Interim results for the six months to 30 June 2018
Interim results for the six months to 30 June 2018
London and New York, 28 September 2018 - Amphion Innovations plc (AIM: AMP), the developer of medical, life science, and technology businesses, announces its audited results for the six months to 30 June 2018.
Financial Results
· Net Asset Value (“NAV”) decreased when compared to the previous year end, being
US -$8.68 million (31 December 2017: US -$2.81 million) due almost entirely to the movement in value of the share price of Motif Bio plc, a partner company
· Revenue decreased to US $60,000 (H1 2017: US $153,000)
· Administrative expenses decreased to US $1.37 million (H1 2017: US $1.75 million)
· Loss before taxation was US -$5.92 million (H1 2017: US $1.68 million) after fair value loss on the holding of Motif Bio plc
Highlights
Amphion
· In March, the holders of the Convertible Promissory Notes 2008 – 2017 voted to extend repayment of the Notes to 31 December 2018
· In May, Amphion sold 8,896,034 shares of Motif Bio for total proceeds of US $3.65 million bringing Amphion’s holding of Motif Bio to 9.53% of the total issued share capital
· In June, Mr. Philip Tansey joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director
Motif Bio
· Motif Bio raised an additional £10.0 million (US $13.5 million) in May 2018
· In June, Motif Bio submitted its New Drug Application (“NDA”) for its lead product iclaprim and in August the FDA notified the company that its filing was sufficiently complete to perform a substantive review
Polarean
· Successful IPO of Partner Company, Polarean Imaging plc (“Polarean”) in March 2018, raising £3 million at 15 pence per share
Post Period Events
· In September, Mr. Stephen Austin joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director
· In September, Amphion reached an agreement in principle, subject to entering into binding agreement, to extend the repayment of the loan Facility until 30 September 2019 and to potentially increase the size of the Facility by approximately US $1.4 million (approximately US $1.1 million after fees and expenses)
· In August, Amphion sold 3,000,000 shares of Motif Bio for net proceeds of US $1.29 million to make a repayment of the Loan Facility previously announced on 5 June 2014, reducing the loan balance from US $3.69 million at 30 June 2018 to US $2.82 million and bringing Amphion’s holding of Motif Bio to 8.51% of the total issued share capital
· In August, Motif Bio received a Notice of Allowance from the US Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) for its Patent Application Nos 15/586,021 and 15/586,815. The two method of use patents will expire in November 2037
· In August, Polarean announced that the first patient has been enrolled in its Phase III FDA clinical trial which aims to demonstrate non-inferiority of its drug-device technology combination, using hyperpolarised 129-Xenon (129Xe) gas MRI, against an approved comparator
· In July, Polarean announced the successful placing of ordinary shares, raising £0.8 million (US $1.064 million)
*Exchange rate at 30 June 2018 – US $1.3197 per GBP
Richard Morgan, CEO of Amphion Innovations plc, commented: “Amphion’s immediate prospects are tied directly to the progress of its Partner Companies. We work tirelessly both on and off the Board to support and guide each company towards its own independent success. During the first half of 2018, we devoted considerable time and effort to support the IPO of Polarean Imaging. We supported this with an additional investment of US $600,000 bringing the Company’s total investment in Polarean over the last two years to almost US $1 million. The IPO was successfully completed in March 2018 against a generally negative market backdrop for healthcare IPO’s in London. Soon after the close of the IPO fundraise roadshow, the broad equity market was hit by a sudden setback with the Dow having the largest point drop in history on 5 February 2018. This had a very negative impact on the risk appetite of investors in small cap healthcare companies. Polarean was in fact the only healthcare IPO to be completed on the AIM market in the six months to June 2018. Although the valuation of Polarean at listing was significantly below original expectations, we managed to complete the listing and raised sufficient funds to allow the company to make steady progress on our plans. Following a very successful investor symposium in late June we were pleased to encounter additional demand for Polarean shares and were able to complete a supplementary placing of 5 million ordinary shares at a slightly higher price of 16 pence per share for a total of £0.8 million.
With regards to Motif Bio, despite a slight delay in filing the NDA for the antibiotic iclaprim used to treat bacterial skin infections, Motif continued to make steady progress in preparation of the NDA and completed the filing and application in June 2018. Motif subsequently received acceptance of the filing on 14 August within the statutory 60 day timeframe. The NDA has been granted Priority Review and the FDA has set a target decision date under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) for 13 February 2019. The granting of two method of use patents will add additional exclusivity for iclaprim in targeting bacterial infections. We believe the significant progress that has been made by Motif has yet to be reflected in its share price. We therefore continue to take steps to maintain our holdings in Motif Bio in so far as possible. To date, these steps have included revising the secured loan agreement, Convertible Promissory Notes and the Macalee
