Destiny Pharma loss widens as company continues focus on drug development

Antimicrobial development firm Destiny Pharma reported an increase in losses over the year ending 31 December, with pretax loss increasing 113% to £3.2m.

Destiny Pharma raised £15.3m through its initial public offering in September and gained a further £3m through an investment from China Medical Systems Holdings, a China-based pharmaceutical company focusing on marketing, promotion and sales of prescription drugs and other medicinal drugs.

The two companies also signed a development and commercialisation agreement for Destiny Pharma's pipeline in China and certain other Asian countries, excluding Japan.

Consequently, the company had cash and term deposits of £16.7m at 31 December, compared to just £1.5m during the the previous year.

Neil Clark, chief executive of Destiny Pharma, said: "The company is well funded following the placing at the time of admission to AIM and, whilst our main focus is on our lead asset, we are also looking to progress our earlier pipeline and develop our collaboration with China Medical Systems."

The AIM-traded company is focused on research and development, causing administrative expenses to roughly double to £2.5m, and so failed to generate any revenue throughout the year.

The lead asset under development is the antimicrobial XF-73 drug which is administered as a nasal gel to combat Staphylococcus aureus, the cause of many post-surgical bacterial infections such as MRSA, with the company estimating this to be a $1bn market opportunity.

"In 2018, progress has continued to be been strong for our lead candidate, XF-73, with the opening of the IND (US Investigational New Drug application) and award of Fast Track designation. Subsequent discussions with the FDA have clarified the clinical pathway for XF-73. We remain on track to deliver Phase 2b results in H2 2019 as part of a Phase 3 ready package," said Clark.

In the near future, the company also intends to utilise its strong cash positions to develop new clinical candidates and to capitalize on commercial opportunities including partnering and licencing.

As of 1213 BST, Destiny Pharma’s shares were up 3.61% at 129.00p.