Ovoca Bio
plc
("Ovoca"
or the "Company")
Publication of 2023 Annual Report
Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 2024
- Ovoca Bio, a biopharmaceutical company with a focus on
women's health, announces the publication of its Annual Report and
Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023. The
Annual Report and Financial Statements can be viewed online at the
following link:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2362U_1-2024-6-27.pdf
2023 Highlights:
During 2023, the Ovoca management
team focused on the following key areas:
· Analysis of the data and results from the Phase II dose
ranging study assessing Orenetide in Australia and New Zealand.
Unfortunately, the study delivered negative results in mid-2023,
demonstrating no treatment benefit over the control group.
Following further analysis conducted post the receipt of the
results, Ovoca has now determined that further R&D activities
with Orenetide are not likely to result in potential benefits for
the Company, and the Company is therefore taking steps to minimize
further costs by pausing development activities on the
asset.
· Disposal of Russian assets and optimization of corporate
structure - the ongoing sanctions pressure around the Russian
economy and financial system required significant work to be
completed during the year, including the disposal of certain
Russian assets which the Company announced in March 2023, and the
Company continues to take steps to optimize its structure. The
Company also plans to maintain the patents, while investigating
opportunities to further commercialize the intellectual property,
related to Orenetide (e.g. through a sale or other options to
monetise these assets).
·
Ensuring the Company has sufficient funding to
cover its expenditure as required.
Letter from the CEO
We are pleased to today publish the
2023 Full Year Annual report for Ovoca.
At the beginning of the reporting
period - 2023 - the main efforts of the Company were focused on the
active development of Orenetide. It is not surprising that the
events which occurred at the beginning of the 3rd quarter 2023 -
the results of a Clinical Trial conducted in Australia and New
Zealand - turned out to be critically important for the
Company.
It should be noted that the primary
focus of the Company in recent years was based on the expectation
of success with the Australian and NZL Study. Therefore, all
management efforts with partners and contractors were aimed to
allow fast progression after receiving the expected positive
results of the Study, and the financial strategy of the Company had
been framed to ensure a sufficient margin of liquidity at that
time.
However, receiving negative Study
results was a turning point in the Company's endeavours to pursue
previous strategic goals in the biopharma sector. We have made a
lot of efforts to comprehensively, thoroughly and deeply analyse
the root causes of the Study failure and understand whether there
are prospects for further development of Orenetide.
Unfortunately, following further
analysis, we have decided that further research and development
activities in relation to Orenetide do not make sense in the
current environment and we have therefore paused development plans
for the asset. This is immediately reflected in the re-valuation of
the Company's Intangible Assets, as presented in the 2023 Annual
Report. However, significant efforts have been made to maintain the
financial stability of the Company, taking into account Ovoca's
contracts and obligations. Such stability will allow for a
reassessment of the Company's strategic prospects, focusing on
minimizing losses for shareholders and finding a potentially
profitable new path.
Significant work has been done to
improve the Company's corporate structure and this work is ongoing.
We are progressing analysis to execute on the planned disposal or
reorganisation of the Company's assets historically located in
complicated jurisdictions, while also seeking the settlement of
litigation regarding Taymura . Taken together, this is a rather
long and difficult process, not helped by the ongoing turbulence in
the world and the ever-tightening mutual sanctions pressure between
the main jurisdictions of the Company's assets. However, we expect
that this work will bear fruit in the current year and make the
Company better positioned in terms of potential strategic business
opportunities.
Thus, the current efforts of
management and Directors are focused on investigating strategic
business opportunities, where current internal skillsets and
competencies can be best used to benefit the Company.
In concluding my statement, I would
like to take this opportunity to thank the management of the
Company and the members of the Board of Directors for their
perseverance, hard work despite all difficulties and invaluable
contribution to the further development of Ovoca.
Annual Report
The Annual Report and Financial
Statements will shortly be posted to shareholders and are also
available online at the Company's website, www.ovocabio.com.
End
For further information:
Ovoca Bio plc
Kirill Golovanov (Chief
Executive)
Tel +353 1 661 9819
info@ovocabio.com
Davy (Nominated Adviser, Euronext
Growth Listing Sponsor and Broker)
Ivan Murphy / Daragh
O'Reilly
Tel: +353 1 679 6363
About Ovoca Bio
Ovoca Bio is a European-based
biopharmaceutical company with a focus on women's health. The
Company's lead product, Orenetide, a novel synthetic peptide
administered through a nasal spray, that had demonstrated
statistically significant improvement in a number of symptoms
associated with HSDD in the previous clinical trials, recently has
failed to demonstrate treatment benefit over control group in the
Phase II study conducted in Australia and New Zealand.
Following these Study results, the
Company has suspended further R&D plans for Orenetide and is
investigating potential strategic opportunities for the
business.