Provexis going shopping after strong year

PROVEXIS, the company developing health-enhancing food products and dietary supplements cut its annual losses to £1.6m from £4.5m and is set to embark on the acquisitions trail.

The AIM-listed firm, which has its research and development facility in Liverpool, said its financial performance in the year to the end of March came after a “strong year”.

Operationally it has sealed a long-term alliance deal with partner DSM Nutritional Products to commercialise its heart health drink Fruitflow in major global markets, and had begun work on clinical trials on NSP#3G a technology to combat Crohn’s Disease.

From a financial point of view the group is now armed with sufficient firepower to make significant acquisitions having raised £7.1m from two share placings, and most recently secured a £25m funding line from Evolution Securities.

Chief executive Stephen Moon, said: “This has been a strong year for the company, with the signing of a major commercial agreement for our lead Fruitflow technology with our strategic partner DSM.

“We believe the technical, marketing and selling expertise and resource of DSM in all major global markets will be a key factor in the success of Fruitflow.

“We were pleased to gain an industry-first EC health claim approval for Fruitflow, which underlines our scientific and regulatory capability.

“We have continued to strengthen our pipeline, making progress with our Crohn’s disease technology and more recently adding an important new technology for systemic inflammation.”

Looking ahead he added: “The coming year will see the company focus on a successful commercial launch of Fruitflow, as well as progressing our NSP#3G technology through clinical trial and exploratory commercial discussions.

“We see the future of Provexis as being a leader in our target sectors of functional foods, medical foods and dietary supplements and will seek to support this aim through an acquisition strategy.”

The group now has cash balances of more than £7m against £1,6m last year.

Chairman Dawson Buck said: “The board and executive team are working to identify acquisitions that will further strengthen the business given the access to the funding in place.

“We are assessing both revenue-generating businesses in the consumer healthcare area and new technology candidates for our pipeline.”