Destiny Pharma. Share News (DEST)

(Sharecast News) - Destiny Pharma on Tuesday reported a wider annual loss as it increased research and development costs, although the company is "well funded" through to the second half of next year.The clinical stage biotechnology company's losses before tax came in £6.0m for 2018, an increase of 87% versus the year before, as research and development costs increased from £0.8m to £3.5m on the back of planned clinical development costs, particularly during the second half of the year.The AIM traded company has finalised its Phase 2b clinical development plans for its lead asset, XF-73, which is for the prevention of post-surgical infections such as MRSA, with a clinical trial on course to be initiated in April.Destiny estimated there to be an over "$1bn market opportunity" for the treatment following market analysis .Neil Clark, chief executive of Destiny, said: "We have made significant progress in the first full year following our IPO in September 2017, delivering on key targets set out at the time, including a number of clinical development objectives, and the company remains well funded to H2 2020."Cash and cash equivalents stood at £7.1m at the end of the year, down from £11.7m at the same point the year before.The year saw the company win three grants for research projects from Aston University, the University of Southampton and the UK-China AMR grant fund, which was set up by Innovate UK and the Department of Health and Social Care alongside the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology."Whilst our main focus is on our lead asset we are also continuing to progress our earlier XF pipeline having won three grants to support this workstream. There is continuing international support for the development of novel anti-infective drugs that address the issue of anti-microbial resistance and Destiny Pharma's unique platform is well-positioned to meet this global need," said Clark.Destiny Pharma's shares were up 1.19% at 85.00p at 0932 BST.