Invion's share purchase plan and asthma trial

Drug development company Invion (ASX:IVX) has opened a share purchase plan (SPP), allowing eligible shareholders to purchase up to $15,000 worth of shares at a discount and without any brokerage or transaction costs.

Funds raised through the SPP will be used for the company’s general working capital and applied to costs associated with ongoing analysis of data from its phase 2 clinical trial of INV102 (nadolol) in smoking cessation; preparation for an End of Phase 2 meeting with the US FDA; ongoing business development and partnering discussions for the company’s three drug assets; and maintenance of intellectual property.

“Invion has achieved major milestones across four development programs in the year to date,” said Invion Managing Director and CEO Dr Greg Collier. “This includes completing and reporting data from our phase 2 clinical trial of INV103 (ala-Cpn10) in lupus patients as well as our phase 2 clinical trial of INV102 in smoking cessation.

“In addition, we have made good progress in our inhaled respiratory franchise with pre-IND status and commencement of toxicology studies for inhaled INV102 as well as securing a development and manufacturing partner for INV104 (zafirlukast). Both inhaled programs are moving towards FDA IND status, subject to completion of toxicology.”

The company last week announced that enrolment had been completed for its phase II clinical trial of INV102 in patients with mild asthma (NIMA). The randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial will assess the impact of the drug on non-specific airway hyper-responsiveness (NSAHR) after six months’ therapy. Biomarker and bronchoscopy samples will also be analysed and reported.

“While mild asthma is not ultimately a commercial target in Invion’s development plan, the demonstration of safety in these vulnerable patients strongly supports our goal of reversing the contraindication of nadolol — and thereby the introduction of nadolol to treat a wide range of airway diseases,” said Invion Executive Vice President R&D and Chief Medical Officer Dr Mitchell Glass.

“We are at a critical stage in the company’s history and we have appointed a specialist group in the global healthcare sector, Ferghana Partners Group, to advise and assist with various potential opportunities under review,” concluded Dr Collier. “This SPP provides an opportunity for eligible shareholders to take advantage of prevailing market conditions as Invion enters its next stage.”

Invion (ASX:IVX) shares were trading 8.33% lower at $0.011 as of around 11 am on Tuesday.