Scancell to join Nasdaq through Neuphoria merger and $89 million funding package
Published: 03:35 23 Jul 2026 EDT
Scancell Holdings PLC (AIM:SCLP, OTC:SCNLF, FRA:SCP), the Oxford-based cancer immunotherapy developer listed on London's junior AIM market, has agreed an all-share merger with US biotech Neuphoria Therapeutics that will give it a Nasdaq listing and access to American investors.
The combined group will keep the Scancell name and apply to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker SCLT, while retaining its existing AIM quotation.
Alongside the deal, Scancell expects to raise up to $89 million through a mix of equity and debt to fund a global registrational phase III trial of its lead treatment in advanced melanoma.
The company has secured commitments from new and existing shareholders for a private placement of $39.1 million, roughly £29.2 million.
It is launching a UK placing today to raise about $12 million and a retail offer of up to $3 million.
Scancell has also signed a non-binding term sheet with funds managed by BlackRock for debt financing of up to $25 million.
Completion of the merger is expected to bring at least a further $10 million into the enlarged group from Neuphoria's own cash balances.
Existing Scancell shareholders will own 85.5% of the combined company on a pro forma basis, with Neuphoria holders taking 14.5%.
The lead asset, iSCIB1+, is an off-the-shelf immunotherapy designed to prompt the patient's own immune system to attack tumour cells.
It has fast-track designation from the US Food and Drug Administration, a status intended to speed the review of treatments addressing serious conditions.
Data from the mid-stage SCOPE study showed 77% progression-free survival at 22 months when the treatment was combined with the established checkpoint drugs ipilimumab and nivolumab.
Further progression-free and overall survival data from that study are expected within the next 12 months.
The financing is intended to carry the phase III trial through to its primary readout in the second half of 2028 and to extend the group's cash runway into 2029.
Chief executive Dr Phil L'Huillier said the transaction gave Scancell access to US investors and the wider American life sciences sector for the capital needed to run the registrational study.
Neuphoria chairman Alan Fisher said the deal let his shareholders participate in the future value of Scancell's oncology pipeline while retaining potential upside from Neuphoria's partnered assets through contingent value rights.
Both boards have approved the transaction unanimously, and it requires shareholder approval on both sides.
