REG-4basebio Plc: Final Results and Notice of AGM
05/06/2024 07:15
5 June 2024
4basebio Plc
("4basebio", the "Company" or the “Group”)
Final Results and Notice of AGM
The Board of 4basebio plc is pleased to report the results for the financial
year ended 31 December 2023.
The annual report and accounts together with a notice of the Company’s
annual general meeting, which is to be held on 28 June 2024 at 9:00am in the
offices of 4basebio plc are expected to be uploaded to the Company's website
and posted to shareholders shortly.
The annual general meeting will be followed by a presentation from the Company
through the Investor Meet Company platform on 2 July 2024 at 10am. Investors
can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and register interest here:
https://www.investormeetcompany.com/4basebio-plc/register-investor.
Highlights
* First sale of HQ synthetic DNA batch
* First order for GMP synthetic DNA
* Six novel patent filings
* Delivered over 25 customer projects during 2023
Overview
4basebio plc is a Cambridge, UK, AIM quoted holding and service company for
the 4basebio group of companies (“the Group”), which includes
manufacturing and research & development subsidiaries across Cambridge, UK and
Madrid, Spain.
4basebio is a technology company, which is a market leader in the development
and commercialisation of large scale manufacture of synthetic DNA as well as
nanoparticle delivery solutions. The Group continues to expand its commercial
platform. Its customers are active in the cell & gene therapy and vaccine
markets, across mRNA therapeutics and vaccines, AAV, gene editing and DNA
vaccines.
The Group‘s technology platforms offer its customers application specific
product and performance benefits, with its synthetic DNA also benefitting from
much faster turnaround times relative to incumbent plasmid DNA. It also
continues to invest in research and development activities to further develop
its platforms and expand its product offering, particularly focused on
different DNA modalities including single stranded and circular synthetic DNA
constructs.
Dr Heikki Lanckriet, CEO and CSO for 4basebio, said: “The evolution of the
Group since its spin out from Germany at the end of 2020 has been profound.
Having scaled its DNA manufacturing from nanogram to multi-gram scale over
this time, 4basebio fulfilled over 25 customer projects in 2023.
Further evidencing the Group’s accelerating commercial progress, 4basebio
recently announced its client, HelixNano Technologies Inc. received approval
of its mRNA vaccine product for first in human trials in Australia, which used
4basebio opDNA™ in the manufacture of the vaccine. The Group also announced
the supply of HQ and GMP grade synthetic DNA into a tier one pharma
company’s vaccine program.
4basebio is now on the cusp of strong commercial growth and 2024 promises to
be a very exciting year.”
For further enquiries, please contact:
4basebio plc +44 (0)12 2396 7943
Heikki Lanckriet, CEO
+44 (0)20 7213 0880
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nominated Adviser)
Jo Turner / Sandy Jamieson
Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Broker)
Geoff Nash / Charlie Beeson / Nigel Birks +44 (0)20 7220 0500
Lionsgate Communications (Media Enquiries)
Jonathan Charles +44 (0)77 9189 2509
Chairman’s statement
Performance
During the course of 2023, 4basebio continued to scale up its commercial
activities alongside ongoing product innovation. The emphasis during the
year was on its synthetic DNA platform, with the Group recognising revenue on
approximately 25 customer projects including the sale of its first High
Quality DNA; it also took receipt of orders for GMP grade product due for
delivery in 2024.
The manufacture and sale of GMP (“Good Manufacturing Practice”) grade
synthetic DNA is a significant milestone for 4basebio with the receipt of GMP
orders an important step. While the Group’s journey to GMP has not been
without its challenges, it is pleasing to reflect on the significant progress
made. Evidence of the Group’s development also came in the form of its
client, HelixNano Technologies Inc., announcing in March 2024 approval of its
mRNA vaccine product for first in human trials in Australia. 4basebio
opDNA™ was used in manufacturing the vaccine.
The Group also continued to develop its non-viral delivery platform,
Hermes™. As announced during the year, 4basebio received grant funding
from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to pursue a research program to
further advance its nanoparticle platform with enhanced thermostability for
use in infectious disease vaccine applications.
Thermo-stability was an important consideration in the use of mRNA vaccines
used during the Covid-19 epidemic. Those vaccines required -80C freezer
storage to remain effective, presenting significant logistical challenges and
cost considerations in the distribution of vaccines for pandemic response.
Preliminary findings demonstrate the Hermes™ product offers superior
particle stability at higher temperatures, a commercially significant
consideration in the context of meeting future vaccine demands, particularly
in countries where cold supply chain logistics are challenging.
Alongside these commercial developments, the Group continues to invest in its
intellectual property. During 2023 and early 2024, six new patent applications
were filed and this is expected to continue. The Group now has 17 patent
families around its DNA platform and a further four patent families centred on
its Hermes™ technology.
It is important that the Group acts to protect its intellectual property. As a
result it has pursued legal action in Spain to protect against infringement
and/or misappropriation of its intellectual property. This has led to belated
counter claims during the year which the Board and its legal advisors consider
unfounded and without merit and is further described in note 26 to the
financial statements.
With the objectives outlined above, the Group continued to invest during 2023
with a resultant net loss for the year of £7.7 million.
Strengthening the Group’s commercial, client onboarding and operations teams
was an important focus in the year, with overall headcount of 84 at year
end.
The Board is pleased with the commercial progress made during 2023 and
believes 4basebio is well placed to grow revenues strongly in 2024.
Nevertheless, 4basebio will remain loss making during 2024 and the Group will
utilise its loan facility with 2Invest AG, a major shareholder and former
parent company, to fund its activities.
Strategy
4basebio’s principal objective is to become the leading provider of
synthetic DNA products and non-viral delivery technology for the cell & gene
therapy and vaccines markets. The Board believes the Group is well placed to
do this, with a combination of a uniquely flexible synthetic DNA technology
alongside its nanoparticle platform, a key competitive differentiator.
The flexibility in its DNA platform has facilitated the development of
application specific products, which offer valuable performance benefits over
alternative solutions. The overall objective is to continue developing and
commercialising the most efficient and highest performant DNA products for
each application.
An excellent example of this is supply of DNA for mRNA production; for this
market, 4basebio manufactures and supplies the requisite linearised open ended
DNA, its opDNA™, required for in vitro transcription, the process of
converting DNA into mRNA. This compares highly favourably with other
products which require a further step of linearisation (in the case of plasmid
DNA) or de-ending (in the case of alternative synthetic DNA).
Alongside this, the Group has also focused on developing internal application
relevant expertise, enabling the preparation and provision of data packages
for prospective clients highlighting the benefits of 4basebio products in
their specific field of application.
As a result, the Group has generated a breadth of highly relevant commercial
data which it can share with customers. It also means that 4basebio
understands how its products will perform in the hands of its customers, a
key consideration in meeting customer expectations.
The Group continues to focus on working with each customer along their journey
from research use through high quality batches and eventual GMP grade
synthetic DNA. As the customer progresses, so does the requirement for both
higher quality and quantity of product. As customers advance through their
therapeutic development programs, the Group expects significant revenues to be
generated from these projects.
Share Price
The share price opened the year at 710 pence and softened during the course of
the year to recover in November and December, to close at 680 pence. Trading
volumes during the year represented approximately 4% of shares in issue, with
a typical daily trading volume of 2,270 shares
At year end, approximately 70% of the Company’s shares were closely held
between the Company’s largest shareholders and Board directors. Whilst the
Board has limited visibility on holdings below the reporting threshold of 3%,
given shares are typically held in nominee accounts, the Board believes that a
significant portion of the remaining shares is owned by long term
shareholders.
People and Culture
As an innovative life sciences Group, 4basebio is science led, with over
three-quarters of its workforce holding scientific degrees. This has
facilitated the rapid development of the Group’s technology platforms, as
well as commercial and manufacturing teams.
The Group strives to maintain an open, informal and supportive organisational
culture. With the growth in headcount, maintaining the Group’s core values
becomes ever more important and is a focus of staff at all levels of the
organisation.
The Board would like to thank all staff for their commitment and dedication
over the past year which has been instrumental in 4basebio’s continued
progress.
Tim McCarthy
Chairman
Consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income
for the year ended 31 December 2023
[in £‘000] 2023 2022
Revenues 506 268
Cost of goods sold (166) (29)
Gross profit 340 239
Sales and marketing expenses (586) (245)
Administration expenses (3,250) (2,711)
Operation expenses (1,417) (928)
Research and non-capitalised development expenses (3,560) (2,081)
Other operating expenses (85) (181)
Other operating income 506 67
Loss from operations (8,052) (5,840)
Finance expense (302) (89)
Financial result (302) (89)
Loss before tax (8,354) (5,929)
Income tax income / (expense) 689 779
Loss for the year (7,665) (5,150)
Loss per share
* Basic and diluted (in £/share) (0.62) (0.42)
Items that may be reclassified to the income statement in subsequent periods
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations (172) 447
Total comprehensive income (7,837) (4,703)
All of the loss for the year is from continuing operations.
Consolidated statement of financial position
31 December 2023
[in £’000] Note 2023 2022
Assets
Intangible assets 13 2,669 2,124
Property, plant and equipment 15 4,197 3,633
Other non-current assets 19 34 35
Non-current assets 6,900 5,792
Inventories 17 332 133
Trade receivables 18 107 54
Other current assets 19 1,514 1,359
Cash and cash equivalents 20 3,069 4,351
Current assets 5,022 5,897
Total assets 11,922 11,689
Liabilities
Financial liabilities 22 (392) (415)
Trade payables (694) (490)
Other current liabilities 23 (1,191) (613)
Current liabilities (2,277) (1,518)
Financial liabilities 22 (10,065) (2,935)
Other liabilities 23 (72) (116)
Non-current liabilities (10,137) (3,051)
Total liabilities (12,414) (4,569)
Net (liabilities) / assets (492) 7,120
Share capital 21 11,132 11,130
Share premium 21 706 706
Merger reserve 21 688 688
Capital reserve 21 13,530 13,307
Foreign exchange reserve 21 (158) 14
Profit and loss reserve 21 (26,390) (18,725)
Total Equity (492) 7,120
Consolidated statement of changes in equity
for the year ended 31 December 2023
[in £‘000] Share capital Share premium Merger reserve Capital reserve Foreign exchange reserve Profit and loss reserve Total equity
Balance at 1 January 2023 11,130 706 688 13,307 14 (18,725) 7,120
Loss for the year - - - - - (7,665) (7,665)
Shares issued in period 2 - - - - - 2
Foreign Exchange difference arising on translation of 4basebio S.L.U. - - - - (172) - (172)
Share based payments - - - 223 - - 223
Balance at 31 December 2023 11,132 706 688 13,530 (158) (26,390) (492)
[in £‘000] Share capital Share premium Merger reserve Capital reserve Foreign exchange reserve Profit and loss reserve Total equity
Balance at 1 January 2022 11,130 706 688 13,179 (433) (13,575) 11,695
Loss for the year - - - - - (5,150) (5,150)
Foreign Exchange difference arising on translation of 4basebio S.L.U. - - - - 447 - 447
Share based payments - - - 128 - - 128
Balance at 31 December 2022 11,130 706 688 13,307 14 (18,725) 7,120
Consolidated statement of cash flows
for the year ended 31 December 2023
[in £’000] 2023 2022
Net loss for the period (7,665) (5,150)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss for the period to net cashflows
Income taxes (689) (779)
Interest charge 302 89
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment 676 404
Amortisation and impairment of intangible assets 4 33 27
Other non-cash items 11 220 136
Working capital changes:
(Increase)/decrease in trade receivables and other current assets (109) 140
Increase/(decrease) in trade payables and other current liabilities 695 (2)
(Increase)/decrease in inventories (202) 30
Tax receipt 561 401
Net Cash flows from operating activities (6,178) (4,704)
Investments in property, plant and equipment (871) (1,155)
Investments in capitalised development and intangible assets (619) (786)
Cash flows from investing activities (1,490) (1,941)
Net receipt/(payment) of loans 6,584 1,412
Shares issued 2 -
Interest paid (67) (93)
Capital lease payments (94) (75)
Cash flows from financing activities 6,425 1,244
Net change in cash and cash equivalents (1,243) (5,401)
Exchange differences (39) 166
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period 4,351 9,586
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period 3,069 4,351
Notes to the financial statements
1. General
4basebio plc (the “Company” or “4basebio”) is registered in England
and Wales with company number 13519889.
The Company is domiciled in England and the registered office of the Company
is 25 Norman Way, Over, Cambridge CB24 5QE. 4basebio plc is the parent of a
group of companies (together, “the Group”). The Group focuses on life
sciences and in particular the development of synthetic DNA and nanoparticles
suitable for inclusion in, or delivery of, therapeutic payloads for gene
therapies and gene vaccines.
The Company trades on London Stock Exchange’s AIM market, having been
admitted on 17 February 2021. The international securities number (ISIN)
number for its AIM traded shares is GB00BMCLYF79; its ticker symbol is 4bb.l.
The consolidated financial statements of 4basebio plc and its subsidiaries for
the year ended 31 December 2023 were authorised for issue in accordance with a
resolution of the directors on 4 June 2024.
2. Basis of preparation
The consolidated financial statements of 4basebio UK plc (or “the Group”)
for the financial year ending 31 December 2023 have been prepared using UK
adopted international accounting standards.
The consolidated financial statements comprise the results of 4basebio plc,
4basebio S.L.U., 4basebio UK Limited and 4basebio Discovery Limited for the
whole year.
The above summary has been extracted from the report and financial statements
and, accordingly, references to notes and page numbers may be incorrect.
Shareholders are advised to read the full version of the report and financial
statements which will be available from the Company’s website.
3. Earnings per share
2023 2022
Numerator [in £‘000]
Result for the period (7,665) (5,150)
Denominator [number of shares]
Weighted average number of registered shares in circulation (ordinary shares) for calculating the undiluted earnings per share 12,319,270 12,317,473
Basic and diluted earnings per share (£) (0.62) (0.42)
The calculation of the basic and diluted earnings per share for continuing
operations was based on the weighted average number of shares as determined
above. The numerator is defined as result after tax from continuing
operations. The average number of share options outstanding during the period
was 653,771 (2022: 642,878) which have not been included in the calculation of
the diluted Earnings per share because they would be anti-dilutive since the
business is loss making.
4. Approval of the financial statements
The financial statements were approved by the Board of directors and
authorised for issue on 4 June 2024.
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