Orphan
diseases
News
Dublin, Ireland, 7th September 2011
Interim financial results for the six months
ended 30 June 2011
AGI Therapeutics plc ("AGI" or “the Company") (AIM,
ESM: AGI), a speciality pharmaceutical development company, today
announces interim financial results for the six months ended 30 June
2011.
Financial summary
•Cash and short-term deposits at 30 June 2011 of $9.3 million (31 December 2010: $10.0 million)
•R&D spend $0.7 million (2010: $0.9 million)
•G&A spend $0.5 million (2010: $0.6 million)
•Loss per ordinary share $0.015 (2010: $0.046)
Operational summary
•During the first six months of 2011 AGI began implementing its
new strategy announced in late 2010. The Company has re-focused its
research and development efforts in the area of specialty indications
with unmet medical needs, with particular focus on treatments which
qualify for Orphan drug status.
•The first six months of 2011 were dominated by the pre-clinical
evaluation of AGI-350,, a novel presentation of an existing marketed
drug which AGI is developing to treat a significant unmet medical
need in the critical care setting.
•AGI has completed preliminary development and in-vitro evaluation
of a form and formulation of AGI-350 which is specifically designed
to provide effective and efficient delivery of the drug to the lung.
•AGI entered into a technology access agreement with Aerogen
Ltd. to provide specialized aerosol technology for the administration
and delivery of AGI-350 to ventilated patients in the Intensive Care
Unit (ICU) setting. This proprietary technology is being customized
for use with AGI-350 in the target patient population and prototypes
have been developed for pre-clinical evaluation.
•Furthermore, AGI has initiated a pre-clinical programme for
AGI-350 which is ongoing. A model of the target condition has been
developed and is being employed to characterise AGI-350 and generate
key proof of concept data to inform subsequent clinical development.
Once this phase of evaluation is completed in H2 2011, AGI will consider
the next steps for this programme, which may involve advancing the
product into human trials.
•AGI continues to explore other opportunities to develop products
for use in the critical care setting. Management believes this is
an area that is under-served by currently available products.
•During the first six months AGI continued to exercise vigilance
over the use of its existing cash resources. Total cash absorbed by
operations was $0.9 million in the first six months of 2011, a decrease
of 18% over the same period in 2010. In addition, since 30 June, AGI
reported the sale of certain intellectual property assets, no longer
regarded as core, to Warner Chilcott for $300,000. This will result
in a gain on disposal of intellectual property of approximately $54,000,
which will be recognised in the second half of the year.
Commenting on the announcement today, John Devane, CEO of AGI stated;
“The first six months of 2011 saw AGI take its first steps to rebuilding
the product pipeline and steering the Company towards being a specialist
development company with an emphasis on Orphan needs and critical
care applications. We are encouraged with our progress to date.”
Report is continued here
Contact Information
AGI Therapeutics
David Kelly, Chief Financial Officer
Tel: +353 1 449 3254
Davy
John Frain
Tel: +353 (1) 614 8761
Notes to Editors:
About AGI Therapeutics plc
AGI is a specialty pharmaceutical company which is focused on the development and commercialisation of differentiated drug products to treat unmet medical needs, including treatments for conditions which qualify for Orphan Drug status.
The Company’s lead programme, AGI-350, is being developed to treat a significant unmet medical need in the critical care setting, in particular for patients who require ventilation support.
AGI’s common shares are listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange (AIM) and on the Enterprise Securities Market (ESM) of the Irish Stock Exchange as AGI.
For further information please see www.agitherapeutics.com.
Statements contained within this press release may contain forward-looking comments which involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to vary from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify such forward-looking statements by terminology such as ‘may’, ‘will’, ‘could’, ‘forecasts’, ‘expects’, ‘plans’, ‘anticipates’, ‘believes’, ‘estimates’, ‘predicts’, ‘potential’, or ‘continue’. Predictions and forward-looking references in this press release are subject to the satisfactory progress of research which is, by nature, unpredictable. Forward projections reflect management’s best estimates based on information available at the time of issue.