For release on RNS: 07.00, 23 January 2024
NetScientific plc
("NetScientific" or the "Company")
Liver disease diagnostics company Glycotest secures $1 million investment from Fosun
NetScientific Plc (AIM: NSCI), the deep tech and life sciences VC investment group, announces that its portfolio company Glycotest, Inc. ("Glycotest") has successfully closed a $1 million follow-on investment ("Investment") by Fosun Industrial Co., Limited ("Fosun").
As announced by the Company on 2 May 2023, Fosun agreed to make the Investment as part of a $10 million investment and licensing agreement between the parties in 2019 ("2019 Agreement") upon Glycotest providing Fosun with a licence allowing it direct access to the IP licensed by Glycotest in certain circumstances. Such licence has been procured by Glycotest and as such the remaining investment commitment by Fosun now stands at $2 million, subject to the satisfaction of milestones agreed in the 2019 Agreement.
As a result of the Investment, the Glycotest secured convertible loans, which total $812,448 plus accrued interest, ("2023 CLA") may be converted into preferred shares in Glycotest at the election of Glycotest. The Company understands from Glycotest that it intends to convert such loans pending confirmation from the lender under the 2023 CLA of the treatment of accrued interest thereunder (which interest may be converted into preferred shares or repaid in cash).
Following the Investment and conversion of the 2023 CLA (assuming all accrued interest is converted), the Company's direct stake in Glycotest will be 55.90 per cent, alongside Fosun's interest of 34.75 per cent. and the 2023 CLA interest of 6.16 per cent.
The proceeds of the Investment will, inter alia, support Glycotest in the development and validation of its assays ahead of commercial launch. Such validation is possible after the completion in 2023 of subject enrolment and sample collection in Glycotest's clinical validation study, providing a valuable biobank which the company believes now represents one of the world's largest collections of liver cancer blood samples. Glycotest is in advanced negotiations with a number of prospective collaboration partners, further details of which shall be reported in due course.
Dr Ilian Iliev, CEO of NetScientific, and Chair of Glycotest said:
"We welcome this additional funding from Fosun. Complemented by the 2023 CLA, these investments demonstrate strong financial support as Glycotest continues to progress towards commercialisation, including in the US and China.
"EMV Capital securing this third party funding is a further example of our capital efficient investment model, allowing Glycotest to grow without reliance upon the NetScientific balance sheet, and deploying our Value Creation Services team to underpin that growth."
The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company is Edward Hooper, General Counsel and Executive Director of the Company.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE UK VERSION OF REGULATION (EU) NO 596/2014 WHICH IS PART OF UK LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018, AS AMENDED. UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
-Ends-
NetScientific
| NetScientific | |
| Ilian Iliev, CEO | Via Belvedere Communications |
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| Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (NOMAD and Broker) |
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| Emma Earl / Freddy Crossley / Will Goode / Mark Rogers (Corporate Finance) Rupert Dearden (Corporate Broking) | +44 (0)20 7886 2500 |
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| Belvedere Communications John West / Llew Angus / Lily Pearce |
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About NetScientific
NetScientific plc (AIM: NSCI) is a deep tech and life sciences VC investment group with an international portfolio of innovative companies.
NetScientific identifies, invests in, and builds high growth companies in the UK and internationally. The company adds value through the proactive management of its portfolio, progressing to key value inflection points, and delivering investment returns through partial or full liquidity events.
NetScientific differentiates itself by employing a capital-efficient investment approach, making judicial use of its balance sheet and syndicating investments through its wholly owned VC subsidiary, EMV Capital. The group secures a mixture of direct equity stakes and carried interest stakes in its portfolio of companies, creating a lean structure that can support a large portfolio.
NetScientific is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, and is admitted to trading on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange.
About Glycotest
Glycotest is a US based liver disease diagnostics company commercialising new and unique blood tests for life threatening liver cancers and fibrosis-cirrhosis. Founded in 2012 by NetScientific on technology originating at the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute and Drexel University College of Medicine, Glycotest has exclusive, world-wide rights to over 50 patent-protected serum glycoprotein biomarkers, assay technology, and biomarker panels and algorithms that exploit novel sugar-based disease signals.
Glycotest's lead product is its hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) panel, a biomarker panel, driven by a proprietary algorithm, for curable early-stage HCC, the most common form of primary liver cancer. This has outperformed current standard tests in preliminary clinical studies. Glycotest has also developed tests for liver fibrosis-cirrhosis and cholangiocarcinoma, the second most prevalent form of liver cancer.
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