11th Oct 2016 13:11
(Clarifying revenue figure to include development grant funding.)
LONDON (Alliance News) - Molecular diagnostics company Genedrive PLC said Tuesday the launch of its first commercial product has been "challenging" as its annual loss widened.
Genedrive, which recently changed its name from Epistem Holdings Ltd, booked a pretax loss of GBP6.5 million for its financial year ended June 30, widened from GBP3.4 million the year prior. Turnover rose to GBP5.1 million from GBP4.5 million year on year, as a dip in revenue to GBP3.1 million from GBP3.7 million was offset by an increase in development grant funding to GBP2.0 million from GBP814,000 year on year.
Research and development spending was increased to GBP4.8 million from GBP2.9 million the year before. Genedrive noted that its cash reserves at June stood at GBP1.1 million, down from GBP4.9 million the previous year but after the reporting period it received GBP6.0 million in net proceeds from a share placing.
Genedrive said it has re-focused on its molecular diagnostic product range while its services operations continue under the Epistem brand.
Genedrive noted that the launch of its first commercial product, a test for tuberculosis and associated antibiotic resistance, began in India in April and said, "whilst end user sales are yet to engage, early interest is in line with expectations". The company noted it has not booked any new sales to its distributor after its initial GBP200,000 stocking order in 2015.
"The year has seen us take further significant strides towards realising the potential of the Genedrive platform to bring the strength of hospital-based, central laboratory diagnostics close to the point of need and near patient setting. We have begun the launch of our MTB/RIF assay in India, our first commercial market, and, whilst this has been challenging, I am confident that we will make progress in securing support for the roll out of our TB and HCV tests during the current financial year," said David Budd, chief executive officer.
Shares in Genedrive were down 4.8% at 59.50 pence Tuesday.
By Adam Clark; [email protected]
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