4basebio Plc - New lease and expansion of manufacturing capacity

03 April 2023

4basebio PLC

("4basebio", the "Company" or the “Group”)

Signing of new lease and expansion of manufacturing capacity

4basebio PLC (AIM: 4BB), the specialist life sciences group focused on exploiting intellectual property in the field of cell and gene therapies and DNA vaccines, announces a further expansion of its UK facilities.

In light of the continued expansion of its commercial capabilities, 4BB is relocating its manufacturing and quality assurance teams to new premises adjacent to its existing clean room facilities.  Consequently, it has entered into a lease (“Lease”) to rent the premises which provide dedicated laboratory, warehousing and office space for those teams.

The additional property brings the overall footprint in the UK to 21,000 square feet and reflects the growth in the UK team to more than 60 staff today and provides room for further expansion.

The Lease is for 13 years with an annual cost of approximately £9 per square foot and has been prepared on the basis of standard commercial terms. The property’s ownership includes persons related to Heikki Lanckriet, the Company’s CEO and CSO.  

Related Party Transaction

As a result of the property, over which the Company has entered into the Lease, being part owned by persons related to a director, entering into the Lease by the Company constitutes a related party transaction (“Transaction”) pursuant to the AIM Rules for Companies.  With the exception of Dr Lanckriet, the directors of the Company, having consulted with the Company's Nominated Adviser, Cairn Financial Advisers LLP, consider the terms of the Transaction to be fair and reasonable insofar as the Company’s shareholders are concerned.

Dr Heikki Lanckriet, CEO and CSO for 4basebio, commented: “The addition of the new premises locates the manufacturing and quality assurance teams alongside the company’s clean rooms; moreover it will allow the company to continue expanding its commercial teams at its main facility, thereby accelerating the company’s capacity to onboard new clients moving forward.”

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014 (which forms part of domestic UK law pursuant to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018).

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Notes to Editors

4basebio (AIM: 4BB) is a specialist life sciences group focused on therapeutic DNA for cell and gene therapies and DNA vaccines and providing solutions for effective and safe delivery of these DNA based products to patients. It is the intention of the Company to become a market leader in the manufacture and supply of high purity, synthetic DNA for research, therapeutic and pharmacological use and develop non-viral vectors for the efficient delivery of payloads. The immediate objectives of 4bb are to validate and scale its DNA synthesis and advance its collaborations to facilitate the functional validation of its DNA based products and cell and gene delivery solutions.

Forward-looking statements

This announcement may contain certain statements about the future outlook for the 4basebio.  Although the directors believe their expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, any statements about future outlook may be influenced by factors that could cause actual outcomes and results to be materially different.