LONDON, UK: Aptamer Group plc (AIM: APTA) has released its unaudited interim financial results for the six months ending December 31, 2023. Despite a challenging economic climate, the company has shown resilience with a revenue of £0.3 million and a cash balance of £1.8 million.

The adjusted EBITDA loss was reduced to £1.8 million, down from £2.5 million in the previous period.

The company has successfully recapitalized, raising £3.5 million through two equity placings and has streamlined its fixed cost base to £3.5 million annually, a strategic move completed in September 2023.

On the operational front, Aptamer Group has secured a follow-on deal with a US vaccine developer, refreshed its Board with the return of its pre-IPO Chairman, and inked contracts with a top five pharmaceutical company for the development of multiple Optimer® binders. Process enhancements implemented in October have bolstered the company’s capacity and project margins.

Aptamer Group has also expanded its portfolio of validation assays, leading to an agreement worth up to £0.6 million with a genetic medicines company in December, and a contract for Optimer®-Fc reagent development with a US biotech firm.

Post-period developments include promising external validation results for binders developed for a top five pharma company, progression to the second phase of development with Neuro-Bio for Alzheimer’s test support, and notable advancements with the new Optimer®+ platform. A partnership with Unilever, announced in March, marks a significant step into the consumer goods sector, with patent applications for the newly developed binders underway.

This period reflects Aptamer Group’s steadfast commitment to innovation and growth, as it continues to forge partnerships and develop its Optimer® technology to meet the evolving demands of the life sciences industry.

Commenting on the interim results, Stephen Hull, Chairman of Aptamer Group, said: “The strong technical delivery in the first half of the year, includes the new demonstration of binder performance in gene therapy delivery and IHC, and we are pleased that large pharmaceutical company partners have shown significant interest in binders developed for both of these applications.

The data generated in these key focus areas is supporting ongoing marketing activities, and the developed expertise at Aptamer Group is being applied to customer projects to support improved protocols and faster adoption of our Optimer® technology.

Additionally, our new affinity ligand platform, Optimer®+, has been further developed with results showing excellent performance and its viability for therapeutic use from initial animal studies.

Positive validation of Optimer® performance both in-house from our own scientific team and from external partners has resulted in interest in the licensing of current assets, which remains part of our strategy, particularly within the key focus areas of drug delivery and IHC, where we have identified a specific market need that Optimer® and our new Optimer®-Fc platform are well placed to address.

The Group has continued to make encouraging progress since recapitalising in August, rebuilding the pipeline of sales opportunities and reinvigorating operations through the laboratory.  We are seeing increasing conversion of the deal pipeline, including repeat business being won and the potential for large deals in the drug delivery space.”

Aptamer Group partners with biotech firm to target genetic medicines with Optimers