Allergy Therapeutics reported a 9% rise in full-year revenue to £59.9m, driven by the launch of its Grassmuno grass pollen immunotherapy in Germany.
Despite this growth, the biotech faces financial difficulties, including a widened operating loss of £38.6m and a proposal to cancel its AIM listing following fiscal constraints.
Grassmuno changes allergy management, functioning as a short-course grass pollen injection. Unlike symptomatic treatments such as antihistamines, which only manage symptoms, this approach targets the underlying immunological pathway.
- Treatment Window: Efficacy is highly dependent on timing; the product launched in Germany after the peak pollen season, impacting initial performance.
- Long-term Commitment: Immunotherapy typically requires a multi-year treatment schedule to achieve lasting desensitization, necessitating consistent patient adherence.
While second-half revenue grew by 12% at constant currency, the operating loss expanded from £28.2m to £38.6m. This deficit is largely attributed to aggressive pre-launch marketing and development costs for Grassmuno.
The firm is currently experiencing financial volatility. Shareholder lenders committed to a £50m facility on October 29 to stabilize operations, yet cash reserves dipped to £12.2m by the end of September. The board announced on November 3 its intention to propose cancelling admission to the AIM market, a move that would transition the company into a private entity, pending a shareholder vote at the annual general meeting.
| Metric | Previous Year | Current Year |
|---|---|---|
| Total Revenue | £55.0m | £59.9m |
| Operating Loss | £28.2m | £38.6m |
The Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Germany’s federal agency for vaccines and biomedicines, granted marketing authorization for the therapy in December. However, the subsequent January launch timing prevented the company from capturing the peak treatment season, a factor Chief Executive Officer Manuel Llobet acknowledged as a limitation. “Going forwards, maintaining financial discipline whilst achieving sustainable revenue growth is our priority,” Llobet told AskTraders.com.
The company maintains that the current fiscal year will serve as the first full high season for the product. However, delivery of these growth targets remains unassured, particularly as the firm balances the need to fund a pediatric Phase III clinical trial—a large-scale study required to confirm efficacy and safety in children—against its constrained liquidity position.
The company’s share price closed at 1.445p on the morning of November 14, following a decline from a weekly high of 4.0p observed in late October.
