OXFORD BIOMEDICA
Announcement Of Placing
& Rights Issue
Oxford BioMedica, specialist
in the research and development of gene-based therapeutics,
today announces that it is to raise £6 million (before expenses).
£1.43 million will be raised by way of a Rights Issue, and £4.57
million by way of a Placing.
The Rights Issue and Placing, which have been fully underwritten
by Beeson Gregory, will provide the necessary funds for the
continued development of the Group's candidate products and
allow Oxford BioMedica to proceed with its first clinical
trials. These are due to enter the clinic in the fourth quarter
of 1998 - a year ahead of schedule. The funds will also enable
the Group to take advantage of new technical opportunities
that will strengthen further the product pipeline.
Details of the Rights Issue:
The Company
will offer 14,257,138 Rights Shares to Qualifying Shareholders
at 10p per Ordinary Share. The Rights Issue will be made on
the basis of 1 Rights Share for every 4 Existing Ordinary Shares
held by Qualifying Shareholders at the close of business on
16 March 1998 and so in proportion for any greater number of
Existing Ordinary Shares held.
Details of the
Placing:
It
is proposed that 45,742,862 new Ordinary Shares are placed with
institutional and other investors at a price of 10p per ordinary
share. This will raise a total of £4.57 million (before expenses).
Prelude
Trust plc has conditionally agreed to invest £1.7 million
as part of the Placing and Rights Issue.
It is
proposed that following the completion of the Placing and
Rights Issue Andrew Allars be appointed a non-executive director
of the Company. Mr Allars is a director of Prelude Technology
Investments Limited and a non-executive director of Prelude
Trust plc. His experience in the sector will further enhance
the present capabilities of the Oxford BioMedica board.
Extraordinary General Meeting:
An Extraordinary General Meeting
will be held at 11.00 am on Tuesday, 24 March 1998 for the purpose
of considering and, if thought fit, approving the placing and
rights issue.
Professor Alan
Kingsman, Chief Executive of Oxford BioMedica, commented:
"Oxford BioMedica's first year as a public company has seen
further growth and consolidation of the business. We have
now firmly established ourselves as a major force in gene
therapy with internationally competitive technology and product
pipelines. "The
Company's proposed fund raising will provide us with the working
capital to further develop the Company and its clinical programmes.
I am particularly pleased at the response of current institutional
investors to the placing - and it is encouraging to see professional
biotechnology investors providing a major proportion of the
funds. With the money raised we will be in a strong position
to take a significant share of the markets emerging out of
the new medical revolution of gene therapy."
Notes
to Editors:
1. Oxford
BioMedica, established in 1995, specialises in the development
and application of gene-based therapeutics using advanced retroviral
gene delivery technologies for the treatment of disease in the
areas of: oncology, viral infection, neurobiology and genetic
deficiency. Oxford BioMedica plc was floated on the UK Alternative
Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange in December 1996.
2. The
Company intends to develop its therapeutic products and take
them through their initial phases of clinical testing. The
candidate products are expected to be licensed to suitable
business partners who will then complete the later phases
of clinical trials, and ultimately manufacture and market
the products.
3. The
Company also intends to exploit commercial opportunities arising
from its platform technologies with appropriate business partners.
Copies
of the prospectus can be obtained from:
Oxford BioMedica plc, Medawar Centre, Robert Robinson Avenue,
The Oxford Science Park, Oxford, OX4 4GA.
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