Drug discovery pioneer on road to becoming ‘self-sustaining’

Manchester-based biotech company C4X Discovery Holdings – a pioneer in the battle against rheumatoid arthritis and Parkinson’s disease – has spent more than £6m on research as it bids to become a “self-sustaining business”.

R&D expenditure in the year to July 31 rose 16% from 2016, reflecting both the increase in drug discovery activity and the continued development of lead drug candidates towards commercialisation, the company said.

During the period the company raised a total of £12m in share placings, leaving the firm with year-end cash of just above £6m.

The AIM-listed company’s chief executive Dr Clive Dix said: “This has been an important year for C4XD in positioning us to achieve our ambitions in drug discovery and deliver value for our shareholders.

“We have progressed our pipeline towards commercialisation, identified new drug targets and discovery programmes and raised the capital required to support our strategy.
“We have also seen high levels of pre-clinical partnering interest for our lead programme Orexin-1 to treat addiction and have entered into late stage commercial discussions.

“During the fundraise in March, 2017 we stated that we fully expected to complete our first commercial deal within 12 months of that date.

“We believe and understand that this is a crucial element of successful implementation of our business model.

“We continue to believe that this important milestone will be met. Our goal is to become a self-sustaining business and I am confident we will see significant progress in the coming months in delivering on the potential of our model.”