- Oncology company Prescient Therapeutics (PTX) reduced its operational spend and obtained an exclusive global licence in the final quarter of FY20
- In May, PTX received permits from the University of Pennsylvania and Oxford University for an immune receptor platform known as OmniCAR
- The platform can be used to create CAR-T assets, an oncology treatment where a patient’s immune system cells are altered so they learn to attack cancerous cells
- All up, the company shed $773,000 on operating activities over the period — the majority of which went towards research and development
- The spend is down roughly a third on PTX’s March quarter, where the company burnt around $1.1 million
- Finally, the biotech company ended the final quarter of FY20 with almost $7.4 million in cash reserves
- Today, PTX wiped yesterday’s gains and dropped 7.46 per cent
- Company shares are trading for 6.2 cents each
Oncology company Prescient Therapeutics (PTX) reduced its operational spend and obtained an exclusive global licence in the final quarter of FY20.
The company has two cancer treatment drugs, PTX-200 and PTX-100, currently in the clinical pipeline. Both formulations target cancer ‘master switches,’ known as AKT and Ras, which trigger a tumour’s growth signals.
PTX-200 is currently being studied for breast and ovarian cancer treatment, as well as acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Meanwhile, researchers are working to determine the efficacy of PTX-100 against solid tumours and cancers.
In May, PTX received exclusive licences from the University of Pennsylvania and Oxford University for an immune receptor platform known as OmniCAR.
The platform can be used to create CAR-T assets, an oncology treatment where a patient’s immune system cells are altered so they learn to attack cancerous cells.
Prescient believes the OmniCAR platform will “be instrumental in the development of next-generation CAR-T assets” and can bring the company to the forefront of the treatment sphere.
Operational costs
Significantly, more than half the cash PTX spent this quarter went towards research and development. It comes as Prescient progressed a clinical trial for a leukaemia treatment and a basket study on several cancers. The other capital covered PTX’s staff, admin and corporate costs.
All up, the company shed $773,000 on operating activities over the period. The spend is down roughly a third on PTX’s March quarter, where the company burnt around $1.1 million.
By the end of FY20, the company had shed over $2.3 million on operating activities. It also received nearly $1.7 million in government grants for its research and development work over the financial year.
Steady cash reserves
The oncology company ended the final quarter of FY20 with almost $7.4 million in cash reserves.
That capital is split roughly down the middle, with half held in the bank and the remaining funds secured in a call deposit account, where Prescient can obtain higher interest rates and guaranteed liquidity.
The $7.3 million balance is only a slight decrease from PTX’s reserves at the start of the quarter. Prescient had roughly $8.1 million in the bank back in April, meaning it’s only had to expend around $800,000 from its reserves.
If that spending rate continues, Prescient could carry on for several more quarters without having to raise capital. The company last tapped investors for more cash in March 2019.
At the financial half-year mark, revenue was down 3.6 per cent, while the company had expanded its loss margin by 6.4 per cent to roughly $1.7 million. Looking ahead, investors will be keen to see if PTX has managed to better those figures when it releases its full-year accounts on August 24.
Today, PTX wiped yesterday’s gains and dropped 7.46 per cent. Company shares closed today, July 22, trading for 6.2 cents each.