WEST Belfast-based therapeutic drug and diagnostic company Fusion Antibodies says it remains very much in growth mode and believes it has the potential to generate significant shareholder value from its emerging technology platforms.
The AIM-listed publicly traded company, which spun out of the Queen's University laboratories two decades ago and employs 55 people at Springbank industrial estate, was posting a robust set of results in 12 months to March 31, which it described as "a year of progress".
Its full year revenues increased by 7 per cent to £4.2 million (up from £3.9m in 2020).
And while its losses quadrupled from £700,000 to £2.9m, Fusion is sitting on cash reserves of £2.7m which it is ploughing back into the business by way or research and development.
Its 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 $135 billion in 2018 and is forecast to surpass $212 billion by next year.
In 2017, seven of the world's ten top selling drugs were antibody-based therapeutics with the combined
annual sales of these drugs exceeding $63.2 billion.
That is seen as underlining the potential for Fusion, which specialises in pre-clinical antibody discovery, engineering and supply for both therapeutic drug and diagnostic applications.
"We are pleased with our performance in what has been a challenging year for everyone," said new chief executive Richard Jones, who succeeded Dr Paul Kerr in February this year.
"We have made significant progress with sustained revenue growth, progress on the R&D pipeline, and continue to expand our range of services."
Earlier in the year the company continued with its strategy to invest for growth and raised a further £3 million through a shares placing in order to expand the ongoing programme to develop a Mammalian Antibody Library Discovery Platform (OptiMAL).
The Covid-19 pandemic presented Fusion with an opportunity to add this new target to the already planned oncology targets and validate OptiMAL in a real-world setting. It is expected to see revenues from this new brand in 2022.
Looking ahead, Mr Jones said there continues to be a level of uncertainty around the world as countries ease or increase restrictions to pandemic - "but we are seeing the situation improving".
"The board believes the company has the expertise to meet these challenges and capitalise on opportunities and, having raised capital in the year, that it also has the financial resources to face the coming months with confidence.
"We will continue to build on our current commercial performance accessing additional value generating opportunities, advancing the OptiMAL R&D programme in preparation for commercialisation and growing the value from our current proprietary service platforms."
Fusion Antibodies shares opened yesterday at 135p but at close of play were trading down more than 9 per cent at around 122p.
