28th Jun 2019 15:07
(Alliance News) - Ovoca Bio PLC on Friday said its annual loss widened heavily as a result of administration expenses and said it is preparing to file for marketing approval of its drug BP101 in Russia.
Shares in Ovoca were down 6.1% at 5.75 pence in afternoon trade in London.
The company's pretax loss for 2018 was EUR2.0 million, widened from EUR233,000 in 2017 as administration expenses climbed to EUR2.3 million from EUR1.3 million.
The company also incurred other losses of EUR128,000, swinging from EUR687,000 of gains. Finance income fell slightly to EUR448,000 from EUR463,000.
Formerly a gold miner, Ovoca transformed its business when it completed its acquisition of Russian biotechnology company VIX LLC in September 2018 and is now focused on developing female sexual dysfunction drug BP101, named Libicore.
Since then, Ovoca has recruited patients ahead of schedule for its phase 3 trial of BP101 and an external review of data on the drug has taken place. The company has identified a programme with a view to fulfilling regulatory requirements on the way to approving clinical development of BP101 in the EU and US.
"Our colleagues at IVIX continue to build out our successful BP101 program, which you will have seen in March 2019 comfortably exceeded the efficacy and safety hurdles in its phase 3 trial in Russia. As a result, we are now preparing to file for the drug's marketing approval in its first country, the Russian Federation, and actively pursuing discussions with potential licensing partners to commercialize there," said Chief Executive Kirill Golovanov.
"Shortly, we plan to publish which scientific experts will be advising us on our current and future pipeline opportunities. In parallel with these initiatives, we shall, of course, be completing the remaining essential activities that BP101 requires to make it an attractive partnering candidate globally and worthy of further financing where we choose to retain commercial rights," Golovanov added.
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