Oxford BioMedica

Biotech minnow Oxford BioMedica (OXB) widened losses from £3.7m to £9m as its development efforts continued.

The fully listed concern declared cash of £20.2m (2010: £16.3m) with net cash burn of £10.7m also reported (2010: £9.4m) for the six months to June. Sales of £5m were also declared with the company receiving £4.6m for research from its collaboration with Sanofi, the French healthcare group. Oxford raised £20m in January with the company insisting that it has 'financial resources suficient to fund operations into Q1 2013.'

Regarding its key drug ProSavin, a treatment for Parkinson's disease it noted that in May data from its Phase I/II study unveiled at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy's 14th annual meeting showed that over a six month assessment of the third patient chort there was on average a 43% improvement in motor function in those treated (Parkinson's is a disease that leads to problems with mobility.)

Oxford is developing four drugs with Sanofi, which include treatments for macular degeneration, Stargardt disease (a form of macular degeneration that occurs in children and which frequently leads to total blindness), Usher syndrome (a disease that causes both deafness and blindness) and corneal graft rejection. It noted that Retinostat, its age related mauclar degeneration treatment entered Phase I in January 2011.

Analysts at Singer Capital Markets are forecasting a loss before tax of £7.5m for the year to December 2011 on sales of £9.3m. In 2012 a loss of £200,000 on turnover of £14.1m is penciled in.

Last rated by Growth Company Investor this May at 6p as a speculative buy the investment case remains a similar one. Having made some considerable progress in developing its portfolio Oxford differentiates itself from the microcaps of the sector. Its key test will be in creating a profitable business using the cash it has raised. As a speculative investment it retains appeal.