Interim Results

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
UK 100

Latest directors dealings