Arovella Therapeutics (ASX:ALA) to raise $6m for cell therapies

• Arovella Therapeutics (ALA) receives commitments from institutional and sophisticated investors to raise $4.57 million through a placement
• Importantly, the healthcare stock received cornerstone support from life sciences company Merchant who’s subscribing for $3 million worth of shares
• ALA is also launching a $1.5 million share purchase plan which is completely underwritten by Baker Young with Merchant committing to sub-underwrite up to $750,000 of the SPP
• The money is being used to develop Arovella’s cell therapy platforms for cancer treatment
• Company shares have ended the day up 5.13 per cent to close at 4.1 cents

Arovella Therapeutics (ALA) has received firm commitments from institutional and sophisticated investors for a $4.57 million placement.

Around 120.2 million shares will be issued at 3.8 cents per share, which is a 2.5 per cent discount to ALA’s last traded price.

The company was pleased to receive strong support from investors including a cornerstone investment by specialist life sciences company Merchant who subscribed for $3 million worth of shares in the placement.

In addition, Arovella Directors will contribute up to $160,000 on the same terms as the placement, but this is subject to shareholder approval to be sought at an upcoming extraordinary general meeting.

“We are excited to receive strong support from Merchant and other long-term supporters in this capital raising, and we look forward to delivering value to all of our shareholders,” Managing Director Michael Baker said.

The company will also launch a share purchase plan (SPP) to raise up to an additional $1.5 million. The SPP will allow eligible shareholders to apply for up to $30,000 worth of shares between January 24 and March 9.

The SPP is completely underwritten by Baker Young, who also led the placement, with a sub-underwriting commitment by Merchant for up to $750,000 of the SPP.

Arovella said the funds raised in the placement and SPP will be used to develop its invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cell therapy platform and DKK1-peptide targeting monoclonal antibody for cancer treatment.

“This capital raising is a significant step towards bringing Arovella’s highly prospective cell therapy pipeline to the clinic and, ultimately, to market. This is a testament to the hard work of Michael and the team in recent years,” Chairman Paul Hopper said.

Company shares were up 5.13 per cent to close at 4.1 cents.