(Alliance News) - Summit Therapeutics PLC on Friday reported a first half loss as the company moved away from the development of ezutromid to focus on precision antibiotic ridinilazole.
In the six months to July 31, Summit sunk to a pretax loss of GBP11.1 million compared to a GBP20.3 million profit the year before. Revenue was almost wiped out, falling to GBP375,000 from GBP41.8 million.
"The decreases in revenue recognised are principally due to the reduction in revenue related to the Sarepta licence and collaboration agreement following the group's decision to discontinue development of ezutromid in June 2018," Summit explained.
The company's operating expenses declined 33% to GBP20.3 million from GBP30.1 million the year before. Summit's drop in expenses were also attributed to the discontinuation of ezutromid.
"It has been a quarter of strong progress across the clinical, scientific and commercial functions as we focus on our key mission of bringing to market our precision antibiotic, ridinilazole, as a potential new front-line treatment for patients with CDI," said Chief Executive Glyn Edwards.
Edwards continued: "With our landmark designed Phase 3 clinical trials for ridinilazole continuing on schedule, we have taken steps to secure a bright future for Summit as a leader in antibiotic innovation through the appointment of key hires to support the potential commercialisation of this new class antibiotic.
"Their experience in leading successful antibiotic launches, combined with the compelling clinical and microbiome data generated to date gives us confidence that, if approved, ridinilazole will be well positioned to become the treatment of choice for patients with C difficile infection."
Separately, Summit announced Non-Executive Director Valerie Andrews is stepping down from the firm, effective Friday.
"The board will continue to assess its composition to ensure it is supporting the future development of the business," Summit added.
Shares in Summit Therapeutics were down 4.8% in London on Friday.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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