Phytopharm's H1 2006 loss widens to L3.6M

UK plant-based pharmaceutical group Phytopharm says that its loss for the six months to February 28, 2006, deepened to L3.6 million ($6.7 million) versus L430,000 for the like, year-ago period, reflecting the ongoing development of its novel drug and functional food products.

During the period, the firm says it generated income of L880,000 vs L4.0 million. L840,000 came from a deal with food giant Unilever for the development of products containing the appetite suppressing extract from the African Hoodia gordonii cactus, with further revenue of L400,000 coming from sales of its canine atopic dermatitis treatment Phytopica, as a companion animal health product, which was licensed to US drugmaker Schering-Plough in January and formally launched after the reporting period end.

The firm noted that the comparable period's L4.0 million turnover largely came from a milestone payment from Japan's Yamanouchi acknowledging good safety data for Cogane (PYM50028), which Phytopharm is developing both for Alzheimer's disease and as a neuroprotective agent. The UK firm noted that, during the current reporting period, the agent saw strong Phase IIa data in 265 mild-to-moderate AD patients.