Fusion Antibodies (LSE:FAB) — Full year results briefing

0:01 Good morning, and welcome to the FUSION ANTIBODIES PLC Full Year Results Investor Presentation. In fact, this recorded presentation, investors will be in listen only mode. Questions are encouraged and can be submitted at any time via the Q and A tab situated in the right hand corner of your screen. Just click Q and A, scroll to the bottom, type your question and press send. Company may not be in a position to answer every question it receives. However, the company review all questions submitted today and published responses where appropriate to do so. Before we begin, we'd like to submit the following poll. I'd now like to hand you over to Adrian Kincaid, CEO and James Fares, CFO. Good morning.

0:32 Thank you very much, Paul. Thank you everyone for for joining us today. I'm very much looking forward to taking you through the the full year results. Obviously, I'm a I'm a newbie, so I'm going to lean on James and ask him to take us through some of the the main areas. James?

0:54 Yes. Good morning, and welcome. That's the usual disclaimer in the presentation for the results and agenda for this morning. So we'll let Adrian kick off with the introduction.

1:16 Okay. So, I guess the first thing that's, been a big change is, myself arriving. I'm delighted to be coming in as, the new CEO of FUSION ANTIBODIES. I've got a a pretty deep experience of the sector both in terms of what the customer does, but also some of our our competitors. Twenty five years in drug discovery and life sciences. I do have a a PhD from University of Southampton, although that does seem quite some time ago now. Worked in diagnostics, drug discovery. I've also worked as a CRO and with world class antibody companies in the past, namely Abcam, but also, as I say, with with all other forms of major classes of, should we say, affinity reagents or sometimes called antibody alternatives, so you can see things from quite a few of the different perspectives.

2:17 Very much look forward to bringing all of this experience to help and guide the team at, FUSION and bring them forward in this exciting period of development. So if we move forward from myself, what we're, all about at FUSION ANTIBODIES is basically guiding our customers, our clients through the discovery process and into the clinic and then onto the marketplace. So we work with a wide range of clients, from very small entities, even virtual companies, which is a particularly attractive niche for us, right the way through to large pharma. We also have contacts in diagnostics areas, which we're looking to exploit and grow as well, as well as biotech companies.

3:10 They come to us because they need expertise in, discovering, developing, engineering, and improving their antibodies and also laying the foundations for the supply chain thereafter.

3:23 This requires us to have, a team of internationally, respected and expert scientists on hand, and I'm very pleased to say that we do have that. I've been extremely impressed by the quality of the science that's available at FUSION, not only in terms of the the staff that are fairly experienced, but also right the way through to the the new arrivals that we've had as well. There really are some ex excellent, bright people in the team, and the future certainly looks extremely good as we, continue to develop and grow the team there. So what we offer the customer, takes them through, that that route, and, really, we, we have an approach of starting and continuing with the end in mind so that we ensure that, the work that we do, fits the strategic end goals for our customers for their particular client.

4:23 And what we're really trying to get them to is the generation of the best possible antibody for their target and their particular application. Next slide.

4:39 So I feel a little bit of a charlatan if I if I make too much of a claims about the the progress that we've made in 2022 as I've only just joined after these results were all done. So I'm gonna ask James if he wouldn't mind taking us through some of the highlights. Thanks thanks, Adrian, and, thanks for that introduction. On behalf of the board, I would like to say that we are delighted to be able to bring a high caliber CEO into the business at this exciting juncture. It's also worth noting that, we were able to to bring, Adrian in, fairly quickly with Richard only leaving the position in March. So we have a new CEO back hitting the straps in August, and that's fantastic.

5:28 I've been obviously working with Adrian now since he started. We're all looking forward to to working with with with Adrian over the the coming months and years. But as Adrian says, first of all, this is about last year's results and and and the publication of the annual report of last year. So let's just take a little bit look back at the achievements and, progress made. So revenues grew 15% marginally ahead of market expectations despite the many uncertainties arising from from what's been going on around the world. Obviously, we've had now two years of COVID and different responses in our different marketplaces and and a lack of of face to face sales con contacts.

6:24 There have been other economic uncertainties, supply chain issues,

6:29 and then the the situation in Ukraine as well. So, we're pleased to be able to to deliver that level of growth, and to maintain, our direction of travel, in such uncertain times. Continued commercial traction of our existing services supported by Ramp Technology service platform. And we did win a large research collaboration contract, and that's a great

7:02 endorsement. Ramp was part of the the negotiations with that deal, and that was good. And I see there's a question already in the chat about the deal that was announced, and I'm afraid we can't name that customer yet as they remain in in deep stealth mode because of their their own, commercial sensitivities. The deal was for an original minimum 1,830,000, but it was implied that there would be more branches off that. And the question is is is there an update on that? So I'm glad to say that that the work has progressed very, very well. We have we're now eleven months into a two year contract.

7:49 We have probably in the year to

7:56 in the year to March, we probably recognized about half of that $1,830,000. And there are all sorts of little branches and side projects and different directions to go. So it's broken up into lots of little bits. So there are there are additional pieces of work and and, sidelines and different branches being taken depending on the results as we go through. But the client's very, very happy with the work to do it, as are we. And that's continuing to to to drive forward. Next bullet point, continued growth in all international regions, North America, Europe, UK, and the rest of the world. Europe was a a good marketplace for us this year. Obviously, being based in Northern Ireland, we have access to both The UK market and the EU market because of our unique position here within the customs union and within The United Kingdom. So

8:58 well placed to, capitalize on that, and that is good. North America remains our our largest market. Continued strategy of investing for growth. There has been a lack of face to face meetings, but we did return to those during the year. It's definitely been a bit of a headwind for us during the worst of COVID. But now we're able to get out and meet our customers and, develop new leads for for future growth and for for future revenues. And we've strengthened the commercial team. We have a new head of department there and head of sales marketing, and reinvigorated the structure for that, to meet the the new challenges as as the markets and conferences and things open up again. Continued focus and investment on r and d pipeline, of course, which is a a very big string to our bow. We have to develop our own, services and stay at the cutting edge because we are, at the cutting edge of of global science here, and also, obviously, progressing the optimal program, of which a little bit more later.

10:14 I maintain a strong cash position at the end of the day. If we're going to fulfill, all the potential, we we need to be able to to get there. So on more to, the numbers for the year end of March 2022, 15% growth in revenues up to 4,800,000. We received our first success milestones to two payments of 150,000, so totaling not 300,000 as a whole. But I think it's also worth noting that the validation and endorsement that that provides, is perhaps of a greater value as a marketing tool and as a reinsurance to our customers and potential customers, possibly more than it even is in financial terms.

11:01 Great to get the money, but fantastic to to see that the work we are doing is, getting commercial success and recognition, as our customers who did work those were those were projects from 2016 and 2018. And for those customers to take those through and develop them further, is is, fantastic, and I say a great story for us to to put to our customers.

11:33 Loss for the year of 1,200,000. Again, that is part of our planned strategy of, investing in the business using cash as we continue to invest, primarily, I suppose, funds that we raised in spring twenty twenty, but also reinvesting the, positive contribution from our trading activities and recycling that into generating shareholder value. R and d expenditure, up again. Again, that's part of our commitment to, Optimal as well as other, r and d projects in the thing. Off the back of that, we generate r and d tax credits, which, is cash, which comes back into the business in the subsequent year based on the r and d expenditure.

12:25 And the cash position at the end of the year, 2,000,000, down from 2.7. And I say that's that's a planned usage of cash to to to develop the business further. Commercial operations then, growth both seen in h '1 and h '2. H one growth on the similar period last year was stronger certainly than h two. A lot of things, hitting h two, in, not least, the the war in Ukraine. We're confident that we can continue positive direction in the current year, and I say 15% in in that year was, I think, a very good result.

13:18 That key growth did come from our existing services, discovery engineering and supply. And as you said, Ramp, which was introduced a year or two ago, has been, a key factor in that, and we're continuing to develop new services, to to bolt on there.

13:37 An increase in the number of active clients and the average value per order, has also been seen, and you can see there what the breakdown of our revenues is. North America, notably our largest market, but the EU has seen, strong growth, and and, that is good. We have our distributors out in Asia, and they're continuing to work on our behalf. But overall, it's a global marketplace, and we're we're working on that. Thank you, James. If I might just add in on on that point that the growth of the business is is good.

14:25 We're continuing to grow things, but we've got an awful lot of headroom above us. So we can certainly look forward to continuing growth across the different regions. As James alluded to earlier, the North America market is clearly the largest and, a particular area that's, ripe for for growth for fusion antibodies. Just also coming back to reiterate and reinforce the point that James made about that, those milestones being reached, That validation that it offers us, or offers our customers in particular, is is very significant, and we believe that that should open doors for us, particularly to some of the larger deals, some of the deals which will generate royalties, milestones, addition themselves downstream.

15:21 So the future is is looking extremely bright, and we have great prospects for growth ahead of us.

15:30 Thanks, James. Back to you. Thanks. We'll just get into the the prime statements here. Obviously, as CFO, I'm at risk of, getting too dug into this, so I'll try and stick to the highlights here. The full results, the full statements, all the the notes, were in the RNS. And you may also have noticed that the annual report's been posted today and is available on our our website to get the full figures. But we'll we'll pick out a few of the highlights here. The key highlight on this slide really is the revenue growth, which has also translated into gross profit growth and margin.

16:16 The EBITDA is relatively steady, negative because we're investing in r and d. And in fact, our investment in r and d this year was about 700,000. So you can see there that that's what's driving EBITDA negative, and that is part of our, strategy of building the company and building the company's, offering and opening up new markets through investment in r and d and bringing new platforms to the market. But overall, good margin growth and margin retained in difficult times, I think, is worthy of note. Onto the balance sheet. A a good strong balance sheet, plenty of cash and net current assets for which is is very important in a company which is continuing to to invest and and therefore, return losses.

17:14 I think worth noting, on that strong balance sheet is the growth in inventories.

17:20 That is stock of consumable items. We don't hold stock of finished goods. But over the last couple of years, we've seen significant build of inventories, and that's on purpose. Supply chain has been difficult, both through COVID, Brexit, and and and all the other uncertainties, and there's no continued pressure, even from strike and strike action. So we need to make sure that we can continue to keep our capacity, up and running and keep delivering to our customers. So, here we have a a build of of consumables to to insulate ourselves against that. And the two lines below that, the cash and cash equivalents, we're able to carry a sizable quantity of stock because we have a strong cash position, and it's not compromising us by holding stock. It's not not affecting our ability to maneuver in terms of of cash either.

18:26 So those are both good, strong

18:30 points of note and able to to help us face the coming winter with more confluence. On to the cash flows then, a few variations really from last year. You can see, there was a large usage in in operations last year primarily from, a buildup of working capital, partly stock and and, other things as the company grows, and that has leveled off into a a a a more

19:06 sensible 300,000 in the current year. Investing activities is primarily the purchase of equipment and fixed assets.

19:16 And we're continually having to invest in equipment and new processes as we develop our capacities and capabilities, financing activities, inflow of share capital, and outflow of servicing any, borrowings, mainly fixed asset based borrowings.

19:38 You can see from the previous year, we had the large share raise in April, May 2020, which gave us a large inflow of cash. This year, we had a few share options that exercise from which we get cash proceeds. And we also then were were repaying, borrowings, So that gave us a small negative this year. So that explains why we had a large positive last year, a small negative this year. I say that leaves us with a closing balance of, £2,000,000 after a movement of just over 600,000 and, leaves us well placed to where we are, and where we need to go over the next year or two.

20:27 I'm gonna hand back to Adrian now, to go through the next part of the presentation. Thanks again, James. So just just moving this forward, and I did notice there was a question about Optimal in the in the questions as well, which we'll come back to. Obviously, the one of the one of the key things key developments for FUSION is is the OPTIMAL library. It's one one of several different research projects that we've got underway.

21:07 The development of of such a library is is a a big challenge. It's something that no one's ever been able to develop before, and I'm sure it's not through through lack of effort. However, the component parts for that are coming together well. We have experienced recently some supply chain issues, which have caused some delays outside of our control. But I was as incoming CEO, I was very pleased to look at the way that those issues are being managed and the project management strategies for that. So in fact, we have three different strands which are all actively actively being moved through, which mitigate some of the risk with with the individual suppliers.

21:56 So the process development really for each of the individual steps is complete, and it's bringing them together and making them all work in in what we hope would be the prototype format. We can foresee versions of subsequent versions of the process being developed and optimized, so we'll continue to do that. One of the processes that we've adapted and has been performing extremely well is using magnetic beads, and we've got some very good single cell sorting capability through that. We're increasingly looking at diverse libraries, synthesizers. I mentioned some of the supply issues being around this. So we're looking to ensure that we've got the coverage to go through and that also acts in a way as some risk mitigation to the overall production.

22:55 Most recently, we have used control antibodies spiked into the library to build a body of data. So that's acting, if you like, as a control set against which we can try target genuine targets to move forward. And we're already exploring potential opportunities for commercial relationships and working with people who can do further validation of that. So we're not out of the woods yet. It's not a completed product or process. Things are looking very good, and we should be able to hit the ground running when those things have gone through. And I very much look forward to Optimal being rolled out in full commercialization, and we do have a plan for that as well.

23:52 So other r and d strategies, there are other things that are are going on. We have a very strong scientific advisory panel. We've got some really great people. We added Matt Matt Baker in particular, to the advisory panel recently. And he's been very helpful, contributed some some excellent things. And from a personal perspective, it was very, very reassuring when I was deciding to commit my future to this business, and I'm very happy to do that. So we're also working in process development to increase our service capabilities. So there are ways in which we can strengthen the the offering, expand the offering upstream, downstream, and in breadth, working with partners to do so.

24:45 And we we continue to look at ways of doing that, particularly where there are additional marketing capabilities that allow us to reach those markets more significantly. Some of you will already be aware that there was a a project, which was Northern Ireland initiative on COVID nineteen. That was run-in collaboration with Queen's University Belfast. That ended on time in April this year. It was some grant funded, so that was that was good. And we have learned a lot from that work. The downside of which, though, was that neutralizing antibodies, which had proven to be quite hard to get, we did get some, but they're unlikely to be of commercialization commercial potential, really, because really, because of the success of the vaccination programs and the varying mutations in the strains.

25:53 But it was a very worthwhile project and gave us a lot of learning points, so it's well worth well worth doing. We continue to move forward with the b cell cloning for rabbit monoclonal antibodies in particular. So we're making improvements to that, and we'll continue to develop the b cell cloning capability. And then there's various other relatively smaller research projects ongoing into bi bispecific antibodies for therapeutic development. And then some of you will also already be aware that a patent was applied for in the covering the development of or angles of the development of antibodies as well. So it's good to see that we're increasing our IP portfolio through our r and d activities.

26:56 So I think that's probably a good point to just summarize. Essentially, the strategy for continued growth, this is the preexisting strategy. I think there may be some some tweaks as we get to look at the developing nature of business opportunities as they arrive, but the strategy itself is extremely sound. We continue to expand and drive successful commercialization of the platforms that we we hold such as as a ramp. We continue to seek commercial partnerships, so they include distributors and commercial alliances.

27:42 I've already had people from my network coming out and sort of saying, can we work together? So the that's a very active area as well as many that are coming through from from FUSION directly already. A key point for me is the transition from a simple fee for service model where we don't necessarily get the opportunity to bring our ex too much of our innovative and creative approaches to bear. I'd like to move that very much more towards areas where we have an intellectual or a more of an intellectual and inventive input, which obviously gives us a better opportunity to exploit milestones, royalties, etcetera, and build up much more value from the project.

28:34 So, again, I refer back to that having achieved the milestone recently in this period is a really great significant step in that pivoting into the higher value royalty based technique technologies and deals as well. The US biotech deal that we we can't name the person the the company involved does have provision in it for milestones and royalties. And, again, that's in line with the existing strategy and something that I'm very much in in favor of. We'll continue to progress the r and d pipeline. That's the key to getting those intellectual capabilities that and intellectual property for which we can exploit the milestones and royalties.

29:27 And we are going to look at continuing to add additional services. We've got Optimal coming through hopefully very shortly now as the mammalian antibody library and and taking people a step forward, really, a step change forward to developing the therapeutic antibodies of the future. So I think the strategy is very sound, and we're looking forward to developing it in what should be an extremely exciting time for the business. I think at that point, we can just wrap up with some of the other questions. That's great. Adrian, James, look, thank you very much indeed for the presentation.

30:12 Ladies and gentlemen, do please continue to submit your questions using the Q and A tab situated on the right hand corner of the screen. I just want the team to take a few moments to review those questions submitted today. I'd like to remind you that recording the presentation along with a copy of the slides and the published q and a can be accessed via your investor dashboard. Adrian James, we did receive a number of questions both pre submitted and throughout today's presentation. And, of course, we don't get time to answer your question today. The team will review those. We'll publish responses where appropriate to do so. But, James, perhaps if I could start with you and just ask you to read out the the question, give a response where appropriate to do so, please. Yeah. Thank you. I'm gonna pick up a couple of there's been a couple of questions come come in there on the chat box about cash and receivables and and breakeven points.

30:57 I'm just gonna pick those up first of all. In terms of receivables, we don't have any issues or any any problem with collecting cash from customers. Our customers are in the majority very well funded and have have got fully funded research programs. So there's no problem with that. In terms of getting to cash breakeven and and, being cash neutral and and things like that, we believe we have sufficient cash to see out the strategy which, Adrian has just outlined. We are if you were to turn off the r and d tab completely, you can see that that, our EBITDA and our cash usage in the last year was lower than our r and d expenditure in total.

31:53 So, I suppose if if if you were stupid enough to turn off the r and d, or or or crazy enough possibly, we we we would be cash neutral already. So so we are generating little bits of cash out of trading, which which we are are are are plowing back into the business. And, therefore, we we think we have the cash runway to to get us through to where where we need to be over the next immediate term. The next one, I'm gonna pick up on one of the pre submitted questions, which Adrian has already touched on, which was and what progress was made from that. And as he says, that was extremely valuable and informative piece of work that was done. Nakata was first and foremost a grant funded opportunity to run a crew a COVID project through our our library development program.

33:00 As COVID was rapidly becoming a well characterized target, and therefore, we could we could, gain a lot of insight from that. The collaboration with Queen's gave us the added benefit that we were able to test against live virus as the Queen's University immunology department was one of The UK approved sites to hold live virus. We did produce antibodies from a number of methods. But as Adrian alluded to earlier, unlike many other companies in the industry, the virus moved on, the vaccination programs moved on, and the the the variance of concern changed, as the research went through.

33:51 We achieved what we set out to do, which was to use this work to better inform the development of OPTIMA. And as we said in our report, we did not generate an antibody that is of significant commercial value at this time. OPTIMAL remains under development with, and we're working with oncology targets at this stage of development. And again, the primary aim is to develop a platform service for our customers. Should we invent an antibody with commercial potential, then we will seek to commercialize that probably in collaboration or partnership with a drug developer.

34:37 But, we've nothing more to report at this stage on that one. The next question I have here, which was presubmitted, was about communication and communication with shareholders. And, obviously, we have, been sort of very limited in our face to face, our scope for face to face meetings, and, we had to cancel a couple of ones that were scheduled in due to the the initial lockdown. We're looking forward to getting back to that.

35:22 But perhaps, Adrian, do you have anything? Yeah. I just wanna chip in on that one. The request for improved communication is is certainly noted. And whilst I would applaud my predecessors who I think have commendably tried to ensure that any updates and releases, which are regulated, if they're significant, do have significant content content. It is appreciated, I think, from time to time that a a little note to say that things are on track is perhaps more warranted, and we'll certainly look to to do that. Certainly, I don't want to leave people thinking no news is bad news.

36:11 Indeed, it's usually the other way around, but we we go through incremental very small steps as we move forward, and we like to trumpet the the end product. So we will do that. Another thing that we are working on probably for release next year will be some technical webinars, which will cover if they're really intended for for customers, but they'll cover some of the changes and developments and give people an opportunity to actually see some of the excellent staff that we have. So Rick Buick is obviously one of the leading lights in that, but we have strength in in breadth and depth as well. So we'll be looking to try and persuade some of our scientists to do some technical webinars, which will will go out, like I say, probably next year by the time that we've got those polished and ready for release.

37:10 But I think that will also help you to to see what what it is that we're working on without distracting our scientists any more than we need to because they are also very mindful that we're working towards solving customers' issues. So, essentially, the the the point about communication is is noted, and we'll continue to monitor the situation and hopefully give you more updates. One other question, if I may pick up on that from the preregistereds one, is can we have an update of the projects that may or may not offer up milestone payments and or royalties? So on that particular point in terms of detail, the terms of individual contracts are considered to be confidential, and they're not intended for general release. There's I know that may be frustrating as investors, but in terms of negotiations with other deals as we're we're trying to put those through, We want to have a little bit of room to drive those values up. And so keeping some confidentially healthy about those is is important to us from maximizing the benefit and the value creation for the business itself.

38:30 We do very much let me please reassure you that the whole of the management very much recognize the the benefits of milestones and royalties, and we do plan to target those as the kind of deal we're ideally looking for going forward. It's anticipated, as I've mentioned several times already, that that milestone that we have under our belt now is going to provide validation for new customers who may be held back until they've seen that we can deliver to other for other clients. Scientists are remarkably conservative people, and that's our our target audience that we're our target market that we're dealing with. So, yeah, we're we're very much wanting to move forward in that those kind of deals and that kind of deal structure.

39:20 That may also involve targeting some larger deals and moving forward with those where we can maybe get milestones more rapidly than than some, which are with the potentially slower moving smaller companies. But we will take all of that into account as we look at the the mix of deals that we're working working on. Certainly, in terms of changing the emphasis of or any change to the emphasis in the target market place, we want to do that gradually so that we don't change and too significantly adversely impact short term revenues.

40:11 But, certainly, as I said earlier, we we recognize the significant value in milestones and royalties going forward. James, did you have another one that you wanted to cover? Yeah. There's there's a couple more come into the chat box there. One about rising inflation for goods and wages impacting gross margins, and that is rightfully called out there as a as a risk. The market at the moment is that everyone understands that prices and costs are going up, and we haven't had any difficulty so far in, passing costs on to our customers. Say they're operating in the same environment, and they understand that.

41:02 That may or may not become more difficult in the coming months as winter bites, so we we just have to to wait and see. But at the moment, our intention and is to to pass costs on as and when. And, hopefully, that will be successful as we carry on. We're also obviously working as diligently as we can to control and maintain those costs and keep things down so as to reassure our customers that we're doing everything to to do that. Another question here. I hope that answers that. Another question. Have we licensed any of our own antibodies? The answer to that is no.

41:48 If we had, I'm sure there would have been an announcement about it and something about it in the annual report. Where we do, and as I said about the the Nacata project too, if there are things there which are commercializable or licensable, absolutely, we will explore, every avenue to extract value from any assets that are produced, by the company, in in the best form possible. What's next then? Where does the board see the business in two to three years' time? And how do you propose shareholders able to capitalize on this value creation?

42:39 Well, in line with previous forecasts, we anticipate the company funding r and d projects from profitable delivery of customer service operations. That doesn't preclude us from raising additional funds to accelerate growth and value creation if that's appropriate. But we're mindful that many of our existing shareholders see the benefits of retaining their shares. And so there is that side question of liquidity, but we're very grateful for those customers who have bought and are holding for that future potential growth. So, that does affect liquidity in the short term. But, a sale is not our strategy, but we will evaluate any, acquisitive interest from life science businesses, which might or might not be the big pharma, which was in the question.

43:35 But, our strategy at the moment is to continue with what we're doing, grow the business, grow the sales, develop new r and d platforms, and enhance the overall value of the company. Thank you, James. I'll pick up on another question, if I may. Are there any plans to further streamline and strengthen the board as there are still appear appears to be a few members that have been on the board a very long period of time? So, yeah, the the business does regularly evaluate the board composition. We recently announced Matt Baker joining us in NED as I referred to earlier, and I do recognize his expertise. I'm very pleased to have him on board as part of the team.

44:23 And we acknowledge today that that Tim Watts is going to be retiring. In fact, he was supposed to have retired five years ago, so he've enjoyed some extended input from from Tim. So he's not going to be standing for reelection at the AGM later this month, and I'd like to take this opportunity to really thank him for his invaluable and extensive contributions to the business and wish him well in all of his travels, which is what he's wanting to do with some of his retirement. James, any other ones from you? I think there was I'm just running down here.

45:20 Are there any plans for FUSION to make its own proprietary antibodies from the targets? Because that's back to the licensing question again. It's definitely an option we actively consider by managing our risk profile. Yeah. So I can share my own sort of view on this. I haven't had a chance to really go into detail with the the board, but certainly it's something, worth worth considering. As you know, drug development in itself is extremely expensive. And if we were to take something through, it would consume a lot of cash. We'd need to raise it specifically for that that purpose. However, there are licensing opportunities where we can partner earlier in the pipeline to mitigate some of those those costs, and it's it's something worth looking at. However, if we can also build up the portfolio of milestone and royalties payments, we can spread our our risk profile and our portfolio where we allow our partners to absorb those costs and still benefit the upside, but allow us to get our technology out in, hopefully, into the marketplace as developed drugs on a much wider basis.

46:44 So I think that's something that we do look at. We just do it in a slightly different way. Specifically, would we develop things off our own back? It is an option that we we do consider, and we may well be moving that forward. It's not part of the current strategy. I do emphasize that, but it is an option that we could look at. I hope that answers answers that one. James, did you want to clarify or add anything to that? No. I think I think that that's that's very good. Yeah. It is an extremely expensive, cash intensive activity. And as you say, if we were to go down that route, there would be a need to raise significant amounts of cash to to to pursue that licensing, perhaps a more attractive way to go.

47:39 Next question. When do you expect the company to be running a profitable business, and what value would you anticipate it should be worth at that point? Do you want me to take that, Adrian? Yeah. Why not? Yeah. Well well, first of all, we we don't expect to be paying corporation tax at least in the next three or four year. We're we're currently in a a phase of planned loss making. You know, we did we did raise further fund money in the last couple of years, and and we we are investing that in developing the company through r and d, adding production capacity, growing the sales. Is this ongoing investment of funds and the reinvestment of any profits that generates the current losses?

48:30 As the positive contribution from trading grows, there is the potential to become profitable. But then we get to a question of what is the best use of any of that cash generated. At the moment, any of that cash generated is being recycled back into R and D as the best potential use of that for for for, growing the company. And, I say as the contribution from trading grows, then, we will continue to evaluate the best use of those funds. And if the best use of those funds is to keep recycling them, then while we may get to a breakeven position, we won't necessarily be generating and hoarding that as cash.

49:21 We may be pumping it back into the business. So evaluating that strategy of reinvestment will be an ongoing it is an ongoing exercise as we work out the best use to put, cash to within the business, to grow and build value. Okay. I've noted that there's several questions possibly from the same source asking if directors will be buying shares. Speaking for myself, and I can only speak for myself on on such a personal investment issue, I haven't had the opportunity to. It's been a a closed period.

50:08 Even before before I joined, I was party to privileged information that could move and, in fact, did move the share price. So it's quite right and proper that I was locked out of buying buying shares. But so when it comes to the the management team, the directors business, of we are let me please reassure you, we are extremely engaged in the business, very committed to growing it and creating additional value. We're committed to doing this through our engagement full time engagement. We put all of our efforts into the growing the business, our creativity. We resign our innovation rights, our intellectual property, and things that we invent in the business, which is quite right and proper.

50:56 And we've also put our reputations and careers on the line for this. So it's certainly something where I see an an extremely strong engagement from the board and the team. Part of our remuneration is expected to come via share options, and I do look forward to the time when I when I do hold options and then shares and can share with you the advantages of the increasing value of FUSION shares as we move forward. Certainly hope that that will come through. At the same time, I think it's fair to say that we do appreciate the tax efficient nature that those share schemes, employee share schemes do convey, and we're very appreciative of those.

51:50 James, did you have any other ones that we should pick up on? I'm not sure that I do. I'm just scrolling back through the the the questions submitted today. I think we're we're almost there. If I can maybe pick up one last question on capitalizing r and d. We follow the accounting standards on capitalization of of r and d, and so following the standard, all our r and d is, expensed, in in real time. So there's no r and d assets on the balance sheet at the moment, and that may change depending on on the how we measure up against the criteria set in the accounting standard.

52:42 I think that's all I can see there. Fantastic. Adrian and James, thank you very much indeed for addressing those questions from investors. And, of course, any further questions come through, the company have the ability to review all of those. We'll publish responses where appropriate to do so on the Investor Meet company platform. Adrian, perhaps before redirecting investors to provide you with their feedback, which is important to you and the team, I could just ask you for a few closing comments, please. Thank you very much. But, well, at the risk of repeating myself, certainly, I'm looking forward to a very exciting period for FUSION ANTIBODIES. We've got a great team. I've been really impressed, really have been impressed by the quality of the staff, which is fundamental to the success of the business.

53:28 I look forward to working with clients as well. Our clients are really setting out to do something that's pretty much the most difficult thing that mankind has attempted to do in terms of detecting and then combating disease. It's it really is a huge challenge. Sometimes it's being compared to, the moonshot, but effectively, you know where the moon is. You know how far away it is. You know what it will take. Rocket scientists haven't got haven't got a chance against the the kind of staff that we've got at FUSION. So, yeah, really looking forward to working with the team building on the existing offerings and exploiting the the validation that that milestone has built to improve the commercialization of what we have and the new offerings coming to market in, hopefully, the not too distant future as well.

54:30 Thank you very much for your time today. Thank you very much for your support of the business. I hope it will continue. It really should. We've got a very bright future ahead of us. Fantastic. Adrian James, thank you indeed for updating investors today. Could I please ask investors not to close the session? It should be automatically redirected to provide your feedback in order the team can better understand your views and expectations. This will only take a few moments to complete and be greatly valued by the company. On behalf of the management team of FUSION ANTIBODIES PLC, we'd like to thank you very much for attending today's presentation. Thank you, and good morning to you all.