Midatech Pharma interim losses narrow

Drug delivery technology Midatech Pharma significantly narrowed interim losses in the six months ended 30 June ahead of discussions aimed at licensing its products to drugmakers.

Midatech said on Friday that its first-half pre-tax loss had narrowed to £3.4m, down from £17.9m a year earlier after 2020's interim results were impacted by an £11.6m impairment after the firm terminated the development of one of its products.

Revenue, which was principally derived from research and development contracts and grants, more than doubled, hitting £401,000 in the half, up from £168,000 at the midway point of last year.

The AIM-listed group also stated it had made significant progress across several research and development programmes in the half, achieving breakthrough data for its Q-Sphera drug capsule technology and creating "several opportunities for licensing" in the process.

Chief executive Stephen Stamp said: "The first half of 2021 has been highly productive with three potentially viable Q-Sphera formulations, one internal and two for a collaboration partner.

"We believe the breakthrough data on the encapsulation of a protein could prove to be a very significant opportunity for Midatech."

As of 1315 BST, Midatech shares were up 3.92% at 26.50p.