SAREUM HOLDINGS PLC
(“Sareum” or “the Company”)
HALF-YEARLY RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2014
Sareum Holdings plc (AIM: SAR), the specialist cancer drug discovery and development business, announces good progress with its cancer and autoimmune disease research programmes and its half-yearly results for the six months ended 31 December 2014.
Operational highlights
Financial highlights
Dr Tim Mitchell, CEO of Sareum Holdings plc, said: “We are very pleased with the progress that has been made in the last six months. CHK1 in particular is reaching a crucial phase of development as it nears its first in-human trials.”
Sareum Holdings plc |
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Tim Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer |
01223 497 700 |
Sanlam Securities UK Limited (Nominated Adviser) |
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Simon Clements |
020 7628 2200 |
Hybridan LLP (Broker) |
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Claire Noyce / William Lynne |
020 3713 4581 / 4582 |
The Communications Portfolio (Media enquiries) |
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Ariane Comstive |
07785 922 354 |
Half-yearly results for the six months ended 31 December 2014
The full report is available as a pdf document: Financial Results for the Six Months Ended 31/12/2014
Chairman and CEO's Statement
The first half of the year has seen activity concentrate on the development of our three lead programmes. In addition to these results, a Research Update has been released today, which gives more detail on the progress that has been made.
Programme updates
The CHK1 programme, which is progressing in collaboration with CRT Pioneer Fund, is now reaching a critical phase as it nears completion of toxicology studies. Following the results of these studies, application for permission to commence Phase I clinical trials will be submitted. This is now expected to take place in the first half of the Company’s financial year to 30 June 2016 and will trigger a financial commitment of up to £797,500 by Sareum.
We are also making good progress with our TYK2 and Aurora+FLT3 programmes. Both programmes continue to demonstrate potent efficacy in models of debilitating and life-threatening diseases.
The granting of several key patents in important major markets secures the intellectual property that underpins all our discoveries.
Financial review
The Company ended the period with net assets of £1,074,000 (2013: £1,650,000) of which £429,000 (2013: £1,598,000) comprised of cash at bank. Non-cash assets include £447,000 of unspent investment in the CHK1 co-development partnership and R&D tax credit (£166,000, of which £76,000 has recently been received).
The loss on ordinary activities (after taxation) was £659,000 (2013: Loss of £350,000). The year-on year increase reflects the increased investment in our research programmes, particularly CHK1, as they reach more advanced stages of development.
Outlook
We have reached a critical stage in the development of our programmes, particularly CHK1. The next phase could be transformative in terms of the Company reaching its goal of delivering a clinical-stage research programme. Later stage programmes achieve higher asset values and, while there is always risk with any drug development, there is also significant potential upside.
As the programme development progresses, we continue to engage with potential licence partners to discuss commercialisation opportunities. To maintain the product pipeline, particularly in the event of a programme being licenced, we continue to investigate sources of new research opportunities.
We believe the Company is well placed to secure positive outcomes for its existing programmes and collaborations. With this in mind we look forward with cautious optimism.
Dr Paul Harper Chairman, Sareum Holdings plc |
Dr Tim Mitchell CEO, Sareum Holdings plc |