After a tough year MMI raises £1m; reports narrower losses; to change name to reflect new strategy
Medical Marketing International Group plc, the Cambridge-based life sciences firm developing drugs for cancer, has raised £0.95m to fund development programs and proposes to change its name to Oncosense to reflect its new strategy.
It placed 5m new shares with new and existing shareholders, including several directors.
MMI also released preliminary results for the year ended 31 March. Revenue grew 34% to £140,000, while the operating loss narrowed by 13% to £3.7m.
Chairman Phil Cartmell said: "MMI's oncology platforms are at the leading edge in the development of much-needed new treatments for cancer and we believe they have the potential to generate significant value for shareholders over the medium term.
"Our strategic objective is to create a broadly based oncology company."
He said MMI had had a difficult year after a major disagreement between co-founders David Best and Margaret Mitchell and the rest of the Board.
"This is now well on the way to resolution. Under my leadership, the business has embarked on a revised strategy to focus on the needs of the oncology market and to reflect this it will be proposed at the forthcoming AGM that the name of the company be changed to Oncosense plc," he said.
The company's share price shed around 12% on the news. It is now valued around £9m.
MMI currently has three platform technologies: DNA vaccines, targeted towards cancer therapy; ruthenium chemotherapy; and ribozyme anti-virals targeted at infectious diseases.
The Board's strategic review concluded that the technologies in oncology were at the leading edge in the field and that MMI would benefit from a greater focus in this area. MMI is now concentrating resources on the further development of its lead oncology programs based on the DNA vaccine and ruthenium technologies.
All programmes that aren't part of the oncology focus will be divested or out-licensed, including the anti-viral ribozyme technology. MMI also believes its risk-reward profile could be boosted by expansion of its oncology pipeline and therefore, will review opportunities to in-license and acquire other oncology platforms.
MMI does not have a CEO and the Board said there was no intention, over the short term, to appoint an additional director in this role. It would concentrate on executing the strategy under the direction of Executive Directors.
"I acknowledge that there is still work to be done to recover investor confidence in the future of MMI but I remain confident that under my stewardship we can deliver the best way forward for MMI," Mr Cartmell said.
R&D expenditure in 2008 was £1.45m, 34% lower than in 2007. At 31 March the Group had UK tax losses to be carried forward of around £16.84m.
