10 Nov 2016 17:51
The following amendment(s) have been made to the Venn Life Sciences Holdings plc - Contract Win announcement released on 8 November 2016 at 07:00 under RNS No 5443O. The correction relates to notification that the contract win is a related party transaction under the AIM Rules and ESM Rules.
All other details remain unchanged.
The full amended text is shown below.
Venn Life Sciences Holdings Plc("Venn Life Sciences" or the "Company")
10 November 2016
Contract win
Venn Life Sciences (AIM: VENN), a growing Contract Research Organisation providing drug development, clinical trial management and resourcing solutions to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device clients, announces that it has signed a new contract worth €2.5m with Sedana Medical AB ("Sedana Medical"). Venn will carry out a randomised, controlled, open label Phase III study to confirm efficacy and safety of sedation with isoflurane in ventilated ICU patients. This trial is confined to patients in Germany and commences immediately.
Sedana Medical, headquartered in Sweden with operations across Europe, has become the market leader in the emerging inhalation sedation market. This is when medical practitioners use volatile gases to sedate patients in the ICU. Inhalation sedation addresses a real unmet medical need and the benefits of volatiles as sedatives compared to the current standard of care, IV sedatives, are significant.
The CEO of Sedana Medical, Michael Ryan, is also a director of Venn Life Sciences. Accordingly, Michael Ryan is a related party of Venn Life Sciences as defined in the AIM Rules and ESM Rules. As a result, the contract is treated as a "related party transaction" under the AIM Rules and the ESM Rules.
The Independent Directors, being Allan Wood, Anthony Richardson, Jonathan Hartshorn, Gacielle Schutjens, Cornelius Groen, Paul Kennedy, and Mary Sheahan, who are not related parties under the AIM Rules and ESM Rules for the purpose of the contract, having consulted with Davy, the Company's NOMAD and ESM adviser, for the purpose of the AIM Rules and ESM Rules, consider the contract to be fair and reasonable insofar as the shareholders of the Company are concerned. Michael Ryan has not taken part in the Board's consideration of these matters.
Commenting, Mike Ryan, CEO of Sedana Medical said: "The major obstacle to inhalation sedation becoming a standard of care in the ICU is that volatiles are not approved for this use. The global addressable market for patients sedated in the ICU for more than 24 hours is estimated at over €2 billion per annum. Inhalation sedation will significantly benefit up to 50% of these patients and Sedana could capture 25-30% of this total market within five years following approval of the drug for this indication."
Commenting, Venn CEO, Tony Richardson said: "I am pleased to see the addition of a significant new project for Venn, in such a critical area of care as patient sedation. The generation of quality clinical data can be a real value driver for Sedana Medical and we are delighted that they have entrusted their programme to us."
Venn Life Sciences Holdings Plc | www.vennlifesciences.com | |
Tony Richardson, Chief Executive Officer | Tel: +353 154 99 341 | |
Jonathan Hartshorn, Chief Financial Officer | Tel: +353 153 93 269 | |
Aoife O Farrell, Marketing Manager | Tel: +353 153 93 269 | |
Davy (Nominated Adviser, ESM Adviser and Joint Broker) | ||
Fergal Meegan / Matthew de Vere White (Corporate Finance) | Tel: +353 1 679 6363 | |
Paul Burke (Corporate Broking) | ||
Hybridan LLP (Co-Broker) | ||
Claire Louise Noyce | Tel: +44(0)20 3764 2341 | |
Walbrook PR Ltd | Tel: +44(0)20 7933 8787 or venn@walbrookpr.com | |
Paul McManus | Mob: +44(0) 7980 541 893 | |
Lianne Cawthorne | Mob: +44(0) 7854 391 303 | |
About Venn Life Sciences: Venn Life Sciences is a Contract Research Organisation providing drug development, clinical trial management and resourcing solutions to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device organisations. With dedicated operations in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Ireland and Europe wide representation - Venn specialises in rapid deployment and management of multisite projects.
For more information about the Company, please visit: www.vennlifesciences.com