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(Alliance News) - Allergy Therapeutics PLC on Thursday saw shares drop despite the start of its peanut allergy testing trial, after it confirmed that cost control remains a preoccupation for management following a pause in production earlier in the year.
Allergy Therapeutics is a West Sussex, England-based commercial biotechnology company focused on the treatment and diagnosis of allergic disorders, including aluminium-free immunotherapy vaccines with the potential to cure disease.
It said on Thursday that the first subjects in its Phase 1 PROTECT trial have been screened, and are ready to receive its short-course peanut allergy vaccine candidate, VLP Peanut.
The study is designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of VLP Peanut in both healthy and peanut-allergic adults. Data is expected in 2023.
Allergy Therapeutics also celebrated progress in its Phase 3 G306 trial, after the first subject was dosed.
The trial aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Grass MATA MPL, a short-course subcutaneous allergen-specific immunotherapy candidate, designed to address the cause of hay-fever symptoms.
"The start of our pivotal Phase 3 G306 trial investigating the efficacy and safety of our Grass MATA MPL marks the culmination of our efforts to bring this innovative treatment to millions of patients affected by grass allergies in both the US and Europe," said Chief Executive Officer Manuel Llobet.
He added that the start of the VLP Peanut PROTECT trial was "a significant milestone" for the company, and "a testament to the hard work of the Allergy Therapeutics team, developing innovative approaches that have the potential to transform the way we treat and manage allergies".
In other news, Allergy Therapeutics brushed over difficulties in cost management, briefly addressing but not expanding on the continued impact of a production pause at one of its facilities last month.
In October, the company briefly halted operations at the Freeman facility in Worthing, England following an internal review.
It said the pause was "a necessary step" to ensure high quality production, and "to improve the robustness of its quality systems".
On Thursday, the company noted that following output resumption, work has continued on cost control and "tight capital management". This includes reviewing all funding options and managing the working capital of the group.
On October 28, Allergy Therapeutics warned that revenue for the year to June 30 was expected to be around 13% to 18% lower than market expectations of around GBP80 million.
Allergy Therapeutics shares were trading 9.4% lower at 12.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
By Holly Beveridge; Alliance News reporter
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