Small Pharma Ltd, a British firm specialising in psychedelic drugs, said it has raised C$58mln (£33.5mln) through a financing round to fund a reverse takeover of Canadian capital pool company Unilock Capital Corp (TSXV: UUU.P).
The company, which is currently conducting the world’s first clinical trials exploring the potential for the psychedelic N, N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) combined with psychotherapy as a treatment for depression, said it secured “substantial US, UK and Canadian institutional investor support” for the fundraising, which involved the brokered private placement of around 60.4mln subscription receipts at a price of C$0.96 (55p) each.
The firm said it as part of the institutional investor backing it had received “significant participation” from leading biotech funds.
“We are delighted to close this financing - one of the largest subscription receipt financings in Canada to-date in the psychedelics space - which, upon the closing of the qualifying transaction with Unilock, will allow Small Pharma to join the new ranks of well-funded, successful London-based psychedelic-focused biotechs”, Small Pharma chief executive Peter Rands said in a statement.
“London has become a hub for mental health innovation just as Silicon Valley is for tech innovation. With this financing, upon the closing of the qualifying transaction with Unilock, we can progress our DMT-based portfolio of therapeutic candidates helping to expedite the development of important treatments for mental health disorders, while gaining access to the depth of the North American capital markets”, added Carol Routledge, the company’s chief medical and scientific officer.