Acrux On Track After Underwrite Deal
The Age
Friday August 20, 2004
Melbourne-based Acrux has secured an underwriting agreement with stockbrokers Goldman Sachs JBWere, ABN Amro and Wilson HTM and will open its $30 million public offer on August 30.
After lodging a prospectus late yesterday with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the pharmaceutical company expects to list on the Australian Stock Exchange in late September.Acrux will issue 30 million new shares at $1 each. Almost half the proceeds will be spent accelerating phase two trials of a testosterone treatment for men, $8.5 million will be spent testing products for severe pain, incontinence and nausea, while the remainder will be spent financing the float and as working capital.The company takes proven drugs and attempts to improve their application through its patented transdermal drug delivery system.One of its most advanced products, menopause treatment Estradoil MDTS was nearly abandoned two years ago when a scare over links between hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer erupted. Company chief executive Igor Gonda was in San Francisco about to extract $30 million from US investors, when the negative publicity caused the deal to fall through.The product was sidelined until recently when new studies emerged that allayed fears about the treatment. It is now licensed to Vivus in the US.Licensing rest-of-world rights for Estradoil MDTS and a testosterone spray for sexual dysfunction in women is believed to be high on the company's agenda.A pooled development fund, Acrux already has 100.9 million shares on issue , with no single investors controlling more than 10 per cent. Largest shareholders include Queensland Investment Corporation, co-inventors of the drug delivery system Barrie Finnin and Timothy Morgan, and non-executive director Ross Dobinson.Existing shareholders will have the opportunity to sell part of their holdings, up to 8.3 million shares in total, if the offer is oversubscribed.
© 2004 The Age
