MNOK 50 subscribed in Lytix Biopharma
Oslo Cancer Cluster member Lytix Biopharma AS has completed a successful issue that was subscribed shares of over 50 million NOK.
It was signed for in total 71,670 shares at a subscription price of NOK 700 per share. The company will, after the capital increase is registered in the ‘Business Register’, have 207 shareholders. CEO Unni Hjelmaas is delighted with Lytix Biopharma now having secured funding for the implementation of the company’s exciting plans within infection and cancer research through 2014.
“We are pleased with the interest the company has been shown in the challenging capital market”, says the chairman Knut Eidissen.
Lytix Biopharma’s board considers listing the company on the Oslo Stock Exchange, including the optimal time for this, and what type of listing which is most suitable.
Lytix Biopharma includes first patient in cancer study
The company recently started the recruitment of patients in a new clinical study of its cancer drug candidate LTX-315, targeting various kinds of cancerous tumors. The objective of the study is to demonstrate that LTX-315 is safe and activates the patient’s own immune system to kill cancer cells, a treatment called Immunotherapy. Up to 80 patients will be enrolled in the study, which is expected to be completed within 2015.
Lytix Biopharma’s CEO Unni Hjelmaas says, “This is a milestone in the development of the LTX-315. The study will demonstrate if the immunotherapy can be documented in cancer patients. We are pleased that the first patient is recruited at Oslo University Hospital – the Norwegian Radium Hospital”.
This study will include patients with different types of cancerous tumors located just under the skin. Four cancer hospitals in Europe are participating in the study – Oslo University Hospital – the Norwegian Radium Hospital (Norway), Jules Bordet and St. Luc (Belgium) and Guy’s Hospital (UK). The study is approved by the health authorities and ethics committees in the respective countries.
Lytix Biopharma’s cancer drug candidate has the potential to be a novel cancer immunotherapy. Immunotherapy is expected to induce the long-term survival due to the durable immune response. Preclinical data has shown that direct injections of LTX-315 into tumors mobilizes the immune system to kill cancer cells (see the video here) and prevent recurrence of cancer. Immune activation and shrinkage of treated tumors were observed in a first clinical study with LTX-315 in patients.
About Lytix Biopharma
Lytix Biopharma AS develops novel drugs for the treatment of resistant bacterial and fungal infections, as well as first-in-class oncology treatments. The Lytix anti-cancer drug is a mimetic of membrane-active host defence peptides and causes tumor necrosis and release of danger signals leading to an induction of anti-tumour immune responses. Lytix is developing synthetic peptides that take advantage of the characteristics of the innate immune system to produce an entirely new class of cancer therapeutics.
In the issue the following insiders have been allocated shares:
Picasso Kapital AS, controlled by chairman Knut Eidissen, 5760 shares
Steinar Hoeg, Director, 1,200 shares
Unni Hjelmaas, CEO 143 shares
Fazenda Securities has been the advisor and lead facilitator of this issue, and Sparebank1 Market has been co-facilitator.
Photo: Cancer Cell, Gerd Berge, UiT.
