OncoQuest Inc. has completed a second round of private placement financing, issuing 603,000 common shares at US $10.00 share for gross proceeds of US $6.03 million. An unnamed South Korean institutional fund led the financing.
OncoQuest, a subsidiary of Quest PharmaTech Inc. (TSX-V: QPT), is a private biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of immunotherapies for cancer.
OncoQuest intends to use the proceeds of the private placement financing to continue advancing its lead compound, oregovomab, in its multiple Phase 2 combination clinical trials and for general corporate purposes.
OncoQuest also announced that existing shareholder, Hepalink USA Inc., a subsidiary of Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (SZSE: 002399), has agreed to convert all its preferred shares and accrued 5% preferred share dividends into common shares of OncoQuest. The preferred share dividends of US $1,302,310 will be converted into 130,231 common shares at US $10 per share. Following this conversion, Hepalink USA will own 3,606,167 OncoQuest common shares and there will be a total of 9,209,267 OncoQuest common shares and no preferred shares outstanding.
OncoQuest raised US $[mepr-active rule=”374″ ifallowed=”hide”]##Subscribe today to see our research on this and all other subscriber ONLY items##[/mepr-active][mepr-active rule=”374″]13 million in a Series A preferred share offering priced at US $3.74 per Series A preferred share at in three tranches in 2015 and 2016 from Hepalink USA. [/mepr-active]
“We are pleased with this recent private placement financing which provides financial support for our ongoing clinical trial programs,” stated Dr. Madiyalakan, CEO of OncoQuest. “The US$10 private placement share issue price and the preferred share dividend conversion price provide evidence of the confidence of our investors and the increase in value of our technologies since the inception of the Company in 2015.”
OncoQuest’s lead product is oregovomab for the treatment of ovarian cancer that is currently undergoing multiple Phase 2 clinical trials.
Oregovomab is OncoQuest’s high affinity monoclonal antibody (Mab B43.13) that is designed to bind to the tumor associated antigen CA125 (also designated MUC16) and initiate a cascade of immune responses against this glycoprotein. CA125 is expressed in epithelial ovarian cancer on the tumor surface, but is also shed into the circulation. OncoQuest believes that carboplatin paclitaxel based chemotherapy used in front line treatment in a precisely scheduled combination with oregovomab can improve outcomes relative to chemotherapy alone and is currently exploring the role of select immune adjuvants and checkpoint inhibition to assess oregovomab’s application in advanced disease settings.
OncoQuest’s technology platform includes a panel of tumor antigen specific monoclonal immunoglobulins including CA125, MUC1, PSA and Her2/neu; and the application of combinatorial immunotherapy to enhance tumor specific immunity and clinical outcome.
OncoQuest’s MUC1 program has already undergone a Phase 1 clinical trial in breast cancer patients, and its development is being led by OncoVent Co. Ltd., OncoQuest’s joint venture partner that has licensed the rights of the immunotherapy technologies in the territory of Greater China. OncoQuest’s next-generation products are based on immunoglobulin E licensed from UCLA, Stanford University and Advanced Immune Therapeutics, Inc. These antigen-specific monoclonal IgE antibodies are currently in preclinical development.
photo credit: OncoQuest Inc.