ABLYNX PROVIDES BUSINESS UPDATE FOR THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2013
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
REGULATED INFORMATION
A period of transformation with major new collaborations, advances in the
clinical pipeline, important developments in the shareholder structure and
establishment of a fully independent Board
GHENT, Belgium, 14 November 2013 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX] today
announced its non-audited business update, in compliance with the European
transparency directive, summarising Ablynx's financial position for the first
nine months of 2013, material events post 30 September 2013 and guidance for the
full year.
Operating highlights - third quarter - to-date
* Signed an exclusive global license agreement with AbbVie, potentially worth
$840 million, for the development and commercialisation of the anti-IL-6R
Nanobody, ALX-0061, in RA and SLE
* Extended the relationship with Merck Serono through the signing of a major
research alliance that has the potential to evolve into at least four co-
development collaborations and could generate >?100M in cash inflow to
Ablynx over the next 6.5 years
* Signed an exclusive license agreement with Eddingpharm to develop and
commercialise the anti-RANKL Nanobody, ALX-0141, in Greater China (the
mainland of the People's Republic of China, the Hong Kong and Macao Special
Administrative Regions, and Taiwan), for the treatment of osteoporosis and
bone metastases
* Started additional Phase I studies with the anti-RSV Nanobody, ALX-0171,
with the goal to initiate a first-in-infant trial during H2 2014
* Boehringer Ingelheim started a Phase I study with a Nanobody to treat
Alzheimer's disease, triggering a ?5 million milestone payment to Ablynx
* Signed a second extension of the Strategic Alliance with Boehringer
Ingelheim, worth ?1.1 million in FTE payments
* Amended the protocol of the Phase II study with caplacizumab with the aim of
improving patient recruitment
* Establishment of a fully independent Board with the appointment of Dr Peter
Fellner as new Chairman and Dr Bo Jesper Hansen and Dr William Jenkins as
new Independent Directors
Financial highlights - first nine months ending September 30(th) 2013
* Raised ?31.5 million in a private placement of new shares
* Revenues of ?16.7 million (2012: ?22.2 million)
* Net loss for the period of ?18.9 million (2012: ?22.3 million)
* Positive net cash inflow of ?0.2 million, resulting in a strong financial
position of ?63.0 million in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and
short-term investments
* Upfront payments as part of the collaborations with AbbVie and Merck Serono
announced end September were booked in the fourth quarter and hence will
contribute to the full year's cash inflow
Commenting on today's business update, Dr Edwin Moses, CEO of Ablynx, said:
"Ablynx has made tremendous progress in the last months. We signed a
transformational global licensing agreement, with a $175M up-front payment, for
ALX-0061 with AbbVie, which is the largest clinical asset deal this year. The
commercial terms of this partnership provide further validation of the power of
the Nanobody technology platform, have generated significant additional
financial resources and allow us to further build our expertise and capabilities
in late stage clinical development. Also in the period, we further expanded our
relationship with Merck Serono through the signing of a major multi-year
research alliance that enables a rapid expansion of the early stage Nanobody
pipeline as well as potentially generating very significant cash inflows over
the next years. This is the fourth deal with Merck Serono and builds on the
success of the existing collaborations.
The last quarter of the year has already started strongly with the signing of a
license agreement with Eddingpharm for our anti-RANKL asset, ALX-0141, in
Greater China, which is a first step for Ablynx in the exploitation of
opportunities in the emerging markets. In addition, our two collaborations with
Boehringer Ingelheim saw further progress with the start of the Phase I clinical
study with a Nanobody to treat Alzheimer's disease and a second extension of the
Strategic Alliance.
Finally, during the period we have seen an important evolution of our
shareholder base towards long-term financial institutions in an orderly process
which has allowed the exit of a large proportion of our remaining venture
capital shareholders. As part of this maturing of Ablynx, we have also
established a fully independent Board of Directors with significant industry
experience which further strengthens our position as a leading European
biopharmaceutical company."
Financial review
+----------------------------------+--------------------+----------------------+
|(? million) |First 9 months of |First 9 months of 2012|
| |2013 | |
+----------------------------------+--------------------+----------------------+
|Revenues |16.7 |22.2 |
+-----------------------+----------+--------------------+----------------------+
| |R&D income|15.7 |21.1 |
+-----------------------+----------+--------------------+----------------------+
| |Grants |0.9 |1.1 |
+-----------------------+----------+--------------------+----------------------+
|Operating expenses |(36.2) |(45.4) |
+-----------------------+----------+--------------------+----------------------+
| |R&D |(29.7) |(38.3) |
+-----------------------+----------+--------------------+----------------------+
| |G&A |(6.4) |(7.1) |
+-----------------------+----------+--------------------+----------------------+
|Operating result |(19.5) |(23.2) |
+----------------------------------+--------------------+----------------------+
|Finance income (net) |0.6 |1.0 |
+----------------------------------+--------------------+----------------------+
|Net result |(18.9) |(22.3) |
+----------------------------------+--------------------+----------------------+
|Net cash inflow/(burn) |0.2 |(18.8) |
+----------------------------------+--------------------+----------------------+
|Cash at 30(th) September |63.0 ((1) ) |65.0((2)) |
+----------------------------------+--------------------+----------------------+
((1)) including ?2.3 million in restricted cash ((2)) including ?2.7
million in restricted cash
Revenues were ?16.7 million (2012: ?22.2 million) and included FTE and contract
income from on-going collaborations and a milestone payment from Merck Serono as
Phase I development started with ALX-0761 in RA. Operating expenses decreased to
?36.2 million (2012: ?45.4 million) due to lower R&D costs as a result of
variances in external development costs. The net loss for the period was ?18.9
million (2012: ?22.3 million).
Following the successful private placement completed on 28(th) February 2013,
the Company had a positive net cash inflow of ?0.2 million (2012: cash burn of
?18.8 million), and ended the period with a strong financial position of ?63.0
million in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments.
About Ablynx
Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development
of Nanobodies(®), a novel class of therapeutic proteins based on single-domain
antibody fragments, for a range of serious human diseases, including
inflammation, haematology, oncology and pulmonary disease. Today, the Company
has approximately 25 programmes in the pipeline and seven Nanobodies at clinical
development stage. Ablynx has on-going research collaborations and significant
partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies including AbbVie, Boehringer
Ingelheim, Eddingpharm, Merck & Co, Merck Serono and Novartis. The Company is
headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. More information can be found on
www.ablynx.com.
For more information, please contact
Ablynx:
Dr Edwin Moses
Chairman and CEO
t: +32 (0)9 262 00 07
m: +44 (0)7771 954 193 /
+32 (0)473 39 50 68
e: edwin.moses(at)ablynx.com
Marieke Vermeersch
Associate Director Investor Relations
t: +32 (0)9 262 00 82
m: +32 (0)479 49 06 03
e: marieke.vermeersch(at)ablynx.com
Follow us on Twitter (at)AblynxABLX
Ablynx media relations Consilium Strategic Communications:
Mary-Jane Elliott, Amber Bielecka, Lindsey Neville
t: +44 207 920 2345
e: ablynx(at)consilium-comms.com
complete press release in pdf:
http://hugin.info/137912/R/1743035/586164.pdf
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(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Ablynx via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1743035]
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 14.11.2013 - 07:01 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 316350
Anzahl Zeichen: 10764
contact information:
Town:
Ghent/Zwijnaarde
Kategorie:
Business News
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