Isofol Medical announces the outcome of the Offering – trading on Nasdaq First North Premier commences today
Isofol Medical AB (publ), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, hereby announces that the offering of newly issued shares in the Company (the “Offering”) was substantially oversubscribed. The Offering attracted strong interest among Swedish and international investors. The listing on Nasdaq First North Premier has been successful and the trading commences today.
Anders Rabbe, Managing Director, comments:
“The large interest shown in becoming a shareholder in Isofol, both from investors in Sweden, Europe and in the US, is a strong signal that Isofol’s development of Modufolin® rests on a solid platform as well as offering a future commercial potential. We now welcome over 2,600 new shareholders, including some well-known institutions. Isofol is now fully financed until the registration of Modufolin® which is expected in 2021, and we can now continue to work towards initiating the pivotal trial of Modufolin®."
Jan-Eric Österlund, Executive Chairman, comments:
“We are pleased we have been able to finance our pivotal clinical trial in one step. We can now take Modufolin® all the way to registration and hope to be able to improve the life for hundreds of thousands of cancer patients every year. The strong support we have got from well-known life science investors and several international funds will also help us in future negotiations with partners in a potential licensing deal, as we prepare for the launch of Modufolin®.”
The Offering in brief
- The price in the Offering is, as has been previously communicated, SEK 29 per share, corresponding to a total value of the Company’s shares of SEK 487 million, before the Offering.
- Circa 14,828,000 newly issued shares were sold in the Offering, corresponding to approximately 46.9 percent of the outstanding shares and votes after the Offering.
- In addition, to cover any overallotment, the Company has committed, upon Pareto Securities’ request, to issue a maximum of an additional 1,482,800 new shares in the Company, corresponding to a maximum of 10 percent of the shares included in the Offering (the "Overallotment Option").
- If the Overallotment Option is fully exercised, the Offering will comprise a maximum of 16,310,800 shares, corresponding to approximately 49.3 percent of the total number of shares in the Company after the Offering.
- The new share issue will render proceeds of SEK 430–473 million to the Company before transaction costs, depending on the extent of the exercise of the Overallotment Option.
- The total number of shares in the Company following the Offering amount to 31,604,500 if the Over-allotment Option is not exercised and 33,087,300 if the Over-allotment Option is exercised in full.
- The new shareholders include both specialist and generalist institutional investors from Sweden and abroad, as well as investors among the general public in Sweden. These include a group of well-known institutions who have subscribed for a significant share of the Offering, such as Handelsbanken Fonder, AFA Försäkring, Rhenman & Partners, Swedbank Robur, Gustavia Fonder and Alfred Berg.
- Trading in the Company’s shares on Nasdaq First North Premier commences today, April 4, 2017, under the ticker ISOFOL (ISIN code: SE0009581051).
- Trading is conditional until the settlement day, which is expected to be April 6, 2017.
Advisors
Pareto Securities acted as Global Coordinator and Sole Bookrunner and Vinge was legal advisor in connection with the Offering. FNCA Sweden is Isofol’s Certified Advisor.
Background to the Offering
The primary purpose of the Offering is to fund the market registration study for Isofol’s drug candidate Modufolin®, which study will be conducted in first line treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Given a successful study, Isofol expects to receive regulatory approval for Modufolin® within this indication. In addition, as part of Isofol’s development plan for Modufolin®, the Company is planning to conduct studies within rescue therapy following high-dose methotrexate treatment of osteosarcoma patients as well as other supporting studies aiming at benefitting Modufolin’s® route to market.
Furthermore, the Board and management of Isofol believe that the Offering is a logical and important next step in the Company’s development and will further increase awareness among current and potential partners, customers and key opinion leaders within the pharmaceutical industry. The Offering will also expand Isofol’s shareholder base and improve the Company’s access to Swedish and international capital markets, which is expected to support the Company’s continued development. For these reasons, the Board has applied for a listing on Nasdaq First North Premier.
Third most common cancer
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer, affecting both men and women, and is the third leading cause of cancer-related death. Approximately 1.35 million people per year are diagnosed with the disease worldwide. In the US, Western Europe and Japan, where an estimated 550,000 patients are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, about 365,000 patients annually receive a treatment regimen including 5-FU and the folate leucovorin or levoleucovorin, which Isofol is aiming to replace with Modufolin®.
About Isofol Medical AB (publ)
Isofol is a clinical stage oncology company developing Modufolin® as a first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer and as a rescue drug after high-dose methotrexate treatment in osteosarcoma. Isofol aims to replace the existing folate-based compounds leucovorin and levoleucovorin, which today are considered the standard treatment within these indications. Through an exclusive license agreement, Isofol Medical holds all rights to commercialising Modufolin® globally for cancer treatment with access to the unique patented production process and the production capabilities of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.
About Modufolin®
Modufolin® (active ingredient [6R]-5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate), is a novel folate-based compound developed to increase the efficacy and reduce the side effects of antimetabolites used in cancer treatment. It is the key active metabolite of the widely used folate-based drugs leucovorin and levoleucovorin, and therefore does not require metabolic activation. This makes Modufolin® suitable for all patients irrespective of their genetical capacity to activate folates, and it is currently being evaluated in two clinical Phase II studies.
For additional information, please contact:
Anders Rabbe, Managing Director, Isofol
Mob: +46 70 764 65 00
Email: anders.rabbe@isofolmedical.com
Jan-Eric Österlund, Executive Chairman, Isofol
Mob: +44 77 853 68 155
Email: jan-eric@osterlund.co.uk
Important information
This announcement is not and does not form a part of any offer for sale of securities. Copies of this announcement are not being made and may not be distributed or sent into the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan or any other jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful or would require registration or other measures. The securities referred to in this announcement have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and accordingly may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and in accordance with applicable U.S. state securities laws. The Company does not intend to register any offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering of securities in the United States.
Any Offering of securities referred to in this announcement will only be made by means of a prospectus. This announcement is not a prospectus for the purposes of Directive 2003/71/EC (together with any applicable implementing measures in any Member State, the “Prospectus Directive”). Investors should not invest in any securities referred to in this announcement except on the basis of information contained in the aforementioned prospectus. In any EEA Member State, other than Sweden that has implemented the Prospectus Directive, this communication is only addressed to and is only directed at qualified investors in that Member State within the meaning of the Prospectus Directive, i.e., only to investors who can receive the offer without an approved prospectus in such EEA Member State.
This communication is only being distributed to and is only directed at persons in the United Kingdom that are (i) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the “Order”) or (ii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom this announcement may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as “Relevant Persons”). This communication must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not Relevant Persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this communication relates is available only to Relevant Persons and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons. Persons distributing this communication must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so.
Matters discussed in this announcement may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intends,” “estimate,” “will,” “may,” "continue," “should” and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. Although the Company believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond its control. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this release by such forward-looking statements. The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as at its date, and are subject to change without notice.
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