Interim report January – March 2019
Important events during the first quarter
- In January, the directed share issue of approximately 160 MSEK was approved by an Extraordinary General Meeting. The total number of shares after the share issue amounts to 42,374,714.
Important events after the period
- Vicore Pharma announced on April 23 that it has selected the disease diffuse systemic sclerosis (dSSc) as the second indication for its lead program VP01 (C21). It complements the primary indication, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
Financial overview for the period
January 1 – March 31, 2019
- Operating income amounted to 0.0 MSEK (0.2)
- Operating loss was -16.1 MSEK (-7.2)
- Loss for the period was -16.0 MSEK (-0.2)
- Loss per share, before and after dilution, was -0.40 SEK (-0.01)
- On March 31, 2019, cash and cash equivalents amounted to 216.0 MSEK (13.7)
| Amounts in MSEK | 2019 Jan-Mar |
2018 Jan-Mar |
2018 Jan-Dec |
| Operating income | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 |
| Operating loss | -16.1 | -7.2 | -41.6 |
| Loss for the period | -16.0 | -0.2 | -21.7 |
| Loss per share, before/after dilution (SEK)1 | -0.40 | -0.01 | -0.95 |
| Equity at the end of the period | 279.7 | 57.4 | 285.4 |
| Cash flow from operating activities | -18.5 | -7.0 | -33.0 |
| Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period | 216.0 | 13.7 | 224.7 |
1. There is no dilutive effect for potential ordinary shares based on exercise of options and share rights, since the net results for the periods presented above have been negative.
CEO Comments
Vicore has a strong focus on developing an attractive portfolio of medicines for the treatment of rare lung diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other indications matching the specific properties of our most advanced drug candidate VP01 (C21). When you also include the second candidate VP02 (IMiD) for IPF and the associated IPF cough, we have two unique and differentiated drug development programs in our portfolio. In 2019, we will continue the focused development of our pipeline with the patient in the forefront of our minds.
Currently, we have intensified our effort into two phase IIa studies with VP01 that will begin in the second half of 2019, a proof-of concept study in IPF patients, and a mechanistic study in patients with dSSc. The design of the studies will enable us to identify potential value-creating therapeutic effects of our drug. The VP01 program is currently in an extended phase I study for dose optimization.
The formulation work of VP02 is ongoing and the goal for this year is to identify a formulation with the desired properties. The next step is to carry out toxicological work and then a phase I study in 2020.
To implement our plans, we are building a strong medical team. Rohit Batta, with extensive experience from orphan drug programs with GlaxoSmithKline, and Göran Tornling as our resident pulmonology medical expert, ensure that our study designs will be of good standard. In addition, the in-house clinical operations team, under the leadership of Mimi Flensburg, is critical in securing the oversight of the conduction of our trials. A top notch internal clinical organization is crucial to deliver quality. This personalised approach is critical in rare diseases and provides us the ability to readily communicate directly with investigators and sites plus a supervised control over our data to maximise quality. This makes us nimbler relative to just simply handing this to a contract research organization but instead working with them in tandem so that the study can be executed with maximal efficiency.
In parallel to the strong focus on developing our pipeline, preparations for the listing of our shares on Nasdaq Stockholm’s main list have high attention. The listing is an important step to further increase the attractiveness of our share.
In summary, 2019 will become an exciting and eventful year for Vicore. We will continue to build the company, at a high pace and with a strong focus.
For further information, please contact:
Carl-Johan Dalsgaard, VD, tel: + 46 (0)70 975 98 63, carl-johan.dalsgaard@vicorepharma.com
Hans Jeppsson, CFO, tel: +46 (0)70 553 14 65, hans.jeppsson@vicorepharma.com
Christian Hall, IR-manager, tel: +46 (0)76 311 12 42, christian.hall@vicorepharma.com
This information was submitted for publication on 15 May 2019 at 08:00 CEST.