BIONOR PHARMA ASA
STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT
Bionor provides more details on the contemplated private placement
(Oslo, Norway, 12 August 2016) Referring to previous stock exchange announcements as of 20 June 2016 and 30 June 2016, the Board of Directors of Bionor today announced that the size of the contemplated private placement will be reduced from previously indicated up to about NOK 70 million to up to about NOK 50 million with a minimum amount of NOK 20 million. The reduced capital need is mainly due to adjustments to the clinical activities and implemented cost saving initiatives, including lease cancellation or subleases of offices in the US, Denmark and Norway. In addition, the organizational setup is under review.
Bionor's Board and management have pre-committed to subscribe for up to 10% of the private placement. Furthermore, Swedbank Robur Ny Teknik has pre-committed to subscribe for an amount that will increase their ownership stake from currently 5.5% to 9.5% post the placement. Swedbank Robur Ny Teknik is investing in smaller Nordic companies with a high level of technology in their products and services. The fund primarily focuses on IT, pharma, medtech, cleantech and industrial technology. In 2016, the fund was awarded best Nordic fund over both 3 and 5 years in Lipper Fund Award.
A fully subscribed private placement will fund Bionor through the next 12 months, including for executing an adjuvant trial, pre-clinical activities, and preparing for new clinical studies. The preparation phase will include further planning of the triple combination clinical trial BIONAB with Bionor's therapeutic vaccine Vacc-4x, romidepsin provided by Celgene Corporation and a broadly neutralizing antibody (bNAB), which has been secured grants of NOK 9 million from the Research Council of Norway.
In parallel, Bionor will assemble its Clinical Advisory Board to ratify the company's strategy for most efficiently develop Vacc-4x as part of an HIV functional cure, and also to investigate whether there are opportunities to bring Vacc-4x faster to the market by targeting selected subgroups of patients. The Board has decided to put on hold additional BIOSKILL related activities until such alternative and less capital demanding development paths have been explored for functional HIV cure with Vacc-4x at its core.
The contemplated private placement is expected to be launched on 15 August 2016, and will be conducted as a book-building process. SpareBank 1 Markets has been engaged as sole manager and bookrunner.
Following summits from the 21st international AIDS conference in July 2016 in Durban, South Africa, the development of an HIV vaccine and functional cure is high on the agenda, an area where Bionor has a first-in-class position.
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
Further information
Per S. Thoresen, Chairman of the Board of Directors, +47 906 14 620
Unni Hjelmaas, Acting CEO, +47 915 19 651, uh@bionorpharma.com
About Bionor Pharma
Bionor Pharma's mission is to enable the immune system to fight HIV infection. Bionor is the first company, which has successfully completed a clinical trial using the shock and kill approach, thereby creating a strong foundation for further advancing its therapeutic vaccine Vacc-4x in combination with other agents towards a functional cure. The company believes it has first mover potential based on clinical results to date and early adoption of the shock and kill strategy. In December 2015, Bionor announced that the HIV trial REDUC with Vacc-4x and romidepsin successfully met its primary endpoint by reducing latent HIV reservoir and further demonstrated control of viral load. Bionor currently retains full ownership rights to the HIV immunotherapy Vacc-4x, i.e., the upside potential from partnering or licensing remains with the company's shareholders. Bionor is listed on Oslo Boers (OSE:BIONOR). More information about Bionor is available at www.bionorpharma.com (http://www.bionorpharma.com/).
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Bionor Pharma ASA via Globenewswire
