Oncimmune losses deepen on R&D, acquisition costs

Immunodiagnostics group Oncimmune posted a deeper first-half loss amid a rise in R&D and administrative expenses.

Pre-tax losses for the six months through May amounted to £9.8 million, compared to losses of £8.5 million year-on-year.

During the reporting period, the company signed a commercialisation agreement with Biodesix for its EarlyCDT Lung technology for the early diagnosis of lung cancer.

The losses included one-off costs associated with acquiring and integrating Protagen Diagnostics, the Biodesix commercialisation agreement and the disposal of a US laboratory.

Revenue rose to £0.51 million, up from £0.17 million.

Looking forward, Oncimmune said a growing pipeline of commercial opportunities for both EarlyCDT Lung and its ImmunoINSIGHTS business had materialised throughout 2020.

These had resulted in active and late-stage discussions with a number of national health systems and pharmaceutical partners, globally.

'We have made strong progress in our first full year of trading since the launch of our three-year strategy in September 2018, which has delivered a step-change in our revenue growth over the year led by the ImmunoINSIGHTS services business,' chief executive Adam M Hill said.

'Despite the impact of Covid-19, further positive news flow post year end has sustained the group's growth trajectory throughout the first half of 2021.'

'Following the successful turnaround, Oncimmune now has a solid platform business underpinned by its core technology and expertise, that is validated by an expanding stable of commercial contracts and a full pipeline of pharma service opportunities.'

'This underpins our expectation of delivering substantial further growth in the re-focused business throughout the 2021 financial year and beyond, about which the company looks forward to providing further progress updates.'

At 2:29pm: (LON:ONC) Oncimmune Holdings Plc share price was -15p at 162.5p