ETX.L Regulatory News (ETX)

2 Nov 2009 12:00



e-Therapeutics plc 

("e-Therapeutics" or the "Company") 

Placing

e-Therapeutics plc (AIM: ETX), the network-based drug discovery company, today is pleased to announce that it has conditionally placed 6,541,000 new Ordinary Shares of 0.1p each in the Company (the "Placing Shares") with a new institutional shareholder to raise approximately £2.5 million before expenses (the "Placing").

The Placing has been completed at a price of 38p per Placing Share (the "Placing Price") representing a discount of approximately 11.6 per cent. to the closing mid-market price per ordinary share on 30 October 2009. 

The Placing Shares will represent approximately 10 per cent of the Company's enlarged issued ordinary share capital following the Placing and will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Ordinary Shares in the Company.

Purpose of the Fundraising 

The Fundraising provides e-Therapeutics with working capital to continue ongoing discovery and development activities. 

The costs of operating e-Therapeutics remain modest compared to conventional biotechnology companies. This low cost model is anticipated to continue and, together with the initiatives outlined below for candidate development financing, allows value to be created efficiently for shareholders. 

The strategy of the Company remains the discovery and development of a portfolio of candidates each of which is assessed to have unique medical attributes addressing, what the directors believe to be commercially significant unmet medical need. These candidates are planned for development and launch in major pharmaceutical markets after 2012 when the industry's patent expiry and productivity problems are expected to create considerable demand and value for such candidates. 

Admission

The Placing is conditional on, inter alia, admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM. Application is being made to admit the Placing Shares to trading on AIM and dealings in the Placing Shares are expected to commence on or around 6 November 2009. 

Accordingly, at the close of business on 02 November 2009, the Company will have in  issue  65,420,292 ordinary shares of 0.1p with voting rights. No ordinary shares are held in Treasury.

The above figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the FSA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

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Notes to Editors

e-Therapeutics plc is a network-based drug discovery company. It has developed proprietary analytical systems to swiftly and accurately analyse and predict how medicines interact with cells in the body. This optimises the probability of identifying drug candidates with desirable efficacy and low toxicity. The Company applies its novel, systematic approach to three areas of activity: 

Amongst e-Therapeutics' pipeline of compounds in development are novel antibiotics that have been shown to kill the 'superbug' MRSA, and a novel cancer chemotherapy that has been shown to kill malignant cells at safe doses in a very short time. Other candidate therapies in development are targeted at atherosclerosis, asthma and depression. The Company is currently in negotiation with a number of pharmaceutical companies, and is progressing the preclinical and clinical development of these products.