Business
Pre Close Trading Update
Pre Close Trading Update.
About this update from Avacta Group Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 9659N Avacta Group PLC 01 August 2014 \n \n\n \n1 August 2014\nAvacta Group plc\n(\"Avacta\" or \"the Group\")\n \nPre-close trading update\n \nAvacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), the global provider of proprietary diagnostic tools, consumables and reagents for human and animal healthcare provides the following trading update for the year ended 31 July 2014.\n \nRevenues for the year ended 31 July 2014 grew by approximately 18% to £3.2m (2013: £2.7m) and EBITDA before non-recurring items is anticipated to be in line with market expectations. In May 2014, the Group was successful in raising £10.2 million gross proceeds through a placing of new ordinary shares with both new and existing shareholders to strengthen the balance sheet and support the Group's future development, specifically in the development and commercialisation of Affimers, Avacta's proprietary antibody replacement technology. Over the course of the year, the Group has strengthened the Board with the addition of Craig Slater as Chief Operating Officer and Dr Michael Albin and Dr Trevor Nicholls as Non-Executive Directors.\n \nThe Group would like to provide a short update on Avacta's three businesses:\n \nAvacta Life Sciences\nDuring the reporting period, the Group has demonstrated with scientific data that Affimers substantially resolve the negative performance issues associated with antibodies, and therefore provide significant competitive advantages. In addition, the technical processes for the development and manufacturing of Affimers have been established and the Group completed a fund raise to support expansion of the commercial and operational activities. The implementation of this expansion plan is on schedule and the next major milestone is the launch of the Affimer catalogue which is scheduled to happen in September 2014. During the reporting period, key staff have been recruited, including Dr Matt Johnson (CTO), who was previously the Head of R&D at Abcam plc, and Michael Vinegrad (Head of Digital Marketing) who was previously Communications and Marketing Specialist at Smith and Nephew plc.\n \nSeveral commercial partnerships have been established including a license agreement with Blueberry Therapeutics Limited, a commercial collaboration with Ubiq Bio BV and a distribution partnership for th...