Brighton, UK-based Destiny Pharma has been successfully listed shares on London Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of £65.4 million, marking the second biotech company to float this year in the UK.
The group, which is focused on the development of novel antibiotics to address the global problem of anti-microbial resistance (AMR), has raised gross proceeds of £15.3 million through a placing with existing and new institutional and other investors of 9,733,770 Ordinary Shares at a placing price of 157 pence each.
The funds raised will primarily be used to progress lead drug candidate XF-73 through a key Phase IIb clinical trial assessing its potential in the prevention of post-surgical Staphylococcus aureus infections (including MRSA) over the next two years.
The company has already completed five successful Phase I/IIa clinical trials to date, which it says show rapid antibacterial action, combined with evidence of a no or low resistance profile.
According to the its website, XF Drugs have been shown to rapidly kill bacteria by interfering with the properties on their surface, resulting in the loss of vital components from the cell, without bursting the cells themselves.
“XF Drugs have been shown to kill bacteria in all growth states, including non-growing cultures which are resistant to a large number of antibiotics, which depend on the bacteria actively growing to be able to kill them. In addition, XF Drugs have demonstrated the ability to kill Staphylococcal bacteria within biofilms – unlike most antibiotics.”
“XF-73 could be the first drug to be specifically labelled for a new US FDA sanctioned indication, namely the prevention of post-surgical infections; a market we believe to be worth a billion dollars in the US alone and growing,” said chief executive Neil Clark.
The company has also announced a regional framework development and commercialisation agreement with China Medical Systems, to enable the development and commercialisation of its assets in China and certain other Asian countries, excluding Japan.
