RNS Number:3303Q
Proteome Sciences PLC
30 September 2003
Proteome Sciences plc
PRESS RELEASE
30th September 2003
INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE 6 MONTHS TO 30TH JUNE 2003
HIGHLIGHTS
* Interim results
*Integration of proteomics activities in Frankfurt with existing London
facilities completed.
*Strong scientific progress being made, particularly with chemistry based
technologies acquired from Aventis.
*Out-licensed BSEand TSE biomarkers to IDEXX Laboratories Inc. in April.
*PST(R) membrane protein technology attracting considerable commercial and
scientific interest.
*Headline loss excluding non-cash operating expenses #2.27 million (2002:
#1.28 million) reflecting additional costs since acquisition of Aventis
proteomics activities.
*Non-cash expenses of #963K (2002: #96K).
*Company remains well funded with low and predictable cash burn following
#5.8 million Placing in June
*Cash balance at 30 June 2003 of #8.0 million
* Commercialisation
*Further commercialisation and applications expected from stroke
biomarkers for high throughput screening and for CJD/vCJD markers for
clinical and blood screening applications.
*Commercialisation strategies to outlicense Sensitizer(R) reagents and VeriQ
antibodies for high volume and high margin applications running to plan.
*Other disease programmes also on track to become revenue generating.
* Current Outlook
*Product development programmes at BioSite Inc.and IDEXX Laboratories Inc.
making excellent progress in line with best expectations.
*Proprietary technologies included within ProteoSHOP™ toolbox will
accelerate discovery programmes and commercialisation process.
*Defined strategy to focus on proteins in disease has now started to
deliver results and will increase newsflow and commercialisation activity.
* Intronn Inc.
*Received two grants totalling $1.14 million for preclinical studies in
haemophilia A and cystic fibrosis.
*Research collaboration with ProBioGen, Inc. to use SMART(R) in cell line
development programme.
*Well positioned to address new range of substantial commercial
applications.
Commenting on these results, Christopher Pearce, Chief Executive of Proteome
Sciences, said:
"Our focus on proteins in disease combined with our own proprietary
research and valuable collaborations with academia has resulted in
Proteome Sciences achieving a position of global leadership in applied
proteomics for human diseases in 2003. This has been reflected by the
Company having concluded two significant licensing deals to date and
with further announcements expected later in the year.
"Proteome Sciences has come a long way over the last twelve months and
with the prospects for proteomics and the related commercial
opportunities becoming increasingly recognised, the outlook for Proteome
Sciences continues to improve".
ENDS
Attached: Full text of interim statement, unaudited consolidated profit and loss
account and notes to the financial information.
For further information please contact:
Proteome Sciences plc
www.proteome.co.uk
Christopher Pearce, Chief Executive Tel: +44 (0)1932 865065
Email: christopher.pearce@proteome.co.uk
Public Relations for Proteome Sciences
IKON Associates
Adrian Shaw Tel: +44 (0)1483 535102
Mobile: +44 (0)797 9900733
Email: adrian@ikonassociates.com
Notes to Editors:
Proteome Sciences plc applies high sensitivity proteomics to identify and
characterise differential protein expression in diseases for diagnostic,
prognostic and therapeutic applications. It has to date developed sensitive
blood assays for stroke, nvCJD, BSE and solid organ transplant rejection.
The main focus of its research currently addresses neurological,
neurodegenerative, diabetes/obesity, oncology and cardiovascular conditions.
Commercialisation of these programmes will be effected through strategic
alliances and licensing agreements.
Proteome Sciences is headquartered in Cobham, Surrey in the UK and has
laboratories at Kings College Hospital, London and in Frankfurt. It employs 40
full time scientists in addition to its corporate and business development
staff. The Company has been listed on the Alternative Investment Market since
1994.
Chairman's Statement
I am very pleased to report that Proteome Sciences has enjoyed a particularly
successful period both scientifically, corporately and commercially.
Proteomics
The Company has expanded its research profile from historically funding
exclusive collaborative agreements with leading academic centres of excellence,
to establishing a global leadership position in 2003 in applied proteomics for
human diseases through its own proprietary research and from its ongoing
collaborations with academia. The integration of the Aventis proteomics
activities in Frankfurt with the facilities in London has been completed and
Proteome Sciences has developed and progressed a considerable way over a short
time horizon.
Proteome Sciences has intentionally followed a cautious approach with a
deliberately low and conservative cash burn until such time as the importance of
proteins and proteomics became clear after the sequencing of the human genome.
As a consequence the Company was ideally positioned to rapidly scale up its
proprietary capabilities in proteomics, once again with a highly controlled rate
of cash burn but against a background of impending commercialisation of the
existing research programmes.
Over the same period, the executive management team was completed by the
appointment of Dr. Sandra Steiner as Research and Development Director in June
2003, joining James Green, Commercial Director and Dr. Ian Pike, Business
Development Director.
From the research programmes, the stroke biomarkers in blood were successfully
out-licensed to Biosite Inc., a world leader in point of care diagnostics and in
April 2003 the biomarkers in blood to IDEXX Laboratories Inc., a global leader
in veterinary diagnostics, to detect BSE in live cattle and TSE's in other
animals. The Proteome Sciences business model has been extended to commercialise
the chemistry based technologies acquired with the Aventis proteomics facilities
in Frankfurt in July 2002 including PST(R), TMT™, and Sensitizer™.
PST(R) which was launched in San Diego and Lyon in April and at Bio 2003 in
Washington in June, has attracted considerable commercial and scientific
interest.
The Company has further developed its proprietary technologies which are being
promoted under the ProteoSHOP™ brand - Proteome Sciences High Output
Proteomics - this includes gel based and gel-free systems uniquely providing
high sensitivity with high throughput capabilities to rapidly identify novel
markers and targets for diagnostic, prognostic, drug validation and therapeutic
uses, across all protein classes.
Over the next few months, it is expected that there will be a strong continuing
news flow from further commercialisation and applications from the blood
biomarkers already licensed in stroke where the rights have been retained for
high throughput screening of blood transfusions and also from CJD/vCJD markers
for both clinical and blood screening applications.
The potential scale of the opportunities available to the Company is illustrated
by reference to Biosite's announcement in July 2003 in respect of its Triage BNP
Test, which is being used in more than 1,700 US hospitals. By out-licensing the
BNP test to Beckman Coulter Inc. for the high throughput immunoassay systems,
the test will be used on Beckman Coulter's 200,000 installed systems worldwide
and is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2004. Proteome Sciences
will out-license the high throughput applications for its stroke biomarkers to
the major players in the field.
In addition to stroke and TSE's, other disease programmes at Proteome Sciences
will become revenue generating, through funded research and strategic alliances
with pharmaceutical and diagnostics industry partners, using the ProteoSHOP&
trade; toolbox to provide highly effective and novel solutions for detailed
analysis and identification of membrane proteins. The non-core technologies
including Sensitizer(R) reagents and Veri-Q antibodies will be out-licensed for
use in applications which are both high volume and offer high margins, and
should deliver strong cash flow contributions. Further announcements are
expected later this year.
The commercialisation process is beginning to have a significant effect on the
business and will shift the equilibrium from being cash absorbing pre-2003, into
revenue in the current year and then generating both revenue and royalties in
2004. This will be made up from a combination of out-licenses with upfront
payments and milestones, funded research, strategic alliances, grants and
proprietary technology income from Sensitizer™ and Veri-Q.
Corporate
In June, having been approached by institutional investors, #5.8m was raised by
way of a 5% placing at 122p under the authority granted by shareholders at last
year's AGM. The Company continues to be well funded, and as discussed earlier,
has a low and predictable rate of cash burn with no major capital expenditure
envisaged for the foreseeable future.
Intronn Inc
Intronn has continued to make strong progress across its research programmes and
the development of its library assay system for screening pre-transplicing
molecules (PTMs). The company has gained considerable recognition from
publications and at scientific meetings over the period and has been awarded two
Phase 1 SBIR grants from the National Institutes of Health in the USA to date in
2003.The first of these was from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
for $605,791 to fund pre-clinical studies in haemophilia 4. The second was from
the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Disease for $536,801 to
conduct studies in cystic fibrosis in the final stages of pre-clinical
development for clinical trials.
An article in the August issue of Nature Medicine shows for the first time the
phenotypic correction of a genetic defect by RNA using SMaRT(R) in knock out
haemophilia mice. ProBioGen, Inc. entered into a research collaboration with
Intronn to use SMaRT(R) in its cell line development programme and the NCI grant
in molecular imaging has accelerated the potential for SMaRT(R) to address a new
range of substantial commercial applications.
Veri-Q Inc
Extended development is under way at Veri-Q relating to the research into the
protecting/de-protecting groups in synthetic oligonucleotides and the
commercialisation strategy being pursued is running to plan with further
announcements expected later in the year.
Financial Results
The financial results for the six months to June 2003, which include the former
Aventis proteomics activities in Frankfurt for the first time, show a Headline
Loss (operating loss before non-cash operating expenses) of #2,267,873 compared
with #1,283,333 in the corresponding period in 2002. Non-cash operating expenses
were #962,573 against #96,153 in 2002. The period to 30th June 2003 also
contains a share of associates' loss at Intronn, Inc of #352,096 (2002:
#127,324). Cash at 30th June 2003 stood at #8m.
Future Prospects
The importance and value of proteins have greatly increased since the
revelations of the human genome in 2001 and proteomics is poised to play a key
role in unlocking value from functional genomics and protein expression. The
unique ProteoSHOP tool box that has been developed provides Proteome Sciences
with a considerable advantage to exploit the discovery of high value protein
biomarkers with commercial partners and which will accelerate the process of
diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic applications.
The Company has come a very long way over the last twelve months and the
prospects for our proteomics technology and its application in human diseases
look increasingly attractive. The strategy to concentrate on proteins and
protein modifications in disease, rather than on genomics has now started to
deliver the results that had been envisaged when the original research and
business strategy was implemented and this will result in an accelerating news
flow and commercialisation process. The prospects for proteomics and the
position that Proteome Sciences has established addressing human diseases
continue to improve.
R.Steve Harris 30th September, 2003
Chairman
Unaudited Consolidated Profit and Loss Account
For the Six Months ended 30th June, 2003
Six months ended Six months ended Year ended 31st
30th June 2003 30th June 2002 December 2002
# # #
Turnover
Existing Operations 108,720 34,691 100,057
Acquisitions - - 71,344
---- ------------- ------------
108,720 34,691 171,401
Cost of Sales (64,571) (24,631) (131,753)
---------- ---------- -----------
Gross Profit 44,149 10,060 39,648
-------- -------- ---------
Operating Costs (2,345,831) (1,294,874) (3,527,300)
excluding non-cash
items
Amortisation of (324,480) - (324,480)
Goodwill
Depreciation (301,271) (79,342) (369,845)
N.I. on Notional (336,822) (16,811) (16,207)
Share Option Gains -------- -------- ---------
Total Operating (3,308,404) (1,391,027) (4,237,832)
Expenses ------------- ------------- -------------
Operating Loss (3,264,255) (1,380,967) 4,198,184
------------- ------------- ------------
Existing Operations (3,264,255) (1,380,967) (2,870,701)
Acquisitions - - (1,327,483)
--- --------------- -------------
Continuing (3,264,255) (1,380,967) (4,198,184)
Operations
Share of Associate's (352,096) (127,324) (322,128)
Operating Loss
Interest Receivable 37,369 7,321 85,259
Interest Payable and (3,560) (6,395) (11,018)
Similar Charges --------- --------------- ---------------
Loss on Ordinary (3,582,542) (1,507,365) (4,446,071)
Activities before
Taxation
Tax on Loss on - - 336,485
Ordinary Activities --------------- --------------- --------------
Loss for the (3,582,542) (1,507,365) (4,109,586)
Financial Period ------------- ------------- -------------
Loss per Share
Headline Loss per (1.99p) (1.39p) (2.97p)
Share (Note 3c) ----------- ----------- -----------
Basic and diluted (3.14p) (1.64p) (3.96p)
(note 3a) ----------- --------------- --------------
Unaudited consolidated balance sheet
As at 30th June, 2003
2003 2002
# #
Fixed Assets
Goodwill 5,840,641 -
Tangible assets 1,280,729 572,388
Associates 574,826 1,221,417
Other investments 225,756 225,756
------------- -------------
7,921,952 2,019,561
------------ ------------
Current Assets
Debtors 383,294 43,853
Cash held on deposit as short 1,164,162 2,032,637
term investment
Cash at bank and in hand 6,749,536 556,101
-------------- -------------
8,296,992 2,632,591
-------------- ------------
Creditors : Amounts falling (1,750,272) (831,181)
due within one year
________ ________
Net current assets
6,546,720 1,801,410
------------ ------------
Total assets less current 14,468,672 3,820,971
liabilities
Creditors : Amounts falling
due after more than one year (110,000) (127,705)
--------------- -----------
Net assets 14,358,672 3,693,266
------------- ------------
Capital and reserves
Called-up share capital 1,189,211 961,153
Share premium account 21,331,605 15,516,629
Other reserve 10,755,000 -
Profit and loss account (18,917,144) (12,792,604)
Equity minority interests - 8,088
--------------------- -----------------
Equity shareholder's funds 14,358,672 3,693,266
------------- --------------
Notes to the Financial Information
1. There has been no change to any of the accounting policies set out in
the 2002 statutory accounts.
2. Following the loss of #3,582,542 incurred in the period, the
Directors do not recommend the payment of a dividend.
3. a. The calculation of the loss per share for the six months
ended 30th June 2003 is based on the loss for the financial
period of #3,582,542 and on 114,248,076 Ordinary Shares, being
the weighted average number of shares in issue and ranking for
dividend during the period (six months ended 30th June 2002 -
loss #1,507,365, number of Ordinary Shares in issue and ranking
for dividend, 92,297,005).
b. The calculation of the loss per share for the year ended 31st
December 2002 is based on the loss for the year of #4,109,586
and on 103,672,012 Ordinary Shares, being the weighted average
number of shares in issue and ranking for dividend during the
year.
c. The losses used to calculate the headline loss per share are
as follows :
Six Months Six Months Year Ended
Ended 30th Ended 30th 31st December
June, 2003 June, 2002 2002
# # #
Loss for the Financial (3,582,542) (1,507,365) (4,109,586)
Period
Add back :
Amortisation of Goodwill 324,480 - 324,480
Depreciation 301,271 79,342 369,845
National Insurance on
Notional Share Option
Gains 336,822 16,811 16,207
Share of Associates
Operating Loss 352,096 127,324 322,128
------------- ------------- -------------
Headline Loss (2,267,873) (1,283,888) (3,076,926)
============= ============= =============
The Headline loss per share is considered by the Directors to
be a more meaningful measurement of financial performance than
the basic loss per share as it excludes goodwill amortisation
and other non-cash items and better reflects the cash outflow of
the business.
4. Formal completion of the acquisition of Xzillion Proteomics GmbH &
Co. KG (Xzillion) did not take place until the 4th July 2002 and the
figures for the six months to the 30 June 2002 do not include the
results of Xzillion.
5. The preceding financial information does not constitute statutory
accounts as defined in Section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. The
financial information for the year to 31st December 2002 is based on the
statutory accounts for that year. These accounts, upon which the
auditors issued an unqualified opinion, and which did not contain any
statement under Section 237(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985, have
been delivered to the Registrar of Companies.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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