Quarterly is out...discussions have intensified..wonder whether its with Novo or another bio...everything going better than expected from the looks of things.
CBio Limited (ASX: CBZ) is pleased to lodge its Appendix 4C for the quarter ending 31 March 2011. The March quarter saw the final patient complete dosing in the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) clinical trial. A total of 155 patients participated in the trial throughout Australia, New Zealand and Central and Eastern Europe. Over the next month data from the trial will start to be un-blinded and audited and the Company expects to receive data tables and listings from the trial in June, with a final study report to be delivered later in the year. This achievement has resulted in a substantial reduction in outgoings due to the trial completing and the end of outsourced payments to contractors, thus resulting in a substantial reduction in cash outflows. The Company remains engaged with a number of pharmaceutical companies who have expressed an interest in the outcome of the clinical trial and the potential of XToll ? Interactions with these companies have . intensified in one case and should further intensify once the results from the clinical trial are available. The Board continues to believe that XToll ? may be useful in a number of disease states in addition to RA and therefore remains committed to building CBio as an early-stage drug development company in order to exploit any and all commercial opportunities available for XToll ? and/or other variants or new drugs that may become available. The Company has continued to work to milestone targets ? namely the completion of the phase IIa clinical trial in RA and the progression of the prioritised set of development activities that will add the greatest value to lead drug, XToll ? . To this end, funds have been applied to the completion of the clinical study, the further strengthening of the patent portfolio, the commencement of regulatory filing processes, scale-up activities to address future manufacturing requirements, preparations for long-term toxicology studies, and studies into the mechanism of action. The Company has continued to access funds under the convertible loan facility it has in place with the SpringTree Special Opportunity Fund LP. Under this fund, CBio can access up to $12.45 million over a three year period until April 2013. As at 31 March, the Company can access up to $8.75 million over the remaining life of the facility. The Company is currently drawing $150,000 per month from the facility, although this can be increased to a maximum of $350,000 per month under the agreement with SpringTree. Should the maximum amount be drawn under the facility each month, $4.2 million would be available to the Company over the coming year.Given the completion of the current Phase IIa RA Trial and the availability of the SpringTree facility the Board are confident the Company?s current and planned drug development activities will be able to be financed adequately. The Company held cash reserves of $1.669 million at the end of the quarter, a decrease of $2.824 million over the previous quarter. Cash outflows during the quarter in relation to operating activities ($3.023 million) were lower than the previous quarter ($4.370 million), with expenditure on research & development ($1.232 million) representing the main area of expenditure during the quarter. The Board welcomed two new directors during the March quarter, with Dr Thomas L?nngren and Mr James Greig being appointed in January. Dr L?nngren is the former Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency, the pharmaceutical regulatory body of the European Union; Mr Greig has served as CBio?s Chief Financial Officer since 2006. Subsequent to the end of the quarter, Mr Stephen Streeter resigned as a director of the Company.
CBZ Price at posting:
53.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held