LONDON (Alliance News) - Advanced Oncotherapy PLC Wednesday said it has raised about GBP4.7 million before expenses through a placing and subscription of 145.6 million new shares, as it looks to fund the development of a new system for cancer treatments.
In a statement, Advanced Oncotherapy, which is focused on proton therapy - described by the company as a highly-targeted type of radiotherapy that can treat hard-to-reach cancers with a lower risk of damaging surrounding healthy tissues and causing harmful side effects - said it specifically wants to develop Linac for Image Guided Hadron Therapy (LIGHT) system. LIGHT is being developed along with ADAM, the spin-off from CERN acquired in 2012.
The company said the new funds will be used to support the development of a complete LIGHT accelerator and will enable it to carry out the first installation of a LIGHT machine at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York.
In addition to the agreements to deliver the LIGHT system to hospitals such as the Upstate University hospital, Advanced Oncotherapy said it is in discussions with a number of other hospitals and healthcare organisations.
The company said it has also made various applications for grant funding in the US and Europe which will help support its working capital needs until it is able to generate a positive cash flow.
Management also will consider strategic alternatives for Oncotherapy Resources Ltd, which provides a fully managed radiotherapy service to the UK National Health Service and private sector for the treatment of early stage breast cancer, colorectal cancer and veterinary cancers, according to the company's statement.
Advanced Oncotherapy said the new shares were placed with institutional investors and subscribed for by existing shareholders and other investors. The placing price was 3.2 pence per share.
For every five new shares, buyers will receive a warrant which will allow them for a period of five years to subscribe to one new share at 6 pence.
"These new funds will enable us to lead the company through this next phase of growth, and we are confident we have a sensible strategy to succeed in delivering our game-changing machine. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that new investors have participated in the fundraising, and we are delighted that several of our largest existing shareholders have similarly shown their support and belief in the company by investing further," Chief Executive Sanjeev Pandya said in a statement.
The company said the new shares were placed by Westhouse Securities and Beaufort Securities, Advanced Oncotherapy's joint brokers.
Advanced Oncotherapy shares were Wednesday quoted down 11% at 3.60p.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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