Open Orphan #ORPH – Proposed Fundraising to raise up to £12 million and PrimaryBid.com Offer

Open Orphan plc (ORPH), a rapidly growing specialist CRO pharmaceutical services company which has a focus on orphan drugs and is the world leader in the testing of vaccines and antivirals using human challenge study models, today announces its intention to raise up to £12 million (net of expenses) (the “Fundraising”) via a placing of new Ordinary Shares (“Placing Shares”) to institutional and other investors (the “Placing”), subscription of new Ordinary Shares (“Subscription Shares”) to certain investors and an offer subscription for new Ordinary Shares by PrimaryBid (“PrimaryBid Shares”) all at a price of 11 pence per new Ordinary Share (the “Issue Price”).

Fundraising Highlights:

• The Group intends to conduct a Fundraising to raise up to £12 million (net of expenses) via the Placing of the Placing Shares, Subscription of the Subscription Shares and an offer for subscription of the PrimaryBid Shares all at the Issue Price.
• The Placing is to be conducted by way of an accelerated bookbuild process which will commence immediately following this Announcement and will be subject to the terms and conditions set out in Appendix I to this Announcement.
• The Company has conditionally raised approximately £80,000 (before expenses) through the Subscription of 727,272  Subscription Shares.
• The Group also intends to launch an offer for subscription to be conducted by PrimaryBid on behalf of the   Company  (the “PrimaryBid Offer”) on a “first come, first served” basis.
• The net proceeds of the Fundraising will be used to
  • Maximise available Covid-19 opportunities including accelerating the development of both a seasonal coronavirus and a Covid-19 virus challenge study model to capitalise upon Group’s inbound demand from Covid-19 vaccine developers globally. These challenge study models have the ability to speed up the development of a vaccine by 2-3 years;
  • Ramp up Covid-19 antiviral testing to the Group’s current capacity for 3,000 tests per day;
  • Expand existing laboratory testing services to 3rd party pharmaceutical and biotech companies in line with our strategy of becoming a leading services provider to the growing viral, and respiratory diseases sector of the pharmaceutical industry; and
  • Strengthen the balance sheet to enable the Group to take advantage of the significant and growing opportunities the Board believes are available.
• The Issue Price represents a premium of 3.8 per cent. to the closing price of 10.6 pence per Ordinary Share on 7 May 2020 being the date immediately before the announcement of the Quotient partnership on 11 May 2020. It represents a discount of approximately 26.4 per cent. to the closing middle market price of 14.95 pence per Ordinary Share on 21 May 2020, being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this Announcement.

The Fundraising

The Fundraising comprises a proposed placing, an offer for subscription through PrimaryBid and subscription of new Ordinary Shares to be effected in two tranches. The first tranche of up to 44,824,000 new Ordinary Shares (the “Firm Fundraising Shares”) will utilise the Company’s existing shareholder authorities to issue the Firm Placing Shares and the Firm PrimaryBid Shares on a non-pre-emptive basis for cash (the “Firm Fundraising”). The second tranche of approximately 70,000,000 new Ordinary Shares (the “Conditional Fundraising Shares”) will be conditional (amongst other things) on the passing of resolutions to grant authority to the Directors to allot the Conditional Placing Shares, Conditional PrimaryBid Shares and Subscription Shares for cash and to disapply statutory pre-emption rights at a General Meeting. 

The Placing is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions set out in this announcement and the appendices hereto (the “Appendices”) (together, this “Announcement”) and is being conducted by way of an accelerated bookbuild, which will be launched immediately following the publication of this Announcement. Arden Partners plc (“Arden”) and finnCap Ltd (“finnCap” and, together with Arden, the “Joint Brokers”) are acting as Joint Brokers in connection with the Placing and Arden as nominated adviser.

The Company intends to publish and send a circular (the “Circular”) to shareholders convening the General Meeting in connection with the issue of the Conditional Fundraising Shares on or around 26 May 2020. The Circular will also be available on the Company’s website: www.OpenOrphan.com .

An updated corporate presentation will be made available on the Company’s website.

A further announcement will be made following the close of the Bookbuild, confirming final details of the Placing.

For further information please contact

Open Orphan plc                                                                                                

Cathal Friel, Executive Chairman                                                                                       +353 (0)1 644 0007

Arden Partners plc (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)                                        +44 (0)20 7614 5900

John Llewellyn-Lloyd / Benjamin Cryer / Dan Gee-Summons (Corporate Finance)

Fraser Marshall / Simon Johnson (Equity Sales)

finnCap plc (Joint Broker)                                                                                                   +44 (0) 20 7220 0500

Geoff Nash / James Thompson/ Charlie Beeson (Corporate Finance)

Richard Chambers (ECM)

Davy (Euronext Growth Adviser and Joint Broker)                                                       +353 (0)1 679 6363

Anthony Farrell

Camarco (Financial PR)                                                                                                        +44 (0)20 3757 4980

Tom Huddart / Daniel Sherwen

Additional information

Expected timetable of principal events

Information on Open Orphan

Open Orphan is a rapidly growing niche CRO pharmaceutical services company which is a world leader in the provision of viral laboratory services and the testing of vaccine and antivirus using human challenge study models. Open Orphan comprises of two commercial specialist CRO services businesses; hVIVO and Venn Life Sciences, and Open Orphan Genomic Health Data.

hVIVO is the world leader in testing the efficacy of vaccines, antivirals and respiratory disease agents using human challenge study models. hVIVO has the world leading portfolio of challenge study such models including flu, RSV, asthma, HRV, COPD and cough which have a replacement cost in excess of £25million. These studies are run from the Group’s 24-bedroom quarantine clinic in London, which can be made into three zones to run three different vaccine company’s challenge studies at the same time. hVIVO also has a state of the art viral laboratory that is utilised in connection with its challenge studies and on contract with third parties, including for anti-body testing.

Venn Life Sciences is an integrated drug development business which offers phase I & II clinical trials design and execution, post-trial data management, statistics, trial randomisation and regulatory expertise.

Background to and Reasons for the Fundraising

On 31 January 2020, the World Health Organisation declared a global pandemic due to the Covid-19 virus that has spread across the globe, causing different governments and countries to enforce restrictions on people movements, a stop to international travel, and other precautionary measures. This has had a widespread impact economically and a number of industries have been heavily impacted. As well as the challenges faced by other industries this has presented Open Orphan with some unique opportunities as a specialist provider to pharmaceutical companies.

There is now a global urgency to quickly and effectively develop and subsequently demonstrate effective Covid-19 vaccines, in May 2020 the World Health Organisation backed Covid-19 human challenge studies to speed up Covid-19 vaccine approvals. On 9 March 2020 the Group announced that it had commenced the development of a commercial human coronavirus challenge study model, also known as a Controlled Human Infection Model (CHIM) utilising seasonal coronavirus strains such as OC43 and 229E which are from the same family of viruses as the Covid-19 virus. Following this announcement, the Group has continued development of its Covid-19 challenge study and has opened discussions with 12 of the leading Covid-19 vaccine developers around the world. hVIVO is also now developing an attenuated Covid-19 virus challenge study model. The Group has decided to self-fund the investment to develop both of these models to ensure that it retains ownership and control of the resulting challenge model. In addition to the testing of potential vaccines and antivirals, it is expected that the challenge study models will facilitate a greater understanding of the type and durability of the immune response coronavirus infections elicit. The Board believes that, based on current discussions, the Group has as potential pipeline of up to six Covid-19 related challenge study contracts in 2020 with a further potential six contracts in 2021.

Challenge Studies

Challenge studies involve, in a controlled setting, using small numbers of volunteers removed from community exposure to other infections, the inoculation of volunteers with known doses of the challenge virus and the monitoring of the disease time course. All subjects are inoculated with virus but with some receiving a placebo and others the experimental drug to test the efficacy of the drug and obtain proof of concept data much quicker than can be achieved in the field. Challenge studies can be carried out for novel therapeutics, including vaccines, immunomodulators and antivirals, as well as new diagnostics. Challenge study models can potentially speed up vaccine development and approval by 2-3 years by testing the efficacy on human volunteers over a short period of time in a quarantine clinic.

By splitting the hVIVO 24 bed quarantine clinic into 3 zones the Group is able to run up to 3 different vaccine challenge studies concurrently. The Group typically expects a complete challenge study trial to deliver project revenues of approximately £7 million with the revenue dependent in part on the size of the trial and the number of volunteers.

Open Orphan plans to have a growing, clinical trial challenge study business and also a testing capability. The challenge study business will provide third-party laboratory services whilst also providing actual testing capability of human population groups.

The fundraising will allow the Group to provide virology and laboratory testing services to third parties, such as its recent contract with Nearmedic International Ltd. This provision of third-party laboratory services is a growth area for the Group as numerous biotechnology companies across Europe do not have their own virology laboratory. This revenue stream is in line with our strategy of becoming a leading pharma services provider to the viral, and respiratory diseases sector of the pharmaceutical industry.

Use of Proceeds

It is as a result of the recent expansion of the Group’s pipeline and other recent commercial developments that the Group is looking to raise up to £12 million net of expenses. The proceeds of the Fundraising will be used to:

a.     Maximise available Covid-19 opportunities including accelerating the development of both a seasonal coronavirus and a Covid-19 virus challenge study model to capitalise upon Group’s inbound demand from Covid-19 vaccine developers globally. These challenge study models have the ability to speed up the development of a vaccine by 2-3 years;

b.     Ramp up Covid-19 antiviral testing to the Group’s current capacity for 3,000 tests per day;

c.     Expand existing laboratory testing services to 3rd party pharmaceutical and biotech companies in line with our strategy of becoming a leading services provider to the growing viral, and respiratory diseases sector of the pharmaceutical industry; and

d.     Strengthen the balance sheet to enable the Group to take advantage of the significant and growing opportunities the Board believes are available.

Current trading and prospects

All results provided are preliminary and subject to completion of the 2019 audit. The audit is substantially complete and Open Orphan’s audited accounts for the year ended 31 December 2019 are expected to be published in late June 2020.

The Company confirms that on a proforma basis including the full year of Open Orphan and hVIVO, the Group generated revenue of €27.1 million for the year ended 31 December 2019, gross profit of €4.2 million and a normalized LBITDA of €10.1 million adjusting for depreciation, amortization, one-time and non-recurring expenses / charges.

The Group’s cash and cash equivalents at 30 April 2020 was €2.6 million and debt at 30 April 2020 was €1.6 million which related to loans arranged previously by Raglan Capital.

Since the merger of Open Orphan and hVIVO, the group has successfully integrated hVIVO and Venn Life Sciences, has reduced the Group’s cost base by an annualised €5.0 million (in an addition to the €3.8 million of savings realised in 2019). Further annualised cost savings of €2.5m are expected to be implemented by year end. We have also expanded hVIVO’s laboratory services and converted the hVIVO pipeline of contracts, including:

–       a new contract with a European Biotech Company for the provision of a RSV human challenge study projected to deliver £3.2m in revenue all of which is expected to be recognised in 2020. If successful, it is anticipated that an additional follow-on larger pivotal challenge study will commence end Q4 2020, delivering significant further revenue and expected to be a minimum of £7m; and

–       a contract with a US Biotech company for the provision of an RSV human challenge study projected to deliver £3.5 million in revenue all of which is expected to be recognised in 2020.

The Group’s pipeline of potential new contracts is now in excess of £160 million and includes c.£110 million of near-term contracts within hVIVO and Venn Life Sciences along with new opportunities arising post Covid-19. This includes the delivery of Covid-19 related challenge studies, third party testing and laboratory services, and the roll out of Covid-19 antibody testing utilising the Quotient Limited system. The MosaiQ Covid-19 Antibody Microarray machine is expected to have capability to undertake up to 3,000 tests a day once fully operational, in line with expected performance as stated by Quotient Limited. The MosaiQ COVID-19 Antibody Microarray machine has demonstrated a 100% sensitivity to detect Covid-19 antibodies and a 99.8% ability to rule out the presence of Covid-19 antibodies. The Group’s plan is to develop this pipeline with channel partners to secure testing volumes.

The Directors believe that the increased investment in testing capability will result in companies, such as Open Orphan, benefitting as a provider of testing services.

The Directors believe that the recent conversion of the Group’s pipeline coupled with additional annualised savings of €2.5 million referred to above, and strong pipeline of work for the second half of 2020 should allow the Company to achieve its goal of being operationally profitable by Q3 2020.

The Subscription

Under the Subscription, the Company has conditionally raised approximately £80,000 (before expenses) by way of the subscription at the Issue Price of 727,272 new Ordinary Shares. 

The Subscription is conditional upon (amongst other things) the Placing and Subscription Agreement not having been terminated, the passing of the Resolutions at the General Meeting and Second Admission occurring on or before 8.00 a.m. on 12 June 2020 (or such later date and/or time as the Joint Brokers and the Company may agree, being no later than 3.00 p.m. on 30 June 2020 in respect of the Conditional Fundraise).

PrimaryBid Offer

PrimaryBid intends to conduct an offer for subscription for PrimaryBid Shares on behalf of the Company on the terms set out in a separate announcement to be made by the Company immediately after this announcement.

The Firm PrimaryBid Offer is conditional upon (amongst other things) the Placing and Subscription Agreement not having been terminated and First Admission occurring on or before 8.00 a.m. on 29 May 2020 (or such later date and/or time as the Joint Brokers and the Company may agree, being no later than 3.00 p.m. on 30 June 2020 in respect of the Firm Placing).

The Conditional PrimaryBid Offer is conditional upon (amongst other things) the Placing and Subscription Agreement not having been terminated, the passing of the Resolutions at the General Meeting and Second Admission occurring on or before 8.00 a.m. on 12 June 2020 (or such later date and/or time as the Joint Brokers and the Company may agree, being no later than 3.00 p.m. on 30 June 2020 in respect of the Conditional Fundraise).

The Placing and Subscription Agreement

Pursuant to the Placing and Subscription Agreement, the Joint Brokers, as agents for the Group, have conditionally agreed to use reasonable endeavours to procure subscribers at the Issue Price for the Placing Shares.

The Joint Brokers intend to conditionally place the Placing Shares with certain institutional and other investors at the Issue Price. The Firm Placing is conditional upon (amongst other things) the Placing and Subscription Agreement not having been terminated and First Admission occurring on or before 8.00 a.m. on 29 May 2020 (or such later date and/or time as the Joint Brokers and the Company may agree, being no later than 3.00 p.m. on 30 June 2020 in respect of the Firm Placing).

The Conditional Placing is conditional upon (amongst other things) the Placing and Subscription Agreement not having been terminated, the passing of the Resolutions at the General Meeting and Second Admission occurring on or before 8.00 a.m. on 12 June 2020 (or such later date and/or time as the Joint Brokers and the Company may agree, being no later than 3.00 p.m. on 30 June 2020 in respect of the Conditional Placing).

The Placing and Subscription Agreement contains customary warranties from the Company in favour of the Joint Brokers in relation to, inter alia, the accuracy of the information in this Announcement and other matters relating to the Group and its business. In addition, the Company has agreed to indemnify the Joint Brokers in relation to certain liabilities that they may incur in respect of the Placing, Subscription and PrimaryBid Offer.

The Joint Brokers (together acting in good faith) have the right to terminate the Placing and Subscription Agreement in certain circumstances prior to Second Admission, including (but not limited to): in the event that any of the warranties in the Placing and Subscription Agreement were untrue or inaccurate in any material respect, or were misleading in any respect when given or in the event of a material adverse change affecting the business, financial trading position or prospects of the Company. The Brokers shall also have a further right to terminate the Placing and Subscription Agreement, following consultation with the Company to the extent practicable, if, at any time before Second Admission there occurs any change, or development involving a prospective change, in national or international, military, diplomatic, monetary, economic, political, financial, industrial or market conditions or exchange rates or exchange controls, or any incident of terrorism or outbreak or escalation of hostilities or any declaration by the UK, the US or in any member or associate member of the European Union or elsewhere of a national emergency or war or pandemic, epidemic or any other calamity or crisis (including a significant worsening of the Covid-19 crisis in the United Kingdom) (amongst other things).

The Placing and Subscription Agreement also provides for the Company to pay all agreed costs, charges and expenses of, or incidental to, the Placing and Admission including all legal and other professional fees and expenses up to the specified amounts stipulated in the Placing and Subscription Agreement.

Fundraising Shares

The Fundraising Shares, when issued, will be fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Ordinary Shares in issue, including the right to receive all dividends and other distributions declared, made or paid after the date of issue.

Applications will be made to the London Stock Exchange for admission of the Firm Fundraising Shares and the Conditional Fundraising Shares to trading on AIM.

Application will be made to Euronext Dublin for admission of the Firm Fundraising Shares and the Conditional Fundraising Shares to trading on Euronext Growth.

It is expected that First Admission of the Firm Fundraising Shares (“First Admission”) will take place on or before 8.00 a.m. on 29 May 2020 and that dealings in the Firm Fundraising Shares on AIM will commence at the same time. It is expected that Second Admission of the Conditional Fundraising Shares (“Second Admission” and, together with First Admission “Admission”, as the context may require) will take place on or before 8.00 a.m. on 12 June 2020 and that dealings in the Conditional Fundraising Shares on AIM will commence at the same time.

General Meeting

The General Meeting will be held at 11.00 a.m. on 11 June 2020, at which the Resolutions will be proposed for the purposes of implementing the Second Admission as follows:

Resolution 1 – an ordinary resolution to grant the Directors authority to allot shares in the Company and to grant right to subscribe for, or convert or exchange any security into shares in the Company.

Resolution 2 – a special resolution to disapply statutory pre-emption rights otherwise applicable to the Company in respect of resolution one.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This Announcement has been issued by, and is the sole responsibility, of the Group. No representation or warranty express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by the Joint Brokers or by any of their respective affiliates or agents as to or in relation to, the accuracy or completeness of this Announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available to any interested party or its advisers, and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.

NOTICE TO OVERSEAS PERSONS

This Announcement does not constitute, or form part of, a prospectus relating to the Group, nor does it constitute or contain any invitation or offer to any person, or any public offer, to subscribe for, purchase or otherwise acquire any shares in the Group or advise persons to do so in any jurisdiction, nor shall it, or any part of it form the basis of or be relied on in connection with any contract or as an inducement to enter into any contract or commitment with the Group. In particular, the Fundraising Shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 as amended or qualified for sale under the laws of any state of the United States or under the applicable laws of any of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of South Africa or Japan and, subject to certain exceptions, may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, US persons (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act) or to any national, resident or citizen of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of South Africa or Japan.

The distribution or transmission of this Announcement and the offering of the Fundraising Shares in certain jurisdictions other than the UK may be restricted or prohibited by law or regulation. Persons distributing this Announcement must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No action has been taken by the Group that would permit an offering of such shares or possession or distribution of this Announcement or any other offering or publicity material relating to such shares in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. Persons into whose possession this Announcement comes are required by the Group to inform themselves about, and to observe, such restrictions. In particular, this announcement may not be distributed, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of South Africa or Japan. Overseas Shareholders and any person (including, without limitation, nominees and trustees), who have a contractual or other legal obligation to forward this Announcement to a jurisdiction outside the UK should seek appropriate advice before taking any action.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, “forward-looking statements”. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms “believes”, “estimates”, “plans”, “projects”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “intends”, “may”, “will”, or “should” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include matters that are not historical facts. They appear in a number of places throughout this Announcement and include statements regarding the Directors’ current intentions, beliefs or expectations concerning, among other things, the Group’s results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the Group’s markets.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances. Actual results and developments could differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements may and often do differ materially from actual results and are not guarantees of future performance. Any forward-looking statements in this Announcement are based on certain factors and assumptions, including the Directors’ current view with respect to future events and are subject to risks relating to future events and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to the Group’s operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. Whilst the Directors consider these assumptions to be reasonable based upon information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect. Save as required by law or by the AIM Rules or the Euronext Growth Rules, none of the Group, Arden, finnCap, Davy nor their respective directors undertakes any obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to any forward-looking statements in this Announcement that may occur due to any change in the Directors’ expectations or to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Announcement.

GENERAL

Arden, which is authorised and regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom, is acting as Nomad and Joint Broker to the Group in connection with the Fundraising. Arden will not be responsible to any person other than the Group for providing the protections afforded to clients of Arden or for providing advice to any other person in connection with the Fundraising. Arden is not making any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the contents of this Announcement. Arden has not authorised the contents of, or any part of, this Announcement, and no liability whatsoever is accepted by Arden for the accuracy of any information or opinions contained in this Announcement or for the omission of any material information.

finnCap, which is authorised and regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom, is acting as Joint Broker to the Group in connection with the Fundraising. finnCap will not be responsible to any person other than the Group for providing the protections afforded to clients of finnCap or for providing advice to any other person in connection with the Fundraising. finnCap is not making any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the contents of this Announcement. finnCap has not authorised the contents of, or any part of, this Announcement, and no liability whatsoever is accepted by finnCap for the accuracy of any information or opinions contained in this Announcement or for the omission of any material information.

The Fundraising Shares will not be admitted to trading on any stock exchange other than AIM and Euronext Growth.

Nothing in this Announcement shall be effective to limit or exclude any liability for fraud or which otherwise, by law or regulation, cannot be so limited or excluded.

Neither the content of the Group’s website (or any other website) nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Group’s website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this Announcement.

INTERPRETATION

Certain terms used in this Announcement are defined under the heading “Definitions” in Appendix II of this Announcement.

All times referred to in this Announcement are, unless otherwise stated, references to London time.

All references to legislation in this Announcement are to the legislation of England and Wales unless the contrary is indicated. Any reference to any provision of any legislation or regulation shall include any amendment, modification, re-enactment or extension thereof.

Words importing the singular shall include the plural and vice versa, and words importing the masculine gender shall include the feminine or neutral gender and vice versa.

Link here to view the full  Prospectus

Open Orphan Plc (LON: ORPH) is also pleased to announce a conditional offer for subscription via PrimaryBid(the “PrimaryBidOffer”) of new ordinary shares (“New Ordinary Shares”) at an issue price of 11 pence per New Ordinary Share (the “Issue Price”), a premium of 3.8 per cent. to the closing price of 10.6 pence per Ordinary Share on 7 May 2020 being the date immediately before the announcement of the Quotient partnership on 11 May 2020. It represents a discount of approximately 26.4 per cent. to the closing middle market price of 14.95 pence per Ordinary Share on 21 May 2020, being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this Announcement. The Company is also conducting a placing of new Ordinary Shares to institutional and other investors at the Issue Price by way of an accelerated bookbuild process by Arden Partners plc (“Arden”) and finnCap Ltd (“finnCap” together with Arden, the “Joint Brokers”) (the “Placing”), and a subscription (the “Subscription”), as announced on 22 May 2020. The Placing, Subscription and PrimaryBid Offerare expected to raise up to £12 million (net of expenses).

• The net proceeds of the Fundraising will be used to
• Maximise available Covid-19 opportunities including accelerating the development of both a seasonal coronavirus and a Covid-19 virus challenge study model to capitalise upon Group’s inbound demand from Covid-19 vaccine developers globally. These challenge study models have the ability to speed up the development of a vaccine by 2-3 years;
• Ramp up Covid-19 antiviral testing to the Group’s current capacity for 3,000 tests per day;
• Expand existing laboratory testing services to 3rd party pharmaceutical and biotech companies in line with our strategy of becoming a leading services provider to the growing viral, and respiratory diseases sector of the pharmaceutical industry; and
• Strengthen the balance sheet to enable the Group to take advantage of the significant and  growing  opportunities the Board believes are available.

PrimaryBid Offer

The Company values its retail investor base and is therefore pleased to provide private and other investors the opportunity to participate in the PrimaryBid Offer by applying exclusively through the www.PrimaryBid.com platform and the PrimaryBid mobile app available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. PrimaryBid does not charge investors any commission for this service.

The PrimaryBid Offer will comprise of two tranches. The first tranche will comprise of new Ordinary Shares (the “Firm PrimaryBid Shares”), which will be issued pursuant to the Company’s existing share authorities, which were granted to the directors at the general meeting of the Company held on 6 January 2020. The second tranche will comprise new Ordinary Shares (the “Conditional PrimaryBid Shares”) and together with the Firm PrimaryBid Shares, the “PrimaryBid Shares”. which will be issued pursuant to and conditional upon the granting of new share authorities at the General Meeting to be held on 11 June 2020.

The PrimaryBid Offer, the Placing  and the Subscription are conditional on the new Ordinary Shares to be issued pursuant to the PrimaryBid Offer, the Placing and the Subscription being admitted to trading on AIM (operated by the London Stock Exchange) (“Admission”). Admission of the Firm PrimaryBid Shares is expected to be take place at 8.00 a.m. on 29 May 2020. Admission of the Conditional PrimaryBid Shares is expected to be take place at 8.00 a.m. on 12 June 2020, subject to the passing of granting of new share authorities at the General Meeting to be held on 11 June 2020. The PrimaryBid Offer will not be completed without the Placing also being completed. The PrimaryBid Offer, via the PrimaryBid.com platform, will be open to individual and institutional investors from 7.00 a.m. on 22 May 2020 and will close at the same time as the bookbuilding process is completed. The PrimaryBid Offer may however close early.

Subscriptions under the PrimaryBid Offer will be considered by the Company on a “first come, first served” basis, subject to conditions, which are available to view on PrimaryBid.com.

The Company in consultation with PrimaryBid reserves the right to scale back any order at its discretion. The Company and PrimaryBid reserve the right to reject any application for subscription under the Offer without giving any reason for such rejection.

No commission is charged to investors on applications to participate in the PrimaryBid Offer made through PrimaryBid.  It is vital to note that once an application for New Ordinary Shares has been made and accepted via PrimaryBid, an application cannot be withdrawn.

For further information on PrimaryBid.com or the procedure for applications under the PrimaryBid Offer, visit www.PrimaryBid.com or call PrimaryBid.com on +44 20 3026 4750. 

The new Ordinary Shares will be issued free of all liens, charges and encumbrances and will, when issued and fully paid, rank pari passu in all respects with the Company’s existing Ordinary Shares.

Details of the Offer

The Company highly values its retail investor base which has supported the Company alongside institutional investors. Given the longstanding support of retail shareholders, the Company believes that it is appropriate to provide retail and other interested investors the opportunity to participate in the Offer. The Company is therefore making the Offer available exclusively through PrimaryBid.com.

The Offer is offered under the exemptions against the need for a prospectus allowed under the Prospectus Rules. As such, there is no need for publication of a prospectus pursuant to the Prospectus Rules, or for approval of the same by the Financial Conduct Authority in its capacity as the UK Listing Authority. The Offer is not being made into any Restricted Jurisdiction or any other jurisdiction where it would be unlawful to do so.

There is a minimum subscription of £100 per investor under the terms of the Offer which is open to existing shareholders and other investors subscribing via PrimaryBid.com. This allocation will be filled on a “first come first served” basis.

For further details please refer to the PrimaryBid.com website at www.PrimaryBid.com. The terms and conditions on which the Offer is made, including the procedure for application and payment for New Ordinary Shares, is available to all persons who register with PrimaryBid.com.

Investors should make their own investigations into the merits of an investment in the Company. Nothing in this announcement amounts to a recommendation to invest in the Company or amounts to investment, taxation or legal advice.

It should be noted that a subscription for New Ordinary Shares and investment in the Company carries a number of risks. Investors should consider the risk factors set out on PrimaryBid.com before making a decision to subscribe for New Ordinary Shares. Investors should take independent advice from a person experienced in advising on investment in securities such as the New Ordinary Shares if they are in any doubt. d, sold, or acquired, directly or indirectly, within those jurisdictions;