Synairgen Plc: Preliminary results for the year ended 31 Dec 2018
Southampton, UK – 25 February 2019: Synairgen (LSE: SNG), the respiratory drug discovery and development company, today announces its preliminary statement of audited results for the year ended 31 December 2018.
Operational highlights – including post period end
- Successfully advanced inhaled interferon beta (IFN-beta) programme into the clinic for the treatment or prevention of virally-induced COPD exacerbations
- Part 1 of SG015 clinical trial completed, showing that SNG001 was well tolerated and that antiviral biomarker analysis showed COPD patients (without viral infection) inhaling SNG001 had significantly increased antiviral activity in the lungs
- Raised £2.7 million (net of expenses) in October 2018 to increase the scope of our inhaled IFN-beta clinical trial, enhancing our business development opportunity for the COPD programme
- Part 2 of SG015 trial commenced with 13 trial sites now active
- Our Australian partner, Pharmaxis, has satisfactorily completed Phase I trials and 3 month toxicology for 2 compounds, enabling it to progress the next strategic steps of the LOXL2 inhibitor programme
Financial highlights
- Revenues for the year were £0.11 million (2017: £5.03 million, which included a non-recurring £5 million upfront payable by Pharmaxis)
- Research and development expenditure for the year was £3.23 million (2017: £2.06 million) reflecting investment in the development of the IFN-beta programme
- Loss from operations for the year ended 31 December 2018 was £4.13 million (2017: profit of £1.62 million)
- Cash, cash equivalents and deposit balances of £5.33 million at 31 December 2018 (2017: £6.85 million). The Group remains debt free
Commenting on the Annual Results, Simon Shaw, Chairman of Synairgen said: “2018 was a year of excellent operational progress for Synairgen. We were particularly pleased to advance our inhaled IFN-beta programme into a clinical trial to treat or prevent exacerbations of COPD and to increase the scope of the trial to support future partnering activity. We were also pleased that our partner Pharmaxis announced completion of the three-month toxicology studies and await further steps in the advancement of this opportunity. We look forward to continued progress in 2019.”
- Ends -
This announcement contains inside information as contained in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No. 596/2014 (“MAR”).
For further enquiries, please contact:
Synairgen plc
Richard Marsden, Chief Executive Officer
John Ward, Finance Director
Tel: + 44 (0) 23 8051 2800
finnCap
Geoff Nash, Max Bullen-Smith (Corporate Finance)
Alice Lane (Corporate Broking)
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7220 0500
Consilium Strategic Communications (Financial Media and Investor
Relations)
Mary-Jane Elliott / Sue Stuart / Olivia Manser
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5701
Notes for Editors
About Synairgen
Synairgen is a respiratory drug discovery and development company founded by University of Southampton Professors Stephen Holgate, Donna Davies and Ratko Djukanovic. The business, focused primarily on asthma and COPD, uses its differentiating human biology BioBank platform and world-renowned international academic KOL network to discover and develop novel therapies for respiratory disease. Leveraging its scientific and clinical facilities at Southampton General Hospital, the Company uses in vitro and ex vivo models to progress opportunities into clinical development. The BioBank of human samples is used in these models to increase confidence in the likelihood of successful drug development.
Synairgen is currently conducting a two-part Phase II trial evaluating SNG001, the Company’s inhaled interferon beta (IFN-beta) product. The Phase II trial, called SG015, has been designed to assess the safety of SNG001 in COPD patients and its clinical benefit in these patients when they have a cold or flu infection, a major driver of COPD exacerbations.
Core to Synairgen’s business strategy is the realisation of value via licensing transactions. In August 2015 the Company entered into a collaboration with Pharmaxis to develop an oral LOXL2 inhibitor to reduce fibrosis in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). In December 2017, the collaboration agreement was amended as Pharmaxis took on full responsibility for the programme, with Synairgen receiving a £5 million upfront payment and a share of at least 17% (net of allowable expenses) of any receipts from any onward licensing by Pharmaxis of the LOXL2 inhibitors in fibrotic indications.
Synairgen is quoted on AIM (LSE: SNG). For more information about Synairgen, please see www.synairgen.com
Synairgen Plc: Preliminary results for the year ended 31 Dec 2018