LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - N4 Pharma reported a reduced operating loss of £1.22m for 2024 on Friday, down from £1.42m the prior year, as the biotech company continued to develop its proprietary Nuvec gene delivery platform.
Revenue rose modestly to £7,282, while year-end cash stood at £0.63m, bolstered by a £630,000 fundraising round in June.

Operational progress centred on N4 101, the company's oral anti-inflammatory candidate for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

In December, N4 completed in vitro profiling showing clear delivery benefits of the Nuvec platform.

Positive in vivo results followed in April 2024, with studies at the University of Queensland demonstrating successful oral delivery to the intestine and localised protein expression.

A further in vivo efficacy study released after year-end showed that Nuvec-based N4 101 significantly reduced inflammation in a standard animal model of colitis.

The AIM-traded company said it had since filed a new patent for the product, and was advancing discussions with potential commercial partners.

Beyond N4 101, the firm applied for FDA orphan drug designation for ECP105, which targets scarring following glaucoma surgery using its Liptide platform.

Separately, N4 reported encouraging results from a collaboration with SRI International, which demonstrated Nuvec's ability to deliver its payload to specific cell types.

Governance changes included the appointment of two new independent non-executive directors - Mike Palfreyman in September and Dr Alastair Smith in January, while David Templeton stepped down.

In April, N4 raised a further £1.75m to support ongoing research and development and strengthen its cash position.

The company also announced the formation of a senior leadership team made up of expert consultants to drive drug development, commercialisation, and manufacturing strategy as it continued to seek partnerships and monetisation opportunities for Nuvec.

"N4 Pharma delivered strong technical and operational progress during the year," said chief executive officer Nigel Theobald.

"The company has a clear strategic focus on advancing our Nuvec® RNA delivery platform.

"Nuvec continues to generate compelling pre-clinical data and meets key performance criteria needed to address the core challenge in RNA therapeutics - safe and effective delivery."

Theobald said that following the company's successful fundraising, it had initiated an expanded work programme to strengthen the commercial data package around Nuvec, to secure licensing agreements with third parties.

"This work is being driven by a high-calibre operational team and will be delivered over the next 12 to 18 months.

"The company awaits the outcome of the FDA's consideration of our application for orphan drug designation for ECP105 in order to finalise our decision-making on the strategy for this product.

"Nuvec represents a significant opportunity to create long-term value - we remain committed to unlocking its full commercial potential to deliver shareholder value as we execute our strategy and build momentum."

At 1100 BST, shares in N4 Pharma were up 5.26% at 0.5p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:

• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• STUMBLEUPON
• MIXX
• YAHOO BUZZ
• DELICIOUS
• REDDIT
• NEWSVINE