C4X Discovery Holdings plc (AIM: C4XD), an innovative drug discovery and development company, today announces its interim unaudited results for the six months ended 31 January 2016.
Corporate highlights
• Dr Clive Dix appointed as Executive Chairman to implement strategy of building the world’s most productive drug discovery and development company.
• Significant progress across therapeutic programmes:
o Addiction: oral drug candidate from the Orexin-1 programme for the treatment of addictive disorders such as nicotine addiction, continues to progress through preclinical development. Potential imaging agent for planned Phase I study identified. Second, differentiated Orexin-1 antagonist identified as follow-up candidate.
o Inflammation: design of novel oral activators of the NRF-2 pathway which is important in lung diseases with high unmet medical need such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (“COPD”); identification of small molecule inhibitors of the IL-17 pathway implicated in multiple inflammatory and autoimmune diseases including psoriasis.
o Diabetes: identification of novel, potent, orally available lead molecules activating GPR142 a key factor in the production of insulin.
• Collaboration established with University of Oxford’s Structural Genomics Consortium (“SGC-Oxford”) to improve and identify potent and selective molecules against a range of targets and initiation of an oncology therapeutic programme.
• Refinement of hybrid business model of wholly owned pipeline of drug discovery programmes plus partnerships with Pharma and Biotech. Access to C4XD proprietary technologies on a fee for service basis to be discontinued to maximise internal resource available for value creating pipeline projects. Aim to transition current fee-for-service relationships to shared IP or milestone driven collaborative agreements.
Progress since period end
• Acquisition of Adorial Limited together with Taxonomy3®, a proprietary human genetic technology platform for the identification of novel drug targets.
Financial highlights
• Cash, cash equivalents and deposits at 31 January 2016 of £5.0 million (31 July 2015: £7.5 million and 31 January 2015 £9.4 million).
• Net assets at 31 January 2016 of £5.3 million (31 July 2015: £8.0 million and 31 January 2015: £10.0 million).
Chairman’s statement
“The first half of the financial year to 31 January 2016 has seen C4X Discovery take important steps towards its aim of becoming the world’s most productive drug discovery and development company,” said Dr Clive Dix, Executive Chairman. “The ability of our unique platform to enable the design and creation of best-in-class drug candidates against a range of therapeutic targets has been further demonstrated by the identification of new molecules in our diabetes and inflammation programmes. Through our collaboration with SGC-Oxford we have now also initiated a discovery programme in oncology and our lead programme in addiction continues to make progress toward the clinic.
“Our recent acquisition of Adorial and the incorporation of the Taxonomy3® technology into our drug discovery engine provides us with a further tool to enable us to deliver safer, better new drug candidates more rapidly and cost effectively than traditional pharmaceutical approaches.”
For further information please contact:
C4X Discovery Holdings plc
Clive Dix, Executive Chairman
07801 865803
Zeus Capital Limited
Dan Bate
0161 393 1973
Dominic Wilson/Phil Walker
0203 829 5000
Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary-Jane Elliott, Chris Gardner, Matthew Neal, Chris Welsh
0203 709 5700
