(Alliance News) - Hutchmed (China) Ltd on Wednesday said its pretax loss widened in the first half as higher revenue was offset by research and development spending.
Hutchmed is a Hong-Kong based pharmaceutical company focused on therapies for the treatment of cancer and immunological diseases.
The company's pretax loss widened to USD140.4 million in the six months that ended June 30, from USD76.6 million in that period a year prior.
Total revenue jumped 47% year-on-year to USD157.4 million in the first half from USD106.8 million.
In China, sales of the company's Elunare cancer treatment, also known as fruquintinib, more than doubled to USD40.1 million from USD14.0 million a year before.
Higher income in the first half was offset, however, by a bump in expenses to USD301.1 million, up 63% from USD184.9 million.
Hutchmed's operating costs included USD123.1 million spend on research and development and USD107.5 million on third-party goods, up from USD74.0 million and USD82.2 million respectively.
Phase two trials of the company's Orpathys drug, also known as savolitinib, began this week, with the first dose administered on Tuesday.
Developed in partnership with AstraZeneca PLC and the Beijing Cancer Hospital, the study will assess the effectiveness of Orpathys as a treatment for patients with metastatic MET amplified cancer of the stomach and oesophagus.
MET amplification refers to an increased amount of the MET protein within the cells, which is associated with liver, kidney and stomach cancer. Metastatic cancer's are those that spread to other parts of the body.
"Currently, we have eleven self-discovered oncology drug candidates in clinical trials in China, with six also in clinical development in the US and Europe. Our first three drug candidates, fruquintinib, surufatinib and savolitinib, have all been approved and launched in China," Hutchmed said.
"Over the next three years, we will continue to rapidly build our global [research and development] and commercial organizations, supporting the anticipated global launches of our oncology drugs," the company added.
In the year ahead, the pharmaceutical company said it is ready to launch its tumour treatment Surufatinib as it anticipates US approval by the first half of 2022.
Meanwhile, Hutchmed expects to launch its small molecule cancer treatment, Fruquintinib in 2023 after progressing through US trials.
Shares in Hutchmed were trading up 6.2% at 570.13 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon.
By Scarlett Butler; scarlettbutler@alliancenews.com
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