TIDMABZA
RNS Number : 9464K
Abzena PLC
16 April 2018
Abzena plc
Pre-Close Period Trading Update
Cambridge, UK, 16 April 2018 - Abzena plc (AIM: ABZA, 'Abzena'
or the 'Group'), a life sciences group providing services and
technologies enabling the development and manufacture of
biopharmaceutical products, today announces its unaudited pre-close
update for the year ended 31 March 2018 ('FY2018').
Following a stronger second half to the year, the Group expects
to report revenue for the full year of GBP22.0m, an increase of
c.18% (FY2017: GBP18.6m), and an adjusted EBITDA loss in line with
the Board's expectations. The Group achieved annual revenue growth
of c.60% in manufacturing and c.15% in chemistry. As previously
announced, lower immunology service revenues was the principal
reason behind lower biology revenues (c.14% lower than FY2017),
which is expected to be reversed in FY2019.
As at 31 March 2018, Abzena had a cash position of GBP6.8m (30
September 2017: GBP16.9m) reflecting the Group's continued
investment in its facilities, equipment and services, and funding
of operating losses during the year.
The value of contracts secured in the second half of FY2018 was
GBP15.3m, up 49% from the first half's total of GBP10.2m, resulting
in the Group starting the current financial year with committed
forward contracts of GBP11.4m. These contracts include a
multi-product programme transitioning from cell line development to
manufacturing process development and GMP manufacturing, ADC
manufacturing programmes, annual renewal of continuing chemistry
service contracts and increased immunology bookings enabled by the
Group's broader immunology, bioassay and bioanalytical
capabilities.
As previously announced, construction of the Group's GMP ADC
manufacturing facility in Bristol PA (USA) has been completed. Two
significant contracts, for delivery in FY2019, are already
committed to this facility and the Group expects to see further
benefits from its investment here.
The biologics manufacturing operation in San Diego has completed
its first cell culture batch production using the Sartorius 500L
stirred tank bioreactor. The Group is starting to realise the
benefits of a cell culture and purification process development and
manufacturing platform able to efficiently support Abzena's
customer needs through to manufacture of clinical product.
The first stage of the consolidation of the Group's San Diego
biomanufacturing operations is on track, and the transfer of the
Group's biomanufacturing process and analytical development group
to the new facility at Lusk Boulevard, San Diego, is underway. The
Group has commissioned the design work for stage two of the
manufacturing operation at the Lusk facility and, subject to
securing funding, expects to complete the build-out of the facility
during calendar year 2019.
Outlook
The Group is encouraged by the revenue growth demonstrated in
the second half of FY2018 and is targeting annual revenue growth in
FY2019 at a slightly higher rate to that seen for FY2018. Growth in
FY2019 is expected to be second-half weighted as projects mature
through the Group's combined service offering.
The Group recently strengthened the leadership team at its San
Diego biomanufacturing business, with a focus on maximising the
operational efficiencies achievable as a result of the recent
significant facility and equipment investment. In addition, the
Group expects to shortly appoint an Interim Chief Operating Officer
who will have a broad remit across the Group's service areas.
The Board continues to monitor closely Abzena's funding
position. The Board has taken actions to reduce capital expenditure
in the first half of the new financial year and is implementing a
cost reduction programme to significantly reduce operating costs,
with the benefits expected to be observed in FY2019 and beyond.
This programme is designed to ensure Abzena's resource base and
infrastructure are optimised to meet its clients' needs. Although
the Board expects these actions to extend the cash runway of the
Group significantly, additional working capital will be required to
support the Group within the next twelve months and the Board is
working with its advisers to explore appropriate options.
John Burt, Chief Executive Officer, Abzena plc, commented:
"We are building momentum towards the full realisation of our
scientific and commercial potential. Notwithstanding the challenges
to our original growth plans, we have seen increased engagement
from a broadening portfolio of customers with Abzena's talented
scientific teams. This has driven the growth in the business,
particularly in the second half of the year.
"We are starting to realise the benefits of the capital
investment programme that we have pursued over the last year. At
the same time, we are taking the necessary steps to ensure that the
Group has its resources and infrastructure aligned to match
customers' increasing demands for our services and
technologies.
"Abzena remains focused on effectively supporting our customers
while driving our business through this transition period to
sustainable growth."
-Ends-
Enquiries:
Abzena plc
John Burt, Chief Executive Officer
Julian Smith, Chief Financial Officer +44 1223 903498
Numis (Nominated Adviser and Broker)
Clare Terlouw / James Black / Paul
Gillam +44 20 7260 1000
N+1 Singer (Joint Broker)
Aubrey Powell / Liz Yong +44 20 7496 3000
Instinctif Partners +44 20 7457 2020
Melanie-Toyne Sewell / Alex Shaw / abzena@instinctif.com
Deborah Bell
Notes to Editors
About Abzena
Abzena (AIM: ABZA) provides proprietary technologies and
complementary services to enable the development and manufacture of
biopharmaceutical products.
The term 'ABZENA Inside' is used by Abzena to describe products
that have been created using its proprietary technologies and are
being developed by its partners, and include Composite Human
Antibodies(TM) and ThioBridge(TM) Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs).
Abzena has the potential to earn future licence fees, milestone
payments and/or royalties on 'ABZENA Inside' products.
Abzena offers the following services and technologies across its
principal sites in Cambridge (UK), San Diego, California (USA) and
Bristol, Pennsylvania (USA):
-- Biology research studies, including immunogenicity assessment
of candidate biopharmaceutical products and bioassay
development;
-- Protein engineering to create humanized antibodies and deimmunised therapeutic proteins;
-- Cell line development for the manufacture of recombinant proteins and antibodies;
-- Contract process development and GMP manufacture of
biopharmaceuticals, including monoclonal antibodies and recombinant
proteins for preclinical and clinical studies;
-- Contract synthetic chemistry and bioconjugation research
services, focused on antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs);
-- Proprietary site-specific conjugation technologies and novel payloads for ADC development;
-- GMP manufacturing of ADC linkers, payloads & combined linker-payloads; and
-- GMP analytical services for biopharmaceutical manufacturing projects.
For more information, please see www.abzena.com.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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