Silence Therapeutics PLC (LON:SLN) (NASDAQ:SLN) has said it is set to receive US$45mln from an oversubscribed private placement of stock with US investors that will fund the development of its drug pipeline.
In total, 2.02mln American depositary shares were sold for US$22.50 each.
"This financing marks an important step in our journey to increase awareness of Silence and position our company as a global RNAi leader," said Silence chief executive Mark Rothera in a statement.
Silence is developing a new generation of medicines by harnessing the body's natural mechanism of RNA interference.
RNAi inhibits the expression of specific target genes thought to play a role in diseases with significant unmet medical need.
Its messenger RNAi GOLD platform can be used to create siRNAs that precisely target and silence disease-associated genes in the liver.
It has two drug candidates - SLN360, which is designed to reduce cardiovascular risk in people born with high levels of lipoprotein(a); and SLN124, which is being developed to tackle iron loading anaemias.
The first clinical data from the GOLD platform are due out the first half, followed by patient data from SLN360 and SLN124.
