ZICCUM AB (publ) Interim report Q2 2023

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS Q2 2023 (APRIL-JUNE)

• On May 9, Ziccum announced that it had signed a revenue generating Evaluation Agreement with a leading biopharma company to commence a Feasibility study regarding LaminarPace for ambient drying of mRNA/LNP materials and/or mRNA vaccine(s).
• The Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on May 24, 2023 re-elected Fredrik Sjövall, Mikaela Bruhammar and Andreas Pettersson Rohman and elected Per Gerde as new board member. Fredrik Sjövall was reelected as the chairman of the Board of Directors. The AGM adopted an incentive program (LTI2023:1) of 324,000 employee stock options for certain employees and consultants. The LTI2023:1 program will be awarded during quarter three 2023. The AGM furthermore resolved on an issue of not more than 425,801 warrants to ensure delivery of shares to the participants and to hedge costs connected to the program.
• On June 2, the company announced that Johny Humaloja was appointed as new CFO for the company, and he started his assignment in June.
• On June 5, the company announced that it had received a notification from CEPI (the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness), that its joint Expression of Interest has not been selected for the next stage of application work. 

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AFTER THE SECOND QUARTER

• On July 17, Ziccum announced it had signed a new Evaluation Agreement with one of the world’s top pharmaceutical corporations. The agreement is to perform a funded Feasibility study aiming to develop thermostable dry powder formulations in the partner mRNA/LNP projects, with a planned extension for stability testing and an option to license the LaminarPace technology.

OTHER EVENTS

• On May 2, the company announced it had filed three patent applications as part of new, expanded strategy to strengthen patent protection. The new, expanded IP strategy will provide multi-layered protection to the company’s unique drying technology LaminarPace, turning liquid biopharmaceuticals into thermostable dry powders by mass transfer.

CEO statement
 
Taking amazing strides together, landing two deals for Ziccum
It is truly fantastic to now deliver great results in our key areas, having sorted and structured the company business model and operations during a build-up period. Now we are pleased to enter the next phase, delivering key milestone achievements for our valuable platform technology. Getting two agreements signed with world-leading players is indeed clear confirmation that we are on the right path.
 
Proving the technology for the most delicate targets
Our most significant technical milestone so far was achieved end of first quarter, confirming that we can turn mRNA in lipid nanoparticles (mRNA/LNP) into stable dry powder, with maintained activity. These results have been further validated during this quarter. We have tested various lipid compositions with resulting good mRNA activity, to build our proprietary knowledge further in this exciting field.
 
mRNA/LNP is a complex and very fragile structure, but so valuable for new pharmaceutical development that it is highly desirable for the industry to apply it – it opens the door to a completely new field of innovative drugs. Solving the issues of mRNA drug delivery and LNP stability will be key to making it a broad platform for new patient treatments. So we are indeed excited to have proven the ability to address this: Ziccum can help make mRNA/LNP available for many more vaccines and therapeutics, globally. Of course, one can also see the great potential to work on other vaccine platforms, as well as the broad range of other biopharmaceutical compounds.
 
Securing more Ziccum Intellectual property, broadly
Thanks to successful continued technology development and learnings in our internal programs, regarding both equipment configuration, process parameters when running LaminarPace and continuous learning regarding formulation, we have been able to file three new patent applications. It was a significant effort during the quarter to assess all new learnings and apply for patent protection. Also, after the filings announced in April, continued work is on-going to secure the best protection possible for our technology.
 
Signing up with a world leader in mRNA/LNP
Our progress is generating very good industry interest for the possibilities of our technology, and we are pursuing numerous dialogues with high calibre industry players, across the industry and in many geographies. It was with great pleasure we could communicate on May 9th that one first paid Feasibility study is agreed and signed. It is a very significant commercial milestone of course, for Ziccum to become revenue generating as of now. The project is running at full activity currently, and it is fantastic to work closely with such a successful and knowledgeable partner.
 
Just after the quarter closing, we could add a second, larger project collaboration being signed – now with a major global Pharmaceutical company. This time, the scope is both a paid Feasibility study with partner mRNA/LNP material, and a planned extension for stability testing and an option to license the LaminarPace technology.
 
Not only are these projects generating revenue and extending our financial runway, but also generating further knowledge and understanding of success factors for the mRNA field, and long term, giving business potential for future licensing if successful. We are delighted to collaborate with these leading players in the field.
 
 
Building the Ziccum operations and team
In parallel with the partnered projects, we pursue the internal development like mentioned, as well as the 3D-modelling project LaPaSim. The Swiss-Swedish team is working on component design and planning for the next step of scaling out for long term industrialization.
 
Seeing the increase in activities and projects, there are certainly investment and expansion considerations in the company – but at the same time, I am keen to keep good cost control. Both generating new results and income, while still reducing unnecessary spending, is a nice combination for sound company progress and financials.
 
One recruitment just completed, and adding financial competence, is the hiring of an experienced CFO from the Biotech industry: I am delighted to welcome Johny Humaloja to the team! Furthermore, we are looking for an experienced Chief Operating Officer, to complement the Ziccum staff.
 
We have an exciting outlook, going forward with our collaborations and plans! Let me thank all collaboration partners and owners as well, for your continued support and engaged dialogues.
Lund, July 18 2023
Ann Gidner, CEO

Q2 2023

• The result for the quarter amounted to -4,965 kSEK (-7,882 kSEK)
• Cash flow for the quarter amounted to - 4,440 kSEK (-7,587 kSEK)
• Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the quarter amounted to 14,583 kSEK (36,647 kSEK)

Link to report:
https://reports-en.ziccum.com/interim-report-q2-2023/start/