Epistem Holdings Plc
25 November 2011
Epistem Holdings Plc ("Epistem" or the "Company")
£2.8 million Cash Placing
Epistem (AIM: EHP), the biotechnology and personalised medicine company, is pleased to announce that it has agreed to raise approximately £2.8 million before expenses through a placing for cash of 793,398 new ordinary shares of 1.5 pence each with a range of existing and new institutional investors.
The new ordinary shares, which represent 10.0 per cent of Epistem's issued share capital prior to the placing, have been conditionally placed at a price of 350 pence per share on Thursday 24th November and Friday 25th November. This placing price represents a 3.4% discount to the closing middle market price on 24 November 2011.
The Company will use the net proceeds of the placing which are expected to be some £2.7 million to accelerate the development and commercialisation of its Genedrive™ molecular diagnostic device. Epistem has developed Genedrive™, a handheld 'Point of Care' device for molecular diagnostics, across a broad range of infectious disease as well as for use as a companion diagnostic for pharmacogenomics, bio-defense and forensics applications. Genedrive™ is expected to provide a significant technological advance and new cost effective approach to the rapid diagnosis of bacterial, viral, fungal and gene mutations. Epistem continues to build on its scientific and technical strengths as it transforms into a diverse, technology-leading biotechnology and personalised medicine group.
Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on AIM. Admission in respect of 71,490 new ordinary shares is expected to be effective on 1 December 2011 and in respect of the remaining new ordinary shares on 2 December 2011. When issued, the new ordinary shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the Company's existing ordinary shares. Following completion of the placing, Epistem will have 8,727,381 ordinary shares of 1.5 pence each in issue.
For further details please contact:
Epistem Plc
Matthew Walls: Chief Executive Officer +44 (0) 161 606 7258
John Rylands: Finance Director
Peel Hunt LLP
James Steel +44 (0)207 418 8900
Vijay Barathan
De Facto Financial
Mike Wort +44 (0)207 556 1064
Anna Dunphy
Notes to Editors:
Epistem is a biotechnology and personalised medicine company commercialising its expertise in epithelial stem cells and pharmacogenomics in the areas of oncology, gastrointestinal, dermatological and infectious disease.
Epistem develops innovative therapeutics, biomarkers and diagnostics alongside providing preclinical services to drug development companies. Epistem's core expertise is focused on the regulation of adult stem cells located in epithelial tissue which includes the gastrointestinal tract, skin, hair follicles, breast and prostate. Epistem also has a range of proprietary amplification (RNA and DNA) technologies for use in drug discovery, development and diagnostics.
