ASX-listed biotech Chimeric Therapeutics, a clinical stage cancer-fighting cell-therapy company has pocketed a research and development tax refund worth more than $3 million.
The company says the refund is in recognition of its activities during the 2022 financial year and the rebate will provide important funding for continued development of its portfolio of cell therapies.
The Australian Government’s research and development tax incentive program provides companies engaging in eligible activities with a refundable tax offset of up to 43.5 per cent.
For small cap companies in the life sciences and high-tech sectors, refunds play a critical role in funding expensive research. This is especially true in the biotech and medtech sectors where clinical trials are required.
To illustrate, Chimeric revealed in its last quarterly activities statement that 92 per cent of the $4.3 million cash used in operating activities in Q4 2022 was swallowed up by research and development expenditure and staff costs.
The company also disclosed last month that it had cash and equivalents at the end of December 2022 totalling $3.63 million. The rebate it has just received totals $3.06 million.
Chimeric specialises in cell therapy, with the lofty ambition of using the treatment to cure cancer, not just delay the disease’s progression.
One such treatment involves so-called “CAR T” therapy, developed for the treatment of patients with solid tumours.
One CAR T product is being studied in a phase 1 clinical trial in progressive glioblastoma and Chimeric says initial positive data has been received from patients treated in the first two dose levels of the trial.
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