Quest PharmaTech Inc. (TSX-V: QPT) ("Quest" or the "Company"), a pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing products for the treatment of cancer, today announced financial and operational results for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2010.
In September, 2009, Quest expanded its oncology product pipeline by purchasing the proprietary rights, intellectual property and other assets related to a pipeline of late-stage immunotherapy product candidates consisting of five monoclonal antibodies targeting certain tumor antigens that are presented in a variety of cancers.
Subsequent to the purchase, the Company completed a critical review of the development status for the Company's therapeutic antibody platform, conducted in association with external consultants and leading international experts in cancer therapeutics and immunology. The Company believes that combinatorial immunotherapy will lead to important commercial applications of this immunology platform in the treatment of cancer. Quest intends to conduct three carefully planned and executed proof-of-concept clinical trials for its lead drug Oregovomab to establish these principles in ovarian and pancreatic cancer.
The Company has also advanced its photodynamic therapy platform for oncology into the clinical stage after receiving research ethics approval in Edmonton and two other centers in Toronto for the Company's Phase I clinical trial for SL052 Prostate Cancer. Dosing of the first patient occurred in early May, 2010.
In continuing efforts to focus all its resources towards oncology product development, Quest is actively looking for strategic partners to develop the SonoLight Technology for dermatology applications. Quest has also signed a letter of intent with a start-up company to develop its proprietary ultrasound activation technology. During the fiscal year, Quest also strengthened its intellectual property position by successfully prosecuting many U.S.A and European patents for its technologies, including U.S patent number 7,659,244 for the use of Rapamycin peptide conjugates to treat cancer. Currently, Quest owns more than 75 issued patents.
"I am very pleased with the clinical progress we have made during the past year to support the advancement of our novel and unique technologies; and to execute on our business objectives going forward", said Pierre Vermette, Quest's Chief Financial Officer. "To further advance our clinical program, we are in late stage negotiations with potential strategic partners to secure sufficient funding."
Financial Results:
Net consolidated loss for the year was $517,799 or $0.01 per share as compared to a consolidated loss of $204,047 or $0.00 per share for the year ended January 31, 2009. Total expenditures for fiscal 2010 were $1,268,350 including research and development expenditures of $419,063 and general and administrative expenses of $712,516. During the fiscal year, Quest received $500,000 in licensing fees and $90,000 in Government grants and tax credits. Subsequent to year end, the Company secured debt financing of up to $1,000,000 from an officer of the Company, of which $400,000 has been drawn to date.
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