PYC taps investors for $75m

PYC Therapeutics is rattling the tin for up to $74.6 million to fund the progress of its medical drug trials, including for blinding eye and polycystic kidney diseases.

The Nedlands-based company announced it has launched a non-renounceable entitlement offer, comprising the issue of about 933 million new fully paid ordinary shares in PYC at an offer price of 8 cents each.

PYC said the entitlement offer’s proceeds will be used to progress its first blinding eye disease drug candidate into mid and late-stage human trials, and the second candidate into early and mid-stage human trials.

The proceeds will also be used to progress PYC’s polycystic kidney disease drug candidate into human trials.

Proceeds will also go towards PYC’s Phelan-McDermid Syndrome drug program and drug discovery activities, and the company’s general working capital.

The price represented a 5.9 per cent discount to the trading price of 8.5 cents on March 13, according to the company.

PYC said, in its announcement, that the entitlement offer comprises an accelerated institutional component open to institutional shareholders and a retail component available to shareholders in Australia or New Zealand.

The institutional entitlement offer will be conducted on March 14 and 15, while the retail component will be open from March 20 to April 8, PYC said.

“An entitlement offer provides all shareholders with an equal opportunity to contribute to the further progression of PYC’s exciting drug development pipeline,” PYC chief executive Rohan Hockings said.

“The rapidly improving conditions in the biotech sector coupled with the material progress made by the Company have not yet been recognised in PYC’s market capitalisation.

“PYC is seeking to address this by delivering human safety and efficacy data – the currency of our industry – over the coming 12 months alongside progression of ongoing commercialisation activities.”