Scancell Locks $25M BlackRock Debt Facility to Drive iSCIB1+ Into Phase 3 Melanoma Trial — Nasdaq Listing Targeted Late Q4 2026

Scancell Holdings plc (AIM: SCLP) closed a loan facility of up to US$25,000,000 with funds and accounts managed by BlackRock on September 24, 2026 — the debt component of what the company describes as an $89 million financing package assembled to carry its lead immunotherapy iSCIB1+ into a registrational Phase 3 trial.

The full $89 million comprises a $39.1 million private placement, a $12 million U.K. placing, a $3 million retail offer, the $25 million BlackRock debt facility, and at least $10 million from Neuphoria Therapeutics' existing cash balances, per a report from Fierce Biotech. The debt facility was announced the same day Scancell disclosed its September 24, 2026 news release on GlobeNewswire.

The loan is structured in four tranches. The first US$7 million draw requires shareholder approval; a further US$8 million becomes available upon completion of U.S. listing steps and the opening of the first Phase 3 clinical site. The remaining tranche can be drawn through December 31, 2027, subject to a minimum equity fundraising threshold. Term debt accrues interest at 10.50% per year, paid monthly in cash. BlackRock holds the right to convert all or part of the outstanding principal of the convertible facilities — including capitalised interest — into ordinary shares at a 30% premium to the equity fundraising price announced on July 23, 2026, subject to adjustment for the planned share consolidation.

Shareholders are expected to vote on the first tranche at an extraordinary general meeting in October; the meeting notice and exact date have not yet been issued, according to Mugglehead.

The capital is earmarked for the Phase 3 development of iSCIB1+, an ImmunoBody® immunotherapy targeting advanced melanoma. The FDA cleared Scancell's Investigational New Drug application for a registrational Phase 3 trial in January 2026, with progression-free survival as the agreed surrogate endpoint, per a January 26, 2026 GlobeNewswire release. Scancell completed the 140-patient SCOPE Phase 2 open-label, multi-centre study evaluating ImmunoBody® immunotherapies — SCIB1 and iSCIB1+ — in combination with nivolumab plus ipilimumab in previously untreated unresectable stage IIIB/IV melanoma. Interim data from that program showed a 24 percentage-point improvement in progression-free survival over real-world standard-of-care and historic controls.

The operational timeline, per Mugglehead: Phase 3 trial start targeted by end of 2026, with initial progression-free survival data targeted for the second half of 2028.

The BlackRock financing runs alongside Scancell's planned merger with Neuphoria Therapeutics Inc., first announced July 23, 2026. Upon completion, the combined company plans to operate under the name Scancell and apply to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol "SCLT." The U.S. listing transactions are expected to close concurrently in late Q4 2026, subject to customary closing conditions. Per a filing with the SEC, the group is expected to carry a pro forma net cash balance of approximately $79.1 million (£59.2 million) before transaction costs upon completion of the U.S. listing transactions.

Phillip L'Huillier is Chief Executive Officer of the Oxford-based company.

What's concretely next: an EGM notice still to be issued for the October shareholder vote on the first $7 million tranche, Phase 3 site opening as the trigger for the subsequent $8 million draw, and a late Q4 2026 target date for the Nasdaq listing and Neuphoria merger close.