Cortecs Reduces Interim Loss

Cortecs International has reduced its loss for the half-year period to December 31, 1994, by 17% to L2 million ($3.2 million). The loss per share was 1.8 pence, compared with 3.2 pence in the like, year-earlier period. Company president Michael Flynn said that sales of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics continue to provide a solid and improving income base for Cortecs. Turnover in the first six months was L3.2 million, up 31%. R&D expenditure was L1.8 million, an increase of 12.5%.

At the start of the financial year, Cortecs' shares gained a full listing in the London Stock Exchange, and Glen Travers, chairman of Cortecs, commented that the company's interim statement reflects the importance of the UK listing to its home market. The company had a cash position at the half-year end of L7.7 million, compared with L1.5 million a year earlier.

Sales/Distribution Deals Cortecs has signed three agreements relating to sales and distribution. The first is with a medium-sized Japanese company, Zenyaku Kogyo, and concerns Helisal Rapid tests for the detection of antibodies to Helicobacter pylori. The agreement includes milestone payments and contemplates sales of L20 million in Japan over the next seven years. German drug company Boehringer Mannheim will distribute the Helisal (Serum) ELISA laboratory test, which detects antibodies to H pylori. The third agreement is also with Boehringer Mannheim, which will distribute in Europe and other territories the Helisal Rapid Blood doctor's office test kits. This agreement makes a provision for minimum sales of L19 million in the first five years of the ten-year agreement.