Living Cell Technologies issues prospectus for $7 million ASX listing
Thursday, 20 May, 2004
Cell therapeutics company Living Cell Technologies has issued a prospectus to raise almost AUD$7 million through both a rights issue and a general issue.
A successful placement will allow the company to upgrade to an ASX listing from its current Newcastle Stock Exchange listing (NSX: LCT).
The rights issue is a non-renounceable one-for-two offer to existing shareholders priced at $0.20 per share, with 24 million shares up for grabs to raise up to $4.8 million, and is fully underwritten by Taylor Collison.
Likewise, the general issue will offer 10 million shares at $0.20, raising up to $2 million, but this issue is not underwritten. Executive director Roger Coats said the company had decided to include the general issue to ensure that the spread of retail investors complied with ASX listing requirements.
The company also plans to do a small placement to raise approximately $700,000 prior to the closure of the prospectus to be used for general working capital.
The company currently has three projects in pre-clinical development, including cell therapies for Huntington's disease (NeutrophinCell), haemophilia (Fac8Cell) and insulin-dependent diabetes (DiabeCell).
LCT has three locations, with its head office based in Adelaide, research facilities in New Zealand at subsidiary Diatranz, and product development and regulatory facilities at LCT BioPharma in Rhode Island in the USA. The company is developing human and porcine cell transplants combined with an alginate encapsulated cell delivery technology, which protects the cells from immune system rejection.
The funds raised will be used to support LCT's development plan for the next 12 months.
"The intention is to get them all up to the completed preclinical stage," said Coats.
The company will also look at funding sources for clinical trials including the NIH, and will investigate partnering the projects, in particular the Huntington's disease therapeutic NeutrophinCell.
The offer will close in mid-June and the company hopes to be listed on the ASX in mid-July.
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