Oxford BioMedica hit by impairment charge

31st Aug 2011 08:07

Pre-tax losses at gene-based biopharmaceutical firm Oxford BioMedica widened after it took a £3.1m impairment charge when it wrote down the value of its Hi8 MEL melanoma vaccine when it failed to find a commercial partner for the product.The group posted a pre-tax loss of just under £9m for the six months to 30 June compared with a loss of £3.57m a year earlier. Revenue declined 7% to £4.95m.The impairment charge alongside increased research and development costs hurt the group's earnings.Looking ahead chief executive officer John Dawson said, "With tight fiscal controls in place we have sufficient financial resources to deliver our clinical results and reach our milestone objectives throughout 2012. We remain committed to building a successful biopharmaceutical company founded on the development and commercialisation of novel gene-based medicines."At 30 June 2011 the group had cash resources of £20.2m.Oxford BioMedica said it continues to invest in the key products in its development pipeline, and in establishing a manufacturing capability."Based on our current operating forecasts, we have sufficient resources to fund these activities throughout 2012 and into the early part of 2013, without anticipating any proceeds from new commercial collaborations," it said. "However, we anticipate a number of potentially significant value and cash-accretive events during that period that would extend the funding window further ahead."---CJ