Issue of equity and update

RNS Number : 9095V

ValiRx PLC

10 November 2010

 



ValiRx Plc

("ValiRx" or "the Company")

PROGRESS UPDATE AND ISSUE OF EQUITY

PROGRESS UPDATE

ValiRx Plc (AIM: VAL), a life science company with a focus on cancer diagnostics and therapeutics for personalised medicine, is pleased to update its shareholders on its continuing progress.

The Company announced on 11 October 2010 the completion of the disposal of its Belgian diagnostic development business, ValiBIO SA, to Singapore Volition Pte. Limited ("Volition"), a Singapore-based cancer diagnostics specialist.

This disposal followed the Board's strategic decision to focus operations on building value in its anti-cancer lead drug candidates VAL 101 and VAL 102 and companion diagnostics, as well as building its home self-diagnostic businesses.

VAL101 AND VAL102 continue to progress towards first-in-man trials with the support of Eurostar funding.

ValiRx is leading a consortium of biotechnology companies that are completing pre-clinical studies based on ValiRx's GeneIce technology platform, prior to entering clinical trials.

In parallel, during the last 12 months, the Company has launched a range of home self-diagnostic kits that screen for high prevalence conditions, such as diabetes, urinary infections, high cholesterol, among other serious conditions.  The Directors are pleased to report that sales of these products are in line with expectations and continuing to show an upward trend.  Additionally, this range is being expanded in the course of the next quarter and the Directors look forward to generating incremental revenue as a consequence.

ISSUE OF EQUITY

The Directors believe that the Company's current cash position can adequately cover working capital requirements necessary to advance its development programmes to the next stage.  In addition, and over and above these requirements, the Company has raised£255,000, before expenses, by way of a placing of 136,000,000 new ordinary shares of 0.1p each ('the Placing Shares') at 0.1875p per share to be able to progress more quickly the development of its anti-cancer lead drug candidates VAL 101 and VAL 102.

Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and it is expected that admission will become effective and trading will commence on 16 November 2010.

The Placing Shares will rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares of the Company.

Following the admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM, the Company will have a total of 491,299,344 shares in issue.

Dr Satu Vainikka, Chief Executive, commented that:

"This placing with an institutional investor resulted from their specific demand for an investment in the Company. It will help to accelerate the development of our Company's anti-cancer lead drug candidates."

Contact:

ValiRx plc
Dr. Satu Vainikka	Tel: [phone]
	www.ValiRx.com
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP
Nominated Adviser	Tel: [phone]
Tony Rawlinson / Liam Murray	www.cairnfin.com
Hybridan LLP
Broker	Tel: [phone]
Claire Noyce
Peckwater PR
Tarquin Edwards	Tel: [phone]
	[e-mail]

Notes for Editors

ValiRx Plc

ValiRx Plc is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel technologies and products in oncology therapeutics and diagnostics. The product focus is in the epigenomic analysis and treatment of cancer, but the technologies can be applied to other fields as well, such as neurology and inflammatory diseases.

The Company listed on AIM in October 2006 and is creating a portfolio of innovative products through investment in specific development projects.  It actively manages projects within this portfolio as a trading company and is not an investment vehicle.  The ValiRx business model spreads the risks of life science technology developments by minimising financial exposure and running a set of projects to defined commercial endpoints.  This maximises returns to shareholders by adding value at the earlier stages where value increases per investment unit are the greatest. 

The Company operates through the following divisional companies:

·      ValiMedix is the sales and distribution division of ValiRx

·      ValiPharma is the therapeutics division with two embedded technologies primarily directed at the treatment of cancers. Of particular note is GeneICE, ValiRx's technology for controlling rebellious genes, which was awarded a Eurostars grant to the value of €1.2 million to fund the development of the GeneICE products through preclinical stages in cancer treatments

ValiMedix Ltd is a UK based company dedicated to building itself into one of Europe's largest Point of Care diagnostics companies. Initially this will be achieved through a programme of acquisitions accompanied by the in-licensing of products and product ranges which may be generic or with associated intellectual property that can be commercialised through existing established distribution channels to end users. Once the company is significantly cash positive it will commission its own new products and generate new intellectual property through a series of collaborative partnerships with organisations known to the management team. The core management team has extensive experience of sales and marketing in professional and pharmacy channels including the Over The Counter ("OTC") diagnostic sectors in the UK and overseas.

Over The Counter (OTC) products, SELFCheck and others

OTC screening products have evolved significantly since the introduction of the first generation of products such as pregnancy tests. Current products include screening for cancers, tropical diseases such as malaria, drugs of abuse, as well as the better known devices aimed at cholesterol assessment and selected acute diseases including several Sexually Transmitted Infections ("STI")s such as HIV.

The majority of the OTC tests sold today rely on either chemical or antibody reactions that produce a detectable colour change to read the result. The core technologies employed are reliable and robust with advancement and growth in the sector dependent on accuracy, reproducibility and time of reaction. Tests that have historically taken a number of hours can now be carried out in minutes.

Point of care (POC) products offer rapid, easy to use methods for quantitative or qualitative assessment of a range of disease conditions.  The benefit of such tests lies in the availability of test results within a matter of minutes and without a requirement to send samples to centralised laboratories, also removing any need for multiple appointments involving a clinic. The availability of such products via pharmacies and supermarkets appeals to wide sections of the community that find it difficult or inconvenient to make clinic appointments during the working week.

The Market for POC testing - Target Markets

The cost and provision of cost effective healthcare has become a major challenge in the UK and EU where an ageing population, an economic downturn and the ever increasing cost of medical treatment have seen a change in the strategic planning of healthcare delivery. 

Acceptance of POC screening tests offers direct savings in terms of early detection of disease and faster clinical and medical interventions where abnormal outcomes occur. Equally important is the speedy 'all-clear' diagnosis for patients who would have exhibited negative test results but who would still have used up valuable laboratory resource.

The development of drop-in clinics and the expansion of pharmacy services (particularly those prescribing pharmacies) will become a fertile market for POC products. In addition ValiMedix is looking to market its products to Hotel/Spa clinics, health clubs (gyms) as well as the occupational health sector, universities and schools.

 

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