TIDMNIPT
RNS Number : 1959F
Premaitha Health PLC
16 May 2017
Premaitha Health plc
Year End Trading Update
Manchester, UK - 16 May 2017: Premaitha Health plc (AIM: NIPT,
"Premaitha" or the "Company"), a leading international molecular
diagnostics group focused on prenatal testing, provides a trading
update for its financial year ended 31 March 2017, which includes
one month of trading from Yourgene Bioscience, post-acquisition on
2 March 2017.
Key points
-- Test volumes increased by 40% to over 24,000 (2016: 17,228)
-- Revenues up 24% at over GBP3.1m (2016: GBP2.5m)
-- Like-for-like revenues from continuing customers (excluding
Genoma) grew by 250% demonstrating increasing uptake of NIPT in our
covered territories
-- 12 month pro forma revenues, including Yourgene Bioscience, of c.GBP5m
-- Gross margin up to 35% (2016: 29%) due to scale and cost
reductions which should continue to improve during 2017 / 2018
-- Rapid geographic expansion continuing
-- Substantial progress made on strategy to reduce intellectual property risk
-- Yourgene Bioscience integration progressing well
Trading
Test revenues of over GBP3.1 million were generated from the
sale or in-house processing of over 24,000 non-invasive prenatal
tests ("NIPT"). This represents an increase of 40% in test volumes
and 24% in revenues (due to revenues from non-recurring equipment
sales in the prior year). Excluding non-recurring revenues from
equipment sales and the discontinued Genoma business (as announced
on 12 May 2017) revenues were up 250% against the prior year.
The above figures include approximately one month from Yourgene
Bioscience ("Yourgene"), since completion of the acquisition on 2
March 2017. On a pro forma basis, full year Group revenues would
have been c.GBP5m and test volumes over 30,000.
Gross margins were 35% (2016: 29%) reflecting more established
accounts, economies of scale and ongoing efforts to reduce cost of
goods through product and software refinements. Margins are
expected to continue improving during 2017 as further software
developments are implemented.
Geographic expansion
The geographic spread of customers has continued at a rapid
rate, as per recent announcements, with distributors appointed in
the Middle East, Southern Europe and recently in Croatia. Yourgene
has a broad installed base across Asia which is also growing
significantly (see below).
The IONA(R) test is now an established leading NIPT solution in
the UK, France and the Middle East and its presence is growing in
other markets. There are further installations scheduled in the
next quarter in France, Italy, Taiwan, South East Asia, the Middle
East, South Africa and Northern Europe with a strong forward
pipeline. Several of these installations will be on Thermo Fisher's
latest S5 instrument platform, on which the IONA(R) test has now
been validated.
Furthermore, the first IONA(R) test laboratory installation for
the major European diagnostics services customer announced in
February 2017 is on track for June 2017, with a further
installation for the same customer due later this year.
A pre-requisite for geographic expansion in many countries is
the registration of products prior to sale. National regulatory
processes are variable in complexity and time but are generally
lengthy for significant markets. Premaitha has completed
registration for the IONA(R) test in the EU (CE-mark) and three
other countries to date, and is well-advanced in registering the
IONA(R) test in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and
Vietnam. Registration in China is expected to commence later in
2017/early 2018 once a suitable partner has been selected.
Intellectual property de-risking strategy progressing well
The Company continues to prepare a robust defence against
Illumina's UK patent infringement claims which will start to be
heard in July 2017. In addition, Premaitha is providing full
support to the EU's competition commission in its ongoing enquiries
into potentially anti-competitive behaviour by Illumina. The UK
represents c.25% of Group revenues at present (14% on a pro forma
basis for the enlarged group) and, separate to the legal defence,
there is an active strategy to reduce the Group's intellectual
property risk through geographic expansion in unaffected
territories and through product innovation. Both strands of this
strategy are progressing well and the acquisition of Yourgene
allows the Group to accelerate this strategy.
Yourgene integration progressing well
The integration of Yourgene into the Group is progressing
extremely well with Dr Bill Chang and Alan Chang now firmly
established on the Board and Keng Hsu integrated into the senior
management team. Staff exchanges have taken place and multi-level
collaboration working groups established.
Joint commercial initiatives are already bearing fruit with new
customers and strengthened relationships with existing partners.
For example, in early March 2017, Yourgene concluded an OEM supply
agreement with Thermo Fisher for eight countries in South East
Asia. This has already created increased revenue streams in Taiwan,
Malaysia and Thailand with Indonesia launching soon. Since the
acquisition, Yourgene has also secured new customers in Singapore,
Thailand, India, Jordan and Hong Kong for a variety of in-house,
in-customer and send-to-Manchester solutions. Yourgene and
Premaitha are also collaborating effectively on new product
innovations which will be attractive to customers across Asia and
the Middle East, and which will also further the Company's
de-risking strategy.
Dr Stephen Little, CEO, commented: "We have continued to make
rapid progress to establish Premaitha as an internationally
recognised, high growth company in the emerging clinical genetics
field, despite the challenges presented by Illumina's litigious
approach to competition, and Genoma's financial difficulties. The
underlying Premaitha business is developing well and the
acquisition of Yourgene creates some genuinely exciting
opportunities for geographic expansion, product innovation and
reduction in perceived risk. Investors can be assured that we
intend to mount the strongest possible legal defence to demonstrate
the true motivation behind Illumina's claims whilst building a
strong high-growth business which can compete globally."
For more information, please contact:
Premaitha Health plc Tel: +44 (0)
161 667 6865
Dr Stephen Little, Chief Executive
Office
Barry Hextall, Chief Financial
Officer
Joanne Cross, Head of Marketing
investors@premaitha.com
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nomad) Tel: +44 (0)
20 7213 0880
Liam Murray / James Caithie
finnCap (Broker) Tel: +44 (0)
20 7220 0500
Adrian Hargrave / Scott Mathieson
(Corporate Finance)
Tony Quirke (Corporate Broking)
Vigo Communications Tel: +44 (0)
20 7830 9700
Ben Simons / Fiona Henson / Antonia
Pollock
premaitha@vigocomms.com
About Premaitha
Premaitha is an international molecular diagnostics group which
uses the latest advances in DNA analysis technology to develop
safer, faster and regulatory approved genetic screening tests. The
Group's primary focus is on non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) for
pregnant women - an emerging, multi-billion dollar global
market.
Premaitha's IONA(R) test was launched in 2015 as the first
CE-IVD NIPT test in Europe. It enables laboratories and healthcare
practitioners to offer a complete CE-marked NIPT system in-house.
The IONA(R) test is performed on a maternal blood sample - which
contains traces of fetal DNA - and estimates the risk of a fetus
being affected with Down's syndrome or other genetic
conditions.
Unlike existing prenatal screening methods, due to its high
level of accuracy, the IONA(R) test can significantly reduce the
number of women subjected to unnecessary invasive follow up
diagnostic procedures, such as amniocentesis, which are costly,
resource intensive and carry a risk of miscarriage.
In March 2017, Premaitha acquired Yourgene Bioscience, a
specialist next generation sequencing and bioinformatics company
based in Taiwan, with its own NIPT screening test that operates on
the same Thermo Fisher next-generation sequencing platform as
Premaitha's IONA(R) test. Yourgene brings significant benefits to
the Group through expanded market access in Asia - the world's
fastest growing NIPT market - as well as opportunities for
cross-selling and the ability to jointly develop expanded test
content both within NIPT and beyond.
Premaitha is headquartered in Manchester, England, with Yourgene
offices in Taipei and Singapore. Its shares trade on the AIM market
of the London Stock Exchange (AIM: NIPT). For further information,
please visit www.premaitha.com. Follow us on twitter
@PremaithaHealth.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
TSTSFDFMIFWSELI
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 16, 2017 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Yourgene Health (LSE:YGEN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Yourgene Health (LSE:YGEN)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024