Steady recruitment in VLU Phase IIb

Factor Therapeutics’ update on its Phase IIb venous leg ulcer trial showed that while recruitment has not accelerated as expected in Q217, the proportion of patients who pass the initial two week screening period is approaching the target of 80%, and the trajectory of ulcer healing is in line with expectations. The company is targeting completing recruitment by end 2017, but we model full recruitment in January 2018 with top-line data reporting in late Q218. While this represents about six months’ slippage on our initial forecasts based on the company’s original target of top-line data in Q417, the impact is offset by the roll forward of the DCF model; our valuation is unchanged at A$108m or A$0.15 per share.