Argent Biopharma, formerly MGC Pharmaceuticals, has entered 2026 in a precarious financial position, according to its recently published quarterly figures.
In the three months to December 31, 2025, the now Australia-based firm saw operating cash outflows rising 35% to A$1.55m, up from A$1.15m in the previous period.
Meanwhile, ‘Customer receipts’ collapsed from A$133,000 to just A$2,000 in the December quarter, a 98% drop, while spending increased across most categories.
Staff costs rose 16% to A$506,000, and administration expenses jumped 49% to A$902,000. Payments to directors nearly quadrupled, from A$94,000 to A$372,000. Research and development spending, meanwhile, fell from A$88,000 to A$72,000, the smallest line item among the company’s operating costs and a fraction of what was paid to directors in the same period.
The company offered no explanation for the collapse in customer receipts or the increase in payments to directors. Notably, in late 2022, when the company was still operating as MGC Pharmaceuticals, the board implemented a 35% cut to director fees to redirect capital toward research programmes. Quarterly director payments subsequently fell to A$172,000.
Over the latest reporting period, related-party payments to directors reached A$372,000, more than 40% above pre-cut levels, while R&D spending fell to A$72,000, a fraction of the A$521,000 reported in the quarter before fees were reduced.
The company entered the quarter with just A$7,000 in the bank, and would have been unable to continue operating without a A$3.1m equity raise during the period. It ended the quarter with A$1.53m in cash, giving it roughly one quarter of runway at its current burn rate.
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Argent claims 11.1 quarters of funding available, but that figure relies heavily on A$15.65m in unused convertible note facilities from US-based Mercer Street Opportunity Fund and C/M Capital Partners. The new A$11m convertible facility with C/M Capital, announced in November 2025, includes conversion terms at the lower of A$0.10 or 90% of the lowest daily volume-weighted average price over the preceding 15 trading days, a structure that effectively guarantees dilution at below-market prices.
It also appears to have paired back a significant incoming deal with AusCann Group. In the previous quarter, Argent described a US$15m acquisition of AusCann Group assets, including the Neuvis drug-delivery platform, a 48% stake in CannPal Animal Therapeutics, a 19.99% holding in ECC Pharm with its German distribution network, and access to EU GMP manufacturing, paid for with 25m shares at a deemed price of US$0.60 each.
By January, the binding agreement had been stripped back to just the CannPal stake and a Neuvis option, for 20m shares at A$0.10 each. EuroCann, ECC Pharm and the German distribution network were no longer part of the deal.
The company says the CannPal acquisition will provide preclinical data to support the regulatory dossier for its lead cannabinoid product CannEpil, which targets drug-resistant epilepsy. Post-completion, AusCann executive director Andrew Chapman will join Argent’s board in an executive role, while current CEO Roby Zomer transitions to non-executive chairman. If Argent exercises the Neuvis option, it must also enter into a production royalty agreement with AusCann on net sales of derived products.
The September quarter included some clinical progress, a hospital supply agreement with the University Medical Centre Ljubljana for cannabinoid API, and a peer-reviewed case study on CannEpil in treatment-resistant epilepsy. No comparable clinical milestones were reported for the December quarter.
The company, which delisted from the London Stock Exchange at the end of 2024 after previously seeking to leave the ASX, now remains on the Australian exchange while pursuing a US national exchange dual-listing that has yet to materialise.
