REG - Aptamer Group PLC - Half Year Trading Update

AptamerAnnouncement

03/01/2023 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20230103:nRSC4078La&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 4078L  Aptamer Group PLC  03 January 2023

3 January 2023

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE MARKET
ABUSE REGULATION (EU NO. 596/2014) AS IT FORMS PART OF UK DOMESTIC LAW BY
VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 ("MAR").

 

 

Aptamer Group plc

("Aptamer", the "Company" or the "Group")

 

Half Year Trading Update

 

Aptamer Group plc (AIM: APTA), the developer of novel Optimer(®) binders to
enable innovation in the life sciences industry, today announces a trading
update for the six months ended 31 December 2022 (H1 23).

 

As reported previously, 2022 has seen significant progress for Aptamer with
the investment in new facilities to create more capacity and an expanded team,
especially in sales and marketing.  The benefit of this investment is
apparent in a very healthy pipeline and level of enquiries for 2023, despite
the challenging macro-economic conditions.

 

Revenues are generally expected to be second half weighted owing to typical
seasonality of customer budgets, but this has been exacerbated in 2022 due to
a number of factors including customer delays and general economic conditions.
 As a result, revenues in the first half are expected to be in the region of
£1.0m. However, the Group has good visibility on its commercial pipeline
going into the second half, including a further £1.0m of current signed
orders, as well as contracts in negotiation and strong expressions of interest
across all three business units.

 

The Group remains focused on delivering market expectations for the full year
but acknowledges that the headwinds experienced in the first half may continue
into 2023 and that revenue for the full year may fall below market
expectations, but materially ahead of the level achieved last financial year.

 

Further updates will be provided as the Company progresses through the second
half.

 

Dr Arron Tolley, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Our highly active deal
pipeline demonstrates the clear market opportunity and demand for Optimers
across the life sciences industry. In the current challenging economic
environment, by offering our customers significant cost savings as they
develop therapies and diagnostic products and conduct research activities, we
expect to generate increasing revenue through paid R&D activities, IP
licensing deals and success-based milestone payments. We look forward to
providing further updates to the market as these opportunities convert."

 

- ENDS -

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Aptamer Group plc

Dr Arron Tolley
 
     +44 (0) 1904 217 404

SPARK Advisory Partners Limited - Nominated Adviser

Andrew Emmott / Adam Dawes
                  +44 (0) 20 3368 3550

Liberum Capital Limited - Broker

Richard Lindley / Ben Cryer / Cara Murphy
           +44 (0) 20 3100 2000

Consilium Strategic Communications

Matthew Neal / Chris Welsh / Lucy Featherstone
    +44 (0) 20 3709 5700

aptamergroup@consilium-comms.com (mailto:aptamergroup@consilium-comms.com)

About Aptamer Group plc

Aptamer (http://www.aptamergroup.com/) Group develops custom affinity binders
through its proprietary Optimer(®) platform to enable new approaches in
therapeutics, diagnostics and research applications. The Company strives to
deliver transformational solutions that meet the needs of life science
researchers and developers through the use of its proprietary Optimer
platform.

Optimer binders are oligonucleotide affinity ligands that can function as an
antibody alternative. The global antibody market is currently worth over
$145.0 billion. Optimer binders are engineered to address many of the issues
found with alternative affinity molecules, such as antibodies, and offer new,
innovative solutions to bioprocessing, diagnostic and pharmaceutical
scientists.

Aptamer Group has successfully delivered projects for global pharma companies,
diagnostic development companies, and research institutes covering a range of
targets and applications with the objective of establishing royalty-bearing
licenses. Through the unique Optimer technology and processes, scientists and
collaborators are enabled to make faster, more informed decisions that support
discovery and development across the Life Sciences.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTUUUAROAUARUR