Vectura Group plc: Interim Management Statement
Chippenham, UK – 13 February 2014: Vectura Group plc (LSE: VEC) (“Vectura”), today publishes its Interim Management Statement for the period 1 October 2013 to 13 February 2014.
Financial update
On 18 November 2013, Vectura announced its interim results for the six months to 30 September 2013, reporting a loss before tax of £1.2m and cash of £65.5m.
Vectura’s financial performance from 1 October 2013 to date has been in line with the Board’s expectations.
Pipeline update
During the period, our partner, Sandoz, announced that it had received marketing authorisation for AirFluSal® Forspiro® (formerly known as VR315), an innovative new inhaler for patients with asthma and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To date, marketing authorisations have been received from Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Norway and Belgium and AirFluSal® Forspiro® has been launched in Denmark and Germany. The approvals in Germany, Romania and Belgium each triggered milestone payments to Vectura of €1.5 million (circa. £1.2m). The Company will continue to provide updates, as and when further market approvals are received.
The roll-out of Seebri® Breezhaler® continues and Novartis reported sales of $58m for the 2013 calendar year on 29 January 2014. Our second partnered programme with Novartis, Ultibro® Breezhaler® (formerly QVA149), received approvals in Japan[1] and Europe in September 2013. Novartis reported sales of $6m for the quarter ended 31 December 2013[2], with new royalty streams to Vectura anticipated from Q1 2014.
Novartis expect the US filing of Seebri® Breezhaler® and Ultibro® Breezhaler® to occur in Q4 2014.
In October 2013, GSK announced that BREO™ ELLIPTA™ for the treatment of COPD was available for sale in the US, followed in December 2013, by the approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of ANORO™ ELLIPTA™. Vectura receives royalties from sales of these two products up to a cap of £13m per annum.
Board update
In November 2013, the Company announced the appointment of Bruno Angelici to the Board of Vectura. Bruno became Chairman with effect from 1 February 2014.
Dr Chris Blackwell, Chief Executive of Vectura commented:
“Vectura has continued to make strong progress in the period. The ongoing approvals and launch of AirFluSal® Forspiro® de-risks our high value respiratory generic portfolio in Europe and the rest of world and triggers another new valuable royalty stream in addition to the launch of Ultibro® Breezhaler®, together with the continuing and successful roll-out of Seebri® Breezhaler®”.
Enquiries
Vectura Group plc +44 (0)1249 667700
Chris Blackwell, Chief Executive
Paul Oliver, Chief Financial Officer
Karl Keegan, Corporate Development Director
FTI Consulting +44 (0)20 7831 3113
John Dineen / Ben Atwell
About Vectura
Vectura Group plc and its subsidiaries ("Vectura" or the "Group") is a product development company that focuses on the development of pharmaceutical therapies for the treatment of airways-related diseases. This growing market includes asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is estimated to be worth in excess of $30 billion worldwide.
Vectura has eight products marketed by its partners and a portfolio of drugs in clinical development, a number of which have been licensed to major pharmaceutical companies. Vectura has development collaborations and licence agreements with several pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis, Sandoz (the generics arm of Novartis), Baxter, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), UCB and Tianjin King York Group Company Limited (KingYork).
Vectura seeks to develop certain programmes itself where this will optimise value. Vectura's formulation and inhalation technologies are available to other pharmaceutical companies on an out-licensing basis where this complements Vectura's business strategy. For further information, please visit Vectura's website at www.vectura.com.
Forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about the discovery, development and commercialisation of products. Various risks may cause Vectura's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including: adverse results in clinical development programmes; failure to obtain patent protection for inventions; commercial limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; dependence upon strategic alliance partners to develop and commercialise products and services; difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals to market products and services resulting from development efforts; the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and development and to expand commercialisation activities; and product initiatives by competitors. As a result of these factors, prospective investors are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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