BerGenBio Secures NOK212 Million Capital Raise
BERGEN, Norway, March 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
BerGenBio AS (“BerGenBio” or the “Company”) has announced that it has secured a capital raise of NOK212 million (c. $25 million) in a private placement from existing shareholders, including Investinor AS and Meteva AS.
BerGenBio will use the proceeds and its existing cash balance to progress the development of the Company’s pipeline of innovative cancer therapeutics, in particular its lead asset BGB324, a first-in-class Axl kinase inhibitor.
BGB324 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1b trial in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML); and in a Phase 1b trial in patients with Stage IIIb and Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). BGB324 is the first selective, orally bioavailable, small molecule Axl kinase inhibitor in clinical development. It blocks the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which is a key driver in immune evasion, drug-resistance and metastasis in cancers.
Richard Godfrey, Chief Executive Officer of BerGenBio, commented:
“We are very pleased to have received this new investment from our shareholders at this important time in the Company’s development and would like to thank them for their continued support. The proceeds will be used primarily to support the ongoing clinical and commercial development of our lead asset BGB324, as we prepare to open several Phase 2 combination trials.”
BerGenBio also announces the following changes to its Board of Directors. John Barrie Ward and David Wilson have stepped down from the Board. Stein H. Annexstad, Kari Grønås and Sveinung Hole have been appointed as new Non-Executive Directors. Susan Foden has stepped down as Chair but remains a Non-Executive Director, while Hilde Furberg has been appointed as Chair of the Board of Directors.
About BerGenBio AS
BerGenBio AS is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing first-in-class drugs for aggressive cancers. The company is a world leader in understanding the biology of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a widely recognised key pathway in immune evasion, acquired cancer drug-resistance and metastasis. BerGenBio AS is founded on proprietary platform technology, CellSelect™, to identify and validate novel drug targets and biomarkers. The company has progressed its lead drug candidate BGB324, an EMT inhibitor, into clinical trials in AML and NSCLC, while pursuing the pre-clinical development of additional compounds and proprietary EMT drug targets. http://www.bergenbio.com
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