Cash reduced, losses widen at Summit Therapeutics

Drug discovery and development company Summit Therapeutics posted its first quarter results on Thursday, with cash reduced and losses widening.

The AIM-traded firm, which is advancing therapies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and C. difficile infection (CDI), had cash and cash equivalents of £10m on 30 April, compared to £16.3m on 31 January.

Its loss for the three months totalled £5.2m, compared to a loss of £3.4m for the three months ended 30 April 2015.

“Our programmes in DMD and CDI both have the potential to significantly improve the current standards of care and are making good progress towards the patients who could benefit from their unique mechanisms of action,” said Summit Therapeutics chief executive officer Glyn Edwards.

“With the IND clearance for the expansion of PhaseOut DMD into the US, we are on track to announce initial data that could potentially demonstrate the mechanism of ezutromid and utrophin modulation in patients with DMD in January 2017.”

Edwards said that in DCI, data from its Phase 2 CoDIFy trial was continuing to support ridinilazole as a novel, highly selective antibiotic that could greatly reduce recurrent disease.

“As this programme advances to Phase 3, we are exploring potential partnerships to leverage the most value for patients, shareholders and our company,” he explained.

At 1230 BST, shares in Summit Therapeutics were down 6.08% at 105.66p.