Singapore, Dec 06, 2011: Australian biotech company Patrys has completed $3.4 million (AU$3.4 million) capital raising to institutional and sophisticated investors. The private placement of approximately 113.5 million new shares at an issue price of AU$0.03 per share will rank equally with existing shares, and will be conducted in two tranches. A total of 37 million new shares are to be issued under the 15 percent placement capacity of Patrys, with settlement expected to occur on December 7, 2011. The balance of new shares to be issued will be subject to shareholder approval at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to be convened on or about January 11, 2011.
The capital raising was conducted by Lodge Corporate as lead manager, and the company has advised that the offer was oversubscribed and supported by domestic and international institutions and sophisticated investors as well as the company’s board and management.
Proceeds from the placement, together with existing finances, will be used to conclude the PAT-SM6 Phase I melanoma trial, support a PAT-SM6 Phase I/IIa open label multi-dose clinical trial in multiple myeloma, further prepare PAT-LM1 for clinical trial and/or partnering, support business development and licensing activities in respect of PAT-SC1 and expand the pipeline through internal R&D.
The company is currently recruiting the final group of patients for its phase I clinical trial of anti-cancer antibody PAT-SM6 for the treatment of melanoma. Significantly, no safety issues have been observed or reported for any patients treated, to date, with PAT-SM6. Additionally, recent analysis of tumour samples from two patients treated with PAT-SM6 found that the antibody had penetrated into the tumour biopsies, even though the doses were substantially below the anticipated therapeutic levels. The trial is being conducted at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane. With two centres actively recruiting it is envisaged that the trial will be completed soon with full data released during the first quarter of 2012.
The next phase of the clinical programme for PAT-SM6 is a phase I/II open label multi-dose clinical trial in multiple myeloma. It is planned to conduct the trial at the University of Würzburg (Germany) Surgical Clinic. It is envisaged that this trial will commence in March/April 2012 and run for approximately 12 months. The initiation of this trial follows on from preclinical studies that have shown significant activity of PAT-SM6 in multiple myeloma.
Multiple myeloma is a type of bone marrow cancer arising from plasma cells, and new therapies are desperately needed to treat patients who become resistant to established chemotherapeutics.
A trial in patients with this disease is attractive from a development perspective as it is possible to determine very quickly whether the product is working by assessing routine blood counts and bone marrow samples. There is also a substantial population of patients with resistant multiple myeloma, so recruitment for this trial should not be an issue. PAT-SM6 continues to demonstrate broad activity in a wide range of cancer models.
The company also plans to continue its preclinical programme in respect of PAT-LM1 in preparation for a human clinical trial. Completion of this work will allow Patrys to either conduct a phase I/II open label, multi-dose trial in stage IV patients with solid tumours or make the product more attractive as a licensing candidate.