Biodexa changes ADS ratio to 400 ordinary shares, a one-for-eight reverse ADS split

Biodexa Pharmaceuticals PLC announced on October 8, 2026 a change to the ratio of its American Depositary Shares, or ADSs. Each ADS currently represents 50 ordinary shares. Under the new ratio, each ADS will represent 400 ordinary shares. The effective date is expected to be on or about October 26, 2026. The announcement was made in a Form 6-K signed by Chief Executive Officer Stephen Stamp.

What holders must do

The exchange is mandatory. ADS holders must surrender their ADSs for cancellation and exchange, and will receive one new ADS for every eight old ADSs. The new CUSIP is 59564R864 and the old CUSIP is 59564R872. The company says the change has the same effect as a one-for-eight reverse ADS split.

No fractional ADSs will be allocated. Any fractions will be sold, and the net proceeds distributed to the entitled holders. The depositary, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., will contact ADS holders and arrange the exchange. The company's ordinary shares will not be affected.

What the release leaves out

The release gives no reason for the change. It does not mention Nasdaq's minimum bid price requirement, the ADS price or any notice from Nasdaq, and it does not say whether the company expects the change to restore compliance with any listing rule.

The release also does not say how many ADSs are outstanding or how many holders the exchange will affect. It gives no newer Phase 3 enrollment count than the March 2026 one in the annual report.

The programs behind the listing

The company's annual report filed in March 2026 describes Biodexa as a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing products for gastrointestinal cancers, including gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). Its eRapa program, a rapamycin formulation, was licensed in April 2024 from Emtora Biosciences.

The report describes a double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 trial of eRapa in FAP, with 168 patients randomized 2:1 to drug or placebo across about 30 clinical sites in the United States and Europe. As of March 16, 2026, the trial had 22 active clinical sites and 37 patients enrolled, against the 168 planned. The company says a $3.0 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, added in May 2025 to earlier grants and a company match, is expected, in the company's words, to fund substantially all costs of that study.

The report says a Phase 2 study of eRapa in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer is now being conducted as an investigator-initiated trial by the University of Texas, San Antonio, and is ongoing. The company announced FDA fast track designation for eRapa in February 2025.

In February 2026 the company licensed MTX240, formerly OPB-171775, from Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The company intends to develop it first for GIST. Otsuka gained approval for a Phase 1 study from Japan's Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency. The report describes MTX240 as a molecular glue. It says tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as imatinib, sunitinib and regorafenib have significantly improved outcomes in GIST, but that resistance typically develops through secondary KIT mutations or other pathways, which the report calls a substantial clinical challenge.

Reading the change

Because the ordinary shares are not affected, the change alters only how many ADSs each holder keeps and how many ordinary shares each ADS represents. The release calls the effect a one-for-eight reverse ADS split for ADS holders, and it does not say whether further ratio changes are planned.

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