LONDON (Alliance News) - Clinical drug development company Evgen Pharma PLC said Wednesday its annual loss narrowed in line with expectations.
Evgen, which focuses on cancer and neurological conditions, said its operating loss for the year ended March was GBP3.0 million, narrowed from GBP3.7 million.
The pharmaceutical company said the principal reason for the loss is the front-end loaded set-up costs of ongoing clinical trials and because its subarachnoid haemorrhage clinical trial was put on temporary hold for six months.
Evgen does not generate any revenue. However, in December, Evgen raised GBP2.3 million in new capital via a placing of 19.2 million shares at a price of 12 pence per share.
The stock was down 9.5% at 19.00 pence each Wednesday.
Its cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year decreased to GBP3.6 million from GBP3.9 million the year before.
The proceeds of the December fund raise were used primarily to progress Evgen's two separate phase II drug trials for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer and subarachnoid haemorrhage, or bleeding in the brain. At the time, Evgen also said the proceeds will also be used for working capital purposes and to support pre-clinical work in additional indications.
During the year, the SFX-01, sulforadex technology, in the treatment and evaluation of metastatic breast cancer clinical study opened 11 new sites in Spain, France, Belgium and the UK, recruiting 44 patients to date.
Looking ahead, Evgen believes its outlook is "positive". It has two Phase II trials of SFX-01 in two different disease areas.
Evgen also "supports investigator-led academic studies" that generate preclinical data which could lead to further trials. The company believes this has "considerable commercial opportunity" and looks to the future "with confidence".
Chief Executive Officer Stephen Franklin said: "We are very encouraged by the interim data from the STEM trial which was announced earlier this week. Patient recruitment in both trials is on track to report around the end of the year.
"Interest in the potential of sulforaphane continues to gain momentum. There are now approximately 1,800 peer-reviewed scientific publications on sulforaphane and, since the beginning of 2018, the publication rate is running at an all-time high of over five publications per week.
"With the ongoing growth of scientific data supporting the therapeutic potential of sulforaphane, together with the positive progress of our Phase II trials, we remain confident in the prospects for the company."