Synairgen narrows loss in H1, continues to advance lead anti-viral asset SNG001
() , a drug discovery and development company, released an interim update for the 6 months ended June 30 2023. Synairgen's flagship product is SNG001, a respiratory anti-viral candidate aiming to be the first host-targeted, broad-spectrum treatment delivered directly to the lungs for severe viral lung infections.
Operationally, Synairgen continued to advance its patient identification strategy that uses biomarkers and existing clinical data analysis. In doing so, the company hopes to identify patients at higher risk of disease progression who might be more likely to respond to SNG001 in future clinical studies.
Synairgen said it has been conducting preparatory work to expand hospitalised patient populations for potential treatment with SNG001, which are likely to include ventilated patients with confirmed viral pneumonia and immunocompromised patients. Subject to this preparatory work and regulatory approval timelines, trials are expected to start in H1 2024.
Financially, Synairgen reported cash and deposit balances of £14.6m on 30 June, down from £18m on December 31 2022. It should be noted that post-period the company received a research and development tax credit of £2.4m. Loss before tax narrowed significantly to £5.2m from £14m a year ago.
R&D spending materially reduced to £3.5m from £11.1m a year ago as expenditure on the company's Phase 3 SPRINTER trial, substantially completed in 2022, decreased and manufacturing activities reduced.
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Synairgen continues to advance clinical development of SNG001, currently focused on identifying trial participants most likely to benefit from a broad-spectrum antiviral and SNG001. So far data from SNG001 has been encouraging, based on the Phase 3 SPRINTER trial and the US government's ACTIV-2 trial, and the company aims to commence trials within H1 2024.
Synairgen ended the half with a comfortable cash balance of £14.6m which was supplemented post-period with a £2.4m tax credit. At the current run rate, this balance should keep the company funded into H2 2024, including existing committed costs as well as estimated costs of a planned observational study and two Synairgen-sponsored Phase 2 studies. Synairgen's loss materially narrowed in H1 to £5.2m from £14m last year, driven by lower R&D expenses - £3.5m compared to £11.1m last year - as the Phase III SPRINTER trial concluded in 2022.
Investors should look forward to the abovementioned observational study and two trials. The outputs of these will form the basis for an expected Phase 3 study in severe anti-viral infections, expected to begin in H1 2024 and significantly advance SNG001's clinical development.
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