ImmuPharma PLC
("ImmuPharma" or the "Company")
Successful £4.1 Million Fund Raise Following the Close of the Accelerated Bookbuild
ImmuPharma PLC (LSE:IMM), the specialist drug discovery and development company, is pleased to announce that further to the announcement made earlier today entitled "Accelerated Bookbuild for the Issue of Equity", the accelerated Bookbuild, which was oversubscribed, has now closed.
The Company has raised a total of £4.1 million (before expenses) by way of an issue of 7,884,623 new Ordinary Shares (the "New Share Placing") at the Placing Price of 52p (the "New Placing Shares").
Key highlights:
£4.1 million (before expenses) raised for the Company via a placing of New Placing Shares, which are EIS and VCT qualifying;
· Major existing and new institutional investors have participated in this New Share Placing; and
· ImmuPharma has raised these additional funds via the Bookbuild in order to:
o further strengthen the Company's balance sheet as negotiations continue with potential partners for Lupuzor™, its lead programme currently in a pivotal Phase III trial; and
o support further investment in ImmuPharma's earlier stage portfolio and in particular its P140 peptide platform.
Commenting on the announcement, Tim McCarthy, Chairman, said: "We are delighted with the support we have had on this fund raise from both existing and new investors. We ended 2016 by announcing a key milestone for ImmuPharma with the completion, on track, of the recruitment of the full 200 patients into our Pivotal Phase III trial of Lupuzor™. The primary motivation for this successful fund raise is to further strengthen our balance sheet and enhance our position in ongoing and future negotiations with potential partners for Lupuzor™. Additionally it also allows us to further invest in our earlier stage pipeline and the P140 platform. We look forward to providing our shareholders with further updates regarding our Lupuzor™ Phase III trial, as it progresses throughout 2017."
New Share Placing
The 7,884,623 New Placing Shares will rank pari passu with the Company's existing Ordinary Shares. Application will be made for the New Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ("Admission") and it is expected that such Admission will become effective on or around 16 March 2017.
Total Voting Rights
Following Admission, the Company will have a total of 132,522,985 Ordinary Shares in issue with each share carrying the right of one vote. The above figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculation by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or change to their interest in, the Company under the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
Unless otherwise indicated, all defined terms in this announcement shall have the same meaning as described in the "Proposed Accelerated Bookbuild for Vendor Placing and Issue of Equity" announcement which was made earlier today.
-Ends-
For further information please contact:
ImmuPharma plc (www.immupharma.org) |
+ 44 (0) 20 7152 4080 |
Tim McCarthy, Chairman |
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Lisa Baderoon, Head of Investor Relations Twitter: @immupharma |
+ 44 (0) 7721 413496 |
Northland Capital Partners Limited (NOMAD & Broker) Patrick Claridge, David Hignell, Michael Mackintosh, Corporate Finance Rob Rees, Corporate Broking |
+44 (0)20 3861 6625 |
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Notes to Editors
ImmuPharma PLC
ImmuPharma is a pharmaceutical development company listed since 2006 on AIM of the London Stock Exchange (LSE:IMM), focusing on developing novel medicines with high sales potential in specialist markets with serious unmet need. ImmuPharma is led by a commercially focused Board and management team with extensive experience.
Lupuzor™
Lupuzor™ (also referred to as Forigerimod, or P140) is ImmuPharma's lead compound and a potential treatment for lupus (or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus), a chronic, potentially life-threatening auto-immune disease. Lupuzor™ has a novel mechanism of action aimed at modulating the body's immune system so that it does not attack healthy cells, and avoids causing adverse side effects. It has the potential to halt the progression of the disease in a substantial proportion of patients.
Lupuzor™ has been granted Fast Track status by the US FDA and approval under Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) for its ongoing Phase III trial.
The pivotal Phase III clinical study is entitled "A 52-Week, Randomized, Double-Blind, Parallel-Group, Placebo-Controlled Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of a 200-mcg Dose of IPP-201101 Plus Standard of Care in Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus". It is a pivotal study designed to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of IPP-201101 and as a last step prior to the filing of the drug for approval with the US Food & Drug Administration ("FDA") and the European Medicines Agency ("EMA"). For more information please visit: www.ClinicalTrials.gov/lupuzor
Commercial Opportunity
There are an estimated five million people globally suffering from Lupus, with approximately 1.5 million patients in the US, Europe and Japan (Source: Lupus Foundation of America). Current 'standard of care' treatments, including steroids and immunosuppressants, can potentially have either serious side effects for patients or limited effectiveness, with over 60% of patients not adequately treated. GSK's Benlysta is the first Lupus drug approved in over 50 years and paves the path to market for Lupuzor™. Based on conservative estimates, and taking into account that Benlysta is priced currently at approximately $30,000 per patient per year; Lupuzor™ would be entering a market with the potential for multi-billion dollar sales. For more information on Lupuzor™ please visit: www.lupuzor.com
