Investors showed their appetite for cancer diagnostic developer Angle (AGL:AIM) on Wednesday by supporting a substantial share placing at a zero discount. The Guildford-based company, which has developed a liquid biopsy device to detect cancer, raised £10.2 million, more than a quarter of its market cap, by selling around 15.8 million shares at 64.5p each, bang on Tuesday’s closing price.
Supported by fund managers at Fidelity, Henderson (HGG), Jupiter (JUP) and Legal & General (LGEN), you can see why the share price is today more than 3% higher at 66.5p.
Apparently justifying investors' faith, Angle also confirmed a signed agreement with Cancer Research UK to use its liquid biopsy device Parsortix in research trials at the University of Manchester.
Parsortix analyses blood samples for cancer, assessing the diseased cells to determine a suitable treatment for the patient.
The device correctly identified nine out of 10 cancerous samples in a pilot study last year, which is almost four times higher than the 24.5% average detection rate using existing methods.
Results such as this is driving sentiment for the stock, allowing it to raise cash without offering a discount.
The proceeds will fund tests to prove that the system can detect ovarian cancer and is an alternative to existing methods of diagnosing prostate and breast cancers.
Management will also invest in research and development as well as sales and marketing.
