Shares in Motif Bio Plc soared 31% in opening deals after its lead drug, a next generation antibiotic, successfully negotiated a crucial final-stage clinical study. The REVIVE-2 phase III trial pitted Motif’s iclaprim treatment against vancomycin in patients with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI).
AdEPT Telecom plc (LON:ADT) is to hike its interim dividend by 13.3% to 3.75p, signifying confidence in current trading and the future of the information technology group.
Landore Resources Limited (LON:LND) has received its final assay results from its summer drill programme and they confirm that the company continued to hit wide zones of gold mineralisation. The mineralisation was encountered within the inferred resource area of the BAM East gold deposit, at the Junior Lake Property, in Ontario.
Learning Technologies Group (LON:LTG) says results this year will come in better than expected due to changes in the financial terms of a major contract.
Fuel cell developer Ceres Power PLC (LON:CWR) hailed its most successful year to date as revenues more than doubled. Phil Caldwell, chief executive, said the group was ahead of expectations financially, which has enabled it accelerate the technical development of its SteelCell technology.
OptiBiotix Health plc (LON:OPTI) has launched its SlimBiome and LP products in the US at Supply Side West trade show. Both products recently received FDA registration and the presentation at Supply Side West was the first in a number of steps to attract food, beverage, consumer healthcare and pharmaceutical partners for distribution and sale into the US market.
Avacta Group Plc (LON:AVCT), a pioneer of Affimer technology, said the past year had been one of significant progress – both for the development of a potential drug based on its platform and its use by other customers in research and diagnostics. Affimers are small, engineered proteins.
Lupus drug developer Immupharma PLC (LON:IMM) has raised £600,000 more than expected from its equity sharing agreement Lanstead Capital, banking £5mln instead of the £4.4mln originally estimated.
IXICO Plc(LON: IXI), the pioneer of digital technologies used in neuroscience, has landed a two-year contract worth £500,000 with a top-15 pharma company to deploy its wrist-worn sensors in a phase II clinical trial. It is the company’s first commercial agreement using the devices. They will be used along with artificial intelligence data analytics algorithms to monitor sleep disturbance in around 300 people.
Vast Resources PLC (LON:VAST) said results of the first phase of drilling at the Carlibaba prospect have confirmed its suitability as a second open pit mine within the Manaila Polymetallic project in Romania The AIM-listed mining company said preliminary results from first 1,000m of the 2,200m drilling programme support the development of a second open pit operation together with the construction of a metallurgical processing facility on site, which would reduce Manaila opex costs by up to 25%.
Base Resources Ltd (LON:BSE,ASX:BSE) has announced an updated resource estimate for its Kwale South Dune deposit in Kenya, with a 29% increase in mineral resource tonnes and a 13% increase in contained in situ heavy minerals.
Rainbow Rare Earths Ltd (LON:RBW) expects run of mine ore production at its Gasagwe asset will be in the range of 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes.
Green Dragon Gas Ltd (LON:GDG) has detailed three new supplementary agreements between its subsidiary Greka Energy and China United Coalbed Methane Corporation (CUCBM) which confirm that exploration activities can begin for three blocks in China.
Sound Energy PLC (LON:SOU) has detailed a new three-well drill programme planned in Eastern Morocco, where it intends to follow up recent successes at the Tendrara project.
Echo Energy Plc (LON:ECHO) highlighted what it described as a very active period for company development. Fiona MacAulay, chief executive, in Echo’s quarterly update, said: "This quarter has been one of continued progress for Echo in South America, we have continued to assess multiple opportunities in the region and I look forward to updating shareholders in due course.”
Following a review of a conceptual study carried out at the Star zinc project in Zambia in 2015, Galileo Resources PLC (LON:GLR) has decided to undertake a fast-track drilling programme. The study showed that at current metals prices, the project could deliver an IRR of 77%. It shows an NPV of US$18 mln at a 10% discount and offers payback in a year on capital expenditure of US$9.1mln.
Summit Therapeutics PLC said it and its collaboration partners will be presenting information related to its phase II clinical trial. One poster at an industry conference this week will include validation data of muscle biopsy biomarkers used to assess utrophin modulator activity.
Cadence Minerals Plc (LON:KDNC) (OTC:KDNCY) has announced that investee company Auroch Minerals (ASX:AOU) has intersected sulphide mineralisation at its Alcoutim Copper-Zinc Project in Portugal. In a statement, Auroch - in which Cadence currently owns a 7.7% equity stake –said disseminated and vein mineralisation has been logged in volcanic sediments at Alcoutim which are interpreted to be similar rocks to the host sequence at the Super Giant Neves Corvo Cu-Zn Deposit.
Harvest Minerals Ltd (LON:HMI) said on executive director Matthew Wood has stepped down from his role with effect from next Monday to pursue other business interests. Wood has been an executive director at the fertiliser development company for three years since 2014.