Verona Pharma narrows loss as it strengthens structure
Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Verona Pharma announced its audited results for the year to 31 December on Monday, a period in which it raised gross proceeds of £44.7m from a placing of 1.56bn units at a price of 2.873p per unit, with each unit comprising one new ordinary share and one warrant to purchase 0.4 of an ordinary share.
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The AIM-traded firm appointed Rishi Gupta, Mahendra Shah, Andrew Sinclair, and Vikas Sinha as non-executive directors of the board during the period, and installed Piers Morgan as chief financial officer.
Its loss after tax was £5.02m, narrowing from £7.49m, which the board said reflected tight cost control and a lower level of research and development spend, especially on clinical studies during the year.
Losses per share improved to 0.30p from 0.74p, and after taking account of the 50-for-1 share consolidation approved by shareholders at the general meeting on 8 February, the loss per share for the year would be 14.98p, compared to 37.10p.
Net cash used in operating activities during the year was £5.59m, down from £6.36m, which Verona said was reflective of clinical progress, with cash and cash equivalents as at 31 December increasing to £39.79m from £3.52m.
The company had announced plans to conduct a registered initial public offering in the United States during the year.
It said the number of shares and price of the proposed offering had not yet been determined, and the proposed offering was expected to commence in the first half of 2017, after the US Securities and Exchange Commission completes its review process of the registration statement relating to the proposed offering and subject to market and other conditions.
“2016 brought highly encouraging clinical data for RPL554, substantial endorsement in the form of additional financing from a very experienced syndicate of existing and new investors, and further strengthening of our board and executive team,” said CEO Jan-Anders Karlsson.
“During 2017 we look forward to progressing both our clinical development of RPL554 in further Phase 2 clinical trials and also our plans for a NASDAQ IPO,” Dr Karlsson added.