Southampton: finnCap raises £80m for Synairgen to support Phase III trial

finnCap Group has announced an £80 million fundraise and £7m open offer for Synairgen plc. The net proceeds of this placing will be used primarily to support the Phase III clinical trial and manufacturing scale up of its inhaled formulation of interferon beta, SNG001, which is effective against COVID-19. finnCap acted as lead adviser and bookrunner.

On completion of this deal finnCap will have raised a total of £94m for Synairgen since April 2020, including a £14m fundraise to progress its candidate into Phase II trials. The Phase II trial of hospitalised COVID-19 patients showed that SNG001 reduced odds of developing severe disease, increased likelihood of recovery and reduced breathlessness.

Richard Marsden, CEO, Synairgen, commented: "It was particularly pleasing to see the level of support received for this financing, reinforcing confidence in SNG001, our wholly-owned drug and potential breakthrough treatment for COVID-19 patients. finnCap has always been supportive and built a good register of institutions in March which was broadened further in this funding. It was a very successful fundraise and the level of demand was such that we were comfortably able to increase the size of the funding. Having demonstrated the great promise of SNG001 in hospitalised COVID-19 patients earlier this year, we now have the resources to be able to rapidly progress this potential breakthrough treatment in such a critical area of unmet need."

Geoff Nash, corporate finance director, Life Sciences commented: “We are extremely proud of what Synairgen has achieved, especially over the last eight months.   We have always been strong believers in the value of SNG001 and delighted to have generated so much interest and support for this great success story of British biotech. Both fundraisings have been substantially oversubscribed and thus we have been able to upsize on both occasions. There is great institutional support for this management team and we are pleased to have been able to build the register they deserve which gives them the resources to be able to progress this potential breakthrough.”