iX Biopharma swings into the black in H1 with S$3.7m profit on licensing agreement
CATALIST-LISTED iX Biopharma 42C has swung back into the black with a net profit of S$3.7 million for the first half of its fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2021, compared with a net loss of S$2.8 million the previous year.
The turnaround in profitability was driven by the out-licensing of Wafermine, its lead drug under development, to Seelos Therapeutics in November 2021, iX Biopharma said in a bourse filing on Friday (Feb 11).
This lifted the group's revenue for H1 2022 to S$13.2 million, up from S$830,000 a year ago. On the back of higher revenue, the group recorded a gross profit of S$12.1 million versus a gross loss of S$160,000 in H1 2021.
Total expenses increased to S$6.9 million in H1 2022, compared with S$5.7 million a year ago. This was mainly due to expenses relating to the group's out-licensing of Wafermine, which comprised a one-off expense of S$920,000 in legal and advisory fees as well as share-based compensation, and S$940,000 in financial advisor fees and other expenses.
Excluding this one-off expense, the group's total expenses would have declined by S$690,000 compared with H1 2021.
Earnings per share stood at 0.49 Singapore cents for H1 2021, reversing a loss per share of 0.41 cents in the year before.
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No dividend was declared for the half year, unchanged from a year ago, as iX Biopharma said it needs to conserve its cash reserve for the development and commercialisation of products.
In addition to receiving an upfront fee payment of S$1.6 million in January 2022 from its Wafermine licensing agreement, iX Biopharma said the partnership with Seelos Therapeutics could generate additional development and sales "milestone" payments of up to US$239 million and sales royalties for the group, moving forward.
Eddy Lee, chairman and chief executive of iX Biopharma, said the positive set of results marks a "significant inflection point" in the business. The out-licensing of Wafermine is a "validation" of the group's business model in leveraging its WaferiX technology to repurpose existing approved drugs for new treatments, he added.
"This is really the start of an exciting phase, as we look forward to monetising other drugs in our pipeline in line with our business model."
Shares of iX Biopharma closed at S$0.215, up S$0.023 or 12 per cent on Friday, after the results release.
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