DRUG DEVELOPMENT group Amarin has three weeks to source long-term funding to secure its future.

The company agreed bridge financing of $2.6 million (€1.8 million) with some existing investors, including a number of directors, in early June.

Last Monday, holders of $2.5 million of that debt agreed to extend the maturity date on the loan from June 30th to July 24th.

The bridging “provides the company with sufficient funds to operate through mid-July 2009, during which time the company will continue its discussions with potential investors in order to secure longer-term funding,” the company said in a statement yesterday.

“No assurance can be given regarding whether, or on what terms, the company will be able to secure such longer-term financing.”

If no deal can be reached, the company warned that “there would be substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”.

Amarin hopes to start phase III trials on a treatment for hypertriglyceridemia – high levels of fat molecules in the blood – in the autumn, assuming it secures appropriate financing, chairman Tom Lynch said yesterday.

The company was forced to reposition its pipeline in 2007 after the failure of its lead drug – a therapy for Huntingdons disease in phase III trials.

News of the funding deadline emerged along with results for 2008 showing a net loss of $28.2 million compared with a loss of $40.7 million in 2007.