LONDON (Alliance News) - Summit Therapeutics PLC on Wednesday said it swung to a profit in its most recent financial year due to the recognition of revenue from its Sarepta Therapeutics Inc agreement.
The antibiotic developer's pretax profit for its year to January 31 was GBP5.0 million, reversing a GBP24.0 million loss the year before. This was due to a more than trebling of revenue to GBP43.0 million from only GBP12.4 million.
Of the GBP43.0 million, GBP42.3 million related to the recognition of all remaining deferred revenue related to its commercialisation agreement with Sarepta for Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug ezutromid. Summit discontinued development of ezutromid in June 2018 after an unsuccessful clinical trial.
After the end of its financial year, in February, Summit began phase three trials of its Ridinilazole selective antibiotic, which treats C difficile infection. The trial will test Ridinilazole's ability to reduce recurrence of the disease.
C difficile's primary symptom is diarrhoea, but in more severe cases it can cause severe dehydration and even death. The disease typically occurs in people who have recently taken a course of antibiotics.
Treatment for C difficile usually consists of taking another course of antibiotics, but the disease often comes back despite this treatment.
Summit Chief Executive Glyn Edwards said: "The initiation of our global Phase 3 clinical trials of ridinilazole brings us closer to becoming a fully-integrated antibiotics company. Our capabilities span discovery through late-stage clinical development with an eye towards building a focussed commercial team."
Edwards added: "Ridinilazole has already shown clinical superiority against the standard of care in a phase two clinical trial for C difficile infection. If we were to achieve similar results in the ongoing phase three clinical trials, we believe that would provide us with a compelling data package supporting the front-line use of ridinilazole in C difficile infection."
Shares in Summit were up 2.3% at 26.59 pence on Wednesday afternoon.
