Circassia Pharmacuticals reports first revenue

The FTSE 250 company published robust revenue growth through the calendar year through its acquisitions, with revenue now at £10.6m. There was nil revenue in 2014.

Circassia raised £275m through its placing and open offer in June, which funded those strategic acquisitions.

The firm also increased its research and development investment to £46.8m, from £38.6m, taking its loss for the year to £50m, up from £35.1m in 2014.

Funding remained strong, however, with the company having £203.8m cash on 31 December, up from £186.6m a year earlier.

"Circassia is in a period of exciting transformation as we accelerate our strategy to become a self-sustaining specialty biopharmaceutical company," said chief executive Steve Harris.

"Our innovative allergy treatments continue to make good progress, and we remain on track to deliver our phase III results in the coming months," he added.

The company's two acquisitions during the year gave it established specialty commercial infrastructure, targeting the key customers for its next-generation allergy immunotherapies and significantly broadening its pipeline, Harris explained.

He said the acquisitions were also validated by the significant sales growth of its acquired NIOX products and the approval of its lead asthma treatment.

"In the coming year, we intend to build on this progress, expanding our commercial presence in preparation for the launch of our first allergy treatment, while further increasing sales of our approved products," Harris said.

"We also plan to deliver on our wider pipeline, including moving our grass allergy treatment into a registration study. As a result, 2016 will be an important year for Circassia as we move towards our goal of building a leading specialty biopharmaceutical business."