Factor Therapeutics AGM 2017: Recruitment lifting after delays in wound trial, aim of test results by 2018 3rd quarter

FACTOR Therapeutics says wound-healing trial is accelerating after being delayed by problems including hurricanes and tough assessment requirements.

Factor Therapeutics CEO Rosalind Wilson at the company’s Brisbane office. Photographer: Liam Kidston.

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FACTOR Therapeutics says a wound-healing trial is accelerating after being thrown off track by problems including hurricanes and tough assessment requirements.

Acknowledging investors had been frustrated by delays, Factor chief executive officer Ros Wilson said patient recruitment was close to the halfway mark and expected results from the critical trial by 2018’s third quarter.

The guidance came at Brisbane-based Factor’s annual general meeting, which was ruffled by a substantial protest vote against remuneration.

Factor, formerly called Tissue Therapies, has developed a substance squirted on wounds such as large leg ulcers to assist treating hard-to-heal ailments.

The substance is undergoing second-round trials aiming for 168 patients. The company says these trial results are critical for any European market launch or further expanded US trials.

Patient recruitment was originally estimated to be completed by early in 2017’s third quarter, but Factor is now looking at that occurring by the 2018’s second quarter.

Reasons for delays included trial sites taking time to get up to speed on concise patient selection criteria, and hurricanes battering eight sites in the swamped areas of Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, Factor said.

“We’re very close to the halfway mark,” Dr Wilson said of recruitment.

Delays are a common problem in the risky biotechnology sector.

Shareholders queried whether Factor’s cash, almost $8 million, would be adequate to carry all the way through. Dr Wilson said it was too early to say but maintained they would not “wait to the 11th hour” to raise any additional funds.

Factor, which posted a $6 million loss last year, also saw a 24.3 per cent protest vote against pay — just below the threshold to trigger a “first strike” against the board.

That’s despite executive and director fees being on the low side of stockmarket-listed companies, with total remuneration for the board and key managers being $854,000.

Factor chairwoman Cherrell Hirst said the company would go to shareholders to “understand their concerns”.

Factor shares closed at 5.1c. They have traversed between 8.1c at 4.2c in the past 12 months.