Verseon maintains losses as it seeks to monetise platform

Technology-based pharmaceutical company Verseon announced its final results for the year ended 31 December on Monday, reporting total assets of $54.2m at year-end, compared to $69.6m a year earlier.

The AIM-traded firm said cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments stood at $11.6m, down significantly from $46.9m at the end of 2016.

Property, equipment, buildings and land totaled $40.7m, up from $22.3m 12 months prior, with research and development expenses of $15.1m, up from $11.5m.

The board said that was primarily attributable to an acceleration of the company’s drug programmes and preparation for clinical trials.

General and administrative expenses were $6.3m, compared to $5.8m in 2016.

Non-cash expenses included stock-based compensation of $0.9m, compared to $0.8m in 2016, as well as a currency exchange gain of $0.6m , swinging from a loss of $2.6m in 2016.

The company’s net loss was $20.4m - or 13 US cents per basic share - compared to a net loss of $19.5m or 13 cents per basic share in 2016.

Since the period ended, the company closed a $22.7m mortgage for its research and development facility, realising a portion of the value created through the buildout.

It said it was currently evaluating a range of non-dilutive funding options linked to future revenues, which would enable it to accelerate the development of its programmes through clinical trials to market, capturing “significant” long-term value.

“We have made significant progress across our pipeline over the past year,” said CEO Adityo Prakash.

“Most notably, our first PROAC (precision oral anticoagulant), VE-1902, completed regulatory toxicology and safety pharmacology testing and is now about to enter clinical trials.”

Prakash noted that the company also announced a new rare-disease program in which it was developing oral drugs for hereditary angioedema - a potentially life-threatening genetic disorder.

“In addition, we have demonstrated efficacy in multiple in vivo models for our orally dosed diabetic macular edema candidates and have shown that our novel anticancer agents hold promise for the treatment of multidrug resistant cancers.

“We have worked diligently to build a strong foundation for our platform that can roll out a steady stream of drug candidates.

“We look forward to sending VE-1902 into clinical trials, the first of many future clinical candidates across our pipeline.”