Noxopharm Ltd (ASX:NOX) has released an encouraging financial report for the half year ended December 31, 2021.
The company has started 2022 in a strong cash position, with A$22.6 million in the bank, due to what it calls ‘continued judicious expenditure in the best interests of the company and its shareholders’.
Strong cash position
The company’s financial standing is bolstered by a A$5.9 million R&D tax incentive for the 2021 financial year, received in January, which is non-dilutive funding for the company.
NOX has channelled A$8.3 million in R&D this financial year, compared with the first half of 2020, when it allocated less than half that (A$3 million) to its research budget. This increase will advance clinical trial programs, drug discovery and preclinical studies.
The corporate and administration cash spend rate remained stable at A$2.9 million, the same amount spent in the preceding year.
“As incoming CEO, it is pleasing to report that Noxopharm is in a strong cash position with a number of promising programs underway,” CEO and managing director Dr Gisela Mautner said.
“Our clinical portfolio, investigating the combination of Veyonda® with established cancer treatments, is tracking to plan.
“It is also important to note the relationships we have secured with national and international partners such as Hudson Institute of Medical Research and the US National Cancer Institute, as well as several prestigious clinical study sites in the USA.
“We are well funded to drive these programs and will update the market as milestones are met.”
Exclusive global mRNA licensing agreement
NOX has developed a substantial product pipeline and aims to deploy these technologies to save lives with novel therapies.
In addition to molecules developed in-house, the company has entered into an exclusive global licensing agreement with Hudson Institute of Medical Research (HIMR) relating to RNA drug discovery and mRNA vaccine manufacture.
NOX has also signed a Materials Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the US National Cancer Institute, the largest funding body for cancer research in the world, for the investigation of a family of molecules NOX has developed.
“Our pre-clinical work looking into molecules with potential applications in aggressive cancers continues, and we are making good progress in work relating to chronic inflammation and RNA technologies,” said Mautner.
Current clinical programs
NOX boasts a network of global collaborators, with clinical trial sites including some of the leading cancer centres in the world, such as the MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Beverly Hills Cancer Center and the City of Hope Cancer Center in the US.
The DARRT Program Phase 2 clinical trial (Veyonda with low-dose radiotherapy) received investigational new drug (IND) approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has commenced in two leading US cancer centres, the MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Beverly Hills Cancer Center, with the first dose cohort having completed the safety assessments.
A first Australian site, Macquarie Private Hospital, has also opened for patient recruitment, and further sites are expected to be online soon.
The CEP Program Phase 1 study (Veyonda and the chemotherapy drug, doxorubicin) kicked off at a major US cancer hospital, the City of Hope Cancer Center in Los Angeles.
Additional sites in the US will be joining the study in the near-term.
The IONIC Phase 1 trial, which employs Veyonda with the Bristol Myers Squibb checkpoint inhibitor, nivolumab, Opdivo®, has started, with patients enrolled and treated at the first clinical site and more sites are expected to open in the second half of the year.