(Adds details from statement)
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Molecular diagnostics specialist Osmetech says
its full-year pretax loss narrowed slightly to 12.2 mln stg compared to a loss
of 12.5 mln in the previous year.
However the company reported profit after tax of 4.0 mln stg against a loss
of 13.3 mln stg, which includes a 17.6 mln profit booked on the sale of its
Critical Care Division (CCD) to US-based IDEXX.
The company said that cash at the end of its financial year, Dec 31, was
13.9 mln stg compared with 7.1 mln last time.
Chairman Gordon Hall said that the company planned to launch its Warfarin
product and its new eSensor XT-8 electrochemical DNA analysis system during the
first half of 2008, and commercialise it during the remainder of 2008 and into
2009.
However, he added that the company would need further funding during this
period to complete its commercialisation plans, and said he was confident that
it would achieve this goal.
"Based upon ongoing negotiations and discussions with potential strategic
partners, licencees, commercial and other third parties we are confident that
further funds will be available to the group enabling us to optimise value from
our products," he said in the statement.
"We plan to pursue the alternative which delivers most shareholder value at
the time and I look forward to updating shareholders in due course."
Chief executive James White said that the company has a strong patent
portfolio and that it is well positioned in the more profitable molecular
diagnostics market.
"Osmetech was successful in creating considerable value with CCD in a
mature, slow growing market with modest profit margins. We are now developing a
molecular diagnostics business with higher growth and higher margin
opportunities in a market sector of increasing strategic importance," he said.
"We believe that our intellectual property portfolio provides a significant
barrier to the development of similar electrochemical based detection systems."
ben.deighton@thomson.com
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