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- Biopharmaceutical company Bionomics (BNO) has locked up its shares as it looks to raise over $2 million for an upcoming clinical trial
- The healthcare stock entered a trading halt early this morning, releasing the details of a two-part entitlement offer and news of two executive appointments shortly after
- Under the raise, structured as a pro-rata, accelerated, non-renounceable offer, investors can subscribe for new BNO shares at four cents a pop
- All up, the company intends to issue over 54.3 million new shares on a one-for-12.54 basis
- The funding will support Bionomics as it prepares for a phase two trial of its prospective post-traumatic stress disorder drug candidate
- The healthcare stock is currently creating a suite of treatments to combat central nervous system disorders like Alzheimer’s and depression
- Bionomics is also working in the oncology space, where it’s developing therapies which target cancer stem cells (CSCs) — organisms which, if left unchecked, can fuel a cancer’s growth
- Company stock ended Wednesday’s session trading for 18 cents each
Bionomics (BNO) has locked up its shares as it looks to raise over $2 million for an upcoming clinical trial.
The healthcare stock entered a trading halt early this morning, releasing the details of a two-part entitlement offer and news of two executive appointments shortly after.
The offer
To raise the fresh funding, Bionomics has split the offer into two parts — an accelerated, institutional entitlement offer and a retail component.
The first offer is set to open today and will close tomorrow, while the retail entitlement offer will begin October 1 and end two weeks later on Thursday, October 15.
Under the raise, structured as a pro-rata, accelerated, non-renounceable offer, investors can subscribe for new BNO shares at four cents a pop. All up, the company intends to issue over 54.3 million new shares on a one-for-12.54 basis.
As part of the offer’s second component, retail shareholders who subscribe for all of their entitlement can also take part in a retail oversubscription facility. This allows shareholders to apply for additional shares on top of their full subscription — as many as they want, as long as it’s less than or equal to their entitlement.
However, this facility’s availability is dependent on the number of shareholders who take up their subscription under the retail offer.
Treatment trials
Funding from the offer will support Bionomics as it prepares for a phase two trial of its prospective post-traumatic stress disorder drug candidate. This formulation, officially known as BNC210, is an orally administered, first-in-class treatment which could be used to treat a range of stress-induced disorders.
At present, the healthcare stock is creating a suite of treatments to combat central nervous system disorders like Alzheimer’s and depression. Specifically, Bionomic’s product pipeline includes a molecule for treating anxiety disorders and a molecule for combating cognitive impairments caused by Alzheimer’s.
The company is also working in the oncology space, where it’s developing non-core therapies which target cancer stem cells (CSCs) — the organisms which, if left unchecked, can fuel a cancer’s growth. Currently, Bionomics is trialling an antibody which attacks CSCs, along with a drug which works against the blood vessels which feed developing cancers.
Bionomic’s BNC210 treatment has already undergone a phase two trial in patients with a generalised anxiety disorder. During the study, patients were administered the BNC210 drug, an anxiety treatment known as lorazepam, or a placebo. Patients were then placed in an MRI machine and shown a series of “fearful faces,” which could trigger an anxious response.
During this trial, Bionomic’s candidate demonstrated anti-anxiety characteristics and was proven to be safe and well-tolerated in all patients.
The healthcare stock started trialling the treatment on patients with PTSD back in 2018, and is now preparing for a phase 2b study, which it hopes to conduct across in 200 patients 2021 and 2022.
Executive appointments
Today, Bionomics also announced it had appointed two new Non-Executive Directors to its board. Dr Srinivas Rao and Dr Jane Ryan will officially join the team from October 1.
Jane will replace Non-Executive Director Peter Turner, who has opted not for stand for board re-election at Bionomics’ next annual general meeting, scheduled for November this year.
“We welcome both Dr Rao and Dr Ryan to the board. Dr Rao’s background in psychiatry and experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries together with Dr Ryan’s extensive pharmaceutical development experience in the life sciences sector makes them an excellent addition to the board as we progress BNC210 into phase 2b trials for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder,” said Bionomics’ Executive Chairman, Dr Errol De Souza.
FIRB approval
Just yesterday, Bionomics received Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval after Aperion Investment Group applied to increase its stake in the company by up to 52 per cent.
As part of that agreement, and as a way to earn its stake, Aperion agreed to underwrite the issue of up to 250 million shares, offered at no less than six shares a pop, during future capital raises. The only condition stipulates the investment group won’t underwrite more than $15 million under the subscription agreement.
Yesterday’s news took BNO shares 2.86 per cent higher. Company stock ended Wednesday’s session trading for 18 cents each in a $122.5 million market capitalisation.
