Tekcapital upbeat as portfolio firm Belluscura raises another £0.75m

Intellectual property investment company Tekcapital announced on Tuesday that its portfolio company Belluscura has raised £0.75m of additional funding.

The AIM-traded firm said the funds would be used to complete regulatory clearance and launch its innovative X-PLOR portable oxygen concentrator, and brought the total amount raised by Belluscura in 2019 to £2.15m.

It explained that Belluscura had developed a patented portable oxygen concentrator called ‘the X-PLOR’, which could reportedly deliver 96% pure oxygen to patients 24/7.

According to the company, the X-PLOR was designed to replace metal oxygen tanks and heavier devices.

Weighing 1.4 kilograms, X-PLOR was 33% lighter, with research suggesting it could provide 37% more oxygen per kilogram than leading competitors.

“X-PLOR is portable, increasing the mobility of people suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and price efficient, costing less than tanks over the duration of the disease, and is upgradeable with user replaceable filters, so as the disease progresses, there is no need to buy another expensive higher capacity device, rather just change the filter as the prescription changes,” the Tekcapital board explained in its statement.

“Belluscura has exclusively licensed, acquired or filed 13 patents and applications in the field of concentrated oxygen generation and has a robust pipeline with additional oxygen enrichment products planned for release in 2020.”

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was described by the company as a progressive life-threatening lung disease, with more than 250 million people worldwide suffering from it.

It said COPD was not curable, but patients with COPD were prescribed supplemental oxygen to help relieve shortness of breath and reduce the risk of death.

According to the British Lung Foundation, an estimated 1.2 million people were living with diagnosed COPD in the UK.

Globally, the medical portable oxygen concentrator market was expected to grow to $2.4bn by 2024 from $1.4bn in 2018, with a compound annual growth rate of 9%.

“We are delighted to see that Belluscura has further strengthened its balance sheet,” said Tekcapital chairman Dr Clifford Gross.

“The fundraise was conducted at 15p per share, a 50% uplift over the valuation Tekcapital listed for Belluscura in its 2018 annual accounts.

“The directors believe that Belluscura's new device will help to improve the quality of life and reduce treatment cost for individuals suffering from COPD.”

Tekcapital owns around 19.2%, or 9.3 million shares, of Belluscura.