C4X Discovery Holdings PLC (LON:C4XD) hailed a productive six months as it exited the first half in a strong financial position.
Posting interim results, the group said its closely-watched NRF-2 activator programme for sickle cell disease and pulmonary arterial hypertension is “progressing” and it is down to a short-list of three molecules.
Discussions with potential partners have persuaded the company to enhance its supporting data, it added.
The FTSE 250-listed drug group Indivior is preparing to take C4X’s treatment for opioid use disorder into the clinic as part of a deal worth US$294mln. Phase I and II studies will receive financial backing from the National Institutes of Health in the US.
At the same time, its high-value, early-stage drug candidate designed to inhibit interleukin-17, showed early encouraging signs in inflammation.
"We continue to progress our portfolio, with our inflammatory programmes generating significant advances,” C4X chief executive Clive Dix said in a statement.
“In particular, our lead IL-17 oral compound has progressed into lead optimisation following recent data demonstrating inhibition of inflammation following oral dosing in pre-clinical disease models.”
In a wide-ranging update, C4X said its collaboration with Horizon Discovery had yielded a “synthetic lethal oncology target”, while its Taxonomy3 programme is “delivering compelling insights into Parkinson's Disease” targets.
C4X exited the period with cash and equivalents of £5.5mln, while the value of its intellectual property was £10.3mln.
Investment in research and development during the six months to January 31 was £3.6mln, down £1.3mln from a year ago.
As would be expected from a company heavily focused on research, it was loss-making - to the tune of £4.89mln at the operating level, down from £6.26mln a year earlier.
C4X says it wants to be the world’s most productive drug discovery engine, helping replenish the pipelines of big pharma.
The Indivior deal was an example of how the business is prepared to partner early in the development cycle, removing the need to fund clinical trials.