Stem cell therapy specialist ReNeuron (RENE:AIM) rockets 17.9% to 5.7p as the company outlines its plans to raise enough cash to get its products ready for market.
The development phase company, which targets strokes, eye disorders and a condition that blocks the arteries, proposes to raise £68.4 million from a placing.
Selling some 1.3 billion new ordinary shares at a 5p each will fund its development pipeline through to the first half of 2019. The shares are being offered at a 4.1% premium to Thursday's 4.8p closing price.
This, management says, should give it enough cash to get its stroke and retinitis pigmentosa, an eye disorder, treatments to the regulator for market approval. This is the last stage before ReNeuron can start generating revenues, if the authorities give the products their stamp of approval.
ReNeuron’s stroke therapy is in phase II clinical trials, while its product for critical limb ischaemia, a condition that restricts blood-flow to the hands, feet and legs, is a stage behind. Both candidates are expected to report results next year.
In the year to 31 March 2015, ReNeuron lost £10.3 million before tax, putting it 32% further in the red than it was a year earlier.
