29th Jul 2014 10:17
LONDON (Alliance News) - Circassia Pharmaceuticals PLC said it was fully-funded to bring its lead product candidate Cat-SPIRE to market, as it saw its pretax loss widen in the half-year to the end of June on higher research and development costs.
Circassia posted a pretax loss of GBP19.6 million, widened from GBP9.0 million, as research and development costs rose to GBP16.5 million from GBP9.1 million. The company is not yet revenue producing.
The pharmaceuticals company continued to make progress on its pipeline of allergy products during the year, initiating seven new trials in the year. Six of these trials are expected to report over the next year, it said.
The company raised GBP202.0 million in its initial public offering in March, leaving it with a cash balance of GBP201.9 million as at June 30.
The phase III registration trial of Cat-SPIRE, for cat allergy, is on track and it expects headline data in the first-half of 2016.
Circassia cited the growing momentum in the US immunotherapy market, as the US Food and Drug Administration recently approved immunotherapies for grass and ragweed allergies.
The company plans to independently commercialise its products in North America and major EU markets, and said it was actively evaluating options to build or acquire its own sales and marketing infrastructure. It also plans to establish commercialisation partnerships with third parties in other regions.
"The US immunotherapy market is gathering momentum, and with manufacturing already at commercial scale for the launch of Cat-SPIRE we remain resolutely focused on delivering our key clinical milestones, developing our commercial operations and pursuing options to accelerate growth," said Chief Executive Steve Harris in a statement.
Shares in Circassia were trading down 2.4% at 283.00 pence Tuesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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