Last checked at 12 Jun 2009 11:22
12 June 2009
Synairgen plc
("Synairgen" or "the Company")
RESULT OF GENERAL MEETING AND FIRST CLOSING OF THE FUNDRAISING
Synairgen announced on 27 May 2009 its intention to raise £6.35 million (gross) by means of a placing with institutional investors of 29,499,993 new Ordinary Shares (the "Placing Shares") and a subscription by certain Directors and others for 7,852,948 new Ordinary Shares (the "Subscription Shares"), all at a price of 17p per Ordinary Share (together the "Fundraising").
Synairgen today announces that the shareholder approvals necessary to permit the Fundraising were given at a General Meeting of the Company and that, pursuant to the first closing date of the Fundraising, 7,852,948 Ordinary Shares were today allotted and issued. Application will be made to admit such Ordinary Shares to trading on AIM and admission is expected to occur on 18 June 2009.
To enable subscribers to take advantage of EIS tax treatment, the Fundraising comprises two closings. Accordingly, the Subscription Shares and the Placing Shares will be admitted to trading on AIM on different days. It is anticipated that the first closing (the admission of the Subscription Shares to trading on AIM) will occur on 18 June 2009 and that the second closing (the admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM) will occur on 19 June 2009.
Following the first closing of the Fundraising, the issued share capital of Synairgen now comprises 30,245,256 Ordinary Shares. The Company holds no shares in treasury. Therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 30,245,256. This 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 Financial Services Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
Synairgen today also announces that shareholder approval for the adoption of the Synairgen Qualifying Non-Employee Share Option Scheme was given.
Accordingly, all resolutions proposed at the General Meeting have been passed.
Ends
For further information, please contact:
| Synairgen plc | Tel: + 44 (0) 2380 512 800 |
| Richard Marsden, Managing Director John Ward, Finance Director | |
| Matrix Corporate Capital | Tel: + 44 (0) 20 3206 7000 |
| Alastair Stratton Anu Tayal | |
| Threadneedle Communications | Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7653 9850 |
| Graham Herring Josh Royston |
Notes for Editors
About Synairgen
Synairgen is a drug discovery and development company founded by Professors Stephen Holgate, Donna Davies and Ratko Djukanovic, focused on identifying and out-licensing new pharmaceutical products which address the underlying causes of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Synairgen is quoted on AIM (LSE: SNG).
Synairgen's researchers use advanced cell models incorporating human tissue and cells drawn from its biobank of clinical samples, which are obtained from well-characterised healthy control, asthma or COPD volunteers.
Synairgen's lead programme, inhaled interferon beta for the prevention of virus-induced exacerbations of asthma and COPD, is currently undergoing its second Phase I clinical trial.
For more information about Synairgen please see www.synairgen.com.
Asthma statistics
There are approximately 23 million asthmatics in the USA2
The economic cost to the USA of asthma is $19.7 billion per year3
Asthma accounts for 1.7 million emergency department visits per year in the USA2
The cost of emergency department visits and in-patient care in relation to asthma in the USA is $4.7 billion2
The average duration of a hospitalisation for an asthma exacerbation in the USA is 2.7 days at a cost of $9,0784
50% of the total cost of the asthma is apportioned to 10% of the asthmatic population with the severest disease5
COPD statistics
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema
COPD is forecast to be the third leading cause of death worldwide (after heart attack and stroke) by 20306
12 million adults in the USA have reported a physician diagnosis of COPD. However, as many as 24 million adults have some evidence of impaired lung function, implying an under-diagnosis of this disease7
The economic cost to the USA of COPD is $42.6 billion per year3
Hospital care cost $11.3 billion2 and in 2005 there were 721,000 hospitalizations for COPD in the USA8
Rhinovirus (common cold virus) and exacerbations (worsening of symptoms) of asthma and COPD
Adults get an average of two to four colds per year, mostly between September and May. Young children suffer from an average of six to eight colds per year9
Rhinovirus infections are the major cause of asthma exacerbations, accounting for 50% to 80% of all such attacks in both children and adults10
80-85% of COPD exacerbations are associated with viral or bacterial respiratory tract infections with rhinovirus (common cold virus) and Haemophilus influenzae thought to be the major contributors11
References
P. Wark et al. Asthmatic bronchial epithelial cells have a deficient innate immune response to infection with rhinovirus. J Exp Med. 2005; 201: 937-947
American Lung Association. Trends in Asthma Morbidity and Morality. January 2009 www.lungusa.org
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, Morbidity and Mortality: 2007 Chartbook on Cardiovascular, Lung and Blood Diseases
V. Krishnan et al. Mortality in patients hospitalized for asthma exacerbations in the United States. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2006 174, 633-638
P.J. Barnes, B. Johnson, J.B. Klim. The Costs of Asthma. Eur Respir J 1996 9, 636-642
World Health Organisation website (http://www.who.int/respiratory/copd/burden/en/index.html)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994
American Lung Association: Trends in COPD (chronic bronchitis and emphysema): Morbidity and Mortality. December 2007 www.lungusa.org
American Lung Association: Cold and Flu Guidelines: The Common Cold www.lungusa.org
J.T. Kelly et al. Host immune responses to rhinovirus: Mechanisms in asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2008; 122: 671-682
A. Sethi et al. Infection in the Pathogenesis and Course of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. N Engl J Med 2008; 359: 2355-65