MTFB.L Share News (MTFB)

Clinical stage biopharmaceutical group Motif Bio began trading on AIM on Thursday, after raising £2.8m in its initial public offering.The group, whose 44.09% of issued equity is owned by Amphion, placed shares at 20p each, said it had 64,238,442 ordinary shares in issue and a market capitalisation of £12.8m upon admission.The London-listed company added it will utilise the net proceeds and its existing working capitals to complete the preparations to enter Phase III trials on its Iclaprim treatment, a clinical stage antibiotic effective against MRSA.Motif is seeking approval from US and European health regulators to verify that clinical development plan for its treatment meets the necessary regulatory guidelines and that two Phase III trials can be conducted.A successful antibiotic can be expected to generate sales of up to $1bn," said Amphion chief executive Richard Morgan."We believe Iclaprim can be an important weapon in the armoury against drug resistant bacteria and we look forward to progressing the development of this important drug."