OKYO Pharma reports widened annual loss despite R&D costs drop

(Alliance News) - OKYO Pharma Ltd on Monday reported a widened loss for its most recently ended ...

Alliance News 2 August, 2021 | 1:37PM
Email Form Facebook Twitter LinkedIn RSS

(Alliance News) - OKYO Pharma Ltd on Monday reported a widened loss for its most recently ended financial year.

Pretax loss for the financial year ended March 31 was GBP3.0 million, widened from GBP1.3 million the year before.

OKYO's cash balance stood at GBP4.99 million, up from GBP190,000. The group successfully raised GBP6.1 million during the year via the issuance of convertible loan notes, private placements, and the exercise of options.

The group's expenditure on research and development was GBP133,000, as compared to GBP407,000 the prior year. The reduction in expenditure was due to an elimination of R&D costs planned for OK-113 once the decision was made to switch to OK-101.

OK-101, the firm's lead preclinical product candidate, is focused on keratoconjunctivitis sicca, commonly referred to as DED which is a multifactorial disease caused by an underlying inflammation resulting in the lack of lubrication and moisture in the surface of the eye.

The development of new drugs to treat DED has been particularly challenging due to the heterogeneous nature of the patient population suffering from DED, and due to the difficulties in demonstrating an improvement in both signs and symptoms of the disease in well-controlled clinical trials, the firm said.

During the next 12 months, OKYO is committed to a major effort to accomplish the IND enabling activities necessary for treating DED.

However, further funds will need to be raised within the foreseeable future in order to progress it's pipeline and fund ongoing business operations.

OKYO said "the company is well financed, resilient and well positioned to weather any financial downturn occurring as a result of the outbreak. Indeed, the company has raised additional funds through the issuance of convertible loan notes."

Shares in Okyo Pharma were up 2.4% to 5.38 pence each in London on Monday afternoon.

By Amrit Sahota; newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Email Form Facebook Twitter LinkedIn RSS

Securities Mentioned in Article

Security Name Price Change (%) Morningstar
Rating
OKYO Pharma Ltd

About Author

Alliance News

Alliance News provides Morningstar with continuously updating coverage of news affecting listed companies.

© Copyright 2024 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Terms of Use        Privacy Policy        Modern Slavery Statement        Cookie Settings        Disclosures