Senhwa aims NT$1.5bn via 15 million sharesEXPERIMENTAL DRUG: While news about a COVID-19 vaccine is more eye-catching, developing a treatment would be more viable, the Senhwa boss saidBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterSenhwa Biosciences Inc (生華科) aims to raise NT$1.5 billion (US$50.57 million) by issuing 15 million new common shares in the third quarter of this year to fund the research of new drugs, including the experimental drug Silmitasertib for the treatment of COVID-19, the company said on Monday. The price of the new shares would depend on the firm’s average share price over the five days before the secondary offering, Chang said. As Senhwa Biosciences shares have stayed above NT$100 in the past few months, the company expects to raise at least NT$1.5 billion from the issuance of 15 million new shares, Chang said. Senhwa Biosciences shares advanced 9.96 percent to NT$139.5 in Taipei trading yesterday, after an international team led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, identified Silmitasertib as one of the several drugs that could disrupt the viral takeover of cells. The company’s shares have risen 120 percent from NT$63.5 in March, when the company began focusing on exploiting the experimental drug to treat COVID-19.

Source: Taipei Times June 30, 2020 15:56 UTC