Betadine-like nasal spray provider Firebrick Pharma (ASX:FRE) – whose flagship product Nasodine has recently gone live for sale in the US – has raised $0.8M in a placement largely backed by an existing substantial holder.
That holder is an entity called GZ Family Holdings (GZFH), billed as a biotech investor, which has now upped its stake to 12% in the company on the back of picking up 14M shares in the latest offering.
GZFH came on board in 2022 and officially hit ‘substantial holder’ status back in March this year, the company reported on Friday.
All in all, the $0.8M is expected to keep the company running until it receives an R&D tax rebate later this year. Once that hits the accounts, the company sees enough cash in the pipeline to run steady into 2025.
R&D rebate payments can range anywhere from $1M to >$10M but typically sit below $5M for smaller ASX companies.
Notably, the company has issued a placement due to costs associated with the rollout of Nasodine in the US market (currently the only place where it is being commercially sold.)
The company said on Friday it is anticipating the product to hit the shelves in different jurisdictions “over the next 12 months.” Shareholders are probably keen to get an idea of what exactly the R&D rebate value will look like.
The placement was issued at a price of 5cps and is expected to settle on May 30th. The total 16M shares part of the placement represents around 9% of current shares on issue.
FRE last traded at 6.5cps.