Futura Medical focused on 'excellent' developments as losses deepen

(Sharecast News) - Pharmaceutical group Futura Medical on Wednesday reported an "excellent" first-half as it continued to make progress on the development of two of its main products.The outfit's erectile disfunction (ED) treatment MED2002 has seen its safety at higher doses demonstrated through a pharmacokinetic study, while CSD500, Futura's erectogenic condom product, gained a two-year shelf-life approval.James Barder, Futura's chief executive, said: "We look forward to the first patient dosing of MED2002 in the first Phase 3 trial in Europe in the next month and are excited to be moving closer to bringing an innovative, differentiated ED product to market that could help the many ED patients whose needs are not met by current treatments."Barder added that the AIM traded company will continue to explore ways to ensure profitable income streams from CSD500 and other pain relief gel products.As the company focussed on the progress of new products its revenue dropped to zero for the period, compared to £0.4m over the same period last year, while administrative costs jumped by 43% to £0.9m.Consequently, loss before tax increased by 26% to £2.5m, while cash and cash equivalents were at £6m at 30 June, down from £10.1m at the same point last year.In the coming months, the company intends to press forward with the development of its products while exploring a range of options for additional funding to support the development of its lead asset, MED2002.Futura Medical's shares were up 4.22% at 12.12p at 1627 BST.