although that figure is expected to increase as ittakes its anti-viral cream formulation, Lidakol, into Phase III trials,Michael Lorber, Lidak's vice president and chief financial officer, toldBioWorld."It's a difficult environment to be raising money in," Lorber said. "Alot of companies have pulled back their offerings, or reduced them.We're pleased with this amount of funding."A Phase III trial of Lidakol for oral herpes has begun in Europe. It isbeing funded by European licensing partner Yamanouchi Europe of theNetherlands. A Phase II U.S. trial of Lidakol for oral herpes is ongoing,and the company is preparing for Phase III U.S. trials for oral herpesand, separately, genital herpes, which has completed Phase II. _ JimShrine

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