Creo Medical Group PLC Trading update -- COVID-19 impact (9031G)
March 20 2020 - 3:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMCREO
RNS Number : 9031G
Creo Medical Group PLC
20 March 2020
Creo Medical Group plc
("Creo" or the "Company")
Trading update - COVID-19 impact
Short term slow down, but outlook for medium and long term
remains unchanged
Cash levels remain strong at GBP77.6m at the end of Feb
Creo Medical Group plc (AIM: CREO), a medical device company
focused on the emerging field of surgical endoscopy, provides an
update on trading.
Progress in the first quarter of the year ending 31 December
2020 in gaining regulatory approvals for a further four devices has
been in-line with management expectations. The Company still
expects to see significant growth in commercial orders for its
Speedboat device over the long term. Understandably, however, the
roll out of the Clinical Education Programme has been impacted by
the ongoing travel restrictions and social distancing policies put
in place by governments across the world to limit the spread of
COVID-19. Whilst initial revenues from the early uptake of
Speedboat are likely to be lower in the short term, EBITDA and cash
is likely to be better than expected due to savings as a result of
the slow-down. The Company can confirm that, following the
Company's GBP51.9 million fundraising in December 2019, cash
reserves at the end of February were GBP77.6 million and are more
than sufficient to secure the business activities and staff through
the current situation and beyond.
Training and mentoring events across the Company's clinical
education programme in the US, EU and the UK have been cancelled or
postponed. It is also expected that the undertaking of new
procedures and elective cases will be significantly reduced
worldwide which will impact the volume of expected Speedboat cases
in the short term. Whilst the Company has been able to offer online
training and remote mentoring via video link, the number of
Endoscopists trained on the Speedboat device, will be lower than
expected for this year.
Whilst the development of near term market development
opportunities is heavily restricted, the Company remains focussed
on the wider portfolio of flexible endoscopy devices for the GI and
pulmonary markets. As previously announced, once the CE certificate
is released from our notified body we expect multiple simultaneous
CE mark announcements for associated devices. Additionally, with
submissions in the hands of the FDA, device clearances for the US
market and beyond remain on-track.
The Board believes that the outlook for the medium and long term
remains very much unchanged, and will not be impacted by a short
term slowdown in the early market development. Six months ago the
business had a single cleared device for human use in multiple
markets. As the world begins to emerge from the COVID 19
restrictions the business will have multiple devices cleared for
multiple markets across the EU and US. This will allow the Company
to introduce these devices into clinical practice once COVID-19
related restrictions are eased and to ultimately commercialise the
full product range with four devices optimised around the core
tissue effects of dissection, resection, haemostasis and ablation,
as well as the Speedboat device, which uniquely delivers bipolar
radiofrequency energy for precise tissue dissection along with
microwave energy for highly controlled coagulation and tissue
ablation.
The Company's Final Results for the year ended 31 December 2019
will be published in April.
Craig Gulliford, Chief Executive Officer of Creo, commented:
"Whilst COVID-19 will have a short term impact on the roll-out
of our clinical training programme, the medium and longer term
prospects for our business remains undiminished. We have a very
strong cash position offering us the security needed to gain
regulatory clearances and to successfully commercialise our wider
range of endoscopic surgery products."
Creo Medical Group plc investors.creomedical.com
Richard Rees (CFO) +44 (0)1291 606 005
Cenkos Securities +44 (0)20 7397 8900
Stephen Keys / Cameron MacRitchie
(NOMAD)
Michael Johnson / Russell Kerr (Sales)
Walbrook PR Ltd Tel: +44 ( 0)20 7933 8780 or creo@walbrookpr.com
Paul McManus / Lianne Cawthorne Mob: +44 (0)7980 541 893 / +44 (0)7515
909 238
About Creo Medical
Creo Medical, founded in 2003, is a medical device company
focused on the development and commercialisation of minimally
invasive surgical devices, by bringing advanced energy to
endoscopy. The Company's mission is to improve patient outcomes by
applying microwave and RF energy to surgical endoscopy. Creo has
developed CROMA, an electrosurgical Advanced Energy Platform that
combines bipolar radiofrequency for precise localised cutting and
microwave for controlled coagulation. This technology provides
clinicians with flexible, accurate and controlled surgical
solutions.
The Company's strategy is to bring its CROMA Advanced Energy
Platform powered by unique full spectrum adaptive technology to
market enabling a suite of medical devices which the Company has
designed, initially for the emerging field of GI therapeutic
endoscopy, an area with high unmet needs. The CROMA Advanced Energy
platform will be developed further for bronchoscopy and laparoscopy
procedures. The Company believes its technology can impact the
landscape of surgery and endoscopy by providing a safer,
less-invasive and more cost-efficient option of treatment.
For more information about Creo Medical please see our website,
investors.creomedical.com
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
TSTURRRRRVUOURR
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 20, 2020 03:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
Creo Medical (LSE:CREO)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Creo Medical (LSE:CREO)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024