CBio bucks trend, achieves 'satisfactory' capital raising

Brisbane biotech CBio is set to conclude an 11-month, $5 million capital raising that coincided with the worst investor environment in a decade.

"We launched it at the end of September last year and the September 11 event meant nothing happened for five months," according to CBio chief operating officer Stephan Goodall.

But despite its unfortunate timing, the underwritten fund-raising exercise which closes near the end of July has produced "satisfactory" results, Goodall says.

The share subscription was taken up primarily by general investors rather than institutions although the company's major shareholder remains UniQuest, the University of Queensland's technology commercialisation arm.

The fresh injection of funds will finance production of a drug with potential for treating auto-immune disorders, Early Pregnancy Factor (EPF), and move it toward Phase I human clinical trials.

EPF is a naturally-occurring compound produced in early pregnancy by mothers to prevent their immune systems from viewing the foetus as a foreign body.

The compound was identified by Queensland researchers about 1973 and CBio was formed to licence intellectual property rights to that work and commercialise the compound.

EPF could be important for auto-immune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis as well for organ and skin transplants.

According to CBio, initial clinical collaborations have been established with the Department of Surgery and Department of Medicine at Royal Brisbane Hospital.