4D Pharma Plc - Case Update

The shares of collapsed 4D Pharma Plc have been cancelled from AIM, as a proposed equity raise that would have seen the the company exit administration as a going concern fell through.

The company is the parent to a pharmaceutical group developing Live Biotherapeutic Products, a novel class of drug derived from the human gut microbiome.

It was placed into administration by Oxford Finance, the company’s secured creditor, after the company was ultimately unable to progress its fundraising quickly enough to deliver the required funding into the business. James Clark and David Pike of Interpath were appointed Joint Administrators.

In October 2022, the secured debt was acquired by Armistice, a US-based specialist healthcare investor, with a view to converting the debt into equity alongside an equity investment to bring the company out of administration. The company’s shareholders voted to approve the proposed financing on 16 January 2023.

Unfortunately, on 31 January, Armistice advised the Joint Administrators that it would no longer support the use of the company’s cash assets to progress work towards an exit from administration and that the equity raise would no longer be provided.

As a result, the intended administration exit route is no longer an option, and the Joint Administrators have begun marketing the assets of the company for sale as the option with the greatest likelihood of producing the most return for the company’s stakeholders.

In addition, it has been announced that the company’s ordinary shares have been cancelled from AIM as of 16 February.

The Joint Administrators have been assisted by Jones Day. Their Proposals can be found HERE, and the press release announcing the cancellation of the shares can be found HERE.