Patrys will spend most of the coming year in further pre-clinical trials for its brain cancer treatment — and will also chase an insurance claim on a failed manufacturing run.
Shares in the biotech (ASX:PAT) have been climbing for about a year after since its PAT-DX1 treatment was shown to kill brain cancer cells in the lab — then again this year when it worked in mice.
PAT-DX1 is a humanised and smaller version of deoxymab, a DNA damage repair antibody first identified in the inflammatory immune disorder lupus.
It’s proven effective in pre-clinical work on colon cancer cells and breast cancer, and Patrys hopes PAT-DX1 may work for melanomas, prostate, pancreatic and ovarian cancers.
Patrys is also targeting glioblastoma, the cancer that killed US Senator John McCain on Sunday.
Patrys said in its anual report it’s still chasing “a number” of insurance claims around “a failed manufacturing run” of its then-lead cancer drug candidate PAT-SM6 in 2014 and 2015.
The manufacturer first wasn’t able to make enough of the antibody and then couldn’t produce a version in bulk which met Patrys’ specifications.
The PAT-SM6 drug wasn’t able to be released for human use and clinical trials for the drug have been on hold.
“Given the significant cost and time involved with these programs Patrys will only consider reactivation on a partnered, risk sharing basis or if non-dilutive funds can be accessed,” the company said.
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Patrys’ main source of income in fiscal 2018 was an R&D tax incentive. Licensing income dipped from $52,708 to $27,500.
Expenses rose from $2.4 million to $3 million, as the company faced higher legal costs over the insurance claim as well as higher share payments and incentives.
The company made a $2.5 million loss but doesn’t have any debt.
Patrys shares rose 5 per cent after the release of the annual report to touch 3.9c.