Court calls meeting to vote on Alchemia spinoff

Alchemia (ASX:ACL) has reached two new milestones in its efforts to spin off its oncology business into a separate company listed on the Nasdaq.

The Federal Court of Australia has ordered a meeting of shareholders to vote on the proposed de-merger scheme. This meeting will be held on October 5.

The subsidiary to be spun off, Audeo Oncology, has meanwhile filed the first required amendment to its S-1 registration filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

This is the next step in the process towards US regulatory approval of Audeo's IPO and listing on the Nasdaq exchange.

As part of the proposed spinoff, Alchemia plans to issue one Audeo Oncology share to shareholders for every 37 Alchemia shares they hold, rounded upwards. Audeo shares will then be listed on the Nasdaq under the proposed ticker code AURX.

The filing states that because Audeo will not be directly listed on any Australian stock exchange, Alchemia plans to issue CHESS Depository Interests (CDIs) to Australian shareholders by default, unless common shares are requested. Audeo will then apply to list the CDIs on the ASX.

Alchemia first revealed plans to spin off its oncology business in November last year. By March, the company was putting the final touches on its plans for the process.

The proposed demerger will leave Audeo Oncology with the company's HyACT chemotherapy drug delivery platform.

The lead product in development from this platform is prospective colon cancer treatment HA-irinotecan, a which is produced using HyACT technology to combine chemotherapy drug irinotecan with hyaluronic acid.

Alchemia would meanwhile be left with its existing business of manufacturing and distributing generic fodaparinux, a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's Arixtra. The company is about to start receiving a share of the profits from its US marketing partner's sales of this product.

Alchemia (ASX:ACL) shares were trading 2.83% lower at $0.515 as of around 2pm on Tuesday.