Oncodesign: First Half 2015 Results: Significant Improvement Alongside R&D Intensification

Regulatory News:

Oncodesign (Paris:ALONC), a biotechnology company serving the pharmaceutical industry in the discovery of new therapeutic molecules to fight cancer and other serious illnesses with no known effective treatment, has reported its results for the first half of 2015.

Data subject to a limited review by the Statutory Auditors

"These half-year results provide evidence of Oncodesign’s growth momentum and the strength of our diversified business model. We accelerated our R&D investments to discover further new kinase inhibitors, and this resulted in several promising molecules being identified that may give rise to prominent new research programs and strengthen our molecule library, currently consisting of over 6,000 kinase inhibitors. Meanwhile, the major strides taken by our partnership with UCB and the additions made to our teams to support the strong growth in Experimentation like in North America reflect our determination to keep stepping up the pace of our development. These results are particularly encouraging since they demonstrate our tight grip on spending and careful management of our cash”, commented Philippe Genne, Chairman, CEO, founder of Oncodesign.

Significant results improvement in the first half of 2015

In the first half of 2015, Oncodesign’s operating performance improved significantly, with the loss shrinking from €1.7m to €1.0m. The bottom line also made progress, with the net loss cut from €1.1m to €0.3m including a 12.5% increase in the research tax credit.

These results further strengthen the sales growth momentum reported on July 21, 2015 (up 93% to €6.0m) on the back of expansion in the Experimentation business (up 77% to €4.6m) and the exercise of UCB’s licensing option.

Tight management and R&D intensification

The cost structure was in line with the business expansion. This mainly reflected the increase in payroll costs (up 46% to €2.8m), materials purchases and stronger R&D efforts.

R&D spending advanced by 53% to €1.9m in a bid to step up the discovery of additional next-generation kinase inhibitors. As part of this drive, investments in the Nanocyclix, Oncodesign’s discovery platform, more than doubled from €0.52m to €1.21m and represented the main line of research, with an increase of 131% on 2014.

Cash position of €9.4m after cash burn of just €0.7m in the first half

Over the first half of 2015 as a whole, cash burn remained under well control at just €0.7m, trimming net cash to €9.4m at June 30, 2015. It is worth noting that this figure does not reflect the €1.2m received in respect of the research tax credit in July 2015.

Publication of the interim financial report:

The interim financial report, approved by the Board of Directors on September 10, 2015, is available for download from Oncodesign’s website (www.oncodesign.com). It has been subject to a limited review by the Statutory Auditors.

Next financial release: 2015 sales, on January 20, 2016 (after market close)

About Oncodesign: www.oncodesign.com

Founded 20 years ago by Dr. Philippe Genne, the Company’s CEO and Chairman, ONCODESIGN is a biotechnology company that maximizes the pharmaceutical industry’s chances of success in discovering new therapeutic molecules to fight cancer and other serious illnesses with no known efficient treatment. Backed by unique experience acquired through more than 600 clients, including the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, and relying on a comprehensive technological platform combining state-of-the-art medicinal chemistry, advanced animal modeling and medical imaging, ONCODESIGN is able to predict and identify for every molecule, very upstream, its therapeutic use and its potential to become an efficient drug. Applied to kinase inhibitors, molecules that represent a market estimated at over 40 billion dollars in 2016 and accounting for almost 25% of the pharmaceutical industry’s R&D investments, ONCODESIGN’s technology has already enabled the targeting of 7 promising molecules with substantial therapeutic potential, in oncology and elsewhere, and the signing of partnerships, potentially worth €350 million in upfront payments should predefined milestones be reached, with pharmaceutical groups Sanofi, Ipsen and UCB. Based in Dijon, France, in the heart of the town’s university and hospital hub, ONCODESIGN has 85 staff.

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