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Just to add, if the BoD just need £1.5 then I don't see why they can't reduce the 9.5m placing shares to around 2m in order to reduce dilution.
No doubt they are huddled in their shed wondering how to use the funds - take the full £2.2m now and full steam ahead or settle on £1.5m and see what the future holds re partners/licencing.
Morning SOG - The way I read it, they've managed to raise:
A) 9,550,000 shares via a placing = £955,000
B) 2,255,000 shares via HNWs = £225,500
C) 3,000,000 shares via WRAP = £300,000
Total: 14,805,000 shares for £1,480,500 raised (ignoring advisor fees/shares & shares in lieu of historic director salaries)
However the WRAP was increased so:
D) 11,189,733 shares via the WRAP = £1,118,973
(this includes 195,000 shares via Director WRAP = £19,500)
Therefore I think the total raised is A+B+D = £2,299,473
Surely enough to get P2a on the road and hopefully get the 1802 translational studies completed.
Question is, will we see anyone submit a TR1?
Indeed, Ben. I bought another £4500 on the open market (needless to say mid-morning when the sp was near the top - I never learn!)
Just think how much more it could've been if Halifax (and others) had taken part. I may have to write a stiff letter to them.
Hi Laz - thanks for the reply. It would be good if we could pay off RF and cancel any warrants but I suppose we're better off using the funds to progress 1801/2.
The next question is will the MMs play silly buggers on Monday by significantly raising the sp to catch out early bird S&S ISA buyers before dropping it again?
Could RF forward sell their shares?
Good to hear it all went well, Warthog.
Since you're now part titanium you might enjoy this video whilst you recuperate - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFJMs15sVSY
At least if the WRAP is over-subscribed the BoD can use it as yardstick for any future raises as it'll indicate a level of support from punters.
Hi Damion - I think the way they arranged the raise was for the following reasons
1. Allow the HNWs to get very cheap shares to take some of the sting out of their paper losses
2. Allow some of the BoD to show faith in the compound
3. Offer just £300k to punters simply to cover the loss of the RF drawdown
From what I've seen over the years is the BoD only raise enough cash to cover their short/mid term aims. The current dilution would be far greater if the raise had been effectively open-ended.
Presuming RF dump all their shares from next Friday through to the end of the following week, I have no idea what the sp will do as punters hoover up shares into the new tax year ISAs - will it rise or remain fairly static? The BoD perhaps hope with RF out of the picture the sp will return to a more representative level. If it does, then another raise later in the year will come with less dilution.
Unless a partner comes along prior to a P2a trial with an offer we can't refuse, I think the BoD would do well to start the P2a phase in order to give support to a hopefully increasing sp i.e. even the trolls can't deny that getting a drug that far isn't a remarkable achievement for 2 blokes in a shed.
Hi Ben/Num4 - I only floated the idea of doing the trial in the UK as the Nucleus Network don't appear to do P2a trials, their focus seems to be P1 (see first link below).
https://www.parexel.com/application/files/resources/assets/Australia%20Clinical%20Trials%20Article_Second%20in%20a%20three-part%20series%20(1).pdf
This other link might be interesting to some as it talks about pricing strategies (not that we're anywhere near that point yet but interesting all the same).
https://www.parexel.com/application/files/resources/assets/Australia%20Regulatory%20Market%20Access%20Article_Third%20in%20a%20three-part%20series%20(1).pdf
Yeah, the working capital these US companies must require is huge. When I was poking about the US SEC.gov website for 737 info I came across the Sierra announcement that it was paying their chief exec something like $400k a year plus options (and this was before the GSK merger).
Hi Damion - as a slight aside, whenever I look at US biotechs I'm often amazed by the sheer number of execs they have on their boards. Avenzo appears to have 15 chief execs/vice presidents/directors etc. plus another 5 board members representing the interests of their investment partners. All this and they have just one drug in their pipeline.
Now compare all that to SAR. Imagine if we had 10 staff/hangers-on, the need for finance and inevitable share dilution would be far greater than it currently is. Yes, progress has been very slow at times(!) but 2 blokes in a shed may yet have a shot at glory with 737/1801/1802.
Regards.
Sorry to hear the news, Warthog. Just think warm happy thoughts if they give you a bed-bath ;-)
Just a few points from the March 2023 Investor Meets Q&A -
"First in human data generated in Australia is accepted by regulators world-wide."
"As far as the Phase 1a part of the trial is concerned, we plan to fully conduct that in Australia. For the Phase 1b, if we need to expand that out of Australia, we're not closing any doors, and it's possible that we could look for patients in the UK and other countries. But the current plan is to conduct all the Phase 1 trials in Australia."
"For the Phase 1b portion of our trial, we will collaborate with dermatology clinics that can refer appropriate patients to volunteer for the psoriasis study. One of the many advantages of conducting trials in Australia is the ready availability of psoriasis patients."
Since we appear to be skipping 1b and heading for a 2a trial, the BoD might look for any newer taxbreaks or govt. funding that wasn't available at the time last year.
The Nucleus Network in Oz seems to specialise in P1 trials so I'm not sure if the P2a trial will also be carried out by them. It would make sense if they can do the trial for some degree of continuity but with positive P1a results maybe the BoD will have another crack at getting through the MHRA redtape.
The link below suggests the MHRA has finally got its act together re timelines for approvals and I think the clinical results from Oz would be acceptable to them.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f463b550397e0011c755a2/MHRA-Performance-Metrics_CIT_2302-2401_CI_2303-2402.pdf
Not sure how trial costs compare between here and Oz but would hope the BoD can maximise cost efficiencies.
Sorry, SOG - I was researching and typing up another thread while you posted this one. Didn't mean for them to overlap.
Assuming the reference to a P2a trial in the RNS isn't a typo, I think 1801 can effectively skip P1b due to a maximum tolerated dose not having been reached. The SAD/MAD/Food effects part of the trial would expose any concerns over dosage.
From what I can gather, a drug can move directly from Phase 1a to Phase 2a though this is not the typical progression. I presume the MAD element of the trial so far has given the safety committee enough data to say we can jump straight to Phase 2a trials based on tox reports and the time taken for the body to excrete the compound etc.
Plus the value increases greatly if we complete a P2a trial verses a P1b trial.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phases_of_clinical_research
Hi Potnak - even if RF are dumping shares there appears to be quite an appetite at these prices for buyers to hoover them up.
Just in case any onlookers think all the trades in red are sales, they aren't - my modest buy was below the mid price so the algorithm presumes the trade is a sell.
If LSE had a better system for recording buys/sells I think we'd see a significant number of buys today.
Thanks for the reply Seawolf. I shall now grind my teeth and just wait for the new tax year to add directly via my ISA.
Onwards!