Subscription to raise £1,470,000

RNS Number : 9563B

Sareum Holdings PLC

15 June 2021

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014

Sareum Holdings plc

("Sareum" or the "Company")

Further Subscription to raise £1,470,000 to progress proprietary TYK2/JAK1 programmes into clinical development

Cambridge, UK, 15 June 2021 - Sareum Holdings plc (AIM: SAR), the specialist drug development company, announces that it has raised £1,470,000, before expenses, through a subscription for 30,000,000 new ordinary shares of 0.025p each in the capital of the Company ("Ordinary Shares") (the "Subscription Shares") at a price of 4.9p per share (the "Subscription Price") (the "Subscription").

This subscription is by the same high net worth individual who subscribed to shares to the value of £900,000 as announced by the Company on 1 June 2021 (the "Subscriber").

Under the terms of the Subscription, the Subscriber will also be issued one five-year warrant, exercisable at the Subscription Price, for every three Subscription Shares issued (the "Subscription Warrant"), which can only be exercised following the Company's closing middle market share price being above 7p per Ordinary Share for five consecutive days. The Subscription Price was set at the closing ask price on Friday 11 June but represents a discount of approximately 14 per cent. to the closing middle market price for Sareum Shares on 14 June 2021.

The net proceeds from the Subscription will be used to progress the Company's SDC-1801 and SDC-1802 TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor drug development programmes as well as for working capital purposes. As noted in the Company's Trading Update of 25 May 2021, the Company is targeting the completion of preclinical studies for SDC-1801 in Q3 2021, subject to successful progress. Clinical trial plans, including priority autoimmune indications and potential Covid-19 application, will also be developed in parallel, subject to additional funding being raised.

The UKRI-funded Covid-19 research project for SDC-1801 continues on schedule with the experimental phases finishing by the end of June and the data analysis to complete shortly thereafter. The Company will provide a further update once the relevant data are available.

Application will be made for the 30,000,000 Subscription Shares, which will rank pari passu with the Company's existing Ordinary Shares, to be admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange ("AIM") ("Admission"). The proceeds of the Subscription are due to be received in advance of Admission. Assuming such proceeds have been received, it is anticipated that Admission will become effective at 8.00 am on 21 June 2021. The Placing is subject to normal conditions including, inter alia, Admission.

Total Voting Rights

For the purpose of the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, following the above issue of equity, the issued share capital of the Company will comprise 3,332,865,651 Ordinary Shares. The above figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company, under the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

Dr Tim Mitchell, CEO of Sareum Holdings plc, said: "We are delighted to have raised these additional funds through this second subscription by the same high net worth individual. These new funds give us greater flexibility to facilitate the planning and execution of our development programmes with our lead internal TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor programme, SDC-1801, which we are advancing through its final preclinical studies. We are targeting the completion of these studies in Q3 2021 and are finalising our plans for the initial clinical trials, which we would expect to commence shortly thereafter, subject to funding.

"These new funds will also help us to further explore the potential benefit of SDC-1801 against Covid-19 and progress the preclinical development of our second TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor SDC-1802 against cancers.

"We look forward to keeping investors informed on our progress and to providing further updates during the year."

For further information, please contact: 

Sareum Holdings plc Tim Mitchell, CEO	01223 497 700
Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated Adviser) James Dance / James Bellman	020 7409 3494
Hybridan LLP (Nominated Broker) Claire Noyce	020 3764 2341
Citigate Dewe Rogerson (Financial PR) Mark Swallow/ David Dible	020 7638 9571

About Sareum

Sareum is a specialist drug development company delivering targeted small molecule therapeutics to improve the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The Company aims to generate value through licensing its candidates to international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies at the preclinical or early clinical trials stage.

Sareum is advancing internal programmes focused on distinct dual tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) / Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) inhibitors through preclinical development as therapies for autoimmune diseases, including the 'cytokine storm' immune system overreaction to Covid-19 and other viral infections, (SDC-1801) and cancer immunotherapy (SDC-1802).

Sareum also has an economic interest in SRA737, a clinical-stage oral, selective Checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) inhibitor that targets cancer cell replication and DNA damage repair mechanisms. Preliminary Phase 2 and comprehensive preclinical data suggest SRA737 may have broad application in combination with other oncology and immune-oncology drugs in genetically defined patients.

SRA737 was discovered and initially developed by scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research in collaboration with Sareum, and with funding from Sareum and Cancer Research UK. SRA737 was licensed by CRT Pioneer Fund (CPF) to Sierra Oncology Inc. Sierra continues to explore options that would enable the development of SRA737 to advance.

Sareum Holdings plc is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, trading under the ticker SAR. For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.sareum.com  

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