NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, OR INTO OR WITHIN THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, CANADA, SOUTH AFRICA OR JAPAN, OR ANY MEMBER STATE OF THE EEA, OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE, OR TO ANY OTHER PERSON TO WHOM, TO DO SO MIGHT CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OR BREACH OF ANY APPLICABLE LAW OR REGULATION. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

THE COMMUNICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS OR MATERIALS RELATING TO THE REX RETAIL OFFER AS A FINANCIAL PROMOTION IS ONLY BEING MADE TO, AND MAY ONLY BE ACTED UPON BY, THOSE PERSONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 43 OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 (FINANCIAL PROMOTION) ORDER 2005, AS AMENDED (WHICH INCLUDES AN EXISTING MEMBER OF FUSION ANTIBODIES PLC).  ANY INVESTMENT OR INVESTMENT ACTIVITY TO WHICH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO SUCH PERSONS AND WILL BE ENGAGED IN ONLY WITH SUCH PERSONS. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR FORM PART OF ANY OFFER OR INVITATION TO SELL OR ISSUE, OR ANY SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO PURCHASE OR SUBSCRIBE FOR, ANY SECURITIES OF FUSION ANTIBODIES PLC.

23 May 2023

Fusion Antibodies plc

("Fusion" or the "Company")

Result of Retail Offer

and

Notice of General Meeting

Fusion Antibodies plc (AIM: FAB) announces that further to the Company's announcements made on 19 May 2023, the Company has conditionally raised gross proceeds of £113,351.10 pursuant to the Retail Offer on the REX Platform, alongside the previously announced Placing and Subscription. As a result, the Company has conditionally raised a total of £1,671,938.40 pursuant to the Placing, Subscription and Retail Offer (together, the "Fundraise").

The Retail Offer will result in the issue of a total of 2,267,022 Retail Offer Shares. In total, 33,438,768 new Ordinary Shares will be issued pursuant to the Fundraise.

Completion of the Retail Offer, the Second Placing and the Subscription are conditional on the passing of the Resolutions at a general meeting of the Company (the "General Meeting"), as well as admission of the Retail Offer Shares, the shares to be issued pursuant to the Second Placing and the Subscription Shares to trading on AIM ("Admission"). Assuming the Resolutions are passed at the General Meeting, Admission is expected to take place at 8.00 a.m. on 12 June 2023. Completion of the Retail Offer is conditional, inter alia, upon the completion of the Placing.  

Posting of Circular and notice of General Meeting

The Company will shortly be posting a Circular containing a notice of General Meeting, which is to be held at the offices of Fusion Antibodies at 1 Springbank Road, Springbank Industrial Estate, Dunmurry, Belfast BT17 0QL at 10.00 a.m. on 8 June 2023. A copy of the Circular will also be available on the Company's website at www.fusionantibodies.com.

Adrian Kinkaid, CEO of Fusion, commented: "We are pleased to say that we have been able to raise funds in an extremely challenging market and this, combined with the cost saving measures that we will be implementing, will provide us with the necessary capital we need to progress the business. As a Company we value all our shareholders, so we are pleased to have been able to include a retail offer in this fundraise and are grateful for their ongoing support.

"We are working in a difficult environment for all growth companies at the moment and we fully appreciate the support of our investors, both existing and new. We expect trading to recover incrementally over the short to medium term as we look to progress the launch of the Integrated Therapeutic Antibody Service, and we look forward to updating our shareholders as we go forward with this and our other services."

Terms used but not defined in this announcement have the same meaning as set out in the Company's announcement released at 10:00 on 19 May 2023.

Enquiries: 

About Fusion Antibodies plc

Fusion is a Belfast based contract research organisation ("CRO") providing a range of antibody engineering services for the development of antibodies for both therapeutic drug and diagnostic applications.

The Company's ordinary shares were admitted to trading on AIM on 18 December 2017. Fusion provides a broad range of services in antibody generation, development, production, characterisation and optimisation. These services include antigen expression, antibody production, purification and sequencing, antibody humanisation using Fusion's proprietary CDRx ^TM platform and the production of antibody generating stable cell lines to provide material for use in clinical trials. Since 2012, the Company has successfully sequenced and expressed over 250 antibodies and successfully completed over 200 humanisation projects and has an international, blue-chip client base, which has included eight of the top 10 global pharmaceutical companies by revenue.

The Company was established in 2001 as a spin out from Queen's University Belfast. The Company's mission is to enable pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies to develop innovative products in a timely and cost-effective manner for the benefit of the global healthcare industry. Fusion Antibodies provides a broad range of services in antibody generation, development, production, characterisation and optimisation.

Fusion Antibodies growth strategy is based on combining the latest technological advances with cutting edge science to deliver new platforms that will enable Pharma and Biotech companies get to the clinic faster, with the optimal drug candidate and ultimately speed up the drug development process. 

The global monoclonal antibody therapeutics market was valued at $135.4 billion in 2018 and is forecast to surpass $212.6 billion in 2022, an increase at a CAGR of 12.0 per cent. for the period 2018 to 2022. In 2017, seven of the world's ten top selling drugs were antibody-based therapeutics with the combined annual sales of these drugs exceeding $63.2 billion. 

The Company's LEI is 213800KBAYRC9VOQ9V39

This announcement should be read in its entirety. In particular, the information in the "Important Notices" section of the announcement should be read and understood.

Important Notices

The content of this announcement, which has been prepared by and is the sole responsibility of the Company.

This announcement and the information contained herein is not for release, publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, in or into or from the United States (including its territories and possessions, any state of the United States and the District of Columbia (the "United States" or "US")), Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, the Republic of South Africa, any member state of the EEA or any other jurisdiction where to do so might constitute a violation of the relevant laws or regulations of such jurisdiction.

The REX Retail Offer Shares have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act") or under the applicable state securities laws of the United States and may not be offered or sold directly or indirectly in or into the United States. No public offering of the REX Retail Offer Shares is being made in the United States. The REX Retail Offer Shares are being offered and sold outside the United States in "offshore transactions", as defined in, and in compliance with, Regulation S under the US Securities Act. In addition, the Company has not been, and will not be, registered under the US Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or issue or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for REX Retail Offer Shares in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, the Republic of South Africa, any member state of the EEA or any other jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is or may be unlawful. No public offer of the securities referred to herein is being made in any such jurisdiction.

This announcement is not for publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States of America.  This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale into the United States.  The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act, and may not be offered or sold in the United States, except pursuant to an applicable exemption from registration.  No public offering of securities is being made in the United States.

The distribution of this announcement may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions and persons into whose possession any document or other information referred to herein comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restriction. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

REX is a proprietary technology platform owned and operated by Peel Hunt LLP (registered address at 7th Floor, 100 Liverpool Street, London EC2M 2AT; FRN 530083). Peel Hunt LLP ("Peel Hunt") is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting exclusively for the Company and for no-one else and will not regard any other person (whether or not a recipient of this announcement) as its client in relation to the REX Retail Offer and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to its clients, nor for providing advice in connection with the REX Retail Offer, Admission and the other arrangements referred to in this announcement.

The value of Ordinary Shares and the income from them is not guaranteed and can fall as well as rise due to stock market movements. When you sell your investment, you may get back less than you originally invested. Figures refer to past performance and past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Returns may increase or decrease as a result of currency fluctuations.

Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements which are based on the Company's expectations, intentions and projections regarding its future performance, anticipated events or trends and other matters that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements, which may use words such as "aim", "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "estimate", "expect" and words of similar meaning, include all matters that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause the actual results of operations, financial condition, liquidity and dividend policy and the development of the industries in which the Company's businesses operate to differ materially from the impression created by the forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Given those risks and uncertainties, prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this announcement and cannot be relied upon as a guide to future performance. The Company and Peel Hunt expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect actual results or any change in the assumptions, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based unless required to do so by the Financial Conduct Authority, the London Stock Exchange or applicable law.

The information in this announcement is for background purposes only and does not purport to be full or complete. None of Peel Hunt or any of its affiliates, accepts any responsibility or liability whatsoever for, or makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to this announcement, including the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information in this announcement (or whether any information has been omitted from the announcement) or any other information relating to the Company or associated companies, whether written, oral or in a visual or electronic form, and howsoever transmitted or made available or for any loss howsoever arising from any use of the announcement or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Peel Hunt and its affiliates, accordingly disclaim all and any liability whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise which they might otherwise be found to have in respect of this announcement or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith.

Any indication in this announcement of the price at which the Ordinary Share have been bought or sold in the past cannot be relied upon as a guide to future performance. Persons needing advice should consult an independent financial adviser. No statement in this announcement is intended to be a profit forecast and no statement in this announcement should be interpreted to mean that earnings or target dividend per share of the Company for the current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the historical published earnings or dividends per share of the Company.

Neither the content of the Company's website (or any other website) nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into or forms part of this announcement. The REX Retail Offer Shares to be issued or sold pursuant to the REX Retail Offer will not be admitted to trading on any stock exchange other than the London Stock Exchange.

It is further noted that the REX Retail Offer is only open to investors in the United Kingdom who fall within Article 43 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (which includes an existing member of the Company).