SAREUM HOLDINGS PLC

(“Sareum” or “the Company”)

HALF-YEARLY RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2015

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 2015.

Operational highlights

• Completion of preclinical studies for the CHK1 clinical development candidate, in preparation for two planned clinical trials in cancer patients.
• Publication of a description of CCT245737, the CHK1 clinical development candidate, in the high-impact journal, Oncotarget.
• US and European Patents granted for discoveries that underpin the Aurora+FLT3 Kinase Inhibitors programme.
• Demonstration of effective reduction of symptoms when the TYK2 lead molecule is administered in a disease model of rheumatoid arthritis.

Financial highlights

• Loss on ordinary activities (after taxation) of £485,000 (2014: Loss of £659,000), in line with expectations.
• Cash at the Company’s bank at period end was £335,000 (2014: £429,000) and the Company’s unspent investment in the CHK1 Project was £841,000 (2014: £447,000).

Post period end

• CHK1 Clinical Trials Application (CTA) submissions on 29 January 2016, triggering a £200,000 milestone payment to Sareum.

Dr Tim Mitchell, CEO of Sareum Holdings plc, said: “We have made considerable progress in the last six months.  With clinical trials for the CHK1 programme expected to start before our financial year end, we are swiftly moving towards our goal of becoming a clinical-stage development company.”

The full report is available as a pdf document: Financial Results for the Six Months Ended 31/12/2015

Half-yearly results for the six months ended 31 December 2015

Chairman and CEO's Statement

Introduction

The first half of the year has seen good progress in our research and development programmes, with particular focus on the CHK1 preclinical studies. 

Research Update

In addition to these results a Research Update, released today, gives more detail on the progress that has been made. 

Programme updates

The CHK1 programme, which is progressing in collaboration with CRT Pioneer Fund, has successfully completed its preclinical studies. Application for permission to commence Phase I clinical trials was submitted in January 2016. Two clinical trials in cancer patients are planned, one with the drug candidate as a single anti-cancer agent and one in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapy.

Our TYK2 and Aurora+FLT3 programmes continue to demonstrate potent efficacy in models of debilitating and life-threatening diseases. 

Key patents were secured in the US and Europe for inventions associated with our Aurora+FLT3 programme, adding to our valuable intellectual property portfolio.

Financial review

The Company ended the period with net assets of £1,380,000 (2014: £1,074,000) of which £335,000 (2014: £429,000) comprised cash at bank. Non-cash assets include £841,000 of our share of unspent investment in the CHK1 co-development partnership and £269,000 of R&D tax credit (of which £90,000 was received post period end and a further £96,000 is expected shortly).

The submission of the Clinical Trials applications required a financial commitment towards the funding of these trials of £797,500 from Sareum, which was paid in December 2015. These submissions triggered a £200,000 milestone payment from Cancer Research Technology Ltd., which we expect to receive in the near future.  

The loss on ordinary activities (after taxation) was £485,000 (2014: Loss of £659,000). This decrease in loss is due in part to a lower spend on CHK1 than in the half year to December 2014, re- phasing of development costs and the receipt of part of the June 2015 funding award from Innovate UK. In addition, in the prior period the Company incurred a non-recurring finance cost of £113,000.

Outlook

With CHK1 clinical trials expected to commence before the period end, 2016 will mark the start of our move towards becoming a clinical-stage development company.  While there is always risk with any drug development, this is an important milestone for Sareum as clinical-stage drug development programmes typically attract higher licence values than those which are still in the preclinical research stages.

We continue to engage with potential partners with a view to securing commercial licenses for our programmes, while exploring new research programmes from our in-house drug discovery platform as well as external early-stage opportunities that we can potentially in-license and progress in to the clinic.

We look forward with real anticipation as CHK1 enters clinical trials and retain a cautious, but positive outlook for all our existing programmes and collaborations.