Biotech firm counts cost of patent infringement legal battle
OPERATING losses for pioneering Manchester biotech company Premaitha Health increased to £12.1m (2015: £7.4m) in the year to March 31, as the company battles a patent infringement suit lodged by a US company.
The suit is over the developments of its IONA non-invasive prenatal screening test for Downs Syndrome which brought in £2.5m for AIM-listed Premaitha in its first full year of commercialisation.
The company incurred £5.8m of legal costs which resulting from a patent infringement suit lodged by American company Illumina, followed by a robust defence and counterclaim filed by Premaitha.
Non-executive chairman Adam Reynolds said the litigation had been “a significant challenge for the company in terms of the consumption of managerial time and financial resource.
He said: “The board firmly believes in the strength of its case and ultimately this will be resolved in a court of law in the United Kingdom in the second half of 2017, unless our opponents see sense in the meantime.
“Depending on the outcome of that case the Court has indicated a preparedness to consider an action by the Company to pursue an anti-trust case against Illumina. The board believes it has substantive evidence to support its claims.”
Meanwhile, the company reported a strong balance sheet with cash at year-end of £5.3m (2015: £2.7m).
£13.0m investments were secured in the period, including a £8m placing in July 2015, and an investment of £5m from Thermo Fisher in loans and warrants in December.
A further £4m loan from Thermo Fisher was forthcoming post period in September.
