Share trading in Redx Pharma resumes

Following the company’s exit from administration, trading in shares of Alderley-Park-based Redx Pharma are to resume at noon today.

In a letter to shareholders, the AIM-listed company, which carries out research into treatment for cancer and fibrosis, said had “sufficient working capital to return to the stock market as ‘a going concern’, with the administrators, FRP, having reached agreement with all outstanding creditors”.

It went on: “Redx also emerges under new leadership, with a new board, which is committed to the company’s re-focused vision of creating and developing first, or potentially best in class drugs, in specific areas of oncology and fibrosis that address significant unmet medical need.

“We are confident that this will enable the company to build significant value for shareholders over the medium and longer term.”

The reshaped board sees Iain Ross moving from non-executive to executive chairman and Neil Murray has stepped down as chief executive and director of the company.

Dominic Jackson has been appointed as chief financial officer and executive director and Peter Presland becomes non-executive director and chair of the audit committee, replacing Norman Molyneux, a longstanding non-executive director.

The company has £13.5m of cash with no liabilities nor loan facilities – outside of those necessary for the normal course of business.

Ross said: “We are delighted that Redx has exited administration as a going concern and with a strengthened board and management team that will ensure enhanced oversight and provide relevant industry expertise as well as continuity to the business.

“The strong research base has yielded a pipeline that is now focused on developing first or best in class drugs to validated targets in cancer and fibrosis where there remain significant unmet medical needs.

“We look forward to entering the clinic with our lead cancer compound in the first quarter of 2018 having recently received the necessary approvals for our trial design. Our aim is to progress our pipeline candidates, where warranted, to clinical proof of concept in order to build significant shareholder value.

“Importantly, the sale of the BTK inhibitor programme (for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases) to Loxo Oncology has provided the company with a balance sheet that, when coupled to a reduced cost base, creates a cash runway until early 2019 that will allow Redx to pass through a number of significant milestones.”