Verona Pharma secures funding for drug trial

20th Jun 2016 12:50

(ShareCast News) - Shares in AIM-listed Verona Pharma rallied on Monday as the drug development company it had successfully secured funding commitments to raise gross proceeds of around £44.7m through a conditional placing that was significantly oversubscribed.Net proceeds from the placing with new and existing investors, including a number of specialist US, UK and European healthcare funds, are expected to fund the RPL554 drug through a Phase 2b clinical trial in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients and additional Phase 2 studies in both COPD and cystic fibrosis.Chief executive officer Jan-Anders Karlsson said: "The funds raised from the placing will allow the company to focus on conducting a comprehensive Phase 2b clinical trial programme for nebulised RPL554 as a potential treatment for patients with COPD."We will also explore in the clinic for the first time the use of RPL554 as a novel treatment for cystic fibrosis expanding the potential of the drug into another respiratory disease where there remains a significant unmet need. This follows on from the compelling data we have generated in translational, preclinical models of this disease."Also on Monday, Verona said it has undertaken "to use commercially reasonable efforts" to procure a listing on NASDAQ and raise a further tranche of funding in the future.At 1300 BST, Verona shares were up 25% to 3.53p.