REG - Aptamer Group PLC - Trading Update

AptamerAnnouncement

06/11/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 4151S  Aptamer Group PLC  06 November 2023

6 November 2023

Aptamer Group plc

Trading update

Aptamer Group plc (AIM: APTA), the developer of novel Optimer(®) binders
to enable innovation in the life sciences industry, announces an update on
trading.

 

Since their appointment on the 21 August 2023, the new management team has
been working tirelessly to meet the targets set out in the announcement made
on 17th August 2023.  The management team continues to focus on enhancing
efficiency, identifying growth opportunities and increasing shareholder value
and has made great strides in driving change, including raising an additional
£0.3 million which has been ringfenced for R&D activities.

 

Operations

The team has successfully carried out the planned process improvements which
have streamlined the production processes, resulting in increased production
capacity and reduced material requirements from customers, helping expand our
partnered development opportunities.  Further, the cost-base reductions were
also achieved as planned by the end of September 2023.  Additionally, the
Company is proud to have passed the annual surveillance audit for ISO 9001
accreditation, with 21 positive observations, indicating the embedded Quality
System is performing well.

 

Technical

To support the adoption of Optimer technology into new markets, the research
and development team has been specifically focused in two areas.

 

Firstly, we have advanced validation of the Optimer-Fc platform, supporting
development of animal-free reagents for the $2.3 billion immunohistochemistry
(IHC) market.  The IHC market is a growing segment of the diagnostics
industry in which molecular tools are used to discriminate between diseased
and non-diseased tissues, such as in pathology.

 

Secondly, we have made great progress in building a body of data further
supporting our Optimer-based pharmaceuticals for gene therapy delivery and
precision chemotherapy.  This opens opportunities for the specific delivery
of chemotherapeutics to site of action; for example, using these techniques to
target specific tumours could reduce the amount of drug administered and
thereby minimise side effects.  We have successfully built the drug
conjugates for oligonucleotide, radionuclide, and chemotherapeutic delivery,
with the results showing selective delivery and gene knockdown or cell
killing, respectively.  This work will form the bedrock of technical data to
attract larger pharmaceutical partners.  Results from this work will be
disseminated, as delivered, over the next 12 months.

 

Commercial

Whilst delivering positive progress in the business since August, we have also
seen the consequences of a lull in customer confidence in the period leading
up to completion of the £3.6 million fundraise, which means that the
half-year revenue figure to 31 December 2023, will be less than the
comparative period in 2022.  However, with revised strategy set out by the
new management team gaining traction with a focus on building and converting
the pipeline, we are completely focused on converting those opportunities and
on achieving market expectations for the full year.

 

Under the new management team, and with cash on the balance sheet, we have
seen a significant improvement in customer confidence.  The pipeline of
opportunities that are at advanced stages of discussion currently stands at a
healthy £3.3 million across 28 unique projects (subject to commercial and
scientific attrition).  Since the completion of the refinancing, we are
encouraged to have added 128 new leads to a growing pool of opportunities
which gives management confidence that significant orders will be signed
before the 2023 calendar year end.

 

Executive Chairman Steve Hull commented: "I am inspired by how much progress
we have made in such a short time under new management.  We appreciate the
support of our staff, customers and shareholders who are invaluable to us
turning the business around.  We are encouraged by the response from
customers since the Company refinanced and we have confidence that the team
will be able to convert a number of existing pipeline opportunities, in
addition to attracting a complement of new customers, to
meet market expectations for the full year."

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION.

 

For further information, please contact:

 

 Aptamer Group plc                                        +44 (0) 1904 217 404

 Steve Hull
 SPARK Advisory Partners Limited - Nominated Adviser      +44 (0) 20 3368 3550

 Andrew Emmott / Adam Dawes
 Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Limited - Broker           +44 (0) 20 3657 0050

 James Pope / Andrew Thacker

 

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