Medical diagnostics group Genedrive PLC (LON:GDR) saw diagnostics revenue rise 8.3% year-on-year in the second half of calendar 2017.
The company’s hepatitis C virus (HCV) ID kit, which was launched in October 2017, is rapidly becoming available in target countries, the group said in its interim results statement.
READ: Genedrive surges after receiving £1.1mln in funding to finance development of its TB testing kit
As flagged in its January trading update, group revenue for the six months to the end of December eased to £2.63mln from £2.88mln the year before.
Income derived from the flagship Genedrive device rose 8.3% to £1.3mln from £.12mln the year before.
Continued investment in the Genedrive platform gave rise to a pre-tax loss of £2.2mln, although this was an improvement on the loss of £3.0mln in the corresponding period of 2016.
As of December 31, Genedrive had £4.6mln of cash in the bank (30 June 2017: £5.1mln) following the receipt of £1.2mln research & development tax credits in the period; at the end of February, this had subsided to £3.9mln.
“We continue to execute on our strategy to transform Genedrive's focus fully on to molecular diagnostic targets, particularly on the global opportunities present in HCV and TB [tuberculosis], as well as looking to the future for additional accretive assays,” said David Budd, the chief executive officer of Genedrive.
“With HCV, we are first to market in what is a major market opportunity with new direct-acting antivirals. We plan to re-enter the large and established mTB market, and we expect to capitalise on other opportunities in markets where Genedrive's speed, cost and accessibility provide tangible benefits to end users,” he added.
In mid-morning trading, Genedrive shares were steady at 38,5p.
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