Cash injection boosts Amrad R&D program

Drug developer Amrad Corporation has raised $15.5 million in capital to help progress its clinical trials program.

The Melbourne company, which this week also revealed early completion of a Phase I/II trial to treat chronic pain, said it had successfully placed 13.5 million ordinary shares at $1.15 per share.

Managing director Dr Sandra Webb said the extra capital would be used to accelerate Amrad's current drug development projects and to a move trials into their later stages.

"Our goal is to build shareholder value by developing drugs to treat chronic human diseases where there is unmet medical need," Webb said.

"This new funding positions Amrad favourably to achieve early commercial returns."

The institutional placement, handled by Intersuisse Corporate, put the company in a better position to negotiate the timing and size of commercialisation deals with major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, she said.

Amrad's chronic pain treatment involves a drug called AM336, which is a synthetic version of a molecule originally isolated from the venom of a fish-eating species of cone snail found on the Great Barrier Reef.

In addition, the company is expecting results this month from its Phase II trial of peripheral nerve damage treatment, Emfilermin.