Ondine raising £8.5m to fund US clinical trial

(Sharecast News) - Ondine Biomedical announced a proposed minimum £8.5m fundraising through a placing and subscription of new shares on Friday, priced at 8.5p each, to support the US phase three clinical trial of its nasal photodisinfection system, 'Steriwave'. The AIM-traded firm said the trial, conducted in partnership with HCA Healthcare, would enrol around 5,000 patients across 14 hospital sites to assess infection prevention methods, with initial patient recruitment expected by the end of the year and early data anticipated next autumn.

It said the majority of its directors intended to participate in the fundraising, contributing around £0.21m.

Alongside that, a separate private placing announced in September was expected to settle by 8 November, potentially bringing in an additional CAD 5m (£2.8m).

Together, the efforts aimed to secure at least £11.3m, ensuring Ondine had adequate funding to complete the phase three trial, advance commercialisation, and maintain operations into the early second half of 2025.

Ondine said it was also in advanced discussions with a major US healthcare group regarding a possible investment of up to $4m which, if successful, could extend its financial runway to early in the second quarter of 2026, covering the trial's conclusion and the new drug application (NDA) submission.

Should those discussions not result in an agreement, Ondine's board said it would explore alternative funding routes to support operations beyond mid-2025.

The placing, managed by RBC Capital Markets, Orana Corporate and Oberon Capital, was not underwritten and would take place on a non-preemptive basis.

Further announcements regarding the final allocation and total size of the placing would follow on its conclusion.

At 0957 GMT, shares in Ondine Biomedical were up 8.78% at 9.11p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.