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REG - Fusion Antibodies - Half year trading update

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RNS Number : 8666S  Fusion Antibodies PLC  09 November 2023

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse (amendment)
(EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310 ("MAR"). With the publication of this
announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is
now considered to be in the public domain.

 

9 November 2023

 

Fusion Antibodies plc

("Fusion" or the "Company")

 

Half year trading update

 

Fusion Antibodies plc (AIM: FAB), specialists in pre-clinical antibody
discovery, engineering and supply for both therapeutic drug and diagnostic
applications, provides an update on the Company's research and development
("R&D") programme and trading in the six months ended 30 September 2023
("H1 FY2024").

 

As announced on 29 September 2023, at the time of publication of its annual
report for the year ended 31 March 2023 ("FY2023"), the Company has been
experiencing a commercially challenging period, primarily due to weak market
conditions for investment in new drug discovery and development programmes and
the subsequent delays to a number of anticipated contracts, both large and
small. The Company had anticipated an easing of these constraints during H1
FY2024, however, this has not materialised as quickly as expected.
Consequently, trading conditions remain very challenging and revenue for H1
FY2024 is expected to be behind current market expectations, at not less than
£541k. Towards the end of the period, several projects were subject to
certain technical challenges which required additional work to be undertaken,
thereby pushing some of the expected H1 recognised revenue into H2. The
remainder of the shortfall was due to a delayed project initiation.

 

Nevertheless, the Company has achieved a marked growth in the sales pipeline
with overall values now standing at approximately four times that of six
months ago. Part of the pipeline growth is attributable to enhanced
penetration of adjacent markets (including Veterinary Medicine, Diagnostics
and Research Antibodies) in line with our previously stated strategy. These
factors bode well for the Company's future provided opportunities can be
progressed and converted into work in progress.

 

In the meantime, the Company has continued to progress the development of its
platform services with AI/ML-Ab(TM) (pronounced "AIM-Lab") being launched and
the first contract for this service now completed. The Company is continuing
to develop the AI/ML-Ab(TM) offering to create a unique route to designing
novel antibodies which have the potential to impact the field to a similar
extent as phage display. It is particularly noteworthy that artificial
intelligence/machine learning ("AI/ML") approaches have the potential to
reduce overall timelines and costs making it a strong match for client needs.
 The Board anticipates that the Company will achieve continuing significant
growth in AI/ML-Ab(TM) revenues over the coming years. In addition, the
Company is in advanced discussions with a leading research group to enter into
a collaboration agreement which would provide validation of the Company's
OptiMAL® platform. While positive, there can be no guarantee that any such
collaboration agreement will be finalized or the terms of such agreement.

 

Outlook

 

Despite the slower than anticipated recovery in revenue recognition, prospects
for growth remain positive and the new novel technologies available to the
Company will play an important role in differentiating the business and
creating fresh value for our shareholders. At the time of the fundraise
earlier this year, announced on 19 May 2023 (the "Fundraise"), the Company
announced that it anticipated that the net proceeds of the Fundraise would
provide the Company with a cash runway for 18 months, which would be until
November 2024. This cash runway was predicated on the Company achieving FY2024
results in line with current market expectations. The Company still
anticipates that revenues for FY2024 will be significantly weighted towards
the second half of the financial year. The moderately lower-than-expected
performance in H1 FY2024 has been offset by stringent cost controls and,
combined with the developing pipeline for H2 FY2024, the Board's estimation of
the Group's cash runway has been maintained. It remains a key strategic focus
for the Company to achieve cash neutrality in this timeframe and, whilst there
can be no guarantee that this will be possible, it will be kept under close
review by the Board.

 

 

 

Enquiries:

 

 Fusion Antibodies plc                                 www.fusionantibodies.com
 Adrian Kinkaid, Chief Executive Officer               Via Walbrook PR

 Stephen Smyth, Chief Financial Officer

 Allenby Capital Limited                               Tel: +44 (0)20 3328 5656
 James Reeve/Vivek Bhardwaj (Corporate Finance)

 Tony Quirke (Sales and Corporate Broking)

 Walbrook PR               Tel: +44 (0)20 7933 8780 or fusion@walbrookpr.com
 Anna Dunphy                                           Mob: +44 (0)7876 741 001

 

About Fusion Antibodies plc

 

Fusion is a Belfast based contract research organisation ("CRO") providing a
range of antibody engineering services for the discovery and development of
antibodies for both therapeutic drug and diagnostic applications.

 

The Company's ordinary shares were admitted to trading on AIM on 18 December
2017. Fusion provides a broad range of services in antibody design,
generation, development, production, characterisation and optimisation. These
services include antigen expression, antibody production, purification and
sequencing, antibody humanisation using Fusion's proprietary
CDRx (TM) platform and the production of antibody generating stable cell
lines to provide material for use in clinical trials. Since 2012, the Company
has successfully sequenced and expressed over 250 antibodies and successfully
completed over 200 humanisation projects and has an international, blue-chip
client base, which has included eight of the top 10 global pharmaceutical
companies by revenue.

 

The Company was established in 2001 as a spin out from Queen's University
Belfast. The Company's mission is to enable pharmaceutical and diagnostic
companies to develop innovative products in a timely and cost-effective manner
for the benefit of the global healthcare industry.

 

Fusion Antibodies growth strategy is based on combining the latest
technological advances with cutting edge science to deliver new platforms that
will enable Pharma and Biotech companies get to the clinic faster, with the
optimal drug candidate and ultimately speed up the drug development process.

 

The global monoclonal antibody therapeutics market was valued at $186 billion
in 2021 and is forecast to surpass $445 billion in 2028, an increase at a CAGR
of 13.2 per cent. for the period 2022 to 2028. Approximately 150 monoclonal
antibody therapies are approved and marketed globally as of June 2022 with the
top four antibody drugs each having sales of more than $3 bn in 2021.

 

 

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