27 May 2020 - - French drugmaker Poxel S.A. (Euronext POXEL - FR0012432516) has raised EUR 17.7m in a private placement of 2,358,483 new ordinary shares, each with a nominal value of EUR 0.02 per share, the company said.

The gross proceeds of the Reserved offering are EUR 17,688,622.50 (USD 19.4m).

The company placed 2,358,483 New Shares with a par value of EUR 0.02, at a price of EUR 7.50 per New Share, including share premium, for a total subscribed amount of EUR 17,688,622.50, representing approximately 9.04% of the share capital of the company.

In addition, the company placed 1,768,861 warrants with a five-year term attached to the new shares representing a total of 75% coverage on the new share issuance, representing 1,768,861 potential additional new ordinary shares and 5.93% of the company's outstanding fully diluted share capital.

The strike price of the warrants shall be equal to EUR 10.03, representing a 18.6% premium on the volume weighted average price of the company's shares on Euronext Paris over the twenty trading days preceding pricing.
22.6% of the Reserved offering was subscribed by Bpifrance Participations.

Payment and delivery of the New Shares is expected to occur on or about May 27, 2020.

The issue price of the New Shares represents a discount of 11.3% from the volume weighted average price of the company's shares on Euronext Paris over the twenty trading days preceding pricing.
As of the settlement and delivery date, which is expected to occur on May 27, 2020, the New Shares will be fungible with the company's existing shares and are entitled to current dividend rights.

The New Shares will be listed on Euronext Paris under ISIN FR0012432516 on May 27, 2020.

To the knowledge of the company, its share capital after the settlement and delivery date will be allocated as follows:
The New Shares will be issued through a capital increase without shareholders' pre-emptive rights reserved to a specified category of investors under the provisions of Article L. 225-138 of the French Commercial Code (Code de commerce) and pursuant to the 17th resolution of the Annual General Shareholders' Meeting held on May 9, 2019 as authorized by the board of directors on May 7, 2020 and the chief executive officer on May 22, 2020.

The Reserved offering was open only to investors who are French or foreign individuals or legal entities, including companies, trusts or investment funds or other investment vehicles of any form, investing, as a regular activity, in the pharmaceutical sector.

The placement agent for this transaction was JMP Securities LLC.

For illustration purposes, a shareholder who held 1% of the company's share capital prior to the Reserved offering and not participating in it will hold 0.92% of the company's share capital after the Reserved offering and 0.86% in case of full exercise of the warrants.

Poxel has agreed to a standstill on the shares of the company for a period of 120 calendar days, starting from the date of settlement and delivery, subject to certain customary exceptions.

Company officers and Independent directors have also signed lock-up agreements with regard to the company's shares that they hold, for a period of 120 calendar days, starting from the date of settlement and delivery, subject to certain customary exceptions.

The 2019 Universal Registration Document of the company, filed with the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers on April 20, 2020, is available on the company's website.

Attention is drawn to the risk factors related to the company and its activities presented in chapter 2.2 of the Universal Registration Document.

The company's corporate presentation dated May 2020, which outlines a presentation of the company's activities, including the progress of pre-clinical and clinical programs, is also available on the company's website.

Poxel is a dynamic biopharmaceutical company that uses its extensive expertise in developing innovative drugs for metabolic diseases, with a focus on type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

In its mid-to-late stage pipeline, the company is currently advancing three drug candidates as well as earlier-stage opportunities. 

Imeglimin, Poxel's first-in-class lead product, targets mitochondrial dysfunction.

Together, with its partner Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, Poxel successfully completed the Phase 3 Trials of IMeglimin for Efficacy and Safety (TIMES) program for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in Japan.

Poxel also established a partnership with Roivant Sciences for Imeglimin's development and commercialization in countries outside of the partnership with Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, including the US and Europe. 

PXL770, a first-in-class direct adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase activator, is in a Phase 2a proof-of-concept program for the treatment of NASH.

PXL770 could also have the potential to treat additional metabolic diseases. PXL065 (deuterium-stabilized R-pioglitazone), a mitochondrial pyruvate carrier inhibitor, is advancing into a Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of NASH.

Poxel also has additional earlier-stage programs targeting metabolic, specialty and rare diseases.

The said it intends to generate further growth through strategic partnerships and pipeline development.