4d Pharma losses little changed as trials begin

(Sharecast News) - First-half losses grew slightly at live biotherapeutics developer 4d Pharma as first-half research and development expenses jumped ahead of two of its major treatment candidates receiving clearance for clinical trials.Research and development costs increased by 42% to £11.8m over the six months ended 30 June, as the outfit received regulatory approval for a two-part trial of cancer treatment MRx0518, the first live biotherapeutic trial in cancer, and for a study into the efficacy and safety of irritable bowel syndrome drug Blautix.Live biotherapeutics are medical treatments that contain a living microorganism. The European Pharmacopoeia adopted three new quality standards for live biotherapeutics for human use last April, becoming effective in April 2019.Furthermore, the company landed a collaboration agreement with a subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Merck to test the combination of MRx0518 and Merck's Keytruda on patients with renal, bladder, melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer.Despite the intense focus on drug development, 4d's losses before tax remained roughly even, dropping by just 1% compared to the first half of last year to £13.2m. The company made no revenue, as all of its candidate treatments remain in the development stage.Cash and cash equivalents stood at £36.6m at 30 June, down from £59.8m at the same point the year before.Chairman David Norwood said: "Through the successful development of its clinical programmes in the first half of 2018, the company continues to lead the development of live biotherapeutics, as we seek to secure robust clinical data to support the use of this new class of drugs across multiple indications, and from there to progress towards our goal of producing live biotherapeutics as safe and effective therapies."4d Pharma's shares were down 4.35% at 165.00p at 0908 BST.