Circio raises NOK 10.7 million in upsized offering from new and existing shareholders
- Circio has raised a total of approx. NOK 10.7 million in new capital from the exercise of warrants and a private placement carried out on 18 December 2024
- Applications for allocation of available warrants were 3 times oversubscribed
- The shareholder base has been strengthened by the addition of two new experienced biotech investors
Oslo, Norway 18 December 2024 – Circio Holding ASA (OSE: CRNA), a biotechnology company developing powerful circular RNA technology for next generation nucleic acid medicine, today announces that it has secured approx. NOK 10.7 million in financing to support the development of its unique and powerful circVec circular mRNA technology.
Reference is made to two separate announcements made by Circio Holding ASA on 18 December 2024 regarding i) exercise of warrants and ii) allocation of available warrants and completion of a private placement
“Following the recently published circVec 3.0 generation data, Circio has experienced very strong warrant exercise demand, both from existing and new shareholders. In order to satisfy some of the additional interest and allow allocation to two new experienced biotech investors, the offering was upsized with a parallel private placement” said Dr. Erik D Wiklund, CEO at Circio. “The additional funding will allow Circio to further accelerate the development of the circVec platform, with the aim of securing our first partnership during 2025. In addition, we now have a strengthened cap-table to support the company long-term, and a reduced need to draw future tranches from Atlas.”
The major allocations in the financing were to existing shareholders Høse AS and Bækkelaget Holding AS, and new shareholders Star Kapital AS (v/ Tom A Thorsen) and an undisclosed Norwegian investor.
The proceeds will be dedicated to accelerating development of Circio’s circVec circular RNA technology to establish in vivo proof-of-concept for the lead gene therapy program, and to expand the platform into a novel cell therapy approach. With the extra funds, Circio expects to defer the need to draw the next Atlas convertible bond tranche by 2-3 months.
For further information, please contact:
Erik Digman Wiklund, CEO
Phone: +47 413 33 536
Email: erik.wiklund@circio.com
Lubor Gaal, CFO
Phone: +34 683343811
Email: lubor.gaal@circio.com
About Circio
Building next generation RNA technology for nucleic acid medicine
Circio Holding ASA is a biotechnology company developing powerful circular RNA vector expression technology for next generation nucleic acid medicine.
Circio has established a unique circular RNA (circRNA) vector expression platform for novel DNA, RNA and viral therapeutics. The proprietary circVec technology is based on a modular genetic cassette design for efficient biogenesis of multifunctional circRNA inside cells, which can be deployed in multiple therapeutic settings, including genetic medicine, cell therapy and chronic disease. The circVec platform has demonstrated up to 15-fold enhanced and more significantly more durable protein expression vs. classic mRNA vector systems and has the potential to become a new gold-standard platform technology for nucleic acid and viral therapeutics in the future. The circRNA R&D activities are being conducted by the wholly owned subsidiary Circio AB based at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
In addition, Circio is developing a pan-RAS cancer vaccine, TG01, targeting KRAS driver mutations. TG01 is currently being tested in two clinical trials: RAS-mutated pancreatic and lung cancer in the USA and multiple myeloma in Norway. These studies are being run through academic and industry collaborative networks, supported by prestigious research grants from Innovation Norway and the Norwegian Research Council, creating read-outs and future optionality for the program at low cost to Circio.