Phylogica shares stabilise after big rally

Perth biotech Phylogica today announced positive test results from its drug delivery technology to treat blinding eye diseases, but the news was not enough to sustain a rally in the company's shares, which have risen 33 per cent over the past week.

The shares briefly spiked this morning to a high of 4.4 cents, before easing to close at 3.6 cents- still well up from 2.7 cents Friday week ago.  

Phylogica's cell penetrating peptide delivery technology, which enables drugs to be transferred across the cell membrane to reach the most effective drug targets that exist inside cells, was successfully trialled in a pilot study in human cells.

The jump in share price today continues the upward momentum the company gained after announcing its technology had reached the first pre-clinical milestone and had been successfully tested in animal models.  

In a statement, Phylogica said it was planning to do further testing using a combination of animal and human cells to create a ‘retina in a dish’, before likely investigational new drug enabling studies in the first quarter of 2020.

Phylogica, led by chief executive Rohan Hockings, is working with the Murdoch University Centre for Molecular Medicine and Innovative Therapies and the Lions Eye Institute Ocular Tissue Engineering Laboratory to design and conduct the testing.

The company was established from a collaboration between the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and the Fox Chase Cancer Centre in the US, and was spun out in 2001.