Futura Medical PLC (LON:FUM), the pharmaceutical company focused on sexual health, has conditionally raised £5.6mln through a share issue.
The company raised the money through a placing of shares at 7p a pop and a share subscription. Existing shareholders will also get the opportunity to buy new shares at the same price through an open offer.
Futura shares closed at 9.65p on Thursday.
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The proceeds will fund the development of MED2002, a fast-acting topical gel for erectile dysfunction and the company's lead product, through to top-line data from its first Phase 3 study, expected in December 2019.
The funds will also provide additional headroom for the long-term, open-label arm of the study and will be used to conclude arrangements for the second Phase 3 study, which is expected to start towards the end of 2019.
The directors plan to take MED2002 through Phase 3 development and then seek to partner or sell the asset; however, in parallel, the directors propose to continue discussions with potential licensees for MED2002.
Most of the potential licensees it has spoken to so far have indicated they would like to see positive Phase 3 data on MED2002, especially at the higher doses, before entering into more advanced licensing discussions. In return for waiting for the greater certainty the Phase 3 trial would give (assuming it is successful), the potential licensees have indicated they would be prepared to pay more for the licensing rights.
The company's own internal assessments of comparable licensing deals indicate that the innovator's share of product net present value increases by about 50% moving between Phase 2 to approval datasets.
The company's cash resources totalled £5.25 million as at the end of September.
Directors James Barder, Angela Hildreth and Ken James all subscribed for new shares. Barder subscribed for 357,142 shares, representing 0.88% of the enlarged share capital; Hildreth subscribed for 142,857 shares (0.07%) and James for 299,714 (0.14%).
Existing shareholder Lombard Odier took 35.7mln shares in the placing, increasing its stake to 55.1mln, representing 25.58% of the enlarged issued share capital.
Existing eligible Futura shareholders can acquire shares (at 7p each) through the open offer on the basis of 10 open offer shares for every 85 shares currently held.
If the open offer is taken up in full, it will raise a further £1mln, give or take, for the company.