News blog

Verona Pharma

  • BY: Andrew Hore |
  • POSTED: 06/03/2014 |

Respiratory disease treatments developer Verona Pharma is raising up to £14m via a placing, subscription and open offer to existing shareholders at a substantial discount to the current share price. 

The issue price is 2.2p a share and UK and US institutions have taken up the shares. Existing shareholders can buy up to £1m of shares in the one-for-eight open offer. The open offer closes on 21 March.

The enlarged share capital will give Verona a value of £22m at the placing and offer price of 2.2p a share. The closing share price was 3.45p but this could change when the market takes a view on the fundraising. The current share price values Verona at £34.5m. 

The cash will be invested in the development of RPL554, which is an inhaled asthma and hay fever treatment, which does not include steroids. Three clinical trials are planned using a nebulised formulation. There will also be pre-clinical studies ahead of a phase IIb study in hospitalised COPD patients. The results of these studies should be available in 2015. 

Some of the money will also be spent on preparing cough treatment VRP700 for clinical studies in patients with chronic severe cough. A dose finding study should be complete by the second half of 2015.

At the end of February there was £300,000 left in the bank. Verona has raised money a number of times in the past.

Verona raised £1.1m at 4p a share early in 2013 and then £800,000 at 2.2p a share last October. At the end of 2011, Verona raised £3.25m through a placing at 5p a share.

At the same time as the £1.1m fundraising in early 2013 Verona put in place an equity finance facility with Darwin Strategic but this was terminated later in the year without being used.

Download the latest AIM Journal from http://wwww.hubinvest.com/AIMPDFFebruary2014_53.pdf

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