REG - Malin Corp PLC - Malin Announces 2019 Full Year Results

Novartis AGAnnouncement

25/03/2020 08:05

RNS Number : 4659H
  
Malin Corporation PLC
  
25 March 2020
  
 

Malin Corporation plc
 
2019 Full Year Results 
 
Dublin-Ireland, 25 March 2020: Malin Corporation plc (Euronext Growth Dublin:MLC) ("Malin", the "Company"), a company investing in highly innovative life sciences companies, today publishes its full year results and annual report for the year ended 31 December 2019.  
 
Commenting on the results, Darragh Lyons, Chief Executive Officer, said:
 
"We continued to execute our business strategy over the course of 2019 while working closely with our investee companies to further advance these businesses. Our investee companies are continuing to progress towards crucial clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones and we are targeting several important value inflection points over the next year. We remain committed to returning capital to shareholders as we realise value from our assets."
 
Highlights from 2019 Full Year Results
 
·    The Company reaffirms its business strategy, focusing on delivering value for shareholders by: 
o committing resources to the four Priority Assets which management believes have the potential to deliver the most significant value for shareholders 
o working closely with the Growth Potential Assets to help them reach optimal realisation points in the near-term 
o operating within a lean and efficient infrastructure
o returning capital to shareholders following asset realisation events
 
·    The aggregate fair value of Malin's interests in its investee companies was €366 million at 31 December 2019, estimated in accordance with the International Private Equity and Venture Capital Valuation ("IPEV") Guidelines
 
o This represents a 5% reduction compared to the last published fair value estimate at 30 June 2019. This reduction is primarily due to the disposal of Malin's stake in 3D4Medical at a 10% premium to its most recent estimated fair value
 
o The 9% reduction compared to 31 December 2018 was due to a decrease in the estimated value of Malin's investment in Immunocore (as disclosed in Malin's 2019 interim report), alongside the disposal of Malin's stake in 3D4Medical during the second half of 2019
 
o Malin remains confident that Immunocore will deliver significant value to Malin over time with important near-term potential clinical milestones and value inflection points
 
·    Malin's estimated intrinsic equity value per share at 31 December 2019 was €7.72, arrived at by taking the estimate of the fair value of Malin's interest in its investee companies in accordance with IPEV and adjusting for net debt divided by the total number of issued ordinary shares
 
·    Malin's corporate cash balance was €43 million at 31 December 2019
 
·    Management's ongoing commitment to operating within a lean infrastructure resulted in further corporate refinements which will reduce annual corporate cash operating expenses to under €4 million from 2020
 
Priority Asset highlights
 
·    Poseida progressed its autologous CAR-T therapy for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, P-BCMA-101, into a Phase 2 clinical study, following the US Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") having approved this as a fully outpatient study; expeditiously progressed its allogeneic (universal donor) version of its BCMA-targeting CAR-T product candidate with the aim of dosing patients before the end of 2020; filed an Investigational New Drug application for P-PSMA-101 for metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer; and completed a $150 million funding round led by Novartis AG
 
·    Immunocore made significant clinical progress during 2019 and now has six active clinical programmes, including an ongoing pivotal study of its lead candidate, tebentafusp (IMCgp100), for the treatment of metastatic uveal melanoma; and recently closed a $130 million Series B funding round
 
·    Kymab advanced its two ongoing clinical trials using its unique antibody technologies: a Phase 2a clinical study in atopic dermatitis and a Phase 1/2 clinical study in a variety of solid tumours 
 
·    Mycovia (formed by NovaQuest following the structured sale of Viamet's lead asset) completed the enrolment of its three Phase 3 clinical trials of VT-1161 in recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis and completed a number of regional licensing deals including in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Australia
 
Growth Potential Assets
 
·    Malin divested of its stake in 3D4Medical for net proceeds of €16.7 million, representing a 10% premium to Malin's previous estimate of fair value
 
·    Malin will continue to support the progression of the remaining Growth Potential Assets as they work towards potential value inflection and maturation points, seeking to realise capital at optimal values
 
COVID-19
 
Malin is closely monitoring and attempting to manage the risks relating to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the precise impact cannot be forecast, COVID-19 will likely result in the delay of certain clinical trials across Malin's investee companies by a few months. Malin management is optimistic that there will be a limited impact on its most important and potentially value accretive clinical studies in 2020 since these programmes are in oncology or are fully enrolled. 
 
Outlook for the next year
 
Each of Malin's Priority Assets have important clinical milestones over the next year which have the potential to unlock significant value. These potential milestones include:
            
·    Poseida: Initiation of a CAR-T clinical programme targeting solid tumours (castrate-resistant metastatic prostate cancer) and clinically testing its allogeneic (universal donor) version of its BCMA-targeting CAR-T technology, while continuing to progress its Phase 1 and Phase 2 autologous BCMA programme
 
·    Immunocore: Important data from several clinical programmes including from the pivotal studies of its lead programme in metastatic uveal melanoma
 
·    Kymab: Potential proof-of-concept Phase 2a clinical data from its autoimmune programme targeting OX-40L in atopic dermatitis and Phase 1/2 clinical data for its anti-ICOS programme 
 
·    Viamet: Top line data from Mycovia's VT-1161 Phase 3 studies and, if successful, a New Drug Application filing
 
·    Growth Potential Assets: Reaching optimal value inflection points for divestment by Malin
 
Annual Report
 
Malin's annual report and further information on Malin is available to view on Malin's website at www.malinplc.com, under the Investors' section
 
Corporate Update Conference Call
 
Darragh Lyons, Chief Executive Officer, will host a conference call today, 25 March, at 11:00am GMT, to provide an operational update. Presentation slides will be available in advance of the call on Malin's website under the Investors' section, http://malinplc.com/investors/results-centre/. This call can be accessed as follows:
 
From Ireland dial:                             +353 (0) 1 431 9615
From the UK dial:                              +44 (0) 844 571 8892
From the USA dial:                            +(1) 6315 107 495
From other locations dial:               +44 (0) 2071 928 000
Participant PIN code:                    8174626
 
A replay of the call will be accessible for one month and replay details will be available on the Company's website from this evening. 
 
ENDS
 
 
About Malin Corporation plc
Malin (Euronext Growth Dublin:MLC) is a company investing in highly innovative life sciences companies. Its purpose is to create shareholder value through the application of long-term capital and operational and strategic expertise to a diverse range of global healthcare businesses. Malin has a focus on innovative businesses underpinned by exceptional science and works with its investee companies, providing strategic and financial support to enable them to reach their value potential. Malin is headquartered and domiciled in Ireland and listed on the Euronext Growth Dublin. For more information visit www.malinplc.com  
 
For further information, please contact:
 
Malin 
Jessica Bergin, Investor Relations & External Reporting
Tel: +353 (0)1 901 5700
investorrelations@malinplc.com
 
Davy Corporate Finance (Euronext Growth Adviser & Joint Broker)
Brian Garrahy / Daragh O'Reilly
Tel: +353 1 679 6363
 
Liberum (Joint Broker)
Bidhi Bhoma / Euan Brown
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3100 2000
 
Consilium Strategic Communications 
Mary-Jane Elliott / Chris Welsh / Angela Gray
Tel: +44 (0)20 3709 5700
malin@consilium-comms.com 
 
Powerscourt (Irish media enquiries)          
Jack Hickey
Tel: +353 83 448 8339                            
malin@powerscourt-group.com 
 
 


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