Immupharma PLC Proposed Accelerated Bookbuild for Vendor Placing (2043N)
October 21 2016 - 8:33AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMIMM
RNS Number : 2043N
Immupharma PLC
21 October 2016
21 OCTOBER 2016
ImmuPharma PLC
("ImmuPharma" or the "Company")
Proposed Accelerated Bookbuild for Vendor Placing and Issue of
Equity
ImmuPharma PLC (LSE:IMM), the specialist drug discovery and
development company, is pleased to announce a proposed placing of
7,100,000 existing ordinary shares of 10p each ("Ordinary Shares")
held by Lanstead Capital L.P. ("Lanstead") to new institutional
investors (the "Vendor Placing").
The Company also announces a proposed placing of up to
approximately GBP0.8 million (before expenses) via the issue of new
Ordinary Shares (the "New Share Placing"). The proceeds of the New
Share Placing will be used to provide the Company with additional
working capital.
Both the Vendor Placing and the Placing are being offered by way
of an accelerated bookbuild ("Bookbuild"), which will be launched
immediately following this announcement. It is proposed that both
the Vendor Placing and the Placing are executed at a price of 35p
per share (the "Placing Price"). The Company's joint broker
Northland Capital Partners Limited will be acting as sole
bookrunner in connection with the Bookbuild.
It is expected that the finalisation of the Bookbuild will
commence immediately following this announcement and a further
announcement will be made to confirm its completion in due
course.
The Company's Sharing Agreement with Lanstead ("Sharing
Agreement"), which was announced on 5 February 2016, remains in
place. Upon completion of the Vendor Placing, in recognition of the
Company's positive share price performance since the start of the
Sharing Agreement, Lanstead has conditionally 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. The
remaining settlements under the Sharing Agreement will recommence
in May 2017.
Mr Robert Zimmer, the Company's President and Chief Science
Officer, has expressed an interest in subscribing for Ordinary
Shares in the New Share Placing at the Placing Price.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014 ("MAR"). In addition, market
soundings (as defined in MAR) were taken in respect of the Placing
with the result that certain persons became aware of inside
information (as defined in MAR), as permitted by MAR. This inside
information is set out in this Announcement. Therefore, those
persons that received inside information in a market sounding are
no longer in possession of such inside information relating to the
Company and its securities.
-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 6625
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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October 21, 2016 08:33 ET (12:33 GMT)