Arovella funded to Phase 1 data: completes $12.5m placement
Highlights:
Firm commitments received for $12.5 million Placement to new and existing institutional and sophisticated investors at A$0.10 per share.
Oversubscribed Placement with solid support from global institutional investors, including a specialist healthcare/biotechnology fund.
The capital raised will be used to take ALA-101 into Phase 1 clinical trials and generate data in patients with CD19+ blood cancers.
Capital also provides for the continued development of Arovella’s solid tumour products.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA 26 March 2024: Arovella Therapeutics Limited (ASX: ALA) (Arovella or the Company), a biotechnology company focused on developing its invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cell therapy platform, is pleased to announce that it has received firm commitments from institutional and sophisticated investors, to raise approximately $12.5 million (before costs) under a placement of 125 million new fully paid ordinary shares in the Company (Shares) at A$0.10 per Share (Placement), with an attaching 1-for-1 Option with an exercise price of $0.15 (a 50% premium to the Placement price) and an exercise period of three years. The pricing of the Placement represents a 23.1% discount to the last traded market price, 21 March 2024.
The Placement was oversubscribed and received strong support from domestic and international institutional and sophisticated investors.
Funds raised under the Placement will be used to progress Arovella’s lead product, ALA-101, into a Phase 1 clinical trial and generate preliminary data from patients dosed with ALA-101. The Phase 1 clinical trial is for patients with CD19-positive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Funds raised under the placement will also be used to strengthen Arovella’s iNKT cell therapy pipeline and advance Arovella’s solid tumour products, and for general working capital purposes.
Over the coming 12 months, Arovella expects to achieve several critical milestones, including:
Completing scale-up of its CAR-iNKT manufacturing process for ALA-101 and manufacturing ALA-101 for clinical trials;
Completing Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling non-clinical safety and efficacy studies;
Securing regulatory approval to conduct a phase 1 clinical trial in Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma;
Commencing a phase 1 clinical trial in Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; and
Obtaining data from initial CD19+ lymphoma and leukemia patients dosed with ALA-101.
Arovella’s Chairman, Dr Thomas Duthy, said: “This is a pivotal time for Arovella, which continues to be a global pioneer in developing CAR-iNKT cell therapeutics. The level of support for the Placement from well-known, global institutional investors highlights the potential of our highly differentiated cell therapy platform and our significant progress to date. It provides us with the capital to execute our goals, notably to assess the clinical benefit of our proprietary CAR-iNKT cells in cancer patients.”
Arovella Managing Director and CEO Dr Michael Baker said: “We have continued to scour the globe and cement our position in the iNKT cell space by acquiring IP that bolsters our iNKT cell pipeline and sets us apart in the sector. I am thrilled with the level of support that we have received from several investors, and we are tremendously excited to take ALA-101 into the clinic and assess its impact on patients with CD19+ blood cancers. This is an exciting time for Arovella, and we look forward to building on our success and creating value for all our shareholders.”
