Chimeric Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:CHM) has established a A$30 million equity funding agreement with leading global investor, L1 Capital Global Opportunities Master Fund.
The placement agreement will further strengthen Chimeric’s balance sheet as it rapidly moves forward with a portfolio of four phase 1 clinical trials.
L1 Capital is based in Melbourne with over A$5 billion in funds under management.
The placement agreement comprises an initial placement of A$500,000 in ordinary shares at A$0.10 per share with 15,000,000 unlisted options (exercisable at A$0.255 each, expiring 31 March 2024) and up to an additional A$30 million in ordinary share placements over a 24-month period.
“Testament to the quality of the company’s clinical assets”
The placement agreement follows Chimeric’s successful completion of the entitlement offer announced on 21 February 2022, which raised A$14.4 million and boosted the company’s current cash position to about A$23.7 million.
Chimeric executive chairman Paul Hopper said: “We are delighted to have the support of a leading fund manager like L1 Capital, with a strong interest in life science investing.
“L1’s commitment is testament to the quality of the company’s clinical assets, having completed significant due diligence via their specialist medical consultant based in Israel prior to executing the placement agreement.
“With our strong existing cash reserves following the completion of the recent entitlement offer and the flexibility this placement agreement provides, we are in a very solid position to exercise our clinical development plan with even greater confidence.”
Terms of the placement agreement
Each placement requested by Chimeric under the placement agreement is subject to and conditional upon the company either having available placement capacity or shareholder approval.
In addition, no single placement under the facility can exceed a maximum of 4.99% of Chimeric’s shares on issue unless L1 Capital agrees to exceed that limit.
The terms of the placement agreement will allow Chimeric to maintain flexibility and enable it to carry out capital raisings external to the placement agreement.
Drawdowns under the facility are at Chimeric’s discretion and the company is under no obligation to use the facility.
Importantly, the placement agreement does not restrict Chimeric’s ability to enter into strategic partnerships or licensing agreements.
IND meeting for cancer drug CHM 2101
Chimeric formally submitted a pre-Investigational New Drug (IND) meeting request this week to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its cancer drug CHM 2101, a novel third-generation CDH17 CAR T cell therapy from the University of Pennsylvania.
The pre-IND meeting request marks a major milestone for the development of CHM 2101 as it is the first formal meeting with the FDA on the development path to IND submission.
What’s more, the pre-IND meeting will provide Chimeric with the opportunity to discuss its IND plans with the FDA to gain feedback and insight prior to IND submission.
Looking ahead, the next step will be the submission of the CHM 2101 IND, enabling Chimeric to initiate the phase 1 clinical trial.