AIM-listed drug developer targets Type 1 diabetes treatment while pursuing licensing deal for its lead autoimmune programme
ImmuPharma PLC (AIM:IMM, FRA:25I) has launched a fundraise of up to £7.5 million to accelerate development of a new treatment for Type 1 diabetes, while reaffirming its confidence in completing a licensing deal for its lead drug programme this year.
The company is raising £6 million through a subscription with Lanstead Capital Investors, a long-standing shareholder, which the firm described as Lanstead's largest single investment in ImmuPharma over the past decade.
A further £1.5 million may be raised through a retail offer opening today via the Winterflood Retail Access Platform (WRAP), giving existing and new UK investors the opportunity to participate at the same price of 6.0 pence per share, a 13.7% discount to the previous closing price.
The proceeds will fund accelerated development of Kapiglucagon, a proprietary glucagon prodrug discovered in 2017 by ImmuPharma's research team, targeting its use in next-generation artificial pancreas devices for Type 1 diabetes (T1D).
T1D affects an estimated 8 to 9 million people worldwide and requires lifelong insulin management, with incidence rising particularly among children and adolescents.
Current artificial pancreas systems rely solely on insulin, but dual-hormone devices combining insulin with glucagon are seen as a more effective approach to automated blood glucose control.
The main obstacle to such systems has been the instability of native glucagon in liquid form, which rapidly degrades and clogs pump delivery devices.
ImmuPharma says Kapiglucagon overcomes this by maintaining high solubility and stability in solution while converting to native glucagon in the body after administration.
The company intends to advance the drug using the US Food and Drug Administration's 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway, which allows developers to rely partly on existing safety and efficacy data to accelerate approvals.
The £6 million from Lanstead is structured through a sharing agreement under which proceeds are returned to ImmuPharma in monthly instalments over 20 months, with amounts adjusting up or down depending on the company's share price against a benchmark of 8.0 pence.
Tim McCarthy, chairman and chief executive of ImmuPharma, said the funding would create a meaningful uplift in overall company value, while reaffirming that P140, its lead autoimmune programme, remained on track to secure a licensing deal in 2026.
The investment round is subject to shareholder approval at a general meeting scheduled for 7 April 2026, with admission to AIM expected the following day.