- Collaboration and license agreement to develop digital
therapeutics based on Theraxium and supporting cancer
treatment
- Worldwide scope targeting in particular the US, Japan and
Europe, enriching Voluntis’ pipeline and global footprint
- Strategic investment of Eisai in conjunction with commercial
agreement
- Exploration of collaboration opportunities between Voluntis
and Eisai in the field of neurology
Regulatory News:
Voluntis (Euronext Growth Paris, Ticker: ALVTX - ISIN:
FR0004183960), a leader in digital therapeutics, today announced a
collaboration agreement with Eisai (Headquarters: Tokyo) to design
and develop innovative digital therapeutics (DTx) to support
patients treated for cancer as well as a strategic investment from
Eisai in Voluntis.
Collaboration and license agreement further enriching
Voluntis’ commercial pipeline
By leveraging Voluntis’ Theraxium technology platform, the two
companies will collaborate on novel DTx specifically designed for
patients and healthcare professionals to support cancer
treatment.
The partners’ goals are to jointly design and develop new DTx,
and evaluate their benefits for patients, caregivers and healthcare
professionals. Ultimately, the companies would collaborate on the
commercialization of the DTx, once authorized for marketing by
regulatory authorities. The new assets will be designed with the
intent to be commercialized in the US, Japan and European markets.
The initiative supports both partners’ strategy of using digital
technology to improve treatment experiences and patient outcomes.
The DTx will be based on the Theraxium platform, which powers
Voluntis’ portfolio of digital therapeutics, including its
first-in-class proprietary oncology solution which received
marketing authorization in the US and Europe.
In addition to their partnership in oncology, the partners will
explore other opportunities of collaboration to develop, evaluate
and commercialize digital therapeutics based on the Theraxium
platform in the field of neurology, another area of strategic focus
for Eisai notably for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Pierre Leurent, CEO of Voluntis, said: “We are delighted to be
starting this alliance with Eisai, a life sciences leader driven by
an inspiring human health care philosophy. Our teams are eager to
contribute to this mission, bringing complementary skills and
capabilities to enable this collaboration. We are honored by the
trust Eisai has placed in us and see it as a recognition of
Voluntis as a trusted global partner for pharmaceutical companies
developing digitally-augmented therapies”.
Following this strategic agreement, Voluntis increases its
global footprint with a new opportunity to commercialize its
technology in Japan. The collaboration also enriches the company’s
portfolio of pharma-partnered DTx, demonstrating once again the
strength of its Theraxium platform, a state-of-the-art technology
to accelerate and de-risk the strategic DTx initiatives of leading
pharmaceutical players.
Main terms of the strategic investment by Eisai
In addition to the payment made upon execution of the
collaboration and licensing agreement, Eisai makes a strategic
investment in Voluntis. This transaction will strengthen the
partnership between the two companies.
The investment will be carried out through the reserved issuance
to Eisai of 100,361 ordinary shares without pre-emptive rights for
the existing shareholders of the Company. The issue price of the
new shares was set at €4.15 per share. Upon settlement-delivery of
the new shares, Eisai will hold ca. 1.1% of Voluntis’s share
capital and ca. 0.86% of voting rights.
Kazumasa Nagayama, Chief Strategy Officer of Eisai, said: “Eisai
is aiming to become a "Medico Societal Innovator" (a company that
changes society through creating medicines and providing solutions)
in our Medium-Term Business Plan "EWAY 2025". Partnering with
Voluntis, a leading DTx company, is one of our key initiatives to
realize it. We expect this alliance will help increase the benefits
provided to patients and their families”.
Please refer to page 5 for more details about the financial
transaction.
About Voluntis
Voluntis creates digital therapeutics that empower people with
chronic conditions to self-manage their treatment every day, thus
improving real-world outcomes. Voluntis’ solutions, combining
mobile and web apps, use clinical algorithms to deliver
personalized recommendations to patients and their care teams. For
example, these recommendations are used to adjust treatment dosage,
manage side effects or monitor symptoms. Leveraging its Theraxium
technology platform, Voluntis has designed and operates multiple
digital therapeutics, especially in oncology and diabetes. Voluntis
has long-standing partnerships with leading life science companies.
Based in Cambridge, MA, and Paris, France, Voluntis is a founding
member of the Digital Therapeutics Alliance. For more information,
please visit: www.voluntis.com
Mnemo: ALVTX - ISIN: FR0004183960
About Eisai
Eisai is a leading global research and development-based
pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan, with approximately
10,000 employees worldwide. We define our corporate mission as
“giving first thought to patients and their families and to
increasing the benefits health care provides,” which we call our
human health care (hhc) philosophy. We strive to realize our hhc
philosophy by delivering innovative products in therapeutic areas
with high unmet medical needs, including Oncology and Neurology. In
the spirit of hhc, we take that commitment even further by applying
our scientific expertise, clinical capabilities and patient
insights to discover and develop innovative solutions that help
address society’s toughest unmet needs, including neglected
tropical diseases and the Sustainable Development Goals.
For more information about Eisai, please visit www.eisai.com
(for global), us.eisai.com (for U.S.) or www.eisai.eu (for Europe,
Middle East, Africa), and connect with us on Twitter (U.S. and
global) and LinkedIn (for U.S.).
Disclaimer
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements
concerning Voluntis group and its business, including its prospects
and product candidate development. Such forward-looking statements
are based on assumptions that Voluntis considers to be reasonable.
However, there can be no assurance that the estimates contained in
such forward-looking statements will be verified, which estimates
are subject to numerous risks including the risks set forth in the
2019 annual financial report and the 2020 half-year financial
report published by Voluntis respectively on April 30, 2020 and
September 29, 2020 (a copy of which is available on
www.voluntis.com) and to the development of economic conditions,
financial markets and the markets in which Voluntis operates. The
forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also
subject to risks not yet known to Voluntis or not currently
considered material by Voluntis. The occurrence of all or part of
such risks could cause actual results, financial conditions,
performance or achievements of Voluntis to be materially different
from such forward-looking statements. Voluntis expressly declines
any obligation to update such forward-looking statements.
Details of the
financial transaction
Voluntis’ Board of directors of April 26, 2021, using the
delegation granted by the Company's general meeting of June 29,
2020 under its 26th resolution, decided to issue a total number of
100,361 new ordinary shares, with a nominal value of €0.10 each,
and reserved the subscription for Eisai (falling within the
category of persons defined in the 26th resolution1).
The capital increase, representing approximately 1.1% of the
Company's share capital, on a non-diluted basis, prior to the
completion of the offering, was carried without shareholders'
preferential subscription rights, on the basis of article L.
225-138 of the French Commercial Code.
The issue price of the new shares was set at €4.15 per share.
This price corresponds to the average of the volume-weighted
average prices of the last 3 trading sessions prior to its setting,
in accordance with the 26th resolution of the Company's combined
shareholders' meeting of June 29, 2020. The gross proceeds of the
issue for Voluntis are €416,498.15 (issue premium included).
Impact of the issue on the distribution of capital
As an indication, the participation of a shareholder holding 1%
of the Company's share capital prior to the capital increase will
become approximately 0.99% after the operation.
Before issuance
After issuance
# of
% of
% of
# of
% of
% of
shares
share capital
voting rights
shares
share capital
voting rights
Management & employees
405,161
4.5%
6.8%
405,161
4.5%
6.7%
Bpifrance Participations
1,890,974
21.1%
16.3%
1,890,974
20.9%
16.2%
SHAM Innovation Santé
975,218
10.9%
16.8%
975,218
10.8%
16.7%
LBO France
609,839
6.8%
10.5%
609,839
6.7%
10.4%
Vesalius Biocapital
544,282
6.1%
9.4%
544,282
6.0%
9.3%
Debiopharm Innovation Fund
885,778
9.9%
7.6%
885,778
9.8%
7.6%
Indigo
491,782
5.5%
4.2%
491,782
5.4%
4.2%
Eisai
100,361
1.1%
0.9%
Others
3,144,234
35.1%
28.3%
3,144,234
34.8%
28.1%
TOTAL
8,947,268
100.00%
100.00%
9,047,629
100.00%
100.00%
Settlement-delivery and listing of new shares
The settlement and delivery of the new shares and their
admission to trading on the market of Euronext Growth in Paris are
planned for May 3rd, 2021, subject to customary conditions. The new
ordinary shares will be admitted to trading on the market of
Euronext Growth Paris on the same trading line as the existing
ordinary shares of Voluntis already listed under the same ISIN code
FR0004183960 - ALVTX. The new ordinary shares will be immediately
fungible with the existing ordinary shares of Voluntis.
The offering was not subject to a prospectus to be approved by
the French financial markets authority (Autorité des marchés
financiers – the “AMF”).
______________________ 1 i.e. "natural or legal persons
(including companies), trusts or investment funds, or other
investment vehicles, regardless of their form (including, without
limitation, any investment fund or venture capital company, in
particular any FPCI, FCPI or FIP), governed by French or foreign
law, whether or not shareholders of the Company, that invest on a
regular basis in the technology industry".
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210426005910/en/
ACTUS Media Relations Vivien Ferran vferran@actus.fr +33
(0)1 53 67 36 34
ACTUS Investor Relations Jérôme Fabreguettes-Leib
voluntis@actus.fr +33 (0)1
53 67 36 78
Voluntis Chief Financial Officer Guillaume Floch
investisseurs@voluntis.com +33 (0)1 41 38 39 20