(AOF) – Pharnext SA, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announces a series of decisions aimed at securing the next stages of its development with the support of Neovacs (a French biotechnology company specializing in therapeutic vaccines targeting treatment of autoimmune diseases) as an extension of the financing and strategic support agreement with Pharnext announced on October 3, 2022.
In order to cover Pharnext’s financial needs until the first results of the first pivotal Phase III clinical study evaluating the drug candidate PXT3003 in CMT1A and to cover the possible liquidity risk at 12 months, Neovacs undertakes to strengthen its financial support of up to an additional €2 million per month by the end of 2023.
This extension comes in addition to the financing agreement signed in October 2022 with Néovacs, for a net amount of 20.7 million euros, via the issue in several tranches of simple bonds accompanied by warrants for shares. At the end of this agreement, Néovacs could become a reference shareholder of Pharnext as of January 1, 2024.
This new financing agreement comes as a partial or total supplement to the financing in the form of OCEANE-BSA granted by Global Tech Opportunities 13 (“GTO 13”). As a reminder, Pharnext and GTO 13 have entered into a warrant issue and subscription agreement giving access to bonds convertible or exchangeable into new and/or existing shares with attached stock warrants dated June 4, 2021.
In order to mark Néovacs’ strong commitment, the Board of Directors of Pharnext decided, unanimously among its members, to appoint Hugo Brugière as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, replacing Joshua Schafer who remains a Director of the society.
This enhanced support from Neovacs is intended to enable Pharnext to embark on a serene search for a strategic industrial partner at a time when the Board of Directors considers that the Company has reached a sufficient degree of maturity to enhance the value of its assets. and its commercial potential. Indeed, if the first results of the current study are positive, they will form the basis of a marketing authorization application file for the treatment of CMT1A with the FDA in the United States and the EMA in Europe.
This valuation could be done as part of a capital transaction that could ultimately lead to a takeover of the Company. Pharnext currently favors an agreement with a player in the pharmaceutical industry.