VEC.L Share News (VEC)

(ShareCast News) - Inhaled airways disease device and formulation business Vectura Group announced an unaudited pre-close update on Wednesday, ahead of its results for the nine months to 31 December, due in March.The FTSE 250 company said that following the step-change in financial performance announced in the interim results in November, further significant progress was made in December with the announcement of a global pMDI triple programme with Mundipharma, confirmation of the US commercialisation for Ultibro and Seebri, and the first approval using Vectura's handheld FOX smart nebuliser as part of a referenced labelled product.Revenues for 2016 were anticipated to be in line with the board's expectations, Vectura reported, with positive momentum from the seven key recently-launched inhaled products including flutiform, Ultibro Breezhaler, Seebri Breezhaler and the GSK Ellipta products providing a strong base of recurring revenue.The continued weakness of sterling against the group's main trading currencies, in particular the US dollar and euro, also benefited reported results.Volumes in the 'flutiform' supply chain had been at record levels, the board said, and good progress was being made with the previously-announced capital expenditure initiatives to expand capacity.Ultibro continued to benefit from strong data from the FLAME study as well as the results of the CRYSTAL study, which showed improved lung function and COPD symptoms after direct switch from previous treatment.In addition, on 6 January Pacira Pharmaceuticals reported preliminary unaudited net sales of EXPAREL in Q4 2016 of $71.4m, compared to $67.2m a year earlier.Vectura earns a 3% share of net sales on a cash received basis, and is also eligible for a sales milestone of $32m when worldwide annual net sales of the product reach $500m, also on a cash received basis."Vectura starts 2017 in a strong position with significant progress made with the pipeline and sustained growth momentum in recurring revenues driven by the seven recently launched inhaled products," said CEO James Ward-Lilley."We look ahead now to reporting our 2016 preliminary results in March, further pipeline news flow and leveraging Vectura's proven device and formulation capabilities through additional business development opportunities."Ward-Lilley said an important part of the company's news flow for 2017 remained VR315, its generic Advair Diskus programme partnered with Hikma."This programme remains under FDA regulatory review and we continue to work closely with our partner through this process."VR315 has a GDUFA goal date of 10 May 2017 and is one of only two generic Advair Diskus ANDAs publicly filed and accepted."