TIDMIMM
RNS Number : 2248N
Immupharma PLC
21 October 2016
21 OCTOBER 2016
ImmuPharma PLC
("ImmuPharma" or the "Company")
Close of 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 "Proposed Accelerated
Bookbuild for Vendor Placing and Issue of Equity", the accelerated
bookbuild (the "Bookbuild") process has now successfully
closed.
The Company has placed 7,100,000 existing ordinary shares of 10p
each ("Ordinary Shares") held by Lanstead Capital ("Lanstead") with
new and existing institutional investors (the "Vendor Placing") and
raised a total of GBP1 million (before expenses) by way of an issue
of 2,857,143 new Ordinary Shares (the "New Placing Shares"), also
to new and existing investors (the "New Share Placing"). Both the
Vendor Placing and the New Share Placing were executed at 35p (the
"Placing Price").
Key highlights:
-- New institutional investors have taken a stake in the Company
-- Lanstead facilitated this transaction by the placing of
7,100,000 Ordinary Shares and now holds 10,521,555 Ordinary Shares
representing 8.37% in the Company's issued share capital after
Admission
-- GBP1 million (before expenses) raised for the Company via a
placing of New Placing Shares, which are EIS and VCT qualifying
-- The Company has undertaken the Bookbuild to:
o Satisfy new institutional demand and broaden its share
register
o Strengthen ImmuPharma's financial position to support its
general working capital requirements
Commenting on the announcement, Tim McCarthy, Chairman, said:
"We are delighted to welcome some new institutional holders onto
our shareholder register alongside other new investors. We also
thank Lanstead for their co-operation in facilitating this
strengthening of our shareholder base and also showing their
continued support as a key long term investor in ImmuPharma. From
raising equity at 26 pence in February this year, the Board is
delighted that the potential value of ImmuPharma is being
increasingly recognised over the longer term. We look forward to
communicating further key value enhancing newsflow during the
remainder of this year and into 2017, with a focus on delivering on
the key milestones for our pivotal Phase III Lupuzor(TM)
trial."
New Share Placing and Director Dealing
The New Share Placing resulted from strong institutional demand
for the Company's Ordinary Shares. The placees include Mr Robert
Zimmer, the Company's President and Chief Science Officer, who
subscribed for 1,057,143 New Placing Shares at the Placing Price to
increase his holding in the Company at 20.3% following Admission.
The gross proceeds from the New Share Placing will provide the
Company with additional working capital.
The 2,857,143 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 27 October 2016.
Vendor Placing
Following the successful completion of the Vendor Placing, the
Company is pleased to welcome new institutional investors onto its
share register. The Company's Sharing Agreement with Lanstead
("Sharing Agreement"), which was announced on 5 February 2016,
remains in place. Following the completion of the Vendor Placing,
in recognition of the Company's positive share price performance
since the start of the Sharing Agreement, Lanstead has agreed to
accelerate the next six monthly settlements to ImmuPharma under the
Sharing Agreement which will result in ImmuPharma immediately
receiving approximately GBP1.5 million, which will be applied to
the Phase III clinical trial of Lupuzor(TM) as previously
announced, in settlements under the Sharing Agreement. The
remaining settlements under the Sharing Agreement will recommence
in May 2017.
Related party transaction
Where a company enters into a related party transaction, under
the AIM Rules the independent directors of the company are
required, after consulting with the company's nominated adviser, to
state whether, in their opinion, the transaction is fair and
reasonable in so far as its shareholders are concerned.
As detailed above, Robert Zimmer has a current interest in
approximately 23,494,410 Ordinary Shares (representing an interest
of approximately 19.3%. of the Company's Ordinary Shares). By
virtue of Mr Zimmer's current interests in the Company, he is
considered to be a "related party" as defined under the AIM Rules.
AIM Rule 16 requires all transactions between the Company and Mr
Zimmer completed during the twelve months prior to the latest
transaction to be aggregated. Accordingly, Mr Zimmer's
participation in the New Share Placing constitutes a related party
transaction for the purposes of Rules 13 and 16 of the AIM
Rules.
The independent Directors, consider, having consulted with the
Company's nominated adviser, Panmure Gordon, that the terms of
Robert Zimmer's participation in the New Share Placing are fair and
reasonable insofar as the Company's Shareholders are concerned.
Total Voting Rights
Following Admission, the Company will have a total of
124,638,362 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 calculations 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:
+ 44 (0) 20
ImmuPharma plc (www.immupharma.org) 7152 4080
Tim McCarthy, Chairman
Lisa Baderoon, Head of Investor
Relations + 44 (0) 7721
Twitter: @immupharma 413496
Panmure, Gordon & Co., (NOMAD +44 (0) 20
& Broker) 7886 2500
Freddy Crossley, Duncan Monteith,
Corporate Finance
Charles Leigh-Pemberton, Corporate
Broking
Northland Capital Partners Limited
(Joint Broker)
Patrick Claridge, David Hignell,
Corporate Finance
John Howes, Rob Rees, Corporate +44 (0)20 3861
Broking 6631
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(TM)
Lupuzor(TM) (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(TM) 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(TM) has been granted Fast Track status by the US FDA and
approval to start Phase III under Special Protocol Assessment
(SPA). This SPA was subsequently amended due to its strong safety
and efficacy profile to allow for a reduced number of patients in
the pivotal Phase III trial thereby reducing the projected cost and
time of development considerably.
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(TM). Based on conservative estimates, and taking into
account that Benlysta is priced currently at approximately $35,000
per patient per year, Lupuzor(TM) would be entering a market with
the potential for multi-billion dollar sales. For more information
on Lupuzor(TM) please visit: www.lupuzor.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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