Grant of Share Options

RNS Number : 6272A

Provexis PLC

29 December 2017

 

29 December 2017

Provexis plc

Grant of Share Options

Provexis plc ('Provexis' or the 'Company'), the business that develops, licenses and sells the proprietary, scientifically-proven Fruitflow® heart-health functional food ingredient, announces that it has today awarded a total of 27,500,000 options ("Options") over ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") under the Provexis 2005 share option scheme to certain directors and scientific, sales and marketing consultants to the Company.

The new Options will have an exercise price of 0.55 pence, being the closing mid-market price on 28 December 2017, and they are subject to performance criteria (including Ordinary Share price appreciation). The Options are exercisable, subject to vesting, between 1 April 2020 and 10 years from the date of grant.

The 27,500,000 Options awarded today include 20,000,000 options awarded with oversight from the Company's Non-executive Director Krijn Rietveld to the following directors ('PDMRs'):

Name of Director	Position	No of existing Options	No of new Options to be granted	Total Options following grant
Dawson Buck	Chairman	7,000,000	10,000,000	17,000,000
Ian Ford	Finance Director	25,000,000	10,000,000	35,000,000

The Options will further align the directors' and consultants' interests with those of shareholders.

Following the issue of the new Options the total number of Ordinary Shares under option which could be issued if all of the performance criteria are met is 179,117,620 Ordinary Shares, with 41,117,620 of these existing options due to lapse, unless exercised before then, in August 2018. The 41,117,620 options which are due to lapse in August 2018 have an exercise price of 0.593 pence, and 10,000,000 of these options are held by Ian Ford, Finance Director.

The Company makes the following disclosures in accordance with article 19(3) of the Market Abuse Regulation:

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Dawson Buck
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Chairman
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	PROVEXIS PLC
b)	LEI	21380042E3Y3N9VZ6N48
4	Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)	Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code	Ordinary Shares of 0.1p each ISIN: GB00B0923P27
b)	Nature of the transaction	Grant of options over ordinary shares
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) 0.55p per share 10,000,000
d)	Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price	N/A - single transaction
e)	Date of the transaction	29 December 2017
f)	Place of the transaction	London Stock Exchange, XLON

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Ian Ford
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Finance Director
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	PROVEXIS PLC
b)	LEI	21380042E3Y3N9VZ6N48
4	Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)	Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code	Ordinary Shares of 0.1p each ISIN: GB00B0923P27
b)	Nature of the transaction	Grant of options over ordinary shares
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) 0.55p per share 10,000,000
d)	Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price	N/A - single transaction
e)	Date of the transaction	29 December 2017
f)	Place of the transaction	London Stock Exchange, XLON

ends-

For further information please contact:

Provexis plc                                                     Tel:      [phone]

Dawson Buck, Chairman                                 [e-mail]

Ian Ford, Finance Director

Cenkos Securities plc                                      Tel:      [phone]

Bobbie Hilliam / Camilla Hume

Notes for editors

About Provexis plc

AIM-listed Provexis is focused on the development and licensing of its proprietary, scientifically-proven Fruitflow® heart-health functional food ingredient.

In May 2009, the Company's Fruitflow® technology was the first to be substantiated by the European Food Safety Authority ('EFSA') under the new Article 13(5) for proprietary and emerging science. In December 2009 the European Commission authorised the health claim 'Helps maintain normal platelet aggregation, which contributes to healthy blood flow', which was the first wording to be authorised under Article 13(5).

In June 2010 it was announced that the Company had entered into a long-term Alliance Agreement with DSM Nutritional Products to commercialise Fruitflow®, and in June 2015 the Company confirmed it had agreed significantly enhanced financial terms for its Alliance Agreement with DSM for Fruitflow®.

The Company's Alliance partner DSM Nutritional Products has developed the market actively for the Company's novel, patented Fruitflow® heart-health ingredient in all global markets, with over 50 regional consumer healthcare brands now having been launched by direct customers of DSM, and with a number of further regional brands having been launched through DSM's distributor channels.

An increasing number of further commercial projects have been initiated by DSM with prospective customers, including some prospective customers which are part of global businesses, with good prospects for these projects to be launched as consumer products. Interest in the technology exists in all major global markets.

The Company reported in its interim results on 29 December 2017 that the Company and DSM had seen an encouraging increase in brand awareness and customer interest in Fruitflow® in recent months, with the total projected annual sales value of the prospective sales pipeline for Fruitflow® continuing to increase and standing then at a further new all-time high level.

In June 2016 the Company launched a high quality dietary supplement product containing Fruitflow® and Omega-3 which is being sold from a separate, dedicated website www.fruitflowplus.com on a mail order basis.

The Company conducted a Key Opinion Leaders' roundtable event for Fruitflow® in London in September 2016, focussed on raising awareness of the importance of blood flow in cardiovascular health, and the effectiveness of dietary antiplatelets. The roundtable was attended by key scientists from Provexis and DSM, along with a number of interested health care professionals with close links to the media. The event was recorded and a video for Fruitflow® + Omega-3 capsules targeting prospective consumers can be seen here www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3HCSdyupEY&t=48s

The Company and DSM are keen to secure greater medical advocacy for Fruitflow® and the roundtable event forms part of this strategy.

The roundtable event is being supported by a broader consumer PR campaign, and the Company's Fruitflow® + Omega-3 dietary supplement product has featured in a number of recent articles in the UK national press which can be seen here www.fruitflowplus.com/fruitflow-in-the-media

The Company has been engaged in a two stage collaboration agreement with the University of Oslo to undertake further research into the relationship between Fruitflow® and blood pressure regulation. In December 2016 the Company announced the results from the second stage of the collaboration, a pilot study which indicated that a standard dose of Fruitflow® in powder format significantly lowered average 24-hour systolic blood pressure compared to placebo. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure were shown to be significantly lower whilst trial subjects were awake, a clinically relevant reduction in blood pressure which is expected to be of interest to a large number of consumers and patients with a wide range of cardiovascular conditions. In September 2017 the results from the blood pressure collaboration were published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition.

In April 2017 the Company announced that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding with BY-HEALTH Co., Ltd ('BY-HEALTH') which is intended to result in a research and collaboration agreement with BY-HEALTH for Fruitflow®. The Company also confirmed separately that Provexis and DSM are working with BY-HEALTH to support the planned launch of some Fruitflow® based products in the Chinese market.

BY-HEALTH is a substantial Chinese listed dietary supplement business which is currently valued in excess of £2bn.

Provexis was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Reading, Berkshire.

Provexis shares are traded on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PXS.

For further information, please visit www.provexis.com

 

END

 

 

MSCLLFSSFFLAFID