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Genetic Signatures Raises A$15.9M in Placement, Rights Offering

NEW YORK – Australian infectious disease diagnostics firm Genetic Signatures on Thursday said it raised A$15.9 million (US$10.8 million) in capital through a placement and a rights offering.

The firm said the placement of 21.5 million new shares and the rights issue for about 21.6 million shares raised almost $8.0 million each.

The rights issue entails an entitlement offer of one new share at A$.37 per share for every 6.65 existing fully paid shares in the company held by shareholders as of Dec. 28 who have a registered address in Australia or New Zealand.

The company said all its major shareholders participated in the capital raising. It will issue about 43.1 million new shares. The A$.37 per share price for the new shares represents a 16 percent discount from the last traded share price of A$.44 as of Dec. 18. The rights issue will be open Jan. 2 to Jan. 18.

The company plans to use the money to support regulatory reviews and commercialization of its molecular diagnostics products. The firm designs and manufactures real-time PCR-based infectious disease tests that are designed to be performed in high-volume hospital and pathology labs.

Genetic Signatures said in September that it had applied for US Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance for its PCR-based EasyScreen Gastrointestinal Parasite Detection Kit for eight of the most common GI parasites, and the firm was conducting clinical studies to support a 510(k) submission in the first half of 2024 for a viral respiratory infection test. Its protozoa test kits are also available in Australia, Europe, and Canada.

"The company is at a particularly exciting time with our first product currently under review for US clearance by the US Food and Drug Administration and the second product in late-stage clinical testing to support a second US regulatory clearance," Genetic Signatures Non-Executive Chairman Nick Samaras said in a statement. "In addition, the development of our high-throughput, sample-to-answer instrument will progress and promises to be a game changer for the high-volume user sites we will be targeting in the US market."

Genetic Signatures also announced Tuesday that it had received a A$6.9 million refund from the Australian Taxation Office through its Research and Development tax incentive program. The program provides refunds for R&D activities during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023.