(Alliance News) - Tiziana Life Sciences PLC on Thursday posted a widened loss for 2019 as it outlined its plans for a range of clinical programmes in 2020.
Shares in the biotechnology firm were trading 4.0% lower at 87.36 pence each on Thursday afternoon in London.
For 2019, Tiziana posted pretax loss of GBP7.8 million, widened from GBP7.4 million the year prior. No revenue was declared for either year.
While research & development costs fell to GBP2.9 million from GBP4.1 million, operating expenses increased to GBP4.9 million from 3.3 million.
Turning to current trading, the London-based company said, although the Covid-19 pandemic has the potential to hurt its operations, it is "well-positioned" to combat any financial downturn arising from the outbreak. As at the end of 2019, it had cash of GBP153,000 with the amount further augmented through a USD10 million fundraise in March.
Looking ahead, Tiziana said it will continue to focus on its pipeline of drugs which includes developing treatments for Covid-19, commencing phase 2 trials for Foralumab - to be used for the treatment of Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis - planning a phase 2 clinical trial for Milciclib - for the treatment of liver cancer - and developing the StemPrint ER diagnostic tester.
It noted that results have demonstrated the superiority of the StemPrintER stem cell based genomic prognostic tool compared with market leader Oncotype DX in predicting recurrence in ER+/HER2- postmenopausal breast cancer patients.
"We have continued to progress our pipeline of drugs to treat rare cancers and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Tiziana is confident that it is well positioned to advance these programs to their next respective value inflection points," the company said.
By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com.
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