Fusion Antibodies PLC Receipt of grants from Invest Northern Ireland (2587D)
27 October 2020 - 6:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMFAB
RNS Number : 2587D
Fusion Antibodies PLC
27 October 2020
Fusion Antibodies plc
("Fusion" or the "Company")
Receipt of grants from Invest Northern Ireland
Invest NI to support Fusion's COVID-19 Discovery programme as
part of the NI COVID-19 Antibody Development Alliance
Fusion Antibodies plc (AIM: FAB), a contract research
organisation providing a range of antibody engineering services for
the development of antibodies for both therapeutic drug and
diagnostic applications, announces that, on 26 October 2020, it
accepted an offer for financial assistance from Invest Northern
Ireland ("Invest NI") comprising a Research and Development grant
totalling up to GBP188,000 (the "Grant"). The Grant represents the
Company's allocation of a total package of support of GBP453,000
for the Northern Ireland COVID-19 Antibody Development Alliance
("NICADA"), a collaboration between Fusion and Queen's University
Belfast ("QUB") with an aim to develop and test antibodies to
assist in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Grant will be used by Fusion to support the Company's
mammalian antibody Library research and development programme and
will reinforce the work being performed at Fusion to produce fully
human antibodies targeting the SARS-CoV-2 virus which could be used
in therapeutic and diagnostic applications. This work also forms
one part of the strategic multi-target development of the Company's
mammalian antibody library. The balance of the GBP453,000 total
NICADA grant will be made to QUB to enable their scientists who
have access to the SARS-CoV-2 virus to undertake testing and
validation of the anti-COVID-19 antibodies and antigens produced
and owned by the Company.
Invest NI is the business development agency for Northern
Ireland, providing support to local businesses in the region and
has been a long-standing supporter to the Company, as well as a
substantial shareholder in the Company. Under the terms of the
Grant, the provision of grant funding supports expenditure incurred
from 2 July 2020 to 2 July 2021 and will be claimed periodically by
the Company throughout this period.
As Invest NI is a substantial shareholder in the Company as
defined in the AIM Rules for Companies ("AIM Rules"), the receipt
of the Grant constitutes a related party transaction pursuant to
the AIM Rules. The Directors of Fusion, having consulted with its
nominated adviser, Allenby Capital Limited, consider the terms of
the Grant to be fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's
shareholders are concerned.
Paul Kerr, CEO of Fusion, commented: " We welcome this funding
and support from Invest NI for the development of anti-COVID-19
antibodies using the Company's mammalian antibody library. The
COVID-19 pandemic has prompted rising demand for therapeutic
antibodies, specifically engineered to neutralise the SARS-CoV-2
virus."
Enquiries:
Fusion Antibodies plc www.fusionantibodies.com
Dr Paul Kerr, Chief Executive Officer Via Walbrook PR
James Fair, Chief Financial Officer
Allenby Capital Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 3328 5656
James Reeve / Asha Chotai (Corporate
Finance)
Tony Quirke (Sales)
Walbrook PR Tel: +44 (0)20 7933 8780 or fusion@walbrookpr.com
Anna Dunphy Mob: +44 (0)7876 741 001
Paul McManus Mob: +44 (0)7980 541 893
About Fusion Antibodies plc
Fusion is a Belfast based contract research organisation ("CRO")
providing a range of antibody engineering services for the
development of antibodies for both therapeutic drug and diagnostic
applications.
The Company's ordinary shares were admitted to trading on AIM on
18 December 2017. Fusion provides a broad range of services in
antibody generation, development, production, characterisation and
optimisation. These services include antigen expression, antibody
production, purification and sequencing, antibody humanisation
using Fusion's proprietary CDRx (TM) platform and the production of
antibody generating stable cell lines to provide material for use
in clinical trials. Since 2012, the Company has successfully
sequenced and expressed over 250 antibodies and successfully
completed over 200 humanisation projects and has an international,
blue-chip client base, which has included eight of the top 10
global pharmaceutical companies by revenue.
The Company was established in 2001 as a spin out from Queen's
University Belfast. The Company's mission is to enable
pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies to develop innovative
products in a timely and cost-effective manner for the benefit of
the global healthcare industry. Fusion Antibodies provides a broad
range of services in antibody generation, development, production,
characterisation and optimisation.
Fusion Antibodies growth strategy is based on combining the
latest technological advances with cutting edge science to deliver
new platforms that will enable Pharma and Biotech companies get to
the clinic faster, with the optimal drug candidate and ultimately
speed up the drug development process.
The global monoclonal antibody therapeutics market was valued at
$135.4 billion in 2018 and is forecast to surpass $212.6 billion in
2022, an increase at a CAGR of 12.0 per cent. for the period 2018
to 2022. In 2017, seven of the world's ten top selling drugs were
antibody-based therapeutics with the combined annual sales of these
drugs exceeding $63.2 billion.
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