Oncimmune Holdings plc (LON: ONC), a leader in the development, manufacture and commercialisation of personalised immunodiagnostics for the screening, detection and care of cancer, has today announced its half year results for the six months ended 30 November 2018.
Corporate & Operational Highlights (including post-period end)
Corporate and Strategic Update
· Launch of three-year strategy which prioritises: growth through strategic partnerships and acquisitions; supporting the launch of multiple cancer detection tests; and guiding critical decisions throughout the cancer care continuum.
· Appointments of Dr Adam M Hill as CEO; Marco Casarin as General Manager, Oncimmune USA; Matthew Hall as Chief Financial Officer; and Andrew Stewart as General Counsel and Company Secretary.
· Appointment of Dr Cheung To to the Board as Non-Executive Director.
· Appointment of new Scientific Board.
EarlyCDT® Commercial Progress
· New EarlyCDT-Lung test distribution agreements were signed in H1 making a total of 18 agreements in aggregate (13 in May 2018), with total minimum sales commitments of £33.5m over their initial periods:
o exclusive distribution agreements for EarlyCDT-Lung in Germany, France, Italy and Spain; and
o non-exclusive distribution agreements for EarlyCDT-Lung tests in India, Argentina, Uruguay and Dominican Republic, Mexico and Chile.
· EarlyCDT-Lung kit has been approved and registered in Singapore, a bellweather jurisdiction for Asian registrations and initial sales have commenced.
· Work towards approval of both EarlyCDT-Lung and EarlyCDT®-Liver in China is underway and proceeding to plan. First sales are expected in 2020.
ECLS NHS Lung Cancer Screening Trial
· NHS ECLS trial continued to follow-up its cohort of 12,210 randomised participants for occurrence of lung cancer. Formal results are expected by summer 2019 and preparatory work is underway to use the test commercially within sectors of the NHS.
Financial Highlights
· Revenue for the period was £121k (H1 2017: £77k).
· Total administrative expenses before share-based charges were £3.32m (H1 2017: £2.39m).
· Loss before tax of £3.85m (H1 2017: £2.83m).
· Comprehensive loss for the period was £3.87m (H1 2017: £3.04m).
· R&D costs were £0.69m (H1 2017: £0.45k).
· Strong cash balance at the period end of £9.05m (H1 2017: £6.30m).
Dr Adam M Hill, CEO of Oncimmune Holdings said:
“Following the launch of our three-year forward strategy in October 2018, a significant amount of work has been undertaken in building the organisation required to deliver the strategy, as well as engaging with partners able to co-develop and distribute Oncimmune’s biomarker panels in support of our growth trajectory.
“Aligned with the forward strategy, and with the support of Oncimmune’s new Scientific Board, our R&D programme has been focused on exploring the potential of tumour-related antibodies as combined and complementary diagnostic tests. Our commercial effort has concentrated on developing propositions for the diagnostic and pharmaceutical industry to maximise the latent potential of Oncimmune’s immunogenic protein platform.”