Tiziana Life Sciences (TILS) focuses on developing drugs to treat cancer and inflammation. The Aim-traded group floated in April last year via a reverse acquisition, raising £2m, and it is still very early days: its Tiziana Pharma subsidiary was established in late 2013 off the back of research conducted with Cardiff University's European Cancer Stem Cell Institute. This research identified a gene that may halt the spread of cancer - now a focus for the group.
The group reported a £3.3m operating loss in its maiden full-year results, with £0.79m spent on research and development. Research outfit TTFactor granted Tiziana an exclusive licensing agreement covering the use of 20 stem-cell markers for patients with breast cancer.
Since the year-end the group has acquired two additional licences. In January it licensed anti-cancer drug milciclib from Italian cancer research and development group Nerviano. This is currently in phase two clinical trials for patients with thymus cancer who have previously been treated with chemotherapy. Subject to the successful completion of these trials, Tiziana plans to begin phase three studies in 2016. The second agreement, in May, was with Cardiff University to license its anti-cancer stem-cell technology. This involves a novel agent known as OH14 that suppresses cell death.
Prior to these results broker Equity Development expected a loss per share of 1.7p in 2015.
TIZIANA LIFE SCIENCES (TILS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 141p | MARKET VALUE: | £130m | |
| TOUCH: | 137-145p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 156p | LOW: 34p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | NA | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 11p | NET DEBT: | £2.3m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011* | nil | -0.3 | -0.1 | nil |
| 2012* | nil | -0.7 | -0.2 | nil |
| 2013* | nil | -0.3 | -0.1 | nil |
| 2014 | nil | -3.6 | -15.6 | nil |
| % change | - | - | - | - |
Ex-div: na Payment: na *Comparables as per 2014 prospectus | ||||
