N4 Pharma picks up controlling interest in Nanogenics

The AIM-traded company said the move was made through a subscription for new shares in Nanogenics - a company that is currently developing a unique siRNA product for the ophthalmology market using its Liptide platform.

It described the platform as a complementary lipid and peptide-based delivery system.

N4 Pharma funded the purchase by placing 35 million new ordinary shares at an issue price of 1p per share, successfully raising £0.35m before expenses.

It then subscribed for new shares in Nanogenics, acquiring an initial 71.25% interest for £0.25m.

The stake would decrease to 63.75% as Nanogenics' management achieves specific strategic milestones.

Nanogenics' promising lead product, ECP105, leverages the Liptide® platform to deliver a proprietary siRNA sequence designed to silence a fibrotic gene, which could significantly improve post-glaucoma surgery recovery for patients.

Given the global prevalence of glaucoma, which impacted over 75 million people in 2020 and represented a market worth over $5.5bn in 2021, the novel therapeutic approach could address a substantial unmet clinical need.

The glaucoma treatment market was estimated to see a compound annual growth rate of over 3.2% from 2022 to 2028, hinting at enormous potential for ECP105.

Furthermore, the investment was broader than just the ophthalmology market, as there was the potential to target other anti-fibrotic markets, such as liver and lung.

Beyond the direct product potential, the acquisition set the stage for expected technical synergies, given the joint development possibilities of the Liptide and N4’s Nuvec platforms.

“We have been investigating potential assets to add to the company for some time,” said chief executive officer Nigel Theobald.

“The RNA sector is an exciting one with a lot of investor and commercial interest.

“The addition of the Liptide delivery system and siRNA sequence adds significant potential value to our business.”

Theobald said that as well as glaucoma, the MRTF-B gene was also responsible for liver and lung fibrosis - two large areas into which Nanogenics could develop its portfolio.

“Non-viral, non-lipid delivery systems are high in demand in the gene therapy space, and we now have two such delivery systems and expect considerable technical synergies in developing programmes using both Nuvec and Liptide.

“We are very excited about securing this material interest in Nanogenics on what we consider to be very favourable commercial terms, and we look forward to seeing Liptide develop in parallel to Nuvec and the resulting increase in newsflow having two assets under development will bring.”

At 1528 BST, shares in N4 Pharma were down 30.07% at 0.98p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.