Solvonis Therapeutics PLC (LSE:SVNS) confirmed it has conditionally raised £2 million through a placing of new shares, with proceeds earmarked to support its acquisition of Awakn Life Sciences.
The biotechnology investor in December announced its all-paper deal to buy Awakn, in exchange for 2.07 billion shares, at the time valued at around £5 million.
“The proposed acquisition represents a major step for Solvonis and underscores the company's strategy to address significant unmet needs in the treatment of mental health and addiction,” Solvonis commented.
Today’s equity raise, meanwhile, sees 1.5 billion new shares being issued priced at 0.13p.
The new equity was taken up by existing and new institutional and other investors, including company insiders Nicholas Nelson and Dennis Purcell, both non-executive directors, and finance director Ryan Neates.
The Awakn acquisition adds two clinical-stage programmes to Solvonis’s portfolio: AWKN-001, a Phase 3 candidate targeting severe alcohol use disorder, and AWKN-002, a novel esketamine-based treatment in development for moderate to severe cases.
Both address a condition that affects an estimated 40 million people across the US and Europe.