Adherium has announced its planned listing on the Australian Stock Exchange, with people invited to invest in the company as it plans to raise $35 million to support development of its digital health technology .
Adherium's technology is designed to address current sub-optimal medication use in chronic diseases.
The company’s first product range, Smartinhale, has been shown to improve patient medication adherence to preventative inhaled therapies that are used in the management of chronic respiratory diseases and to significantly improve health outcomes in people with asthma.
The Company is seeking to raise a maximum of $35 million with the issue of up to 70 million shares at $0.50 per share. At the date the Company lodged its prospectus it already had in excess of $25m committed, including a cornerstone investment of US$3 million by UK-based global pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca.
The Smartinhaler platform comprises of a range of approved medical devices that attach to prescription inhalers and record usage data.
The devices automatically transmit the data using the SmartinhalerLive wireless communications software to a Smartphone App, home monitoring hub, or PC, and then to the company’s cloud-based servers, where it can be accessed by the patient’s health care professional and care giver.
Non-adherence has been estimated to cost the global economy around US$300 billion annually. According to the company, in Australia it is estimated that only 43 per cent of people with asthma take their medication as prescribed and only 11 per cent use their prescribed preventative medication on a daily basis.
Regular use of preventative medications reduce the frequency of asthma attacks and reduce visits to doctors and hospitals, it said.
“As someone with asthma, I understand how difficult it can be to remember to take preventative medications every day as prescribed.," said Adherium Group CEO, Garth Sutherland. "The Smartinhaler platform transforms asthma and COPD management, resulting in patients experiencing significant improvements in quality of life, and doctors have accurate and objective information to help them best manage their patients. I believe every person with chronic respiratory disease can benefit from having a Smartinhaler.”
The company said clinical outcome studies have demonstrated that the Smartinhaler increases medication adherence by up to 59 per cent in adults and 180 per cent in children. In a study in adults with asthma undertaken at the Woolcock Institute in Sydney, a 60 per cent reduction in severe attacks was observed.
Adherium said it plans to use the proceeds of the IPO to supply commercial quantities of Smartinhalers to key customers via its business-to-business distribution model and accelerate the international commercialisation of the Smartinhaler platform.
The Smartinhaler device has European CE marking, and has been cleared for marketing by the US FDA, Australian TGA and New Zealand’s MedSafe.
Based on the maximum subscription at 50 cents per share, the market capitalisation of Adherium upon listing will be $70 million. The IPO opened on 4 August and closes on 14 August with Adherium expected to commence trading on the ASX on 26 August.