Cizzle Biotechnology reports narrowed loss as passes "key milestones"

(Alliance News) - Cizzle Biotechnology Holdings PLC on Wednesday said it had passed "key milestones" as it moved towards generating revenue for its products.

The London-based diagnostics developer reported a pretax loss of GBP415,000 in the six months to June 30, narrowed from GBP3.2 million the year before.

The company recorded reverse acquisition costs of GBP2.8 million last year after the company was bought by Bould Opportunities PLC, which later changed its name to Cizzle Biotechnology Holdings PLC. There were no reverse acquisition costs this year.

The company reported no revenue, unchanged from last year.

Cizzle is developing a blood test for the early detection of lung cancer. During the six months to June 30, the company began extending its products into China and the US.

In February, a full commercial agreement was executed to develop and market early lung cancer diagnostic tests in China. In May, it signed a deal with CorePath Laboratories, a full-service cancer reference laboratory, to offer its lung cancer test throughout the US.

In February, it also reached a royalty acquisition agreement with Conduit Pharmaceuticals Ltd and St George Street Capital Ltd to acquire a 5% interest in the commercialisation of the Covid-19 treatment AZD1656, taking steps towards developing a new future revenue stream.

After the end of the period, the company completed a GBP500,000 fundraising through a subscription and a further GBP500,000 to draw down on for a term of 18 months. The funds will provide working capital for the company and help the development of its test.

Chair Allan Syms said: "The group made significant progress during the first half of 2022 towards meeting its goal to bring to market a simple blood test capable of detecting lung cancer early when clinical intervention can improve patient survival rates...A number of key milestones were met during the period, including development of the key antibodies and reagents for our early-stage cancer test and securing important royalty bearing development and marketing collaborations in the USA and China."

Shares in Cizzle were trading 1.5% higher at 1.73 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon.

By Chris Dorrell; chrisdorrell@alliancenews.com

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