Aptamer Group Share News (APTA)

(Sharecast News) - Aptamer Group announced on Friday that it has raised £2m through a placing of new shares to support the commercial expansion of its proprietary 'Optimer' technology and advance licensing negotiations for key assets.

The AIM-traded firm said the placing was conducted at 0.3p per share, representing a 21.1% discount to the prior closing price, and comprised a firm placing of £1.2m and a conditional placing of £0.8m, subject to shareholder approval.

It said the new shares would represent approximately 25.1% of the enlarged issued share capital.

The firm placing was expected to complete on 9 July, with the conditional placing - pending shareholder approval at a general meeting - due to complete on or around 28 July.

Aptamer said the funds would be used to enhance in-house manufacturing capacity, support animal studies for its liver fibrosis programme, and launch a new biomarker discovery service.

Proceeds would also fund the development of AI-driven models to improve drug candidate selection using the company's extensive aptamer sequence database.

"Aptamer Group is advancing as a leader in aptamer technology, leveraging our Optimer platform to deliver innovative solutions in life sciences," said chairman Dr Adam Hargreaves and CEO Dr Arron Tolley in a joint statement.

"This year, we have secured repeat engagements with Unilever and AstraZeneca, increased first half 2025 revenues, and expanded our IP portfolio from four to ten assets, with licensing deals imminent."

They added that the company's 30 June liver fibrosis breakthrough in siRNA delivery had drawn strong industry interest, bolstering its position in the $210bn affinity ligand market.

"This capital raise ... allows us to fund in-house manufacturing, liver fibrosis studies, launch a biomarker discovery service, explore AI-driven aptamer development, and strengthen licensing negotiations."

The company highlighted a growing commercial pipeline, including prospective licensing deals for assets such as a swine vaccine, an Alzheimer's diagnostic, and a promising enzyme inhibitor.

Aptamer said it had heads of terms agreed for one licensing deal and expects royalty-based income in the near term.

Dr Hargreaves, through Pathcelerate, had subscribed for £0.1m of shares in the conditional placing.

His participation was considered a related party transaction under the AIM rules, and the independent directors had deemed the terms fair and reasonable.

Turner Pope Investments acted as placing agent, with Spark Advisory Partners as nominated and financial adviser.

Broker warrants equivalent to 66.7 million shares would be issued to Turner Pope as part of its compensation.

At 1131 BST, shares in Aptamer Group were up 2.53% at 0.39p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.