AcouSort AB - Interim Report for the period January – March 2023
First quarter 2023 for the Group
- Net sales amounted to SEK 2,598,000 (1,892,000)
- Result before tax amounted to SEK -3,040,000 (-2,652,000)
- Result per share was SEK -0.23 (-0.20)
- Equity ratio amounted to 62% (90%) on March 31, 2023
First quarter 2023 for the Parent company
- Net sales amounted to SEK 2,560,000 (1,892,000)
- Result before tax amounted to SEK -2,285,000 (-2,613,000)
- Result per share was SEK -0.17 (-0.20)
- Equity ratio amounted to 64% (90%) on March 31, 2023
Significant events during the first quarter
On January 19, AcouSort announces that the Company has delivered a prototype system for stem cell separations to its Blue4Therapy project partner BlueCell Therapeutics. The companies have now proceeded to the commercial planning phase.
On January 20, AcouSort announces that the first part of the cell therapy project announced in November is now successfully finalized. The two companies have jointly decided to extend the collaboration with a second phase generating revenues of EUR 130,000 to AcouSort in 2023.
On February 8, AcouSort announces that the collaboration agreement together with an international Japanese life science company has been extended to allow final evaluation of the developed assay using clinical samples.
On March 3, AcouSort announces that the Company has updated its strategy to meet a rising demand for automated cell processing solutions from the cell therapy market.
Significant events after the end of the period
On April 3, AcouSort announces that the stem cell therapy project Blue4Therapy has been brought to a highly successful close.
On April 14, AcouSort announces that the Company has leased an AcouWash system to a Czech research group investigating fish sperm refinement.
On April 21, AcouSort announces that the Company for the third time has been selected by the EIC for participation in a leading medical exhibition.
On April 26, AcouSort announces that the prestigious US National Institute of Health (NIH) has ordered an AcouWash 2 system, thereby becoming a returning customer. In 2017, the NIH purchased the first AcouWash prototype for the cell wash process in a new monitoring method for cancer treatments.
On May 15, AcouSort announces that the Company expands its reach through a new collaboration with a leading Life Science company developing flow cytometers.
On May 22, AcouSort announces the launch of the next generation AcouTrap at CYTO 2023. The new AcouTrap 3 system comes with improved design and an updated and intuitive software graphical user interface. AcouSort also presents two new trapping units with improved performance.
CEO COMMENTS
Positive start to the year with high activity level and
solid sales growth
AcouSort Group has had a very positive start of 2023. Our increasing marketing efforts continued to deliver strong results with total income in the first quarter amounting to SEK 3.848 (2.687) million, corresponding to growth of 43%. Our activity level has remained high in the commercial side as well as in our innovation efforts.
Commercial successes
Perhaps the most noteworthy commercial success so far this year was made in January when we received an order with a total value of EUR 130,000 from a global Life Science company active within cell therapy. The deal represents an extension of a project that was initiated in November 2022. Cell therapy is an area where we see a great potential for our technology within sample preparation automation. Our ambition is to form long-term relationships with our customers to establish a solid stream of recurring revenues through sales of OEM components. We are not there yet, but with an increasing number returning customers in our commercial research and development projects we are moving toward this ultimate objective.
Another very significant deal was the AcouWash order placed by the prestigious US National Institutes of Health (NIH) becoming a returning customer to AcouSort. In 2017, NIH purchased the first AcouWash prototype for the cell wash process in a new monitoring method for cancer treatments that NIH were developing. In April 2023, we received an order from NIH for the new AcouWash 2 system with a total value of USD 50,000 or SEK 516,000. Having NIH as a returning customer is something which makes us really proud as it puts a true seal of excellence on our technology and our operations.
It is not always clear which activities or collaborations that will lead to high value business opportunities. One example of this is the leasing of an AcouWash system to a research group in the Czech Republic. During the fall of 2021, AcouSort was visited for one month by a PhD student from the Czech research group working within fish reproduction. The purpose was to investigate if the AcouWash technology could be used to separate fish sperm with high motility to improve the insemination results in animal breeding and for future medicinal use. This interesting field of collaboration now continues with the lease of the AcouWash system.
Highly successful close of the Blue4Therapy project
In the beginning of April, the stem cell therapy project Blue4Therapy was brought to a highly successful close. The Blue4Therapy project was initiated in May 2020 with the ambition to develop clinical applications in cell therapy and stem cell treatments – two areas with great commercial potential for AcouSort. Project partners were the University of Southern Denmark, BlueCell Therapeutics, Novozymes and AcouSort. AcouSort’s contribution to the project has been to develop a module for the purification of stem cells in a point-of-care environment (POC). The project has now been successfully finalized and the applications and hardware that AcouSort has developed within the Blue4Therapy framework have significantly strengthened our position within cell therapy.
EIC continues to display trust in AcouSort
The European Innovation Council (EIC) continues to display trust in AcouSort. We have now for the third time been selected by the EIC for participation in a leading medical exhibition, this time in the European Pavilion at BIO 2023 in Boston, USA, after a highly competitive evaluation process. AcouSort is thereby one of 17 European companies selected by the EU for full sponsorship at America’s leading medical exhibition, taking place in Boston June 5-8.
Continued interest in our unique technology
AcouSort’s technology can be used in a number of medical applications, one of which is flow cytometry, a technology that rapidly analyzes single cells or particles. During the last year, we have been approached by several flow cytometry companies, and we have now entered into a collaboration with one of the main players in this field. The purpose is to evaluate the potential of our AcouWash technology to improve sample preparation and sample clean-up before flow cytometry analysis. The initial phase of this collaboration consists of a lease of one AcouWash system and an application support package. This collaboration is especially interesting as it opens up yet another potential area for our AcouWash technology.
Torsten Freltoft – CEO
ACOUSORT AB
The report is attached below and can also be found at https://acousort.com/investor/financial-reports/
