In its half-year report for the six months to 30 June 2021, LungLife AI (LLAI)
said the funding provided through its recent IPO will allow it to advance its technology for patients with lung cancer and lay the groundwork for successful implementation of its clinical programmes.
LungLifeAI, which develops AI-enhanced clinical diagnostic solutions that are specifically designed to make a significant impact in the early detection of lung cancer, raised £17 million at a price at 176p in July, valuing the company at £45 million upon its admission to AIM.
Today, the Group reported 1H21 revenues of $0.107m, loss before tax of $4.57m which was largely as a result of charging IPO costs of $2.1m. LungLife’s adjusted EBITDA loss was $2.23m.
The Company stated that raising money in a public market would enable the business to advance its clinical development and commercialisation plans and to support the in-licensing of additional technologies or selective acquisitions as may be appropriate in the future.
Addressing shareholders on its first day of dealings, Paul Pagano, CEO of LungLife, said: "We are delighted with the strong support shown by new institutional investors for our fundraise and we are very proud to complete our admission to AIM, which is a key milestone in the advancement of our AI-enabled LungLB® test for early lung cancer detection.”
The Directors said the £17m proceeds will enable the group to complete its validation study and commence a subsequent utility study of the LungLB® test for indeterminate lung nodules. The Company expects to launch its AI-enhanced, blood-based test LungLB® in 2023.
Since its IPO in July, the Company outlined that a contract research organisation (CRO) for clinical studies has been engaged during 1H21 and that the business is actively seeking its first new hires including Directors of R&D and Quality and a Clinical Laboratory Scientist.
In addition, the Company told investors that it remains on track for its PLA code application.
Currently, there are estimated to be over 1.5 million individuals with indeterminate lung nodules diagnosed each year in the US which is in part, due to the lack of effective early detection solutions and the fact that lung cancer largely develops asymptomatically.
The early detection of lung cancer is therefore a significantly unmet medical need. According to the World Health Organisation, over 2.2 million new cases of lung cancer were diagnosed in 2020 and around 1.8 million deaths from lung cancer were recorded in 2020 globally.
Paul Pagano, CEO of LungLife, said: “Early detection is absolutely key to ensure better outcomes for people with lung cancer and we believe our LungLB® test will give physicians the additional information needed to identify this disease earlier and reduce its impact.
“The funding provided through our AIM IPO allows us to proceed to a larger multi-centre pivotal validation study and secure regulatory authorisation and reimbursement support. We are now laying the groundwork for successful implementation of our clinical programmes.”
To date, LungLife has completed a 149 subject pilot study to evaluate the LungLB® test, which showed a well-balanced performance and a Positive Predictive Value of 89%. Going forward, the Company said it is now ‘gearing up’ to proceed to a larger, multi-centre validation study to garner regulatory and reimbursement support and facilitate commercialisation.
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