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LONDON (Alliance News) - ValiRx PLC Tuesday announced a slightly narrowed pretax loss for the half-year to the end of June as it tightened operating expenses and continued to progress its pipeline of drug candidates.
The life science company posted a pretax loss of GBP1.5 million, narrowed slightly from GBP1.6 million in the previous year, despite seeing revenue drop to GBP59,574 from GBP103,999, as it posted no cost of sales, and lowered its research and development costs.
The drop in research and development expenditure came as a result of forward ordering of its anti-cancer therapeutics VAL201 in 2013, to "build robust stability and sterility data" ahead of a clinical trial application.
ValiRx said it had made strong progress on its "key priorities" during the year, including bringing VAL201 into clinical trials, expanding its product portfolio and progressed the biomarker side of its business.
It also won approval from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to enter the drug into a Phase I/II escalation study in patients with locally advanced or metastatic prostate cancer and other advanced solid tumours. It expects this study to begin before the end of 2014.
It expanded its portfolio through a joint venture agreement with Tangent Reprofiling Ltd to further develop its combination cancer drug VAL401. It now has three compounds in its portfolio.
"With the Company's costs under control and with its lead therapeutics and other assets moving forward, as planned, the Company remains adequately funded to proceed with its current plans. I look forward to updating shareholders on further progress throughout the year," said ValiRx Non-Executive Chairman Oliver de Giorgio-Miller in a statement.
Shares in ValiRx were trading down 3.7% at 0.410 pence Tuesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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