(Alliance News) - Avacta Group PLC on Monday said it has raised GBP3.8 million through the placing of 20.8 million shares at 18 pence each.
The stock closed 12% higher at 23.00p each on Monday in London.
On Thursday last week, the company - which developed the Affimer platform as an alternative to antibodies in diagnostics and treatment - had said it intended to raise GBP2 million by issuing 11.1 million shares.
Avacta said that the money will be used to advance Affimer immunotherapy pipeline with partners and develop a pipeline of Affimer-based diagnostic tests for licensing. It also will be used to fund the phase 1 clinical trial of AVA6000 pro-doxorubicin.
AVA6000 is intended to selectively deliver chemotherapy drug doxorubicin to tumours.
The fundraising is subject to shareholder approval.
Separately, the Wetherby-based company said revenue for the 17-month period to the end of 2019 was GBP5.5 million, ahead of market expectations. It added that it does not expect revenue or progress in 2020 to be "materially" hurt by the Covid-19 outbreak but warned that delays in clinical trials may change that.
"The company has made good progress in manufacturing drug material for the AVA6000 phase I clinical trial and in preparing the Clinical Trial Authorisation filing. At this stage, the company does not expect to experience significant delays of more than a few weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but it is reliant on clinical trials in the UK resuming by the end of the year," Avacta said
By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com
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Avacta Group (AVCT)