Manuel Llobet, Chief Executive Officer of Allergy Therapeutics, commented: “Our strategy to prioritise patient friendly vaccines with focus on patient compliance and improving adherence rates is demonstrating success. Our portfolio of ultra-short course vaccines is driving our market penetration in Europe and preparing the ground for a successful US entry. All our key development programmes are being executed according to plan and our long-term strategic objectives, are on track. We feel privileged to keep developing Allergy Therapeutics as we satisfy the significant unmet needs of our patients.”
Allergy Therapeutics plc (LON:AGY), the fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical group specialising in allergy vaccines, today provides a trading update for the six months ended 31 December 2017, ahead of its unaudited interim results to be announced on 7 March 2018.
Financials
The Group reports that it is trading in line with the Board’s expectations. Reported revenues for the six months ended 31 December 2017 are expected to be GBP42.2m (2016: GBP40.4m), representing 4.4% growth on a reported basis and 1.3% growth at constant currency. The Group has continued to grow in the past six months of 2017, notwithstanding an abnormally weak pollen season in Central Europe(1) , outperforming the market by an average of 4 percentage points(2) thanks to focused sales and marketing strategy and its exclusive technology platform. In Germany, the Group’s market share has risen by one percentage point to 14% over the past twelve months on a moving annual average basis. The fastest growing operations for the Group in the six months ended 31 December 2017 were the Spanish subsidiary as well as the Emerging Markets segment.
By leveraging additional revenues on current infrastructure, the Group continues to improve its operational margins pre-R&D. This, along with careful planning of working capital and capex investments, has allowed the Group to maintain a strong cash position of GBP25.8m (31 December 2016: GBP27.8m).
Products
There continues to be increasing uptake of the Group’s portfolio of convenient and patient-friendly treatments. Pre-seasonal ultrashort course aluminium free vaccine Pollinex Quattro, designed to address the cause of symptoms of patients sensitised to seasonal allergens (grass, trees, ragweed), remains a key growth driver for Allergy Therapeutics based on the benefits of the Group’s treatment programs.
Venomil, the Group’s product that treats the life threatening condition of venom allergy, grew strongly as well as Acarovac Plus(3) which continued to outperform the rest of the portfolio in Spain.
Pipeline
The Group’s Phase III PQ Birch trial has recently completed recruitment, with results expected in H2 2018. The successful completion of this pivotal Phase III study would fulfil the requirements for PQ Birch under the Therapieallergene-Verordnung (TAV) of the Paul Ehrlich Institute before anticipated marketing authorisation.
The PQ Grass Phase II trial continues to recruit on schedule with results also expected in H2 2018. Following completion of this trial, meetings with the regulatory authorities in the US and Germany will be necessary to enable Phase III trial design.
Additionally, all the German TAV plans are on track with the recent incorporation of the clinical development programmes for the oral vaccine Oralvac, under a co- development agreement with Ergomed announced in December 2017.
Outlook
Post the period end current trading remains positive and the Board remains confident in the outlook for the business for the remainder of the year. Allergy Therapeutics’ competitive position continues to improve with increased market share, in the countries in which it operates, increasing in line with its long term plans to achieve 20% market share. Market share gains are consistent across its key European markets, notably in highly competitive markets like Spain, Germany, Austria and Holland.
