SMALL CAP MOVERS: Biotech firm Aptamer

Detecting Alzheimer’s disease early is vital to ensuring that medication can have the greatest effect, and the Aptamer Group’s groundbreaking development could help the millions of people who will suffer from this indiscriminate disease.

Aptamerteamed up with Oxford-based biotech Neuro-bio, said it has made a breakthrough that could help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease up to 20 years before symptoms appear.

Shares in the London-listed biotech rose 23 percent over the week to 11.5 pence on the discovery.

In the wider market, the AIM-All Share Index had a flat week, adding 0.02 percent to 794 points, underperforming its benchmark, the FTSE 100, which rose 1.4 percent to 7,670.

Holding on to the risers, AIM’s junior oil and gas players finally enjoyed some positive news.

IOGwhich was recently dogged by problems at the Blythe well, including a mechanical blockage, rose 8 percent to 4.3 pence.

The group confirmed on Tuesday that the first gas was ‘safely delivered’ from the well in the North Sea.

Better than expected drilling results from Predator oil and gas helped its stock burst 29 percent higher to 7.8 pence.

In the mining sector, the importance and significance of battery metals in driving the green transition was highlighted by Red Rock Resourceswhich increased by 65 percent to 0.2p.

The miner said it has been awarded environmental certification for its lithium project in Zimbabwe.

“Now that we have our environmental permit, mining can begin on site,” Chairman Andrew Bell said, and can now “start shipping products immediately.”

Power generation company Rurelec’s shares were electric, adding 36 percent to 0.74p after confirmation that the sale of its Argentine stake was completed this week.

Shares in Eden research certainly boomed, blooming 62 percent and reaching an 18-month high of 8.84p before pulling back to 8.09p.

The sustainable biopesticide group said Anasac will be the exclusive distributor of its biopesticide Mevalone in Colombia, the world’s second largest exporter of cut flowers.

To some of London’s fallers, and AMTE power sounded the alarm bells, causing a wave of investors to leave the stock.

The lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery maker warned the market that it must raise new funds within four weeks. The stock fell 74 percent.

GCM Resourcesthe London-based exploration and development company, had no trouble raising cash, albeit at a deep discount to the group’s closing price prior to the cash call.

The company is raising £500,000 at 2.5p per share. It’s no surprise, then, that the stock lost about 38 percent of its value to trade just 0.05 pence above the bid price.

San Leon energy fell 38 percent to 15.1 pence, again due to cash problems that have hampered the oil and gas production company since last July.

In particular, a proposed refinancing to secure a US$50 million loan facility for the Midwestern Oil & Gas transactions “has not progressed as quickly as the board had expected.” That said, San Leone said it is confident a deal will be struck.

This week WE Soda, the soda ash maker, saw plans to go public in London after what it described as an “unrealistically low” valuation.

The plight is symptomatic of a malaise particularly felt in the lower echelons of the market.

Analysts from Peel Hunt, one of the few corporate brokers raising money for listed small and medium-sized companies, noted that the ongoing drought means the London IPO market is “effectively closed.”

A lack of new activity played a big part in de Peel’s loss, with the number of capital market transactions it worked on dropping to 27 from 46.

While the primary offerings market is dead, there are some improvements in M&A, with activity in this area picking up again towards the end of the fourth quarter.

Finally, at a time when natural resources companies lived a hand-to-mouth existence, a well-funded junior quietly added value.

Amaroq minerals (up 4 percent at 44 pence) has a land package of 7,866.85 square kilometers in South Greenland, potential for gold and strategic minerals.

Exploration work is helping build up the resource of its main asset, Nalunaq Gold Mine, ahead of trial mining next year.

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