28th Jul 2015 07:20
LONDON (Alliance News) - Hutchison China MediTech Ltd Tuesday posted a fall in pretax profit for its first half as it increased research and development spending, which offset a strong rise in revenue, and said it has a "strong outlook" for its full year and beyond.
For the half year to end-June the company posted a pretax profit USD3.9 million, down from USD7.3 million, as revenue rose to USD65.7 million, up from USD30.3 million, but this was offset by higher cost of sales, and a step-up in research and development costs as it expands clinical trial activity.
The company attributed its revenue growth to a full period contribution from its distribution joint venture with Sinopharm Group Co Ltd, Hutchison Sinopharm, which began operations in the second quarter of 2014.
China MediTech said its first half spending on clinical activities was USD30.3 million, up from USD22.3 million a year before. The company now has 17 clinical trials underway, compared to ten a year before, with a further seven to start in the second half. This includes four phase III oncology studies.
"Chi-Med has made great progress on all fronts so far this year. Our vision is to become a major China-based pharmaceutical company - we believe we will achieve this by being an important innovator in the global targeted therapy arena. In line with this, during the first half, Chi-Med and its partners invested over USD30 million pushing our oncology and immunology clinical pipeline as hard and fast as we could," said Chief Executive Officer Christian Hogg in a statement.
Shares in Hutchison China MediTech were trading down 3.1% at 1,662.00 pence Tuesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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