5th Jun 2008 10:40
5 June 2008 Source BioScience plc ("Source BioScience", the "Company" or the "Group") Annual General Meeting Statement
Laurie Turnbull, Chairman of Source BioScience, will be making the following statement at the 2008 Annual General Meeting today:
General Statement
"We are delighted with the significant positive changes that have taken place during the last twelve months. Our focus has been on growing the Group's operations, the acquisition of new technologies and expansion into new markets.
"It was apparent that in order to consolidate these changes we needed a name that more appropriately reflects the nature and scope of the Group's current and planned activities. As a result, we renamed the Company Source BioScience in March this year.
"The Group's strategy remains unchanged; our aim is to enhance our service offering across the Healthcare, Pharma Biotech and Life Science Research divisions. The acquisition of Geneservice, in July last year, was a significant step in delivering this strategy. This was further underpinned by the acquisition in March this year of Autogen Bioclear. These two key investments have enhanced our offering in molecular diagnostics and opened new markets in the life science research communities, in addition to broadening the Company's ability to create a "one-stop shop" offering to pharma biotech customers for our tissue pathology to genomics expertise.
Trading Update
"The growth opportunities across the Group are strong and we expect the markets for our services and products to continue to grow. The Board remains focused on returning the Group to profitability and will continue to equip the business with the necessary skills, expertise, technology and products to deliver controlled growth and value to shareholders.
"The Group has a strong balance sheet with ‚£8.0 million of cash at the end of March and we reported a 75% increase in revenues for Q1 2008, compared with the same period last year. As well as incorporating revenue from the acquisitions of Geneservice and Autogen there was also growth in the existing businesses on a like for like basis. This uplift has also been underpinned by significant progress in enhancing the cost effectiveness of our operations.
Healthcare
"We believe that there is significant opportunity for growth within the Healthcare division especially in our Cytology business. Receipt of the first payment from an NHS customer for our FocalPoint automated cytology screening offering represents an important milestone and demonstrates the intent of the NHS to accept and adopt this technology into the cervical cancer screening programme.
"The increase in volumes for our core Pathology business has been especially pleasing and we will continue to broaden our portfolio of molecular diagnostic services, offering a range of genetic tests designed to diagnose disease, predict the risk of disease and predict and monitor the response to therapies.
"Indicative of the expected growth in molecular diagnostics, has been the uptake of our KRAS mutation testing service. Patients whose cancers demonstrate KRAS mutations are essentially resistant to certain targeted therapies and therefore, by identifying patients with KRAS mutations, unnecessary and expensive treatment regimes can be avoided and alternatives provided. Moreover, certain drug licensing authorities, including the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency have stipulated that this KRAS test should be a prerequisite before a patient may be prescribed certain therapies.
"The KRAS test is a good example of a molecular diagnostic test that is destined to become a "companion" diagnostic for specific therapies targeted at certain types of cancer. With our expertise in both genomic analysis and diagnostic pathology, we are well-placed to establish ourselves as a reference laboratory for this type of testing for routine healthcare applications but also as a component of clinical trials of new agents.
Pharma Biotech Services
"Key to the continued growth of this division is the demand from pharmaceutical companies for our enhanced "one-stop shop" service offering which includes the full spectrum of services from tissue pathology to genetic analysis. We therefore anticipate an increased demand for our genotyping services, which help in identifying genetic predispositions to certain diseases, as well as response to treatment.
As highlighted above with respect to our KRAS testing service, our ability to offer a comprehensive diagnostic portfolio including tissue and genetic analysis, along with our logistical capabilities, provides significant opportunities in the clinical trials arena, early phase oncology trials in particular.
Life Science Research
"Source BioScience is the UK's first commercial service provider for the Illumina next generation gene sequencing and genotyping technology platforms. This places the Group in a strong position to respond to the expanding market of next generation sequencing and genotyping services.
"The business is now significantly stronger, both financially and operationally, than it has ever been, with all divisions performing well at the start of this year. In the months ahead we look forward to completing the integration of the Autogen Bioclear acquisition, increasing commercial project activity on the next generation gene sequencing and genotyping platforms and supporting the introduction of automated cytology screening technology into the NHS.
"The results for the year ended 31 December 2007, and the strong start to the current financial year, demonstrate that significant progress has been made in the operations of the Group. Our outstanding reputation for quality and customer service across our activities; strong market position; an excellent customer base and a secure financial foundation place Source BioScience in a strong position to achieve our objectives of profitability and cash generation. We look forward to updating shareholders further following the release of our interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2008."
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For further information, please contact:
Source BioScience plcNick AshManaging DirectorTel: 0115 973 9010www.sourcebioscience.comBishopsgate Communications LtdNick Rome/Gemma O'HaraTel: 0207 562 3350www.bishopsgatecommunications.com
About Source BioScience
Source BioScience plc is a highly focused healthcare and biotechnology company offering expert, quality services and products to the healthcare, pharma biotech and life science research sectors. Its Healthcare operations provide the latest cytology screening equipment and techniques as well as reference laboratory diagnostic testing for cancer and other diseases including predictive testing for treatment optimisation for clinicians and patients.
Pharma Biotech Services offers support for early stage therapeutic development, offering a 'one-stop shop' from tissue pathology, immunohistochemistry, sophisticated image analysis, biomarker determination and assay development to pharmacogenomics including genotyping and gene expression analysis.
Life Science Research services provide core laboratory research support from conceptualization to implementation, calling upon a wide range of cutting edge technology platforms including an online catalogue of biomolecular tools. This incorporates DNA sequencing, whole genome amplification and a comprehensive library of genomic reagents and clones including cDNA and RNAi, as well as facilitating rapid access to high quality antibodies, cell cultures, diagnostic assays for cancer and other genetic testing, and related research tools.
The Group has its headquarters in Nottingham, UK where it operates state of the art reference laboratory facilities, with additional UK laboratory facilities in Cambridge and Oxford. Source BioScience is CPA, GLP and GCP accredited and is licensed by the Human Tissue Authority.
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