Health Check: ‘Forgotten' drug maker AFT Pharma aims high with revenue

AFT Pharmaceuticals boosts revenue, but profits still lag
Telix Pharmaceuticals chair and CEO reflect on a prosperous 2024 – and promise more riches to come
Dimerix's pivotal trail passes another safety check
The bourse's 'forgotten' drug maker, Kiwi-based AFT Pharmaceuticals (ASX:AFP) is confident of reaching its 'aspirational' target of $NZ300 million ($270 million) of revenue within the next two years.
This comes after the company posted a record turnover of $NZ208 million for the year to March, up 6%.
'AFT is well positioned to achieve this target,' said CEO and co-founder Dr Hartley Atkinson.
'While the global trading environment is looking more difficult, we are confident that we can continue to overcome these challenges by focusing on what we do best.'
'What we do best' is identifying unmet needs and then in-licensing or developing medicines to commercialisation. Often these are drugs for conditions overlooked by big pharma.
AFT reported operating profit came in at NZ$17.6 million, as per guidance but down 27% year on year.
Net profit declined 23% to NZ$12 million.
The company said its performance was crimped by some significant 'one off' events flagged in the first half.
These included destocking by customers and the prolonged doctors' strike in South Korea.
Bulging medicine cabinet
AFT's products cover everything from pain, eyecare, dermatology, gut disorders, medicated vitamins and hospital injectables.
The company's best sellers are Maxigesic – a paracetamol and ibuprofen combination – and Hylo eye drops.
Atkinson says AFT has 'significantly advanced' its push into multiple geographies and expanding its research and development pipeline.
'These efforts have come at the cost of short-term earnings growth, but we are convinced they will deliver growth in long term shareholder value.'
During the year AFT launched Maxigesic tablets in the US, having already introduced the intravenous version.
AFT also launchd proprietary antiseptic cream in mainland China, the world's second biggest pharma market behind the US.
Atkinson cites a pipeline of injectable drugs with a potential market value of over US$400 million.
'I am confident … AFT has reached an inflexion point and can further extend its decades long record for growth and value creation,' Atkinson says.
That said, some investors would like earnings to grow at a faster clip.
Telix says 2024 was big, 2025 will be bigger
Eight years ago, Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX) was merely a gleam in the eye of co-founder Dr Chris Behrenbruch, who convinced former Macquarie Banker Kevin McCann to chair the fledgling business.
At yesterday's AGM, the board revelled in the progress of Telix, which recorded revenue of $800 million in calendar 2024.
This was on the back of the company's flagship prostate cancer imaging agent, Illuccix.
'Last year I stood at this same lectern and said that 2024 would be the biggest year yet for Telix, and that proved to be the case,' Behrenbruch told the gathered faithful.
'I make a similar prediction again for 2025, as we continue to execute on our strategy and continue the momentum we've built.'
The US aside, regulators in the UK, several European countries and Brazil have also approved Illucix.
'The Telix brand now stretches as far as the tropical heat of Rio de Janeiro to the wintry climes of Scandinavia,' said McCann, whose literary flourish can be excused given he retired at the meeting.
While most of Telix's revenue derives from Illucix, the company has also commercialised Gozellix (also for prostate cancer imaging) and a lesser-known offering called Scintimun (for imaging bone infections).
The company awaits an FDA decision on approving its kidney cancer imaging agent on or before August 27.
Telix's holy grail is to develop therapeutic – as opposed to imaging – products.
'We have one of the deepest therapeutic radiopharmaceutical pipelines in the industry,' Behrenbruch said.
'We are poised to have three assets in pivotal trials by the end of this year, comprised of our lead prostate, kidney and brain cancer therapy candidates.'
Re-doing the homework
Not everything has gone Telix's way, with the FDA last month knocking back the company's US marketing approval application for its brain cancer imaging agent, Pixclara.
The FDA issued complete response letter, which demands that an applicant do more homework.
Behrenruch said the company met with the FDA to glean what is required.
'At this stage, we believe resubmission in 2025 is achievable,' he said.
Behrenbruch adds Telix has focused on developing its supply of isotopes, which need to be manufactured close to the patient.
'As most investors understand by now, there is no 'magic isotope store in the sky' and no 'man with a van' that turns up with a product,' he said.
'Radiopharma is a logistically and supply-chain intensive field of medicine.
"The network of capabilities that we have built – and bought – is critical for the reliable delivery of just-in-time manufactured products like ours.'
Manufacturing in the US – where most of Telix's patients currently reside – has a flow-on benefit of 'managing the risk of tariffs and other trade barriers affecting the supply and cost of our products.'
As of the end of March, Telix had cash of $710 million.
Given the company has set a minimum cash buffer of US$100m ($156 million), that implies plenty more firepower for acquisitions or shareholder returns.
Dimerix trial passes safety audit – again
Long-running and expansive trials are all about the little moments along the way – and Dimerix (ASX:DXB) has chalked up another one with its pivotal phase III kidney disease study.
In its sixth review of the trial, the US-based Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) recommends the trial, dubbed Action3, continue unchanged.
'The IDMC has again noted no safety concerns to date, consistent with their prior reviews and the existing and emerging strong safety profile of (the drug candidate) DMX-200,' the company says.
The IDMC will take another peek in the December quarter.
DMX-200 tackles the rare kidney disease focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, for which there is no effective treatment.
Meanwhile, Blinklab (ASX:BB1) has secured its first clinical site for its pivotal trial of its autism detection algorithm, pitched at FDA approval.
The company has enrolled 100 patients in the initial stage, with an additional 750 to 900 participants undergoing testing thereafter.
The first site is the Arizona based Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center.
Blinklab expects to be able to file an FDA submission in the March quarter of next year, using the 510(k) route.

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The Advertiser

14 hours ago

• The Advertiser

NZ's Luxon praises Xi after rare Beijing bilateral

China President Xi Jinping has acknowledged at-times strained ties with New Zealand during a bilateral meeting with Chris Luxon in Beijing. Mr Luxon secured the meeting with the long-serving leader as part of what he hoped would be a trade-focused trip to China this week. Instead, tensions between his country and the Cook Islands has cast a geopolitical cloud over his meeting with Mr Xi. New Zealand has cut aid to Cook Islands after accusing it of breaching trust for inking secretly negotiated agreements with China that run contrary to a treaty that it must consult with Wellington over defence and security pacts. It's not clear if that was what was Mr Xi was referring to in his welcoming remarks - the only part of their bilateral meeting which was open to media - to Mr Luxon at the Great Hall of the People on Friday. "(In the) 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the China-New Zealand relationship has experienced many ups and downs," Mr Xi said, according to reports. "But we have always respected each other." On Thursday, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun suggested displeasure at New Zealand's response to growing Cook Islands-China ties. "China's co-operation with the Cook Islands does not target any third party, and should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party," he said. New Zealand, which has a formal alliance with Australia and strong defence links with the west, prides itself on maintaining a strong ties with China. Chinese leaders, including Mr Xi, have referred to a "relationship of firsts" with New Zealand. New Zealand was the first western nation to support it joining the WTO in 1997, to designate it a market economy in 2004, to secure a free-trade deal in 2008, and signing on to its Belt and Road infrastructure network in 2017. The bilateral meeting comes amid a furious debate on the direction of foreign policy in New Zealand. Previous leaders, including Helen Clark, argue Mr Luxon's government risks New Zealand's prosperity by aligning too close to the west and over-militarising the Pacific. Mr Luxon leaves such debate for his foreign minister, Winston Peters, who says Ms Clark suffers from "relevance deprivation syndrome" and should stay quiet. Mr Xi met Mr Luxon for the first time last year on the sidelines of the APEC summit, and on Friday, he offered praise for the Kiwi leader. "I remember that you said that you wish to further advance bilateral relations on the basis of our past partnership and friendship," he said. "I appreciate your positive attitude and I'm ready to work together with you for new progress." Mr Luxon also personally praised Mr Xi, president since 2013, for strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. "The relationship has flourished under your leadership," Mr Luxon said, keeping his eyes on trade. "We have big ambitions to grow the New Zealand economy, and building trade between New Zealand and China is a really important contribution to that." Before his political engagements in Beijing, Mr Luxon spent three days in Shanghai hawking New Zealand's produce and services. His conservative government, which took office in late 2023, has a cornerstone ambition of doubling Kiwi exports within a decade, and China - as the destination for more than 20 per cent of exported Kiwi goods and services - will be essential to reaching that. China President Xi Jinping has acknowledged at-times strained ties with New Zealand during a bilateral meeting with Chris Luxon in Beijing. Mr Luxon secured the meeting with the long-serving leader as part of what he hoped would be a trade-focused trip to China this week. Instead, tensions between his country and the Cook Islands has cast a geopolitical cloud over his meeting with Mr Xi. New Zealand has cut aid to Cook Islands after accusing it of breaching trust for inking secretly negotiated agreements with China that run contrary to a treaty that it must consult with Wellington over defence and security pacts. It's not clear if that was what was Mr Xi was referring to in his welcoming remarks - the only part of their bilateral meeting which was open to media - to Mr Luxon at the Great Hall of the People on Friday. "(In the) 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the China-New Zealand relationship has experienced many ups and downs," Mr Xi said, according to reports. "But we have always respected each other." On Thursday, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun suggested displeasure at New Zealand's response to growing Cook Islands-China ties. "China's co-operation with the Cook Islands does not target any third party, and should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party," he said. New Zealand, which has a formal alliance with Australia and strong defence links with the west, prides itself on maintaining a strong ties with China. Chinese leaders, including Mr Xi, have referred to a "relationship of firsts" with New Zealand. New Zealand was the first western nation to support it joining the WTO in 1997, to designate it a market economy in 2004, to secure a free-trade deal in 2008, and signing on to its Belt and Road infrastructure network in 2017. The bilateral meeting comes amid a furious debate on the direction of foreign policy in New Zealand. Previous leaders, including Helen Clark, argue Mr Luxon's government risks New Zealand's prosperity by aligning too close to the west and over-militarising the Pacific. Mr Luxon leaves such debate for his foreign minister, Winston Peters, who says Ms Clark suffers from "relevance deprivation syndrome" and should stay quiet. Mr Xi met Mr Luxon for the first time last year on the sidelines of the APEC summit, and on Friday, he offered praise for the Kiwi leader. "I remember that you said that you wish to further advance bilateral relations on the basis of our past partnership and friendship," he said. "I appreciate your positive attitude and I'm ready to work together with you for new progress." Mr Luxon also personally praised Mr Xi, president since 2013, for strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. "The relationship has flourished under your leadership," Mr Luxon said, keeping his eyes on trade. "We have big ambitions to grow the New Zealand economy, and building trade between New Zealand and China is a really important contribution to that." Before his political engagements in Beijing, Mr Luxon spent three days in Shanghai hawking New Zealand's produce and services. His conservative government, which took office in late 2023, has a cornerstone ambition of doubling Kiwi exports within a decade, and China - as the destination for more than 20 per cent of exported Kiwi goods and services - will be essential to reaching that. China President Xi Jinping has acknowledged at-times strained ties with New Zealand during a bilateral meeting with Chris Luxon in Beijing. Mr Luxon secured the meeting with the long-serving leader as part of what he hoped would be a trade-focused trip to China this week. Instead, tensions between his country and the Cook Islands has cast a geopolitical cloud over his meeting with Mr Xi. New Zealand has cut aid to Cook Islands after accusing it of breaching trust for inking secretly negotiated agreements with China that run contrary to a treaty that it must consult with Wellington over defence and security pacts. It's not clear if that was what was Mr Xi was referring to in his welcoming remarks - the only part of their bilateral meeting which was open to media - to Mr Luxon at the Great Hall of the People on Friday. "(In the) 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the China-New Zealand relationship has experienced many ups and downs," Mr Xi said, according to reports. "But we have always respected each other." On Thursday, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun suggested displeasure at New Zealand's response to growing Cook Islands-China ties. "China's co-operation with the Cook Islands does not target any third party, and should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party," he said. New Zealand, which has a formal alliance with Australia and strong defence links with the west, prides itself on maintaining a strong ties with China. Chinese leaders, including Mr Xi, have referred to a "relationship of firsts" with New Zealand. New Zealand was the first western nation to support it joining the WTO in 1997, to designate it a market economy in 2004, to secure a free-trade deal in 2008, and signing on to its Belt and Road infrastructure network in 2017. The bilateral meeting comes amid a furious debate on the direction of foreign policy in New Zealand. Previous leaders, including Helen Clark, argue Mr Luxon's government risks New Zealand's prosperity by aligning too close to the west and over-militarising the Pacific. Mr Luxon leaves such debate for his foreign minister, Winston Peters, who says Ms Clark suffers from "relevance deprivation syndrome" and should stay quiet. Mr Xi met Mr Luxon for the first time last year on the sidelines of the APEC summit, and on Friday, he offered praise for the Kiwi leader. "I remember that you said that you wish to further advance bilateral relations on the basis of our past partnership and friendship," he said. "I appreciate your positive attitude and I'm ready to work together with you for new progress." Mr Luxon also personally praised Mr Xi, president since 2013, for strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. "The relationship has flourished under your leadership," Mr Luxon said, keeping his eyes on trade. "We have big ambitions to grow the New Zealand economy, and building trade between New Zealand and China is a really important contribution to that." Before his political engagements in Beijing, Mr Luxon spent three days in Shanghai hawking New Zealand's produce and services. His conservative government, which took office in late 2023, has a cornerstone ambition of doubling Kiwi exports within a decade, and China - as the destination for more than 20 per cent of exported Kiwi goods and services - will be essential to reaching that. China President Xi Jinping has acknowledged at-times strained ties with New Zealand during a bilateral meeting with Chris Luxon in Beijing. Mr Luxon secured the meeting with the long-serving leader as part of what he hoped would be a trade-focused trip to China this week. Instead, tensions between his country and the Cook Islands has cast a geopolitical cloud over his meeting with Mr Xi. New Zealand has cut aid to Cook Islands after accusing it of breaching trust for inking secretly negotiated agreements with China that run contrary to a treaty that it must consult with Wellington over defence and security pacts. It's not clear if that was what was Mr Xi was referring to in his welcoming remarks - the only part of their bilateral meeting which was open to media - to Mr Luxon at the Great Hall of the People on Friday. "(In the) 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the China-New Zealand relationship has experienced many ups and downs," Mr Xi said, according to reports. "But we have always respected each other." On Thursday, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun suggested displeasure at New Zealand's response to growing Cook Islands-China ties. "China's co-operation with the Cook Islands does not target any third party, and should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party," he said. New Zealand, which has a formal alliance with Australia and strong defence links with the west, prides itself on maintaining a strong ties with China. Chinese leaders, including Mr Xi, have referred to a "relationship of firsts" with New Zealand. New Zealand was the first western nation to support it joining the WTO in 1997, to designate it a market economy in 2004, to secure a free-trade deal in 2008, and signing on to its Belt and Road infrastructure network in 2017. The bilateral meeting comes amid a furious debate on the direction of foreign policy in New Zealand. Previous leaders, including Helen Clark, argue Mr Luxon's government risks New Zealand's prosperity by aligning too close to the west and over-militarising the Pacific. Mr Luxon leaves such debate for his foreign minister, Winston Peters, who says Ms Clark suffers from "relevance deprivation syndrome" and should stay quiet. Mr Xi met Mr Luxon for the first time last year on the sidelines of the APEC summit, and on Friday, he offered praise for the Kiwi leader. "I remember that you said that you wish to further advance bilateral relations on the basis of our past partnership and friendship," he said. "I appreciate your positive attitude and I'm ready to work together with you for new progress." Mr Luxon also personally praised Mr Xi, president since 2013, for strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. "The relationship has flourished under your leadership," Mr Luxon said, keeping his eyes on trade. "We have big ambitions to grow the New Zealand economy, and building trade between New Zealand and China is a really important contribution to that." Before his political engagements in Beijing, Mr Luxon spent three days in Shanghai hawking New Zealand's produce and services. His conservative government, which took office in late 2023, has a cornerstone ambition of doubling Kiwi exports within a decade, and China - as the destination for more than 20 per cent of exported Kiwi goods and services - will be essential to reaching that.

News.com.au

16 hours ago

• News.com.au

Closing Bell: ASX arrests slide to fall just 0.2pc as utilities sector leads recovery

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West Australian

17 hours ago

• West Australian

NZ's Luxon praises Xi after rare Beijing bilateral

China President Xi Jinping has acknowledged at-times strained ties with New Zealand during a bilateral meeting with Chris Luxon in Beijing. Mr Luxon secured the meeting with the long-serving leader as part of what he hoped would be a trade-focused trip to China this week. Instead, tensions between his country and the Cook Islands has cast a geopolitical cloud over his meeting with Mr Xi. New Zealand has cut aid to Cook Islands after accusing it of breaching trust for inking secretly negotiated agreements with China that run contrary to a treaty that it must consult with Wellington over defence and security pacts. It's not clear if that was what was Mr Xi was referring to in his welcoming remarks - the only part of their bilateral meeting which was open to media - to Mr Luxon at the Great Hall of the People on Friday. "(In the) 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the China-New Zealand relationship has experienced many ups and downs," Mr Xi said, according to reports. "But we have always respected each other." On Thursday, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun suggested displeasure at New Zealand's response to growing Cook Islands-China ties. "China's co-operation with the Cook Islands does not target any third party, and should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party," he said. New Zealand, which has a formal alliance with Australia and strong defence links with the west, prides itself on maintaining a strong ties with China. Chinese leaders, including Mr Xi, have referred to a "relationship of firsts" with New Zealand. New Zealand was the first western nation to support it joining the WTO in 1997, to designate it a market economy in 2004, to secure a free-trade deal in 2008, and signing on to its Belt and Road infrastructure network in 2017. The bilateral meeting comes amid a furious debate on the direction of foreign policy in New Zealand. Previous leaders, including Helen Clark, argue Mr Luxon's government risks New Zealand's prosperity by aligning too close to the west and over-militarising the Pacific. Mr Luxon leaves such debate for his foreign minister, Winston Peters, who says Ms Clark suffers from "relevance deprivation syndrome" and should stay quiet. Mr Xi met Mr Luxon for the first time last year on the sidelines of the APEC summit, and on Friday, he offered praise for the Kiwi leader. "I remember that you said that you wish to further advance bilateral relations on the basis of our past partnership and friendship," he said. "I appreciate your positive attitude and I'm ready to work together with you for new progress." Mr Luxon also personally praised Mr Xi, president since 2013, for strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. "The relationship has flourished under your leadership," Mr Luxon said, keeping his eyes on trade. "We have big ambitions to grow the New Zealand economy, and building trade between New Zealand and China is a really important contribution to that." Before his political engagements in Beijing, Mr Luxon spent three days in Shanghai hawking New Zealand's produce and services. His conservative government, which took office in late 2023, has a cornerstone ambition of doubling Kiwi exports within a decade, and China - as the destination for more than 20 per cent of exported Kiwi goods and services - will be essential to reaching that.