Drug development firm raises £11m to fund clinical work

North West drug development company Evgen Pharma has raised £11m to accelerate clinical and pre-clinical work.

Evgen, which has bases in Wilmslow and Liverpool, has raised the cash through a heavily oversubscribed placing of 137m new ordinary shares at a price of 8p each.

The proceeds will be used to fund further progress on cancer treatments and two key senior hires, being a chief business officer and a chief scientific and medical officer.

It is expected the proceeds will fund the group’s operations through to mid-2023.

Among its trials Evgen is developing sulforaphane-based medicines, known as SFX-01, for the treatment of breast cancer and multiple other diseases.

Earlier this year, Huw Jones, Evgen Pharma chief executive, said: “We are very pleased with recent progress of our work on SFX-01 and are most grateful for the support shown in this placing by existing shareholders.

“The placing also brings a number of new, high quality shareholders to our register and we offer a warm welcome to them as we accelerate our progress in a range of cancers and acute respiratory distress.”