April, 2011 -- Genovis increased sales for the tenth consecutive quarter on a rolling 12-month basis
First quarter in brief
- Net sales rose to SEK 455k (240k).
- Loss after financial items was SEK 3,469k (loss: SEK 2,382k).
- Loss after tax was SEK 3,458k (loss: 2,327k).
- Earnings per share totaled SEK -0.08 (-0.10).
- Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period amounted to SEK 1,008k (1,037k).
- Genovis acquired an exclusive license for a new technology that uses so-called upconverting nanoparticles as contrast agents in optical biomedical imaging. Genovis acquired the license from Luminab, a LUAB company, including the option to acquire the technology in its entirety.
- The extraordinary general meeting held March 28 resolved to increase share capital by a maximum of SEK 12,336,562.80 through the issue of a maximum of 30,841,407 shares. The meeting also resolved to provide an oversubscription option for 13,000,000 shares, which will be decided by the Board of Directors if the offering is oversubscribed. Following the completed share issue, share capital will amount to a maximum of SEK 28,785,313.60 and the number of shares to 71,963,284. The Company will raise about SEK 20 million before issue expenses. If the oversubscription option is exercised the share capital will amount to a maximum of SEK 33,985,313.60 and the number of shares to 84,963,284. In that case the Company will raise an additional approximately SEK 8 million.
ABOUT GENOVIS
Genovis develops and sells innovative technologies that will facilitate its customers’ preclinical* research. The products launched to date consist of nanostructures and enzymes (proteins). The company conducts research and development projects focused on design, production, and characterization of nanostructures for medical imaging, diagnostics, and delivery. The nanostructures and methods that Genovis focuses on can be used as contrast in medical imaging and as carriers of various substances in the development of new drug delivery methods. Customers are primarily found within the life sciences industry and academic research. The operation largely consists of research and development of new technology, though the company has initiated some sales over the past two years.
* Preclinical studies refer to the pharmaceutical research that takes place before the product is sufficiently documented to be studied in humans.
CEO COMMENTS
The market for biomedical imaging in preclinical research is growing. The driving force comes from a need to understand the biological processes underlying disease and to better analyze how different drug candidates affect the body all the way down to the cellular level. Based on our patent-protected nanoparticle technology we have focused so far on developing multimodal nanoparticles as contrast agents, mainly for magnetic resonance imaging combined with PET. The technique that is currently the largest on the preclinical market in number of users is optical imaging and in my opinion the new technology we acquired earlier this year represents an important strategic step that will enable us to become competitive on this market. We have included this new technology in the development process and we can already see excellent results. During the period we have worked intensively with preparing this year’s product launches from the nano portfolio.
With respect to sale of products from the protein engineering portfolio, we continue to see a clear increase in demand with distribution to even more customers. Although sales began with extremely small volumes, we see a steady increase and have now posted good sales growth for the tenth consecutive quarter. We are working purposefully with various strategies to increase sales volumes, in part by offering complementary products that we know are in demand from existing customers, in part by developing new applications aimed at new customer groups. Our increased marketing activities throughout the process are producing immediate results. After the product launches last December we added new customers and in several cases our existing customers switched to the application-specific added-value products. For example, during the period we received the first orders from two new customer groups: contract manufacturers of therapeutic antibody molecules and service companies that carry out quality control and technical analyses for biotech and pharmaceutical companies. We are about to launch another product that will enable customers to scale up volumes with high yields and shorter process times.
Since we are in the midst of an intensive phase of both product development and marketing, stable financing is essential, which is the main reason for the current rights issue.
Sarah Fredriksson, CEO
For more information, please contact: Sarah Fredriksson, CEO, Genovis AB Tel: 46 46 10 12 35
sarah.fredriksson@genovis.com
Genovis develops and designs smart nanoparticles for preclinical imaging and diagnostics and also develops and sells tools for modification of antibodies.Genovis shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX First North and Thenberg & Kinde Fondkommission ( 46 (0)31 745 50 00) is the Company’s certified adviser.
