Clavis raises $20M after positive leukaemia trial

Placing

Clavis Pharma ASA has raised NOK 129 million ($20.4 million) through an oversubscribed private placement of 10.8 million new shares at NOK 12.00 ($1.29), a slight discount on the market price.

The successful fundraising followed earlier news of positive data for Clavis’ lead product elacytarabine in treating leukaemia. The Oslo-based company was supported by existing life science and institutional investors, including NeoMed Management and MVM Life Science Partners, as well as new institutional investors.

The money will allow Clavis to achieve key clinical data on products in development and optimise its commercial strategy. Among other projects it will fund the first part of a Phase II/III registration study for elacytarabine in leukaemia (AML),

Geir Christian Melen, CEO of Clavis Pharma, said, “I am delighted we have been able to secure this additional funding from a wide range of existing and new investors in the present financial environment. The successful completion of the private placement is an important milestone for us and demonstrates investors’ confidence in our unique pipeline of drugs under development.”

Clavis’ products use its proprietary lipid vector technology to improve the intracellular delivery and retention of chemotherapeutics.