RE: No placing31 Mar 2023 19:37
£5 million Equity Prepayment Facility in place with initial draw down of £2 million
Manchester, UK - 31 March 2023: genedrive plc (LSE: GDR), the point of care molecular diagnostics company, is pleased to announce that it has agreed terms on an Equity Prepayment Facility for up to £5 million (the "Facility") with Riverfort Global Opportunities PCC Limited (the "Investors"), with an initial drawn amount of £2 million, expected to be received by the Company in early April 2023, net of associated costs.
The Facility and the Company's existing cash resources will be directed towards the commercialisation of the Company's Antibiotic Induced Hearing Loss test, Genedrive® MT-RNR1 ID Kit ("AIHL test") and enhancing the Genedrive® platform through the validation and verification of the Company's CYP2C19 test, Genedrive® CYP2C19 ID Kit ("CYP2C19 test") as well as providing additional working capital.
The Directors have assessed a number of financing options for the Company including an equity raise but believe that the Facility is the best option available to the Company at the present time in order to further fund the Company's progress while also taking consideration of the investor shareholder base. Further, the Directors believe that a combination of the possibility of positive future news flow around the Company's two main assays as well as the potential for reasonable levels of liquidity in the Company's ordinary shares make the Facility the most attractive form of financing for the Company at the current time.
The Company is not currently planning for a material increase in the Company's operating expenses in the future and the Company's pro forma cash balances post receipt of the Initial Prepayment alone will be circa £3.5 million. This will provide the Company with additional capital to drive sales of its AIHL assay and finalise the development/plan for launch of its CYP2C19 assay which are both expected to be key potential drivers of shareholder value in the future.