Cellmid 2017 Annual Report
18
DIRECTORS’
REPORT
CONTINUED
Intellectual property
The Group has a large and valuable patent portfolio which consists of 56 patents across 13 patent families. Of these, 46
patents have been granted, 8 filed or under examination and two in PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty). The Group has
received two new grants during the reporting period and one new patent was filed. The US patent office granted the
Group’s application for its MK patent for the treatment of hair loss in January 2017. The Group’s European patent entitled
“Preventative for Adhesion Following Abdominal Surgery” was granted in September 2016.
Significant publications
The Group had two significant publications of its technologies during the reporting period.
The results of the clinical study conducted with the Group’s FGF5 inhibitors was published in March 2017 in the journal
Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology. The paper was entitled “Promotion of Anagen, increased Hair Density
and Reduction of Hair Fall in a Clinical Setting Following Identification of FGF5 Inhibiting Compounds via a Novel Two
Stage Process”.
The Group’s intellectual property was also the subject of a publication in Nature in June 2017 in a paper entitled
“Whole-body imaging of lymphovascular niches identifies premetastatic roles of midkine”. This article added to the
significant body of evidence on midkine’s role in cancer metastasis increasing the value of the Group’s intellectual property
underpinning the findings.
Update on the Ikon legal action
On 22 July 2016, the Group announced that Ikon Communications Pty Ltd (Ikon) had filed a claim for $939,055 pursuant to
the services agreement entered into between Advangen International Pty Ltd (Advangen) and Ikon on the 15 June 2015.
Advangen continued to vigorously defend its position that Ikon has breached the services agreement, failed to provide
certain services at all or adequately and engaged in misleading and dishonest conduct that has caused the Group loss and
damage. The Group filed a cross claim for payments made for services not provided or not properly provided by Ikon and
submitted evidence to that effect during the reporting period. The Group is currently in the process of engaging expert
witnesses in support of its position.
3. FINANCIAL REVIEW
Financial position
The net assets of the Group at 30 June 2017 were $4,395,044 ($4,690,050 at 30 June 2016) while current assets increased to
$6,562,302 ($5,131,104 at 30 June 2016). The Directors believe that the Group is in a stable financial position in order to carry
out its current operations.
4. OTHER ITEMS
Significant changes in state of affairs
There have been no significant changes in the state of affairs of the entities in the Group during the 2017 financial year.
Dividends paid or recommended
The Company has not paid or declared any dividends during the financial year (2016: Nil).