Preliminary Results for the Year Ended 31 March 2006
25 May 2006
Preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2006
Chippenham, UK, 25 May 2006 - Vectura Group plc (LSE: VEC), the drug development company, today announces its financial results for the year ended 31 March 2006.
OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS
NVA237 for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
- $375 million global licensing agreement with Novartis for NVA237 signed in April 2005
- Start of NVA237 Phase IIb clinical trial
VR315 for Asthma
- European collaboration, development and licence agreement signed in March 2006 with leading international pharmaceutical company
- In addition to attractive royalties, Vectura could receive up to €22.5 million in milestones and development funding, of which €5.6 million was received in April 2006
VR040 for Parkinson's disease
- Receipt of EU Orphan Medicinal Product designation
- Start of Phase IIa study
VR776 for premature ejaculation (PE)
- Successful completion of VR776 first clinical trial in man
VR496 for cystic fibrosis (CF)
- Receipt of EU Orphan Medicinal Product designation and US Orphan Drug designation
- Total revenues up by 88% to £8.4 million (2004/05 £4.5m)
- Gross profit up by 114% to £6.4 million (2004/05 £3.0m)
- Loss after tax down to £6.5 million (2004/05 loss of £7.8 million)
- Loss per share down 31% to 6.0p (2004/05 loss of 8.7p)
- Net cash outflow from operating activities down to £1.6 million (2004/05 net cash outflow £5.0 million)
DEVELOPMENTS SINCE YEAR END
- Signed a collaboration agreement in April 2006 with Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH to develop a dry powder inhaler ("DPI"). Under the terms of the agreement, Vectura received an initial payment of €5 million and a €10 million equity investment
- In May 2006 announced the spin-out of PharmaKodex Limited a new speciality pharmaceutical company jointly established with Unilever Ventures Limited
- Cash and cash equivalents as at 12 May 2006 were over £29 million
Commenting on the results, Dr. Chris Blackwell, Chief Executive of Vectura, said: "This has been an extremely successful 12 months in which we have demonstrated our ability to deliver on the objectives set out at IPO by taking the key products in our pipeline to the next stages of development and establishing three major licensing deals with international pharmaceutical companies.
"With the advancement of our product pipeline and the continued interest in our technologies from potential licensing partners, we look forward to the year ahead with confidence."
Enquiries
Vectura Group plc On 25/05/06 +44 (0) 207 831 3113
Thereafter +44 (0) 1249 667 700
Chris Blackwell, Chief Executive
Anne Hyland, Chief Financial Officer
Financial Dynamics +44 (0) 207 831 3113
David Yates/Sarah MacLeod/John Gilbert
There will be an analyst presentation today, for further details please call Claire Rowell on +44(0)207 269 7285.
Notes for Editors
About Vectura
Vectura's principal focus is to develop a range of inhaled drugs for treating medical conditions where optimised delivery to the lungs provides significant benefits, such as fast action, improved efficacy and tolerability compared with other therapies.
Vectura's products combine its proprietary, innovative, pulmonary formulation and device technologies (GyroHaler®, PowderHale®, and Aspirair®) with existing, off-patent drugs either for use in new indications or to provide inhalation as an improved route of administration. Using drugs that have already been approved in some form in at least one major pharmaceutical market lowers the risk of product development failure compared to new chemical entities. Vectura is able to secure patent protection for its portfolio by identifying new indications for off-patent compounds and applying the Company's proprietary delivery technologies to create new methods of administration.
The Company has development collaborations with Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, GSK, Chiesi and one other undisclosed international pharmaceutical company.
For further information, please visit Vectura's website at www.vectura.com
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This press release contains "forward-looking statements," including statements about the discovery, development and commercialisation of products. Various risks may cause Vectura's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including adverse results in clinical development programs; failure to obtain patent protection for discoveries; commercial limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; dependence upon strategic alliance partners to develop and commercialise products and services; difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals to market products and services resulting from development efforts; the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and development and to expand commercialisation activities; and product initiatives by competitors. As a result of these factors, prospective investors are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statement. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

