Advanced Oncotherapy raise £15m to validate the 1st LIGHT system – 1st patients expected 2021
(AIM: AVO ) has announced an equity fundraise of £14.0m from new and existing investors through the issue of 59.5m new ordinary shares at a price of 25 pence per share through a direct subscription with the Company.
As part of the Subscription, certain Directors including founder and Executive Chairman, Michael Sinclair, invested circa £0.2m at the Issue Price.
Use of Funds
The funds raised from the Subscription will contribute to the funding for progressing the assembly, documentation, verification and validation activities in order to obtain regulatory approval of Advanced Oncotherapy's first LIGHT system.
General Meeting
A circular containing information in relation to the Subscription and convening the GM (the "Circular") will be sent to shareholders during the week commencing 13 April 2020 and will be available on the Company's website thereafter at www.avoplc.com. It is anticipated that the GM will be held on or around 11 May 2020.
The Subscription is conditional upon the Company obtaining approval of shareholders of resolutions to be proposed at a general meeting of the Company, to provide sufficient authority to the Directors to enable allotment of the New Ordinary Shares and disapply statutory pre-emption rights which would otherwise apply to the allotment of the New Ordinary Shares.
Application will be made for the Subscription Shares and the Adviser Fee Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and it is expected that admission will take place on or around 15 May 2020.
Shares opened flat at 26.
AVO price chart
COVID-19 business update
The Company has successfully transitioned to remote working and contingency plans have been established to support business continuity.
On 26 March 2020, the UK government's Stay at Home Measures were passed into law in England and Wales, with immediate effect. As a result, the Daresbury Laboratory and Harley Street sites have been temporarily closed and the staff at Daresbury employed by the Company have been placed on furlough leave.
The Company was already working to a tight deadline to bring the LIGHT System into operation by the end of 2020. It now believes that the closure of these facilities will delay this objective and first patient treatment into 2021.
In the meantime, the core team of the Company has shifted to focussing on finalising the documentation required for the LIGHT System to gain regulatory approval. Most of this work is capable of being carried out remotely. With all of the critical machine parts having already been delivered to Daresbury, the Company is ready to recommence operations as soon as possible and the market will be kept up to date as and when there are any material developments.
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