Good morning and welcome to the Futura Medical Plc Investor Presentation. Throughout this recorded presentation, investors will be in listen-only mode. Questions are encouraged and they can be submitted at any time using the Q&A tab situated on the right-hand corner of your screen. Simply type in your questions and press send. The company may not be in a position to answer every question received during the meeting itself. However, the company can review your questions submitted today and publish responses when it is appropriate to do so. Before we begin, I would like to submit the following poll, and I would now like to hand you over to Interim CEO Alex Duggan. Good morning.
Good morning and welcome to the Futura Medical 2025 Interims Presentation. Many of you will have seen board changes announced over the last three months, and I'm the new face to the team. I'm Alex Duggan. I'm appointed as the Interim CEO since August of this year. I've got 25 years of experience working in consumer healthcare and pharma businesses, taking leadership roles in both small and mid-sized public and private businesses. My remit as Interim CEO is to conduct a full review of the performance and the strategy and put in place strategic and leadership plans that best benefit the shareholders and all other stakeholders of Futura . Before we start today, can I just draw your attention, please, to the disclaimers shown here? These, along with the presentation and the recording today, will be available on our website for you to review.
H1 has been a very active time for Futura on many fronts, so our agenda today is perhaps a little longer than normal for our interims, as we'd like to update you as much as possible on where we are. First, Angela will provide us with an update on the first half financial update and trading update. I will follow, giving some reflections on what I've seen in my first 60 days, and an update on our market launches and a summary of our focus to improve business performance. Ken will then talk through our MPD pipeline and an update on the status of the patents, and after the summary, we will answer any questions that may have been received during the presentation. Just before I hand over to Angela to provide the financial update, these are the key outtakes for today.
First, we've seen further market launches during H1 in seven countries, but we are seeing challenges around sustaining consumer uptake. What we see in all markets is the initial trial seems strong, which is very positive, but for various reasons, repeat underlying sales are not coming through as expected. This has had a direct impact on our supply volumes and our royalty streams, and the full year 2025 performance is likely to be significantly below market expectations. As announced on my appointment, a strategic review has commenced with initial findings coming through now, and some of these findings I can share with you today. As per the recent RNS on the 19th of September, the shift in performance versus prior expectations has put the company in a challenged position.
However, the board does remain confident that there is value in the group assets, and development plans for both the Intense and WSD 4000 development products will continue to progress. Although there is always a risk in any R&D project, early indications for these two projects are quite positive. Evidently, my job, and that of the board, is to ensure that we do all we reasonably can to protect our stakeholders and shareholders to derive as much value as possible from our current products and from our new development products. I will come back to this again, but first I'd like to hand over to Angela to cover our H1 financial update.
Thanks, Alex. Let me take you through the results for the first half of 2025. We generated just over GBP 1 million in revenues during the period. Around half came from royalties in the U.S., nearly half from sales across Europe, including the U.K., and a small contribution from LatAm and the Middle East. The lower sales this year reflect the channel fill and the stock-in that took place during 2024, which our commercial partners and customers are still working through. On those sales, we delivered an initial gross profit of GBP 0.7 million. However, given the continuing lower demand, we took the prudent step of providing for potential inventory obsolescence on stock that was manufactured last year to meet minimum order quantities when we transitioned to our new supplier. This provision was GBP 0.49 million.
R&D spend remained broadly in line with last year, and that was focused on progressing Intense and WSD4000. Our core G&A costs were GBP 2.6 million. This is down from GBP 3.4 million last year, showing the benefit of some cost reductions we've put in place. With lower demand expected in the U.S., we reviewed our manufacturing assets and identified indicators for impairment. As a result, we have impaired the U.S. plant and equipment and provided for the final installment due later this year, and this has resulted in an exceptional charge of GBP 3.6 million. After these items, the loss after tax for the period was GBP 6.6 million. On a pre-exceptional basis, that loss was GBP 2.6 million. If you strip out the GBP 0.64 million of non-cash share-based payment charge, the adjusted loss after tax comes to around GBP 1.9 million. Cash at the end of the period was GBP 3.69 million.
If we then move on to the trading update released in recent weeks, this provided further clarity on revenue expectations for the full year, which we have confirmed will fall short of market expectations. Alex will talk in more detail about market specifics later in the presentation, but in summary, we continue to see slower in-market sales of Eroxon than both Futura and our commercial partners had anticipated ahead of launch. Based on initial partner forecasts, 2025 sales were expected to reach around GBP 5 million. This included a $2.5 million milestone payment, approximately GBP 1.9 million, linked to the granting of the U.S. patent. We now expect that to be received in 2026, and Ken will cover off the U.S. patent point in more detail as well.
In our recent announcement, we guided that the full year sales for 2025 are now expected to be between GBP 1.3 million and GBP 1.4 million. As part of that same update, we also disclosed that cash at the end of August stood at GBP 2.7 million. Under current plans and taking into account the cost reductions we've implemented, as well as the cost of implementing those measures, this provides runway into January 2026. We are actively exploring a number of commercial and financing options to extend this runway, and we will update the market when we're able to. I'll now hand you back over to Alex.
Angela, thank you very much. I'm going to share my view now of my first 60 days at Futura and to give an update on the business as it is today. As announced on my appointment, the Board and I have initiated a strategic and performance review, which is now in progress, covering sales and marketing strategies, product performance and efficacy, the costs associated with running the business, and other potential strategies and strategic options open to the company. It's now clear to me what the key issues are which face the company and its products and our commercial partners. The key challenge for the company today is that previous forecasts, which themselves were based on our commercial partners' forecasts, are no longer realistic based on current data.
Launch forecasts are, of course, notoriously hard to get right, especially for a product in a new subsector like Eroxon. Futura is a small and concentrated business. Its commercial performance is strongly geared to the in-market performance of a single product currently via our four current commercial partners. The downturn we've seen in forecasts versus our partners' launch expectations has had a significant impact on our business, and it is this impact we are urgently navigating now. Our partners have continued to launch Eroxon into new markets, and as you can see in the timeline below, Eroxon now is present in 25 markets, with seven new markets launched in H1 of this year, six in Europe through Cooper and one in the Middle East by Labatec.
Despite a shared recognition that in-market performance has not been as expected initially, we do continue to have an open dialogue with each of our commercial partners. We are currently in early-stage discussions around a launch in Brazil with our existing partner Labatec and with new potential partners in markets including Taiwan and China. Once there is any material certainty around new launches, of course, an announcement will be made in the usual way. Whilst we're limited in the level of information we can share for reasons of both commercial and partner confidentiality, the table here shows a summary of progress through each of our current four Eroxon commercial partners.
First, in Europe, we've seen a decline in in-market performance driven by a comparison with a strong H2 in 2024, which itself was driven by heavy investment, particularly in France, Spain, and Portugal by Cooper, leading to quite a high selling in market. Although it's too early to assess true like-for-like trends, the drop is steeper than had been expected, and consumer repeat sales are not yet coming through at the level required by Cooper. Cooper do, though, remain engaged and expect to meet all contractual obligations. In the Middle East, selling across the region has declined compared with the previous six months, where high selling activity from the local sales force in Saudi Arabia drove strong volumes. Labatec has expanded distribution of Eroxon into Kuwait this year in May, and we await initial results from that launch.
In the U.S., following a high-impact launch in October 2024, as previously announced, in H1 of this year, we've seen slower than anticipated repeat sales. While distribution levels remain strong, both in e-commerce and brick-and-mortar, market performance has not yet met initial Haleon all-company forecasts due to lower repeat sales. To minimize theft risk, which is a growing U.S. trend, brick-and-mortar stockists are increasingly using locked displays in around a third of Eroxon distribution points. Haleon also remain committed to meet their contractual obligations. Lastly, in LatAm, following the August 2024 launch in Mexico, H1 saw continued growth in retail distribution and a significant expansion of MH's digital campaign, albeit with consumer sales below the partners' forecast.
Discussions are currently underway around a potential launch in Brazil, and we expect feedback within H2 regarding their appetite to launch Eroxon in LatAm's number one consumer market and what those timelines would look like. As I've said, global demand for Eroxon and topical treatments for mild to moderate erectile dysfunction clearly exist. How do we access it? Data from all of our market launches is clear. Initial sales are strong. Clearly, there's an appetite for a non-drug topical product for those who do not wish to take the PDE5 inhibitors due to their side effects or for other reasons.
Our learnings show that the low level of repeat consumer purchases showing in the initial data is due to four key factors: the positioning gap with potential consumer over-expectation of Eroxon's benefits, consumers thinking it will act like a PDE5 inhibitor, usage, imperfect consumer understanding of when or how to use the product correctly, and why it's important to use the product in foreplay. A binary efficacy perception exists, so for many men, Eroxon either works, you get an erection, or it doesn't, which is unlike many consumer healthcare products where usually a modest improvement would be considered a successful outcome. Fourthly, the accessibility advantage where no prescription or HCP is required in the transaction means the product is widely available. However, this does mean that Eroxon is open access to all consumers, which could lead to either misuse or unrealistic expectations.
What are we doing and what are our partners doing with these learnings? We are reviewing our product positioning so that we have a clear positioning that will set realistic expectations versus PDE5 inhibitors. We are reviewing consumer targeting strategies to focus on audiences where Eroxon is most effective. Where possible, trying to filter out consumers with severe ED where Eroxon may be less likely to help. We are enhancing consumer education through HCP engagement, either in pharmacy or other settings. A healthcare professional can advise both on product suitability and usage. E-communication improvements will inform consumers better and potentially filter users. Improved usage instructions to ensure proper integration into foreplay and to advise on using three or four times for longer-term successful outcomes. As you can see, we are now working on several areas to improve the underlying product performance in market.
In addition, the Futura team is busy with R&D projects in two specific areas, and Ken will now provide an update for you on our latest progress.
Thank you, Alex. In the field of consumer healthcare, it's important to fuel the categories in which you operate with innovation. As we previously disclosed, we've got two exciting developments that we're working on. The first one, if you could move to the next slide, is a new variant, which we call Project Intense, because it's designed to provide a more intense sensorial effect than the existing product. The reason for this is that whilst a number of men like the sensorial effect that they get from the existing product, there are a group of men who would prefer a stronger sensorial effect from the product. We've conducted a couple of studies already to support the concept.
The first one was a fairly small study, which is depicted in the slide and the graph here. It showed that there was a stronger sensorial effect of 15 seconds through to 10 minutes with the new variant. That is an important period of time, obviously, because that is usually the period by which intercourse occurs. If you move on to the next slide, you can see a timeline of progress that has been made. The study that I have just referred to was reported in the early part of this year, 2025, in April. We are currently in the field to conduct a larger study in 200 subjects. That basically will support the premise that we have a really exciting product that improves the overall sensorial effect and therefore the impressions of efficacy of the formulation in those groups of men who want such an effect.
We are well on the road to achieving regulatory approval for the development in both the key territories of the EU and the U.S. We anticipate getting such approval by the end of this year. If I can move on to the other development, which we feel is very exciting, it has a tremendous amount of potential. It is for the treatment of sexual response and sexual function in women who have impaired function. The reason that we are excited about it is that no such product currently exists in the OTC category, certainly with regulatory approval and strong claims supported with clinical data and strong IP protection. When we look at the market opportunity for WSD4000, you can see that it is a really exciting opportunity.
We know that between 40% and 50% of women suffer from the problem that we are trying to treat here, and at least 60% have suffered from at least one symptom of impaired sexual response and function in the last 12 months. Only one in four of the women seek professional help. Very few women experience an improvement in their symptoms. In fact, the opposite happens, as 37% say that their symptoms get worse over time. Importantly, as I have mentioned, there is currently no regulatory-approved topical treatment for impaired sexual response and function in women available over the counter. The progress that has been made, we have conducted a successful home user study, and we showed that there was a significant improvement in most of the six symptoms affecting women, which is very encouraging data, early data.
We are in the process of designing a larger study to support that premise by way of further proof of concept. Meanwhile, it's important that we bring the key regulators with us on the journey that we're undertaking. We've had two meetings already with the U.S. FDA, who have been very supportive and given us good guidance on how to design our program to bring the product successfully to market in the key geography of the United States. We have, in the fourth quarter, a third meeting arranged with the FDA, which will hopefully guide us to the exact design of our clinical study, which we will plan to kick off from 2026 onwards.
We also, under the previous guidance of the FDA, have been encouraged to conduct an early feasibility study, really to test the overall functionality of the product to make sure it does what it says on the tin, but also to check out our clinical trial endpoints to make sure that they're both valid and going to give us the information that we need. That study has now been initiated, and it's due to report in the early part of next year. Exciting progress with the early feasibility study as well. If I can move now on to our patent update, with a small company, it's important that we protect our assets with key intellectual property. I've highlighted a number of key areas here. You can see that overall, there's a lot of activity going on in the patent area, particularly in China.
We expect to get notice of allowance quite shortly for our patent in China. We already have a granted patent in Hong Kong. In Europe, we already have a granted patent covering Eroxon and Intense. Last but not least, in the United States, we've received an initial patent of fairly narrow scope, but we have a continuation patent which we expect to be granted in the first, second quarter of next year. As Angela has referred to, that should trigger a milestone payment from one of our key partners in the United States. If you move on to the patent coverage of WSD, you can see that we have filed internationally with the PCT. With our new asset coming forward, the female product, we plan to have robust patent protection for that as well. I'll now hand you back to Alex for a summary.
Thank you very much, Ken. As you can see, although R&D projects can never be fully guaranteed, there is genuine excitement in the company about these new developments. We're taking all the necessary steps to bring to market new efficacious products which will resonate with consumers in this growing category of consumer sexual health. In summary, I'm clear about the issues facing the company and its products, and we're working with our key partners where possible to improve underlying in-market product performance. The company is in a challenged position currently, as you have seen. As previously announced, we initiated a cost-cutting exercise, and we are exploring a number of different avenues to extend our cash runway further, including considering commercial options such as licensing or divestments and/or opportunities for financing.
The Board does believe that there is significant long-term value in the group's assets, and so development plans for both Eroxon Intense and WSD4000 will continue to progress. We continue to undertake a thorough review of our business and its operations to deliver a clear view on how best to take the Futura business forward. You can expect a full update by the end of quarter one, 2026. I fully appreciate that some of the messages today are difficult to hear for our long-standing, supportive, and patient shareholders. It's regrettable that this patience is going to be further tested. I can assure you that the company will do all it can do to get the best value from both our current and our new products. Clearly, there is an appetite for products like Futura 's, and the data all supports this.
We will continue to press for a return from these innovative products. As and when there are any further updates, we will, of course, announce in the usual way. For now, I'd like to thank you all for your time today and thank you for your continuing support.
That's great, Alex, Angela, Ken. Thank you very much indeed for your presentation. I will now turn your cameras back up. Ladies and gentlemen, please do continue to submit your questions using the Q&A tab situated in the top right corner of your screen. Alex, Angela, Ken, we have received a lot of questions throughout today's meeting. If I may just get started with the first one, which reads as follows. Are you reviewing the relationships with all partners?
Good morning, everybody. As part of our review, obviously, we are considering all options. My view in life is very much that any business relationship has to benefit both parties. It's evident that some of the results are not as expected so far by our partners or by us, and we're doing all we can to remedy that with the strategies that we've talked about a few minutes ago. As part of a wider review, then yes, we are considering all options right now. We remain confident in our current partners, and obviously, all of our partners are committing to their contractual obligations.
Thank you very much, Alex. The next question is, what marketing is Haleon currently doing?
Haleon have done, as you would imagine from a company like Haleon, they have had an excellent launch. They put a lot of pressure, particularly in the early phase of the launch at the end of 2024. They've had a fully integrated campaign using TV, social media, digital influencers, HCP support, and they've invested heavily into the product. That has continued through into 2025. We are hopeful, obviously, that that will continue. They have certainly done a great job so far in their initial launch phase.
Understood. Thank you very much. How much stock do partners have? How long will this last at current sell-through rates?
That is an area that we can't go into too much detail on. As part of the ongoing review, it's one of the areas that we need to consider because, obviously, we need to provide, at some point, some guidance for next year. It's under review very much at the moment.
Thank you. Moving on to the next one. What launches are planned for the second half?
We don't have any, our partners don't have any launches in H2 of this year. As we alluded to earlier, we are in discussion in LatAm for a potential launch in Brazil. That does require some regulatory agreement and a suitable commercial plan agreed with our partner there. Beyond that, we are in discussion, in early-stage discussion in a number of markets, Taiwan and China, for example. That's where my focus will be going forward on the larger markets which can move the needle.
Thank you. Outside the U.S., which territories are the next in importance for scale of opportunity?
I think, as I just mentioned, obviously, the U.S. is the number one consumer healthcare market in the world. It's important that we get that market right. The second largest consumer healthcare market globally is China. I'm confident that if we can get through the regulatory hurdles in China and we can find a partner that is suitable and we launch in the right way, then this has the Eroxon and potentially the WSD4000 products going forward would have great opportunity in that market.
Thank you. Next question with two parts. What are the next steps for each of the new products? How quickly can you launch them and generate revenue?
Ken, would you like to pick up on that?
Good morning, everyone. If I start with Project Intense, as I showed on the slide, regulatory approval in the EU and the U.S. is scheduled to occur by the end of this year. That's an important and necessary step on the journey. You will appreciate that post-approval, there are a couple of areas where we have to get things in place before we can consider launching. The first of that is to ensure that we've got an adequate shelf life. The minimum, generally speaking, for a consumer healthcare product is a 24-month shelf life. The date of that will be available towards the middle third quarter of next year. The second area is manufacturing logistics. You have to ensure that you have the supply chain all geared up.
A critical part of that is ensuring that you've got labeling, which is consistent with the regulatory approval. You can't initiate the construct of that labeling until after you've got regulatory approval. The manufacturing supply chain is another critical factor. We anticipate the earliest that we could launch for Project Intense would be third, fourth quarter of next year. Insofar as WSD4000 is concerned, it's a longer timeframe. The reason for that, as I explained, is we think the only viable way to success with the product is to have very strong claims which are clinically supported with strong IP and regulatory approval. Any potential shortcuts to market would compromise any of those three things. The company has decided that we won't do that because it will lead to failure.
When you look at the critical path there, the clinical study is definitely on that critical path, as is regulatory approval. We anticipate launch of WSD4000 being in the latter half of 2028.
Thank you, Ken. Next one here. Will the cost cutting extend your cash runway past January 2026?
It is unlikely that the cost reduction plans that have been implemented already and are underway to further implement will materially extend the runway beyond January 2026. Some of them have already been factored into that runway, and some of them we won't receive the benefit from until beyond January. There's also a balance in terms of the cost reductions that we are making versus retaining value in the business. The runway is likely to, the extension of runway is likely to come more from commercial or from financing options, which we're currently exploring.
Thank you very much, Angela. The next one for Alex. Will you not be staying as CEO?
Thank you. I've watched Futura 's development from the sidelines for a number of years, and I've always been impressed by the R&D capability of the team. I do genuinely believe that there is a terrific market for products like those of Futura . Despite the first challenging results from the market, I do believe there is a strong future. I stepped in as the Interim CEO in August to help with an urgent short-term leadership gap. The basis for me joining was to conduct an immediate review and assessment of the strategic plan for the company. As you might imagine, part of that review and that strategic plan will be to put in place a leadership team that is appropriate for the company going forward, however we deem that should look.
I don't want to avoid the question, but actually, between the board and myself, we need to determine who is the best person to lead the company forward, and that absolutely forms part of that review.
Thank you, Alex. Next one here. I note that you are in discussions with MH regarding a H2 launch. Can you please confirm whether you have now received approval from Anvisa or the expected approval?
Ken, would you pick that up?
Yes. We're making good progress with Anvisa. They've conducted an inspection of our contracted manufacturing plant. That audit has gone very well. It is our belief that we will be getting approval from Anvisa in the not-too-distant future.
Thank you, Ken. Have you considered exploring a partial percentage sale of the company?
I think we can't really get drawn into too much detail on questions like that, but I appreciate where the question is coming from. What we've said, and we have announced, is that we will consider all options as part of our review. There's nothing off the table. At all times, first and foremost in our minds is how to deliver best value to all stakeholders and to our shareholders.
Thank you. Can the company survive long enough to gain potential benefits from the new products?
That is absolutely our ambition.
Great. Thank you. Should you have launched Eroxon Intense and not Eroxon given its issues and the adverse impact this will have on Eroxon launch with commercial partners and customers?
I think in a launch like this, hindsight is wonderful. What we've shown clearly is that there's absolutely an appetite for this type of product. We have seen in the market that the real-world performance does differ slightly from the clinical results that we achieved and our partners achieved prior to launch. Our expectation, but it is obviously tests are underway at the moment, our expectation and hope is that the Intense product will be slightly better in terms of sensorial effects than our original first Eroxon product. That is yet to be determined. We've listened to the market. We have developed the Intense formulation and strategy on the basis of feedback from the market. In consumer healthcare, continual development is essential. We will continue to do that. No doubt there will be other products beyond the Intense as well. I think, you know, watch this space.
We've said that we're expecting results during quarter four for that Intense product. When there's any material information to release and update the market on, we will do that.
Thank you. Another question on partners. Are your partners asserting that Futura has failed to meet any of its obligations?
That is not the case, no. Obviously, I can't divulge confidential information between us and our partners, but evidently and clearly, Futura will meet its contractual obligations.
Understood. Thank you very much. Moving on, has Futura considered adding a QR code that links to a detailed instructional video on how to use it?
Interesting idea. One of the areas that we have picked up on is that we need to provide clearer guidance, I think, to consumers to try to help them get best effects from the current products. We will take those learnings forward to how we apply to our new products as well. Whether tactically we use a QR code or other means, the intent very much is there to ensure that consumers have got best knowledge and understanding of how to use the product to get best outcomes from it.
Thank you. A couple more questions here. The next one on U.S. tariffs. Are you impacted by the new U.S. tariffs? If so, how are you adjusting to the situation?
At the moment, the production for the U.S. market is done in the U.S., but it's done under license. Haleon manufacture that themselves and pay us a royalty. We're not importing products from the U.S.
Thank you. Are your partners revising their marketing campaigns to convey the proper ways to use Eroxon and to have realistic expectations for results? Are you working with them on this?
I think we've covered that off. We continue to have a very open dialogue with all of our partners. I have seen that over the last few months, the messaging through our partners has adapted a little bit, as you'd expect in a launch phase, with learnings from the market. I expect that will continue.
Thank you. Will you increase the dosage per volume of Eroxon Intense?
Again, the clinical data supports very much the dosage that we currently use. Ken, you may have a view on this from a technical point of view.
Yes, I do. The short answer is no because you then would run into potential safety issues. It's a very fine balance between achieving high consumer acceptability in terms of safety and achieving efficacy. We think we've got the dose right. As we've explained with Project Intense, we think the way forward is with a new variant which creates a stronger sensorial effect through the same dose as previous.
Thank you very much, Ken. Perhaps one last question here. What do Futura believe went wrong with the U.S. launch to downgrade expectations significantly within five months? How will launch of Eroxon Intense and WSD4000 be different?
That's quite an involved question. I think that in the U.S., what we've seen is a large company, Haleon, going out and doing a great job of launching the product in a high-intensity way. They've managed to achieve terrific distribution across the U.S., across all brick-and-mortar accounts, and very strong on Amazon. They have pressed hard on the launch to make it as effective as possible. The mismatch that we see between the clinical results that studies done by Futura , but also pre-launch studies done by our partners, including in the U.S., we believe that's really down to a number of factors. It could be the product itself a little bit, but it's also down to the positioning and the usage, which we've touched on.
We continue to work with Haleon in the U.S., as with our other partners, to try to make sure that that positioning is adapted and the usage is adapted so that we can get best results in the market.
Fantastic. Look, Alex, Angela, Ken, thank you for addressing all those questions from investors today. Of course, the company can review all questions submitted today and will publish those responses on the Investor Meet Company platform. Alex, before I redirect investors to provide you with their feedback, which I know is particularly important to the company, could I just please ask you for a few closing comments to wrap up?
Thank you. I think I just wanted to repeat my thanks to you all for joining today and for your interesting questions. I hope that we've been able to clarify at least some of the questions and the points that you may have. I appreciate that they are quite uncertain times, but I do want you to be assured that the Board and the company are doing all it possibly can to get the best return possible for all of our stakeholders, including our shareholders, who have, many of you have been very patient for many years, and we do appreciate that. We are looking at a number of angles in our review, our strategic and performance review, and as soon as we have an update, we will announce that to the market in the usual way.
Thank you again for your continued support, and I hope you have a good rest of your day.
Thank you very much, Alex, Angela, Ken, for updating investors today. Could I please ask investors not to close this session? As you know, you'll be automatically redirected to provide your feedback in order that the board can better understand your views and expectations. This will only take a few moments to complete, and I'm sure it will be greatly valued by the company. On behalf of the management team of Futura Medical Plc, we would like to thank you for attending today's presentation, and good morning to you all.