Chippenham, UK – 18 August 2009: Vectura Group plc (LSE: VEC) (“Vectura”), today publishes its Interim Management Statement for the period from 1 April 2009 to date.
Highlights
• Commencement of NVA237 Phase III clinical studies, with QVA149 Phase III studies expected to start in late 2009
o Receipt of a $7.5m (£4.5m) milestone payment from Novartis in June 2009 on commencement of NVA237 Phase III
o Novartis to publish additional clinical data on QVA149 at the European Respiratory Society Conference in Vienna (12–16 September 2009)
• Good progress on VR315, a generic combination asthma/COPD product licensed to Sandoz, the generics division of Novartis, with achievement of milestones on both our US and EU collaborations
o €2.5m (£2.2m) cash received in April 2009
o $6m (£3.6m) cash received in August 2009
• Other Phase II studies progressing as planned with results expected in 2010
o VR496 for cystic fibrosis, which also has the potential for use in asthma and/or COPD
o VR040 for Parkinson’s disease
Financial outlook
• Strong cash position with cash balances at 30 September 2009 expected to be in excess of £70 million
Dr Chris Blackwell, Chief Executive of Vectura, commented:
“We have continued to make good progress with our clinical pipeline whilst maintaining our strong financial position. With Phase III trials expected to start later this year for QVA149, which has the potential to be the first once-daily LAMA/LABA combination available to patients, and our other in-house clinical programmes expected to yield results in 2010, we have important newsflow ahead and remain very confident of Vectura’s prospects.”
