H1 revenues down 70% at gene therapy firm

First-half revenues at biotech firm Aptamer are expected to drop 70% to £300,000.

The York gene therapy specialist said a loss of customer confidence and a shortage of working capital in the lead-in to its fundraise in summer, after which founder Dr Arron Tolley and chair Steve Hull rejoined the board.

Although it has £1.4m of contracts in progress, with negotiations for a pipeline of of £2m in medium-term deals and £8m in longer term deals, it expecte4d full-year revenues to be below market expectations.

It has £2.1m of cash reserves following HMRC approval of its application for £500,000 R&D tax credit. The firm said this will provide it with a sufficient runway into 2025.

Executive chair Steve Hull said, “I am encouraged by the progress that has been made since the Company was recapitalised in August 2023. In a short period of time, the Company has substantially resized its cost base and developed a significant new pipeline of opportunities that have started to convert into signed deals that are now progressing through the laboratory. We have also made strong technical progress in developing binders for gene therapy delivery and IHC. Both technologies are now being pursued by named pharmaceutical companies.”

He added, “Management recognises that meeting market expectations for the full year is unlikely, but might be possible if we can convert the advanced pipeline and deliver current work in progress successfully. We are fully committed to converting the pipeline of existing and new opportunities to achieve sustainable revenue levels, whilst being excited by the potential of our Optimer technologies to deliver commercial milestone and licensing deals.”