Novo Holdings A/S has agreed to invest up to £53.5 million in Oxford Biomedica plc (LSE:OXB) in return for new ordinary shares, representing up to 10.1% of the outstanding shares after a capital increase.
Proceeds from the transaction will be used to repay an existing debt facility with Oaktree Capital Management in full and to further develop Oxford’s LentiVector platform and proprietary product portfolio.
The LentiVector platform enables Oxford to facilitate a dual strategy to support its partners in the development and commercialization of their gene and cell therapy programmes while also pursuing the development of a proprietary product portfolio for later out-licensing.
The strategy has resulted in a number of partnerships, including with Novartis and Sanofi, as well as the out-licensing of OXB-102 to Axovant Gene Therapies.
Under the accord, Novo Holdings has agreed to subscribe for 6,568,024 new ordinary shares in Oxford at a price of £6.90 a share and also provides Novo with an option to subscribe for up to a further 1,181,976 new ordinary shares of Oxford at the same price by June 30, 2019.
In a statement, John Dawson, CEO of Oxford, said Novo Holdings is a “well-known and highly regarded long-term investor with significant expertise in working with innovative, life sciences businesses to unlock their growth potential.”
Robert Ghenchev, a director with Novo Holdings, said the investment underscores Novo’s commitment to supporting companies developing cutting-edge science that makes a real difference to patients and society.
