Date: 2014-12-03
Type of information: Private placement
Company: Pledpharma (Sweden)
Investors:
Amount: 75 million SEK (€8.1 million)
Funding type: private placement
Planned used: This rights issue will be used to take project PP-100 through clinical Phase II and a potential licensing deal. Project PP-100 aims at reducing or preventing severe liver damage as a result of acetaminophen overdosing, one of the most common poisonings. Acetaminophen is the most widely used drug in the world for the treatment of painful conditions and it is available both as an over-the-counter and as a prescription drug. Acetaminophen overdose is also one of the most frequent causes of drug poisonings either intentionally or unintentionally. Intentional overdose of acetaminophen is the most common method of attempted suicide among young people age 10-19 years, where girls dominate. The unplesant thing with acetaminophen poisoning is that acetaminophen is generally considered as the gentlest among pain medications, furthermore, it can be difficult to detect poisoning at the onset for those that have inadvertently overdosed acetaminophen since the difference between normal and harmful dose is small and the symptoms can be quite vague or absent during the first 24h. Overdose of acetaminophen can among other things lead to acute liver failure, which in turn may result in the need for a liver transplant and in the worst case, result in death. The existing treatment for overdose of acetaminophen (N-acetylcysteine) is effective if the patient seek medical care within 8 hours after ingestion of acetaminophen. Late arriving patients lack well-functioning treatments despite an increased risk of liver damage. About a quarter of those who overdose on acetaminophen come in to the emergency room later than 8 hours after the overdose. Preclinical results clearly demonstrate that the PP-100 compound, PP 100-01A, with its unique formulation, can normalize the elevation of certain liver enzymes that are indicators of liver failure long after the N-acetylcysteine stopped working. Because the compound in the PP-100 project is based on the same platform as PledOx, existing safety documentation can be used and the company believes that the project can go directly from preclinical stage to a Phase II study in patients. The compound is subject to the same composition of matter patent application as PledOx, with an expected patent protection up to 2033. PledPharma will also seek orphan drug status in both the EU and USA for this product.
Others: * On October 24, 2014, PledPharma announced that the company plans a rights issue with the right to subscribe one new share for every existing five at 16 SEK, which can provide the company with up to approximately 75 million SEK. The largest shareholders are supportive of the rights issue and the Board of Directors intends to shortly convene an Extraordinary General Meeting to consider the Board\'s proposals regarding the rights issue. The plan is that the rights issue will be carried out before the end of the year.
Therapeutic area:
