Benitec burning cash, looking for licenses

Brisbane-based Benitec (ASX: BLT) has announced a loss of AUD$1.9 million for the quarter, and confirmed that it has just $4.65 million remaining in cash.

Company secretary Gary Taylor said that cash burn for the year to date was $8.8 million, but said the company expected to bank $3-4 million in licensing revenues in the next year, including a six-figure sum from the non-exclusive research licence it granted to Merck earlier this month.

The license gave Merck permission to use Benitec’s DNA-directed RNAi (ddRNAi) technology in research activities. At the time, CEO John McKinley said the licence was the first in what he hopes will be a series of research agreements to be announced over the next 12 months.

Benitec has also neatened its corporate structure, buying back the rights to a joint venture company -- the Australian Biotechnology Joint Venture No 1 -- it had used as a tax-effective vehicle for investment in its earlier incarnation, AgGene Australia.