Evgen Pharma Will Float £20M IPO To Fund Cancer Drug Trials

December 4, 2014

By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Editor

British drug development firm Evgen Pharma plc will raise £20 million towards an initial public offering on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in a bid to fund its clinical trials of experimental prostate and breast cancer drugs, the company said Thursday.

Evgen is helmed by Stephen Franklin, the former chief executive of Provexis, a separate biotech is also publicly listed on the AIM.

Evgen said in a release that its hopes to begin trading its shares publicly as soon as mid-December 2014. Evgen said Westhouse Securities Ltd will operate as book runner on the deal. It did not specify how many shares it would be offering or at what price range.

Money raised during the IPO process will be put toward funding Phase I/II studies in prostate and in breast cancer, as well as a Phase II trial of a proprietary drug to treat brain hemorrhage. Evgen is also enrolled in preclinical studies for its therapy for in multiple sclerosis.

“We have successfully completed early stage studies of Sulforadex and now intend to advance our programs in prostate cancer, breast cancer, brain hemorrhage and multiple sclerosis with some of the world’s leading clinical experts following our IPO on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange,” said Franklin.

Evgen’s flagship drug is called Sulforadex, which is a synthesised version of the naturally occurring anti-cancer agent compound sulforaphane. The compound occurs naturally in vegetables like broccoli and other members of the brassica family and has shown promising results in treating certain types of cancer.

“A wealth of academic research has identified the anti-cancer and neuroprotective properties of sulforaphane, a naturally occurring but highly unstable compound,” said Franklin.

The company has been closely watched because its key management team is well known in British biotech circles. Its executive chairman, Barry Clare, is the former director of popular chemist Boots Company plc, and Franklin’s time at Provexis is considered one of the company’s most innovative periods.