Curasight cancels rights issue and evaluates alternative financing
In mid February, Curasight announced a DKK 51.2 million rights issue to accelerate clinical development of uTREAT and uTRACE. Now, about a month later, the company has decided to cancel the rights issue and is evaluating alternative sources of financing. Following the announcment, the share price traded down.
Copenhagen-based Curasight is developing uTREAT and uTRACE as new next generation peptide-based radioligands for the diagnosis and treatment of various types of cancer. The company already has a partnership with brittish pharmaceutical company Curium in prostate cancer and recently announced it was accelerating its therapeutic strategy in order to develop its treatment platform uTREAT and diagnosis platform uTRACE, in parallel. As part of this strategy, Curasight aims to conduct a phase I/IIa basket trial in five different cancers: glioblastoma, neuroendocrine tumors, head-and-neck cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer.
Decided not to proceed with rights issue
The rights issue announced last month was designed to help finance Curasight’s accelerated therapeutic strategy. The rights issue offer price was set at DKK 18 per share at the time of the announcement, however during the subscription period the share price traded below this level. This, plus the current challenging market conditions led to the board of directors deciding not to proceed with the Rights Issue.
In announcing the cancellation, the company states that it remains committed to its updated strategy and that it is currently evaluating alternative financing options. With its current financial position, Curasight’s development is funded until the second half of 2024.
“We believe the right way to build value in Curasight is by accelerating our therapeutic strategy so that we develop our cutting-edge radiopharmaceutical platforms uTRACE and uTREAT, in parallel. We are disappointed that participation in the rights issue was less than optimal, and we are currently evaluating alternative financing options in order to secure the company a robust balance sheet to both continue our development activities and ensure we are in a strong position when negotiating potential partnerships”, Per Falholt, Chairman of the Curasight board, writes in a press release.
Consequences of the cancellation
Following the announcement not to proceed with the rights issue Curasight’s share price was down approx. 29 per cent. Spotlight Stock Market has stopped the trading in Curasight BTA. Investors that had subscribed to the rights issue will have their subscription amount reimbursed. Regarding the temporary shares, the subscription amounts will go to the last registered owner of the temporary share. Purchasers of subscription rights will only receive a subscription amount back if they have submitted a subscription commitment.
The content of BioStock’s news and analyses is independent but the work of BioStock is to a certain degree financed by life science companies. The above article concerns a company from which BioStock has received financing.
