Result of the Open Offer

RNS Number : 5964F

Avacta Group PLC

08 November 2022

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN IT IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT ITSELF CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO BUY, ACQUIRE OR SUBSCRIBE FOR (OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY, ACQUIRE OR SUBSCRIBE FOR) SECURITIES IN ANY JURISDICTION.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION.

8 November 2022

Avacta Group plc

("Avacta" or "the Group" or "the Company")

Result of the Open Offer

Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative cancer therapies and powerful diagnostics based on its proprietary Affimer® and pre|CISION™ platforms , announced on 18 October 2022 the details of a proposed Open Offer (the "Open Offer") to raise gross proceeds of up to approximately £2.0 million through the issue of up to 2,106,980 Open Offer Shares at 95 pence per share.

The Open Offer closed for acceptances at 11:00 am on 7 November 2022. The Company is pleased to announce that it has received valid applications under the Open Offer (including under the Excess Application Facility) in respect of 16,258,999 Open Offer Shares from Qualifying Shareholders (the "New Ordinary Shares"). This represents approximately 772% of the Open Offer Shares offered to Qualifying Shareholders pursuant to the Open Offer.

The Open Offer is conditional upon Admission occurring. Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for 2,106,980 New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM. It is expected that Admission will become effective and dealings will commence in the New Ordinary Shares at 8.00 a.m. on 9 November 2022.

This announcement should be read in conjunction with the full text of the circular issued on 19 October 2022 ("Circular"). All capitalised/defined terms used in this announcement and not otherwise defined shall have the meanings given to them in the Circular.

Total voting rights

Following Admission, the Company's enlarged issued ordinary share capital will be 265,839,639. This figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

This announcement is released by the Company and contains inside information under the UK Market Abuse Regulation, encompassing information relating to the Fundraise described above. The person responsible for arranging for the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company is Tony Gardiner, Chief Financial Officer.

Confirmation of gross funds raised

The total gross proceeds raised pursuant to the Fundraise, as announced on 18 October 2022, amount to approximately £64.0 million, combining this successful open offer raising approximately £2.0 million with the Convertible Bond Offering (with an aggregate principal amount of £55.0 million (resulting in cash proceeds of £52.25 million) and the completion of the placing of new ordinary shares raising gross proceeds of approximately £7.0 million.

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For further information from Avacta Group plc, please contact:

Avacta Group plc Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer Tony Gardiner, Chief Financial Officer Michael Vinegrad, Group Communications Director	Tel: [phone] www.avacta.com
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Nomad and Broker) Nicholas Moore / Nick Adams / Samira Essebiyea / Nick Harland / Dhiren Suares / William Palmer-Brown	Tel: [phone] www.stifel.com
FTI Consulting (Financial Media and IR) Simon Conway / Alex Shaw / George Kendrick	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]
Zyme Communications (Trade and Regional Media) Lily Jeffery	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

About Avacta Group plc - https://www.avacta.com

Avacta Group is developing novel cancer immunotherapies and powerful diagnostics based on its two proprietary platforms - Affimer^® biologics and pre|CISION™ tumour targeted chemotherapies.

The Affimer^® platform is an alternative to antibodies and is derived from a small human protein. Affimer technology has been designed to address many of the negative issues of antibodies, principally: the time taken to generate new antibodies, the reliance on an animal's immune response; poor specificity in many cases; in addition to, the complexity and high cost of manufacture. Despite these shortcomings, antibodies currently dominate markets, such as diagnostics and therapeutics, which are worth in excess of $100bn.

Avacta's pre|CISION™ targeted chemotherapy platform is designed to selectively release active chemotherapy in FAP rich tumour tissue to limit the systemic exposure that causes damage to healthy tissues, and thereby aims to improve the overall safety and therapeutic potential of these powerful anti-cancer treatments.

The Avacta Group comprises two divisions: The therapeutics development activities are based in London, UK and a separate diagnostics business unit is based in Wetherby, UK. The Group is generating near-term revenues from Affimer^® reagents for diagnostics, bioprocessing and research.

Avacta's Diagnostics Division is developing an in-house pipeline of Affimer-based diagnostic assays, including the AffiDX^® SARS-CoV-2 Lateral Flow Rapid Antigen Test, and works with partners world-wide to develop bespoke Affimer^® reagents for third party products.

Avacta's Therapeutics Division is working to generate more tolerable and durable treatments for oncology patients who do not respond to existing therapies. By combining its two proprietary platforms the Group is building a wholly owned pipeline of clinically differentiated cancer therapies. In 2021 Avacta transitioned to become a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, when it commenced a phase I trial in patients with locally advanced or metastatic selected solid tumours. The study was a first-in-human, open label, dose-escalation and expansion study of the Group's lead pre|CISION™ prodrug, AVA6000 (a pro-doxorubicin).

Avacta has established drug development partnerships with pharma and biotech, including a multi-target deal with LG Chem worth up to $400m, a joint venture in South Korea with Daewoong Pharmaceutical focused on cell and gene therapies incorporating Affimer immune-modulators and a recent license agreement with Point Biopharma for them to develop radiopharmaceuticals based on the pre|CISION™ platform.

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