2nd Aug 2021 14:37
(Alliance News) - OKYO Pharma Ltd on Monday reported a widened loss for its most recently ended financial year.
Pretax loss for the financial year ended March 31 was GBP3.0 million, widened from GBP1.3 million the year before.
OKYO's cash balance stood at GBP4.99 million, up from GBP190,000. The group successfully raised GBP6.1 million during the year via the issuance of convertible loan notes, private placements, and the exercise of options.
The group's expenditure on research and development was GBP133,000, as compared to GBP407,000 the prior year. The reduction in expenditure was due to an elimination of R&D costs planned for OK-113 once the decision was made to switch to OK-101.
OK-101, the firm's lead preclinical product candidate, is focused on keratoconjunctivitis sicca, commonly referred to as DED which is a multifactorial disease caused by an underlying inflammation resulting in the lack of lubrication and moisture in the surface of the eye.
The development of new drugs to treat DED has been particularly challenging due to the heterogeneous nature of the patient population suffering from DED, and due to the difficulties in demonstrating an improvement in both signs and symptoms of the disease in well-controlled clinical trials, the firm said.
During the next 12 months, OKYO is committed to a major effort to accomplish the IND enabling activities necessary for treating DED.
However, further funds will need to be raised within the foreseeable future in order to progress it's pipeline and fund ongoing business operations.
OKYO said "the company is well financed, resilient and well positioned to weather any financial downturn occurring as a result of the outbreak. Indeed, the company has raised additional funds through the issuance of convertible loan notes."
Shares in Okyo Pharma were up 2.4% to 5.38 pence each in London on Monday afternoon.
By Amrit Sahota; [email protected]
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