Company Announcement no. 9/2024 (November 07, 2024)
BIRKERØD, DENMARK - ViroGates A/S ("ViroGates" or the "Company"), a medical technology company developing blood tests for the measurement of chronic inflammation in health clinics and to improve patient care in hospitals, announces its Interim Report for the period 1 January 2024 - 30 September 2024, as approved today by the company's Board of Directors.
In Q1-Q3, 2024, ViroGates' revenue totaled TDKK 3,396, representing a decline of 29% compared to the same period in 2023 (TDKK 4,780). The decrease in revenue stems mainly from a few research customers in North America placing smaller orders in 2024 than the same period last year. As a reaction to the challenges that ViroGates has been facing the previous couple of years, the company is currently in in a transitional period, working to change its strategic focus to primarily serve the general health segment, including both health clinics and their associated labs, servicing individuals with measurements of chronic inflammation and its impact on the risk of development of lifestyle-related diseases. While both existing acute care and research customers are maintained, the former with new use cases (e.g. in sepsis), the core strategic focus, and by far the most time spent, is in the introduction of suPARnostic® in general health and longevity. We have expanded our reach and presence among smaller healthcare clinics and gained a few laboratory accounts that have exceeded the threshold to become recurring customers for ViroGates.
By the end of Q3, 2024, ViroGates can report 16 recurring customers (as of 30 September 2024), corresponding to the number of routine customers for the same period last year (Q3, 2023). Although there is no absolute change, the number of recurring customers by the end of Q3, 2024, covers the replacement of some accounts within acute care with new longevity accounts. Broken further down, 9 customers are using suPARnostic® in clinical routine, covering both hospitals and health clinics, and 7 customers are using suPARnostic® for research purposes. As introduced last year (cf. Company Announcement No. 14-2023 from 17 August 2023), ViroGates reports recurring customers as customers within both clinical routine and research who have 1) placed at least two purchasing orders during the last 12 months with 2) accumulated value of the two (or more) purchasing orders above EUR 10,000.
Tomorrow, 8 November 2024, at 13:00, ViroGates will host a webinar on the Q1-Q3 report. Interested parties will have the opportunity to listen to the report presentation and ask questions at a following Q&A session.
You can sign up for the webinar and now post your questions here: https://app.stokk.io/app/virogates/event/184/q3-2024-presentation-and-qa/
Jakob Knudsen, CEO of ViroGates, says: "As the implementation in hospitals has continued to prove a difficult and lengthy process, we have placed more focus on the longevity segment and have seen promising signs here. Contributions to revenue,
however, are still low. We are pleased with our collaboration with Sobi and the advancements we are making to register suPARnostic® TurbiLatex in the US. After the reporting date, we have further engaged in the US by way of an agreement with Supar Health LLC for the distribution of our suPARnostic® ELISA product and are looking forward to serving the US longevity market."
Financial results in Q1-Q3, 2024
The financial results in Q1-Q3, 2024 are reported below (Q1-Q3, 2023 results in brackets):
- Revenue decreased by 29% to TDKK 3,396 (TDKK 4,780)
- Operating expenses increased by 2% to TDKK -13.979 (TDKK -13.759)
- Operating loss increased by 6% to TDKK -9,950 (TDKK -9,377)
- Net loss increased by 13% to TDKK -9,918 (TDKK -8,781)
- Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period amounted to TDKK 7,431 (TDKK 6,420)
Business highlights in Q1-Q3, 2024
- Achieved routine implementation of suPARnostic® in three central laboratories in different European countries, servicing a number of smaller health clinics
- Promoted the sepsis application to existing and new hospital customers and booked the first revenue based on the implementation of suPARnostic® in sepsis treatment
- Reached 1,000 studies about suPAR on PubMed, manifesting the importance of suPAR and chronic inflammation in disease development, progression, and risk of mortality
- Continued working closely with Sobi on commercializing suPARnostic® in the US in response to the EUA post-authorization requirement by the FDA from 2022 for Sobi's Kineret® product, incl. submitting a preliminary application under the Q-Sub scheme and engaging in the first meeting with the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH)
- Revised our financial guidance for 2024 based on low performance in the first quarters.
This announcement is a summary and should be read in connection with ViroGates' Q1-Q3 report for 2024, published on 7 November 2024. A downloadable PDF version will be available on the company's website.
For further information, please contact:
ViroGates A/S:
CEO, Jakob Knudsen
Tel. (+45) 2226 1355, email: jk@virogates.com
Certified Advisor:
Västra Hamnen Corporate Finance
Per Lönn
Tel. (+46) 40 200 250, email: ca@vhcorp.se
About ViroGates
ViroGates A/S is an international medical technology company developing blood tests for the measurement of chronic inflammation in health clinics and to improve patient care in hospitals. ViroGates markets its blood test products under the suPARnostic® brand.
The company was founded in 2000. Headquartered in Denmark, ViroGates' sales force covers Spain, France, and Benelux, while distributors serve other markets. ViroGates' shares (VIRO) are listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market Denmark. For more information, please visit www.virogates.com.
About suPAR and suPARnostic®
suPAR is the biomarker detected by ViroGates' suPARnostic® products and is a protein in plasma, measurable in every human being. suPAR is considered a general risk status biomarker indicating disease presence, disease severity and progression, organ damage and mortality risk across disease areas such as cardiovascular diseases, kidney diseases, type 2 diabetes, cancer, etc. Strong scientific evidence from more than 1000 clinical trials and studies show that the higher the level of suPAR, the worse the prognosis for the patient.
The suPARnostic® products can be used to support healthcare professionals in making clinical decisions. The increasing demands on health systems globally and tightening healthcare budgets necessitate efficiency improvements and innovative solutions in hospitals. The use of suPAR in triage in emergency departments can identify patients at low risk of disease progression (supports discharge) and high-risk patients who can benefit from early treatment to lower the risk of disease progression. suPARnostic® TurbiLatex is currently available on Roche Diagnostics' cobas® instruments, Siemens Healthineers ADVIA® XPT and Atellica® instruments, the Abbott Labs Architect and Alinity instruments and the Beckmann Coulter AU 5800 instrument. ViroGates works with partners to develop solutions for other platforms. ViroGates has recently launched its Point of Care suPARnostic® POC+ product, a platform that uses only a few drops of finger-prick blood instead of plasma for full quantitative suPAR results in less than 20 minutes.
