BRIEF: Ascletis raises $107 million to fund obesity drug trials

Ascletis Pharma Inc. (1672.HK) saidon Tuesday that it raised about HK$835 million ($107 million) by selling 69.26 million new shares in a placement at HK$12.18 each. The placement price represents a discount of about 4% to the company’s last closing price of HK$12.69.

The new shares equal around 6.98% of the company’s share capital and were placed to six or more institutional investors.

The company said around 90% of the proceeds will be used for global Phase 3 clinical trials of ASC30, its small-molecule oral GLP-1 receptor agonist to treat obesity. The remainder will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Ascletis reported that its revenue more than doubled to 104 million yuan ($15 million) in the first half of last year, while its net loss narrowed by 32% to 87.95 million yuan. The company’s shares have more than tripled over the past 12 months.

Ascletis’ stock opened lower on Tuesday but later reversed course closed up 4.96% at HK$13.32 by the midday break.

By Lee Shih Ta

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