IMMUPHARMA (LON:IMM)
SECTOR – HEALTHCARE
RATING – BUY*
MARKET CAP – £75m
CURRENT PRICE – 55p#
TARGET PRICE – 171p
COMPANY DESCRIPTION
ImmuPharma PLC is a late clinical stage drug development business specialising in the area of autoimmune disease.
FY16 Results: demonstrates focus pivotal Lupuzor Phase 3 trial
NORTHLAND VIEW
ImmuPharma announced its final results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2016. LBITDA of £6.6m in FY16 was just up on our forecasts of £6.5m and up from £4.6m in FY15 due to higher RnD expense.
Key financial highlights included:
Loss for the period of £5.3 million (31 December 2015: £3.9 million).
Research and development expenses of £5.3 million (31 December 2015: £3 million), most if which was deployed on the groups flagship pivotal Phase 3 trial of Lupuzor.
Closing balance of cash and cash equivalents of £1.9m.
£4.1m raised in a placing of new shares, post period end.
ImmuPharma's results demonstrate the Group's focus on completing its pivotal Phase 3 trial on Lupuzor (a potential breakthrough treatment for Lupus): most of the company's cash burn is deployed towards the trial. With a read out expected in Q1 2018, the trial is well on track.
EVGEN PHARAMA (LON:EVG)
SECTOR – HEALTHCARE
RATING – BUY*
MARKET CAP – £14m
CURRENT PRICE – 19.25p#
TARGET PRICE – 97p
COMPANY DESCRIPTION
Evgen Pharma is a clinical stage drug development company focused on the treatment of cancer and neurological conditions.
Initiation of STEM Compassionate Use Programme and Clinical Trials Update
NORTHLAND VIEW
STEM (SFX-01 in the Treatment and Evaluation of Metastatic Breast Cancer) - Phase IIa clinical trial
The first STEM trial patient is now in week 24 and demonstrated no disease progression for three consecutive scans. As a result, the Company has initiated a compassionate use programme, so that patients can continue to receive SFX-01 after week 24.
STEM will recruit 60 patients and 9 patients have been enrolled to date. Due to protracted regulatory submissions in France, Spain and the Czech Republic, the Company is now projecting the final read-out from the study in H218. The Company will issue an interim data analysis in H118.
SAS (SFX-01 After Subarachnoid Haemorrhage) - Phase II clinical trial
First patient was dosed in May 2016 and to date 34 patients have been recruited. The Independent Data Safety Monitoring Board confirmed there are no safety issues with to SFX-01.
A second SAS trial site has been initiated (Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham) to accelerate patient recruitment. The Company is anticipating read-out from the study around the end of 2018.
Positive news for Evgen Pharma with the Company making significant progress, despite a minor delay, in both of its phase two trails. There have been no safety issues or tolerance issues for either of the Phase II trials to date and final read-outs from both the studies are expected next year, a major milestone for the Company.