Admedus closes $8m placement

Admedus (ASX:AHZ) has raised $8 million through an oversubscribed placement to help fund marketing and development efforts for regenerative product CardioCel in heart surgery applications.

The company is following the placement up with a share purchase plan (SPP) for existing shareholders at the same $0.10 issue price.

The proceeds will be put towards expanding Admedus’ sales teams in Europe and the US for CardioCel, and to post-market studies aimed at expanding use of the product for more cardiovascular surgical applications.

The product has been used across eight centres in Europe, and Admedus received its first sales orders from the US last week. The company aims to have the product established across 15 centres in Europe and the US over the next 12 months.

Funds from the placement and SPP will also go towards a phase II trial of a prospective therapeutic vaccine for herpes simplex virus (HSV-2). During a recently completed phase I trial, the vaccine was found to generate a T-cell response in treated patients.

Admedus CEO Lee Rodne said the next 12-36 months will be a pivotal time for the company.

“Admedus is entering an exciting phase with CardioCel on market in the US and Europe, the herpes vaccine progressing to phase II and the HPV therapeutic vaccine also heading into clinical trials,” he said.

Admedus (ASX:AHZ) shares were trading 14.4% lower at $0.107 as of around 1.30 pm on Monday.