Interim report July-September 2018
Important events during the third quarter
- In July, Vicore announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire INIM, a Swedish biopharmaceutical company developing a new local treatment for severe rare interstitial lung diseases. Before the acquisition, HealthCap VII L.P. owned 85% of INIM and, following the transaction, became the largest shareholder in Vicore Pharma Holding AB with 30.4% of the shares
- In August, an extraordinary general meeting was held in Vicore and passed resolutions on the following:
– Issue in kind regarding the acquisition of INIM
– Dividend of the majority of the holding in I-Tech AB to Vicore shareholders
– Pre-emptive rights issue in Vicore
– Long-term incentive programs for certain senior leaders and board members
– Election of two new board members in Vicore: Hans Schikan and Jacob Gunterberg - In August, Vicore announced that Carl-Johan Dalsgaard was appointed new CEO as of September 1, 2018
- In September, Vicore announced that the clinical program VP01 (C21) was expanded in order to increase the likelihood of showing signals of functional effect and successfully advance C21 in its clinical development
- In September, Vicore Pharma strengthened its team with two key hires: Rohit Batta as CMO and Göran Tornling as Senior Adviser
Important events after the period
- In October, Vicore announced that the rights issue completed in September was oversubsribed by 33% and that 99.4% of the subscription rights had been exercised
- In October, Göran Wessman announced that, due to health reasons, he wished to resign from the Board of Directors and instead join Vicore’s nomination committee
- On November 8, the Board decided to act for the Company’s shares to be admitted for trading on Nasdaq Stockholm’s main list in 2019
| KSEK | July-Sept 2018 | July-Sept 2017 | Jan-Sept 2018 | Jan-Sept 2017 | Year 2017 |
| Income | 785 | 929 | 2 467 | 2 680 | 3 674 |
| Operating profit/loss | -6 405 | -1 685 | -16 245 | -6 512 | -12 793 |
| Profit/loss after financial items | -6 667 | -1 687 | 2 705 | -6 573 | -12 855 |
| Earnings per share, SEK | -0.27 | -0.11 | 0.11 | -0.41 | -0.81 |
| Equity as of end of period | 144 623 | 119 557 | 144 623 | 119 557 | 112 969 |
| Cash flow from operating activities | 700 | -1 718 | 8 375 | -8 409 | -7 703 |
| Cash flow from investment activities | 14 845 | -5 772 | 1 253 | -13 665 | -22 780 |
| Cash flow from financing activities | -1 438 | 0 | -1 438 | 50 542 | 50 236 |
| Cash and cash equivalents as of end of period | 32 209 | 32 734 | 32 209 | 32 734 | 24 019 |
CEO comments
On July 3, the foundation of the new Vicore was created with the acquisition of INIM and the related decision to distribute the majority of I-Tech shares to the company’s shareholders. Vicore gained a clear focus on lung diseases and a broader portfolio focused on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other rare lung diseases. The company also gained an active and experienced owner in HealthCap, one of Europe’s leading life science investors.
At the Extraordinary General Meeting on August 13, the acquisition and the distribution of shares were approved. At the meeting, two new board members were elected: Hans Schikan, with long experience from the biotech industry, and Jacob Gunterberg from HealthCap. Furthermore, it was also resolved to launch the rights issue that was then successfully completed on October 3, after the end of the quarter. The subscription rights were exercised to 99.4%, the issue was oversubscribed by 33% and the company received SEK 82.4 million before issue costs.
With these decisions made, I was appointed CEO of Vicore from September 1. I was involved in the acquisition deal and saw significant potential in bringing together Vicore and INIM to concentrate efforts within lung disease. Vicore Pharma’s data on C21 and its biological mechanism of action could be complemented in an excellent way by INIM’s development project in interstitial lung diseases.
At the beginning of September, following a strategic review, we decided to extend Vicores Pharma’s clinical program VP01 for C21 so that the planned Phase IIa study with C21 for the treatment of IPF could also include data on lung function, i.e. data on both safety and efficacy. Our review included the results of the previously conducted longer preclinical safety study which showed that we have the opportunity to increase exposure to determine higher doses of C21 in humans before selecting the optimal dosing for the clinical study in IPF. We plan to initiate the extended program in January 2019 and then start the Phase IIa study six months later.
In September, Vicore Pharma’s organisation was strengthened with two key individuals, both possessing the form of specialist expertise and experience we need to build value in our core focus area of severe, rare lung diseases. They are: Dr. Rohit Batta, who has lengthy experience both as a physician and as a leader of medical and clinical development teams in “rare diseases”, most recently in his role as Senior Director of Cell and Gene Therapy at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK); and Dr. Göran Tornling, with nearly 40 years of experience as a specialist physician in pulmonary medicine. Göran was previously Executive Director, Clinical Science and Strategy (Respiratory) at AstraZeneca. In that role, he was responsible for designing studies in IPF. Both Rohit and Göran will be members of Vicore’s management team and they will contribute significant value as we now build a world-class medical team for the continued clinical development work ahead of us.
When I took on the role as CEO at Vicore, I saw a good opportunity to create an internationally leading company in severe and rare lung diseases. Now, after two months on the job, I am even more convinced of this.
Carl-Johan Dalsgaard
For further information, please contact:
Dr. Carl-Johan Dalsgaard, CEO: +46 (0)70 975 98 63, carl-johan.dalsgaard@vicorepharma.com
Hans Jeppsson, CFO: + 46 (0)70 553 14 65, hans.jeppsson@vicorepharma.com
This information is information that Vicore Pharma Holding AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 8:30 CET on November 8, 2018.