¿ Core Group plc, of Kilmarnock, Scotland, a drug-delivery company focused on controlled-release formulations, reported a loss of #5.9 million (US$9.6 million) for the year ended Dec. 31, 1998, up from #4.7 million for 1997. At the end of the year, the company had #15.1 million in cash, down from #22.9 million in December 1997. The company has five platform technologies for delivering drugs at predictable rates. Jim Pickard, CEO of Core, said there would be a ¿flow of new product launches¿ commencing in the U.K. within the next 12 months, and throughout Europe and North America over the following three to five years.